Speaker 1: And money. We are thank you, Jake Valentine. We are
Speaker 1: the authority on all things R and B. Lady and gentlemen,
Speaker 1: I am Tank, I'm Jay Valentine, and this man. This
Speaker 1: is the Army Money Podcast. Yes, it is the authority,
Speaker 1: the one in out on all things R and B. H.
Speaker 1: As I go into my preacher cadence, I reminded at
Speaker 1: the time, being a youngster desiring to sing, I'm desiring
Speaker 1: to have the mechanics to be dazzling amongst the people.
Speaker 1: And there was a man I studied. Ah, come on now,
Speaker 1: so man, I watched. They were ingredients that I've stolen
Speaker 1: from this man that I am not going to give
Speaker 1: him back. I have taken these ingredients. I've gone on
Speaker 1: to fort a career of my own. Ladies and gentlemen. Uh,
Speaker 1: one of my heroes in the building. Man, that's the
Speaker 1: best I can say. Get up a stoke top of
Speaker 1: the top. Want oh you want to say? Have you
Speaker 1: heard bro? Let me tell you something, man, I mean
Speaker 1: going back to like being in at the Fine Arts
Speaker 1: building in Howard University. You know what I mean? And
Speaker 1: like it? Alright? Yeah, I was. I was. I was
Speaker 1: a baby like she didn't go there though I didn't
Speaker 1: go there. I skip skip school. I was skipped school
Speaker 1: and come up to Howard and see guys with I
Speaker 1: see see two drum sets to two guys going back
Speaker 1: and forth, two drum sets in the room, in the
Speaker 1: rooms in the basement, the people at the piano going crazy,
Speaker 1: and I like it. It like started there, you know
Speaker 1: what I mean? And then bro, you came out singing
Speaker 1: like I had never heard before, and it had a
Speaker 1: texture where it was like Stevie reminiscent, but it was
Speaker 1: completely something new m And I was a hundred enamored
Speaker 1: with it. Every day, Wow to church, drop my mom off,
Speaker 1: picking my sister, drop my cousin off at boy stay
Speaker 1: every day every day and people like, how do you
Speaker 1: say like that? I wouldn't tell everybody for a long time,
Speaker 1: Like where'd you get that from? No? Guy, right, I wouldn't.
Speaker 1: I wouldn't tell everybody for a long time and take
Speaker 1: it back to the church. Yeah, but like what did
Speaker 1: what did you get? Because they of course they knew
Speaker 1: if they knew if John, you know what I'm saying,
Speaker 1: They knew I love John, They knew of Fred, they
Speaker 1: knew I loved Fred. They knew, Um, Mitchell Jones, they
Speaker 1: know I love Mitchell Jones. They didn't know about that
Speaker 1: stokely wow to be mentioned with them. First of all,
Speaker 1: it's it's crazy. Oh yeah, no you you're in a
Speaker 1: heavy room and that's that's very heavy. You know, come on,
Speaker 1: heavy room. Um we we what we like to do, right,
Speaker 1: I hate it. I just wanted to start off there
Speaker 1: and just give you just a perspective on just what
Speaker 1: you mean to me, because it's it's it's very real
Speaker 1: and it's a very big deal, you know what I mean.
Speaker 1: So I want to say thank you. I think every
Speaker 1: time I see you, I tell you, tell you this.
Speaker 1: But I'm not gonna stopped telling me every time I
Speaker 1: see you. Know what I'm saying, Man, your vocal, I'm
Speaker 1: gonna say you every time because I just I just
Speaker 1: think that even for our platform and creating this, you
Speaker 1: know what I mean, we want to make sure I
Speaker 1: said something earlier that that that the guys who are
Speaker 1: well studied, the even the women who who did this
Speaker 1: that way, like we couldn't skip no steps, no, not
Speaker 1: a one. Like I'm pretty sure you guys recorded you
Speaker 1: recorded on two inch Oh yeah, absolutely, you were two
Speaker 1: inches right, and then finally the task. Finally the ada came.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, I used to actually cut take that. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's right, you know what I'm saying. One button? No, no,
Speaker 1: it was the real Yeah, it wasn't nose the first
Speaker 1: the bast actions sound good. We might as well fly
Speaker 1: to base actions, right, are you sure you got it's
Speaker 1: a commitment and take a lucky right, it'll take a
Speaker 1: lunch of fun background, right, and you could have run
Speaker 1: out of trucks right right, You can run out. You
Speaker 1: could run out. So you have to be amazing right
Speaker 1: in here. It's like your planning's got to be on point,
Speaker 1: you know, way before pitch correction. I'm gonna I'm gonna
Speaker 1: let you talk, but I'm still celebrating you right now.
Speaker 1: Way pitch correction, all though, tune and what's the other one?
Speaker 1: Meladon right? Right? You just gotta do it ten more times,
Speaker 1: which is a little bit of extra rehearsal. You got
Speaker 1: a little practice and then there and then there's stack. Yeah,
Speaker 1: he came from the era of eight to ten hour rehearsals.
Speaker 1: That's how he grew. Yeah, not by choice, man, but
Speaker 1: it made you the man. I thank that the school
Speaker 1: of my better work. You you I've survived, brother, and
Speaker 1: those are the things, those are the differences that are
Speaker 1: Sometimes it's hard to articulate the why. But you know
Speaker 1: when when when the rubber meets the roll, those instincts
Speaker 1: of what you've learned and what you've really had to um,
Speaker 1: where you've really been battle tested, that's where that that
Speaker 1: just kicks in you. Yeah, you float right all right, Stock,
Speaker 1: This is about you, Um, it's about us. First of all,
Speaker 1: standing ovation. I'm standing up right now, Jay Valentine, Tank,
Speaker 1: thank you for doing this. People got to know this
Speaker 1: is an amazing I've watched your show. I mean it's
Speaker 1: a cross section of people, olderness like you are bringing
Speaker 1: it all together. Man. We need this form, We need
Speaker 1: this kind of platform to tell us stories, to share,
Speaker 1: you know, the pass on, you know, because this is
Speaker 1: you know, the younger generation. It's a different They're they're
Speaker 1: they're great, everybody's great, but there's some information that that's
Speaker 1: that's missing. This is like a bridge, sir. Thank you man, sir.
Speaker 1: That's why that's why we're here. That's absolutely here. The
Speaker 1: s um Stokely were like we are historical pod Historical
Speaker 1: were like we don't get into the archives of of
Speaker 1: of stokely like the beginning, when was it identified that
Speaker 1: place that Minnesota, Minnesota, Yeah, Minnesota boys, but it's some
Speaker 1: cold things too, Minnesota slept on. Shout out, shout, shout
Speaker 1: out to brother window Muhammad's passed on. We were riding
Speaker 1: through Minneapolis one day and it was below zero. And
Speaker 1: I don't know how this is gonna come off, what
Speaker 1: I'm gonna say to me, oh man, but we were
Speaker 1: we were riding through Minneapolis and there were ladies of
Speaker 1: the night m on the street corner Wow at fall below,
Speaker 1: walking the walk and talking to talk getting it in
Speaker 1: the brother. I'm gonna saying it said, a woman with
Speaker 1: that kind of dedication, Wow, could run this country. That
Speaker 1: type of dedication. It's a it's a different kind of cold,
Speaker 1: it's a different kind of art. We were counting before
Speaker 1: we got out of the cars. Okay on three on three,
Speaker 1: we're gonna get out and tell them, open the door,
Speaker 1: tell them so take us back, take us back, take
Speaker 1: us back to where you first found it or at
Speaker 1: first found Oh man, it's um. It's one of those things.
Speaker 1: My um my parents seventies, but my parents are educators,
Speaker 1: so we talked about history and my dad's you know,
Speaker 1: his history teacher, anything to do with black folk, you know,
Speaker 1: loving on black folks that kind of whether it be sports, politics,
Speaker 1: you know, entertainment, etc. And my mother English all that stuff.
Speaker 1: So I grew up a little bit different. So I
Speaker 1: had my father had all these people around him, and
Speaker 1: when I was like three or four, they would go back.
Speaker 1: They started going to Ghana, going to Africa, back and forth.
Speaker 1: So they'd bring all these things back and they trade
Speaker 1: clothes and then you know, commune Africans would give them,
Speaker 1: you know, stuff back, and he had some father had
Speaker 1: some bongles on the wall. I was about three, and uh,
Speaker 1: don't know how I got up and got him off
Speaker 1: the wall. Whatever's much as silver mystery to me. I
Speaker 1: don't know somehow I got up there and started playing
Speaker 1: their sleep And as my father tells me, because I
Speaker 1: don't really remember it, he said, it sounded like you
Speaker 1: like somebody knew what they were doing. They're and actual patterns,
Speaker 1: and uh, it's like what is that? No one is
Speaker 1: they're both asleep. You hear that, like I don't hear
Speaker 1: anything about Mom was like I don't hear nothing, and
Speaker 1: they got up. He was like, wow, this dude is
Speaker 1: in here. Plane. So he had a friend who had
Speaker 1: this African dance Troop Aberdeen game. It's rather from Panama
Speaker 1: and uh he said, I you know, I don't know him.
