1
00:00:15,476 --> 00:00:15,956
Speaker 1: Pushkin.

2
00:00:20,276 --> 00:00:23,596
Speaker 2: Big Willie is back, and he's traded as larger than life,

3
00:00:23,636 --> 00:00:27,916
Speaker 2: excessively positive raps for something more complex and dark but

4
00:00:28,076 --> 00:00:33,076
Speaker 2: equally inspiring. Anyone following Will Smith's trajectory the last handful

5
00:00:33,076 --> 00:00:36,596
Speaker 2: of years, or who read his wonderful autobiography, knows that

6
00:00:36,636 --> 00:00:40,116
Speaker 2: he's been on a powerful journey of self discovery and healing.

7
00:00:40,996 --> 00:00:42,836
Speaker 2: It's left him wide open to be a bit of

8
00:00:42,836 --> 00:00:44,836
Speaker 2: a different artist than he's been in the past, and

9
00:00:44,876 --> 00:00:48,956
Speaker 2: it's also drawn him back into music. Will's new project,

10
00:00:48,996 --> 00:00:50,796
Speaker 2: based on a true story, will be coming out in

11
00:00:50,836 --> 00:00:54,036
Speaker 2: three parts this year, with part one dropping in March.

12
00:00:55,036 --> 00:00:56,996
Speaker 2: We discuss where he's at as a creator on this

13
00:00:57,036 --> 00:00:59,956
Speaker 2: new album and go through his decades long career in music,

14
00:01:00,116 --> 00:01:03,476
Speaker 2: which starts with his teen years back in Philly. It

15
00:01:03,556 --> 00:01:06,356
Speaker 2: was a real pleasure talking to someone as multi dimensional

16
00:01:06,436 --> 00:01:13,516
Speaker 2: and equally open and honest as Will so enjoy This

17
00:01:13,636 --> 00:01:23,156
Speaker 2: is Broken Record, real musicians, real conversations. Here's my conversation

18
00:01:23,236 --> 00:01:26,436
Speaker 2: with Will Smith from Amazon Music Studio one twenty six.

19
00:01:26,836 --> 00:01:29,116
Speaker 2: To see the video version of this episode, visit YouTube

20
00:01:29,156 --> 00:01:32,036
Speaker 2: dot com slash Broken Record podcast, or click on the

21
00:01:32,076 --> 00:01:34,036
Speaker 2: link in this episode description.

22
00:01:35,356 --> 00:01:38,436
Speaker 3: Man Will Smith. Will Smith is a brother.

23
00:01:39,996 --> 00:01:40,356
Speaker 1: Doing this.

24
00:01:40,716 --> 00:01:43,556
Speaker 3: I'm really excited exit we have.

25
00:01:43,756 --> 00:01:46,036
Speaker 2: We've hasked like, you know, a number of incredible any

26
00:01:46,076 --> 00:01:48,076
Speaker 2: number of incredible guests on the show, but Man, to

27
00:01:48,076 --> 00:01:50,316
Speaker 2: have to have you is just a real honor.

28
00:01:50,356 --> 00:01:53,036
Speaker 3: You know, Thank you. Man. I'll try not to disappoint.

29
00:01:53,036 --> 00:01:53,636
Speaker 1: I know you won't.

30
00:01:55,596 --> 00:01:59,316
Speaker 2: We're talking a little bit about Quincy. Just yeah, you

31
00:01:59,356 --> 00:02:04,836
Speaker 2: know I met you. I was in Havana, Cuba, wow, randomly,

32
00:02:05,716 --> 00:02:08,076
Speaker 2: and you know what it is in Havanah like there's

33
00:02:08,116 --> 00:02:10,036
Speaker 2: no you can bear these he there's internet and you

34
00:02:10,076 --> 00:02:14,036
Speaker 2: can't get in nothing really blackouts a see you, nothing

35
00:02:14,516 --> 00:02:17,476
Speaker 2: really quite works. So I was walking around, I was lost,

36
00:02:17,476 --> 00:02:20,436
Speaker 2: looking for a restaurant in downtown Havana, and I saw

37
00:02:20,476 --> 00:02:22,916
Speaker 2: a bunch of satellite trucks and as with my boys,

38
00:02:23,436 --> 00:02:25,556
Speaker 2: like this is that's a little that's a little weird,

39
00:02:25,596 --> 00:02:27,556
Speaker 2: just considering the situation, the infrastructure.

40
00:02:27,036 --> 00:02:28,956
Speaker 3: Situation around there. What's this?

41
00:02:29,116 --> 00:02:31,276
Speaker 2: So we walk up and we asked some There's some

42
00:02:31,316 --> 00:02:33,036
Speaker 2: Cubans like looking up the steps.

43
00:02:32,916 --> 00:02:34,116
Speaker 1: Like hey, what's going on.

44
00:02:34,236 --> 00:02:36,276
Speaker 2: I was just like, we don't know, all right, So

45
00:02:36,476 --> 00:02:38,956
Speaker 2: I just walked up the steps. I guess because I

46
00:02:38,996 --> 00:02:40,236
Speaker 2: was American, they didn't question it.

47
00:02:41,996 --> 00:02:42,556
Speaker 1: I walk in.

48
00:02:42,596 --> 00:02:46,316
Speaker 2: I see Esperanza Spalding in the foyer and I just

49
00:02:46,316 --> 00:02:49,436
Speaker 2: met her the week before. I go, She goes, I

50
00:02:49,476 --> 00:02:51,636
Speaker 2: got to I'm packing. I'm literally about to catch a flight,

51
00:02:52,036 --> 00:02:54,036
Speaker 2: but you should go upstairs. There's a bunch of bunch

52
00:02:54,076 --> 00:02:57,196
Speaker 2: going on upstairs. I go, go upstairs. So we walk

53
00:02:57,276 --> 00:03:01,316
Speaker 2: up like five flights of this old beautiful uh Theater

54
00:03:01,556 --> 00:03:04,676
Speaker 2: in downtown Havana and the old Tavana and.

55
00:03:05,196 --> 00:03:09,876
Speaker 1: A bunch crazy music legends, crazy music legends, Valdez, a

56
00:03:09,916 --> 00:03:11,996
Speaker 1: Cuban music legends, Handcott.

57
00:03:13,076 --> 00:03:15,476
Speaker 3: Then I see you. That was wild? There was Quincy

58
00:03:15,596 --> 00:03:16,916
Speaker 3: was what was that? What was that?

59
00:03:17,156 --> 00:03:19,956
Speaker 1: It was the International Jazz International Jazz Fest. You didn't

60
00:03:19,956 --> 00:03:20,996
Speaker 1: eve know what's going on? Man?

61
00:03:21,556 --> 00:03:21,796
Speaker 3: Yeah?

62
00:03:22,076 --> 00:03:24,116
Speaker 2: And I saw Quinn you you left pretty quickly when

63
00:03:24,156 --> 00:03:26,076
Speaker 2: after I got there. But then I saw Quincy at

64
00:03:26,076 --> 00:03:27,836
Speaker 2: some point sitting at the table by himself. I go,

65
00:03:28,636 --> 00:03:30,596
Speaker 2: that's kind of wild. I'm gonna go say hi. Yeah,

66
00:03:31,036 --> 00:03:33,676
Speaker 2: so just like hey shake his hands and want to

67
00:03:33,676 --> 00:03:36,836
Speaker 2: say hello. Wind up happening a two hour dinner, Wow

68
00:03:37,036 --> 00:03:40,876
Speaker 2: kicking exchange in for us exactly how Quincy is kept

69
00:03:40,876 --> 00:03:43,156
Speaker 2: a friendship tally, you know, And this is just like it

70
00:03:43,236 --> 00:03:44,316
Speaker 2: was unbelievable.

71
00:03:44,516 --> 00:03:49,836
Speaker 1: Yeah. Nah, he was at his you know, he loved people.

72
00:03:50,396 --> 00:03:54,556
Speaker 1: That was this thing, like everybody was so interesting to him.

73
00:03:54,636 --> 00:03:57,316
Speaker 1: He saw everybody as like a work of art, you know,

74
00:03:57,436 --> 00:03:59,836
Speaker 1: and he was always looking and wanted to know where

75
00:03:59,876 --> 00:04:02,156
Speaker 1: you came from and where you grew up, and you know,

76
00:04:02,716 --> 00:04:06,396
Speaker 1: he uh, he just loved that kind of interaction. When

77
00:04:06,636 --> 00:04:07,556
Speaker 1: did you first meet him?

78
00:04:08,076 --> 00:04:10,356
Speaker 3: I met Quincy actually the.

79
00:04:11,836 --> 00:04:14,836
Speaker 1: Night Benny Medina, who was Benny Medina was the real

80
00:04:14,876 --> 00:04:16,076
Speaker 1: live fresh Prince of bel Air.

81
00:04:16,436 --> 00:04:18,036
Speaker 3: So he worked at Warner Records.

82
00:04:18,076 --> 00:04:21,516
Speaker 1: He worked at Warner Records, and I met Quincy when

83
00:04:21,716 --> 00:04:25,556
Speaker 1: the night that Benny took me to Quincy's house to

84
00:04:26,276 --> 00:04:31,316
Speaker 1: pitch me for the show. And it was you know,

85
00:04:32,876 --> 00:04:36,796
Speaker 1: walking in and you know, seeing Quincy Jones. Was he

86
00:04:36,836 --> 00:04:41,076
Speaker 1: I think he just won the Soul Trained Lifetime Achievement

87
00:04:41,116 --> 00:04:42,796
Speaker 1: Award or something like that. So I was coming to

88
00:04:42,876 --> 00:04:48,476
Speaker 1: his house after the show and we met and that

89
00:04:48,756 --> 00:04:52,796
Speaker 1: night he made me auditioned in the living room. That

90
00:04:52,876 --> 00:04:54,956
Speaker 1: same night I met him, I went for a party

91
00:04:55,156 --> 00:04:57,916
Speaker 1: to talk and he cleared the living room out, made

92
00:04:57,956 --> 00:05:04,276
Speaker 1: me audition for the show Impromptu Out of Nowhere. But

93
00:05:04,796 --> 00:05:07,836
Speaker 1: he had a script for an old Marris Day and

94
00:05:07,876 --> 00:05:12,316
Speaker 1: the time, old pilot for mars Day and the time,

95
00:05:12,716 --> 00:05:14,756
Speaker 1: and he was, hey, just read this script, practice this,

96
00:05:14,876 --> 00:05:18,516
Speaker 1: go do this. And I auditioned in his living room

97
00:05:18,556 --> 00:05:21,836
Speaker 1: at a party. That's insane, Yeah he was. He was

98
00:05:21,916 --> 00:05:26,676
Speaker 1: like that too, did you in that moment? What was

99
00:05:26,716 --> 00:05:30,756
Speaker 1: your thought process? You know it was so I just

100
00:05:30,996 --> 00:05:33,236
Speaker 1: flew in. I thought it was a party for Quincy's house,

101
00:05:33,316 --> 00:05:36,076
Speaker 1: and you know Benny Medina. I had met Benny at Arsenio.

102
00:05:36,116 --> 00:05:38,276
Speaker 1: It was during the time that the Arsenio Hall show

103
00:05:38,396 --> 00:05:42,796
Speaker 1: was like the top of everything. So you know, I

104
00:05:43,236 --> 00:05:46,556
Speaker 1: had I had gone broke after my first round of success.

105
00:05:46,796 --> 00:05:48,236
Speaker 3: That happens about.

106
00:05:48,516 --> 00:05:50,916
Speaker 1: Yeah, you shouldn't do that if you if you could

107
00:05:50,916 --> 00:05:53,996
Speaker 1: it all, avoid going broke after your first round of

108
00:05:53,996 --> 00:05:58,756
Speaker 1: excess success. You should actually Freudian slip first round of excess.

109
00:05:59,116 --> 00:06:02,076
Speaker 3: Yeah yeah, right right, that's how it happened. That it happens.

110
00:06:02,156 --> 00:06:05,636
Speaker 1: Yeah, you know, So, you know, I met Bennie Medina

111
00:06:05,996 --> 00:06:09,516
Speaker 1: and he pitched me the idea. And Benny had gone

112
00:06:09,596 --> 00:06:11,596
Speaker 1: from Watts to Beverly Hills.

113
00:06:11,996 --> 00:06:13,476
Speaker 3: So he was talking.

114
00:06:13,196 --> 00:06:16,796
Speaker 1: To Quincy about doing a show about his life where

115
00:06:16,916 --> 00:06:20,756
Speaker 1: a black kid moves in with a white family in

116
00:06:20,836 --> 00:06:24,356
Speaker 1: Beverly Hills, and so he takes it and you know,

117
00:06:24,396 --> 00:06:27,076
Speaker 1: we walk in Quincy's house, and you know, Quincy, he

118
00:06:27,316 --> 00:06:29,356
Speaker 1: was a little toasty, you know, he you know, it

119
00:06:29,436 --> 00:06:31,356
Speaker 1: was his house. He was like, he was a little toasty,

120
00:06:31,396 --> 00:06:35,676
Speaker 1: a little toasty. And he said, hey man, you know Quincy.

121
00:06:35,956 --> 00:06:37,756
Speaker 1: He said, did Benny talk to you about the show?

122
00:06:38,316 --> 00:06:41,156
Speaker 1: I was like, yeah, a little bit. He said, yeah,

123
00:06:41,156 --> 00:06:44,916
Speaker 1: where are you from? I said Philly. He said, all right,

124
00:06:44,996 --> 00:06:47,436
Speaker 1: your character's from Philly. And I was like, and literally

125
00:06:47,476 --> 00:06:49,716
Speaker 1: we've never met in that first he's like, your character's

126
00:06:49,716 --> 00:06:50,196
Speaker 1: from Philly.

127
00:06:51,836 --> 00:06:54,196
Speaker 3: My character okay, and he said all right.

128
00:06:54,236 --> 00:06:57,276
Speaker 1: So Benny went from from Watts to Beverly Hills and

129
00:06:57,756 --> 00:07:00,076
Speaker 1: he said, this is bel Air. His house Quincy's house

130
00:07:00,156 --> 00:07:02,916
Speaker 1: was actually in bel Air. He said, this is bel Air.

131
00:07:02,996 --> 00:07:06,596
Speaker 1: So the show's not going to Beverly Hills. The character's

132
00:07:06,636 --> 00:07:09,876
Speaker 1: going from Philly to bel Air. He said, make Beverly

133
00:07:09,956 --> 00:07:15,756
Speaker 1: Hills look like public housing. And he said, all right,

134
00:07:15,796 --> 00:07:18,476
Speaker 1: what's your rap name? And I said, well, you know,

135
00:07:18,916 --> 00:07:21,156
Speaker 1: I'm with DJ Jazzy Jeff and I'm the I'm the

136
00:07:21,156 --> 00:07:21,796
Speaker 1: Fresh Prince.

137
00:07:21,956 --> 00:07:24,396
Speaker 3: All right, cool, that's the show. The Fresh Prince of

138
00:07:24,436 --> 00:07:25,916
Speaker 3: bel Air, and.

