Speaker 1: Quest Love Supreme is a production of iHeartRadio. Here We Roll.
Speaker 1: Oh Lord, I'm with it all right, Good luck James.
Speaker 1: She on the other side, James, Here we go. I'm
Speaker 1: better this.
Speaker 2: Supremo Supremo Role, Turn up the music, Brema su Supremo,
Speaker 2: Roll Call Supreme, sut Suck Supremo, Roll Call Supreme, bring
Speaker 2: my Role.
Speaker 1: He Tickling CD, Brother Fentoin Statue Prize and number fight
Speaker 1: time n provided yesterday in front of the song Supremo.
Speaker 1: My name is Spante.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I'm in my zone.
Speaker 1: Yeah, my favorite poison joint.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I love of my own.
Speaker 2: Roll Call Supremo Supreme, Roll Supremer, sir Son, Sure.
Speaker 4: My name is Sugar Yeah, the roll call Master. James
Speaker 4: poisons here, Yeah.
Speaker 5: Bremer Supreme, roll Call Wait a minute, my name is
Speaker 5: Sugar Quest keep this loop on.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm glad you're here.
Speaker 4: James for.
Speaker 1: Suprema Suprema roll.
Speaker 6: Roll Yeah, and James in Town. Yeah, what a lot
Speaker 6: of songs. Yeah still Charles Brown.
Speaker 4: Supremo, supre Roll Supremo, So Supremo.
Speaker 1: Role, Thank you Quest Love, Yeah for this and that?
Speaker 7: Yeah, thank you.
Speaker 1: Notes and make Poison.
Speaker 4: Laugh Premoo roll Came Bremo so premo role.
Speaker 1: My name is j P. Yeah, the Lord is blessing me.
Speaker 8: Yeah, Layla's I dressing shapsty.
Speaker 5: That's how you need who come Sprivapremo, Rome.
Speaker 2: Supremo, Supremo, Supremo sou.
Speaker 1: Roll.
Speaker 7: Wait as a pseudo Jamaican? Can we talk about your
Speaker 7: Jamaican accent?
Speaker 8: But I got.
Speaker 1: James already know what I said, and that's.
Speaker 8: All I can listen some of the textas that he
Speaker 8: sends me.
Speaker 1: You just get it.
Speaker 8: Listen, I get it, understand. That's all the matter. That
Speaker 8: was Jamaicon.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that was great. And Steve with a double but
Speaker 1: never heard before the SoundBite that none of these joints.
Speaker 1: Wait where was where did you dig that up?
Speaker 9: These were from Philly in the studio session.
Speaker 1: Ladies and gentlemen, another episode of Quest Love Supreme. I
Speaker 1: you know it's Quest Love. We have teams Supreme. We
Speaker 1: are live in New York City, and by live we
Speaker 1: mean we're just in front of each other. We Seachi
Speaker 1: in person. Yeah, how's it going? A new bill?
Speaker 3: Wait?
Speaker 1: Where was your new title? I gave you? I forgot yours.
Speaker 7: I was unpaid well for the record. I was White Bill,
Speaker 7: which was a wonderful moniker.
Speaker 8: I was a Bill for.
Speaker 1: Then recently I was morphed to Boss Bill for what reason?
Speaker 1: I don't remember what. No, not for that, No, no, no,
Speaker 1: because you're Boss. I'm happy. I'm just a bill up
Speaker 1: climbing up this hill. That's what. All right? Well, you're
Speaker 1: just Bill. I think I think that's the perfect Just
Speaker 1: just Bill. You're just a Bill. I'm like a silky shampoo,
Speaker 1: just Bill.
Speaker 8: Well take that right.
Speaker 1: Yeah, how's it going.
Speaker 6: It's going good, it's going.
Speaker 10: I feel like we're gonna have some time not laughing today.
Speaker 10: It's gonna be full of laughs and good times and
Speaker 10: long overdue conversations with a big head.
Speaker 1: It's gonna be a battle, so much fun going around.
Speaker 1: Be great and fickel. I'm good, Man, good, got some
Speaker 1: rest so I'm good. Okay, cool, I'm sorry, Steve, how's
Speaker 1: it going? Everything's great? Man? This and how you say it?
Speaker 4: You've been waiting for episodes for a long.
Speaker 6: Time, Steve anticipated episode.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 1: I kind of want to be jumping in because I
Speaker 1: want to know how James and Steve became friend of me, Like,
Speaker 1: what's your first musical man?
Speaker 4: Well, theiest thing is that James is the one who
Speaker 4: got me hired originally when I came down to Philly
Speaker 4: in two thousands.
Speaker 1: It every day, all right, ladies and gentlemen, Our guest today,
Speaker 1: of course, the needs no introduction. He's been in front
Speaker 1: of the show. Yeah, pretty much all those moments that
Speaker 1: you take for granted. You know, music can help facilitate
Speaker 1: a mood when you're watching television or you're watching movies.
Speaker 1: And our guest today, of course, is no exception to
Speaker 1: providing colors, synesthesia to graphics and scenes and makes life better.
Speaker 1: He's done, let's name it professional, being very professional, very Saidstesia. Alright,
Speaker 1: sorry you said James makes life better.
Speaker 8: I don't know what.
Speaker 1: You got the wrong guests. All right, let's let's go
Speaker 1: through our know we we used to celebrate our guests
Speaker 1: to come on the show. I mean well, friend of
Speaker 1: the show, wires, problem areas. We also got Harthorne. That
Speaker 1: was a Jada show correct, Yeah, okay, the break with
Speaker 1: Michelle wolf a friend of uh, you know, of the Circle,
Speaker 1: the Equalizer, starting with our good friend Dana Blackish. He's
Speaker 1: done music for Blackish. Yeah, and of course you know
Speaker 1: classic season two and season three of The Chappelle Show
Speaker 1: Award winner his name, all the artists. There's Erica, Yeah,
Speaker 1: there's Mariah, Anthony, Anthony, Eric John Legend, Rihanna, music music,
Speaker 1: so child a common Kareem Bailey, Ray my youth choir
Speaker 1: below he never heard of him, Yeah, Randy Watson and everybody,
Speaker 1: man Ship, everybody, James done everything, Al Green, Astero, Angela
Speaker 1: q Jo, Joe Scott Legend. Damn all right, and we
Speaker 1: saw his work yesterday, so that was awesome. What was
Speaker 1: just what damn man.
Speaker 6: We saw yesterday?
Speaker 1: Yeah?
Speaker 8: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1: Yeah would have been happened yesterday. Motherfuckers. The clips is
Speaker 1: already the worst. I missed that. It was a big
Speaker 1: head joke. You, of all people should know that. I'm sorry.
Speaker 6: I'm relegated to Charlie Brown and his friends. I'm sorry.
Speaker 1: Ry Wow, welcome to James bod.
Speaker 6: That was a good one of your actually in retrospect
Speaker 6: like that was funny.
Speaker 1: Yes, wow, I know my fun Anyway, how are you?
Speaker 1: How are you? James?
Speaker 11: Shut up, Steve, I just needed to get I'm great, man,
Speaker 11: I'm happy to be here amongst family and friends and I.
Speaker 3: Mean step.
Speaker 1: All right, So yeah I kind of knew you. So
Speaker 1: this is gonna be really hard to do.
Speaker 6: Like you don't.
Speaker 1: I thought James was the Philadelphia born and bred. Now
Speaker 1: where were you born?
Speaker 8: I was born in Sheffield, England. My parents Jamia con.
Speaker 1: I thought you're gonna say Jamaica.
Speaker 11: No, no, no, my parents are Jamaica and they immigrated
Speaker 11: to England, you know, the win the Russian generation.