Speaker 1: It's that I don't know if this is good or not.
Speaker 1: You let me know. He said, oh, yeah, dude, it's good.
Speaker 1: I'll take him with me. So three at about three,
Speaker 1: so it actually knows about I was about that was four.
Speaker 1: I was four, actually, yeah, it was four. So um,
Speaker 1: because there'sn't there's a whole thing in the paper, local
Speaker 1: paper at home. My first gig was First Bank of
Speaker 1: Minneapolis standing on these steel you know, folding chair playing
Speaker 1: congers with this African dance troupe. And that was the
Speaker 1: beginning of it all from Major Yeah, my little dice
Speaker 1: Chiki and my little half from Yeah, I was in it. Yeah.
Speaker 1: So from there, man, that was just kind of mine thing.
Speaker 1: And then at that time too, there was a lot
Speaker 1: of groups like that. You know, I was playing and
Speaker 1: ended up playing for a lot of poets. It's like that.
Speaker 1: So that was like a thing. You go on the park,
Speaker 1: you see brothers playing congers in the park. You know
Speaker 1: that kind of they had like a little baby in
Speaker 1: love Joan. Yeah, you know, that's pretty much pretty much man,
Speaker 1: Revolutionary Chad. You know. So you say, you say Congers,
Speaker 1: it's really Conga, but brothers in the Hill you say Congers,
Speaker 1: it's really Congress. Okay, so I'm from DC. Yeah we
Speaker 1: say congos. Oh that's right, say congos. He's saying. I'm like,
Speaker 1: I know what he's talking about. We put oh, but
Speaker 1: spelling in my head. I'm like, I don't spell that,
Speaker 1: but I'm looking at the spellings in my head. I'm like,
Speaker 1: it is Congers too. Yeah, yeah, Congress, and it's like
Speaker 1: Congers in Bongo was in few so it's like Congos
Speaker 1: longos you know. Yeah. So we was like decent, like yeah,
Speaker 1: uh go go Mickey on the Congos he killed. Yeah,
Speaker 1: yeah that was Yeah. We had a little tribal yeah yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: we was like Congas, like where are you? Ain't in it?
Speaker 1: So yeah, yeah, man, but that was that was the beginning.
Speaker 1: So I had, you know, with the Aberdeen Gay Group.
Speaker 1: Later on, there was another um group I played with
Speaker 1: instrument in my development, Black Arts Midwest. In this place
Speaker 1: there was a space where they would have all these
Speaker 1: kids coming to the the neighborhood and it was a place
Speaker 1: called Inner City Youth League. So they had they had
Speaker 1: a studio in there, they had where they teach like
Speaker 1: art class so you know, I was involved in that,
Speaker 1: martial arts everything. They had people speaking, just teaching all
Speaker 1: kinds of classes there. So it was a place for
Speaker 1: young kids to go and just kind of get right,
Speaker 1: you know. And later on there's another group with Charlie Dances.
Speaker 1: We played at the Renaissance Festival a lot, you know,
Speaker 1: so I pretty much that was all those I called
Speaker 1: africanisms was instilled to me very young, you know, I
Speaker 1: was and and the the percussion side is really developed.
Speaker 1: Yeah at this time too for you. Yeah, absolutely, so
Speaker 1: that was there was instilled to me very young, and
Speaker 1: I was you know, I was halfway home school and
Speaker 1: didn't know it. But you being paid too. Did you
Speaker 1: make some money to get a couple of dollars? Oh yeah,
Speaker 1: a little bit. Yeah, yeah, you know, I mean right
Speaker 1: now now, my pop my first it was Remember it
Speaker 1: was twelve dollars and seventy five cent. Remember that's that check.
Speaker 1: Get it? And I was like, yeah, get a whole candy,
Speaker 1: Like what the what account? I was like how much
Speaker 1: candy I get with that because I didn't get paid
Speaker 1: frone of my street performance. But get whatever twelve seventy five,
Speaker 1: what they said Fisherman's warf owes me Now, oh but goodness, yeah, man,
Speaker 1: So you're playing You're playing Congos, Congas, congas, three of
Speaker 1: those until about what egg So that started at four
Speaker 1: and then um, I was let's see ten, eleven, twelve,
Speaker 1: Are you putting in years? Yeah, so that's when that
Speaker 1: was being a kid playing sports and all this stuff
Speaker 1: in between, of course, and at the same time, there's
Speaker 1: so many things happening at the at the same time.
Speaker 1: You know, how you go through life and you go
Speaker 1: through phases when your kid and go through sports and
Speaker 1: football and basketball and track and all that. And so
Speaker 1: at the same time, I'm listening all these records, you know,
Speaker 1: my dad, I've hear Malcolm X, you're not here, Etha Franklin,
Speaker 1: You're not here, Ella Fitzgerald, Serif on all these different things,
Speaker 1: you know, just all the branches of three of black music,
Speaker 1: you know, all these genres that we've created. And I'm like, wow,
Speaker 1: I putting you know, it's just it's in you hear
Speaker 1: music and I didn't know that how it's affecting me.
Speaker 1: My my aunt was the musical director and the church,
Speaker 1: so I didn't. I never sang in church. I played,
Speaker 1: but so I mean I was you know, my ear
Speaker 1: was pretty good even back then. I was like man,
Speaker 1: I so that spirit just never left. And you know
Speaker 1: how that is, it just gets in you, and that
Speaker 1: just that whole spirit of it. So all that did
Speaker 1: anyone know you could sing? No? No, So the singing came.
Speaker 1: So the singing I was always I was a mimicer
Speaker 1: as far as the cat who did it for me
Speaker 1: was Al Green vocally, that was like twenty different people
Speaker 1: in one side of one body. He's just the cat.
Speaker 1: So I was always mimicking and you know that kind
Speaker 1: of thing. So, but it wasn't until I got to
Speaker 1: high school and we were talking about your friend who
Speaker 1: went to high school in Minnesota. I don't know if
Speaker 1: it was We went to a central so in Central
Speaker 1: had it was something called a Magnan Arts program. So
Speaker 1: I would liken it to like the LaGuardia Performing Art. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you know, so it had a little bit of everything
Speaker 1: and then had a studio in there had a still
Speaker 1: drum orchestra, which that guy ended up being my a
Speaker 1: great mentor to me. Rest in peace, calif Alexis Senior
Speaker 1: and those things really helped shape me. And so what
Speaker 1: I did I took there are two classes you could
Speaker 1: take for the studio session. One was more engineering and
Speaker 1: the other class was they put you with different people
Speaker 1: played different genres. So the arm by dudes would be,
Speaker 1: you know, we put you with the rock door just
Speaker 1: so you can kind of expand your mind a little bit.
Speaker 1: So like I didn't want to plass, Like I want
Speaker 1: to learn how to actually push buttons when the knobs
Speaker 1: on the engineering side, so then I can record my
Speaker 1: own stuff. And you know, the big his dream was like,
Speaker 1: I mean, I just want to four track a keyboard
Speaker 1: little drum machine. That was just that was a dream,
Speaker 1: you know what I mean. And so had a little
Speaker 1: task AMP six eighty eight got in there and started
Speaker 1: making it's making beats, making stuff, and it was just
Speaker 1: like and to be honest with you, uh, stacking vocals
Speaker 1: and that kind that's really what helped me sing I
Speaker 1: felt like hil high school. Yeah, that's I felt like
Speaker 1: I met myself for the first time hearing that. Oh
Speaker 1: why me? So I get just stacking. It's just okay, wow.
Speaker 1: So not just to sing it, but learning the process
Speaker 1: of creating you all the frequencies, all the things you
Speaker 1: can do, you know, bouncing, you know you got four tracks,
Speaker 1: you do three tracks, bounce it was three to the
Speaker 1: four and then you know all that kind of stuff.
Speaker 1: So it's really that process helped shape me, you know
Speaker 1: what I mean. And then you know, all he had
Speaker 1: all these instruments around and not a yeah, more of
Speaker 1: an ear player if I can, you know, pick stuff
Speaker 1: up keys or guitar basing and that kind of stuff. Um,
Speaker 1: but that's really the thing that really helped shape me
Speaker 1: with the records and then so it was it was
Speaker 1: an amazing time, you know. And then, like I said,
Speaker 1: my mentor, but little bit of theory that I have,
Speaker 1: Cliff Alexis, I learned off of steel pan, you know,
Speaker 1: and that was just that instrument. It just blew my mind.
