WEBVTT - Will Smith 0:00:15.476 --> 0:00:15.956 Pushkin. 0:00:20.276 --> 0:00:23.596 Big Willie is back, and he's traded as larger than life, 0:00:23.636 --> 0:00:27.916 excessively positive raps for something more complex and dark but 0:00:28.076 --> 0:00:33.076 equally inspiring. Anyone following Will Smith's trajectory the last handful 0:00:33.076 --> 0:00:36.596 of years, or who read his wonderful autobiography, knows that 0:00:36.636 --> 0:00:40.116 he's been on a powerful journey of self discovery and healing. 0:00:40.996 --> 0:00:42.836 It's left him wide open to be a bit of 0:00:42.836 --> 0:00:44.836 a different artist than he's been in the past, and 0:00:44.876 --> 0:00:48.956 it's also drawn him back into music. Will's new project, 0:00:48.996 --> 0:00:50.796 based on a true story, will be coming out in 0:00:50.836 --> 0:00:54.036 three parts this year, with part one dropping in March. 0:00:55.036 --> 0:00:56.996 We discuss where he's at as a creator on this 0:00:57.036 --> 0:00:59.956 new album and go through his decades long career in music, 0:01:00.116 --> 0:01:03.476 which starts with his teen years back in Philly. It 0:01:03.556 --> 0:01:06.356 was a real pleasure talking to someone as multi dimensional 0:01:06.436 --> 0:01:13.516 and equally open and honest as Will so enjoy This 0:01:13.636 --> 0:01:23.156 is Broken Record, real musicians, real conversations. Here's my conversation 0:01:23.236 --> 0:01:26.436 with Will Smith from Amazon Music Studio one twenty six. 0:01:26.836 --> 0:01:29.116 To see the video version of this episode, visit YouTube 0:01:29.156 --> 0:01:32.036 dot com slash Broken Record podcast, or click on the 0:01:32.076 --> 0:01:34.036 link in this episode description. 0:01:35.356 --> 0:01:38.436 Man Will Smith. Will Smith is a brother. 0:01:39.996 --> 0:01:40.356 Doing this. 0:01:40.716 --> 0:01:43.556 I'm really excited exit we have. 0:01:43.756 --> 0:01:46.036 We've hasked like, you know, a number of incredible any 0:01:46.076 --> 0:01:48.076 number of incredible guests on the show, but Man, to 0:01:48.076 --> 0:01:50.316 have to have you is just a real honor. 0:01:50.356 --> 0:01:53.036 You know, Thank you. Man. I'll try not to disappoint. 0:01:53.036 --> 0:01:53.636 I know you won't. 0:01:55.596 --> 0:01:59.316 We're talking a little bit about Quincy. Just yeah, you 0:01:59.356 --> 0:02:04.836 know I met you. I was in Havana, Cuba, wow, randomly, 0:02:05.716 --> 0:02:08.076 and you know what it is in Havanah like there's 0:02:08.116 --> 0:02:10.036 no you can bear these he there's internet and you 0:02:10.076 --> 0:02:14.036 can't get in nothing really blackouts a see you, nothing 0:02:14.516 --> 0:02:17.476 really quite works. So I was walking around, I was lost, 0:02:17.476 --> 0:02:20.436 looking for a restaurant in downtown Havana, and I saw 0:02:20.476 --> 0:02:22.916 a bunch of satellite trucks and as with my boys, 0:02:23.436 --> 0:02:25.556 like this is that's a little that's a little weird, 0:02:25.596 --> 0:02:27.556 just considering the situation, the infrastructure. 0:02:27.036 --> 0:02:28.956 Situation around there. What's this? 0:02:29.116 --> 0:02:31.276 So we walk up and we asked some There's some 0:02:31.316 --> 0:02:33.036 Cubans like looking up the steps. 0:02:32.916 --> 0:02:34.116 Like hey, what's going on. 0:02:34.236 --> 0:02:36.276 I was just like, we don't know, all right, So 0:02:36.476 --> 0:02:38.956 I just walked up the steps. I guess because I 0:02:38.996 --> 0:02:40.236 was American, they didn't question it. 0:02:41.996 --> 0:02:42.556 I walk in. 0:02:42.596 --> 0:02:46.316 I see Esperanza Spalding in the foyer and I just 0:02:46.316 --> 0:02:49.436 met her the week before. I go, She goes, I 0:02:49.476 --> 0:02:51.636 got to I'm packing. I'm literally about to catch a flight, 0:02:52.036 --> 0:02:54.036 but you should go upstairs. There's a bunch of bunch 0:02:54.076 --> 0:02:57.196 going on upstairs. I go, go upstairs. So we walk 0:02:57.276 --> 0:03:01.316 up like five flights of this old beautiful uh Theater 0:03:01.556 --> 0:03:04.676 in downtown Havana and the old Tavana and. 0:03:05.196 --> 0:03:09.876 A bunch crazy music legends, crazy music legends, Valdez, a 0:03:09.916 --> 0:03:11.996 Cuban music legends, Handcott. 