Speaker 1: And where is Sheffield?
Speaker 8: Sheffield is like two hours north from London.
Speaker 1: Okay, So even then I thought you were from like
Speaker 1: South London where all the all the cool people. Jamaicans.
Speaker 11: I mean, listen, Jamaicans is everywhere, bredwand everywhere. So I
Speaker 11: was born there, lived there for nine years and then
Speaker 11: we moved over here.
Speaker 1: Did you at once had a UK accent? I did?
Speaker 8: And it was weird, like to school, like speak English
Speaker 8: to me and I'm like I am speaking.
Speaker 1: Do you know where?
Speaker 8: They wanted to hear the accent?
Speaker 1: And you know, I got tased quite a bit, you know,
Speaker 1: so you purposely lost your accent.
Speaker 6: He hasn't lost it, though. It's certain words that come through.
Speaker 1: But all right, so talk talk with you.
Speaker 11: It's not the type of thing I can fill on
Speaker 11: like certain words if I say digital digital, But yeah,
Speaker 11: you don't grow up in West Philly with an English accent,
Speaker 11: so I had to lose that trying to quick.
Speaker 1: Girls thought that was cool.
Speaker 8: I was nine.
Speaker 4: I have a question, like, so, when was the first
Speaker 4: time you actually went to Jamaica at all?
Speaker 11: When I was a baby, we went over, I don't remember,
Speaker 11: but after that, I think I was fourteen thirteen and
Speaker 11: we went to the town where my parents was from.
Speaker 11: It was like one dirt road up in the mountain,
Speaker 11: like literally like five six blocks and it was like,
Speaker 11: you know, the bathroom in the outhouse and chickens running around,
Speaker 11: and I had was great back then. When I've gone
Speaker 11: back recently, I'm like, where's.
Speaker 8: The risk calling?
Speaker 10: Oh, I got I got one? Because we always used
Speaker 10: to tease James about being a p K.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so I'm.
Speaker 10: Curious, like, was your dad always preacher's kid?
Speaker 1: Actually? Can I add on to that? Because I also
Speaker 1: know that the usual scenario of Christian household with music
Speaker 1: and secular household with music. I'm very curious as to
Speaker 1: how did secular music seep into what I would think
Speaker 1: was an unpenetrable household as far as like what you're
Speaker 1: allowed to listen to not allowed to listen to all.
Speaker 8: Right, So grow up in church in England. My dad
Speaker 8: was a pastor there.
Speaker 11: Now, the way it works immigration was my mom had
Speaker 11: to move to America, had to she well to set
Speaker 11: it up. She had to come over, you know, work
Speaker 11: out our job and whatever and set up. So for
Speaker 11: a couple of years I was just with my dad.
Speaker 11: And one of the earliest memories I have was coming
Speaker 11: home from school, maybe like six or seven, and there
Speaker 11: was this woman dancing in the living room to this
Speaker 11: Are Crouch record and I was like, Oh, that's my
Speaker 11: that's my mom.
Speaker 6: I mean, these are the type of things you gotta
Speaker 6: go through, you know, that's your mom's record.
Speaker 11: Yeah, So it was these are Crouch records, and you
Speaker 11: know when we moved over here, those are kind of
Speaker 11: things that were in now some are Crouch records and
Speaker 11: James Cleveland and all that kind of stuff. And we
Speaker 11: had a stereo system and I would sit there with
Speaker 11: my headphones on listening to that stuff because that's all
Speaker 11: that was allowed in the Bishop Poiso's household. But I
Speaker 11: had an FM and radio upstairs in my bedroom too,
Speaker 11: so you know, I was listening to all the stuff.
Speaker 11: You know, you walking through the streets of Philly, going
Speaker 11: to school and being around you're going to hear anything sound,
Speaker 11: so you know, it's funny hanging, you know, hanging with
Speaker 11: a mirror. You know, all these years, there's certain things
Speaker 11: that I realized I missed, you know, just because of
Speaker 11: that kind of thing, like street, Sesame Street. I never
Speaker 11: grew up with Sessimon. So there's times he referenced, you
Speaker 11: don't remember this, and I'm like, bro, I don't know.
Speaker 1: Love for breacanteen and milk and stick of butter.
Speaker 6: Was like and hosehold.
Speaker 3: No, No, I was not.
Speaker 8: I was in England, so I was so when I
Speaker 8: came over here, I was like, bugs, bunny.
Speaker 3: Yeah, was piano your first instrument?
Speaker 11: No, I grew up playing drums in church. We moved
Speaker 11: over here, a small storefront church, and there was a
Speaker 11: little drum set there and nobody to play, and I
Speaker 11: was like, I won't play now. You gotta remember, I
Speaker 11: grew up playing on pots and pans with my mom's
Speaker 11: knitty needles when I was a little, little young one.
Speaker 11: So yes, you know, started playing drums first, and then
Speaker 11: I moved to bass guitar, which is still my favorite instrument.
Speaker 1: Really.
Speaker 6: Yeah, because you have a few of them, right. Do
Speaker 6: you have a few bass guitars the house?
Speaker 3: Yeah?
Speaker 8: Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 11: I can't play bass, but that's like my that's what
Speaker 11: a base I played. I played bass a little bit.
Speaker 11: I play based on record before.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 8: Yeah, But I can't really do any gigs. You know,
Speaker 8: I'm a pino Mark Kelly.
Speaker 1: But I'm saying that is the muscle memory thing or
Speaker 1: I just don't.
Speaker 11: If I practiced on it, maybe I would, but you know,
Speaker 11: I'm still trying to practice on this piano breach.
Speaker 1: I see. Okay, So you came here at nine. Which
Speaker 1: school did you start?
Speaker 11: I started off at Anderson Where's fifth grade? That's sixtieth
Speaker 11: in Creek. I went to a West Philly school, Yeah,
Speaker 11: sixty I started there, and then I went.
Speaker 8: To Turner for a year.
Speaker 1: Where's Turner?
Speaker 11: Turner is fifty ninth from Baltimore. And then I went
Speaker 11: to Hamilton and where he is? Hey, what to call
Speaker 11: it from your crib? Fifty six and Spooce. So you
Speaker 11: went to all West Villy high schools? Well this was
Speaker 11: on high school high school. I went to engineering and
Speaker 11: science for two years before and then.
Speaker 8: School. See what happened was Steve?
Speaker 1: Wait? Did you know bubbles. Everybody where's she working? I'm no,
Speaker 1: yo would have graduated the same the same year.
Speaker 8: No, I'm not sure. Okay, but and then I graduated
Speaker 8: from West Catholic. West Catholic. But turn it down. Didn't
Speaker 8: you live around the corner from Hamilton?
Speaker 1: I did? But all right, so explain to me, because
Speaker 1: the thing was, is that now that I live in
Speaker 1: a time in which you know, posts Facebook, you know,
Speaker 1: uncles that like put up like weird random websites of
Speaker 1: things that are not like you know, mark being our threads,
Speaker 1: Like it's not CNN, it's like some other So I'm
Speaker 1: now wondering if the picture is that adult figures painted
Speaker 1: to me, which was basically like every every school in
Speaker 1: West Philadelphia.
Speaker 11: Is mine as will be like a prison now. But
Speaker 11: then back then, I mean, yeah, I had some drama
Speaker 11: in school. You know, I got I got guns pulled
Speaker 11: out on me. I literally on the corner waiting for
Speaker 11: bus and these dudes rolled up on me. One dude
Speaker 11: punch in the face. I got upraidy to fight, and
Speaker 11: he pulled a gun and put it in my head.
Speaker 1: He was just messing.