Speaker 1: I was like, why so you just took like a
Speaker 1: fifty five gallant oil drum, cut it in different shapes
Speaker 1: and sides, and you're gonna make a cello voice, You're
Speaker 1: gonna make a guitar voice. I was going, As you're talking,
Speaker 1: I'm like hearing all of the influences. I'm hearing all
Speaker 1: of it. Yeah, through through all the things, all the instruments,
Speaker 1: and all the places he's been. I'm hearing the song,
Speaker 1: hearing the interludes. I'm hearing all of them. Like because
Speaker 1: I because a lot of it was gonna be why now,
Speaker 1: I said, you get it? Okay, okay, get it. It
Speaker 1: was all that stuff, and it's you know it just
Speaker 1: and that continues, and like, man, I'm still discovering all that.
Speaker 1: You know, the older you get, you're like, oh, that's
Speaker 1: what that was. You know, how many instruments are you
Speaker 1: into at this point? I mean basically it was, of course,
Speaker 1: all the percussions stuff I started. I had some piano instruction,
Speaker 1: you know, off and on um, but that was basically
Speaker 1: the guitar and stuff, and that came later just from
Speaker 1: thinking around and in the basement. You know, every band
Speaker 1: that I played in that was pretty much the youngest guy,
Speaker 1: a lot of a lot most of them payed drums,
Speaker 1: always played drums, but all the every band played with,
Speaker 1: most of the bands would rehearsing my parents' basement, so
Speaker 1: all the instruments were left honor, you know. So I
Speaker 1: was like, what was that he was playing earlier? You know, yeah,
Speaker 1: what was that? But you know, I would just get
Speaker 1: on the next thing, and then the next thing, you know,
Speaker 1: I you know, I started picking up different phrases and
Speaker 1: you know, I just started expanding my vocabulary. Your parents
Speaker 1: opened up your home to it took I don't know
Speaker 1: how they did that because it was loud and some
Speaker 1: of it was wrong. Yeah, I remember my dad told
Speaker 1: me one time. I was like, yeah, it was this
Speaker 1: song and I was like, oh, ugly music. So I
Speaker 1: have to switch to the beginnings of infancy stage of men. Okay,
Speaker 1: so this is after high school, trying to figure out
Speaker 1: what they are we gonna do. I went to Northern
Speaker 1: Illinois University just to see if I wanted to go
Speaker 1: because Cliff alexis my mentor, was going to teach there.
Speaker 1: And I was like, Okay, maybe not. I'm gonna take
Speaker 1: one year and you know, see what I can do.
Speaker 1: So I was working and that kind of thing. So
Speaker 1: in between that we meant put together, we put together,
Speaker 1: I think, and we had I wasn't singing. I was
Speaker 1: playing from us. There was this other guy who was
Speaker 1: paying for the space, the rehearsal space, that we had
Speaker 1: and he was singing, couldn't really he wasn't a singer,
Speaker 1: you know, but he just know the whole prince thing
Speaker 1: was going on, and he had this long weave. Nothing
Speaker 1: the rest of it was just affro and that's like
Speaker 1: all of a sudden, just weaves. Anyway, another story. And
Speaker 1: he was breathing. He was breathing, breathed the way I was,
Speaker 1: you ain't, Yeah, breathed all the way. And but he
Speaker 1: wasn't you know, he could screamed like princes and all
Speaker 1: that thing. But something it at some point where it's like,
Speaker 1: you know what, you guys got it. I was just
Speaker 1: keep paying for the plane, for the space, and you know,
Speaker 1: y'all just keep you know, just come back and get
Speaker 1: me when you know, when y'all make it. That kind
Speaker 1: of thing. So that's what he said. That's what he said,
Speaker 1: And I guess I don't know, And who's gonna saying
Speaker 1: we needed singing that kind of thing, And you know,
Speaker 1: I said, well I'll do it. You know. It's active foods,
Speaker 1: pretty athletic, that kind of thing. And that's where it started.
Speaker 1: And that was like nineteen hundred and nineteen hundred and
Speaker 1: eighty six, you know, So that was the beginning of
Speaker 1: that was the beginning of you singing league. That was
Speaker 1: the beginning of it, of singing league. That was the
Speaker 1: first time. And so were you singing from the drums? No,
Speaker 1: I went up left to drums. We got another drummer
Speaker 1: from high school. His name was Kenny Young and he yeah,
Speaker 1: it was the drumming. I went up front and we
Speaker 1: just started putting it together. Man, I know how drummers are.
Speaker 1: Were you better than him? At that? We were? I
Speaker 1: was nice then, I mean yeah, I mean it was
Speaker 1: we was. We was coming up together at that time,
Speaker 1: the tales of your nice. But I had I had
Speaker 1: a few different gears just because I wasn't like every
Speaker 1: other drummer just starting from percussion in the background of Yah.
Speaker 1: They were always like where are you pulling that from? Right?
Speaker 1: You know what I mean? And it's like I could
Speaker 1: name some of the rhythms that there's just and everybody
Speaker 1: just plays it. But I'm like, I could I know
Speaker 1: what that is? Man, that's as mine, Johnny, that's okay
Speaker 1: whatever that you know, Look what was it? So I
Speaker 1: had a different It was just different, Yeah, better, I
Speaker 1: don't know, that's for somebody else to say, I don't,
Speaker 1: I don't know it was, but it was working it
Speaker 1: he was doing Yeah, he got the job done. And
Speaker 1: so I went up front. And at that time, you know,
Speaker 1: it was very you know, the whole prince thing was
Speaker 1: going on. You know how many outs thing. It was
Speaker 1: very competitive. So what you see like preper reynoss that
Speaker 1: was actually happens as a real thing. You know, you
Speaker 1: better kick down, you know what I mean, kick your
Speaker 1: ass down. You know, you bet it sound good. So
Speaker 1: everything was like you had to play and you had
Speaker 1: to step you call it stepping already stepping you know
Speaker 1: what I mean, like a little choreography with it. So
Speaker 1: it's like all three things. It's like, there's no wasn't
Speaker 1: the keyboard player performance perform. It was the show and
Speaker 1: that's where we learned how to put on the fools.
Speaker 1: Like you the artistic thing came together because it was
Speaker 1: always like that age old are you going to be
Speaker 1: an artist or an entertainer? You know, so I yeah,
Speaker 1: there's a difference, but I think I was always definitely
Speaker 1: into the art of it. It was like why can't
Speaker 1: you kind of why are you putting that together? You know,
Speaker 1: that's from showmanship too, to keep people's attention, you know,
Speaker 1: and that's where all that came from. And in Minnesota,
Speaker 1: it seemed like like a lot of the audience that
Speaker 1: we never thought we were It's like, man, we're not
Speaker 1: doing enough because the response there, I think it was
Speaker 1: just it would go over people's head. We play all
Speaker 1: this music and shit, and it was just like, are
Speaker 1: we not doing enough? So okay, maybe we need to
Speaker 1: do something visually, you know, to get some kind of feedback.
Speaker 1: And we didn't realize that we were doing more than
Speaker 1: enough until we got outside of the you know, going
Speaker 1: to New York in Chicago, like oh this is great,
Speaker 1: you know, Oh okay, so we had this actually means
Speaker 1: something that we're putting together. But it actually really worked.