0:03:13.076 --> 0:03:15.476 Then I see you. That was wild? There was Quincy 0:03:15.596 --> 0:03:16.916 was what was that? What was that? 0:03:17.156 --> 0:03:19.956 It was the International Jazz International Jazz Fest. You didn't 0:03:19.956 --> 0:03:20.996 eve know what's going on? Man? 0:03:21.556 --> 0:03:21.796 Yeah? 0:03:22.076 --> 0:03:24.116 And I saw Quinn you you left pretty quickly when 0:03:24.156 --> 0:03:26.076 after I got there. But then I saw Quincy at 0:03:26.076 --> 0:03:27.836 some point sitting at the table by himself. I go, 0:03:28.636 --> 0:03:30.596 that's kind of wild. I'm gonna go say hi. Yeah, 0:03:31.036 --> 0:03:33.676 so just like hey shake his hands and want to 0:03:33.676 --> 0:03:36.836 say hello. Wind up happening a two hour dinner, Wow 0:03:37.036 --> 0:03:40.876 kicking exchange in for us exactly how Quincy is kept 0:03:40.876 --> 0:03:43.156 a friendship tally, you know, And this is just like it 0:03:43.236 --> 0:03:44.316 was unbelievable. 0:03:44.516 --> 0:03:49.836 Yeah. Nah, he was at his you know, he loved people. 0:03:50.396 --> 0:03:54.556 That was this thing, like everybody was so interesting to him. 0:03:54.636 --> 0:03:57.316 He saw everybody as like a work of art, you know, 0:03:57.436 --> 0:03:59.836 and he was always looking and wanted to know where 0:03:59.876 --> 0:04:02.156 you came from and where you grew up, and you know, 0:04:02.716 --> 0:04:06.396 he uh, he just loved that kind of interaction. When 0:04:06.636 --> 0:04:07.556 did you first meet him? 0:04:08.076 --> 0:04:10.356 I met Quincy actually the. 0:04:11.836 --> 0:04:14.836 Night Benny Medina, who was Benny Medina was the real 0:04:14.876 --> 0:04:16.076 live fresh Prince of bel Air. 0:04:16.436 --> 0:04:18.036 So he worked at Warner Records. 0:04:18.076 --> 0:04:21.516 He worked at Warner Records, and I met Quincy when 0:04:21.716 --> 0:04:25.556 the night that Benny took me to Quincy's house to 0:04:26.276 --> 0:04:31.316 pitch me for the show. And it was you know, 0:04:32.876 --> 0:04:36.796 walking in and you know, seeing Quincy Jones. Was he 0:04:36.836 --> 0:04:41.076 I think he just won the Soul Trained Lifetime Achievement 0:04:41.116 --> 0:04:42.796 Award or something like that. So I was coming to 0:04:42.876 --> 0:04:48.476 his house after the show and we met and that 0:04:48.756 --> 0:04:52.796 night he made me auditioned in the living room. That 0:04:52.876 --> 0:04:54.956 same night I met him, I went for a party 0:04:55.156 --> 0:04:57.916 to talk and he cleared the living room out, made 0:04:57.956 --> 0:05:04.276 me audition for the show Impromptu Out of Nowhere. But 0:05:04.796 --> 0:05:07.836 he had a script for an old Marris Day and 0:05:07.876 --> 0:05:12.316 the time, old pilot for mars Day and the time, 0:05:12.716 --> 0:05:14.756 and he was, hey, just read this script, practice this, 0:05:14.876 --> 0:05:18.516 go do this. And I auditioned in his living room 0:05:18.556 --> 0:05:21.836 at a party. That's insane, Yeah he was. He was 0:05:21.916 --> 0:05:26.676 like that too, did you in that moment? What was 0:05:26.716 --> 0:05:30.756 your thought process? You know it was so I just 0:05:30.996 --> 0:05:33.236 flew in. I thought it was a party for Quincy's house, 0:05:33.316 --> 0:05:36.076 and you know Benny Medina. I had met Benny at Arsenio. 