139
00:07:25,796 --> 00:07:31,956
Speaker 1: That's literally how the show got created named, you know,

140
00:07:32,116 --> 00:07:35,436
Speaker 1: with with Quincy in his living room.

141
00:07:35,796 --> 00:07:37,356
Speaker 3: And he was like, Hey, we're gonna have audition.

142
00:07:37,396 --> 00:07:40,596
Speaker 1: We gonna have audition, and he just cleared the living

143
00:07:40,676 --> 00:07:45,476
Speaker 1: room out and I read the script. I've read the

144
00:07:45,516 --> 00:07:47,676
Speaker 1: you know, the did the couple of scenes and the

145
00:07:47,756 --> 00:07:52,556
Speaker 1: Moors Days day and the time I failed Mars Day

146
00:07:52,596 --> 00:07:58,636
Speaker 1: in the time, you know. But yeah, he Quincy was

147
00:07:58,716 --> 00:08:02,196
Speaker 1: like that he uh uh, he knew how to catch

148
00:08:02,276 --> 00:08:06,196
Speaker 1: lightning strikes, he knew how to put the right people

149
00:08:06,556 --> 00:08:09,036
Speaker 1: in the right place and wait for me.

150
00:08:09,796 --> 00:08:13,116
Speaker 2: Yeah, it seems like it's kind of it's beautiful that

151
00:08:13,196 --> 00:08:15,356
Speaker 2: you guys connected the way you did, the way you

152
00:08:15,356 --> 00:08:18,796
Speaker 2: both straddle music and film and television and just kind

153
00:08:18,836 --> 00:08:22,236
Speaker 2: of all levels of entertainment. But also, and I don't

154
00:08:22,276 --> 00:08:24,156
Speaker 2: know if this was like a chicken on the egg scenario,

155
00:08:24,196 --> 00:08:25,716
Speaker 2: but maybe you were both destined to meet in the

156
00:08:25,716 --> 00:08:29,916
Speaker 2: sense because you both have a similar also energy and

157
00:08:30,356 --> 00:08:32,956
Speaker 2: belief and sort of almost as anything as possible sort

158
00:08:32,956 --> 00:08:33,996
Speaker 2: of sensibility, you know.

159
00:08:34,356 --> 00:08:35,316
Speaker 3: Crazy you're saying that.

160
00:08:35,396 --> 00:08:42,916
Speaker 1: So my my album is called I'm going back and

161
00:08:42,956 --> 00:08:50,516
Speaker 1: forth between saying U boats or based on a true story, right,

162
00:08:50,596 --> 00:08:53,836
Speaker 1: So it's but the name is based on a true story.

163
00:08:55,196 --> 00:08:58,196
Speaker 1: And you know, I've written so much stuff in the

164
00:08:58,356 --> 00:09:01,236
Speaker 1: in the last two years, I couldn't get it into one.

165
00:09:02,156 --> 00:09:06,276
Speaker 1: So rather than you know, trying to jam it into

166
00:09:06,476 --> 00:09:09,036
Speaker 1: one project, I'm doing it like a television show. So

167
00:09:09,196 --> 00:09:13,036
Speaker 1: I'm releasing it in seasons. So I have three seasons,

168
00:09:13,036 --> 00:09:14,756
Speaker 1: so I'm not calling it an album. I'm calling it

169
00:09:14,796 --> 00:09:20,396
Speaker 1: season one based on a true story. So season one

170
00:09:20,836 --> 00:09:24,196
Speaker 1: is called Raven the Wastelam and this this story does

171
00:09:24,236 --> 00:09:29,316
Speaker 1: have a point, and see season two is a Quincy

172
00:09:29,396 --> 00:09:33,836
Speaker 1: Jones quote. And season two is called The Gift of Madness.

173
00:09:34,956 --> 00:09:40,276
Speaker 1: And somebody asked Quincy, They said, Quincy, you know you

174
00:09:40,276 --> 00:09:45,236
Speaker 1: you you picked Michael Jackson, you picked Oprah Winfrey, and

175
00:09:45,276 --> 00:09:49,156
Speaker 1: you picked Will Smith, Like what what are you seeing

176
00:09:49,916 --> 00:09:54,356
Speaker 1: that the rest of us don't see? And he said

177
00:09:54,756 --> 00:09:59,636
Speaker 1: all three of them have the gift of madness. And

178
00:09:59,716 --> 00:10:05,676
Speaker 1: he said they believe that impossible things can happen. And

179
00:10:05,716 --> 00:10:09,796
Speaker 1: he said that is an absolute necessity for the kind

180
00:10:09,836 --> 00:10:15,556
Speaker 1: of success that they've achieved. So I named season two

181
00:10:16,356 --> 00:10:20,836
Speaker 1: of my music is called the Gift of Madness. Now

182
00:10:22,476 --> 00:10:25,956
Speaker 1: it almost sounds like a gift in a curse either way,

183
00:10:26,076 --> 00:10:28,236
Speaker 1: you know, I mean, obviously I think it's writ large.

184
00:10:28,276 --> 00:10:29,876
Speaker 1: I seem that's probably a positive thing.

185
00:10:30,476 --> 00:10:31,676
Speaker 3: But there's a.

186
00:10:31,636 --> 00:10:41,476
Speaker 1: Certain amount of delusion that is necessary to achieve things

187
00:10:42,036 --> 00:10:48,316
Speaker 1: that haven't been achieved before. You have to be quote

188
00:10:48,396 --> 00:10:55,356
Speaker 1: unquote insane. If you're going to attempt something that no

189
00:10:55,396 --> 00:11:01,796
Speaker 1: one's ever done before, that's almost the definition of insanity.

190
00:11:02,116 --> 00:11:05,516
Speaker 3: Right. So there's a there's a certain amount of.

191
00:11:06,916 --> 00:11:16,836
Speaker 1: Deluded naivete that is necessary to manifest things that have

192
00:11:17,156 --> 00:11:21,756
Speaker 1: not been manifest And you know this, this is a

193
00:11:22,036 --> 00:11:26,916
Speaker 1: thought universe, and that there's a there's a Confucius quote

194
00:11:27,636 --> 00:11:31,996
Speaker 1: love he says, he who says he can and he

195
00:11:32,076 --> 00:11:37,796
Speaker 1: who says he can't are both usually right, right, And

196
00:11:38,196 --> 00:11:42,116
Speaker 1: the the idea that what you think and what you

197
00:11:43,396 --> 00:11:49,516
Speaker 1: believe is the first step to manifestation. You can't create

198
00:11:49,556 --> 00:11:52,836
Speaker 1: it if you can't see it in your mind, if

199
00:11:52,836 --> 00:11:55,876
Speaker 1: you can't believe it, you can't bring it out of

200
00:11:55,916 --> 00:12:00,356
Speaker 1: the quantum field into this three D reality if you

201
00:12:00,756 --> 00:12:05,716
Speaker 1: don't believe it. You have to have a certain deluded

202
00:12:05,876 --> 00:12:09,876
Speaker 1: certainty in your magical abilities.

203
00:12:11,436 --> 00:12:16,556
Speaker 2: Now, and actually that's your second verse and beautiful scars,

204
00:12:16,556 --> 00:12:19,596
Speaker 2: But the versus song I feel like that beautiful, right,

205
00:12:19,676 --> 00:12:21,276
Speaker 2: that's one of my favorite verses of them, of the

206
00:12:21,276 --> 00:12:22,436
Speaker 2: songs I heard loved that.

207
00:12:22,596 --> 00:12:28,876
Speaker 1: Yes, that is absolutely what that that verse is meant

208
00:12:28,956 --> 00:12:32,956
Speaker 1: to communicate. You know, there there are no limits as

209
00:12:32,956 --> 00:12:36,596
Speaker 1: send through the universe. I believe in me, like it's religion.

210
00:12:36,676 --> 00:12:40,316
Speaker 1: But I am the only one who converts conversation with

211
00:12:40,396 --> 00:12:45,076
Speaker 1: the congregation. The scripture is in the verse I manifest

212
00:12:45,196 --> 00:12:49,796
Speaker 1: through my mentality. The only real is my reality, you know.

213
00:12:49,916 --> 00:12:53,516
Speaker 1: So it's like that that's the I love trying to

214
00:12:53,596 --> 00:12:59,916
Speaker 1: get those ideas into the music, to be able to

215
00:13:01,076 --> 00:13:02,476
Speaker 1: share the cheat.

216
00:13:02,196 --> 00:13:03,916
Speaker 3: Codes, you know.

217
00:13:04,516 --> 00:13:06,636
Speaker 1: And it's like, you know, one of the things with

218
00:13:06,676 --> 00:13:08,676
Speaker 1: my kids, there was a thing I used to say

219
00:13:08,676 --> 00:13:11,356
Speaker 1: to my kids all the time where you know, they

220
00:13:11,396 --> 00:13:12,276
Speaker 1: would say, oh.

221
00:13:12,196 --> 00:13:14,076
Speaker 3: No, I can't do that. I was like, no, don't

222
00:13:14,116 --> 00:13:14,556
Speaker 3: think that.

223
00:13:15,316 --> 00:13:21,516
Speaker 1: Don't think that, like the pattern of thoughts to emotions

224
00:13:21,876 --> 00:13:26,556
Speaker 1: that lead to actions that become your life. Right, And

225
00:13:26,596 --> 00:13:30,796
Speaker 1: it's like the first gate is what you think, Like,

226
00:13:30,996 --> 00:13:36,836
Speaker 1: don't think that. Only think things that are like aligned

227
00:13:36,916 --> 00:13:39,116
Speaker 1: with what you want to manifest.

228
00:13:39,356 --> 00:13:42,396
Speaker 2: When did when did that become like a concrete in

229
00:13:42,436 --> 00:13:43,756
Speaker 2: your head? Like I mean it seems like maybe you've

230
00:13:43,756 --> 00:13:45,476
Speaker 2: been operating I don't know if you were operating that

231
00:13:45,516 --> 00:13:47,836
Speaker 2: way subconsciously before or this was always sort of a

232
00:13:47,876 --> 00:13:50,956
Speaker 2: conscious manifestation of your So I think.

233
00:13:50,796 --> 00:13:55,876
Speaker 3: I always I knew as a child that.

234
00:13:58,636 --> 00:14:04,716
Speaker 1: The energy in a room is a major part of

235
00:14:04,756 --> 00:14:07,876
Speaker 1: what happens out of that room, like like what the

236
00:14:08,276 --> 00:14:14,236
Speaker 1: energy is. You can't create an opposition to what the

237
00:14:14,276 --> 00:14:18,036
Speaker 1: feelings and the energy are in the room. And I knew,

238
00:14:18,996 --> 00:14:25,276
Speaker 1: you know, very young, that my my imagination was the

239
00:14:25,316 --> 00:14:29,836
Speaker 1: center of my ability to create. And I knew that

240
00:14:29,956 --> 00:14:33,116
Speaker 1: if I if I was in a bad mood, I

241
00:14:33,236 --> 00:14:36,756
Speaker 1: was going to make bad things happen. And you know,

242
00:14:37,836 --> 00:14:41,356
Speaker 1: sort of a negative aspect of that for me is

243
00:14:42,356 --> 00:14:49,916
Speaker 1: I learned how to pretend. Right, So you pretend positive

244
00:14:50,036 --> 00:14:54,476
Speaker 1: energy and strangely you'll start to actually feel good.

245
00:14:54,636 --> 00:14:54,956
Speaker 2: Wow.

246
00:14:55,436 --> 00:14:57,676
Speaker 3: Right, But the the you know, the problem is.

247
00:14:57,596 --> 00:15:01,756
Speaker 1: That the the the the underlying issues are are still

248
00:15:01,796 --> 00:15:04,316
Speaker 1: there and you know they will they'll definitely creep up

249
00:15:04,316 --> 00:15:04,556
Speaker 1: on you.

250
00:15:05,516 --> 00:15:07,236
Speaker 3: That makes sense, the residual So.

251
00:15:07,436 --> 00:15:10,316
Speaker 1: Yeah, you gotta at some point point you have to

252
00:15:11,596 --> 00:15:17,516
Speaker 1: come out of the delusive positive energy and you have

253
00:15:17,636 --> 00:15:20,756
Speaker 1: to make your way through you know, your your interior

254
00:15:21,356 --> 00:15:24,676
Speaker 1: Valley of the Shadow of Death and come to you know,

255
00:15:25,876 --> 00:15:32,796
Speaker 1: authentic faith and trust and positivity. Yeah, that's looking forward.

256
00:15:33,196 --> 00:15:35,276
Speaker 2: I do want to go back to the start of

257
00:15:35,316 --> 00:15:37,716
Speaker 2: your music career, Chazy, Jeff and the Fresh Prince.

258
00:15:38,276 --> 00:15:39,636
Speaker 3: It was such a beautiful time.

259
00:15:39,756 --> 00:15:45,996
Speaker 1: So Jeff comes from a musical family and Jeff's brother

260
00:15:46,916 --> 00:15:50,316
Speaker 1: had ten thousand records. He had one of the biggest

261
00:15:50,476 --> 00:15:58,556
Speaker 1: record collections of anybody in Philly. And when Jeff was

262
00:15:58,596 --> 00:16:03,596
Speaker 1: twelve years old, he had a bout with cancer.

263
00:16:04,716 --> 00:16:08,076
Speaker 3: So Jeff wasn't allowed to come out of the house.

264
00:16:08,276 --> 00:16:12,916
Speaker 1: Between twelve sixteen, wow, and he was in his basement

265
00:16:13,236 --> 00:16:19,956
Speaker 1: with ten thousand records for the process of you know,

266
00:16:20,076 --> 00:16:22,996
Speaker 1: beating cancer and all of that. And we had to

267
00:16:22,996 --> 00:16:25,316
Speaker 1: go to Jeff's house to see him, right.

268
00:16:25,356 --> 00:16:27,796
Speaker 2: Was that like a like that's pretty like that's kind

269
00:16:27,796 --> 00:16:29,796
Speaker 2: of like hetty for like a sixteen year old to

270
00:16:29,836 --> 00:16:31,836
Speaker 2: be you know, you know another kid, you know, so

271
00:16:31,876 --> 00:16:32,476
Speaker 2: it's crazy.

272
00:16:32,516 --> 00:16:35,316
Speaker 1: I just you know, at that time, I didn't know

273
00:16:36,316 --> 00:16:39,516
Speaker 1: much about it and what it was and you know,

274
00:16:39,876 --> 00:16:44,396
Speaker 1: so I didn't really understand what was going on. And

275
00:16:44,436 --> 00:16:46,876
Speaker 1: he by the time we met, he was like, you know,

276
00:16:47,116 --> 00:16:50,436
Speaker 1: coming out of it. But he had spent those four

277
00:16:50,556 --> 00:16:54,916
Speaker 1: years in the in the base, in his mother's basement.