Speaker 8: This was in seventh grade, just messing, just messing with me. Yeah,
Speaker 8: I've seen.
Speaker 11: Dudes on the on the playground. You know, I'm my
Speaker 11: boy on the playground. This dude came and pulled a
Speaker 11: knife on him. We're on the playground, seventh grade. This
Speaker 11: older dude, he had to be in eighteen nineteen, a
Speaker 11: big machete, like a Jamaican machete pull. So yeah, you know,
Speaker 11: I ain't no fuck but you know I've been. You know,
Speaker 11: you see that stuff. You experience that stuff growing up,
Speaker 11: you know.
Speaker 1: Oh okay, so it was real Yeah, never mind, Wait,
Speaker 1: engineering science. Where was that located though?
Speaker 8: That was like liberties or no, this was a cease
Speaker 8: will be more like right on Temple's campus.
Speaker 1: Okay, I see that.
Speaker 6: Are we not going to talk about why you you
Speaker 6: didn't finish there?
Speaker 1: See what happened was bong hitch. I was.
Speaker 8: I was the class clown and I was goofing off.
Speaker 8: I don't be believe that.
Speaker 1: I don't believe that at all. Yeah I was.
Speaker 8: I was a bit of a class clown, goof through.
Speaker 1: I don't believe that at all. I was. Are there
Speaker 1: is a mirror you get you get kicked out for that?
Speaker 7: Yeah?
Speaker 11: My my grades, my grades, because it's like it's a
Speaker 11: really school. Yes, the school to maintain a certain ye.
Speaker 1: Smart kids schools, you know.
Speaker 8: And of course my immigrant parents were very they weren't
Speaker 8: having that, so.
Speaker 6: They put you in the strict Catholic school.
Speaker 8: Well I was going. I went to BArch them for
Speaker 8: like a week experience like twenty.
Speaker 6: Oh see that's it wasn't without Philly.
Speaker 3: I lean on me, oh Joe.
Speaker 10: It's now a beautiful gentrified building with lots of shops
Speaker 10: and they have rooftop parties on it.
Speaker 8: Really is now like let's go.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it got artists and pickled and got flower grass.
Speaker 6: Am I think you dj? They are like about five
Speaker 6: on the roof.
Speaker 1: I know I DJ'd on the roof of what.
Speaker 6: Oh it's it's not Barto's good, it's Bob. You're right,
Speaker 6: I'm sorry, Thank you Joy.
Speaker 1: Aren't you from Hens? Ain't you from Pittsburgh? Yeah? I
Speaker 1: did not know that. Okay, So cousin Jake has revealed
Speaker 1: he's in Philadelphia. I did not know that. I tell
Speaker 1: you straight, Pittsburgh. Okay, maybe we should start interviewing like the.
Speaker 7: Actual it's funny.
Speaker 6: It's funny.
Speaker 10: As we're talking to James, I'm like, this is the
Speaker 10: moment where Amir gets to know the people that he's
Speaker 10: been loving for thirty years.
Speaker 6: Just like when we discovered about.
Speaker 1: I didn't know that. I did not know that James
Speaker 1: was a juvenile Delincoln. It doesn't come across as one.
Speaker 1: I will say that. So were you part of any
Speaker 1: because the way that I got into the circle, like
Speaker 1: when you meet the people that we see now, the
Speaker 1: little John's of the world and the carving and you know,
Speaker 1: all those guys, Dre and Vadoald all that stuff, were
Speaker 1: you ever part of like all city? None of those.
Speaker 11: I wasn't part of that whole thing. I was playing
Speaker 11: in church, you know, but I wasn't part of the
Speaker 11: you know, I wanted to part of me wanted to
Speaker 11: go to to Caper at the time, but you know,
Speaker 11: I was on my smart I was an engineer and
Speaker 11: major in college for the first two years, you know,
Speaker 11: finished up with my degree in finance.
Speaker 8: So you know, it was that kind of immigrant thing,
Speaker 8: Jamaican thing too.
Speaker 1: So your parents wanted to do engineering, yeah, all I
Speaker 1: wanted to do music.
Speaker 8: Yeah what'd you wind up doing?
Speaker 1: James?
Speaker 11: So I went to Drexel for two years for engineering.
Speaker 11: I actually went to Roman hause he took us on
Speaker 11: a field trip to see what engineers do, what kind
Speaker 11: of engineering? I was chemical engineer, and uh, I was like,
Speaker 11: I ain't trying to do this.
Speaker 8: That real, I am not trying to do this.
Speaker 1: At any point did you think of doing sound engineering
Speaker 1: or no? No, no, no no no.
Speaker 11: I was just like, okay, let me I'm going to
Speaker 11: graduate and get a job in a bank. And that's
Speaker 11: why I went to.
Speaker 6: School for fun with Richmond.
Speaker 7: When you were in church, was it plactical training or
Speaker 7: it was just like you're learning by listening classical you
Speaker 7: know what I mean? But like you ever did you
Speaker 7: ever take lessons or was it just like listening?
Speaker 11: So it started off I taken They had a little
Speaker 11: lamb lessons with this piano teacher, mister Costa, and I
Speaker 11: didn't like going over there because she had these two
Speaker 11: chihuahuas that you know. I'd walk in and take lessons
Speaker 11: and they were cool, but when you're walking out, they
Speaker 11: would always like bite me on the back of you know.
Speaker 8: I hated going to those lessons. They will freaking me out.
Speaker 11: So I stopped and I was That's when I was
Speaker 11: playing drums and bass, and I remember we went to
Speaker 11: this church, and this guy that was the same age
Speaker 11: as me was playing keyboards, and I was like, oh,
Speaker 11: I want to do that.
Speaker 8: And I took a cassette tape of that song.
Speaker 11: It was a simple progression to five three six progression
Speaker 11: whatever whatever, And I studied it for a couple of
Speaker 11: months and then transported and all the keys, and I
Speaker 11: was like, oh, I can go play in church.
Speaker 8: And I went. I went to church and couldn't play
Speaker 8: because I you know, I just didn't have the experience.
Speaker 8: But I figured it out.
Speaker 1: Was that your warfare.
Speaker 8: That came a little later, that's on the end of
Speaker 8: most of the records.
Speaker 1: Like James, one of the people that will you know,
Speaker 1: we've made fun of like the level of snobbery on stage. Well,
Speaker 1: laugh at each other, make fun of each other, and
Speaker 1: we make fun of it so much that it actually
Speaker 1: winds up becoming the fiber of what it is now.
Speaker 1: Like James used to like playing the wrong chords of
Speaker 1: a song and it'd be funny, But now like that's
Speaker 1: all we wanted. I don't want nothing sounded normals. I
Speaker 1: want it all wrong chords.
Speaker 6: Wait, so how long did it take for you to
Speaker 6: get it on the piano?
Speaker 8: I'm still trying to No, no, no, we're not doing that.
Speaker 6: How long okay, I'm a rephrase.
Speaker 10: How long did it take for you to feel confident
Speaker 10: enough to go into the church and play the piano
Speaker 10: and people were like you can stay?
Speaker 11: It took a while, you know, like almost close to
Speaker 11: a year until you know, and again, my church is
Speaker 11: very West Indians, so it wasn't all of the stuff
Speaker 11: that y'all Yankees do. It was really one four five
Speaker 11: playing a reggae beat.
Speaker 8: Oh, then we played the Calypso stuff now too.
Speaker 6: I've never heard cllips go.
Speaker 7: That's like one one one you've seen that video with
Speaker 7: that dude said.
Speaker 8: They did then snl sketch on them.
Speaker 11: Yes, yes, yeah, that's like my church iday.