0:05:36.116 --> 0:05:38.276 It was during the time that the Arsenio Hall show 0:05:38.396 --> 0:05:42.796 was like the top of everything. So you know, I 0:05:43.236 --> 0:05:46.556 had I had gone broke after my first round of success. 0:05:46.796 --> 0:05:48.236 That happens about. 0:05:48.516 --> 0:05:50.916 Yeah, you shouldn't do that if you if you could 0:05:50.916 --> 0:05:53.996 it all, avoid going broke after your first round of 0:05:53.996 --> 0:05:58.756 excess success. You should actually Freudian slip first round of excess. 0:05:59.116 --> 0:06:02.076 Yeah yeah, right right, that's how it happened. That it happens. 0:06:02.156 --> 0:06:05.636 Yeah, you know, So, you know, I met Bennie Medina 0:06:05.996 --> 0:06:09.516 and he pitched me the idea. And Benny had gone 0:06:09.596 --> 0:06:11.596 from Watts to Beverly Hills. 0:06:11.996 --> 0:06:13.476 So he was talking. 0:06:13.196 --> 0:06:16.796 To Quincy about doing a show about his life where 0:06:16.916 --> 0:06:20.756 a black kid moves in with a white family in 0:06:20.836 --> 0:06:24.356 Beverly Hills, and so he takes it and you know, 0:06:24.396 --> 0:06:27.076 we walk in Quincy's house, and you know, Quincy, he 0:06:27.316 --> 0:06:29.356 was a little toasty, you know, he you know, it 0:06:29.436 --> 0:06:31.356 was his house. He was like, he was a little toasty, 0:06:31.396 --> 0:06:35.676 a little toasty. And he said, hey man, you know Quincy. 0:06:35.956 --> 0:06:37.756 He said, did Benny talk to you about the show? 0:06:38.316 --> 0:06:41.156 I was like, yeah, a little bit. He said, yeah, 0:06:41.156 --> 0:06:44.916 where are you from? I said Philly. He said, all right, 0:06:44.996 --> 0:06:47.436 your character's from Philly. And I was like, and literally 0:06:47.476 --> 0:06:49.716 we've never met in that first he's like, your character's 0:06:49.716 --> 0:06:50.196 from Philly. 0:06:51.836 --> 0:06:54.196 My character okay, and he said all right. 0:06:54.236 --> 0:06:57.276 So Benny went from from Watts to Beverly Hills and 0:06:57.756 --> 0:07:00.076 he said, this is bel Air. His house Quincy's house 0:07:00.156 --> 0:07:02.916 was actually in bel Air. He said, this is bel Air. 0:07:02.996 --> 0:07:06.596 So the show's not going to Beverly Hills. The character's 0:07:06.636 --> 0:07:09.876 going from Philly to bel Air. He said, make Beverly 0:07:09.956 --> 0:07:15.756 Hills look like public housing. And he said, all right, 0:07:15.796 --> 0:07:18.476 what's your rap name? And I said, well, you know, 0:07:18.916 --> 0:07:21.156 I'm with DJ Jazzy Jeff and I'm the I'm the 0:07:21.156 --> 0:07:21.796 Fresh Prince. 0:07:21.956 --> 0:07:24.396 All right, cool, that's the show. The Fresh Prince of 0:07:24.436 --> 0:07:25.916 bel Air, and. 0:07:25.796 --> 0:07:31.956 That's literally how the show got created named, you know, 0:07:32.116 --> 0:07:35.436 with with Quincy in his living room. 0:07:35.796 --> 0:07:37.356 And he was like, Hey, we're gonna have audition. 0:07:37.396 --> 0:07:40.596 We gonna have audition, and he just cleared the living 0:07:40.676 --> 0:07:45.476 room out and I read the script. I've read the 0:07:45.516 --> 0:07:47.676 you know, the did the couple of scenes and the 0:07:47.756 --> 0:07:52.556 Moors Days day and the time I failed Mars Day 0:07:52.596 --> 0:07:58.636 in the time, you know. But yeah, he Quincy was 0:07:58.716 --> 0:08:02.196 like that he uh uh, he knew how to catch 0:08:02.276 --> 0:08:06.196 lightning strikes, he knew how to put the right people 0:08:06.556 --> 0:08:09.036 in the right place and wait for me. 0:08:09.796 --> 0:08:13.116 Yeah, it seems like it's kind of it's beautiful that 0:08:13.196 --> 0:08:15.356 you guys connected the way you did, the way you 