QLS Classic: Roots Picnic 2016 Pt. 1

Published Jun 19, 2023, 4:55 PM

Recorded from the 2016 Roots Picnic in NYC: Part I features appearances from X-Ambassadors, Stretch and Bobbito, and Lady Leshurr.

Course Love Supreme is a production of iHeartRadio. This classic episode was produced by the team at Pandora.

What y'all is, Laiya and this QLs classic is taking us back to October nineteen, twenty sixteen. Imagine it Ruth's Picnic, New York City. Two days well, myself and Team Supreme decided we would hold up in a hotel across the street from the Ruth Picnic and interview as many of those artists as possible. Yeah, the first and the last time we did this, but check it out. This is the episode that features appearances from ex Ambassador Stretching, Barbido, and Lady Leisure.

It's a good one. I hope you enjoy it.

What's up, y'all? Welcome to a very special edition of Course Love Supreme once again. This is a road trip, well, non exactly a road trip. We're kind of up the block from Bryant Park in New York City. I'll say that twenty years ago, when the Roots were first formed, we made and cut our teeth on the festival circuit. And festivals are like now a thing in America. Back in the early nineties, it was like really unheard of to have different genres together under one roof, like doing a festival. We always said that we had enough pool and of course enough finances, we were going to bring a festival to whatever city that we chose to do. And of course, I guess most of you guys are familiar with the Roots Picnic. That's our Philadelphia homegrown festival event. So this year we decided to take the Roots Picnic to Bryant Park in New York City and entertained over twenty thousand people for two days. So many acts played the picnic. David Byrne, Wu Tang, Clan di'angelo, John Mayer, even Alicia Keys, Dave Chappelle, Common of course the Roots performed as well. We even Adnle, Rogers and Chic. That's a lot of lineup. Anyway, we recorded these special episodes of Quest Love Supreme live during the Roots Picnic. I was running around quite a bit too. I popped up in the show occasionally when I had a minute, but I was basically rehearsing. But don't worry, the team Supreme held it down and they really did an amazing job running the show with my absence. That's right, we got Fante Boss Bill still there, unpaid bills there, Sugar, Steve is there, Lai is there, and a whole cast to others. This particular episode, you're gonna hear some really really great interviews with DJ Mohma who else. We got the ex Ambassadors to Shiman Chill Moody Smashing Hearts. We got the legendary New York hip hop radio DJ Stretching Barbido, some of my favorites. I want to be them when I grow up, and all the way from the UK, we got Lady Lashure. I really hope you enjoyed the show. This is part one of the Roots Picnic New York edition. Quest Love Supreme, Let's Go Soma.

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Roll called bill. Yeah, y'all don't know. Yeah, Roots Picnic, Yeah, here we are.

Son Son Supreme roll call, Supreme Supremo roll call.

Yeah it is call Yeah, don't worry fellas.

Yeah, because I keep.

Suprema Son Son Supremo, role called Suprema s something Supremo role called.

My name is Steve. Yeah, I'm so tired.

Yeah yet Yeah, let's get high.

Roll call Supremo Sun Supremo. Roll call Suprema Sun Sun Supremo.

Role call Hospital is here. Yeah, and I didn't prepare. Yeah, so I'm just gonna read the rest of this ad from a first large, one bedroom, time dollars, New York, New York.

One zero zero three. Suprema Suck Sun Supremo role.

My name is MoMA. Yeah, I'm a music man. Yeah, I'm African. Yeah, I represent Queens, New York.

Name Supremo So Sun Supremo. Roll call Supremo So Sun Supremo. Roll call Suprema So Sun Supremo, roll call Supremo Suck Suck Supremo roll call.

I was trying to do the last.

Mud like the Jadakids last crazy for this one. It's how he got in Phasema.

Welcome to quest Love Supreme, our faithful and righteous cult leader, our furor quest Love.

Is not here today. He's a little busy. He's a little busy. He's a little busy actually doing his job. Yeah, one of his jobs, of one of his nineteen jobs, one of his jobs.

He's actually working today on the roots picnic. So we holding it down in his absence. I'm Fante fun Tika Newicticulo a k A Gully Blanche a k A hacks On, Jim Thu a k A Young Player, Underwood aka wood Fang flowers ak that's.

Enough aka album in stores, album in stores.

I always got album in stores somewhere.

Uh yeah, holding down fun Tickelow to my left is the lovely miss. I ain't gonna do it to you because he, of course love came up with a great nickname for you, Margaret louder.

Loud.

I don't know.

Okay, that's fine, that's I.

Love you anyway. We love you, We love you, We love you.

All.

Good to be here today, Hello fellas.

Yeah, also joining us. You know what I'm saying.

My brother, my man's my millow, My man's unpaid, Bill Bill Sherman, who is although I just I just found out he is now paid.

He found he found out be a text message. Did track yet got it? He got a big da big day.

We got that.

PayPal notifications so unpaid Bill Bill Sherman. He's in the building direct deposit though, Sugar Steve like that, Sugar Steve, your hardest working Interindy and show business. How how many hours have you been up?

Like completely all of them? I don't know.

The last last two nights. Have just gotten a couple of hours of sleep.

So we're gonna get all into that.

I wanted.

You're a little delirious today every day. Yeah, a little more than news. We get medicine. Go ge him. We won't call it we I don't think we can do that.

Yeah, we're recording the show. Uh yeah, well we're we're I have many jobs like quest also.

Listen, Yeah go ahead.

I work at the supervisor at McDonald's.

You got promoted not watching let Us was let I was watching Lettus.

No, we're simultaneously recording the picnic multi truck recording of the picnic, and we're set up at S A R for rehearsals over the next two days as well, and we're recording those. And we're recording these. So I got like three pro tools riggs.

All around town. Steve's busy. Steve is the fucking.

Man doing much.

I have an assistant who's doing much.

That's what's I got to get to that level. I can get me an assistant. If it ain't now, I don't know when.

I don't know.

I just I think I have a problem letting people in my life in that way.

That just got really personal.

Really at least you're not talking about, you know, writing stuff on the toilet.

So what would you do with an the system? Like, Man, I don't know.

I just because you gotta let you gotta really trust in your assistant. Like that's somebody they got the passwords of your ship. You know what I'm saying. If you got a side piece, they gotta know.

Arrangements, arrangements, travel arrangements.

It's like so yeah, man, I don't know. Man, that's just someone else in your life that you that could just write a book about you later on. I don't know if I trust.

That can end up as a guest on question Love Supreme after you die, After you died, be.

Like, yeah, was doing all the coke? Nigga? I don't want to. I can't. I can't fuck with that ship. I don't know.

So I don't I get through that. Maybe some counsel and all that I can get through that. But fuck my problem.

The man we got right here, my man, right here, this brother, I will let him talk about himself, but allow me to.

Introduce uh this brother.

He is the lead, the head DJ every Day People, every Day People, which is Chef ro Blade.

That's chef ro Black and oh.

Awesome party as long has pretty been around.

This is like the end of the fourth season.

Oh wow, okay, yeah, I was just funny. I was actually supposed to do one of them in Charlotte, right I was. I ended up having to go. I think we had a tour day or something, so I missed it. I was like, damn, I missed it. But anyway, ladies and gentlemen, the man of the hour, the man with the plan, with the sound, all that flash it, ladies, gentermen, giving up a DJ moment.

That's up man.

Thank you for doing this, man, thank you for coming here and getting up early in the morning. This is early for like musician hours and ship so.

Pretty much it's new. Yeah, noon is thirty. Yeah, that's still kind of early.

I biked hair so I could wake up, Did you really?

Oh shit.

I live in the city though, so I'm not like no hair.

Biked over.

But y'all, wow, you've been doing a lot of stuff this week, this past week, right because you filled in for a quest.

Feeling for quests at Brooklyn Bowl and also did a closing event for Summer Stage with you Now Mone in Central Park. So it's been it's been a fun week, you know. And we got Roots Picnic tomorrow.

Today, today, shoot today.

Yeah up, man, real, So tell me a little bit about your your style. Man, I was looking through your Unfortunately, like I said, I didn't get to come to the party, so I missed. I miss actually seeing you do your thing. But we had you send over just some tracks you know before, and I was just reading the tracks. I was like, Yo, this motherfucker is in my iTunes, like like some of the Jones just being like the Greg Reporter nineteen sixty but Donald bird Love has come around like just I was like, oh my god, Like this dude is is like me.

Yeah, I mean my style, you know, it covers a lot from like really like esoteric mixtape radio show stuff to like more mainstream generic And you know, when I first started djaying, I was in a place where I was either in like in a bar in Brooklyn, playing like Roy Airs Vinyl and Weldon Irving or whatever. Or I was in Manhattan playing like Britney Spears and justin Timberlating, And you know, obviously one of those two was a struggle for me, but I was getting it done because it was a check And I think, you know, after like twelve to thirteen years of djaying, I've been able to kind of like reconcile everything in the middle where I've just found that happy medium where in one of my parties you may hear like a soulful joint, but you're probably you're also gonna hear Drake in the future. And I've been able to kind of like eliminate all like the real disposable pop shit, you know what I mean. So in terms of my style, I would say it's basically like the best of black music that I love, you know, hip hop, R and B, Soca House.

Coman. He's in New York, Oh way in New York.

You got to yeah, you got to man said Africa, What part of what the are you're from?

Part I'm from Sudan?

Oh wow?

Oh wow?

So how does that? How does I mean?

Because most people don't know the musical influence of Sudan do you is it any do you ever play anything.

Or you know, we don't have that big of a Sudanese community in New York, So if I were to drop a track in my bomb, but I'm also like part ever trying and the whole like East African connects.

That's what.

There's a lot of like Ethiopians and Era trains that come through to my events. And so I got that music on deck and when I do drop it, it's a riot. You know. You have people who are not familiar with it, like what the hell is going on?

But the ones that are from me, they lose their mind. Yeah, totally got you.

I mean I do that late night, not in the middle of prime time.

So if it bombs, this is okay, got my manly, I don't know if you're he's that's my homie, Okay.

He's from Sudan as well.