278
00:16:54,956 --> 00:16:59,076
Speaker 1: We did all of our original recording in his mother's basement. Wow,

279
00:16:59,156 --> 00:17:04,756
Speaker 1: so I don't have an image of Jeff in his

280
00:17:04,956 --> 00:17:09,196
Speaker 1: childhood home. I cannot recall an image where he's not

281
00:17:09,316 --> 00:17:15,316
Speaker 1: standing behind his turntables. Jeff was always behind his turntables.

282
00:17:15,356 --> 00:17:21,036
Speaker 1: He would he would be behind his turntables twelve hours

283
00:17:21,036 --> 00:17:25,236
Speaker 1: a day, but three and four hour stretches where he

284
00:17:25,276 --> 00:17:28,996
Speaker 1: wouldn't sit down. Wow, you're no, that's the only image

285
00:17:28,996 --> 00:17:31,516
Speaker 1: I have of him. I'm like trying to you know,

286
00:17:31,556 --> 00:17:32,916
Speaker 1: when I was writing my book, I was trying to

287
00:17:32,956 --> 00:17:36,196
Speaker 1: remember Jeff's in the kitchen. I was like, I don't

288
00:17:36,236 --> 00:17:37,836
Speaker 1: even have a I don't even have an image of

289
00:17:37,916 --> 00:17:39,956
Speaker 1: Jeff opening the refrigerator, like.

290
00:17:42,196 --> 00:17:45,076
Speaker 3: Always in front of his turntable. What was it like

291
00:17:45,276 --> 00:17:47,236
Speaker 3: His parents were like cool with it.

292
00:17:47,476 --> 00:17:50,396
Speaker 1: Yeah, well it was like, you know, his mother wanted

293
00:17:50,476 --> 00:17:55,156
Speaker 1: him in the house whatever. Yeah, yeah, she almost lost

294
00:17:55,156 --> 00:17:57,076
Speaker 1: her baby. She was like, as long as he's in

295
00:17:57,116 --> 00:17:58,916
Speaker 1: the house, y'all gonna do whatever you want down there.

296
00:17:59,116 --> 00:18:01,556
Speaker 2: But then they spend a time between like sixteen and

297
00:18:01,596 --> 00:18:02,516
Speaker 2: you guys are in the basement.

298
00:18:02,556 --> 00:18:04,796
Speaker 3: You never see Jeff out of the base on the turntable.

299
00:18:04,796 --> 00:18:08,116
Speaker 1: Well, you guys according by the time he was sixteen,

300
00:18:08,436 --> 00:18:11,236
Speaker 1: he was so used to being in his basement. From

301
00:18:11,356 --> 00:18:14,556
Speaker 1: sixteen to twenty he was still in there by choice.

302
00:18:16,596 --> 00:18:18,556
Speaker 2: I didn't really, I didn't know did that first because

303
00:18:18,556 --> 00:18:21,596
Speaker 2: you guys get signed a Jive, which is you know,

304
00:18:21,596 --> 00:18:24,196
Speaker 2: at the time or maybe still is London based. Yeah,

305
00:18:24,236 --> 00:18:26,516
Speaker 2: so you guys record the first album.

306
00:18:26,276 --> 00:18:29,156
Speaker 1: Yeah in London, in London, Yeah, kind of write it too,

307
00:18:29,236 --> 00:18:33,116
Speaker 1: maybe even like so, so what happened is, you know,

308
00:18:33,196 --> 00:18:36,036
Speaker 1: back then you had to have everything written before you

309
00:18:36,076 --> 00:18:37,876
Speaker 1: went in the studio. You couldn't go in the studio

310
00:18:37,876 --> 00:18:42,796
Speaker 1: and write in the studio. So we had prepared all

311
00:18:42,876 --> 00:18:45,516
Speaker 1: of the music and you know that was at a

312
00:18:45,516 --> 00:18:52,036
Speaker 1: time there was no pro tools. You couldn't record at home, right,

313
00:18:52,396 --> 00:18:55,556
Speaker 1: So it was like I think task Cam had just

314
00:18:55,676 --> 00:18:59,836
Speaker 1: come out with like a four track recorder and that

315
00:18:59,956 --> 00:19:02,076
Speaker 1: was the first time you could just at least get

316
00:19:02,156 --> 00:19:09,036
Speaker 1: something on to four track to hear it. So job

317
00:19:09,476 --> 00:19:12,796
Speaker 1: the company was Zamba. They were based in London, so

318
00:19:14,356 --> 00:19:18,956
Speaker 1: you know, we had recorded most of the music or

319
00:19:19,036 --> 00:19:22,436
Speaker 1: written most of the music in Philly and then we

320
00:19:22,556 --> 00:19:26,196
Speaker 1: flew to London to actually go into the studio.

321
00:19:26,116 --> 00:19:28,076
Speaker 2: So wildly in my mind, I would would have thought,

322
00:19:28,076 --> 00:19:29,716
Speaker 2: you guys did it in New York, you know something,

323
00:19:29,876 --> 00:19:32,716
Speaker 2: but like no, to go from like we're doing We're

324
00:19:32,756 --> 00:19:35,236
Speaker 2: Philly and we're doing hip hop, repping Philly hip hop

325
00:19:35,596 --> 00:19:37,676
Speaker 2: and we're going find we fine over forget New York

326
00:19:37,756 --> 00:19:39,996
Speaker 2: going to London.

327
00:19:39,756 --> 00:19:43,556
Speaker 1: London to record it was it was. It was my

328
00:19:43,676 --> 00:19:48,756
Speaker 1: first introduction to how important traveling is. It's like it

329
00:19:49,316 --> 00:19:54,876
Speaker 1: blasted my mind open. Like they didn't have steak knives.

330
00:19:54,956 --> 00:19:57,556
Speaker 1: I was like, how do you not have Why would

331
00:19:57,596 --> 00:20:00,916
Speaker 1: you did they? We were we were cutting steak with

332
00:20:00,996 --> 00:20:03,516
Speaker 1: butter knives. I was like, well, you know, we have

333
00:20:03,636 --> 00:20:08,036
Speaker 1: steak knives. I was just I was really really surprised.

334
00:20:08,076 --> 00:20:11,116
Speaker 1: I thought a a th other place like England would

335
00:20:11,116 --> 00:20:17,036
Speaker 1: at least have stak now, but yeah, it was. It

336
00:20:17,116 --> 00:20:20,916
Speaker 1: was like just the you know, just the cars and

337
00:20:20,956 --> 00:20:23,836
Speaker 1: the steering wheel on the other side and driving on

338
00:20:23,956 --> 00:20:28,036
Speaker 1: the other side of the street. It's it's amazing how

339
00:20:28,076 --> 00:20:33,276
Speaker 1: that can blast you know, a kid's mind open. You know,

340
00:20:33,356 --> 00:20:38,556
Speaker 1: you don't even consider the idea that people drive on

341
00:20:39,516 --> 00:20:41,676
Speaker 1: the other side of the street, and you get these

342
00:20:41,716 --> 00:20:44,796
Speaker 1: patterns in your mind that get locked and having an

343
00:20:44,836 --> 00:20:48,476
Speaker 1: experience that pops it open, you know, it just really

344
00:20:49,076 --> 00:20:54,436
Speaker 1: helps to open you to new ideas and new possibilities.

345
00:20:54,476 --> 00:20:56,436
Speaker 1: I think it was really great for me and Jeff

346
00:20:56,436 --> 00:21:01,516
Speaker 1: to be listening to radio in London while we were

347
00:21:01,556 --> 00:21:07,356
Speaker 1: recording our first album. So it it expanded well mind,

348
00:21:07,436 --> 00:21:13,356
Speaker 1: Jeff was already music, yeah, but it really expanded my understanding,

349
00:21:13,436 --> 00:21:17,276
Speaker 1: even the idea that they were loving hip hop in

350
00:21:17,356 --> 00:21:18,276
Speaker 1: a foreign country.

351
00:21:18,756 --> 00:21:19,516
Speaker 3: You know, I didn't.

352
00:21:19,556 --> 00:21:22,876
Speaker 1: It never had dawned on me that hip hop was

353
00:21:22,956 --> 00:21:27,036
Speaker 1: outside of New York, Philadelphia, New Jersey.

354
00:21:28,436 --> 00:21:30,876
Speaker 2: We'll be right back with more from Will Smith after

355
00:21:30,916 --> 00:21:38,636
Speaker 2: the break. You've talked about rock Him, Melly Mel being

356
00:21:38,676 --> 00:21:39,436
Speaker 2: to your guys.

357
00:21:39,516 --> 00:21:40,476
Speaker 3: Yeah for sure.

358
00:21:40,596 --> 00:21:44,836
Speaker 2: Was was was slick Rick at all? Like big for you?

359
00:21:45,356 --> 00:21:49,116
Speaker 3: Yeah, slick Rick was later. Yeah. So so.

360
00:21:50,676 --> 00:21:55,796
Speaker 1: For me it was Grandmaster Kaz was my my like,

361
00:21:56,516 --> 00:21:59,516
Speaker 1: my whole style and everything is based on Grandmaster Kaz.

362
00:22:00,396 --> 00:22:02,436
Speaker 3: So it was he was the He was the first

363
00:22:02,556 --> 00:22:04,676
Speaker 3: rapper that I.

364
00:22:04,596 --> 00:22:10,836
Speaker 1: Heard put comedic punchlines and there was something about that

365
00:22:10,836 --> 00:22:13,356
Speaker 1: that validated who I was. Wait, I could put a

366
00:22:13,476 --> 00:22:19,276
Speaker 1: joke in a rap and you know, he people would

367
00:22:19,316 --> 00:22:23,476
Speaker 1: be cracking up. At Grandmaster Kaz's punchline, and he would

368
00:22:23,476 --> 00:22:27,876
Speaker 1: do a thing where you know, the DJ would stop

369
00:22:27,956 --> 00:22:31,316
Speaker 1: the beat on the fourth bar so everybody could hear

370
00:22:31,436 --> 00:22:34,116
Speaker 1: the punchline and then drop the beat back in. And

371
00:22:34,156 --> 00:22:36,716
Speaker 1: he was the first person that I heard do that,

372
00:22:36,836 --> 00:22:40,916
Speaker 1: and that totally became my style.

373
00:22:41,156 --> 00:22:42,796
Speaker 3: You and Jeff were worked that out. We would work

374
00:22:42,876 --> 00:22:43,156
Speaker 3: that out.

375
00:22:43,236 --> 00:22:46,996
Speaker 1: Yeah, so there would be there would be no Fresh

376
00:22:47,076 --> 00:22:50,436
Speaker 1: Prints if there was no Grandmaster Kaz. Wow. So that

377
00:22:50,636 --> 00:22:54,156
Speaker 1: was and then Slick Rick comes in when so Slick

378
00:22:54,236 --> 00:22:59,396
Speaker 1: Rick was slicking Dougie. That's all like mid to late eighties.

379
00:23:00,156 --> 00:23:06,636
Speaker 1: But the summer that we dropped nineteen eighty six I

380
00:23:06,676 --> 00:23:11,516
Speaker 1: think is arguably right because it's one of.

381
00:23:11,556 --> 00:23:12,116
Speaker 3: The best time.

382
00:23:12,196 --> 00:23:14,796
Speaker 1: So it was you know, Jazzy, Jeff from Fresh Prince

383
00:23:14,916 --> 00:23:21,996
Speaker 1: and and uh Eric being Rok Kim Run, dmc ll cool,

384
00:23:22,116 --> 00:23:25,676
Speaker 1: j BC boys, all of that that that eighty six

385
00:23:25,716 --> 00:23:28,316
Speaker 1: to eighty eight, and Slick and Slick and Dougie were

386
00:23:28,396 --> 00:23:30,876
Speaker 1: right on the back end of that, right right, gonna

387
00:23:30,876 --> 00:23:32,876
Speaker 1: be like eighty seven eighty eight, Yeah, Yeah, when the

388
00:23:33,396 --> 00:23:36,796
Speaker 1: Yeah Deaf Jam record comes out. As you start to develop,

389
00:23:36,876 --> 00:23:39,596
Speaker 1: like you know, you told the story about getting the

390
00:23:39,636 --> 00:23:44,996
Speaker 1: Fresh Prince. When you you're I mean your firm, you're

391
00:23:45,036 --> 00:23:49,596
Speaker 1: super very successful despite being broke, blowing the money access,

392
00:23:49,836 --> 00:23:54,476
Speaker 1: you're a highly successful musician. You know, well, eighty nine

393
00:23:54,516 --> 00:23:58,676
Speaker 1: we won the Grammy and you know we we were

394
00:23:58,796 --> 00:24:03,196
Speaker 1: we were already on the on the the road to

395
00:24:03,236 --> 00:24:06,516
Speaker 1: bankruptcy while we were written winning the grim While you're

396
00:24:06,756 --> 00:24:09,876
Speaker 1: there the highs and the low Yeah, for sure.

397
00:24:10,116 --> 00:24:11,876
Speaker 2: But when you get the Fresh Prince, then is there

398
00:24:11,916 --> 00:24:13,076
Speaker 2: any part of you was like I was gonna do

399
00:24:13,236 --> 00:24:16,676
Speaker 2: Like obviously you released some more records as Judge Jeff

400
00:24:16,676 --> 00:24:20,196
Speaker 2: and The Fresh Prince. How did you manage both at

401
00:24:20,196 --> 00:24:20,676
Speaker 2: that time?

402
00:24:21,236 --> 00:24:24,556
Speaker 1: So you know, at that point once, once I was broke,

403
00:24:24,956 --> 00:24:26,956
Speaker 1: I was like, I don't ever want to do that again.

404
00:24:27,356 --> 00:24:29,556
Speaker 1: So I never want to do that again. So that

405
00:24:29,556 --> 00:24:33,196
Speaker 1: that is when the I went full beast mode. I

406
00:24:33,276 --> 00:24:36,676
Speaker 1: was like, I am doing this TV show. I'm going

407
00:24:36,756 --> 00:24:42,476
Speaker 1: to release music every single year. And you know, then

408
00:24:42,516 --> 00:24:44,876
Speaker 1: as I started to transition to movies, I was trying

409
00:24:44,916 --> 00:24:49,516
Speaker 1: to do a movie album and the TV show every year,

410
00:24:50,276 --> 00:24:54,356
Speaker 1: and you know, music kind of took a little bit

411
00:24:54,396 --> 00:24:56,996
Speaker 1: of a backseat, which is a part of my inspiration.

412
00:24:57,196 --> 00:24:57,476
Speaker 3: Now.

413
00:24:57,876 --> 00:25:03,876
Speaker 1: I've actually never concentrated on music. The way that I've

414
00:25:03,916 --> 00:25:08,996
Speaker 1: wanted to Music was always second to the Fresh Prince

415
00:25:08,996 --> 00:25:12,556
Speaker 1: of bel Air, or it was second, you know, even

416
00:25:12,636 --> 00:25:15,756
Speaker 1: when I got things to go together like men in Black,

417
00:25:15,876 --> 00:25:18,116
Speaker 1: so we do we do Men in Black and then

418
00:25:18,196 --> 00:25:21,676
Speaker 1: the song is also a hit for the soundtrack.