Speaker 1: Really thankful that they didn't give that immediate love back
Speaker 1: to us because it helped put together the show. It
Speaker 1: helped put you know, just like developed in a different way,
Speaker 1: you know what I mean. And yeah, man, so all
Speaker 1: that really was just it was it was a pivotal moment,
Speaker 1: you know. The first the first main condition gig I
Speaker 1: have to say, So you've been to the Mall of America. Yes,
Speaker 1: So I wrote a roller coaster there say that there
Speaker 1: was a place called the Carlton Celebrity Room and that
Speaker 1: was our first gig, first show, and that's where the
Speaker 1: mall it's right now and the Wings of Fire at
Speaker 1: the mall? Where was the spot the Wings is fired? Bro,
Speaker 1: I just remember where I was. The shrimp is nice
Speaker 1: to Buffalo Stramp. I know you Buffalo Trump who does
Speaker 1: Virginia But it's really nice. But yeah, so that's where
Speaker 1: the mall sits. Now. That was the first That was
Speaker 1: my nineteen eighty six, that was my first singing show
Speaker 1: with men and that was first ment's first outing where
Speaker 1: you guys called yeah men condition Yeah from the rep
Speaker 1: from the rep. Yeah, we got put the names in
Speaker 1: there and you know, trying to figure out what we
Speaker 1: want to you know. And the group was created in
Speaker 1: high school first. Yeah, so it had a couple of
Speaker 1: different iterations. Um, but we're saying, you know, nineteen eighty
Speaker 1: nine was really the core, really got it going, you know. Then, Uh,
Speaker 1: the guy Kenny the drummer, he was in the Hunters,
Speaker 1: another Calf from Milwaukee who played bass and who am
Speaker 1: I'm forgetting? Don't kill me? Now spend a minute? Um oh,
Speaker 1: and of course Roger Roger Troupman. So Roger Lynch, he
Speaker 1: was thirteen when I met him. Amazing, ye had Roger Truman. Yeah,
Speaker 1: Roger Lynch resting pieces has passed on, but yeah, he
Speaker 1: was amazing talent, amazing talent. So um he went off
Speaker 1: to do some stuff with his father at some point,
Speaker 1: so we had lost him and the two gentlemen coming
Speaker 1: behind him, you know, Kenny. Something happened to Kenny too,
Speaker 1: so we lost the drummer, you know you and often
Speaker 1: did whatever. And Carrie and Jeff Kerry Lewis and Jeff
Speaker 1: Fallen were the next one. They were younger than that's
Speaker 1: by the year two. And when't we just get them,
Speaker 1: you know and just scarry doing some amazing stuff. When
Speaker 1: the students all coming through the school, all coming through
Speaker 1: that same same Paul Central. Wow, So there's a lot
Speaker 1: of talent there, a lot of people doing an amazing things.
Speaker 1: So that's what we call a core fromin condition as
Speaker 1: we know it is. The world knows it. And yeah,
Speaker 1: that was that was the first How did you feel
Speaker 1: your for your first time singing lead in front of
Speaker 1: how many people? To three hundred people? Well, the first
Speaker 1: time that first show was that was probably eighteen hundred people.
Speaker 1: Oh you jump right into the first show. It was
Speaker 1: whatever we had. It was a big room. Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: it was a big room. I think that. And we
Speaker 1: only played like maybe ten fifteen minutes, like three songs.
Speaker 1: It was a blur, you know. I think I was
Speaker 1: so hyped, and there's footage of it. It's my curl
Speaker 1: and everything else. I was breed too. I had the
Speaker 1: asymmetrical cutting back and yeah, all right. Our outfits was crazy.
Speaker 1: I mean it was we was real breed, so we
Speaker 1: had it's there, but it is, yeah, I mean, it's
Speaker 1: it's it's how we all got here. So it's outfit.
Speaker 1: It looked like something from Star Trek. Black and Goal
Speaker 1: had like these uh fringes cut one looked like it
Speaker 1: was this foul leather. The other side were just net.
Speaker 1: For some reason, I don't know, some of the shirts
Speaker 1: that did Jamaicans we were one of Lake was net
Speaker 1: a net leg and then some reason some of us
Speaker 1: was like alsasua all away man no drawls, no, no, no, no,
Speaker 1: that's not where I thought this is. It's like we
Speaker 1: went we went when cold Minnesota, so I had no
Speaker 1: I mean, it's like we're just going for it, trying
Speaker 1: to trying to find the edge, trying to find the ledge.
Speaker 1: I mean, everybody at the time was you know Jesse Johnson,
Speaker 1: remember the Jets had big, a lot of people. Man,
Speaker 1: it was just like you know, I just remember we
Speaker 1: started with art. It was just back to the audience.
Speaker 1: It was just a thing out there in Minnesota. It
Speaker 1: was just like how far can we push it? How far?
Speaker 1: What I mean if you if you think back to
Speaker 1: this was happening everywhere. Everybody had it was on another
Speaker 1: level because again for sure with me in the chapter
Speaker 1: me like y'all, y'all, y'all took it there, took us
Speaker 1: close off, y'all, y'all, y'all want to go see right
Speaker 1: right right here? Bring the horse? Was there was there
Speaker 1: pressure in a sense in Minnesota like this is what
Speaker 1: we own that I'm from Minnesota. It's like if you
Speaker 1: was from California in the eighties you had a cherry curl,
Speaker 1: Yeah yeah, it's yeah, yeah, everybody had to have curl,
Speaker 1: you know what I mean. Like, so that's that's what
Speaker 1: That's what I'm saying by that, like with being from
Speaker 1: Minnesota is just like, well, because you even said it
Speaker 1: in the first performances, it's like, are we even doing enough? Right, yeah,
Speaker 1: because they pushing the lemits out here. Yeah. Yeah, but
Speaker 1: that that was more when I said I felt like
Speaker 1: we weren't doing enough. It just seemed like what we
Speaker 1: were doing the applause didn't match. It was like we
Speaker 1: felt like I had a little shot yea, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: I think that. Yeah, yeah, that's what it was, probably
Speaker 1: like something else, you know, I don't even know how
Speaker 1: it was just going there and at the time too, so, um,
Speaker 1: the person who made if you look at the Rude
Speaker 1: Boyd how Prince had it was it was one of
Speaker 1: the outfits that he had on was at the Controversiy album.
Speaker 1: There was a lady who actually made his close. She
Speaker 1: used to actually manage us, so she sold those. Uh
Speaker 1: and that was that's Andre Anderson Andrew Simone's sister Sylvia
Speaker 1: and shout out Sylvia and uh yeah, so it was
Speaker 1: we were going there, man, it need to get her
Speaker 1: on the podcast. Yeah, that was made Prince's clothes and
Speaker 1: management condition. Wow you are a leg Yeah, she was
Speaker 1: something else. It's amazing. So yeah, that was that was
Speaker 1: that was a moment and looking back at that foot
Speaker 1: and I'm like, oh, what was on? It was? Yeah,
Speaker 1: it was it was you guys are signed to Jam
Speaker 1: and Lewis. Shit, no, so check it out. They were
Speaker 1: in the audience at that first show. They were there
Speaker 1: the first show Jam and Lewis in the audience. That's right.
Speaker 1: I mean this you're talking about who's who in Minneapolis,
Speaker 1: the whole thing. And mind you, at that time, Minnapolis
Speaker 1: was so hot, like people were coming from everywhere, you know,
Speaker 1: to La New York Shire. They were coming and I'm like, wow,
Speaker 1: this is crazy, man. So yeah, they're there. And I
Speaker 1: remember Um Sylvia manager at the time, had asked Terry Um,
Speaker 1: well what do you think you know, I always tease
Speaker 1: terrybody now like and he was like, well, they need work.
Speaker 1: I was like, okay, yeah we thought we was. I
Speaker 1: don't know what we thought. It was, like I said,
Speaker 1: it was a blur to me. It was just like
Speaker 1: I was just so hyped and it was like it
Speaker 1: was just let's just go out here and do it.
Speaker 1: And that was it, you know, just leave it alone.
Speaker 1: Those notes is gone, can't do anything. Don't think about
Speaker 1: it or I shouldn't did this is yeah? You know,
Speaker 1: that was it. So yeah, it was, it was. It
Speaker 1: was something, man. So the footage is out there, no
Speaker 1: no, no no where. It ain't hard. It ain't hard to find.
Speaker 1: It ain't hard to find. So how do you get
Speaker 1: from how do you get from? They neque work too,
Speaker 1: we should sign it whatever. Well, um, so from there, um,
Speaker 1: there are a few things that happened. I'm still I
Speaker 1: was always very active, playing different bands and one time
Speaker 1: I was maybe in eight nine different bands one time
Speaker 1: just love playing yeah, you know, and playing drums that
Speaker 1: kind of thing, and we're trying to put together demos
Speaker 1: and that kind of thing. It was interrupted and I
Speaker 1: was seeing the nineteen eighty eight, eighty seven, eighty eight,
Speaker 1: I had gotten a call from a friend to do
Speaker 1: this tour with opening for I was playing for this
Speaker 1: guy named George Pettis, and uh, we're gonna be opening
Speaker 1: for Whitney. And it was an expansive and just just
Speaker 1: a huge tour in Europe, Moment of Truth tour. And
Speaker 1: so that took me out for about I don't know,
Speaker 1: three four months, whatever it was, and that was an
Speaker 1: amazing experience just get to really see on that level
Speaker 1: the world, to see not only the world, but just
Speaker 1: to watch her, to watch the musicians. He's gonna get
Speaker 1: to this was like eighty seven, eighty eight. Yeah, she
Speaker 1: was all the way up. Yeah, it was. It was
Speaker 1: the Whitney that week, knowing love and all of that,
Speaker 1: and it was it was. It was amazing, you know,
Speaker 1: still thinking about it, and now I have some vivid memories,
Speaker 1: so you know us and at the end of the
Speaker 1: tour singing with her that kind of just jam session
Speaker 1: kind of thing. And so many people that I met,
Speaker 1: you know, some people I see on TV that are executives.