Odyssey UH producer Emcuh was based out of DC. I think he's here now. But incredible incredible artists. Your start, like what leads a person to want to be a DJ? Like what is the you know people have some people want to be MC some people want to be producers, what is it that drove you to say I want to select the sounds for people.

I don't know. I think it was maybe the easiest way for me to touch music, being that I just don't play instruments and I don't sing. When when I was in high school in college, I used to rap. You know you're being We all did. Yeah, you had your.

Little you you did? You know I did not. I did not. Have you heard me rap before I have, but you just did it exactly.

Everybody wrapped in high school, Like, I mean, that was like a rite of passage, I.

Think, right. And I think the Roots used to do something called black Lilies. Yeah, yeah, I even like I got on stage on that's one of the MC's that went up during the open mic, and that was like, that was my hip hop career, highlight of my life. I don't remember what year. This was, late nineties, early two thousands, you know, I don't recall, but around that time, you know, I became like really disenchanted with hip hop. It was super jiggy, and I just kind of fell out.

Of love with it.

So I started researching all the samples behind the music. And that's when I started collecting vinyl, and you know, to go back to your question, I don't think a lot of us who started djaying in maybe late nineties or before that. I don't think anybody starts djaying with the goal of becoming a DJ. You just love music, you collect vinyl, and after a certain amount of time, you have enough music and you have enough experience that you could actually rock a party, which is kind of different than the way it is today.

There was never anything where you said, Okay, I want to get paid for this. It was like you didn't start off with the intention of hay now, because.

I was working a full time job. You know, I went to college for electrical engineering, and so I came out of school. I was working a full time job, which I actually held for, like, you know, over ten years, and I was doing both at the same time, you know, living in Manhattan, working in Manhattan, uh, DJing in Manhattan. So I never really have to worry about getting paid for DJing. So I just kept like honing my skills and like refining my craft, and ultimately, you know, I became so good that I didn't have to work anymore.

It's interesting you say that I had a talk with a friend of mine. A couple of days ago, he was asking me about like, Okay, when do you make the leap from your hobby to your real from your real job.

Your hobby to your jobby job, hobby to your job.

And my my, I said, almost verbating with you, listen, as long as you got something that's paying you that steady check, stay with that ship.

Don't walk away from that fucking check. The fuck is wrong with you.

Better get that money, get fired, you get that unemployment first, Yeah.

Because you never want after, just like you never want desperation. A few of your artistic decisions.

Right, you know what I'm saying.

You can't focus on being a great DJ when you ain't got no fucking roof.

So and that job can finance your craft. If you buy turntables, you want to buy pro tools, you want to buy mac you want to like.

Getting what so making that transition going from the jobby to the hobby, Like, what was that like? When did you know like, Okay, officially I can do this full time and I'm good.

What was that like for you?

I just think it came at a point where I became feeling miserable. This is like, honestly, I was going back and forth from the corporate life because I'm like, you know what, I got enough money, I'm about to DJ and trial for a year or two. Now I'm like, oh shit, I'm broke. We go back and I think the last time I just like, you know, cut off the umbilical cord was twenty fourteen. Oh wow, yeah, so not that long ago. But I just started to feel miserable. There was such a huge difference between how I felt at the office and you know, I really like engineering. It's it's a great job. You're like really building things and it's problem solving all day long. But I just start to feel miserable versus you know, the high that I would get when I'm out DJing, you know, doing day parties with three hundre to my friends. I was like, all right, I'm not at the point where I can make up that income, but I think having my time and my life back was probably worth like six figures to me at that point. So I was like, fuck it, I start from the bottom and build it back up, and you know, it happened pretty fast.

That's dope, man, It's really dope.

I'm sitting here with the man of the hour DJ MoMA everyday people uh were sitting here. So this is Rooth's picnic. So I want to talk picnic stuff. What is when you.

Got this gig?

Like what was your what was your mind state in terms of saying it's like setting up your crate or your playlist or whatever, Like what was what was that like for this kind of crowd? Like how would you rock this this kind of crowd?

Well, I had I had gotten the nod for Roots Picnic in Philly, Okay, So that that gave me like a good introduction. And then when when Quest told me about Roots Picnic New York, I was like, oh man, that's like a home game. That's it's going to be so easy, truth be told. I haven't even thought about it yet. It's going to be in a few hours, but it's it's not that long a set, forty five minutes. It's gonna be so easy. I'm just gonna do a mixture of like you know, like some hip hop hits, but also like some some more like global danceable stuff. I'm thinking Brazilian vibes, African vibes, try to bring something different.

Try to warm it up out there.

It's cool, Yes, yeah, ticket take you guys to the tropics.

So you don't you don't pre plan your sets at all. Yeah, that's kind of question.

Yeah I did. I did the Red Bull three style the same way I pulled up to It was at South Paul and I was just chilling in the green room and I started looking at some crates, you know, because when you've DJ enough, you have all these micro sets that are in your head. So sometimes it's a matter of piecing the right micro sets together and having the right transition records to go from one genre to the other. I don't think I've ever done a set where I've gone song by song because maybe song number seven didn't hit. Yeah, yeah, yeah, you know, maybe my intuition is like, nah, don't play this right now.

So yeah, I was gonna ask you. So a lot of it is definitely you have to read the crowd. I mean, you can have something in your mind, but it's like, I don't think that's.

One hundred percent. I think I think that's basically like my main attribute. I'm not necessarily like a turntable list or I don't talk on the mic too much. It's mostly selection, mixing and timing, so selection's key.

If you hear some noise, it's just me and the boys, goddamn symbol.

Now we're a live on location. We're at the Roof's picnic. And so if you hear any kind of booming or any kind of just heard coffins, unpaid Bill in his inmphasema, or or if you're any kind of drums or anything, it's probably our boss man Qus Love playing nearby. So it may be some sounds from the picnic that you guys here.

But I think I think they got the picture. Okay, yeah, all right them. You know what I'm saying, like, it's authenticity.

Fuck it, ladies, gentlemen, we are we are proud once again, we're here.

We're happy.

Uh, these brothers took time on a show day to enjoy us because it really it really means a lot for them to come here.

Uh.

These brothers are based out of Brooklyn. Ladies and gentlemen, please give a big, warm, quest love supreme round of applause for the ex ambassadors up.

Fellas, fellas, how y'all feel.

What feeling good?

Man?

Feeling great to be back in New York. It's funny, you know we uh, we actually all I know this is gonna create some groans. We all just relocated to l Ah. My god, I'm telling you. Just like getting off the plane, it's it's like seeing this gray sky and it's like a little it's like low sixties. I'm feeling it, man, I'm so in it.

How long have you guys been out in l A about it?

I mean, yeah, you've been there a year. We've been on tour. So he moved there a year ago, but he hasn't been there.

Yeah.

I moved like two months ago.

I moved there last September.

I spent I've spent maybe like four weeks there total since I moved.

Wow, You're not a douchebag yet, not yet.

But I've had some avocado toast.

That was what.

Let's it hits your lips, It's so good.

There's not much avocado toast. You're not up on that. Oh my god, I'm in so much of this is true? Okay, so what okay? So you got to break this down. So is it toast spread?

It's just it's simple.

It's just avocado kind of smeared on on some toast, so it's still got the smear.

The Jewish New Yorker rights like it's like a boogie peanut.

But California just gentrified California cream is exactly.

California is gentrified cream cheese.

I got all good, Okay, well, thank you for coming through.

Oh my god, pleasure man.

So we got with us today just so everyone can hear and qualify. So we got Casey Harris on keyboards and then lead vocal Sam Harris and then on drums Adam Levigne or Adam Adam Levin.

I didn't know how you can take no, no, no listen because because it's so funny every airport we're at, every time, like someone calls his name to the to the desk, the ladies like Adam Levi.

Looking around.

Is what it really is is the guy holding like the sign and the so there's like kids crowding around him. He like spells my name wrong, so it says Adam Levine and then there's like kids standing around him with cameras ready. But then I get there and say it to me.

And everyone's just like a disappointment.

Have you ever played to it, though, Like, have you ever actually like went with it?

One time I was in Mexico about a month ago and I was trying to go to this really fancy restaurant and I put my name down and I got there super late, and I guess Adam Levine had gotten married at this restaurant.

Wow.

And so I got there and they were like, oh, we thought it was going to be Adam Levine And I smoozed him a little bit. So not it didn't truly like work in my favorite but I did get to sit you guys, I still got a little something. Mostly it's just disappointment.

This actually reminds me of something I read in the New York Post the other day about man in Manhattan.

His name was Denzel Washington.

Yeah he was.

He was arrested for strangling a woman by the name of Aretha Franklin.

Washington. Ultimate clickbait. Perfect, it was perfect.

Only the post Man.

Yeah paper, they know their headline.

Yeah, slow news day.

Wow, that's hilarious.

I want to talk a little bit about how you guys first started and just you know, what turns you on to music, Like what made you, you know, want to pick up that instrument or start writing songs?

What was the beginning for you guys.

So, Casey and I grew up in college town, upstate Ithaca, New York, and we uh, we always kind of have been playing music together since we're kids.

My mom's actually here.

On the couch, and my mom is a singer growing up, so there's music in the household all the time. And we used to we used to sometimes accompany her at her shows. We'd like we'd be the guest the guest stars. This is like when I was maybe like eight or nine and uh in case he was ten and uh yeah, we started first band in middle school and and just kind of played music all throughout middle school and high school and then uh moved to New York and uh, you know, we we've been a band. We met Adam first year of school at New School University in the freshman dorms and uh.

What year was this?

Yeah doesn't Oh my god, I think y'all were there around the same time. I played one of my first gigs there. Oh yeah, where my first group of Little brother we played. Uh, we played New School University album around the time we released album The Mistters Show, and it was around that time.

But New School always showed us love.

Yeah, it's a great place and it was a nice chip.

Oh remember, oh man, come on the first But you know what, here's here's the funny thing. So for us, we we have for many, many years kind of based we can always judge and this is not always true.

It's not always true, but.

Back in the day, at least especially with college shows, we'd always judge like, Okay, if we're getting a lot of money for the show, it's gonna suck.