0:08:15.356 --> 0:08:18.796 both straddle music and film and television and just kind 0:08:18.836 --> 0:08:22.236 of all levels of entertainment. But also, and I don't 0:08:22.276 --> 0:08:24.156 know if this was like a chicken on the egg scenario, 0:08:24.196 --> 0:08:25.716 but maybe you were both destined to meet in the 0:08:25.716 --> 0:08:29.916 sense because you both have a similar also energy and 0:08:30.356 --> 0:08:32.956 belief and sort of almost as anything as possible sort 0:08:32.956 --> 0:08:33.996 of sensibility, you know. 0:08:34.356 --> 0:08:35.316 Crazy you're saying that. 0:08:35.396 --> 0:08:42.916 So my my album is called I'm going back and 0:08:42.956 --> 0:08:50.516 forth between saying U boats or based on a true story, right, 0:08:50.596 --> 0:08:53.836 So it's but the name is based on a true story. 0:08:55.196 --> 0:08:58.196 And you know, I've written so much stuff in the 0:08:58.356 --> 0:09:01.236 in the last two years, I couldn't get it into one. 0:09:02.156 --> 0:09:06.276 So rather than you know, trying to jam it into 0:09:06.476 --> 0:09:09.036 one project, I'm doing it like a television show. So 0:09:09.196 --> 0:09:13.036 I'm releasing it in seasons. So I have three seasons, 0:09:13.036 --> 0:09:14.756 so I'm not calling it an album. I'm calling it 0:09:14.796 --> 0:09:20.396 season one based on a true story. So season one 0:09:20.836 --> 0:09:24.196 is called Raven the Wastelam and this this story does 0:09:24.236 --> 0:09:29.316 have a point, and see season two is a Quincy 0:09:29.396 --> 0:09:33.836 Jones quote. And season two is called The Gift of Madness. 0:09:34.956 --> 0:09:40.276 And somebody asked Quincy, They said, Quincy, you know you 0:09:40.276 --> 0:09:45.236 you you picked Michael Jackson, you picked Oprah Winfrey, and 0:09:45.276 --> 0:09:49.156 you picked Will Smith, Like what what are you seeing 0:09:49.916 --> 0:09:54.356 that the rest of us don't see? And he said 0:09:54.756 --> 0:09:59.636 all three of them have the gift of madness. And 0:09:59.716 --> 0:10:05.676 he said they believe that impossible things can happen. And 0:10:05.716 --> 0:10:09.796 he said that is an absolute necessity for the kind 0:10:09.836 --> 0:10:15.556 of success that they've achieved. So I named season two 0:10:16.356 --> 0:10:20.836 of my music is called the Gift of Madness. Now 0:10:22.476 --> 0:10:25.956 it almost sounds like a gift in a curse either way, 0:10:26.076 --> 0:10:28.236 you know, I mean, obviously I think it's writ large. 0:10:28.276 --> 0:10:29.876 I seem that's probably a positive thing. 0:10:30.476 --> 0:10:31.676 But there's a. 0:10:31.636 --> 0:10:41.476 Certain amount of delusion that is necessary to achieve things 0:10:42.036 --> 0:10:48.316 that haven't been achieved before. You have to be quote 0:10:48.396 --> 0:10:55.356 unquote insane. If you're going to attempt something that no 0:10:55.396 --> 0:11:01.796 one's ever done before, that's almost the definition of insanity. 0:11:02.116 --> 0:11:05.516 Right. So there's a there's a certain amount of. 0:11:06.916 --> 0:11:16.836 Deluded naivete that is necessary to manifest things that have 0:11:17.156 --> 0:11:21.756 not been manifest And you know this, this is a 0:11:22.036 --> 0:11:26.916 thought universe, and that there's a there's a Confucius quote 0:11:27.636 --> 0:11:31.996 love he says, he who says he can and he 0:11:32.076 --> 0:11:37.796 who says he can't are both usually right, right, And 0:11:38.196 --> 0:11:42.116 the the idea that what you think and what you 0:11:43.396 --> 0:11:49.516 believe is the first step to manifestation. You can't create 0:11:49.556 --> 0:11:52.836 it if you can't see it in your mind, if 0:11:52.836 --> 0:11:55.876 you can't believe it, you can't bring it out of 0:11:55.916 --> 0:12:00.356 the quantum field into this three D reality if you 0:12:00.756 --> 0:12:05.716 don't believe it. You have to have a certain deluded 0:12:05.876 --> 0:12:09.876 certainty in your magical abilities. 