Speaker 1: Now I'm like, wow, people moving this industry, and like,
Speaker 1: it's amazing to see that. But m that was a
Speaker 1: great experience for me just to see how it's done,
Speaker 1: you know, how they're moving, how the business and backup
Speaker 1: because I was always very aware and keen on that's
Speaker 1: like what are they doing? Okay, after you get off stage,
Speaker 1: what do you do? How do they you know what
Speaker 1: I mean that kind of thing. So it was just
Speaker 1: really really great time. So there is that comeback to Minneapolis,
Speaker 1: Saint Paul and we start putting it together, put together
Speaker 1: a demo four songs. Pretty Roney's was one of them,
Speaker 1: and that was one of the songs was one of
Speaker 1: the songs. Yeah, actually all four songs were on the
Speaker 1: first album. But the funny thing is, like a lot
Speaker 1: of executive he took him in the MCA, We took
Speaker 1: him to you know a lot of different labels, and
Speaker 1: matter of fact, we came out here in Actually, I
Speaker 1: need to back up. This was before the chore that,
Speaker 1: you know, so with Kenny Young and you know, Roger Troutman,
Speaker 1: Roger Lynch. I should saying we actually came out here before.
Speaker 1: It was like it was eighty six. So the year
Speaker 1: after graduating, in search of a deal, and we had
Speaker 1: these songs and they're like man, this is uh, this
Speaker 1: is good stuff. Man, with everybody would ask us, well
Speaker 1: why are you here. We're like what do you mean
Speaker 1: everything's happening back in Minneapolis, you know, because it was
Speaker 1: like wow, but this is La So and uh yeah,
Speaker 1: but um, you know he probably need to go back home,
Speaker 1: and you know, it's like wow. So that was kind
Speaker 1: of crazy. So we stayed out here. We were in Altadena.
Speaker 1: You know, I'm staying with a friend of a friend,
Speaker 1: and I got my wallet stone and everything. We just
Speaker 1: like had the this is a mess and so I
Speaker 1: had to mention that just because uh, that trip here
Speaker 1: we were knocking on A and M stories actually saw
Speaker 1: Jam and Lewis, so, Jam um out in west? What's
Speaker 1: the coed West? It's a place by UCLA Colton. What's what?
Speaker 1: What's what is? What's what? Okay? Yeah, And it was
Speaker 1: kind of you know how you see somebody in a
Speaker 1: different place and you're like, I know you. Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: so he knew. We say, hey, Jam, blah blahlah, you know,
Speaker 1: we out here trying to search your deal was like okay,
Speaker 1: yeah cool. It just kind of like the little brush
Speaker 1: off thing with me. He meant well, but he was
Speaker 1: just like my hand. And when we got home, he
Speaker 1: was like, we've seen him beginnings, Like I knew, I knew, y'all.
Speaker 1: I was like, I'm sorry, you just were out of place.
Speaker 1: It just didn't you know, it didn't put it together.
Speaker 1: So yeah, we're knocking on the endems doors seeing Jam
Speaker 1: and then out here and then so fast forward to
Speaker 1: getting back to creating the demo excuse me, and we
Speaker 1: had those four songs and everybody's like, well, you know,
Speaker 1: we don't hear a singer. We don't hear it. We
Speaker 1: don't hear it. That kind of thing. So we started
Speaker 1: singing pretty and at that The demo is still for me,
Speaker 1: still better than the actual album. It's like the demos
Speaker 1: like eight minutes long. We were all the weight. It
Speaker 1: was just like really really spiritual. It was just yeah,
Speaker 1: it was I remember having the lights off and the
Speaker 1: little o're herstal space and it was just yeah, it
Speaker 1: was a thing. And so we uh you had those
Speaker 1: four songs were on there, man, and we decided to
Speaker 1: put together like a little package and then we invited people,
Speaker 1: invited Prince out, somebody from MCA, Jam and Lewis, and
Speaker 1: we played at First Avenue. It said, you know, the
Speaker 1: club made famous by purple ring Prince, and so we
Speaker 1: did that and we used to start to start to
Speaker 1: show off with Praddy Browns because it was just one
Speaker 1: of those things that capture your attention like yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: you know, I almost scare you, yeah yeah, and a
Speaker 1: parent that yeah, and then it started off and that
Speaker 1: was um that was in. We did it. It It was
Speaker 1: a showcase. And then that was oh so that was
Speaker 1: a gentleman by the name of Michael Bland Prince drummer. Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: so he was in. He was actually supposed to be
Speaker 1: a part of the group. But you know, Prince and
Speaker 1: asked him at the same time, so he went to
Speaker 1: go do the new part generation with princes so many
Speaker 1: there's so many things that you know, So that was
Speaker 1: we only in a rehearsal session. So Lawrence, Jeffrey and myself,
Speaker 1: Yeah this and he just started humming no nah and
Speaker 1: just one of those things just kind of the lyrics
Speaker 1: comedy was really simple, and you know, just kind of
Speaker 1: as we kept playing it started adding parts and making
Speaker 1: it more dynamic. So by the time we got to
Speaker 1: the studio, it was you know, it was almost like
Speaker 1: you're bringing to the stage, bringing the stage to the studio,
Speaker 1: you know, instead of a lot of times you recorded music,
Speaker 1: you know, you know what I mean. So I think
Speaker 1: with recording that is a more honest way from uh
Speaker 1: in the essence, that's what you're trying to capture a moment,
Speaker 1: trying to capture a performance. That's where recordings came from.
Speaker 1: I think m capturing somebody alive, you know, And now
Speaker 1: we do it in a more contrived way. We try
Speaker 1: to perfect a great moment over you know what I mean.
Speaker 1: Father would say as backwards yeah, yeah, school, but I
Speaker 1: mean that's what that's what we do now. So I mean,
Speaker 1: that's what we captured. And I think that's even we
Speaker 1: actually went in and did it in the studio, it's
Speaker 1: still captured. There was something with that about that song,
Speaker 1: about the vibration of it, the notes, the chords, just
Speaker 1: the emotion of it, and just it transcended, you know,
Speaker 1: it was definitely much bigger than us. So the effect
Speaker 1: that it still has impacts, so I'm really thankful for that,
Speaker 1: you know, an amazing impact. Yeah, man, every night. Wow, Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's I mean, you don't matter where you at when
Speaker 1: that record comes on, you stop if it comes on
Speaker 1: while you're listening to the radio. Yeah, you do not change,
Speaker 1: you turn up, turn It's it's one of those. It's
Speaker 1: it's crazy because I was like, how do you feel
Speaker 1: when you were as you know, I wish I knew
Speaker 1: it's gonna sound weird? What I sounded like? I hear
Speaker 1: me Sometimes I can't explain it. I wish people I
Speaker 1: knew what people here because I don't. Well you should
Speaker 1: probably look on the internet and see you see him
Speaker 1: trying to see it. That's what they hear, but it
Speaker 1: ain't and I hear it's like, I wish I knew
Speaker 1: what they were here. When they hear the stor challenge coming,
Speaker 1: I'll take care of it. Yeah, yeah, and you will see. Yeah.
Speaker 1: And I didn't mean to throw you off from from
Speaker 1: where you know you were you were talking about the showcase. Yes,
Speaker 1: I definitely I got to hear the full story of
Speaker 1: how that got prints in the house. Yes, what what
Speaker 1: he brought? He brought a representative, so he did. He said, UM,
Speaker 1: bring the tape back. I'd rather see them than here,
Speaker 1: because you know, he's definitely about visual And I remember
Speaker 1: at the end of the performance, I was walking through
Speaker 1: my car across the street. I see jam and Lewis
Speaker 1: and they were like, hey, stop, great job, we'll talk
Speaker 1: next week. I'm like, I can't even think anything of it,
Speaker 1: because at that time it was like, you know, people
Speaker 1: say stuff, and you know, I'm just glad that they
Speaker 1: came out, you know. And about a week or two later,
Speaker 1: we're in Flight Time Studio and in the conference room, like,
Speaker 1: you know, what do y'all want to do. It's like,
Speaker 1: we want to make records, and you know, we'd like
Speaker 1: to produce at least half the hour, isn't They're like
Speaker 1: you guys can do the whole damn thing if you want.
Speaker 1: We're like what we okay, yeah, but I'm sure they
Speaker 1: knew what it was coming from a band. Being in
Speaker 1: a band, want to express your stuff like we get it,
Speaker 1: we got you. And that was the beginning of the
Speaker 1: whole Were there other offers from that night or were
Speaker 1: they were the only offer? Prince as he thought, He's like,
Speaker 1: they were really good, but there wasn't you know, he
Speaker 1: had so much going on at the time, you know,
Speaker 1: I think so we didn't really hear anything back, uh MCA.