Speaker 4: So did you already have the rhythm part down because
Speaker 4: of the drums and bass experience?
Speaker 1: Yeah?
Speaker 11: I think I had it just because I was listening
Speaker 11: so much too stuff, you know, I was listening to
Speaker 11: so much music and going to record stores and not
Speaker 11: having money and just standing there reading the back of
Speaker 11: album covers.
Speaker 8: You know, just to learn the names and yeah.
Speaker 1: Studios and what that.
Speaker 6: But when did you make the change. Where'd you go
Speaker 6: from drums piano, like, this is it.
Speaker 11: I ain't going back right after that experience I told
Speaker 11: you about, I just kept practicing and practicing.
Speaker 8: I was like, okay, this is it. Okay, so walk
Speaker 8: me through the Can I backtrack just a little? You
Speaker 8: gotta remember too, my older brother played.
Speaker 6: Right, Okay?
Speaker 10: Thanks?
Speaker 11: I know my older brother, Steven, who's now the bishop
Speaker 11: of the church, he was the one that played. And
Speaker 11: I was trying to, you know, trying to be like
Speaker 11: my older brother. So what did he play? He played everything?
Speaker 11: He played, keys, played bass, played druones.
Speaker 1: Is he good?
Speaker 8: He was good?
Speaker 3: No.
Speaker 1: If he says it I taught, he'll say he taught
Speaker 1: me everything.
Speaker 10: I know.
Speaker 8: He taught me everything he knew.
Speaker 1: You know, all right? That makes sense?
Speaker 8: Like is he listening?
Speaker 5: What?
Speaker 1: So, even though I haven't seen it with my own eyes, Like,
Speaker 1: is it generally correct that because of lack of venue
Speaker 1: structure in Philadelphia that the Black Church was like the
Speaker 1: prime spot where every musician could get a chance to play.
Speaker 8: Absolutely And as.
Speaker 1: A result, if there are five keyboard players waiting to
Speaker 1: get on, and four bass players waiting to get on,
Speaker 1: and twelve drummers ready to get on, that they're going
Speaker 1: to try to outdo each other absolutely, all right, can
Speaker 1: you walk me through that process? Like, is this the
Speaker 1: inspiration for gospel chops? Yes, Like the reason why most
Speaker 1: black musicians overplay is because they have some evil to
Speaker 1: make an impression. That makes sense, right, Like you can't
Speaker 1: play like if you play like me, then it's just
Speaker 1: like old people will like it. No, but that's the thing,
Speaker 1: Like myfrow is like I want to make the musicians
Speaker 1: sound good, so I'll just play down the middle is
Speaker 1: least the less I play, the.
Speaker 2: Better it is.
Speaker 6: Change. You never took a mire to church, and just
Speaker 6: like I would love to.
Speaker 1: See that church before church, Like I purchase drums for them,
Speaker 1: but that's church. Even hired a drummer. There's one.
Speaker 8: Church.
Speaker 1: Actually I have played in church. But the church that
Speaker 1: I went to was all right, it was a weird
Speaker 1: kind of non denomination. Wait, why did you already have
Speaker 1: the I'm.
Speaker 6: Already not here, Like I'm not when you say non
Speaker 6: denomination like.
Speaker 1: Church too, I mean I did it. I had a
Speaker 1: Pentecostal church. What was the w wzz D? So I
Speaker 1: actually I did play drums in Pastor Charles something. He
Speaker 1: was a known preacher in Philadelphia, Like I did that
Speaker 1: for like maybe like three years, because it was also
Speaker 1: paying the ass of packing my drums at home. And
Speaker 1: then you gotta do a double trip, like uncle Bud
Speaker 1: and Dad have to come and and put it in there,
Speaker 1: you know, and then it's like you gotta break the
Speaker 1: drums down the church and bring it back home. I
Speaker 1: got lazy with that. But yeah, once, once I discovered
Speaker 1: we discovered a church that let us wear regular clothes,
Speaker 1: which is like a game changer, like wait, I can
Speaker 1: wear jeans in it T shirt in this church. And
Speaker 1: they were very hipofyed like Tarik thought was the most
Speaker 1: hilarious thing ever because you know, like praise like praising
Speaker 1: black church. But these people would just like do hands
Speaker 1: across America across the church, like they were just like
Speaker 1: someone would start a conga line, and that was the thing.
Speaker 1: It'd be like a seventy nine person conga line.
Speaker 3: It sounds like midsommar.
Speaker 1: This sounds yeah, I mean.
Speaker 7: It sounds like a white person church, right, I mean,
Speaker 7: once I can say something.
Speaker 1: Believe it or not. It was actually drawn down the
Speaker 1: middle like it was equally black white and uh uh Hispanic.
Speaker 1: Well yeah, so that was the drummer.
Speaker 12: So what the fuck I want to ask you about
Speaker 12: to that point, James, about you know, we talk about
Speaker 12: the Black Church and it pretty much being kind of
Speaker 12: like the breeding ground, like the training ground for musicians.
Speaker 12: So now with the Black Church, what what do you
Speaker 12: think is the role of the Black Church in the
Speaker 12: musical community, because now it's very much you see the
Speaker 12: rise of you know, I guess what they call CC
Speaker 12: and contemporary Christian music, which is you know, it's not
Speaker 12: it ain't Notre Crouch, you know what I mean.
Speaker 3: So does a Black church still have that role in
Speaker 3: the musician?
Speaker 1: Are they being trapped down church?
Speaker 8: Absolutely? Man, they're doing stuff. I mean again, I'm older now.
Speaker 1: So some of the things that my question I was
Speaker 1: like like trapp and drill in church now or like
Speaker 1: oh you hear that kind of stuff, like if they
Speaker 1: do it now in your your brother's church. One time,
Speaker 1: I try to play Peter Piper, like I just told
Speaker 1: the percussion player just do this, and I played it,
Speaker 1: and one elder who is like the youngest elder who
Speaker 1: like knew what I know what y'all doing, Like, they
Speaker 1: called me to the principal's office. It was like because
Speaker 1: the kids started whopping and on, so it's forbidden. I
Speaker 1: couldn't play anything that made them morning starting listen.
Speaker 8: I was playing this kid, I played the changes to
Speaker 8: on Broadway. One of the looked at me like no, no, no, no,
Speaker 8: I like changes exactly.
Speaker 3: So, so how is it now?
Speaker 8: Like how was playing?
Speaker 11: I don't know if you saw this thing a few
Speaker 11: months back through this church in Georgia, he played the
Speaker 11: actual record.
Speaker 8: Walk it Out, I walk.
Speaker 11: I think I played the minister and played the verses
Speaker 11: and everything old churches of Dancing, and I was like no,
Speaker 11: I stopped watching.
Speaker 8: The video was like, but yeah, the influence is definitely there.
Speaker 8: The stuff they're doing now.
Speaker 11: You know they're playing to tracks, you know, so it's
Speaker 11: extremely the church that's extremely musical. You know, those guys
Speaker 11: are still playing and playing beyond you know, it's like
Speaker 11: Todd rises and then it just keeps.
Speaker 6: So, I mean church has got orchestras now, yeah, it's.
Speaker 7: I think it's less religious. No, what about guys like
Speaker 7: Corey Henry and p J. Morton, like like, it's still
Speaker 7: church based, but it's not religious.
Speaker 3: Would you consider to Triviat was he kind of in
Speaker 3: that same lane?
Speaker 11: Yeah, Todd, I think Todd helped change a lot, you know,
Speaker 11: because him in the band sound check, they were just
Speaker 11: doing some things that were like, wait, what is that?
Speaker 5: You know?