The more money, it's like the worst of the show.

So the first show we played out of college, that was like the biggest check.

It was like two thousand dollars or something, and we're stoked. We never made that.

We never made that kind of money at a show, and we drove it was it was outside of Philly and it was at this Uh it was like on a Tuesday night in like the student lounge in the rec room at like ten pm and there's nobody there except the promoter and one guy playing pinball on the very back. The promoter left a guy who was playing. It turned into just a rehearsal that we got, very anti climact, very ante. Not bad that our highest paid gig, but I digressed. Sorry, We've been in a band for about like ten years now, and uh yeah, we we love it.

Man, That's what's up. Man.

You guys know your music, like you have a lot of hip hop references, and like you use like interludes on your records.

Yeah, and you.

Know the interlude is like a staple.

H h staple.

You know what I'm saying.

You could always judge your albums, you know it was the music was the music, But so many classic skits, so many albums have been defined by.

You remember the Carnival that White Records. Oh my god, you but folks changed my life, changed my life shop, Oh my god, the greatest and so so we grew up listening to records like that, like you know, like it even you know, even the skits on thirty six Chambers, so samples you know, Killop yeah and uh and like Sanconia Score.

What are some of your favorite hip hop Like, let's re enact some of your favorite God this this.

Is like one of mine is maybe like you can help me with kimm and Cookie from Come.

On Ring, Oh my god, hollout Word Records the other day she got it on vinyl. It's like one of my that's that's one of my top five.

My mine is definitely, uh Red red Man Muddy Waters that I gotta soda buscuit on the on on Tyrese and he's picking on the Tyresse commercial. That might have been like before, but that ships hilarious. The carnival definitely is all though.

Yeah, oh my god.

I still a I I still like ghost. I'm stuck on.

Those.

These are all classes kits from hip hop albums. That was the ghost we were represent That's from a O Y Bionics.

Yes time, man, it was that like I love that.

It was when when everyone was crushing the inters. Well, I don't know what.

It was about that, and it seemed like all the best albums had at least a few.

Skits in the and we really wanted to kind of incorporate and incorporate that into our our sound too, you know them. The whole album itself is a kind of a throwback to to all of our influences.

So that's dope, man.

With you guys playing this gig today, this is something that, I mean.

The greatest show that we.

Like, So okay talking about bands that influenced us growing up. The roots were everything to me. They were everything to me. What was it, I don't know. I mean the fact that well, First of all, I loved hip hop, uh you know, ever since I was in like elementary school. The first time I heard hip hop, I was like, this is the music that I'm going to listen to for the rest of my And they were also a band.

They played, I mean, they played their instruments and they were so good. I was such a fan. I even saw that Remember that movie that Black Thought. I saw that movie.

Yeah, yeah, Brooklyn, I wasted ninety minutes of my life.

It was actually I think was graating it though, Like I mean.

It was okay, it was. I think it was just a yeah story. Yeah, it was.

Just like that Romeo and Juliet kind of yeah.

But it just didn't have It didn't talk at my heart strings like an interracial little story. I need more passion from the Black and Jewish love.

I need to sell them a little more, dude. It was it was. It wasn't convincing. It wasn't convincing at all.

It wasn't fair enough.

When we have Tarika on the show, we have to ask him about we will we were all about that.

So with you guys playing this gig, is there a different kind of preparation that goes into it because oh, well, first off, what is it like to play for it? Because I've been in this situation before, so I want to hear from you guys, what is it like to play for quote unquote your heroes?

Like, what is that like? Is there a different kind of preparation?

Terrifying? It's terrifying.

But also you know that the lucky thing for us is that we have been again, we've been a band for so long that we've had a lot of preparation time. So you know, like at the end of the day, like I think, as as nervous as we might get, you know, playing in front of our heroes or playing for some of our heroes, I think I think we can bring it.

I feel like it's when when the time comes, it's almost easier this way. This I'm pretty confident playing you know, our set. I have to admit that when we jammed with the Roots during south By, I was shitting my pants.

Yeah.

Yeah, So we sat in with them.

They did the whole thing south By Southwest this year where they invited some of the musicians playing to play, and.

We were lucky enough to.

To sit in and play with them, and that was the craziest craziest.

You know, it's one thing to play like you know, you're set the music that you you know, have written and know you know, like the back of your hand, and it's not that to just you know, go into a live jam situation, you know where you've you've had maybe one quick rehearsal and and you know the you know, the roots of pros.

He was such a tight ship out there.

It doesn't so cool.

We wouldn't but talk about that real quick because the way that like throws his cues at the same time while he's playing drums like he's music director.

Just you know, I'm sure they've run through the songs, you know, a couple of times. I don't think so they may just have Yeah, it's amazing. He'll just say you like, you know, all right, slow down, or give me give me four hits or you know, just you know, we're ending, you know, two bars, you know, and just and they do it like it like it was you know, practice a million times.

Very Prince, Yeah, yeah, exactly. I read that. Prince was a big influence.

Yeah, man, he was a huge influence.

You know.

I would say that my two pillars that I always go to with anything that I ever have written, or write or will write in the future or do. Just in general, it's like there's always there's Bruce Springsteen and this Prince.

What about those two? What about Well?

I feel like if I do anything that I that I could see maybe being in line with either of them, then it's then I'm on the right track. You know, Like Prince was just the consummate entertainer and performer, and he just I mean, he's like so many people can speak way more eloquently on the man, the myth, the legend that was Prince, you know, than I can. But he was just a huge, huge influence on everything that I do, and such a great performer and sing a musician. And Springsteen is is storytelling is what gets me. And his his just authenticity and he's so generous.

You know.

I just saw him play at Barclay's recently, and.

The way have you guys seen his his show, I mean it's like a yeah, Well, what he does is like he starts his show off and the house lights are up in the arena and he just walks on stage.

Wo the house lights stay up for the first three songs.

So it's just like a wedding band is there playing for an arena, but it's Bruce and his whole band, And then the lights go down. He does the show and it gets more theatrical at the end. Lights come back up. In the last like six songs of the set. After he's played for what like three hours or something, he's he's, you know, taking requests from the audience, he's bringing people up on stage.

He's just so he's so good with.

His fans and with his people that I, you know, I just like I really admire that.

What's it like to have your songs everywhere?

I think, like, like like I was in the Supermark the other day and Unsteady came on, and I feel like, you're like, it's like it's it's surreal to me to think that, like you're in your house one day, right, it's.

Surreal to me because I never hear it anywhere.

Always just like I hear it everywhere, But it's like, ah, what world do you live in?

Because I don't hear it ever.

Like I have I have small kids, listen to pop radio all day and it's one of the one of those sick songs that like every twenty minutes you hear it again and again, it's wonderful.

It's just it's that's good to hear.

Yeah, that's I mean, it's good to hear you say it's wonderful, because I was about to say.

It's one of those things where it's it's really flattering.

But I'm also always nervous that it gets obnoxious for people. You know, I don't want our songs to become the that annoying song. Oh god, that's on again.

Man, that's the children are annoying.

Yeah, my children are.

And share their angels.

Oh yeah, total, So they just flap around. Yeah, daddy, daddy, that's how I go.

Yeah, young lady, we have in the house right now. I first became familiar with her opening for Jill Scott back twenty fifteen, and I was just like, man, like, she's fucking dope.

I just keep it real simple, dope.

Some of you may have know if you're up on TOI dollar Sign shot him my man, tie dollar Sign, his record, Horses in the Stable off for free TC. She wrote that record.

Yeah we Don't Talk, We Don't Talk about.

Also wrote for Diddy every Day. She was in the movie shytrack which I Want to Talk about I actually saw that one, and I want to talk to her about something that's very important and near and there to my heart.

I want to talk about her. Got him ribs?

That's really what I that's the focus episode.

It's saying, my real game is crazy.

Ladies, gentlemen, give a big question love Supreme riperhtplause.

For y'all's guys.

To the show man, thank you, thank you for taking this time on the show day to do this with us.

Thank you so much.

Thank you for having me.

Okay, so listen, all right, yes.

Okay, So what's your I don't want to give away your you don't give away your your formula, But what do you do? You do you smoke? Are you a what's your what's your what's your preferred mythic charcoal gas? Break it down for the people, Sweet baby Ras, let's let's let's go.

Let's talk about it.

Well, first I gotta get some really nice pork They have to be pork ribs. Of course it's not. It's not saying out. It's like it's cool, but it ain't the same. You know, you got to get the pork ribs, you know, get a nice rack rip season These ribs overnight. Not get a rib rub, you know. You know I get a Lorry's rib rub. You know, I rubbed down. You know, I've massaged it into the rip. It's all about the massaging. You can't just like pour it on it. You gotta massage it in, you know, flip it over, turn it, massage. You gotta get involved. So I'm rubbing the ribs right now, with the with the with the with the the rib rub. Now, I take a little a little nutmeg and a little cinnamon, and I get that in there and I crack that aver. I'm rubbing these things in and now I'm like, all right, baby, I'm gonna put it in the fridge. You know what I'm saying. It's gonna stay in the fridge now. Yeah, Because you know I'm loving this rib. You gotta make sure the drip got lots of love. When I cook, I cooked with love. I don't cook every day, but anybody who knows me knows when I cook I cook with love.

I go all out.

So you know, the rib go in there now minimum of three hours, but I've done it overnight.

Thing.

It depends on how soon I want to eat these ribs. What I'm saying. So I let them sit in there for a couple of hours. Then I come back, put on a big pot of boiling water, and I put nutmeg in that water, cinnamon in that water, a lot of ground pepper. You know what I'm saying. I'm trying to told you like this is like I just the process. It's the it's my one dish hotly.

It's like.