419
00:25:21,796 --> 00:25:23,436
Speaker 2: I was tripping though, because that, like, you know, I

420
00:25:23,476 --> 00:25:25,556
Speaker 2: was looking it up. I was like, that didn't even

421
00:25:26,076 --> 00:25:28,156
Speaker 2: Men in Black was a huge song. But anyone who

422
00:25:28,196 --> 00:25:30,316
Speaker 2: was there to remember that song was huge still is huge.

423
00:25:30,556 --> 00:25:33,356
Speaker 2: I didn't even chart. I can't beat It's like it

424
00:25:33,396 --> 00:25:36,476
Speaker 2: wasn't even officially released as a single, So it really

425
00:25:36,636 --> 00:25:37,636
Speaker 2: was like a secondary.

426
00:25:37,676 --> 00:25:38,316
Speaker 3: The secondary.

427
00:25:38,396 --> 00:25:43,356
Speaker 1: Yeah, you know, music was always the mistress, and she

428
00:25:43,476 --> 00:25:46,756
Speaker 1: doesn't like that, so I'm trying to.

429
00:25:46,676 --> 00:25:49,436
Speaker 2: Devote to her, trying to you know, And even I

430
00:25:49,476 --> 00:25:52,276
Speaker 2: went back trying to look up press. You might have

431
00:25:52,316 --> 00:25:55,596
Speaker 2: done around Big Willy Style, not a lot, but you

432
00:25:55,636 --> 00:25:57,156
Speaker 2: didn't really promote those that much.

433
00:25:57,276 --> 00:26:01,156
Speaker 1: Yeah, so you know, with Big Willy Style, that was

434
00:26:01,196 --> 00:26:03,916
Speaker 1: coming off of Men in Black, So I was trying

435
00:26:03,956 --> 00:26:08,076
Speaker 1: to use the momentum of that. But you know, Jazzy

436
00:26:08,156 --> 00:26:11,436
Speaker 1: Jeff and the Fresh Prince have never even gone on tour, right,

437
00:26:11,516 --> 00:26:15,356
Speaker 1: so we've done dates on other tours. We did dates

438
00:26:15,396 --> 00:26:19,196
Speaker 1: on Runs House, and we've been on and off of

439
00:26:19,236 --> 00:26:19,996
Speaker 1: other people's tour.

440
00:26:20,116 --> 00:26:21,836
Speaker 3: We never did a headlining tour again, never did a

441
00:26:21,836 --> 00:26:22,476
Speaker 3: headlining tour.

442
00:26:23,196 --> 00:26:27,236
Speaker 1: So this this will be the first time ever that

443
00:26:27,996 --> 00:26:32,036
Speaker 1: you know, we put together a tour and I get

444
00:26:32,076 --> 00:26:36,076
Speaker 1: to headline a world tour. Never so all that all

445
00:26:36,116 --> 00:26:37,836
Speaker 1: that live audio on like he's a DJ on the

446
00:26:37,916 --> 00:26:39,356
Speaker 1: rapper that's from just like one off.

447
00:26:39,236 --> 00:26:39,876
Speaker 3: One off show.

448
00:26:39,956 --> 00:26:43,716
Speaker 1: So you know, we would do The Fresh Prince of

449
00:26:43,716 --> 00:26:48,956
Speaker 1: bel Air would shoot on Friday nights. So what we

450
00:26:48,996 --> 00:26:52,156
Speaker 1: would do is the the taping would be Friday night.

451
00:26:52,716 --> 00:26:56,756
Speaker 1: We you know, flyout, we do a show Saturday night

452
00:26:56,916 --> 00:26:59,956
Speaker 1: somewhere and then Sunday back on a plane to be

453
00:27:00,076 --> 00:27:03,516
Speaker 1: back or at work on the Fresh Prince on Monday.

454
00:27:03,996 --> 00:27:06,716
Speaker 1: So we were getting one show here, one show there,

455
00:27:06,996 --> 00:27:09,756
Speaker 1: but never have actually done a tour. This will be

456
00:27:09,756 --> 00:27:14,036
Speaker 1: the first time in my life that I'm going to

457
00:27:14,116 --> 00:27:19,036
Speaker 1: put together a full tour, full show, full performance, headlining, headlining.

458
00:27:19,196 --> 00:27:20,276
Speaker 3: Do you haven't worked out yet?

459
00:27:20,476 --> 00:27:20,836
Speaker 1: I have.

460
00:27:21,196 --> 00:27:22,036
Speaker 3: I have my.

461
00:27:23,996 --> 00:27:26,356
Speaker 1: Ninety minutes. I had never been on stage for ninety

462
00:27:26,356 --> 00:27:31,556
Speaker 1: minutes before. So I did two shows in San Diego,

463
00:27:32,156 --> 00:27:33,156
Speaker 1: a couple of months ago.

464
00:27:33,236 --> 00:27:34,036
Speaker 3: It was wild.

465
00:27:34,156 --> 00:27:38,436
Speaker 1: It was the world is so desperate for nostalgia right now.

466
00:27:39,156 --> 00:27:42,756
Speaker 1: The world wants that so bad, and it's like people

467
00:27:43,436 --> 00:27:46,676
Speaker 1: just yearning for, you know, a time when things were

468
00:27:46,676 --> 00:27:51,556
Speaker 1: a little bit easier. So that and then the latter

469
00:27:51,596 --> 00:27:54,916
Speaker 1: half of the show transitioned into the new music and

470
00:27:55,356 --> 00:27:58,156
Speaker 1: it was just it was beautiful.

471
00:27:59,916 --> 00:28:03,116
Speaker 3: How people went with me, you know.

472
00:28:03,556 --> 00:28:10,956
Speaker 1: And you know, because it's really in one arena, I'm

473
00:28:10,996 --> 00:28:15,876
Speaker 1: seasoned artist, and then in this new space, I'm like

474
00:28:16,076 --> 00:28:19,756
Speaker 1: brand new. It's a weird experience. It's a weird yeah space,

475
00:28:19,796 --> 00:28:24,076
Speaker 1: you existing. So I'm trying to find that new way.

476
00:28:24,156 --> 00:28:27,436
Speaker 1: So it's the first time I've ever done ninety minutes,

477
00:28:27,636 --> 00:28:30,796
Speaker 1: was you know, two months ago in San Diego. In

478
00:28:30,876 --> 00:28:33,556
Speaker 1: San Diego, I've never been on on on music stage

479
00:28:33,556 --> 00:28:36,116
Speaker 1: for ninety minutes. I've never done more than sixty minutes.

480
00:28:36,636 --> 00:28:40,316
Speaker 2: I was the tour now coming out. That's crazy to me,

481
00:28:41,276 --> 00:28:43,196
Speaker 2: you know, the nostalgia of it. I mean going back

482
00:28:43,236 --> 00:28:45,156
Speaker 2: and listening to Big William will Any, I mean, that

483
00:28:45,236 --> 00:28:47,716
Speaker 2: was that was that was a trip for me. There

484
00:28:47,716 --> 00:28:49,876
Speaker 2: were some real interesting things. Was when I was going

485
00:28:49,916 --> 00:28:51,676
Speaker 2: back and revisiting it, I mean, I owned both in

486
00:28:51,716 --> 00:28:54,356
Speaker 2: the day and played them incessantly. But going back and

487
00:28:54,876 --> 00:28:58,156
Speaker 2: revisiting that now, like nas is on it, like first

488
00:28:58,196 --> 00:29:00,516
Speaker 2: all I didn't even realize, like going back like uh

489
00:29:00,636 --> 00:29:04,236
Speaker 2: uh Toning Poke, how did you get that?

490
00:29:04,356 --> 00:29:06,956
Speaker 1: So when you go to do your first solo.

491
00:29:06,716 --> 00:29:08,796
Speaker 2: Album, yeah, you probably could have at that point your

492
00:29:08,836 --> 00:29:09,836
Speaker 2: will you can probably could.

493
00:29:09,836 --> 00:29:11,716
Speaker 3: I mean you had done old On.

494
00:29:11,756 --> 00:29:16,916
Speaker 2: Let's think about this, between Code Red and uh Big

495
00:29:16,956 --> 00:29:21,356
Speaker 2: Willie Style, it's uh six and Greeks of Separation comes out.

496
00:29:21,436 --> 00:29:24,276
Speaker 1: Yeah, so I was doing a movie between each one,

497
00:29:24,356 --> 00:29:26,356
Speaker 1: the television show and a movie in between.

498
00:29:26,356 --> 00:29:29,476
Speaker 2: In between you film, you film and release Bad Boys,

499
00:29:29,516 --> 00:29:32,036
Speaker 2: Independence Day and Men Black. Yes, so I mean you

500
00:29:32,236 --> 00:29:36,996
Speaker 2: like no Vacation, no, no, nothing you know, and you

501
00:29:37,076 --> 00:29:39,916
Speaker 2: and Fresh Prince Rat Fresh Princes. So like all that's

502
00:29:39,956 --> 00:29:44,556
Speaker 2: happened in the four years between the Last Jazzy Jeff

503
00:29:44,596 --> 00:29:46,796
Speaker 2: and the Fresh Prince record and and and Big Willy

504
00:29:46,876 --> 00:29:49,596
Speaker 2: Star Style. But so how do you end up? And

505
00:29:49,996 --> 00:29:52,516
Speaker 2: I love the track masters, I love Tone and Pope.

506
00:29:53,116 --> 00:29:54,316
Speaker 1: How do you end up with them? How'd end up

507
00:29:54,356 --> 00:29:57,036
Speaker 1: with them? Being the how do we meet Tone and Polk?

508
00:29:57,116 --> 00:30:03,316
Speaker 1: I think so Big Willi Style. I think they were

509
00:30:03,556 --> 00:30:07,276
Speaker 1: signed to the label at that time, Columbia. Yeah, they

510
00:30:07,276 --> 00:30:11,556
Speaker 1: were sligned to signed to Columbia, and we I don't

511
00:30:11,596 --> 00:30:14,076
Speaker 1: remember how we met the first first time we met,

512
00:30:14,076 --> 00:30:15,756
Speaker 1: but they were like the top of the top. They

513
00:30:15,756 --> 00:30:18,676
Speaker 1: were they were producing everybody at that time, and they

514
00:30:18,676 --> 00:30:21,836
Speaker 1: were you know, Nas and Mary J. Blige and you know,

515
00:30:21,916 --> 00:30:24,356
Speaker 1: so they they had they had hits. They were they

516
00:30:24,356 --> 00:30:28,236
Speaker 1: were the guys of the moment. And you know that

517
00:30:28,356 --> 00:30:30,636
Speaker 1: that was that was a little bit tough because Jeff

518
00:30:30,836 --> 00:30:32,396
Speaker 1: at that point had produced everything.

519
00:30:33,116 --> 00:30:35,596
Speaker 3: So we had never worked with outside producers.

520
00:30:35,756 --> 00:30:38,556
Speaker 1: Do some stuff on the last one, right, like Teddy

521
00:30:38,636 --> 00:30:41,716
Speaker 1: Riley did a song, but but even that was coming

522
00:30:41,756 --> 00:30:44,836
Speaker 1: through Jeff. So Jeff, So this was the first time

523
00:30:44,956 --> 00:30:51,356
Speaker 1: that I went with producers and you know, worked separately

524
00:30:51,956 --> 00:30:57,116
Speaker 1: on on music. So was that a tough conversation to have? Yeah, yeah,

525
00:30:57,276 --> 00:31:01,156
Speaker 1: you know it's Jeff is real easy going. Jeff, Jeff

526
00:31:01,236 --> 00:31:03,676
Speaker 1: is real easy going. And he he had uh he

527
00:31:03,716 --> 00:31:05,676
Speaker 1: had started in the Fresh Prince of bel Air, so

528
00:31:05,716 --> 00:31:08,716
Speaker 1: he was he he was cool at that time. But

529
00:31:09,236 --> 00:31:11,076
Speaker 1: what it was a little it was a little bit

530
00:31:11,236 --> 00:31:14,036
Speaker 1: of a of a difficult time because I was trying

531
00:31:14,076 --> 00:31:18,396
Speaker 1: to like do something new. I was trying to like

532
00:31:19,156 --> 00:31:22,276
Speaker 1: find a new direction, a new voice, not not unsimilar

533
00:31:22,316 --> 00:31:25,076
Speaker 1: to now. You know, I think that that shoot, that

534
00:31:25,156 --> 00:31:28,796
Speaker 1: might that might be the the central human skill to

535
00:31:28,916 --> 00:31:32,676
Speaker 1: be able to transform and transition, you know, it's like

536
00:31:33,316 --> 00:31:37,916
Speaker 1: to to be able to make the adjustment. This one's

537
00:31:37,956 --> 00:31:42,596
Speaker 1: bigger than that, you know, but it's, uh, it is

538
00:31:42,676 --> 00:31:44,436
Speaker 1: I'm thinking about it. I hadn't thought about it. It

539
00:31:44,476 --> 00:31:48,756
Speaker 1: is a it's a really similar kind of seeking for

540
00:31:49,476 --> 00:31:54,236
Speaker 1: the new artistic expression, well, the trajectory again fresh prints

541
00:31:54,516 --> 00:31:56,876
Speaker 1: that as a as a sort of the point of

542
00:31:56,956 --> 00:32:00,156
Speaker 1: view for making the music into big will Willie style Willennium,

543
00:32:00,356 --> 00:32:03,956
Speaker 1: that is, being like the newly minted movie star. Yes,

544
00:32:04,116 --> 00:32:05,116
Speaker 1: that's like that.

545
00:32:04,996 --> 00:32:07,636
Speaker 3: Big WILLI take it full Big Willie. That's that point

546
00:32:07,676 --> 00:32:08,836
Speaker 3: of view. And yeah, right now it.

547
00:32:08,756 --> 00:32:12,596
Speaker 2: Feels more personal than ever. I mean, although first person

548
00:32:12,596 --> 00:32:15,196
Speaker 2: probably was personal too. It's just a lot lighter when

549
00:32:15,196 --> 00:32:16,756
Speaker 2: you're you know, it's.

550
00:32:16,596 --> 00:32:21,516
Speaker 1: Different when you're when you're as an actor, it's you know,

551
00:32:21,796 --> 00:32:26,156
Speaker 1: it's kind of you, but you're playing a character, whereas

552
00:32:26,156 --> 00:32:32,476
Speaker 1: the music is much more uh personal. And I think

553
00:32:32,556 --> 00:32:38,036
Speaker 1: what happened in the first part of my career I

554
00:32:38,116 --> 00:32:47,076
Speaker 1: rejected anything that wasn't happy and joyful and getting jiggy

555
00:32:47,156 --> 00:32:50,836
Speaker 1: with it. You know, I was living fully in that

556
00:32:51,076 --> 00:32:55,436
Speaker 1: space and I kind of banished, you know, those other

557
00:32:55,476 --> 00:32:59,076
Speaker 1: parts of myself. So this is this is really the

558
00:32:58,596 --> 00:33:02,876
Speaker 1: the first time in my in my career with with

559
00:33:03,116 --> 00:33:09,076
Speaker 1: music for sure, that I'm allowing a fuller, fuller spectrum

560
00:33:09,676 --> 00:33:15,276
Speaker 1: of my thoughts and feelings to be delivered in in

561
00:33:15,316 --> 00:33:15,876
Speaker 1: the music.