Speaker 8: I mean, Ale, you can attest to that, you know.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean I don't know. It's it's to me,
Speaker 1: like I still am, I like the the cranky old
Speaker 1: guy in the corner that everyone's already bopping their head. Yes, yes, no,
Speaker 1: but it's it's for me. I feel like the overdoing
Speaker 1: it of it all, yeah, frustrates the shit out. I
Speaker 1: mean because like I don't know, like I feel like
Speaker 1: the less if you act like a team like you're
Speaker 1: now boring. All Star games are for basketball because just
Speaker 1: like everyone's just taking leaps and everyone's dunk in offensive
Speaker 1: shootout right, And that's where I feel like gospel chops
Speaker 1: are now where it's just like, all right, we know
Speaker 1: you're amazing, but like, what do you guys like as
Speaker 1: a team?
Speaker 11: Right, But it's again I would not argue with that,
Speaker 11: but well I would argue that from that point of view,
Speaker 11: like that's the level of musicality that's risen to. Now
Speaker 11: that's the norm. So they just expressed it on getting
Speaker 11: more musical and more musical you know what I mean.
Speaker 11: It sounds like I mean the stuff that we listen to,
Speaker 11: fusion stuff, that chick career, electric band and all that stuff,
Speaker 11: which was special and different.
Speaker 8: That's the normal church.
Speaker 1: Do you ever do be power.
Speaker 8: Is amazing, Gospel was amazing, his whole his whole family.
Speaker 3: You are old or no? Now?
Speaker 12: Yeah, he's called Doob is a monster, dude you but
Speaker 12: it's very uh d o O b I E. But yeah,
Speaker 12: but it's very music like changes.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's real.
Speaker 1: You said fusion. It kind of like Vegas changes or
Speaker 1: like nah nah na.
Speaker 3: Nah, he's not he's wrong.
Speaker 1: Do me the truth. Yeah, send it to your mir Okay,
Speaker 1: why are your school me?
Speaker 8: Now?
Speaker 6: No, I just always like to keep up with everybody
Speaker 6: on this show. Y'all don't know.
Speaker 10: I'll be sitting here looking up everything y'all talking about.
Speaker 10: So I might as well just send it to you too.
Speaker 1: I see, thank you. I appreciate it, all right. So
Speaker 1: what was the period that told you like, Okay, I'm
Speaker 1: going to take the serious and pursue my dream of
Speaker 1: playing music.
Speaker 8: When I was in college and after the Chemical Engineer
Speaker 8: and thebacle Peter and uh so, I left Drexel.
Speaker 11: I went to community college for two years and was
Speaker 11: working at Strawbage and Clovia, and I started getting gigs.
Speaker 11: And I started doing local gigs around town with different
Speaker 11: choirs and different club things, and then started doing some
Speaker 11: things with some national artists. You know, some national gospel artists.
Speaker 11: There's a choir called New Jersey Mass. I was working
Speaker 11: with them. There's a gospel singing name Vanessa bea Armstrong Yes,
Speaker 11: then Walker okay. So then I started working with the
Speaker 11: white Head Brothers, went on tourter.
Speaker 1: Europe with.
Speaker 6: That's why is that when I meet you when you
Speaker 6: are a Philadelphia International? Is that how that happens? Because
Speaker 6: that's when I met James and Victor Is at Philadelphia.
Speaker 11: Well that was after after that, that's when I met
Speaker 11: Jeff Okay, the that's just Jeffrey Jazz. I mean Jeffrey Towns,
Speaker 11: Jeffrey Jazz town.
Speaker 8: Jeff.
Speaker 1: Wait, you're you're skipping over very crucial things. I want
Speaker 1: to know about. Who is your longest gig with as
Speaker 1: far as like National Gospels concerned.
Speaker 11: Bruce Parham, he was a Philly guy and I worked
Speaker 11: with him. So it was Bouce as a Kywalker. Then
Speaker 11: I played with.
Speaker 8: Try try City with Donald Lawrence.
Speaker 1: Oh wow, all right, so guy Walkers call him up right?
Speaker 8: No, no, no, no, that's just no, that's right. That's
Speaker 8: keep fringle.
Speaker 1: All right. So here's the all.
Speaker 8: Right now the.
Speaker 1: DJ Rogers one make it anyhow? That was Tarik's first
Speaker 1: got that saying serious. Oh no, yeah, like you know,
Speaker 1: like the special Sundays were like you're gonna get annointed
Speaker 1: or something like that, like Tarik was for one week Threek,
Speaker 1: It's going to be like Aaron Hall, like seriously, handkerchiefs
Speaker 1: everybody this evening singa.
Speaker 6: So does the gospel community do they feel like you're
Speaker 6: secretly theirs? First?
Speaker 10: Like they look at you when they see you in
Speaker 10: the streets like come home.
Speaker 6: But I mean like but like you can leave, you
Speaker 6: can leave them, You could really just be with us,
Speaker 6: you know.
Speaker 11: I mean it's changed up so much. It's like where
Speaker 11: would I start going back to do some gospel records?
Speaker 11: You know, I mean, I'm do them my way, but
Speaker 11: the way they're doing them now, you know what I mean,
Speaker 11: it's like.
Speaker 1: It's like super advanced now.
Speaker 11: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Man, so wait, you're saying this is like eight degrees
Speaker 1: way past.
Speaker 11: Uh Commission Commission so there's way past commission now, yes,
Speaker 11: and I mean commission was just so cut measure.
Speaker 3: Yes, that was like the foundation almost like yeah, so.
Speaker 11: But there's still you know, there's still growing. There's a
Speaker 11: lot that gods are doing that. You know, Like you say,
Speaker 11: the music level is too high, dude.
Speaker 8: Like Kim Moarell.
Speaker 12: Yeah, yeah, it's just very it's very technical, like the
Speaker 12: gospel singers because I mean I work with a lot
Speaker 12: of singers and the thing that you have to that
Speaker 12: I notice with a lot of gospel singers or have
Speaker 12: to have that background getting them to understand the difference
Speaker 12: between being a singer and being a recording artist because
Speaker 12: they just want to sing. Like the run it's runs
Speaker 12: every two minutes. It's like fam, you can just sing
Speaker 12: the melody and it's okay, you know what I mean.
Speaker 12: Very Yeah, it's that like you said, like it's always
Speaker 12: that very flashy you know what I'm saying, but technically brilliant,
Speaker 12: you know what I'm saying. But it's like if you're
Speaker 12: singing a song, you kind of got to give the
Speaker 12: audience some room to you know, to sing along with you,
Speaker 12: you know what I mean?
Speaker 11: Right, So yeah, but but they be saying the ass
Speaker 11: all though it's funny. Back back in the day there
Speaker 11: was one or two singers that could do that kind
Speaker 11: of stuff. There's one of two musicians that could do
Speaker 11: all of you know, now everybody does that stuff, and
Speaker 11: it's like, let's go back to.
Speaker 8: Keeping it kind of simple.
Speaker 6: But it seems like approach.
Speaker 1: Take me through a typical week of this circuit, gig wise,
Speaker 1: like what rehearsal wise? What what what required? Dress code? Traveling?
Speaker 11: Yeah, so rehearsing doing like you're you're Morgan Freeman and
Speaker 11: this is a shawk. So we're rehearsing at some church,
Speaker 11: some small church somewhere. Okay, you know what day, like
Speaker 11: Tuesday nights sometime during the week, it doesn't matter, you know,
Speaker 11: Funday night, Tuesday night.
Speaker 1: Is it always organ or is it piano?
Speaker 8: It's uh piano, keyboards whatever was there?