My mac and cheese is hit he men. Sometimes it's dry. Last time I made it, I messed it up, you know what I'm saying. So so I'm not gonna say that I got mad, but this one I got, you know, I got and my salad game is on too. Okay, So let's get back to the So I put them in the water. You know what I'm saying. The ribs are in the water. They're boiling. They're boiling on a nice medium fire. I leave them to do what they do with the water. They're boiling. They got the nutmeg. Everything's happening. I'm gonna smell the aroma in the air. It's like you smell the sweet smell of cinnamon and nutmegs in the air. Now it's like, oh snap. So now you know what I'm saying, after like two hours of boiling them, I think they've already. You know, they gotta be falling off. You gotta see little meat bits, you know, foam at the top. That's when you know you like the foam? Is this, yes, now draining out the foam, draining out of the water. And I'm taking this nice succulent cooked meat already that's all marinated in this greatness, and I'm taking the Sweet Baby Race out now.

Sweet Baby Race, for those of you who may be listening, is one of the top barbecue and black household.

Yes, it comes in several varieties. It has a sweet and spicy, it has like it. It's a lot they're coming for, they do. I wouldn't you want to stick with the sweet and spicy. They coming for Jack Daniels Mass like they coming for their corners. That's that's what they're doing, you know what.

I stick with the original, the original sweet Baby, because you know, that is what I know. And I jazz it up though I don't just pour that on this. See, that's not what we stop. First, sweet Baby rais and I grab a little honey. Then I go grab the nutmeg and cinnamon. Once more we got to I didn't even know that was cust. I try to name the tyrone. That's crusty, baby, I said, I'll see the sticks now, okay, but yeah, so yeah, yeah, we're gonna cook you up crusty.

Yeah.

So you know what I'm saying. Now we done got the Oh shoot, well, crust lay down. Now we don't got the you know what I'm saying, We got the We gotta sprinkle that on. So now I pour the honey on top first, because that's gonna give it the stickiest part. You put that on once and now I'm turning this thing over about three or four times before I'm serving us first and doing this over and over. The first layer is honey, boom. Then I go pour some of cinnamon nut man, because it's gonna stick to the honey. I get my little brush painted on boom, boom, and then I poured sweet baby rays a little bit of a time on top. Then I cout another cook it for fifteen minutes, flip it over, do it again it, flip it, flip it, flip it, flip and flip it until I'm tired of flipping it. I don't really have no until I'm hungry and look good, and I just keep doing it. And by the man, I'm talking about like you got the rib, you got the thick layer of like glaze barbecue, and it's not it's not like all like too much juice. It's just like right on the rip. And then the rib's just falling off. Hey, you know, I gotta do it again. I have a million ribs in a minute.

But yes, ladies and gentlemen, with the award winning and as far as I'm hearing, I'm done.

Just from listening to that recipe.

Oh wait, she singing and she rhyme too.

Yeah, we're gonna get to the We're gonna get to the music. But first ribs important.

I just landed at six am because I just was thinking. I was like, if I would have known it was in my ribs like that, man, I could have hooked that up real quick.

Man, you gotta show I got you show that. Yeah, you got way more important things.

Your first roots picnic performance.

Right, yes, no, no, no, no, no, I've done the Ruse picnic. I did Ruths Picnic in Philly, but it's the first Rust Picnic in New York period. So I'm so glad to be a part of that.

Man.

I listened to your music, and I hear in a fantastic way, not in the the riveted at all. I'm definitely hearing some Lauren. I hear Missy, talk to me about your influences, like what uh, what kind of stuff did you grow up? Listening to you sing and rap like equally as well, which is very rare because like some cats can either do one or the other.

You should know.

Yeah, I mean, you know, I tried every now and again, I get it right, but no, you have raw talent, and so talk to us about just honing that.

Like what you listen to coming up? What was your start?

I really loved music a lot so well. When I was very young, my mom had me singing under a little a little light with her. I was like six, and we used to sing like all kinds of different old school songs because that's what my mother plays. So she had me singing Frankie Liman, you know, yeah, yeah, she she was all about that life. So she had me on the Frankie Liman. She had my sister singing Whitney Houston's the Greatest Love of All I sung Dianna Warwick's that's what friends are food?

Do you have to sing?

Because I think it was the rite of fastage in every black like entertainer singing the Greatest Love of All at a talent show.

Did you have to do that?

No?

You know at the time. See, that's what led me into rap because at the time, my sister could sing that, and I never got the chance because they my mom would be like, oh, you ain't got the chaps for that. You're gonna sing you know what you sing good, You're gonna sing Dion woll And I was like, and I would be like, cool, no disrespect to Leon, She's a legend and amazing. But I was like, this is not that hard. That's what the friends are, you know. I and my sister's getting to go. You know what I'm saying, She's getting all the moments. I'm like, man. So I got into rap after that because I was getting tired of like told to saying this or that, and I was like, man, my sister could sing, Man, I don't need that.

What was your first rap? What was your early hip hop? Shoot?

Like my brother really because like, honestly, in my neighborhood, everybody rapped like that was just the way it was, like we hang out rap and my brothers were older, like my brother's a few years older than me, and his friends were older. But for some reason, we we all wanted up hanging out all the time. Like it was kind of strange, like it was.

Shoot.

I mean, you know, ninety three, oh wow, you know, yeah, so we was rapping, that's what was popping like. So you know, it was interesting though because I was probably about ten, and you know, but I was hanging out. Ever ever was hanging out, and it was just like lots going on. You know, we were like little adults and we were rapping and that body wrap. My brother rapped and everybody. I remember the first time I seen him rap and he was just like I don't know what he was saying, but I remember the word was like get off my ballsack.

And everybody's like.

I was like.

Fishbowl and I was like, yo, that was dope, and I started like, actually I wanted to rap, and he started writing my wraps for me.

My brother.

He wrote me like two or three raps and they were dope and I would spit them and then people were like that sound good, but your brother wrote it and I was like, do.

You remember any of those?

Nah?

Man, I mean I remember my early raps that I began to write, Like I think I don't remember anything he wrote because I was too young. But I quickly got out of that. I just started stealing his raps what I was permission and like rewriting him, like you know what I'm saying, because that's how I was getting my templates. And then I moved to a better neighborhood because it was real violent in that neighborhood. So it was like shooting all the time at robberies and everybody was fighting. I had so many fights, Like by that time, it was crazy.

This is the Bronx.

Yeah, yeah, this is the Bronx. So it was just a crazy time. So my mom was just trying to like get us away from there, so she moved us uptown to the Bronx. But it was a little bit better. These kids weren't as wild as the kids I grew up with earlier, the little adults that when we were with, These were actual children. Their parents really like were in there and like, so when I moved uptown, wasn't nobody really rapping like that? So I kind of like just chilled. I was like twelve, and I was just like trying to focus on like school, but I started writing like songs.

Okay, and these were singing songs now yeah, yeah.

Yeah, because because Montel Jordan came out with this is how We do It. And when it came out, I just got transferred to this new school. So you know, I didn't know anybody really in my class, and I'm sitting there and I remember hearing the song and I just was in this class, and I go, this is all we do. And the thing that everybody loved the best was out of there shine. And everybody in class was like yo, and I was saying every.

Day that was.

So after a while, I was just like I became that musical person. Everybody's like, yo, you funny musical. So they just called me Biggie.

They yeah, man, why Biggie?

Because I would rapping class and sing. And it got to a point like after the start of singing, I start being popular, you know. So I started loosening up. Just not the lunch when you come to lunch with we see me, like you know what I'm saying. We're all telling Everybody's like, oh oh, like Biggie Biggie and it was just like it was like and I was and you know what, honestly, I was young. I was in an awkward stage. My hair was really weird and like I was kind of fat. Yeah, I was like, I'm chummy, said yeah, okay, so I sounded like biggie.

I don't know.

So I was reading you know you have you know, been working out and you dropped more than forty pounds.

I dropped seventy five pounds.

O pounds.

Yeah, you are like.

Tweeting talking about my life right now because that is my struggle because like I won't lose seventy five.

Pounds, but I love real talk talk talk us through.

This is a very good question that process, like how do you negotiate Well, first of all, congratulations on amazing, thank you, And how does that, you know, being in better shape working out, how do you work that into your creative time?

Like recording does it do your creative time? Like how does that?

Oh my wake gir out every morning. Every morning I wake up and I go to the gym. It's just at this point it's part of my life. I mean, I think what happens is this. You know, when you were young, you can eat whatever you want and it doesn't affect you. You can drop pounds really easy and it doesn't affect you. So as you get into your twenties, you begin to you still think this way, and it's not really necessarily that way all the time. You absolutely slows down. And I had gotten into a relationship and my partner can cook, and she was just like she was cooking and cooking. It was like she's putting sugar in my water. I was getting so fat. I blew up.

I blew up.

No, it was like she pushed a lot. It's like it's like I blew. I blew up like a tech, you know what I'm saying. I was so fat. I got to two hundred and forty pounds, you feel me. And and before that I wasn't really that big. I went through phases like blow up. I was at skinny, awkward fat stage at twelve. Then at sixteen I got hot. I thought I was a shit, you know what I'm saying. I stayed this shit until like twenty four, and then I got a relationship, got chubby again, and I just kind of went back. I got the mortgage business. When I was there, I kind of got fat. But what what ultimately led It was just just coming to an understanding that a I wanted to be able to perform, and that was the main thing, Like I really love to perform, and I wanted to be able to move, and I wanted to feel good, and I wanted to fit clothes. I wanted to fit jeans. I wanted to fit designer jeans. That was really the main thing. I was like, I have to they don't. No, they don't make if anyway us. No, you know, like you would think that you know, I could fit a man's pants.

No.

Yeah, yeah, they just like they don't make them. So I was like, you know what, I want to be able to perform, I want to look great. I want to buy clothes. I wasn't buying clothes. I was just like buying T shirts and stuff. And I wanted to just feel good. And it's the best antidepressant that there is, you know, like they're just working when you know you feel good and you're healthy, like nothing can get you down. You don't even have the money, but you feel good about yourself. It was just a dedication and what the first thing you have to realize when it comes to losing weight is that it's a lifestyle change, but it's only like hard for a period of time. So like it took me six months to lose forty pounds to look good enough to be like, damn, I'm there to keep me going right. And from that point on, I was no longer to struggle to even go to the gym because I felt I seen the results. I want to see more.

Seeing those results, was that how you got over the to keep it or to make it a more permanent part of you.