0:12:11.436 --> 0:12:16.556 Now, and actually that's your second verse and beautiful scars, 0:12:16.556 --> 0:12:19.596 But the versus song I feel like that beautiful, right, 0:12:19.676 --> 0:12:21.276 that's one of my favorite verses of them, of the 0:12:21.276 --> 0:12:22.436 songs I heard loved that. 0:12:22.596 --> 0:12:28.876 Yes, that is absolutely what that that verse is meant 0:12:28.956 --> 0:12:32.956 to communicate. You know, there there are no limits as 0:12:32.956 --> 0:12:36.596 send through the universe. I believe in me, like it's religion. 0:12:36.676 --> 0:12:40.316 But I am the only one who converts conversation with 0:12:40.396 --> 0:12:45.076 the congregation. The scripture is in the verse I manifest 0:12:45.196 --> 0:12:49.796 through my mentality. The only real is my reality, you know. 0:12:49.916 --> 0:12:53.516 So it's like that that's the I love trying to 0:12:53.596 --> 0:12:59.916 get those ideas into the music, to be able to 0:13:01.076 --> 0:13:02.476 share the cheat. 0:13:02.196 --> 0:13:03.916 Codes, you know. 0:13:04.516 --> 0:13:06.636 And it's like, you know, one of the things with 0:13:06.676 --> 0:13:08.676 my kids, there was a thing I used to say 0:13:08.676 --> 0:13:11.356 to my kids all the time where you know, they 0:13:11.396 --> 0:13:12.276 would say, oh. 0:13:12.196 --> 0:13:14.076 No, I can't do that. I was like, no, don't 0:13:14.116 --> 0:13:14.556 think that. 0:13:15.316 --> 0:13:21.516 Don't think that, like the pattern of thoughts to emotions 0:13:21.876 --> 0:13:26.556 that lead to actions that become your life. Right, And 0:13:26.596 --> 0:13:30.796 it's like the first gate is what you think, Like, 0:13:30.996 --> 0:13:36.836 don't think that. Only think things that are like aligned 0:13:36.916 --> 0:13:39.116 with what you want to manifest. 0:13:39.356 --> 0:13:42.396 When did when did that become like a concrete in 0:13:42.436 --> 0:13:43.756 your head? Like I mean it seems like maybe you've 0:13:43.756 --> 0:13:45.476 been operating I don't know if you were operating that 0:13:45.516 --> 0:13:47.836 way subconsciously before or this was always sort of a 0:13:47.876 --> 0:13:50.956 conscious manifestation of your So I think. 0:13:50.796 --> 0:13:55.876 I always I knew as a child that. 0:13:58.636 --> 0:14:04.716 The energy in a room is a major part of 0:14:04.756 --> 0:14:07.876 what happens out of that room, like like what the 0:14:08.276 --> 0:14:14.236 energy is. You can't create an opposition to what the 0:14:14.276 --> 0:14:18.036 feelings and the energy are in the room. And I knew, 0:14:18.996 --> 0:14:25.276 you know, very young, that my my imagination was the 0:14:25.316 --> 0:14:29.836 center of my ability to create. And I knew that 0:14:29.956 --> 0:14:33.116 if I if I was in a bad mood, I 0:14:33.236 --> 0:14:36.756 was going to make bad things happen. And you know, 0:14:37.836 --> 0:14:41.356 sort of a negative aspect of that for me is 0:14:42.356 --> 0:14:49.916 I learned how to pretend. Right, So you pretend positive 0:14:50.036 --> 0:14:54.476 energy and strangely you'll start to actually feel good. 0:14:54.636 --> 0:14:54.956 Wow. 0:14:55.436 --> 0:14:57.676 Right, But the the you know, the problem is. 0:14:57.596 --> 0:15:01.756 That the the the the underlying issues are are still 0:15:01.796 --> 0:15:04.316 there and you know they will they'll definitely creep up 0:15:04.316 --> 0:15:04.556 on you. 0:15:05.516 --> 0:15:07.236 That makes sense, the residual So. 0:15:07.436 --> 0:15:10.316 Yeah, you gotta at some point point you have to 0:15:11.596 --> 0:15:17.516 come out of the delusive positive energy and you have 0:15:17.636 --> 0:15:20.756 to make your way through you know, your your interior 0:15:21.356 --> 0:15:24.676 Valley of the Shadow of Death and come to you know, 0:15:25.876 --> 0:15:32.796 authentic faith and trust and positivity. Yeah, that's looking forward. 