Speaker 1: You know what, do you get a concept versus what
Speaker 1: you're going to learn or you have to know it already.
Speaker 11: But some things with some of the choirs, some things
Speaker 11: are just like standards that everybody would know, not like
Speaker 11: we were just people that know you you always you always, so.
Speaker 1: You know what everyone knows? Okay, Pactice of stuff.
Speaker 6: Go do it.
Speaker 1: Go do a gig.
Speaker 11: You know, there's a there's a gospel concert with like
Speaker 11: forty people on it. You go up there and do
Speaker 11: two songs. You know, you gotta have the d X
Speaker 11: seven or you share. Sometimes you bring your stuff in
Speaker 11: or sometimes you share. And sometimes people didn't want you
Speaker 11: playing and stuff. You know my settings don't don't don't move,
Speaker 11: don't don't don't don't change the transpose on this or
Speaker 11: the drummers, don't change the symbols around. Drummers bring the
Speaker 11: snares in drump. I've seen drummers walking with a snare
Speaker 11: and some sticks and walk out with the snare symbols.
Speaker 6: How much pack?
Speaker 11: Oh man, I got quite a few cheese steaks and listen, no,
Speaker 11: not even thirty five bucks, Like yo, let's just go
Speaker 11: get a chef steak.
Speaker 8: Ye and I had to split a chief steak pay.
Speaker 1: Damn.
Speaker 6: So your strawbridges money is your real money?
Speaker 3: Yeah?
Speaker 10: So?
Speaker 1: But is but also like are you in units? Like
Speaker 1: is it the goal to show out? And yeah, like
Speaker 1: we going to that church? Yeah, all of that, all
Speaker 1: of that.
Speaker 11: You know, I was you know some of the bands
Speaker 11: I was playing, and you know, I was always blessed
Speaker 11: to have the greatest drummers to work with, so little John.
Speaker 1: Laura, you know.
Speaker 8: So you know we go do these gigs and show.
Speaker 11: You know, everybody was more excited for Brian and John
Speaker 11: than me because you know, they they was putting on
Speaker 11: the show and I'm like, I'm just holding together with
Speaker 11: my two cords.
Speaker 1: Broadway, all right. So what was your first foray into
Speaker 1: the professional world that will take you to where you
Speaker 1: are now? Like, what's your what do you consider your
Speaker 1: first I got hired by Richard Timple's field.
Speaker 8: I said, White, Okay, what was this?
Speaker 3: The love is the one? Eight seven? Was this that one?
Speaker 3: Or was it?
Speaker 8: What was the record they had Feel Your Pain? Oh
Speaker 8: my god, my memory.
Speaker 1: So it's gone right now. It's just the white Head. Forget.
Speaker 1: I was a g it was it.
Speaker 8: Don't forget I was a gink Yeah that was what
Speaker 8: this is?
Speaker 1: White? That was the white had that kid the kid the.
Speaker 3: Son, Yeah, I forget forget. I was the g was
Speaker 3: the that was the one that was on the Jason's
Speaker 3: Lyrics soundtrack. That was like ninety five.
Speaker 8: We went towards Europe. You know, I'll never forget this.
Speaker 11: We played London. This guy opened up for us and
Speaker 11: everybody was laughing at him. Just do It's terrible, Mark Marrison.
Speaker 8: No, he was saying, I.
Speaker 3: Met you.
Speaker 8: No, this is in London. I meet you in London.
Speaker 1: I mean you know what I mean? Questnesia like, never
Speaker 1: heard that before, loved that. How many times I meet
Speaker 1: you before?
Speaker 7: I'm like, oh, Bill, well you thought it was your accountant,
Speaker 7: like seventeen exactly. I'm pretty sure you still think I'm
Speaker 7: your account right, That's fine.
Speaker 1: No, No, you're consistent in your accounting sheikh right now.
Speaker 1: I love it. No, No, but I remember I was
Speaker 1: hanging out the Apollo. Who are the white Heads opening for?
Speaker 3: That?
Speaker 1: Was it black Street at the Apollo? At the Apollo
Speaker 1: in London? It was black Street? Okay, we were over
Speaker 1: from the Foot Did I meet you? That's when I
Speaker 1: remember that's James Poyser. That's when it registered, because you're like, hey, Philly.
Speaker 1: I was like, huh, really.
Speaker 8: You remember something? I don't mind.
Speaker 1: This was Black Street and the white Head brothers came
Speaker 1: to the Apollo. I think around December nine, December of
Speaker 1: ninety five, I decided to not fly home for Christmas
Speaker 1: and just stay at our apartment everyone went home for
Speaker 1: Christmas and I stayed at our apartment in London and
Speaker 1: I went to go see Black Street. I think you
Speaker 1: are there three nights in a row or something.
Speaker 6: That's cool.
Speaker 8: Yeah, I don't remember that.
Speaker 6: So wait, then, how did you hook with White Hair
Speaker 6: Brothers then?
Speaker 1: Because yeah, how did I just really?
Speaker 6: I know, I know? But then did that?
Speaker 10: Was that what lead you into like being because y'all
Speaker 10: were kind of like supposed to be like the cannon
Speaker 10: for for p I R.
Speaker 6: For a minute, it felt like no, no, just wait
Speaker 6: this way before that.
Speaker 8: This was a little bit before p I R.
Speaker 11: This was right when I met Jeff okay and became
Speaker 11: and you know, he took me in a touch of jazz.
Speaker 6: Have you met Victor yet?
Speaker 8: Yeah?
Speaker 11: Jeff and Vick I met at the same time. This
Speaker 11: was Vic with the blonde head. Y'all remember that phase,
Speaker 11: this before this is grand Master.
Speaker 1: At one point Grandmaster Vic was probably neck and neck
Speaker 1: with like jazzy Jeff as far as I cut.
Speaker 6: The straight talking about a different victims Victor.
Speaker 8: Yeah, Grandmaster Vic, Grandmaster Vic exctic.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that was Grandmaster vict exotic Don and Jeff and
Speaker 1: the first print.
Speaker 10: Different Back then, blond okay, because I was working, because
Speaker 10: he always because also a Mary didn't.
Speaker 6: He started wearing a turban and he did some locked
Speaker 6: like you know, went through.
Speaker 1: The hes, going through the sealed thing. Yea. And according
Speaker 1: to vict he saw Daphne play the fine as Playboy
Speaker 1: model of I believe that she was at Tower Records signing.
Speaker 1: This is like a week before Things Fall a part
Speaker 1: came out. She was at Tyro Record signing like a
Speaker 1: I tens for the new like Playboy DVD or v
Speaker 1: HS thing and I went in and got autograph. She
Speaker 1: and her thank you, Like how did y'all get that?
Speaker 1: Was that my eight ten? That singing in your studio?
Speaker 8: Of of that mean to play might or was it his?
Speaker 8: Because he came back and like I'm changing my name.
Speaker 6: Yeah, he said the same thing, said the same thing.
Speaker 1: She was that fine, She's fine.
Speaker 8: He changed his name.
Speaker 1: I never knew from she was in a Visa commercial
Speaker 1: that was like her first national thing in addition to
Speaker 1: doing Playboy. But she was like in a Visent commercial,
Speaker 1: fine as all hell. Yeah.
Speaker 9: I always felt sort of from an outsider. I arrived
Speaker 9: in Philly in like two thousand and four, but like
Speaker 9: he always seemed like he was somehow a crux to
Speaker 9: what had happened, Like was he at the center of
Speaker 9: a lot of the stuff that that was happening.
Speaker 1: He was there, He was involved in a lot of stuff.