Speaker 1: I think was more you know, they're like, well, there
Speaker 1: were so many groups like that at the time, that
Speaker 1: kind of Minneapolis kind of vibe. You know, though I
Speaker 1: could tell that there's like, man, there were so many
Speaker 1: people who had that out if you think about the
Speaker 1: eighties from my perspective, at least, it was like like
Speaker 1: when you heard I was listening to face talk about
Speaker 1: the influence the Minneapolis thing, you know, and being breathing
Speaker 1: that kind of thing, you know, and just there was
Speaker 1: a sound you know, the Oberheim DMX drum machine, the
Speaker 1: keyboard staff that you know, all these there was a
Speaker 1: moment and I think mini Apoleis had, in my opinion,
Speaker 1: a lot to do with that just how I think.
Speaker 1: I think as it pertains to the area, it was
Speaker 1: absolutely more so an influx of it. But as it
Speaker 1: pertained to the industry from outside looking in, there was
Speaker 1: no man condition. I had never seen anything like making
Speaker 1: it there was. You know, I feel like I've seen
Speaker 1: a lot in this music business. I had never seen
Speaker 1: the main condition me personally at all. It's interesting still,
Speaker 1: I feel like y'all want on one. Yeah, to this day,
Speaker 1: I think so it's um. When we were coming in,
Speaker 1: you gotta remember it was changing because people were trying
Speaker 1: to be more cost effective. So bands were on the
Speaker 1: way out. We're the out of ball out. So Joe
Speaker 1: to see Voice of Men, you know, it was a
Speaker 1: moment because I remember all these radio stations people go to.
Speaker 1: Their thing was can we sing for you? Can we
Speaker 1: sing for you? Was like it was that was the thing?
Speaker 1: Because I think it was who was it. Michael Bevins
Speaker 1: was telling the story of how a group of somebody's like,
Speaker 1: well how did you guys got put on what they
Speaker 1: sang for you? That kind of thing. So everybody started
Speaker 1: doing that, you know, and but we were like, Okay,
Speaker 1: we're a band, we do they have this whole thing,
Speaker 1: you know, So we kind of got caught up and
Speaker 1: that until we started distancings, a distancing ourselves away from
Speaker 1: you know, the rest of the pack. You're like, all
Speaker 1: you guys are actually saying, but your actual band, you're
Speaker 1: self contained, you know. But that's what we saw, you know,
Speaker 1: growing up. That's what we wanted to be seen. How
Speaker 1: players you know, earth Wind EtuH six, the business of
Speaker 1: that work. Well, the best way to me and for
Speaker 1: all of us because we've seen you know, the great bands,
Speaker 1: the things that broke those bands up with economics of course,
Speaker 1: we've seen horn back, the great horn bands go from
Speaker 1: ten to eight to five to three, and at some point,
Speaker 1: you know, just time moves on and it's just you
Speaker 1: can't compete with that, the economics of life and you know,
Speaker 1: the things that you need and if you shit ain't hidden,
Speaker 1: you know, that's yeah, that's so um so the best
Speaker 1: way to split, Yeah, and I'm lucking know what, it'll
Speaker 1: work itself out and jail. I mean, we just really
Speaker 1: committed and at that time we were really artists, right,
Speaker 1: you know what I mean for an art section really
Speaker 1: he's really wanted and everything will take care of yourself.
Speaker 1: We just really cared about the music. Anybody you want
Speaker 1: to get into your mind? Oh boy lord, your top five?
Speaker 1: Oh lord, don't top five, don't do it. You got
Speaker 1: top five, don't do it? Do top five? Who is
Speaker 1: your top five? Top lord? Y'all just dead or alive?
Speaker 1: Dead are alive? Top five R and B singers dead
Speaker 1: are alive? Yeah, y'all. You know, y'all the new meme
Speaker 1: of the two R and B niggers trying to each other. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you know exactly what I'm talking about too, when they
Speaker 1: got like the comedian did that, y'all? Yeah, oh man,
Speaker 1: oh lord, this is always people's come on, this is
Speaker 1: in the moment right now, just because whoever, I can't
Speaker 1: think of this? No, yeah, um man, Joel LeVert, come on.
Speaker 1: Joe LeVert is definitely and think I've spent some time
Speaker 1: and he's just yeah, the teddy bear roll around on
Speaker 1: the ground, but he's he can. And why I say
Speaker 1: that too, just because I've seen him perform so much
Speaker 1: and he what it's like. He's always consistent, you know,
Speaker 1: I always no, And I remembers one time backstage he
Speaker 1: was doing something. He had to show together something. He's like,
Speaker 1: oh man, I'm tiring, man, let me go on here,
Speaker 1: roll around on the ground. And he did. I was like,
Speaker 1: oh wow, that's yeah. I mean it's yeah. So yeah, Gerald,
Speaker 1: uh you gotta put Steve in there. Yeah, yeah, you know,
Speaker 1: um you did so much. Luther's another one tone placement, articulation.
Speaker 1: I mean, just classic vocal, classic vocal, you know, tuxedo vocal.
Speaker 1: I'm just gonna say, I like the carpenterice m You're
Speaker 1: like pop mart you know it was Yeah, if that's
Speaker 1: kind of like maybe a side m a subtitle, it's
Speaker 1: like a garnish Yeah. Look, yeah she called him cilantro good.
Speaker 1: A lot of people don't like cilantric yes, but yeah,
Speaker 1: you know if you listen to the I mean what
Speaker 1: they do pieces in there that are like, oh man,
Speaker 1: just crazy, got you? Yeah, I mean Karen Carpenter drummer too.
Speaker 1: You know, she played drums that. Yes, there's smoke footage o.
Speaker 1: Um who else? So how do you even young Michael?
Speaker 1: I mean, I love you get what I'm saying, wrong, Okay,
Speaker 1: you know, yeah, but that was what we grew up on.
Speaker 1: That's that was the influence. That was just so how
Speaker 1: how young was Michael when he's saying right right, whose
Speaker 1: soul was that? Who do that? Who does? He's too
Speaker 1: young to do that? Note like that? Like you'd been
Speaker 1: through he thought he powdering with his note? He do
Speaker 1: about powders? Who are you doing? Attitude like his attitude
Speaker 1: from Paul. You've been in a relationship before it wasn't
Speaker 1: no pro tools. Yeah, yeah, that's tough right now with technology.
Speaker 1: I feel like he I feel like he dumbed it
Speaker 1: down as he got older. He made it. He made
Speaker 1: it fully digest well, and I want to go step further.
Speaker 1: He abandoned being a singer to become a stylist, hm,
Speaker 1: to create a style of singing, because had he just
Speaker 1: been a singer, You've been a great singer. But everybody's
Speaker 1: a singer. There are very few people who are stylists
Speaker 1: who actually creates something so unique that if anybody else
Speaker 1: does it, it's like you're trying to be like Michael Jackson.
Speaker 1: You do that right, there's no way, dude, Like there's
Speaker 1: really good at this huh right? And pretty pretty flawless. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I do. Sometimes I can't count over them. You count
Speaker 1: you counting up you Absolutely right though, absolutely right. Yeah,
Speaker 1: And it was the genius in him to do that,
Speaker 1: like to beat too as a purist of completely abandoned
Speaker 1: being one of the best singers out there, I mean,
Speaker 1: arguably Michael Jackson and Stevie one of the best kids
Speaker 1: singers of all time? Are you kidding me? Right? Yeah?
Speaker 1: Campbell and Jasmine m I can't, I can't. Jack Selim
Speaker 1: was fourteen singing like that, so he was already grown men.