0:15:33.196 --> 0:15:35.276 I do want to go back to the start of 0:15:35.316 --> 0:15:37.716 your music career, Chazy, Jeff and the Fresh Prince. 0:15:38.276 --> 0:15:39.636 It was such a beautiful time. 0:15:39.756 --> 0:15:45.996 So Jeff comes from a musical family and Jeff's brother 0:15:46.916 --> 0:15:50.316 had ten thousand records. He had one of the biggest 0:15:50.476 --> 0:15:58.556 record collections of anybody in Philly. And when Jeff was 0:15:58.596 --> 0:16:03.596 twelve years old, he had a bout with cancer. 0:16:04.716 --> 0:16:08.076 So Jeff wasn't allowed to come out of the house. 0:16:08.276 --> 0:16:12.916 Between twelve sixteen, wow, and he was in his basement 0:16:13.236 --> 0:16:19.956 with ten thousand records for the process of you know, 0:16:20.076 --> 0:16:22.996 beating cancer and all of that. And we had to 0:16:22.996 --> 0:16:25.316 go to Jeff's house to see him, right. 0:16:25.356 --> 0:16:27.796 Was that like a like that's pretty like that's kind 0:16:27.796 --> 0:16:29.796 of like hetty for like a sixteen year old to 0:16:29.836 --> 0:16:31.836 be you know, you know another kid, you know, so 0:16:31.876 --> 0:16:32.476 it's crazy. 0:16:32.516 --> 0:16:35.316 I just you know, at that time, I didn't know 0:16:36.316 --> 0:16:39.516 much about it and what it was and you know, 0:16:39.876 --> 0:16:44.396 so I didn't really understand what was going on. And 0:16:44.436 --> 0:16:46.876 he by the time we met, he was like, you know, 0:16:47.116 --> 0:16:50.436 coming out of it. But he had spent those four 0:16:50.556 --> 0:16:54.916 years in the in the base, in his mother's basement. 0:16:54.956 --> 0:16:59.076 We did all of our original recording in his mother's basement. Wow, 0:16:59.156 --> 0:17:04.756 so I don't have an image of Jeff in his 0:17:04.956 --> 0:17:09.196 childhood home. I cannot recall an image where he's not 0:17:09.316 --> 0:17:15.316 standing behind his turntables. Jeff was always behind his turntables. 0:17:15.356 --> 0:17:21.036 He would he would be behind his turntables twelve hours 0:17:21.036 --> 0:17:25.236 a day, but three and four hour stretches where he 0:17:25.276 --> 0:17:28.996 wouldn't sit down. Wow, you're no, that's the only image 0:17:28.996 --> 0:17:31.516 I have of him. I'm like trying to you know, 0:17:31.556 --> 0:17:32.916 when I was writing my book, I was trying to 0:17:32.956 --> 0:17:36.196 remember Jeff's in the kitchen. I was like, I don't 0:17:36.236 --> 0:17:37.836 even have a I don't even have an image of 0:17:37.916 --> 0:17:39.956 Jeff opening the refrigerator, like. 0:17:42.196 --> 0:17:45.076 Always in front of his turntable. What was it like 0:17:45.276 --> 0:17:47.236 His parents were like cool with it. 0:17:47.476 --> 0:17:50.396 Yeah, well it was like, you know, his mother wanted 0:17:50.476 --> 0:17:55.156 him in the house whatever. Yeah, yeah, she almost lost 0:17:55.156 --> 0:17:57.076 her baby. She was like, as long as he's in 0:17:57.116 --> 0:17:58.916 the house, y'all gonna do whatever you want down there. 0:17:59.116 --> 0:18:01.556 But then they spend a time between like sixteen and 0:18:01.596 --> 0:18:02.516 you guys are in the basement. 0:18:02.556 --> 0:18:04.796 You never see Jeff out of the base on the turntable. 0:18:04.796 --> 0:18:08.116 Well, you guys according by the time he was sixteen, 0:18:08.436 --> 0:18:11.236 he was so used to being in his basement. From 0:18:11.356 --> 0:18:14.556 sixteen to twenty he was still in there by choice. 