Speaker 1: He was also just way ahead of his time, because
Speaker 1: I admit that I was laughing, like when James explained
Speaker 1: to me, like, yeah, you know like Victor, and I'm
Speaker 1: like Grandmaster Vic. He's a not like Victor, who play
Speaker 1: trying to like you know, he's trying to do some
Speaker 1: cool sexy thing like seal sting, and I'm like grand
Speaker 1: Master vict wants to do that type of stuff. Right,
Speaker 1: was just way ahead everybody. He was first of all,
Speaker 1: the youngest. Is that Kenny or I think it was Kenny. Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: it was Kenny on tour. Did he ever play guitar?
Speaker 1: Because I don't think the world knew and Philly didn't know.
Speaker 1: He was like Kirk Jimmy Hendrick the level of guitar playing.
Speaker 1: So I met him, I met Kiddy. I think it's
Speaker 1: Kenny Whitehead, the youngest, you know a street music and
Speaker 1: he was just shredding and I've never seen like a
Speaker 1: young black person shred like guitar like that. And when
Speaker 1: I heard Whitehead, I was like, all that ain't My
Speaker 1: dad was like his father, ain't no stopping this stuff now, right.
Speaker 8: But on the tour where they just now, yeah, just singing, well,
Speaker 8: we would just you.
Speaker 1: Know, I always thought that was just wrong call, and
Speaker 1: like he should have played guitar more.
Speaker 11: And like, you know, it's funny. Can I just take
Speaker 11: you saying the first time you saw him? So I
Speaker 11: grew up in West Philly. You grew up in West Philly.
Speaker 11: We didn't know what, we didn't know each other. But
Speaker 11: I see this weird dude walking around because I take
Speaker 11: the g I take the l right, and I was like,
Speaker 11: who this d And then I did a session at
Speaker 11: the studio on Delaware Avenue and you were leaving, okay,
Speaker 11: and I was like, who's this dude?
Speaker 8: He was like, Yo, you don't know him.
Speaker 1: He's wanting studios. I think it was a Cajun.
Speaker 11: He's like, we don't know this dude on drums. I
Speaker 11: was like, he plays drums. I see him in the neighborhood,
Speaker 11: but I didn't know he played drums. And then the
Speaker 11: Boys and Men video came out.
Speaker 3: I got it.
Speaker 1: That's my entry. So how did you meet Jeff because
Speaker 1: you came around he's now he's the tail end of
Speaker 1: he's DJ. I'm the rapper.
Speaker 11: But really in the beginning of and in this corner,
Speaker 11: it was little John, little John Roberts who he was
Speaker 11: playing drums at Jeff and they had a gig at
Speaker 11: the Zoo the Philly Woo.
Speaker 8: I went to hang out. I was like, yo, I
Speaker 8: want to be done with this.
Speaker 1: Performed that okay.
Speaker 11: Oh it was just Jeff DJing but with the band
Speaker 11: and he had some other musicians playing, okay, And I
Speaker 11: was like, I'm trying to know what's up. So, you know,
Speaker 11: got cool with him and Vic and uh, this was right.
Speaker 11: They just moved a studio from Delaware Avenue up to.
Speaker 1: He left Studio four.
Speaker 8: Yeah, and went up to Near City Avenue. I forget
Speaker 8: the name of this.
Speaker 1: I didn't they moved there, yeah, okay.
Speaker 11: So I started working with him there, okay, and worked
Speaker 11: there for a few is some remixes whatever this was.
Speaker 11: This was that when Jefferson always in a light doing
Speaker 11: that fresh Prince. So then me and what you're on, Yeah,
Speaker 11: I'm in a couple of episodes, really a couple episodes.
Speaker 11: I was hanging out with Jeff and I was like
Speaker 11: sitting in the back eating Roscoe's. I'm like, yo, will man,
Speaker 11: let me get on one of these scenes.
Speaker 6: Man.
Speaker 8: It will took me right.
Speaker 11: And it was a Friday, just before they're about the
Speaker 11: tape and you gotta remember those extras there all week
Speaker 11: for rehearsal, and he put me right in front and
Speaker 11: they were looking at.
Speaker 1: Me like you the cutters extras hate line cuts. Boy.
Speaker 11: So again we're working there and Chauncey Charles, my brother,
Speaker 11: was up there working with working the business with us.
Speaker 8: And then we were like, you know, we're doing this ourselves.
Speaker 8: Let's go off by ourselves and do our things.
Speaker 11: So we're working at vix apartment doing nothing, and Kenny Gamble,
Speaker 11: who was a friend of Vic's mom or Chelcey's mom,
Speaker 11: was like, man, you guys, come, I'm gonna teach you
Speaker 11: all what's going on.
Speaker 8: So that's where I had the room.
Speaker 11: If that's when that's where we first met you and
Speaker 11: Keith too, Yeah, Keith, Keith's working there yet Chance brought
Speaker 11: Keith down to like help handle little books or whatever whatever.
Speaker 1: Keith mcpheie Keith McPhee started at Philly International.
Speaker 11: Because I think he had just quit this jan did
Speaker 11: he quit m TV at the time, and he wasn't
Speaker 11: trying to travel too much?
Speaker 1: Uh yeah, yeah yeah.
Speaker 8: And then right after that, that's when he was like
Speaker 8: back on the road with y'all.
Speaker 1: Yes, Keiths who called me earlier, interrupted me.
Speaker 6: They'll get to write songs for Damon Keith Williams all
Speaker 6: of that.
Speaker 1: Okay, So what was your day to day at Philly International?
Speaker 1: Because I always heard of like Philly Internationals opened back
Speaker 1: up and everybody worked at Philly International. But did anything
Speaker 1: come out?
Speaker 10: Man?
Speaker 6: You forgot no question, rumber, no question the group. I
Speaker 6: don't care what your mama.
Speaker 1: Yeah, y'all okay, I remember Wow, yes, but but but
Speaker 1: didn't respond to it.
Speaker 8: I was like, I just got big.
Speaker 1: This is an R and B group, can take I
Speaker 1: take it. I's no questions. I mean that kind of Yeah,
Speaker 1: they steal their own faith. But you're right.
Speaker 6: I'm sorry, you're right, You're right right.
Speaker 11: So we go down in the morning and just work
Speaker 11: until like ten forty five, And that's when Zog who
Speaker 11: was mister Huff's right hand man, and Zog played drums
Speaker 11: on Curtis mayfield Superfly album.
Speaker 3: Wow Okay and be.
Speaker 8: Like time to go.
Speaker 11: So we were like, yo, gams Man, can we stay later?
Speaker 11: And Gamseling ain't no flophouse, y'all leave it out of here.
Speaker 1: You wouldn't let y'all work late.
Speaker 8: No, make sure close close the doors and send the
Speaker 8: old But it's crazy. I had Linda Creed's.
Speaker 1: Over them, the Creed who wrote people all the records.
Speaker 8: Yeah, yeah, yeah, it was so had the psychedelic carpet
Speaker 8: on the wall.
Speaker 6: It was crazy, all the original stuff and.
Speaker 11: Just being there in sessions and louver All's being it's
Speaker 11: crazy like the old louver Balls.
Speaker 8: They were finished up Phillis Hymon's album at the time.
Speaker 1: Did you play on any of those things?
Speaker 8: I think I played on a louver All song.
Speaker 1: Phyllis Nice.
Speaker 8: I didn't get to I didn't meet her.
Speaker 1: So what what years? Just so we know what was
Speaker 1: Philly International? This is eighty eight? Yeah, ok, based on
Speaker 1: his albums coming out.
Speaker 11: But the greatest thing I got from that was just
Speaker 11: sitting around listening to Gams and mister huff talk.
Speaker 10: Yeah.