Speaker 1: Come on, Yeah, that's a that's a different that's a
Speaker 1: different league they are, but they all they all stayed
Speaker 1: true to their vocal Mike, Mike, he veered off. I
Speaker 1: mean he's an alien. I mean you have to figure
Speaker 1: I mean, just his upbringing, just the time that he
Speaker 1: was born, everything. There's nobody like that ever. I just
Speaker 1: want to know why. I wish man I pray because
Speaker 1: that is like the day we were supposed to go
Speaker 1: see him. M That's when all and and he had
Speaker 1: invited Jamie to go out there, and we were rehearsing
Speaker 1: with Jamie is supposed to go out there, and I
Speaker 1: was like, I hope I get to ask him why,
Speaker 1: like why me God? And sing? Right? Yeah, So much
Speaker 1: passion in that. Man, I'm percussion very much. He so much,
Speaker 1: very much in that. Why very much do that? Because
Speaker 1: I remember I remember Genuine I was singing we're doing
Speaker 1: TDT and Harvey was in there and he was like, yeah,
Speaker 1: just just ad libine I was going. He said yeah,
Speaker 1: and jeh. Harvey was like, what is that? And so
Speaker 1: he stopped. He's like, He's like, man, like, what makes
Speaker 1: you do that? And and Genuine didn't get it. He
Speaker 1: was like, man, that's just why. I say, Man, what
Speaker 1: you're saying? Like he thought he was he was this,
Speaker 1: I said, I said no, no, I said, gee, he's
Speaker 1: like enamored by the fact that you have your own
Speaker 1: ad lib. Yeah, like that nobody else. He's like, Harvey
Speaker 1: was like, what made you do that? What made you
Speaker 1: create that? Like I love that? And I was like,
Speaker 1: I was like, he's our stylist. I was like, that's
Speaker 1: why we need That's why I was like when I
Speaker 1: was when I was in with Harvard we were formulating
Speaker 1: the background structure, I said, I said, Genuine has to
Speaker 1: lead because he's our stylist in the group. He's the
Speaker 1: guy that's gonna make us recognizable, right right, you know,
Speaker 1: what's what I'm saying, like you're styless? Yeah what it
Speaker 1: call it? Sonic icon? Sonic icons, Yeah, sonic icon. Thank you?
Speaker 1: Something just stole that. Yeah yeah, this is Stokely's sonic Icon.
Speaker 1: That's an award. Yeah yeah, yeah, right, yeah, that's an award.
Speaker 1: Yeah you will, you will receive first and then wow, okay,
Speaker 1: I gotta say too. As far as Beyonce, I love
Speaker 1: all stuff. She's done something. The way her voice is
Speaker 1: now after the kids, because you know when when the
Speaker 1: voice after Lemonade, Beyonce got different. Man, the tone of yeah,
Speaker 1: you know, it's just just so much. It's more season.
Speaker 1: It's more season. And I think you know you she was,
Speaker 1: she was, she was. She's a pristine and curated artist,
Speaker 1: you know what I mean. It's so amazing with a
Speaker 1: lot of big artists, like things are protected and things
Speaker 1: are like, you know, let's just you know, let's keep
Speaker 1: it here. You know what I'm saying. It's very and
Speaker 1: I think that Lemonade album she let us in, Yeah, absolutely,
Speaker 1: and let her hair down. Yeah you can feel that,
Speaker 1: you feel all the other stuff was great because we
Speaker 1: knew when she was younger, Like I remember hanging out
Speaker 1: with I don't know where we were prints a matter
Speaker 1: of fact, you like she was still on the come
Speaker 1: up kinds like we're talking about something. I just remember
Speaker 1: him saying, yeah, didn't you hear that Beyonce? I remember that?
Speaker 1: Just that, So you know that's gonna be something special,
Speaker 1: you know what I mean? It's that Beyonce and I
Speaker 1: think people I have this argument all the time, like
Speaker 1: I'm like, you guys don't know the half of what
Speaker 1: Beyonce is capable of. I get that you got way
Speaker 1: more in her bag. Oh you don't you know it?
Speaker 1: You know it? You know because because we know the instrument,
Speaker 1: we can hear her. That's right. It's build it correctly.
Speaker 1: That's right, because if she really let loose when she
Speaker 1: did that out of James. Come on, so y'all, now
Speaker 1: you're gonna get a glimpse, just a taste, but this one. Okay,
Speaker 1: here we go. I don't know no songs. Many do, Yes,
Speaker 1: you do? You got you gang up too? So your
Speaker 1: green steal in love? Okay? Quick? Quick? Was you know
Speaker 1: vocally that? Uh? And my stuff will be kind of
Speaker 1: all over place. Test of the task at Ella Fitzgerald, Wow,
Speaker 1: because yeah, he's one of my favorite um house is
Speaker 1: not a home Luther. Yeah, just we know what that
Speaker 1: does for me. I do like Princess beautiful ones. Mm hmmm,
Speaker 1: that's yeah, something the emotion and that it just took
Speaker 1: me somewhere still. Um Freddy Brown Ice Man, I was waiting, Yeah,
Speaker 1: I was. I sang it even though I sang it.
Speaker 1: So know what I mean. I gonna I'm gonna invite
Speaker 1: you just I'm gonna invite you to a dude whop.
Speaker 1: Invite you to a dude whop my gardner fly guy,
Speaker 1: go around the country and do some of the craziest
Speaker 1: R and B parties all night, R and B all
Speaker 1: night for five hours. Whoa, and you will see what
Speaker 1: that record, What that record does, Wall wall every time,
Speaker 1: every time. Wow, you don't miss Hi, Come in, Tank,
Speaker 1: how to song? Come in? What are y'all doing down there?
Speaker 1: Oh lord? Oh my god, you better shut up? We
Speaker 1: got next. We're gonna do R and B voltron Okay,
Speaker 1: So I need to know who you're gonna get the
Speaker 1: vocal from, who you're gonna get the performance style from,
Speaker 1: who you're gonna get the styling from, and who you're
Speaker 1: gonna get the passion of the artists from. So let's
Speaker 1: start with the vocal. Whose vocal are you snapch y'all? Rough? Yeah, yeah, trenches,
Speaker 1: I love it money yeah yeah. Okay, so the vocal,
Speaker 1: that's the first one. First one, God, man, I can't
Speaker 1: do a hybrid because you know, oh man, okay, you
Speaker 1: stokely man. We let you, you know, we you can
Speaker 1: live if you want to do a hybrid of if
Speaker 1: you want to, if you want to blend. Brother like,
Speaker 1: we're not arguing with you about no saying I'm gonna.
Speaker 1: I would just say just so I can cover all
Speaker 1: of it. H uh. Stevie Van Stevie Van Draws. That's
Speaker 1: other to be some new rappers like who yeah, Stevie
Speaker 1: Van Drop Van Draws, Steve Steve iced uff grilling, iceduff,
Speaker 1: grilled per signing. He's like signing. He's like a big
Speaker 1: worm with a rapper. You have principalities, right, that's the vocal. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's great hybrid. You know I could get the tone,
Speaker 1: you get all the other stuff and musicality. Yeah, who
Speaker 1: are you getting? The the performance style? Prince Davis, Prince
Speaker 1: and Sammy Davis. Mmm, he's really making a hybrid. Vote
Speaker 1: think about it, because you talk. You talk about performance.
Speaker 1: You know what Prince did, He's great. Sammy Davis is
Speaker 1: the template, He's he's one for everyone. Trumpet, drums, vibes, piano, comedian, dancing, yeah, everything, Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: but more, come on, He's the first Jamie Fox styling
Speaker 1: the show drip, who got that? Daiki Washington be killing, yeah, becoming. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I'm just gonna go with a classic and again I
Speaker 1: gotta go with you're from Minnesota. Huh, You're from Minnesota
Speaker 1: expecting something wild? I mean the oppostion somebody gonna say
Speaker 1: prints or something. Yeah, I mean that's that's like there
Speaker 1: are parts of that that I do like, some stuff
Speaker 1: I probably wouldn't work with. But yeah, um, I don't
Speaker 1: know what person that would be. I guess he would
Speaker 1: be in some ways. Yeah, But then I have the
Speaker 1: just classic side, like a Sammy Davis as well. I
Speaker 1: do like that suits just well tailored, you know what
Speaker 1: I mean. You talk about R and B, you talk
Speaker 1: about like how James Brown is like they had a
Speaker 1: certain way, certain air about them. You know, suits suit
Speaker 1: it up. Yeah. So so maybe maybe I'll say James
Speaker 1: Brown because I think he embodied a lot of that,
Speaker 1: a lot of the pride mixed all of that, even
Speaker 1: even things that Prince true Yeah Chile, Yeah, so ja
Speaker 1: from Yeah yeah, James Brown was Yeah, he was out
Speaker 1: there with it. Yeah for sure. Who are you getting
Speaker 1: the passion from? So m I gotta go back to
Speaker 1: Mike again when I think about intention and passion and
Speaker 1: just everything we talked about, just like feeling it. You
Speaker 1: can see it in his face intense that you know
Speaker 1: what I mean, Just why he was singing with you know,
Speaker 1: so he fired a nigga while he was singing with
Speaker 1: a what are you going to and what are you
Speaker 1: gonna do? You gonna do like you fired? That was great.
Speaker 1: I wish Edd would have been out right back. That
Speaker 1: was great. We got a very important segment of the show. Yeah,
Speaker 1: him up the piano saying, it's kind of ain't saying
Speaker 1: on that. I ain't saying no name. Where you've been,
Speaker 1: who you with, what you did, and what you ain't
Speaker 1: so in this second, as you've seen on this show,
Speaker 1: because you watched the show, Yes, tell us a story
Speaker 1: funnier fucked up about something that happened to you, you
Speaker 1: know during your time in this business. Not only thing
Speaker 1: ain't no name, ain't no names everything else? Do you mean? Listen?