562
00:33:16,196 --> 00:33:18,756
Speaker 3: Although Willennium, you Am with the Rain.

563
00:33:18,716 --> 00:33:22,716
Speaker 1: Yeah, and you got saw I put it as the

564
00:33:22,796 --> 00:33:25,796
Speaker 1: last song song, put as the last song. I was like, Okay,

565
00:33:25,796 --> 00:33:27,636
Speaker 1: this one, this one got a little sad and it's

566
00:33:27,756 --> 00:33:30,116
Speaker 1: in it. Put the We're gonna put that as the

567
00:33:30,196 --> 00:33:33,476
Speaker 1: last song. It's incredible though, Man, Jill Scott's amazing. I

568
00:33:33,556 --> 00:33:37,316
Speaker 1: think that's one of her first like like like features

569
00:33:37,316 --> 00:33:38,716
Speaker 1: on a record, you know what I mean, Ji Scott,

570
00:33:38,796 --> 00:33:39,956
Speaker 1: that was one of the That was one of the

571
00:33:40,036 --> 00:33:43,276
Speaker 1: first records that I worked with somebody to write. Common

572
00:33:43,516 --> 00:33:46,156
Speaker 1: wrote that with me really yeah the Rain, So me

573
00:33:46,196 --> 00:33:47,476
Speaker 1: and Common worked together on that.

574
00:33:47,516 --> 00:33:48,556
Speaker 3: So how did that come together?

575
00:33:48,876 --> 00:33:51,956
Speaker 1: So you know, he was just in the studio, he

576
00:33:52,476 --> 00:33:54,236
Speaker 1: was in another studio he was working on.

577
00:33:54,316 --> 00:33:55,556
Speaker 3: He was like, Yo, what you working on?

578
00:33:56,156 --> 00:33:59,476
Speaker 1: He literally just came in the studio and start throwing

579
00:33:59,556 --> 00:34:00,436
Speaker 1: lines and weep.

580
00:34:00,516 --> 00:34:01,996
Speaker 3: Me and Common wrote The Rain together.

581
00:34:02,156 --> 00:34:02,636
Speaker 1: Wow.

582
00:34:02,916 --> 00:34:04,956
Speaker 2: Yeah, there's been people who said that you did. We're

583
00:34:04,996 --> 00:34:06,716
Speaker 2: doing that with Nas on Big Willie Stein.

584
00:34:07,156 --> 00:34:10,876
Speaker 1: Yes, yeah, so what was the track?

585
00:34:10,996 --> 00:34:15,396
Speaker 3: It was a just cruising, just cu want just cruising

586
00:34:15,996 --> 00:34:18,036
Speaker 3: with Nas. Yeah.

587
00:34:18,116 --> 00:34:21,596
Speaker 1: So I wrote that with Nas and wrote The Rain

588
00:34:22,316 --> 00:34:29,116
Speaker 1: with with Common. That's wild, man, Like, collaboration is everything. Man,

589
00:34:29,156 --> 00:34:33,516
Speaker 1: This is like opening up to other ideas and other

590
00:34:33,636 --> 00:34:40,516
Speaker 1: voices and hearing you know, what people would do differently, right,

591
00:34:40,636 --> 00:34:43,876
Speaker 1: And it's like how Common's mind works and how NAS's

592
00:34:43,996 --> 00:34:46,716
Speaker 1: mind works. And for me it was it was it

593
00:34:46,796 --> 00:34:50,716
Speaker 1: was trying to reach for people that I admired to

594
00:34:50,916 --> 00:34:54,356
Speaker 1: like pull something out of me. I just, I just

595
00:34:54,436 --> 00:34:57,836
Speaker 1: I wasn't ready at that time. Genre changed so much

596
00:34:57,876 --> 00:35:00,196
Speaker 1: too between I mean, you know, just like your career

597
00:35:00,316 --> 00:35:02,476
Speaker 1: changed so much between co Red and Big Willly sounds

598
00:35:02,556 --> 00:35:05,876
Speaker 1: like between co Redd and Big Willly sounce like illmatic.

599
00:35:05,916 --> 00:35:08,876
Speaker 1: And it was written comes out life after that or

600
00:35:09,196 --> 00:35:11,236
Speaker 1: ready to die and life after Death. Me guess well,

601
00:35:11,316 --> 00:35:13,116
Speaker 1: and all that time it's like there was like a

602
00:35:13,156 --> 00:35:16,436
Speaker 1: big you know, it just changed so much. I always

603
00:35:16,596 --> 00:35:21,556
Speaker 1: wanted to rap like that. You know, and I just

604
00:35:21,676 --> 00:35:28,396
Speaker 1: never gave myself permission, you know, to make things that

605
00:35:28,676 --> 00:35:33,636
Speaker 1: weren't at the top of joyful energy, you know, to

606
00:35:33,676 --> 00:35:37,316
Speaker 1: be able to settle back a little bit into different

607
00:35:37,556 --> 00:35:40,636
Speaker 1: emotions and different energies. And this is the first time.

608
00:35:41,156 --> 00:35:44,876
Speaker 1: I always want it, hits. I want a big, giant

609
00:35:45,196 --> 00:35:50,396
Speaker 1: global hit records, and I knew how to make still

610
00:35:50,516 --> 00:35:57,316
Speaker 1: know how to make records that will play in one

611
00:35:57,396 --> 00:36:00,716
Speaker 1: hundred and ninety countries in the world, you know. So

612
00:36:01,916 --> 00:36:07,876
Speaker 1: I'm trying to release that outcome desire. And now I

613
00:36:07,996 --> 00:36:14,236
Speaker 1: really want to express myself, right, I want to like

614
00:36:14,556 --> 00:36:19,116
Speaker 1: explore what's going on in here and share it and

615
00:36:19,276 --> 00:36:25,916
Speaker 1: find that connective space with other people who could enjoy

616
00:36:26,516 --> 00:36:29,796
Speaker 1: the experience of my testimony, like what happened I saw

617
00:36:29,916 --> 00:36:33,716
Speaker 1: with my book. When you open and are vulnerable in

618
00:36:34,556 --> 00:36:38,756
Speaker 1: that way, it is helpful. It's helpful because you know,

619
00:36:38,876 --> 00:36:41,116
Speaker 1: we all think we're by ourselves. Did you know you

620
00:36:41,116 --> 00:36:43,276
Speaker 1: were going to be that open when you started the book?

621
00:36:43,316 --> 00:36:43,636
Speaker 3: Like did you?

622
00:36:43,796 --> 00:36:45,916
Speaker 1: Because like you, I was like, wow, this is you

623
00:36:45,996 --> 00:36:48,516
Speaker 1: are being vulnerable, which was such a gift. But no,

624
00:36:48,716 --> 00:36:52,996
Speaker 1: I certainly didn't know that when I started, you know,

625
00:36:53,076 --> 00:36:56,076
Speaker 1: But as I as I got into it that like that,

626
00:36:56,116 --> 00:37:03,556
Speaker 1: the medium lends itself to more openness. It's a little

627
00:37:03,596 --> 00:37:08,836
Speaker 1: more difficult for me doing that with the music because

628
00:37:08,836 --> 00:37:10,316
Speaker 1: you got make it rhyme, you know.

629
00:37:11,356 --> 00:37:12,116
Speaker 3: You figure it out.

630
00:37:12,276 --> 00:37:14,676
Speaker 1: That's another thing where you just you got in a book,

631
00:37:14,716 --> 00:37:17,516
Speaker 1: you just say it and your your you know, and

632
00:37:17,556 --> 00:37:22,276
Speaker 1: you have so much space. And in literature you have

633
00:37:22,356 --> 00:37:24,196
Speaker 1: so much space to make your point.

634
00:37:24,316 --> 00:37:26,076
Speaker 3: You made use of it, though, and I'm sure there's more.

635
00:37:26,076 --> 00:37:27,796
Speaker 1: I'm sure you could. I know you're probably gonna do

636
00:37:27,796 --> 00:37:30,116
Speaker 1: another one. I hope you do.

637
00:37:30,236 --> 00:37:34,076
Speaker 2: But that's a substantial book, and you know, I just

638
00:37:34,116 --> 00:37:35,916
Speaker 2: couldn't help but thinking about it when I'm listening to

639
00:37:36,316 --> 00:37:39,876
Speaker 2: Beautiful Scars and First Love, which will be out by

640
00:37:39,876 --> 00:37:40,236
Speaker 2: the time.

641
00:37:40,476 --> 00:37:44,836
Speaker 3: Yeah, this, like India Martina is gorgeous.

642
00:37:45,636 --> 00:37:49,196
Speaker 1: She's an incredible She's incredible. Can you talk about First

643
00:37:49,196 --> 00:37:55,236
Speaker 1: Love a bit? So the way I'm creating my current

644
00:37:55,396 --> 00:38:00,276
Speaker 1: music is anything that sparks.

645
00:37:59,836 --> 00:38:02,996
Speaker 3: I'm making a song, right.

646
00:38:03,356 --> 00:38:08,116
Speaker 1: I used to be directed by what I thought would land,

647
00:38:09,276 --> 00:38:12,476
Speaker 1: and so now I'm not paying attention to whether it

648
00:38:12,636 --> 00:38:18,996
Speaker 1: lands or not. I'm only focusing on an accurate expression

649
00:38:19,756 --> 00:38:24,436
Speaker 1: of whatever came up for me, whatever came up inside

650
00:38:24,436 --> 00:38:24,636
Speaker 1: of me.

651
00:38:24,676 --> 00:38:25,956
Speaker 3: So with the first love.

652
00:38:26,756 --> 00:38:33,756
Speaker 1: I saw this video of in Cuba with these kids

653
00:38:34,356 --> 00:38:39,636
Speaker 1: learning flamenco and it was this really strange mix of

654
00:38:39,716 --> 00:38:44,316
Speaker 1: kids in Cuba and it was the flamenco guitars and

655
00:38:44,356 --> 00:38:47,516
Speaker 1: all that, you know, and it's like flamenco is really sexy.

656
00:38:48,116 --> 00:38:50,996
Speaker 1: And you know, these kids were like twelve or thirteen,

657
00:38:51,476 --> 00:38:53,596
Speaker 1: and I just watched. There was a little boy and

658
00:38:53,636 --> 00:38:57,556
Speaker 1: a little girl and they were how they were looking

659
00:38:57,596 --> 00:39:00,876
Speaker 1: at each other, and I was like, wow, you see

660
00:39:00,876 --> 00:39:04,916
Speaker 1: that look and you remember like that first time you

661
00:39:05,236 --> 00:39:11,316
Speaker 1: like fell in love with somebody, that feeling of absolute

662
00:39:11,556 --> 00:39:16,716
Speaker 1: joy and possibility and anxiety and all of that stuff

663
00:39:16,756 --> 00:39:22,116
Speaker 1: that gets mixed up in first love. And then I

664
00:39:22,236 --> 00:39:27,316
Speaker 1: was I was noticing how we lose the ability to

665
00:39:27,396 --> 00:39:30,596
Speaker 1: be that open after we get hurt, and then once

666
00:39:30,636 --> 00:39:35,516
Speaker 1: we're adults, we don't even allow ourselves to fall into

667
00:39:35,556 --> 00:39:40,076
Speaker 1: that delicious, mystical place of first love.

668
00:39:40,516 --> 00:39:42,196
Speaker 3: I don't think anyone would accept it if you try,

669
00:39:42,236 --> 00:39:44,356
Speaker 3: your friends, what do you do? What do you think?

670
00:39:45,956 --> 00:39:48,356
Speaker 1: But it's really and I was looking at those kids,

671
00:39:48,396 --> 00:39:49,876
Speaker 1: I was like, Wow, that's.

672
00:39:49,716 --> 00:39:51,676
Speaker 3: What we all really want.

673
00:39:52,396 --> 00:39:57,036
Speaker 1: We really want to feel that with no fear at

674
00:39:57,116 --> 00:40:01,996
Speaker 1: all like and and then I saw India perform in

675
00:40:02,276 --> 00:40:06,516
Speaker 1: uh Marbella and I saw her perform and she had

676
00:40:06,516 --> 00:40:10,116
Speaker 1: a flamenco piece. I was like, so I pitched the

677
00:40:10,236 --> 00:40:12,556
Speaker 1: idea to her and she loved it and she went

678
00:40:12,556 --> 00:40:14,796
Speaker 1: in the studio. So did you have words already or

679
00:40:16,116 --> 00:40:18,276
Speaker 1: I had the emotion of what I wanted to do,

680
00:40:18,356 --> 00:40:23,036
Speaker 1: But it was the flamenco hip hop blend that I

681
00:40:23,076 --> 00:40:25,236
Speaker 1: got excited about. So we went back and forth for

682
00:40:25,236 --> 00:40:28,956
Speaker 1: a couple of months and the record First Love is

683
00:40:28,996 --> 00:40:30,036
Speaker 1: what came out of it.

684
00:40:30,036 --> 00:40:31,156
Speaker 3: It's really amazing. Man.

685
00:40:33,196 --> 00:40:35,156
Speaker 2: After this last break, we were back with the rest

686
00:40:35,156 --> 00:40:37,476
Speaker 2: of my conversation with Will Smith.

687
00:40:41,716 --> 00:40:42,156
Speaker 3: It's funny.

688
00:40:42,236 --> 00:40:44,756
Speaker 1: I was sick about four years ago and I threw

689
00:40:44,796 --> 00:40:47,796
Speaker 1: in your audiobook three years ago and I spent like

690
00:40:48,116 --> 00:40:50,556
Speaker 1: five days in bed just like with your voice in

691
00:40:50,596 --> 00:40:53,956
Speaker 1: there and your book just it blew me away. Oh

692
00:40:53,996 --> 00:40:56,396
Speaker 1: thank you man, And it made you know, just I

693
00:40:56,396 --> 00:40:58,236
Speaker 1: think the way it is a book that was that

694
00:40:58,396 --> 00:41:01,036
Speaker 1: personal and that you read it too, and the way

695
00:41:01,076 --> 00:41:01,796
Speaker 1: you produced it.

696
00:41:01,796 --> 00:41:03,156
Speaker 3: It really was like, man, I feel like I know

697
00:41:03,236 --> 00:41:04,036
Speaker 3: this guy now. You know.

698
00:41:04,116 --> 00:41:06,796
Speaker 2: We couldn't that weird, but from what I like, what

699
00:41:06,836 --> 00:41:08,996
Speaker 2: I could glean from that. What trimmed me out is

700
00:41:08,996 --> 00:41:11,316
Speaker 2: it seems like there's this kind of duality with you.

701
00:41:11,596 --> 00:41:16,076
Speaker 2: That's that's that's there's the highly rational will. It's accepted

702
00:41:16,116 --> 00:41:21,516
Speaker 2: to m I t you know, very mathematical, precision based rationality.