0:18:16.596 --> 0:18:18.556 I didn't really, I didn't know did that first because 0:18:18.556 --> 0:18:21.596 you guys get signed a Jive, which is you know, 0:18:21.596 --> 0:18:24.196 at the time or maybe still is London based. Yeah, 0:18:24.236 --> 0:18:26.516 so you guys record the first album. 0:18:26.276 --> 0:18:29.156 Yeah in London, in London, Yeah, kind of write it too, 0:18:29.236 --> 0:18:33.116 maybe even like so, so what happened is, you know, 0:18:33.196 --> 0:18:36.036 back then you had to have everything written before you 0:18:36.076 --> 0:18:37.876 went in the studio. You couldn't go in the studio 0:18:37.876 --> 0:18:42.796 and write in the studio. So we had prepared all 0:18:42.876 --> 0:18:45.516 of the music and you know that was at a 0:18:45.516 --> 0:18:52.036 time there was no pro tools. You couldn't record at home, right, 0:18:52.396 --> 0:18:55.556 So it was like I think task Cam had just 0:18:55.676 --> 0:18:59.836 come out with like a four track recorder and that 0:18:59.956 --> 0:19:02.076 was the first time you could just at least get 0:19:02.156 --> 0:19:09.036 something on to four track to hear it. So job 0:19:09.476 --> 0:19:12.796 the company was Zamba. They were based in London, so 0:19:14.356 --> 0:19:18.956 you know, we had recorded most of the music or 0:19:19.036 --> 0:19:22.436 written most of the music in Philly and then we 0:19:22.556 --> 0:19:26.196 flew to London to actually go into the studio. 0:19:26.116 --> 0:19:28.076 So wildly in my mind, I would would have thought, 0:19:28.076 --> 0:19:29.716 you guys did it in New York, you know something, 0:19:29.876 --> 0:19:32.716 but like no, to go from like we're doing We're 0:19:32.756 --> 0:19:35.236 Philly and we're doing hip hop, repping Philly hip hop 0:19:35.596 --> 0:19:37.676 and we're going find we fine over forget New York 0:19:37.756 --> 0:19:39.996 going to London. 0:19:39.756 --> 0:19:43.556 London to record it was it was. It was my 0:19:43.676 --> 0:19:48.756 first introduction to how important traveling is. It's like it 0:19:49.316 --> 0:19:54.876 blasted my mind open. Like they didn't have steak knives. 0:19:54.956 --> 0:19:57.556 I was like, how do you not have Why would 0:19:57.596 --> 0:20:00.916 you did they? We were we were cutting steak with 0:20:00.996 --> 0:20:03.516 butter knives. I was like, well, you know, we have 0:20:03.636 --> 0:20:08.036 steak knives. I was just I was really really surprised. 0:20:08.076 --> 0:20:11.116 I thought a a th other place like England would 0:20:11.116 --> 0:20:17.036 at least have stak now, but yeah, it was. It 0:20:17.116 --> 0:20:20.916 was like just the you know, just the cars and 0:20:20.956 --> 0:20:23.836 the steering wheel on the other side and driving on 0:20:23.956 --> 0:20:28.036 the other side of the street. It's it's amazing how 0:20:28.076 --> 0:20:33.276 that can blast you know, a kid's mind open. You know, 0:20:33.356 --> 0:20:38.556 you don't even consider the idea that people drive on 0:20:39.516 --> 0:20:41.676 the other side of the street, and you get these 0:20:41.716 --> 0:20:44.796 patterns in your mind that get locked and having an 0:20:44.836 --> 0:20:48.476 experience that pops it open, you know, it just really 0:20:49.076 --> 0:20:54.436 helps to open you to new ideas and new possibilities. 0:20:54.476 --> 0:20:56.436 I think it was really great for me and Jeff 0:20:56.436 --> 0:21:01.516 to be listening to radio in London while we were 0:21:01.556 --> 0:21:07.356 recording our first album. So it it expanded well mind, 0:21:07.436 --> 0:21:13.356 Jeff was already music, yeah, but it really expanded my understanding, 0:21:13.436 --> 0:21:17.276 even the idea that they were loving hip hop in 0:21:17.356 --> 0:21:18.276 a foreign country. 