No, it was permanent. From the moment I decided to do it, I was like, that's it. I'm going on a diet. I went on a diet intense, died of four ounces, meet four ounces vegetables three times a day, broth and freaking two crackers a gallon of water. And that's what I had to do. And I was hungry, and I had to sit behind home sometimes a lot of the time and not drink. And I went to the gym three times a day, and I went to hiking at the same under saying very.

Strong will like to be Yeah, you ain't doing anything.

If you want to, if you really think about it, you only had I only had to do that for like six months to a year, and then now it's like I told through I would go based out on the milk I gained. I gave twenty pounds in the left. You know what I'm saying. But when I twenty pound I come home, I gonna skin like, damn, you messed up. Come on, all right, now it's salad. It's a salad. It's easier to go back. So it's just like it's like it's like a small period of time for you to change your whole entire life. But once you do it for one year, six months, one year, you're done, Like with the hardest part, you know how to do it. You're done, and you know what's healthy. You even like it honestly because you start to like, you like feeling like, all right, I'm not eating nothing too heavy.

I can't even make it this week. Let's look, I'm sitting down, man, I'm wearing back gym visit.

You know what I'm saying. Three gym visits a week from being what you want. It's not about food for you really, because you're small. It's just like when you're bigger, you're trying to lose weight. So it's like kind of a little bit more of a struggle and what you know what, that's what they say. But you know what, as a woman, I will tell you it is not it's not talk.

Wait a minute, come on. They say that men shed weight much faster.

They do shed weight faster with less. We just have to do the max and we'll shed the same. So basically like because they can because they got more tustostone and the muscle some of the things, that it will go to the right places. We have water and it just goes to the wrong places. So that just means that we don't cheat and we it will succeed. It's just you can't cheat. Men can cheat a little bit.

I don't think the water can go to a wrong place anywhere. On a woman, I like some problem with none of that.

I don't mind.

You know, if you got the tiger stripes, got a little hell damage, you know, a.

Couple of stretch mosses or whatever. You know, it's like, no one's perfect, and honestly, there's not the wrong stretch masses like whatever. But it's just more about how you feel. And really, honestly, you only get one body, and the older you get the more you need that body to work the way you want it to. And if you don't work it out and you don't take care of it now, it will affect you at some points. So it's either an hour or later. The harder it gets is the older you get, it harder it gets. So anytime, the time is.

Now, as this conversation is so right on time, because I've been trying to get my ass back into them, and like I just kind of needed that push.

I think.

We just hard.

Es.

I know we should do a quest Team Supreme Fit Challenge, like, so, well, see if we do this, then I actually have to follow through. We got to hold each other count.

Think about it. You lose three pounds a week on a good diet, like literally drinking a gallon of water a day, eating three four ounces of chicken, four ounces of vegetable or lean meat and vegetable three times a day. And when you get hungry sometimes it's not hungry, you're thirsty. Body process is the same, And if you honestly drink a fucking bottle of water before you eat your meal, you'll be so full by the time you're like, you just gotta eat slow. It's like all mental, bro, your stomach does not. You don't need that much to survive. You don't, and it's just healthy for you.

It is.

It is good for you, and honestly it takes you can if you want to lose twenty pounds right three nine twelve. You know what I say?

Yeah, y'all doing really I was.

Just this in two months.

But you feel what I'm saying, like, are you really really look at it? Like boom boom boom. I swear you're just it is just changing.

We're sitting here with Tish. Yeah, what I'm saying.

Tish itrible rapper, singer, rib Cooker, extraordinary motivational speaker. She is like doing all kinds of ministry right now. This is prest Love Supreme Opendor with broadcasting live from the roots. Picnic Uh, I wan't talk about your newest project dedication dedicated to?

Yes, who is this project dedicated to?

Dedicated to? Is dedicated to anyone who's ever felt like, because of where they're from or their circumstances, that they could not do more or they were in a bad place. And I'm also dedicated to letting these people and everyone know that no matter what it is, you want to do with your life.

You can do it.

You just have to be dedicated to and you know, it's just a lot about the story. For me, the story just is is inspirational because I've been through so many things and I've still managed to be happy and be a nice person and continue to do what I love. So I hope that inspires people.

What are some of the things that you've been through that you felt woof?

I mean, you know, well, first I was in a foster home when I was a kid for a few years and that sucked very badly. Lots of incidents in there, you know, lost a lot of friends to just different depths of violence, uh, drug abuse, accidents, jail, uh, my cousin got killed, and just lots of stuff happens in life. I'm sure everybody has their own hardships, but sometimes when these things happen to you, you feel like you're defeated and you think that it's over, but it's really not. So my whole point is like, one bad day doesn't make a bad month, one bad month doesn't make a bad life. It's just like to stay happy and stay dedicated to being happy because it's free, honestly, and Uh, it's it's the one thing that really can't no one take away from you, so you can give that to yourself.

Do you ever feel, uh sometimes like being a person that like made it out of that, you know, that situation that neyti me. Do you ever sometimes feel like you know survivor's guild or do you feel like the one that made Like? What is cause I have those feelings, you know for me sometimes, But what is that like for you to know that you're one of the few, if not the only, you need to escape that hardship?

Well, it is definitely difficult though, and I definitely ha have felt that feeling. I guess more in the beginning of coming into any successes. When I was in the mortgage business and I was making money and and I was helping everybody, it still had it. It came with its feeling of damn, I wish that they were just good without me. Or and I moved to California and I've been there for five years, you know, getting the news from home that's not always feel pleasant. Yeah, but you know, ultimately everyone's life is in their hands. I have to come to terms of that. And also I'm not giving anything. I'm working so hard to achieve the things that I want and I always have, and I think that that's the only thing that can get a person where they want to be. So ultimately, no, I feel like when I get these people that have things going on, or I feel these feelings, or people make me feel this way, I make them feel like, well, I can help you do something. But if you're not willing to do something, and then this is on you exactly, you know, and it's not, it's not, it's it's never. It's nothing to do with me.

When you say you're working so hard, what is your average day like, what does in terms of your creative processes, it's something you do every day.

What is just a day in the life of tissue?

Well, they very surry. It's been, it's been through cycles. So when I first got to LA, every day I was in studio sessions about three or four day I was recording no me and time met I hop Oh random, you know, me and Jill Scott mad at a party, you know, just hanging out by the pool freestyling for ten hours, So just random stuff. LA is very small, the in the street. But when I first got there, I didn't know anyone. I wasn't published. I needed to make money or figure something out. So I just went to as many sessions as I could. I worked so much I would sometimes not even be able to speak, but I could sing, and I would just go record. So that was the first two years, and then the third year I spent recording this album, and days were like, uh, those days were actu. Actually I was going through a lot of financial strain and I was trying to put together the record. I was still very overweight, and I was not I wasn't managed, and I was just trying to figure it out. I did three or four records every three or four months. Wow, you know, So it was interesting that period. And in twenty fourteen, I spent touring a bit and like performing much more and started spreading awareness about the album, you know, and it's just been kind of like it just changes. But right now, my daily day consists of I wake up in the morning, I go to the gym first thing. As soon as I wake up, I go to gym, spend about an hour there, come home and walk the dogs, and you know, just start working on the phones, you know, finding out what I have to do for the day. Right now I'm recording a new album, so I'm doing a lot of that and then bouncing around to performances.

When you record, are you record yourself? Do you have engineers?

Yeah, I have enginet. I record at Universal Studios, my publisher, and they are very supportive. They're the best publisher in the world. I think they've been great to me and they have always been behind me. So I used their studio and I have an engineer, and I have my producer friends kind of just all hang out power on the studio and I usually have ideas that I have already before I come to the studio, okay, so that we can kind of work on. And this album is just so awesome because I got dedicated to out the way. Dedicated to is the autobiography. Basically, this album is more about like what I'm doing in la or like or like love. It's gonna be much more sexual. There's a lot more going on on the second album, so I'm very excited about it.

To Yeah, good to hear.

I wanted to tell people the beginning. I feel like, uh, people skip steps and I don't wanna skip any So although I I was dedicated to is about how I felt from birth to maybe like in you know, early twenties. Now I'm in a whole nother place mentally, but I felt the need to make people sure people understood, like, Yo, this did not calm without God.

This.

Yeah, you know what I'm saying.

It's so good to hear you say that.

I have a son, My youngest w oldest son is fifteen, and he wants to do music, and I have to explain to him that I think for kids coming up now on social media, pretty much all they're seeing is like a highlight reel, and it's trying to get them to understand that, like you're seeing a very carefully curated selection of shots from a person's life. So you'll see you know, Rick Ross, Drake, whoever on the jet, but you don't see what it took for them to get that jet, you know what I mean.

So for you to hear you say that, you take people through the whole journey and not just.

Yeah and still building. There's a lot of glamorizing that happens outside of the industry. How I try not to. It's not like I'm trying to deglamorize it, but I try to be a little bit more real realistic about it because I don't want to. I don't like that all kids want to be artists and all kids want to be basketball players and all. Because when I was a kid, you know, there was various fucking professions people said about. I'm gonna be a doctor, I mean, a lawyer, a fucking secretary, I mean fucking president. You know what I'm saying. Now it's like, I'm be a rapper. I'm be a trapper. I'm gonna be a rapper. It's like and it's ridiculous, and it's like, so for me, I try to tell them, like, look, before you get all those tattoos on your face and think that you're just gonna come in here rap about nothing and you're gonna make it, Yeah, you might want to think about it because there's not any money and unless you're trying to like really like these rappers, I'm not how they getting these changes. I guess they're getting them for freak. I don't know. But there's no freaking real money right now unless you really, really really are doing something. Now, there's a few that they pop up, and you know, you get your time, But if you're spending all your money foolishly then you're you're getta be right back. And now and nowadays, with the drugs being so heavily promoted in music, that's a big campaign. I'm running now on my on my Instagram and social networks. I'm fighting lean. I hate Lean. I think it's I know it's synthetic heroin, and I know that it's being marketed in our communities and to our children via rap music. And I know it's no different that when crack was put on our corners in the eighties.

No different whatsoever.