703
00:41:22,116 --> 00:41:24,076
Speaker 2: And then it does seem though it's the flip side

704
00:41:24,076 --> 00:41:26,996
Speaker 2: of that, which is like the intuitive artist, No, I'm

705
00:41:26,996 --> 00:41:30,236
Speaker 2: gonna go, I'm gonna go sign a record deal and

706
00:41:30,316 --> 00:41:32,236
Speaker 2: me and Jazz are gonna go toward the world.

707
00:41:32,876 --> 00:41:35,396
Speaker 1: The universe I learned and one of the things I

708
00:41:35,476 --> 00:41:38,956
Speaker 1: talked about in the book, I learned that the as

709
00:41:39,116 --> 00:41:44,836
Speaker 1: much as our minds want the universe to be rational

710
00:41:45,516 --> 00:41:48,716
Speaker 1: and logical, it's not.

711
00:41:49,676 --> 00:41:50,996
Speaker 3: The universe is magical.

712
00:41:51,756 --> 00:41:55,116
Speaker 1: Right, So that's why we love movies like The Matrix,

713
00:41:55,396 --> 00:41:56,476
Speaker 1: because deep down.

714
00:41:56,236 --> 00:41:58,956
Speaker 3: Inside we know that's how it really is.

715
00:41:59,036 --> 00:42:02,756
Speaker 1: That's why we like It's that that the the the

716
00:42:02,756 --> 00:42:07,676
Speaker 1: the universe. And you know, you can say God, or

717
00:42:07,756 --> 00:42:11,516
Speaker 1: you can say source, or you can say the quantum field,

718
00:42:11,556 --> 00:42:15,636
Speaker 1: whatever you think. The energy is of the universe that

719
00:42:15,796 --> 00:42:20,276
Speaker 1: you know is there that you know you can tap into, right,

720
00:42:20,596 --> 00:42:24,436
Speaker 1: you know, that's why Star Wars, you know, the force

721
00:42:25,356 --> 00:42:30,396
Speaker 1: in martial arts, it's cheat everybody talks about a source

722
00:42:30,676 --> 00:42:38,556
Speaker 1: energy that you can tap into and you become exponential. Right, so,

723
00:42:39,996 --> 00:42:48,316
Speaker 1: very young, I connected my thoughts to that energy that

724
00:42:48,636 --> 00:42:50,396
Speaker 1: is this magical.

725
00:42:52,716 --> 00:42:58,756
Speaker 3: Source God, spiritual.

726
00:42:57,356 --> 00:43:05,556
Speaker 1: Energy that creates things exponential, that's directed by your desires

727
00:43:05,636 --> 00:43:09,076
Speaker 1: and your energy and your your mind and your heart,

728
00:43:09,236 --> 00:43:12,636
Speaker 1: you know. So I've been aware of that. This is

729
00:43:12,676 --> 00:43:17,356
Speaker 1: the first time in my life, probably the past three years,

730
00:43:17,476 --> 00:43:25,356
Speaker 1: where I am fully committed to that energy from from

731
00:43:25,356 --> 00:43:31,116
Speaker 1: a spiritual standpoint, you know, in the past couple of years,

732
00:43:31,196 --> 00:43:35,356
Speaker 1: I've read every Holy book, you know, I went, I

733
00:43:35,396 --> 00:43:40,116
Speaker 1: went looking for for God and and found them.

734
00:43:39,516 --> 00:43:42,796
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's turning up in your in the in the

735
00:43:42,876 --> 00:43:47,036
Speaker 2: lyrics for this album, I mean Fresh Prince to Big

736
00:43:47,076 --> 00:43:50,956
Speaker 2: Willie Willennium to what you put out. Now, this is

737
00:43:50,956 --> 00:43:55,716
Speaker 2: the most introspective, Yes, for sure. It's it's like, you know,

738
00:43:55,756 --> 00:44:01,236
Speaker 2: I feel like I've been blessed with cheat codes.

739
00:44:01,676 --> 00:44:07,316
Speaker 1: You know, I've been I've been blessed with with secrets,

740
00:44:07,716 --> 00:44:14,716
Speaker 1: and I'm trying to figure out how to share them

741
00:44:14,996 --> 00:44:16,676
Speaker 1: without sounding like the crazy dude.

742
00:44:19,476 --> 00:44:21,276
Speaker 3: You know. I want you all to get some of

743
00:44:21,276 --> 00:44:22,036
Speaker 3: this abundance.

744
00:44:22,956 --> 00:44:26,156
Speaker 1: Was that the impetus then to start doing music again. Yeah,

745
00:44:26,196 --> 00:44:30,316
Speaker 1: you know what what happened? It really started for me

746
00:44:30,556 --> 00:44:35,396
Speaker 1: on emancipations. I did a movie in the slave drama

747
00:44:35,876 --> 00:44:39,676
Speaker 1: a couple of years ago, and you know, it was

748
00:44:39,756 --> 00:44:47,756
Speaker 1: it was really brutal going into the mindset and the

749
00:44:47,756 --> 00:44:56,076
Speaker 1: the the absolute malice and malevolence of slavery and holding

750
00:44:56,196 --> 00:44:59,476
Speaker 1: holding my mind in that in that place for three months,

751
00:44:59,836 --> 00:45:04,196
Speaker 1: and then COVID hit and I ended up having to

752
00:45:04,476 --> 00:45:08,636
Speaker 1: stay in that emotional feel for nine months because you're

753
00:45:08,636 --> 00:45:10,556
Speaker 1: not sure when going back to shooting, so we don't

754
00:45:10,556 --> 00:45:11,236
Speaker 1: want to get out of it.

755
00:45:11,356 --> 00:45:15,116
Speaker 3: Yeah, so I was staying in And what does that

756
00:45:15,156 --> 00:45:15,636
Speaker 3: look like? Though?

757
00:45:15,676 --> 00:45:17,356
Speaker 1: Like, well, I never even thought about that. What do

758
00:45:17,436 --> 00:45:20,196
Speaker 1: you do? I mean, you're Will Smith, you know, You're

759
00:45:20,836 --> 00:45:24,036
Speaker 1: you're the product of your parents, a Philly, of Quincy Jones,

760
00:45:24,076 --> 00:45:26,796
Speaker 1: of all like all these magical, wonderful people.

761
00:45:27,236 --> 00:45:30,396
Speaker 2: And you're putting yourself into a role that is you know,

762
00:45:30,436 --> 00:45:33,156
Speaker 2: and obviously this is our lineage. Yeah, sure enough, But

763
00:45:34,196 --> 00:45:37,076
Speaker 2: in twenty twenty or whatever, you having to put yourself

764
00:45:37,116 --> 00:45:39,036
Speaker 2: in the mindset of a of a of a of

765
00:45:39,076 --> 00:45:41,556
Speaker 2: a slave, a person who's being treated as less than human.

766
00:45:41,636 --> 00:45:43,716
Speaker 1: What did you what did you do to do that?

767
00:45:44,236 --> 00:45:47,516
Speaker 1: You know there as an actor, you you know, you

768
00:45:47,636 --> 00:45:52,396
Speaker 1: consume all of the literature and you know there there

769
00:45:52,436 --> 00:45:57,876
Speaker 1: are you know, tapes of former slaves and things, you know,

770
00:45:58,276 --> 00:46:04,276
Speaker 1: enslaved people, and you're you, you consume it all and

771
00:46:04,356 --> 00:46:10,956
Speaker 1: then there's a point where something clicks. And for me,

772
00:46:11,076 --> 00:46:16,316
Speaker 1: the point where it clicked on emancipation I had. I said,

773
00:46:16,356 --> 00:46:21,476
Speaker 1: I wanted to use the real shackles, right. They were like, hey,

774
00:46:21,476 --> 00:46:23,156
Speaker 1: we can make them lighter, and we can do that.

775
00:46:23,196 --> 00:46:27,436
Speaker 1: I was like, no, I want, I want the actual shackles.

776
00:46:28,076 --> 00:46:32,156
Speaker 1: So they found, you know, an actual one they were

777
00:46:32,196 --> 00:46:36,076
Speaker 1: going to rebuild, but they put it around my neck

778
00:46:36,116 --> 00:46:37,636
Speaker 1: and I was chained and it was on my neck

779
00:46:37,676 --> 00:46:40,516
Speaker 1: and I was standing there with it and then the

780
00:46:40,636 --> 00:46:44,636
Speaker 1: key wouldn't open it and we're like, oh no, and

781
00:46:44,756 --> 00:46:49,756
Speaker 1: it was stuck, and my heart starts pounding and I'm

782
00:46:49,836 --> 00:46:55,516
Speaker 1: standing there and in that moment it just started opening up.

783
00:46:55,676 --> 00:46:59,876
Speaker 1: Now I have people that are running around, like desperately

784
00:46:59,956 --> 00:47:03,316
Speaker 1: trying to get this thing off of my neck, But

785
00:47:03,556 --> 00:47:06,636
Speaker 1: in those fifteen minutes where they couldn't get it off,

786
00:47:06,756 --> 00:47:12,436
Speaker 1: it was like the the concept exploded inside of me

787
00:47:12,516 --> 00:47:16,636
Speaker 1: of what it's like to be at the Mercy of

788
00:47:16,716 --> 00:47:22,956
Speaker 1: other people's whims and I just understood it was like, Wow,

789
00:47:23,596 --> 00:47:28,436
Speaker 1: I'm sitting here shook with people running around try to

790
00:47:28,516 --> 00:47:30,916
Speaker 1: get it off. What would it feel like if people

791
00:47:30,916 --> 00:47:33,636
Speaker 1: didn't give a shit? What would it feel like if

792
00:47:33,676 --> 00:47:37,436
Speaker 1: people would kick me and punch me when I couldn't

793
00:47:38,396 --> 00:47:43,596
Speaker 1: fight back, you know? And it just popped inside of

794
00:47:43,636 --> 00:47:47,316
Speaker 1: my mind. You're like, all of a sudden, for whatever reason,

795
00:47:47,396 --> 00:47:49,756
Speaker 1: I didn't want to look people in their eyes. I

796
00:47:49,796 --> 00:47:54,916
Speaker 1: was embarrassed, right, and I felt weak and I felt vulnerable,

797
00:47:54,956 --> 00:47:56,756
Speaker 1: and I was like, this is what it would do,

798
00:47:56,836 --> 00:47:59,276
Speaker 1: This is what it does to your spirit. And I'm

799
00:47:59,316 --> 00:48:01,476
Speaker 1: standing there and my whole crew is there and they're

800
00:48:01,476 --> 00:48:06,436
Speaker 1: looking at me too, and I'm like, I'm deeply disempowered

801
00:48:07,676 --> 00:48:11,396
Speaker 1: and scared and embarrassed. I was like yep, and like

802
00:48:11,476 --> 00:48:16,716
Speaker 1: all of the emotions exploded inside of me of how

803
00:48:16,836 --> 00:48:25,796
Speaker 1: you're dehumanized by that kind of brutality. So you know

804
00:48:25,956 --> 00:48:28,796
Speaker 1: that once that piece awakened and you get in touch

805
00:48:28,876 --> 00:48:31,836
Speaker 1: with those emotions as an actor, you start to be

806
00:48:31,876 --> 00:48:34,316
Speaker 1: able to call on them, and you call on those

807
00:48:34,356 --> 00:48:37,836
Speaker 1: memories and things. But what happened is I ended up

808
00:48:37,836 --> 00:48:42,396
Speaker 1: having to stay in that field for nine months, and

809
00:48:42,476 --> 00:48:46,556
Speaker 1: something happened to me that never happened before as an actress.

810
00:48:46,596 --> 00:48:50,596
Speaker 1: I started to dream as the character would dream. I

811
00:48:50,676 --> 00:48:55,996
Speaker 1: was having his dreams, right, and you know, some of

812
00:48:56,036 --> 00:48:58,996
Speaker 1: the some of the images I was seeing were like

813
00:48:59,996 --> 00:49:02,676
Speaker 1: full nightmare imagery.

814
00:49:02,876 --> 00:49:08,836
Speaker 3: And it's it like popped open a well.

815
00:49:09,596 --> 00:49:13,916
Speaker 1: And you know, in in the character well opened up

816
00:49:13,916 --> 00:49:18,436
Speaker 1: inside of me. A another part, a banished part of

817
00:49:18,556 --> 00:49:23,396
Speaker 1: will opened up also, and and it's just I just

818
00:49:23,516 --> 00:49:26,516
Speaker 1: I became a brand new human after emancipation.

819
00:49:29,076 --> 00:49:30,996
Speaker 2: There was literally a part of you. I mean I

820
00:49:31,036 --> 00:49:32,556
Speaker 2: think about that too when I was when I was

821
00:49:32,596 --> 00:49:35,516
Speaker 2: listening to your book. You know, I think a lot

822
00:49:35,516 --> 00:49:39,436
Speaker 2: about Obama as a for instance, like the how he

823
00:49:39,556 --> 00:49:43,676
Speaker 2: has to be you know, beyond reproach in order and

824
00:49:43,716 --> 00:49:45,716
Speaker 2: the you know, it's like, oh you are a base

825
00:49:45,836 --> 00:49:50,676
Speaker 2: soup like you know, like yes, you know, thinking back

826
00:49:50,716 --> 00:49:57,716
Speaker 2: to like Fox not wanting to cast you in Independence day. Okay,

827
00:49:57,716 --> 00:50:00,156
Speaker 2: oh he's black and I's not gonna self foreign. These

828
00:50:00,156 --> 00:50:04,196
Speaker 2: are things that you're you know, even as your your

829
00:50:04,196 --> 00:50:07,076
Speaker 2: will and you're holding your confidence and you're you're holding

830
00:50:08,276 --> 00:50:10,796
Speaker 2: your spirit up as an example for all of us

831
00:50:10,876 --> 00:50:13,396
Speaker 2: and how to overcome you're dealing with these things. And

832
00:50:13,436 --> 00:50:15,436
Speaker 2: so there is I mean, I think probably in all

833
00:50:15,476 --> 00:50:17,796
Speaker 2: of us, in every Black American, there's just there is

834
00:50:17,836 --> 00:50:21,436
Speaker 2: probably some wounded part. I can only imagine what being

835
00:50:21,476 --> 00:50:23,716
Speaker 2: a slight well channeling that.

836
00:50:23,636 --> 00:50:26,556
Speaker 1: Would One of one of the things that I realized

837
00:50:26,636 --> 00:50:33,196
Speaker 1: in the last couple of years is we're We're all wounded.

838
00:50:34,236 --> 00:50:42,436
Speaker 1: Wounding is existential. The the specific parts of our personal

839
00:50:42,596 --> 00:50:48,556
Speaker 1: wounding is unique to our experience, but it's not unique

840
00:50:48,916 --> 00:50:56,996
Speaker 1: to humanity. You know, women feel the same kind of

841
00:50:57,036 --> 00:51:04,756
Speaker 1: wounding with men, And there's there's a sameness to our

842
00:51:05,076 --> 00:51:11,796
Speaker 1: existential wounding that makes us miss treat each other right.