0:21:18.756 --> 0:21:19.516 You know, I didn't. 0:21:19.556 --> 0:21:22.876 It never had dawned on me that hip hop was 0:21:22.956 --> 0:21:27.036 outside of New York, Philadelphia, New Jersey. 0:21:28.436 --> 0:21:30.876 We'll be right back with more from Will Smith after 0:21:30.916 --> 0:21:38.636 the break. You've talked about rock Him, Melly Mel being 0:21:38.676 --> 0:21:39.436 to your guys. 0:21:39.516 --> 0:21:40.476 Yeah for sure. 0:21:40.596 --> 0:21:44.836 Was was was slick Rick at all? Like big for you? 0:21:45.356 --> 0:21:49.116 Yeah, slick Rick was later. Yeah. So so. 0:21:50.676 --> 0:21:55.796 For me it was Grandmaster Kaz was my my like, 0:21:56.516 --> 0:21:59.516 my whole style and everything is based on Grandmaster Kaz. 0:22:00.396 --> 0:22:02.436 So it was he was the He was the first 0:22:02.556 --> 0:22:04.676 rapper that I. 0:22:04.596 --> 0:22:10.836 Heard put comedic punchlines and there was something about that 0:22:10.836 --> 0:22:13.356 that validated who I was. Wait, I could put a 0:22:13.476 --> 0:22:19.276 joke in a rap and you know, he people would 0:22:19.316 --> 0:22:23.476 be cracking up. At Grandmaster Kaz's punchline, and he would 0:22:23.476 --> 0:22:27.876 do a thing where you know, the DJ would stop 0:22:27.956 --> 0:22:31.316 the beat on the fourth bar so everybody could hear 0:22:31.436 --> 0:22:34.116 the punchline and then drop the beat back in. And 0:22:34.156 --> 0:22:36.716 he was the first person that I heard do that, 0:22:36.836 --> 0:22:40.916 and that totally became my style. 0:22:41.156 --> 0:22:42.796 You and Jeff were worked that out. We would work 0:22:42.876 --> 0:22:43.156 that out. 0:22:43.236 --> 0:22:46.996 Yeah, so there would be there would be no Fresh 0:22:47.076 --> 0:22:50.436 Prints if there was no Grandmaster Kaz. Wow. So that 0:22:50.636 --> 0:22:54.156 was and then Slick Rick comes in when so Slick 0:22:54.236 --> 0:22:59.396 Rick was slicking Dougie. That's all like mid to late eighties. 0:23:00.156 --> 0:23:06.636 But the summer that we dropped nineteen eighty six I 0:23:06.676 --> 0:23:11.516 think is arguably right because it's one of. 0:23:11.556 --> 0:23:12.116 The best time. 0:23:12.196 --> 0:23:14.796 So it was you know, Jazzy, Jeff from Fresh Prince 0:23:14.916 --> 0:23:21.996 and and uh Eric being Rok Kim Run, dmc ll cool, 0:23:22.116 --> 0:23:25.676 j BC boys, all of that that that eighty six 0:23:25.716 --> 0:23:28.316 to eighty eight, and Slick and Slick and Dougie were 0:23:28.396 --> 0:23:30.876 right on the back end of that, right right, gonna 0:23:30.876 --> 0:23:32.876 be like eighty seven eighty eight, Yeah, Yeah, when the 0:23:33.396 --> 0:23:36.796 Yeah Deaf Jam record comes out. As you start to develop, 0:23:36.876 --> 0:23:39.596 like you know, you told the story about getting the 0:23:39.636 --> 0:23:44.996 Fresh Prince. When you you're I mean your firm, you're 0:23:45.036 --> 0:23:49.596 super very successful despite being broke, blowing the money access, 0:23:49.836 --> 0:23:54.476 you're a highly successful musician. You know, well, eighty nine 0:23:54.516 --> 0:23:58.676 we won the Grammy and you know we we were 0:23:58.796 --> 0:24:03.196 we were already on the on the the road to 0:24:03.236 --> 0:24:06.516 bankruptcy while we were written winning the grim While you're 0:24:06.756 --> 0:24:09.876 there the highs and the low Yeah, for sure. 0:24:10.116 --> 0:24:11.876 But when you get the Fresh Prince, then is there 0:24:11.916 --> 0:24:13.076 any part of you was like I was gonna do 0:24:13.236 --> 0:24:16.676 Like obviously you released some more records as Judge Jeff 0:24:16.676 --> 0:24:20.196 and The Fresh Prince. How did you manage both at 0:24:20.196 --> 0:24:20.676