Speaker 8: So I remember one time they were watching videos on TV.
Speaker 8: Some girls group was on. They all right, but they
Speaker 8: ain't let them girls.
Speaker 12: Yeah, I wanted to ask you man, talk about your
Speaker 12: process of going from being a musician, being a player
Speaker 12: to being a producer, because there's a lot of people
Speaker 12: who can play, but you know, making tracks or you know,
Speaker 12: being that it's a different thing.
Speaker 11: So at the time, I would I really wanted to
Speaker 11: be a musician, just be on the road and whatnot.
Speaker 11: And I met some guys that were constantly on the
Speaker 11: road and I saw their living situations and I saw
Speaker 11: that and I was like, remember me smart, because I.
Speaker 1: Me me smart, me kicked out of ten different.
Speaker 11: So I was like, Okay, this is not going to
Speaker 11: mount to much, you know what I mean. I can
Speaker 11: keep this is a monkey hustle. You know, I can
Speaker 11: keep chasing this. And I was like, okay, what's the
Speaker 11: next step to us? So I was like, okay, let
Speaker 11: me be strategic and start writing songs.
Speaker 1: Okay.
Speaker 11: And I wrote a bunch of gospel songs that you
Speaker 11: know it's a Walker, recorded some Bruce par Ham and
Speaker 11: you know a bunch of the So I started writing
Speaker 11: other other songs. I remember, I wrote some songs and
Speaker 11: I let this guy and feel he was like a
Speaker 11: pretty well known songwriter.
Speaker 8: Hear some stuff and he was like this is terrible.
Speaker 8: Who His name was, Spencer, Bernard Spencer, Big Spencer.
Speaker 1: I know the name Spencer.
Speaker 3: I know that guy.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I've heard it name.
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 8: That's happened to me quite a whit when I send
Speaker 8: music to people and they hate it. Being one of them,
Speaker 8: it is cool, good stuff I did at the.
Speaker 11: Time, I was searching, and it was it was absolutely trash. Remember, no,
Speaker 11: I appreciate you like you you ain't lying and be like,
Speaker 11: oh this is cool.
Speaker 8: You're like nah.
Speaker 3: That his wife.
Speaker 1: And I appreciate that. Yo, I love you.
Speaker 3: I'm like, yo, bro, I don't I don't want to
Speaker 3: have you out.
Speaker 11: I know, I appreciated that. I absolutely appreciate that. You know,
Speaker 11: somebody would have lied.
Speaker 7: Yeah, I still be doing some waknesste first to tell
Speaker 7: you the truth.
Speaker 10: But wait, how long ago was that because don't remember this,
Speaker 10: this is this had to be maybe early two thousands.
Speaker 12: Yeah, man, James like so with him, he and I
Speaker 12: like this was probably like, man, this is early two thousands,
Speaker 12: and we were doing this is when we were doing
Speaker 12: the Mentrol show. This whenever he was on the Mentro
Speaker 12: Show and we came up to the studio and I
Speaker 12: was just playing You records. I'll never get this was.
Speaker 12: I was just playing you records and we played the
Speaker 12: All for You record, and James just immediately went to
Speaker 12: the keyboard and just started playing over and I was like, oh, Ship,
Speaker 12: And I was just so honored that he would.
Speaker 3: Even play on one our records. I was like, ship.
Speaker 12: And so we ended up keeping it. And so he
Speaker 12: played on All for You on the Mintel Show. He's
Speaker 12: playing the keys and stuff on that. And then a
Speaker 12: couple of years after that he reached out and uh,
Speaker 12: the Fame movie.
Speaker 3: I did Fame.
Speaker 1: This was the movie did absolutely the movie.
Speaker 12: Did nothing but h maturity now and she was playing
Speaker 12: she had a role and they needed a song, and uh,
Speaker 12: James just saying he was like, hey man, I'm working
Speaker 12: on this.
Speaker 3: You think you can write something again.
Speaker 6: I'm like, holy shiped anybody?
Speaker 3: Yeah, no, straight up?
Speaker 5: Now?
Speaker 12: He and he sent it and me and my homegirl,
Speaker 12: Carlida Carlila Durant, we went in the studio. We did it,
Speaker 12: and I sent it back and I'm just hell, Mary,
Speaker 12: I have no idea, like maybe this works, and so
Speaker 12: James he hit me.
Speaker 3: I remember, I never get We was on instant Messenger.
Speaker 3: He was like, man, you show off, show off. I
Speaker 3: was like, all right, I think we got it right.
Speaker 3: So so now we did those records and.
Speaker 6: Yeah, then uh god, man, your first Place record.
Speaker 12: That was one of my first Yeah, writing for a
Speaker 12: movie that was like oh nine, and then I was
Speaker 12: and then like a couple of years after that, we
Speaker 12: did I red the phn ex Changes cover if She
Speaker 12: Breaks Your Heart. He remixed that, and he was one
Speaker 12: of your drum loops.
Speaker 1: Actually, yeah, for the rebix, this should be called I
Speaker 1: played on that two of you. Yeah, he did it.
Speaker 12: So now, man, James, he was always I mean outside
Speaker 12: of just you know, me being a fan of the music,
Speaker 12: I just always appreciated the way that you would reach
Speaker 12: out to me and just give me those opportunities and
Speaker 12: would always show up. And you know, just aside from
Speaker 12: me being a fan, like just you giving me those calls, man,
Speaker 12: that ship really meant a lot. And so anytime you
Speaker 12: call my all way, I'm like, yeah, I gotta deliver
Speaker 12: straight up.
Speaker 8: I love you.
Speaker 7: I get really nervous around poison. Also, man, he came
Speaker 7: yeah all the time he did a thing. I said
Speaker 7: it to him.
Speaker 8: I was like, fuck, listen this thing that you sent me.
Speaker 8: He was like this.
Speaker 1: I was like, what is wrong with you? I was terrified.
Speaker 1: I was terrible.
Speaker 8: I was like he shouldn't. Tru A million called me, was.
Speaker 7: Like, we're gonna do it, but James gonna be.
Speaker 3: I was like, fuck.
Speaker 1: If he has to be?
Speaker 6: Is that your instrument? Bill the piano?
Speaker 7: I mean sure, but I'm a fake. I'm a fake
Speaker 7: piano player. I can't play like James can play, but
Speaker 7: I can like I can manipulate.
Speaker 1: With Submitty magic.
Speaker 8: You know, yeah, make it happen.
Speaker 1: Family love.
Speaker 9: Okay, folks, this is where we're stopping part one with
Speaker 9: my favorite member of the Roots, James Poyser. Actually Kirk
Speaker 9: is my fave. And then Black Thought and the questl
Speaker 9: Ever kind of tied for second place, and wow, wait second,
Speaker 9: I forgot stro He's definitely in the top five. And
Speaker 9: the horn guys Dave and I and there my bros.
Speaker 9: So yeah, James would be like six No wait, Mark Kelly,
Speaker 9: Oh yes, he's my man. So James is like, wait,
Speaker 9: me and Kamal have really bonded recently. So James Poyser
Speaker 9: is like, whoa hold on a second?
Speaker 1: Tuba?
Speaker 9: I forgot tuba, my man. That's my cousin. So uh oh,
Speaker 9: bad news for James, but good news for you, our listener.
Speaker 9: In part two, the conversation about you is transition from
Speaker 9: a musician to producer continues with some deep dives into
Speaker 9: the records he's made. Come back next week or check
Speaker 9: your podcast feed for that one.
Speaker 3: See you later, James James, James James.
Speaker 1: What's Love Supreme is a production of Iheartradios James. For
Speaker 1: more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,
Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.