Speaker 1: You can, you can. You can identify things and people,
Speaker 1: you just can't say their name. They must remain nameless.
Speaker 1: Story funny? Are fucked up? Are funny and fucked up?
Speaker 1: I don't know. So it's funny to me. I have
Speaker 1: a weird sense of humor. We all do. You may
Speaker 1: not be funny somebody else, but in the moments of
Speaker 1: me or this is the legends, the legend stokely man condition,
Speaker 1: Minnesota's own. I ain't saying on that. Oh man, uh,
Speaker 1: I wasn't prepared for you. And I watched the show
Speaker 1: and I shit and told this was coming. They want
Speaker 1: to have something together. I'm just I'm trying to think
Speaker 1: of something dynamic because I've had so many great cameras, digits.
Speaker 1: You'll have had some great moments cameras in digital. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and then like his segment was whacking, are they gonna
Speaker 1: be on you if you don't give us? That's what
Speaker 1: I know? What I know didn't give us nothing. We
Speaker 1: know Prince stole one of his girl. Oh man, um
Speaker 1: tried um um. I don't know nothing too. This ain't
Speaker 1: really yeah, this ain't really. I remember being we you
Speaker 1: know how you get to it, there's still this this
Speaker 1: um competitiveness with you know, certain people space if you
Speaker 1: don't know them and you know they I think, folks,
Speaker 1: there's an air bottom if they don't know you, you know,
Speaker 1: or they think they haven't, I wouldn't have an air
Speaker 1: or something like that. And uh, this gentleman we were
Speaker 1: on tour with, or had a couple of shows with,
Speaker 1: and um meant black Men days. We just got the
Speaker 1: vibe that it was just just real. They're just being
Speaker 1: real kind of fucked up, you know, like not giving
Speaker 1: their on doing the sound check and whatnot, and we're
Speaker 1: just waiting and it was like a theater and just waiting,
Speaker 1: you know, the kind of thing. And the thing about
Speaker 1: us is like the more it fucked up, you treat us,
Speaker 1: he'd be like, okay, that's one, that's two. We just
Speaker 1: you know, we just counting it up, like okay, just
Speaker 1: oh this is good, this is good. And so you
Speaker 1: could see that this dude was just he's seen us
Speaker 1: out there, you know, waiting for the sound check, right
Speaker 1: and it's pretty much dumb, just waiting, just sitting around
Speaker 1: and talking, sitting down and uh, which started up some
Speaker 1: music is like h well, who's next, Sue. Sue's coming up,
Speaker 1: and he knew We're sitting right there in front of
Speaker 1: him and like, yeah, I don't know, man. He let
Speaker 1: me do another song. It's like really, okay, doors about
Speaker 1: to open, you know, that kind of thing. And uh
Speaker 1: so wait after at some point he just like, whatever, okay,
Speaker 1: just get the other band up. Now. We'd had some
Speaker 1: hits up at this point, so put the other band up.
Speaker 1: We just took that like okay, yeah, he said all
Speaker 1: this over to mic, over to mic. Yeah, so it
Speaker 1: was amplified, yeah, and it was amplified. But to us
Speaker 1: we were like okay, you know. And at that point
Speaker 1: we were so rehearsed. We would rehearsed everything. We rehearsed,
Speaker 1: like sometimes we were gonna do this that sound check,
Speaker 1: and we were just tied as a drama. Would do
Speaker 1: one little thing, we just like it would stop over,
Speaker 1: getting your dynams, would go up and down, all kind
Speaker 1: of stuff. And so we did something like that that
Speaker 1: we'd rehearsed, and then that pretty much changed the energy
Speaker 1: in the room, you know, and I just it was like,
Speaker 1: I thought that was interesting because after that all that
Speaker 1: ship came off, all that artificial post writing. Yeah, I
Speaker 1: know all that, you know, so it was fucked up
Speaker 1: to me, but it's you know, you may not think,
Speaker 1: but it was. I remember that. Like, but again, no names.
Speaker 1: Some of the men fellas probably no sau Sometimes you
Speaker 1: gotta you gotta show improve yes, like you think, oh yeah,
Speaker 1: right right, sweet, you don't know, right right right, Yeah,
Speaker 1: somebody didn't tell you. And that's kind of where I was,
Speaker 1: because it's like we were younger and hongry just like okay,
Speaker 1: and had that you know, we're going for the edge,
Speaker 1: you know, we had the net shit on. Man was
Speaker 1: that I said, I was hoping that y'all birth though, yeah,
Speaker 1: way after Yeah, but we had that mentality to it's like, okay,
Speaker 1: we ain't going over the edge like that, no more,
Speaker 1: but putting it inside the music. And so you know,
Speaker 1: anybody who's coming like that, it's okay, all right, I've
Speaker 1: been there, and it's just you know, it's just like, okay, listen,
Speaker 1: you got your song is harder than mine right now. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's okay. Don't think that I'm not him right right.
Speaker 1: And we didn't care. We didn't care about like record,
Speaker 1: We could not have anything. Is her thing was like,
Speaker 1: we're just gonna get you off of what we do,
Speaker 1: performance to do. That's it. You can know not know
Speaker 1: who I am, and I still try to perform like
Speaker 1: that to this day. It's like even if you don't know,
Speaker 1: it's like, you know, I don't care if it's five people,
Speaker 1: ten people, you know, fifty people, you gotta get they
Speaker 1: came here, they paid their money. Yeah, that's the kind
Speaker 1: of thing, you know, you know, the thing you gotta
Speaker 1: have going forward. I call it. You're gonna remember the
Speaker 1: night you played the Titans. Mmmm mm hmm, you're gonna
Speaker 1: like that. M I don't care what I don't care
Speaker 1: what's going on. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean that's the
Speaker 1: other part too, about being a musician and being in
Speaker 1: a band. She's too many cheat codes, too many minutes,
Speaker 1: too many che hit them all kicking the exactly. But
Speaker 1: then y'all got the singer it's just not cool. Y'all
Speaker 1: came out saying it's not cool, it's not cool, it's
Speaker 1: not cool. Um stokely my brother. Man, we got to
Speaker 1: say thank you, bro, and we got to say thank you,
Speaker 1: you know, not just you know, not just in this moment, man,
Speaker 1: but for all the work that you've put in you
Speaker 1: have you have been absolutely an inspiration. You have been
Speaker 1: study material, wow to all of us becoming who we are,
Speaker 1: you know what I mean, and being able to take
Speaker 1: advantage of opportunities and to be in this business. Man,
Speaker 1: as long as we have, I'm telling you, like you've
Speaker 1: you've helped You've helped us do that. Thank you, you
Speaker 1: know what I'm saying. And every time I've met you,
Speaker 1: every time I've been able to shake your hand and
Speaker 1: share energy which you share space with you, It's always
Speaker 1: been amazing energy. And you know, I learned that from
Speaker 1: genuine and from genuine and it continues through guys like
Speaker 1: you that continues to remind me that that is the
Speaker 1: right way to be. That that is that is correct,
Speaker 1: and that's how we're gonna keep doing it. Absolutely that.
Speaker 1: Thank you for having me. This is amazing. I'm tell
Speaker 1: y'all keep doing what you're doing. Man, This is really
Speaker 1: more amazing than what y'all know. It's like you're gonna
Speaker 1: start seeing residuals, not money, but I mean it's bigger
Speaker 1: than money. It's what y'all are doing. So and that
Speaker 1: whatever I got, man, I'm giving everybody out here and
Speaker 1: just we gonna keep shying y'all. Keep doing what you're doing.
Speaker 1: You inspire me. You know, I see you out on
Speaker 1: the road doing stuff. Man, here your records and just
Speaker 1: everything y'are doing. Man, it's you know, it's this is,
Speaker 1: this is I don't be money baby. Hey, well then
Speaker 1: don't no life. This is the only Money podcast, the
Speaker 1: A thirty on all things R and B and in
Speaker 1: the building, we've had someone there special to our hearts. Man,
Speaker 1: be amazing, comfortable, say go fine goney. R and B
Speaker 1: Money is a production of the Black Effect Podcast Network.
Speaker 1: For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,
Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. Don't forget
Speaker 1: to subscribe to and rate our show, and you can
Speaker 1: connect with us on social media at Jay Valentine and
Speaker 1: at the Real Tank. For the extended episode, subscribe to
Speaker 1: YouTube dot com, forward slash, R and B Money