843
00:51:12,236 --> 00:51:21,596
Speaker 1: And the the the recognition of our plight of all

844
00:51:21,916 --> 00:51:27,636
Speaker 1: being dropped into this existential meat grinder, this place of

845
00:51:28,036 --> 00:51:34,116
Speaker 1: absolute chaos and brutality and confusion. And when when, when

846
00:51:34,156 --> 00:51:38,956
Speaker 1: I can find my sameness with you, we're.

847
00:51:38,876 --> 00:51:40,956
Speaker 3: Less likely to fight about it.

848
00:51:41,356 --> 00:51:45,716
Speaker 1: But if I need to prove somehow I'm worse off

849
00:51:45,836 --> 00:51:50,636
Speaker 1: than you because of you, then you know, fighting is

850
00:51:50,636 --> 00:51:52,636
Speaker 1: the only thing left to do.

851
00:51:52,876 --> 00:51:52,996
Speaker 3: Right.

852
00:51:54,436 --> 00:51:58,596
Speaker 2: But the unique wound that you had that was exposed

853
00:51:58,636 --> 00:52:03,316
Speaker 2: to this role, you feel led to creativity.

854
00:52:04,196 --> 00:52:08,756
Speaker 1: It's the that it's I started to see code, you know,

855
00:52:08,836 --> 00:52:11,196
Speaker 1: that's it was fun for me to do to do

856
00:52:11,316 --> 00:52:13,716
Speaker 1: the matrix, and how you started thinking about the matrix

857
00:52:13,756 --> 00:52:16,316
Speaker 1: as an entry point to present the music. I was

858
00:52:16,356 --> 00:52:20,796
Speaker 1: like that it is. We all feel that it's brilliant.

859
00:52:20,836 --> 00:52:24,356
Speaker 1: The matrix is brilliant, but we really start to look

860
00:52:24,356 --> 00:52:26,916
Speaker 1: at it and when you start to see the practicality

861
00:52:27,436 --> 00:52:33,396
Speaker 1: of what it actually means. And in essence, it's the

862
00:52:33,676 --> 00:52:40,876
Speaker 1: idea that you have a story about reality and I

863
00:52:41,076 --> 00:52:45,316
Speaker 1: have a story about reality, and neither one of our

864
00:52:45,356 --> 00:52:51,356
Speaker 1: stories is actually true, right, right, we have a you know,

865
00:52:51,996 --> 00:52:56,996
Speaker 1: my story is my father beat up my mother in

866
00:52:57,036 --> 00:53:02,756
Speaker 1: front of me, and because of that, I felt like

867
00:53:03,076 --> 00:53:05,596
Speaker 1: I had to sing and dance and make the house happy.

868
00:53:05,996 --> 00:53:10,036
Speaker 1: And then that's how I became Will Smith. Right, And

869
00:53:10,996 --> 00:53:18,036
Speaker 1: you know, I have my perception of myself that is

870
00:53:18,196 --> 00:53:21,036
Speaker 1: nowhere near the actual.

871
00:53:21,436 --> 00:53:24,476
Speaker 3: There's a meta, there's a yeah thing that I am right,

872
00:53:24,556 --> 00:53:24,796
Speaker 3: you know.

873
00:53:25,396 --> 00:53:31,436
Speaker 1: So Michael Beckwith has a really beautiful phrase. He calls

874
00:53:31,476 --> 00:53:36,516
Speaker 1: it the friction of fictions, and he says, that's what

875
00:53:36,676 --> 00:53:40,196
Speaker 1: people are dealing with. I am fighting for my false

876
00:53:40,236 --> 00:53:44,276
Speaker 1: story to be true, and you're fighting for your false

877
00:53:44,476 --> 00:53:47,996
Speaker 1: story to be true. And you see it in relationships

878
00:53:48,036 --> 00:53:50,996
Speaker 1: and you see it in governments and you you know,

879
00:53:51,076 --> 00:53:56,236
Speaker 1: you see where I am clinging to a story that

880
00:53:56,356 --> 00:54:00,076
Speaker 1: I desperately need to be true. And that's the That's

881
00:54:00,116 --> 00:54:02,236
Speaker 1: what I really like about the matrix. It's like, yo',

882
00:54:02,356 --> 00:54:04,796
Speaker 1: it's that's not true, you know.

883
00:54:05,436 --> 00:54:10,876
Speaker 3: And so and so you're making music now, I know

884
00:54:10,876 --> 00:54:11,436
Speaker 3: I'm going far.

885
00:54:13,276 --> 00:54:13,676
Speaker 1: I'm just here.

886
00:54:13,716 --> 00:54:14,116
Speaker 3: I'm just trying.

887
00:54:14,196 --> 00:54:15,356
Speaker 1: I'm just trying to thread it together.

888
00:54:16,116 --> 00:54:20,316
Speaker 2: So really this was and it's you wanted to you

889
00:54:20,316 --> 00:54:24,756
Speaker 2: you you had this uh realization in a real concrete way,

890
00:54:24,876 --> 00:54:27,196
Speaker 2: you wanted you felt the need to share this. That's

891
00:54:27,236 --> 00:54:31,956
Speaker 2: where this different version of Will Smith the rapper, the musician,

892
00:54:32,876 --> 00:54:34,476
Speaker 2: and this product.

893
00:54:34,196 --> 00:54:40,476
Speaker 1: And its most simple form. I feel like there is.

894
00:54:40,596 --> 00:54:43,876
Speaker 3: A new wave.

895
00:54:44,396 --> 00:54:50,396
Speaker 1: That's coming, like where we are going some place in

896
00:54:50,636 --> 00:54:54,636
Speaker 1: terms of consciousness, in terms of humanity, in terms of connection,

897
00:54:54,756 --> 00:54:59,356
Speaker 1: in terms of understanding, and you know, I really do

898
00:55:00,316 --> 00:55:05,036
Speaker 1: uh believe that the power of it is going to

899
00:55:05,156 --> 00:55:12,556
Speaker 1: be in deeply and personally looking at ourselves and like

900
00:55:12,676 --> 00:55:17,356
Speaker 1: the actual fiber of what's happening between us, like to

901
00:55:18,076 --> 00:55:26,196
Speaker 1: truly understand like the nature of reality, separate from your

902
00:55:26,356 --> 00:55:34,356
Speaker 1: thoughts about reality, like biting down on what our thoughts

903
00:55:34,396 --> 00:55:37,116
Speaker 1: and beliefs are versus. Okay, let me I'm gonna back

904
00:55:37,156 --> 00:55:39,476
Speaker 1: off of that just a little bit to see if

905
00:55:39,516 --> 00:55:45,036
Speaker 1: I can see what's really truly happening in this moment.

906
00:55:45,076 --> 00:55:48,516
Speaker 1: And it's like with my music, I really am trying

907
00:55:48,556 --> 00:55:52,036
Speaker 1: to explore myself and trying to explore the world and

908
00:55:52,076 --> 00:55:54,196
Speaker 1: trying to.

909
00:55:53,356 --> 00:55:55,316
Speaker 3: Figure out how we can treat each other better.

910
00:55:55,556 --> 00:55:59,756
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know what that is the mission? And you

911
00:55:59,876 --> 00:56:02,396
Speaker 2: have the words coming to you. How do you how

912
00:56:02,436 --> 00:56:04,836
Speaker 2: do you set out to do? I mean, I know

913
00:56:04,836 --> 00:56:06,716
Speaker 2: you spend some time in Spain and there's some great

914
00:56:06,756 --> 00:56:10,316
Speaker 2: allusions to the moors and stars for instance, and like

915
00:56:10,356 --> 00:56:12,756
Speaker 2: so what how do you start? But your kids are

916
00:56:12,876 --> 00:56:14,876
Speaker 2: making incredible music, Like.

917
00:56:14,836 --> 00:56:15,316
Speaker 1: How are you?

918
00:56:15,356 --> 00:56:17,116
Speaker 3: How do you start to figure out? Like how I'm

919
00:56:17,116 --> 00:56:18,316
Speaker 3: gonna put this together? You know?

920
00:56:18,396 --> 00:56:24,636
Speaker 1: So I I start with, you know, really simple basic ideas,

921
00:56:24,636 --> 00:56:26,556
Speaker 1: like you know, the first song I.

922
00:56:26,596 --> 00:56:30,156
Speaker 3: Released was uh called you Can Make It?

923
00:56:30,796 --> 00:56:34,436
Speaker 1: And I got a number one gospel record like that

924
00:56:34,596 --> 00:56:40,956
Speaker 1: was that was like quite a treat. But it felt

925
00:56:40,956 --> 00:56:46,636
Speaker 1: like the most basic, kindest thing that you can say

926
00:56:46,676 --> 00:56:50,716
Speaker 1: to another human being is to recognize that, even though

927
00:56:50,756 --> 00:56:53,716
Speaker 1: you don't know what they're going through, you know that

928
00:56:54,476 --> 00:56:58,836
Speaker 1: everybody is going through something. You know, in this room,

929
00:56:58,876 --> 00:57:03,956
Speaker 1: you look around, you know, every single person is going

930
00:57:03,996 --> 00:57:04,676
Speaker 1: through something.

931
00:57:04,876 --> 00:57:05,916
Speaker 3: That's what connects us.

932
00:57:06,316 --> 00:57:13,196
Speaker 1: Somebody just lost a loved one, somebody's going through a breakup,

933
00:57:13,836 --> 00:57:18,516
Speaker 1: somebody lost a job, somebody just got a diagnosis.

934
00:57:18,636 --> 00:57:22,076
Speaker 3: Right like, all of that is happening in this room

935
00:57:22,196 --> 00:57:22,596
Speaker 3: right now.

936
00:57:23,236 --> 00:57:26,596
Speaker 1: You lost the home whatever, you know in Los Angeles, now,

937
00:57:26,676 --> 00:57:30,236
Speaker 1: the fires, everybody's going through something. So to me it

938
00:57:30,556 --> 00:57:35,036
Speaker 1: felt like foundational humanity is, hey, brother, I don't know

939
00:57:35,076 --> 00:57:39,236
Speaker 1: what it is, but you can make it, you know.

940
00:57:39,716 --> 00:57:44,436
Speaker 1: So I wanted to speak to that, you know, sort

941
00:57:44,516 --> 00:57:51,996
Speaker 1: of collective difficulty that I think in understanding that difficulty,

942
00:57:52,596 --> 00:57:56,716
Speaker 1: I think that it potentially creates a higher level of compassion.

943
00:57:57,356 --> 00:58:00,636
Speaker 1: And then did it drift into let's kind of make

944
00:58:00,716 --> 00:58:05,236
Speaker 1: this essentially a gospel song like playing that church.

945
00:58:04,996 --> 00:58:06,076
Speaker 3: And that's just what happened.

946
00:58:06,076 --> 00:58:09,276
Speaker 1: It was like I was looking for the sound that

947
00:58:09,396 --> 00:58:13,916
Speaker 1: captured the spirit of you can make it, you know.

948
00:58:14,316 --> 00:58:18,796
Speaker 1: And you know, Jason came in with the with the

949
00:58:18,836 --> 00:58:21,796
Speaker 1: Sunday Service and he really really blessed that track.

950
00:58:21,716 --> 00:58:24,796
Speaker 2: The Sunday Service choir on that is incredible man, And

951
00:58:24,836 --> 00:58:29,716
Speaker 2: you did that performance and you had Kirk Franklin unbelievable

952
00:58:29,756 --> 00:58:30,236
Speaker 2: man that.

953
00:58:30,756 --> 00:58:37,316
Speaker 1: Was that was Chandler more. Also, you know, it's I'm

954
00:58:37,356 --> 00:58:42,196
Speaker 1: really searching. I feel like a brand new artist right now,

955
00:58:42,396 --> 00:58:46,196
Speaker 1: you know. I know I have nostalgia, you know, and

956
00:58:46,236 --> 00:58:50,996
Speaker 1: I'm definitely gonna give people the nostalgia when I go

957
00:58:50,996 --> 00:58:55,116
Speaker 1: go on tour and performing the old music. But I'm

958
00:58:55,196 --> 00:59:01,156
Speaker 1: really looking for the next phase of my career, the

959
00:59:01,196 --> 00:59:05,116
Speaker 1: next phase of my artistry. I'm trying to find that

960
00:59:05,116 --> 00:59:08,636
Speaker 1: that next place, you know, and I'm really excited to

961
00:59:08,756 --> 00:59:14,276
Speaker 1: try to put put words and imagery and sound to

962
00:59:15,316 --> 00:59:19,956
Speaker 1: you know, the fire holes of ideas I'm experiencing. Do

963
00:59:19,996 --> 00:59:21,956
Speaker 1: you think there'll be multiple projects like Beyond? I mean

964
00:59:22,116 --> 00:59:24,076
Speaker 1: you're breaking into chapters.

965
00:59:23,596 --> 00:59:27,596
Speaker 4: Multiple chapters, seasons, season three seasons, excuse three season. We

966
00:59:27,596 --> 00:59:30,196
Speaker 4: were talking about the book I got on the chapter seasons.

967
00:59:31,156 --> 00:59:32,796
Speaker 4: But it seems like you are you still like are

968
00:59:32,836 --> 00:59:36,876
Speaker 4: you just is this something we're now of the everything's flowing, like,

969
00:59:36,916 --> 00:59:37,956
Speaker 4: do you think it'll just keep the.

970
00:59:38,076 --> 00:59:42,476
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's it's there's nothing like music. There's nothing like music.

971
00:59:43,156 --> 00:59:45,596
Speaker 2: What do you listen to day to day when you're

972
00:59:45,636 --> 00:59:47,996
Speaker 2: not making music? When you were going back to maybe

973
00:59:48,396 --> 00:59:51,196
Speaker 2: let's say twenty fifteen to twenty twenty before your music

974
00:59:51,236 --> 00:59:52,596
Speaker 2: maker mode, Like, what do you was?

975
00:59:52,636 --> 00:59:56,116
Speaker 1: I listened to back then, afrobeats was started to pop,

976
00:59:56,316 --> 01:00:00,716
Speaker 1: and I was looking at a lot of global music.

977
01:00:01,316 --> 01:00:04,116
Speaker 1: You know, are you trying to put like bumba stereo colia?

978
01:00:04,236 --> 01:00:04,396
Speaker 3: Yeah?

979
01:00:04,476 --> 01:00:06,596
Speaker 1: Yeah, And I was looking at you know, what was

980
01:00:06,636 --> 01:00:11,716
Speaker 1: happening in Korea. You know, they were really starting to

981
01:00:11,716 --> 01:00:14,756
Speaker 1: to cultivate a music industry.

982
01:00:15,516 --> 01:00:18,356
Speaker 3: They make pop songs as good as anything, unbelievable.

983
01:00:18,436 --> 01:00:21,036
Speaker 1: You know, they really took off with television, the Korean

984
01:00:21,196 --> 01:00:23,476
Speaker 1: Korean TV is wild right now.

985
01:00:23,956 --> 01:00:24,476
Speaker 3: But yeah, it was.