Yeah, and it's so much worse than the eighties because at least in the eighties, no one knew. I mean, I guess it's the scene, but I guess crack was just so fucked By the nineties, you're like, don't do crack. It's like so obvious. But now it's like lead.

Yeah, it was different, Like I think in the eighties and in nineties rap we celebrated the drug dealer, which I mean had its own set of dysfunctions. Anyway, that's probably as well. We celebrate the drug dealer, but now we celebrate the drug user. And I'm like, how the fuck did we get here?

I mean, even then in the eighties if you really think about it, like the biggies and the drug rappers, right they said in retrospective points points of view, like I used to sell this, now I'm doing that, and now I used to do it the eve motherfucker's like I'm shooting niggas to day.

Right now, right now, y'all gotta break down because I'm a.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, horrible Okay, we.

Gonn break that Lean.

Okay for some people who made are culturally unaware listeners.

Look, it's like it's horrible, okay.

Lean its sizeling is a synthetic, fucking uhod substance.

It's like spam.

I'm glad somebody knew what ciceling was. I was like, is that Jamaican for sizzling?

No, No, that's okay. So Lean is a substance. It is like coding mixed was promotouzine. It's promotzine and people will miss it.

Mix it with so like this future. Yeah no, I know, I listen.

It's in the music and promoting it to children that are fourteen and fifteen. Let's just be clear. It's fucking heroin. They put it in a soda with some candy and they stir it up. They look like damn assholes, and they make people think that that's cool. It's horrible. It's fucking horrible.

Shout out whocame his exactly. Oh he dropped the gut. He is like vegetables and now, and you know what he is.

That's his past right in front of him. That's his past right in front of him. I fucking love Gucci Man because you know what, I didn't even listen to his music. I only knew when Gucci Man's song was a very freaky girl.

You know, scuse me.

I always was missed on a lot of that era. So you know when I seen Gucci Man come out of jail and like, just be this amazing example of what not wanting to be in prison can do to you, because I'm not gonna say what prison can do to you. It's not wanting to be in prison that does this to you. It's like, oh, ship, I don't want to be here, and like I'm like, thank you, and I just hope and pray that he will make music that reflects his new behavior and his new train of thought, which I think he will. And not only that, but he's also a very respective man in the business and in the street. And I hope that this will bring some light to the shit, because this shit is killing these kids. Man, they fucked up. They walking around here looking like the zombies. And I've seen it. I've seen it too many times. I'm tired.

We're broadcasting live today from the Roots Picnic in New York City.

It's going down. I joined by three young men today. These brothers, Uh, their sound to me, it like belies their age. I listened to it, and they sound extremely polished, you know what I'm saying for their ages, way more polished than I was at fucking eighteen. My demo's eighteen didn't sound shit like what they were. My shit was actually really fucking bad. But uh, you guys are adult. Dylan Martin and Jaden, ladies, gentlemen, give a big quest love supreme round of applause.

For the smashing hearts. Yeah, yeah, how y'all brother's feeling the day?

Man? Yeah?

Alright?

So is it so?

Have y'all? Have they performed performed yet? Yeah?

We just got off stage.

How did it go? How was it? It's crazy, like like the.

Vibe of the crowd and everything like that was awesome and especially playing like for the first time at.

The Roots Festival in New York. What was that so on on stage? What's the set up? Who does what?

Since I I was played keys and I sing and I playing guitar and you have organ up on stage?

Yeah, I had an organ today. That was the B three, said the.

Good old him B three.

What the preachers ring out and it's time to take collection, you know, it's time to get that money to the B three.

Okay, that's what's up.

Okay, So I think it's you Dylan, Yeah, uh that I can clearly see.

The son of Dwayne Wiggins.

Yeah, it's both many brothers. Okay, away, I want to talk about you guys a sound.

Listen to the EP.

I was pulling it up, like I said, I mean, just stuff that sounds really really polished, and it sounds very very focused.

Then it just has a lot of I don't know, it's just a lot of maturity way beyond you guys's ages.

You know.

It just sounds very very you know, on point, and just way more focused than I was at eighteen. Uh, tell me that, you know, being that you know your father was who is for those for the listeners.

Uh.

Their father, Uh, Dylan and Jayden's father.

Uh is Dwayne Wiggins from Tony Tony Tony, an incredible H R and B soul group from Oakland.

You know what I'm saying. Okay, I'm thinking Oakland Stroke is it?

Yeah?

I don't want to up demohamma right Domenhamma.

Yeah?

And that's right.

So big ups, the big ups to them. So being uh, did you guys growing up like, what was that like? Was being around the music?

Like?

What did that play in influence? Yeah?

Definitely, of course, you know, where you grow up and how you grow up definitely plays an influence of what you're gonna do. So the fact that our dad and his dad before that was in the music played guitar bluesh player was obviously you know we're gonna We're gonna be musicians no matter what.

Wow.

Yeah, I mean not like forcing, but it's just like it just came to us naturally. It's what we wanted to do.

So when did you guys start playing what?

They just I don't remember not playing.

Yeah, and then we started getting lessons probably when we're like seven five.

Dwayne Wig is your father rail your uncle? Were they harder on y'all.

Honestly, I didn't even really know that there was a Tony Tony Tony until like maybe around fifteen fourteen. I went to a public school and everybody.

Was like, do you know where your dad is?

You know your I was like, yeah, I think so.

But that's I mean, but that's interesting though, I you know, I was like, I said, I have a son name name Dylan, and it's it's very similar. You know your your kids, don't I mean, because you know, growing up it's just dad, Like you don't really know. I think it was the same thing my kids were younger, and it was just Okay, Daddy's going somewhere and he comes.

Back with money for food and that's just the extent of it. But you know what I'm saying.

But then as you get older and people see it, it's like, oh, ship your dad is, it's on so and so. Were initially were they supportive of you guys like going into music?

Definitely?

Yeah.

I wanted to be a basketball player though at first, Oh yeah, they were supporting me doing that too, like coming to all the games and like we go out to the state to do games and ship.

This what's up? You guys ages. Jayden, I'm eighteen.

Eighteen as well, Martin, I'm twenty.

Oh wow, okay, eighteen eighteen and twenty, Dylan twenty.

What am I doing with.

Y'all making me questions about right now?

So?

Oh my god, aged eighteen and twenty.

And for what I understand you, Dylan, I have already your like the musical advisor or the for Insecure, I wish I.

Was the advisor, but okay, I'm the scoring assistant, so like coming up with the scores behind certain scenes and like change an emotion with the score.

That's what I do. And that is for for for the listeners.

That is for HBO's news show Insecure, featuring Easter ray of Awkward Black Girl fame from the Internet. She has a new show entitled Insecure that is out now, and he what was the exact title?

The scoring that's what it's labeled as.

I don't even know. Yeah, that whole process is pretty easy, like because you you know how much work goes into it, and then when it comes on the screen, it just looks like so effortless, like even though a lot of things were like timed up and like we versed out and all this kind of stuff. So that's dope to see that happen. And then we got a song in there too. We have a song called Girls that we haven't released that's gonna be on the show. So it's not in the first it's not in the first episode. It's gonna be in the season though.

Oh okay, it's in the season. Yeah, okay, got you, got you, got you. That's it's really dope.

Man.

So being that y'all have accomplished more in eighteen years and most people have.

What we're looking at you, Bill, I've accomplished some ship that the situation, No, it was it helps from him. That was you have the G, the E, the T, the films.

It's hard and.

Hard.

It looks like you're like you said, like that ship comes easy.

That's just not easy.

It's very mathematical and very precise and and time.

But he could do it.

He has How much time do you guys spend on an episode? Would you say a week? A week?

Yeah, But there's a lot of changes that go into it, right, like little changes, and so then if they want to change one thing, we gotta rush back to the studio change.

It before the day.

Wow, before the day. Wow.

Yeah, man, so I guess. So my question where do you go from here? Like, what do you guys see yourselves on the next cause, I mean, honestly, what you're doing now is generally thought of, I mean, just working the music.

That's goals, and that's like kind of like.

The form and grill of most musicians, Like they hope to get to the point where you're doing now.

So what is the next step for you? Guys?

We're gonna keep taking it day by day. It's like, cause everything we've done so far we haven't really planned out. It's just like we've been following what we wanna do and it just happened. So we just gonna keep following that and see what happens.

Has has your dad is he giving you any advice in terms of okay, so let me tell you what not to do?

Like what what has that been?

Sometimes?

Yeah, they're like my Ray, I mean my dad and Uncle Ray are both like they give their opinions a lot and they have no no filter, no.

Sounds sloppy.

So what they I mean, as much as you get shipped, you know, without like what what what's some of the Uncle Ray and and Pops.

Well, Ray called Martin the weakest link of our band.

You could say, a bunch of ships.

Said the whole time.

I had to call him out.

He said that on the first week, like when we started rehearsing at his studio, and then now he's like, Martin tearing that ship up.

The baby was just trying to lot to fire. That's what it was.

That's what he said. He was like, watch him come back.

But but Martin, you're the drummer, right, so like do you what are you? Who are some of your drummer influences? I mean, you don't have to say that.

That's what I don't know.

Everybody was ask that.

Just listen to so many people.

It's kind of hard like everybody from like are blaky like back in the day to like Thomas Pridging.

You feel me like like a lot of people.

That's dope, man, that's dope. Nope, you passed that test.

Love, don't worry.

He won't he won't be mad. He won't be mad at all. Well, brothers, thank you so much for coming by, Thank you for your time.

I know these things.

Doing this on a show day is like not the most fun thing to do, but you know, I'm in I'm into your music, and please just stay keep doing what you're doing, man, keep doing what you're doing. Being blessed to have people in your corner that like kind of can guide you and hopefully can keep you from making a lot of mistakes that a lot of young artists make. And keep working, keep refinding your sound. And you guys are talented.

Man. Thank you really appreciate that. Hey, what's up? You always question Love?

Uh?

And you're listening to a special roots picnic addition of the Question Love Supreme Show. We're an hour number two of the show, and I just wanted to jump in there because I wanted to make sure you guys really understood how important these two dudes coming up next are to the world of hip hop. Stretching Barbido Stretch Armstrong Babido Garcia. They hosted a radio show in New York in the nineties that fundamentally changed hip hop in our lives forever. What they would do is feature exclusive demo tapes and in studio freestyles for many unsign hip hop artists and gave them a chance to be discovered. Look, I know what you're thinking. Unsign hip hop artists are on a radio show. Big deal, but you know it was a big deal and there was a turning point for many artists. Here's the short list of some of the acts that were featured on the show before anyone knew who their names were, Nas Big Pun, jay Z, Busta, Rohms, Fat Joe, Cameron, dmx Wu Tang Clan, the Fujis, Teleib Kwali, Big l, Notorious, Big Stretching, Barbido. Really really changed the game forever with the radio show, and it really had a huge impact on the roots and they were important to me and any kid that loved hip hop. Uh So, I really wanted to make sure anyone listening knew how important these dudes were to hip hop. Oh and their documentary is really, really, really amazing. Check it out. Now back to the show.

We're gathered here today with two luminaries, special luminaris, gentlemen.

But question, I'm like, I'm like Charlie Brown, I'm not even the star of my own Christmas.

Special, the man of a million one jobs. He was able to step away from the drum kit and come in.

And so it's always because our special guest are here without without without without these two literally I don't know. I mean there, I don't know if they are the Padlof's Bell of hip hop or not.

But that's a new one.

I'm just saying, like, you know, way back in even back before we got signed, I remember one of the first like the most exciting international things that ever happened to the Square Roots, back when we were still busking on South Street, was the fact that we got invited to play an event for Barbido, who I guess you just recently left his def Jam post your job at Jeff Jam and you were just about to start the show up at Columbia, and so that was like a big deal, like super big deal. Anyway, I think, did I just take over this introduction? Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome to the show stretch and Bob Yeah, wait as we need it, you got it. You make it official.

Thank you.

I just want to I just want to start off by saying that it is one of my life goals. It's one of my life goals to be as happy one day in my life, to be as happy as Babido.

Was doing the ad libs at the end and at the.

End of.

Really Puss and I get and I get lost man.

We recorded that in my credit h M F.

Doom brought his sampler, and you know, there was a lot of producers at the time who used to come by stress the same thing. We you know, we both have a ton of stories of cats coming to our credit Ball Records. But dude was like, y'all, I'm going to Ball Record and I'm gonna bring my sampler and and you know, he recorded. He looped it up there and he brought the mic and he was like, yo, just say some stuff at the at the end, I was like, all right, Wow, I was thinking about you know that death jam song from eighty five Russell Rush.

Y yeah, cold rock stuff.

Yeah, yeah, I was thinking about that too when I was like doing my little.

Cold rock stuff Russell Rush, Did y'all do that whole record in your at your crib?

No?

No, no, no, just that just the rhymes like down man, y'all.

Want to talk about particularly Fondalum Records, which was one of the most uniquely named.

Yes, I still it was a subsidiary of Squeeze Him.

Fondalum Records.

Yeah, much like what a mirror I was saying, and what you guys did for his band uh, well, my first group, Little Brother.

I remember when ab B Bennie B.

I remember him telling us that y'all were playing our.

Stuff, and I was like, holy ship, that was we had a ride to us like stretching Bobles playing.

That's like that was little. Did you know?

Man?

What was your arrival back then? Was nearly a memory?

Let me let me backtrack a little bit, just to revise quest Love's history. So the relationship between the Roots and Me and Stretches radio show actually dates back to a cat I don't remember his name right now, but he had a hip hop.

Show, Aj aj sh That was my former managers, yeah, on Drexel.

Yeah, aj was the Stretching Babido of Philadelphia, and I used.

To send them records and so from eighty nine to ninety three, I was promotions rep at Deaf Jam. So he sent me Organics CD when it was pre released and brought it up to the show. Me and Stretch played that this is like probably I guess ninety three, yeah, ninety three. And then so we had started on the radioho in nineteen ninety had been given love to plenty Philly artists that was like nothing brand new.

I mean three times dough. Yeah, I mean all all all them.

But but then I was I was also hosting unsigned art the showcases at the New Yorkan Poets Cafe. Prior to that, I was doing them at the Village Gate. It was a jazz meats hip hop showcase called Bebop, which eventually became All That, and the Roots played that pre to Geffen signing. So there's a lot of organic, you know, messing of the two stretching Bob and the Roots from early early on and then you know, as it goes on and black Dog comes up solo, I.

Was, I was going to add that that actual show, even though I physically wasn't there because Roselle was beatboxing. I was, I was stuck on a gospel tour, but it was it wasn't like you know, Ralph the Box of God just named Lelo Thomas. No, it wasn't that type of gospel tour like uh uh. Our bass player at Hub had a friend who did gospel music that basically toured churches like we toured nightclubs. So I just happened to you know, it was like extra money, which it's one of five hundred bucks for like two weeks of work, so I wasn't there, so Rozelle they got Rozelle to beat box the drums instead. And so I was in Oberland, Kansas and in the cornfields and listening to them on long distance like like so you're on the phone, I'm on the phone, and uh one of my managers, Richard, was on a pay phone playing playing the and and then and they were playing I know the roots were live, like oh, this was live on the show and you. But it was that show that the an r that eventually he signed us to Geffen Well, Wendy Well, Derek Jackson, and uh the late friend France. She just passed away, Franny. Uh, it's escaping me right now.

Not the heart.

Yes, she's still in my min Spira, thank you for saying that. I don't know why the head not the art, I mean thinking of Francesca spirit. But yeah, Francesco Spira passed away, like uh like they used to work brush, Yeah, yeah, she passed away like like three months ago.

Yeah, we used to work together when I was Yeah, but.

Her and Derek Jackson. Because I always I always have a tendency to kill the mood.

I was like a mere announce another death a total hashtags.

It's thanks for coming. I'm doing so well. Sorry, we're gonna read it anyway. It was it was that show that that stretching up.

Although coincidentally, coincidentally, that show was broadcast from a church really Wow, for when they were redoing the station we were wk.

C R was in Riverside church.

Matter. Yeah, so I was I was going to say that. I think that the first time that we came there, So that was a church I was coming to the whole time.

It was the old w r v R jazz station that we that we lived in for like just two years. Wow bugged out a little little side fact.

Talk about taboos sacrilegious on a weekly basis.

Guaranteed if they knew, if if if the cloth knew what was going on in their building, I don't think we would have lasted.

Wait this, this is what I would always want to know from you guys. How often would you guys, because I never saw muscle at your at your radio station, Like when I would go to death Jam, there was always muscle. There's always a big security guy and and plexiglass, and you know that's but how often would you guys have to say the word no to certain people.

And luckily, because I was, I was DJing for four hours though we didn't have commercial breaks nothing, I was, I was DJing the show.

So this guy, damn Freddy Fox, I don't hear the phone ring? How does that work? No?

I mean, you know, the muscle was the brilliance of our show. So luckily, like n of the cats in the world like so much respect for us and didn't want to cross us, you know. But there was definitely some incidences of defacing property at the station when when I was at the door and were like, yo, I'm sorry, I can't let all thirty of you in the studio because we don't know you and we've never.

Heard of you.

And we had quality control about who will get on the mic, so you know, everyone wants to be on because they knew that death could be the step to get and signed or to getting you know, if you're assigned to step to get in love and recond sales and all that.

But one time it's a group on step Son Bill Stephanie's label.

And they had like teers no, it was like no that soul but oh.

They had stop it. No trouble man. One time they came to Philly to a j shin showed like fifty deep, like five van loads deep, and I was like, how does per diem work in that situation? So yeah, like who had the biggest crew that would show up? Well?

Actually, so little little background history for those who have seen Me and Stretches documentary title Stretch the by Beat the Radio to Change Lives. There's a moment in the film where we're discussing the Wou Tang moment, the wolf Tang incident where they showed up thirty deep.

To I never knew she worked there. She worked there, I knew as the vibe better there that did not like the roots.

You got to see the movie.

I've seen the movie. It's not even so so stop stop stop it. I got over it. I saw the movie. But I'm a little salty that you know.

See.

The thing was me and tu Rika held to show up such a high honor that we thought that everybody that came on that show freestyle their ass off. We didn't know they were doing deep cuts the album, so our standard was like, yo, we have to be as good as so that's why would just train himself like a boxer freestyle and so to find out that it wasn't that that it wasn't there.

No, I just you know, that's what you had to get over to see.

For some reason, the communication was down. We you know, I'm in like every music documentary. Yeah, and for the stretching.

And you you were invited. We can we can show proof.

Yeah, I know, I know.

Why didn't you Why didn't you make I gave Zarah a week off. Blame it on the assistant.

That's why she's not in here right now.

She ran out. Anyway, My point was that, yeah, I didn't know that Meme Valdez actually worked.

Out uh uh sistation.

So anyway, So so going back, there's a little trick in filmmaking that. So there's a lot of moments in our film where we had no video footage of, including the Wu Tang moment. So we actually used footage of the Trouble Neck brothers walking through.

The entrance as the b roll.

And cut that with with.

Footage of the artifacts showing up to the station door and the b rope because you could just see silhouettes of people.

It's the same thing.

But Trouble Mike get to get to vote for for biggest crew.

Yes, I can tested that they were large building surrounded. I think they're still trying to do you out.

That brothers and artifacts in the tank scene, I didn't yet cheating.

I knew.

I knew was artifacts.

I see you walking in can I interviewer question? Okay, who was the artist that came to see y'all? Who you You appreciate their presence, you respected them, But the interview process was kind of like.

Ah, it's watch be rock him?

No, are you going to answer that? Really?

You want to know?

I'm just surprised that you would so, mister Positive, you know, well.

No, I mean the thing is that we didn't really interview.

I mean, who was not four loquacious?

Like you know, I'm saying, who is disappointed?

We didn't do interviews? So we artists came up to our show.

We had kind of like a high standard for people ramen, so when MCS arrived, they knew that they were there for one reason. If we wound up talking, snapping whatever, that was great on top of that, but the main thing was like, okay, yo, the mic is open. You know, kick your verse and and and stretch, would you know be doing the beats and everything.