986
01:00:24,636 --> 01:00:27,636
Speaker 1: It was global music I was looking for, you know,

987
01:00:28,196 --> 01:00:34,316
Speaker 1: the sounds of the world. I really feel like the

988
01:00:34,316 --> 01:00:41,156
Speaker 1: the necessity of artists today is to get out ahead

989
01:00:41,876 --> 01:00:49,836
Speaker 1: of politicians and make connections and make collaborations and create

990
01:00:49,996 --> 01:00:57,516
Speaker 1: some understanding through through artistic exchange, you know, before the

991
01:00:57,556 --> 01:01:01,396
Speaker 1: misunderstandings turn into military action.

992
01:01:01,996 --> 01:01:05,076
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's the history of music really, Yes, is artists

993
01:01:05,076 --> 01:01:07,916
Speaker 2: being out ahead of the politicians. We're going to go

994
01:01:07,956 --> 01:01:11,076
Speaker 2: to Louisiana and Texas and cord Yes, absolutely, people on

995
01:01:11,236 --> 01:01:14,436
Speaker 2: working fields and people you know, prison label We're gonna

996
01:01:14,476 --> 01:01:16,076
Speaker 2: go record this stuff. And put it in, you know,

997
01:01:16,076 --> 01:01:18,876
Speaker 2: and then that's how you get you know, rock and

998
01:01:18,956 --> 01:01:21,316
Speaker 2: roll in the fifty years. So it's like that is

999
01:01:21,356 --> 01:01:25,996
Speaker 2: the real explosion of creativity and music in the twentieth

1000
01:01:25,996 --> 01:01:28,516
Speaker 2: century we think about is from that. So the idea

1001
01:01:28,556 --> 01:01:29,596
Speaker 2: of getting back to that.

1002
01:01:29,876 --> 01:01:31,076
Speaker 3: Yeah, definitely.

1003
01:01:31,196 --> 01:01:38,516
Speaker 1: The the you know, global artistic collaboration in today's world,

1004
01:01:39,116 --> 01:01:42,996
Speaker 1: I think is imperative, Like it's a it's an imperative

1005
01:01:43,076 --> 01:01:45,556
Speaker 1: that we uh get to know each other and get

1006
01:01:45,556 --> 01:01:49,276
Speaker 1: to understand each other, and you know, for the first

1007
01:01:49,276 --> 01:01:55,436
Speaker 1: time in human history, the infrastructure is available for that

1008
01:01:55,556 --> 01:01:56,556
Speaker 1: kind of exchange.

1009
01:01:56,996 --> 01:01:57,476
Speaker 3: It's funny.

1010
01:01:57,476 --> 01:01:59,956
Speaker 2: I had a during COVID. I had an interesting experience

1011
01:02:00,036 --> 01:02:03,956
Speaker 2: watching the Tiger Woods documentary that was on HBO, Whereas

1012
01:02:03,996 --> 01:02:07,356
Speaker 2: you know, tigers is like incredible, right, She's insane, but

1013
01:02:07,916 --> 01:02:09,356
Speaker 2: you know, watching that, I was like, man, it just

1014
01:02:09,356 --> 01:02:12,876
Speaker 2: seems like he at some point do you see on

1015
01:02:12,956 --> 01:02:15,716
Speaker 2: the early footage with him on the golf course of

1016
01:02:15,756 --> 01:02:19,356
Speaker 2: his dad, Like it feels like at some point like damn,

1017
01:02:19,396 --> 01:02:23,076
Speaker 2: like people, maybe he doesn't have a connection back to that,

1018
01:02:23,156 --> 01:02:24,756
Speaker 2: Like it feels like in some weird way, you know,

1019
01:02:24,796 --> 01:02:26,836
Speaker 2: and his dad's gone. It's just it's just it feels

1020
01:02:26,836 --> 01:02:29,836
Speaker 2: like this, It feels like a great tragedy when later

1021
01:02:29,876 --> 01:02:33,556
Speaker 2: in life we still can't find some connection back to

1022
01:02:34,476 --> 01:02:37,676
Speaker 2: who we are these formative things, And yeah, I think

1023
01:02:38,596 --> 01:02:44,876
Speaker 2: my experience is I'm like I'm currently in that space

1024
01:02:45,156 --> 01:02:51,116
Speaker 2: of trying to like tap back into that deep well

1025
01:02:51,876 --> 01:02:58,236
Speaker 2: of like essential me, you know, and you know, life

1026
01:02:58,276 --> 01:03:03,316
Speaker 2: gets caked on top of it, you know, and the

1027
01:03:03,356 --> 01:03:06,956
Speaker 2: picking of a personality right is like, you know, we

1028
01:03:07,116 --> 01:03:11,156
Speaker 2: have this constellation of things that we're gonna let ourselves be,

1029
01:03:11,596 --> 01:03:13,916
Speaker 2: and then there's all these things over there that we're

1030
01:03:13,916 --> 01:03:17,676
Speaker 2: not gonna let ourselves be, and we imprison parts of ourselves,

1031
01:03:18,196 --> 01:03:21,036
Speaker 2: you know. So part of the process of what I'm

1032
01:03:21,276 --> 01:03:25,076
Speaker 2: experiencing is a little bit like a prison break, you know,

1033
01:03:25,596 --> 01:03:30,436
Speaker 2: to kind of open that scary place where I take

1034
01:03:30,476 --> 01:03:34,396
Speaker 2: a really good look at what I really am versus

1035
01:03:34,716 --> 01:03:36,996
Speaker 2: what I want people to think I am. It's it's

1036
01:03:37,036 --> 01:03:39,156
Speaker 2: amazing though, too, how we can even know these things.

1037
01:03:39,236 --> 01:03:41,636
Speaker 2: And because I mean you even have a cut from

1038
01:03:41,676 --> 01:03:48,876
Speaker 2: the Early Night, like uh, shadow self kind of essentially

1039
01:03:49,396 --> 01:03:50,996
Speaker 2: there what you're saying that you already know. It's like

1040
01:03:50,996 --> 01:03:56,916
Speaker 2: there's these different you pulled that one from Deep Cut Man,

1041
01:03:58,436 --> 01:04:01,236
Speaker 2: Deep hidden on the album people Sleep on That cut Man,

1042
01:04:01,396 --> 01:04:04,036
Speaker 2: People Sleep on that, People Sleep on You saw my

1043
01:04:04,036 --> 01:04:09,636
Speaker 2: blinker Will's cussing on records Now you hurt?

1044
01:04:09,876 --> 01:04:15,796
Speaker 3: Yeah, that was two shorts favorite Jazzy Jeffyds Fresh Prince

1045
01:04:15,916 --> 01:04:20,116
Speaker 3: record where we went to Oakland and true short.

1046
01:04:19,956 --> 01:04:23,196
Speaker 1: Was like, that's the one that's You'll never make nothing

1047
01:04:23,236 --> 01:04:23,876
Speaker 1: better than that.

1048
01:04:24,316 --> 01:04:29,236
Speaker 3: You saw my blinker bitch incredible.

1049
01:04:29,996 --> 01:04:31,556
Speaker 2: I want to ask you one more thing before you go,

1050
01:04:31,596 --> 01:04:33,796
Speaker 2: just because I got you here. Is it true that

1051
01:04:33,836 --> 01:04:37,396
Speaker 2: you met Notorious b I g like for the first.

1052
01:04:37,116 --> 01:04:40,516
Speaker 3: Time the night he got killed.

1053
01:04:40,876 --> 01:04:44,476
Speaker 1: What in the world Let me tell you, Like, I

1054
01:04:44,476 --> 01:04:46,756
Speaker 1: don't even I don't even want to say this out

1055
01:04:46,836 --> 01:04:51,756
Speaker 1: loud because it's like it's like a terrible jinx. I

1056
01:04:51,916 --> 01:04:57,956
Speaker 1: met Biggie, you know, four hours before he got killed,

1057
01:04:59,036 --> 01:05:02,476
Speaker 1: and I talked to Prince eight hours before he died.

1058
01:05:05,436 --> 01:05:07,796
Speaker 1: I talked to Prince and he called and he was pitching.

1059
01:05:07,916 --> 01:05:11,556
Speaker 1: He was saying that me, him and jay Z should

1060
01:05:11,596 --> 01:05:14,556
Speaker 1: start an entertainment company. And he said he had talked

1061
01:05:14,556 --> 01:05:17,956
Speaker 1: to Jay and he wanted to do it. And we

1062
01:05:18,076 --> 01:05:21,396
Speaker 1: talked that night and in the in the morning, he

1063
01:05:21,556 --> 01:05:23,476
Speaker 1: was gone.

1064
01:05:24,036 --> 01:05:25,636
Speaker 3: I just I don't know what that says about me?

1065
01:05:25,996 --> 01:05:27,236
Speaker 1: Well, I don't think it.

1066
01:05:27,236 --> 01:05:30,556
Speaker 3: Well, you have enough experiences in life. Look things happen

1067
01:05:30,676 --> 01:05:34,036
Speaker 3: like No, I'm like, don't call me, don't call me.

1068
01:05:34,236 --> 01:05:35,036
Speaker 3: You've had plenty.

1069
01:05:34,836 --> 01:05:38,836
Speaker 1: Of don't take it down. But that's got to be

1070
01:05:38,876 --> 01:05:41,516
Speaker 1: a disorienting experience. Just wake up and be like I

1071
01:05:41,596 --> 01:05:43,876
Speaker 1: just met this, you know. Or I just met this

1072
01:05:43,916 --> 01:05:46,716
Speaker 1: insanely talented, brilliant human and now they're or I just

1073
01:05:46,716 --> 01:05:49,476
Speaker 1: had a phone call with Prince who you know. Yeah, No,

1074
01:05:49,636 --> 01:05:53,876
Speaker 1: the Biggie one. The Biggie one made me cry because

1075
01:05:53,916 --> 01:05:58,036
Speaker 1: it was it was like stupid, yeah you know, and

1076
01:05:58,076 --> 01:06:03,196
Speaker 1: it was like just centered on hip hop like for rapping,

1077
01:06:03,996 --> 01:06:06,716
Speaker 1: you know, and that that that one, that one hurt me.

1078
01:06:06,996 --> 01:06:14,116
Speaker 3: But it scared me too. Yeah no, but yeah, going there.

1079
01:06:14,596 --> 01:06:17,676
Speaker 1: Okay, man, all right, well.

1080
01:06:19,716 --> 01:06:22,196
Speaker 3: Man, maybe that was a dark note. That was good.

1081
01:06:22,676 --> 01:06:27,116
Speaker 1: Good. You're bringing the Brothers, bringing the rain, Okay, bringing

1082
01:06:27,156 --> 01:06:28,876
Speaker 1: the ring man.

1083
01:06:28,916 --> 01:06:33,036
Speaker 2: Well, thanks, I'm excited to hear the seasons. Yeah, I'm

1084
01:06:33,116 --> 01:06:35,396
Speaker 2: just this is uh. I'm excited to see what else

1085
01:06:35,396 --> 01:06:35,756
Speaker 2: comes of this.

1086
01:06:35,796 --> 01:06:36,676
Speaker 3: Man. It's been interesting.

1087
01:06:36,676 --> 01:06:38,796
Speaker 2: It's so fun to follow the journey on Instagram too,

1088
01:06:38,796 --> 01:06:40,396
Speaker 2: when you I mean just seeing what you were doing

1089
01:06:40,436 --> 01:06:42,716
Speaker 2: in Spain and the creation.

1090
01:06:42,476 --> 01:06:42,956
Speaker 3: Of the album.

1091
01:06:43,356 --> 01:06:46,196
Speaker 2: It's really cool having this this rollout and beautiful scars.

1092
01:06:46,196 --> 01:06:48,716
Speaker 2: The video came out this morning. It's just and it's

1093
01:06:48,716 --> 01:06:52,796
Speaker 2: for real fashion again. It's like red pill, blue pill, rational?

1094
01:06:52,956 --> 01:06:54,716
Speaker 3: Is them both?

1095
01:06:54,836 --> 01:06:58,076
Speaker 1: Yes? Yes, I love that. I love that idea. Nope,

1096
01:06:58,076 --> 01:07:00,676
Speaker 1: take them both. I want both things. It's incredible, you know.

1097
01:07:00,916 --> 01:07:03,396
Speaker 3: That's the that's the paradox of this whole thing. Man.

1098
01:07:03,556 --> 01:07:07,556
Speaker 1: It's like both answers are always correct. God will meet

1099
01:07:07,596 --> 01:07:08,876
Speaker 1: you down whatever road you go.

1100
01:07:09,396 --> 01:07:11,516
Speaker 3: May we all learn to live like you. Man.

1101
01:07:11,516 --> 01:07:13,636
Speaker 1: It just you know, have it all man, Hello, brother

1102
01:07:13,716 --> 01:07:15,076
Speaker 1: figured it. Appreciate it. I appreciate you.

1103
01:07:15,116 --> 01:07:15,596
Speaker 3: Thank you man.

1104
01:07:18,476 --> 01:07:20,436
Speaker 2: Thanks Will Smith for taking the time to drop by

1105
01:07:20,476 --> 01:07:23,596
Speaker 2: Amazon Music Studio one twenty six to walk Broken Record

1106
01:07:23,596 --> 01:07:26,876
Speaker 2: through his career, artistry, and new project based on.

1107
01:07:26,836 --> 01:07:27,596
Speaker 3: A true story.

1108
01:07:28,276 --> 01:07:29,916
Speaker 2: You can hear a playlist of all of our favorite

1109
01:07:29,916 --> 01:07:32,676
Speaker 2: Will and will ad Jason tracks in the episode description

1110
01:07:32,916 --> 01:07:36,036
Speaker 2: or by visiting Broken Record podcast dot com, and be

1111
01:07:36,076 --> 01:07:38,916
Speaker 2: sure to follow us on Instagram at the Broken Record Pod.

1112
01:07:39,516 --> 01:07:42,716
Speaker 2: You can follow us on Twitter at broken Record. Broken

1113
01:07:42,756 --> 01:07:45,756
Speaker 2: Record is produced and edited by Leah Rose with marketing

1114
01:07:45,876 --> 01:07:49,116
Speaker 2: help from Eric Sandler and Jordan McMillan. Our engineer is

1115
01:07:49,156 --> 01:07:53,436
Speaker 2: Ben Tolliday. Broken Record is a production of Pushkin Industries.

1116
01:07:53,836 --> 01:07:56,636
Speaker 2: If you love this show and others from Pushkin, consider

1117
01:07:56,676 --> 01:08:01,036
Speaker 2: subscribing to Pushkin Plus. Pushkin Plus is a podcast subscription

1118
01:08:01,116 --> 01:08:03,876
Speaker 2: that offers bonus content and ad free listening for four

1119
01:08:04,036 --> 01:08:07,276
Speaker 2: ninety nine a month. Look for Pushkin Plus on Apple

1120
01:08:07,356 --> 01:08:11,316
Speaker 2: podcast subscriptions. And if you like this show, please remember

1121
01:08:11,356 --> 01:08:13,876
Speaker 2: to share, rate, and review us on your podcast app.

1122
01:08:14,196 --> 01:08:16,956
Speaker 1: Our theme music's by any Beats. I'm justin Richmond.