So there's nobody that we really were excited about. Let us down.

Really, I mean there were you know, there were people that surprised. Can't even remember you have a doctor Dre story, Doctor j did he was there. Yeah, he can't keep him up.

That was that was lackluster when he didn't really this is probably ninety five right, it was.

So he can't kill us.

Steve Rifkin brought him up, right, and you know, Drey even then was larger than life, right, and the post n W a chronic like that Doctor Dre and he didn't really know what he was doing there. Somehow Steve, I guess, convinced him to come up and he kind of was just looking around like what is this did I don't think he really knew. I don't think he you know, he just he always you know, just he just circumvented the underground. You know, he didn't really he really did, and he was he was kind of stuff.

Yeah, he didn't. He didn't really joke around with us.

It's like when D'Angelo showed up to our show. No seriously, he said he said three words and went out for a cigarette break and then lost bet. Yeah, so episode one I promised them two thousand dollars if I could get D'Angel, very reclusive, extremely late all the time to show up to the show. And yeah, yeah, and the Angel just accidentally just came in the shat down for a bit, technically said three words, it's more R and B.

He was like, here the headphone and.

Those are the three words he said, it's more R and B. He said smoke and his sister in family matters hashtag a band the room.

And never came back. That was it. Yeah, so grand, Yeah, yeah, no, no money for you.

Steve Rifkin also brought up Quincy Jones, who, by the way, completely.

Got what was going on and was and sat with us for an hour.

I was about to say, did he always like what?

What?

What? Was he loquacious? Did he talk a lot?

Yeah?

Yeah, he was great. He had attitude. People were trying to snap on him on the phone and he was telling people to sit down.

He handled it to sit down, be a phone. You know what this reminds me? I think the night the night I mastered Iladulf half Life? Did you not have back on the show once? Nor was it either? Did Mike de called the show and y'all either spoke about that, Like I turned on the radio was like five in the morning.

Mike never called when when I was there, I don't recall that.

It was Maybe m c A because m c A used to hang out at that may have happened. M used to hang out on our crib. But also the b c's sampled our show.

Yeh yeah, yeah, yeah, that's my ship. I'm sorry. So that was you that that beatboxing?

You tell him?

What was what song was that off the BCS? It was before on Hello Nasty uh on Bill, that's what you're here for. This is more fun that you.

Right now album Now I have to yeah, it was.

Hello, Hello the Beastie Boys. Guy? Is that what I'm here?

I'm happy. I'm happy to think you are because because I get that and I'm not house.

Paying in b people with knowledge. Oh wow, Stereo, you're here for Richard Field and you're here for t.

Yo Fonte and quest Love. I want to flip this around. I want to ask y'all a question because this happens to me and Stretch. This happens to me and Stretch all the time for twenty five years, and it happens between me Legs and Tony Touch as well all the time. And I don't think I look anything like Stretch, and me and Legs don't look nothing alike except that we both bought Igua. But Yo, does it happen to you where people be like Yo, ninth wonder like Yo, the other day I'm in Harlem and this kid recognized Yo. I listen to radio show, Yo, be I just I just saw the film on showtime. Yo, It's crazy your word up Beat gave me a pound of hug with my son, Like, YO, good look at Beat.

He's like, all right, Stretch. Later, I'm like in Hall and come on, got white Downtown, you know uptown Stretch, Stretch has Caroline, Stretch.

Has the more exciting name, like you see Stretch of Arms songs in that sort of DC Comics front or that Marvel front. Maybe that just occasionally, yeah, because people occasionally will say your black thought black Stretches is beadle like, because people naturally think that I'm the leader of the reach, not the guy in the background. So but last week with nine at the opening.

Of the Museum National American History and Culture, that's what you're here for.

The National Museum.

Excuse me the National Museum of African American and History and Culture.

Say that one more time.

African American.

Was that that would be about.

Yo. You know this is like say, can you can you do that quick?

Quicker and quicker?

Pretend it's pass over?

Can we turn the air on it?

It's some hot Wow. I've never I've never gotten knife before. I've never got got big knife.

Got most like gets most night was chilling with me, and some people just naturally thought it was like, what's not the most death here he.

Is, He's very angry and Knife looks like also he gets uh. Well, we would joke on him God David from Beach Street, he looks like double k.

That's too obscure reference.

That was like.

Making the beach in the balance. What's the big deal about me?

Real?

Yeah?

He's Wait, who in this lifetime would be that deep for you to know that that reference?

You have to know your hip hop? Yeah yeah, I mean that was like inside me. We would joke him about that ship. But I gotten knife.

I've never gotten I've never getten knife, I've got big pool, I've got said entertainer before, I've gotten sid entertainer.

When you do, I got said entertained. And my latest and greatest uh misnomer is Wendell Pierce that.

Don't say that you are You're I mean not sexy, but you got.

That boom, you know, make it work for Craig Robinson once told me and showed me proof of the joys of him being quest loved whenever he goes like Canada. So I can say on record that Craig Robinson has enjoy being quest love more than.

I ever had.

That is a different thro It's just a little bit more Harvey.

It's like all looks same dot com man. It's just he's up in Northern Canada, you know. But I'm like, if you're in Northern Canada, if you're in Northern Canada, like, how would you not know the office and no quest love?

Can you tell the er on him?

Wild hot?

But you guys because you laughing so hard, it is it is.

Can I share something again?

Yes? And we keep into the Stuarts. We're new with this.

This is like, no yo, fante, It's a pleasure to meet you, hey because your friends with Zoe wife Sidney from d C and bus How yo, I'm never I never knew what you look like.

Now you know what I'm gonna be.

I've met a bunch of times, right, but yeah, I'm a vinyl dude.

So when the records were coming out A B B, there was no artwork, and then you on Donnie's album, which.

I love, Oh my god, yeah.

After the color sections.

I mean, you know, Foreign Exchange and you know all that. I've never knew what you look like. No photos of you on Foreign Exchange albums either.

Yeah really yeah, so what did you think?

And it's weird that him and didn't even know what they looked like.

I don't know what your what your preconceived picture was.

I don't.

I don't think I ever had a no, I never even had a conception of what you look like. I just my wife were telling me that you sent her funny videos off of YouTube.

And her with like, all ship, yeah, we would just be like we would just have threads. I can remember.

It was just like it's so cold and to be that's one I feel bad about that. I was wanted people to help break that video you did. Yeah, you did a bad that I released that scourge upon America, but fucking it was it was worth it. But nah, yeah, I was very surprised, you know, Zoe he was telling me. He was like, man, Bob like loves my record, and so I just didn't know. And I kind of want to ask you guys about that. As much as you are, as much as y'all known for, like hip hop and you know, like playing all that you guys, you know, house soul like funk, I mean, where does where did all that influence come from?

Like how did you guys get into that?

We're getting serious?

I mean, we got to keep it serious, but like I was just when I heard, I mean, when Zoe called me, he was like, yo, man, He's like Bob love Sunstorm. I was like, are you serious he was he was like yeah, he was like man Bob.

He was hitting me up. And then when he put out Man Made, he was like, yo, Zoe is for the listener.

Zoe is the musical director of Foreign Exchange and our touring band keyboard player.

We're in the Jefferson's Apartmentelo.

Yeah, some say three more words, but Noah, he was. He was just always saying, how big of a supporter?

Now, my dude, I'm gonna keep it one hundred with you.

Like during the nine months of my wife's pregnancy, we used to listen to Man Made Wow, And even the night that she went into labor, we were listening.

To right now. I'm just first not hearing this.

No no, No, told Ois we were listening to the album as a means to, you know, just get like the Beyonce and the environment positive in the house one much loved.

That is amazing.

Are you going to share what what your son was conceived to? Was that the Angelo?

Yeah, Percy Miracle's greatest is there?

It is?

But no, I mean, you know, for me, my dad was a Latin jazz musician and my mom was just heavy into all the great vocalists of the fifties and sixties. So you know, I'm born in sixty six, study piano for ten years. Uh, played drums, played drums in college.

I'm just thinking about the movie where a lot of people.

Don't know that I was horrible. Show a photo of me playing, and you know, it's just music is music.

You know.

We got known around the world for hip hop.

But even during the nineties when we were breaking Nas and Biggie and Wu Tang and you know all the you know, at the crib, we were just listening to you know everything. Probably like in any era of my life, I probably have always listened to hip hop the least of any genre. But that's not you know, in the nineties, that's not what we were known for. But if you read my Vibe magazine con that's where all the other love for you know, other music came spilled out and people like, oh wow, you know, and then when.

People yes, that's our version of.

Stretch, I mean, you know, he's a I mean, he can speak for himself.

Well, I mean I grew up in the house with a father that was like a classical music nut, and I was just not feeling it at all. He played violin, he made violins, but he did a lot of he he played semi pro basketball. He's a pro tennis player, like a unique renaissance man. But wait, but your uncle was uncle was a conductor. But I have another, uh second cousin, Mike Lipskin, who's like an incredible jazz pianist.

So music's in the blood.

But just in New York, I had a older sister that was into disco, and but I had parents that were just super liberal and open like whatever. Like I mean, they dropped me off at the Pier when I was like, I couldn't have been more than thirteen years old to go see the clash and and uh we Curtis blow open for them, and I'm like thirteen, like completely, and I look back now and I actually I've seen pictures of that show and the type of people that were hanging out outside, and I'm wondering, were my parents good parents.

To drop me off there because it was it was bananas.

But I mean, I'm lucky that that they were like that. But I look back and I got a question like where my parents saying yeah, but definitely having an older sister that you know, she became like a she became a punk skinhead, so like she was bringing reggae reggae.

Records home and that's all I did. So the trickle down, yeah, because she was she was only a year and a half older.

But as a as a female, she matured a lot faster and she was wilding out, going to clubs and coming home like she was hanging out with the Beastie boys Rick Rubin, like and I'm just like soaking it all, trying to get out of the house so I can just get downtown and be in.

That I was going to say that post uh the post the post radio show period. Haven't seen you guys DJing a lot in New York like ninety eight ninety nine. That really opened me to the idea of breaking a lot of rules that I didn't know, I guess, the idea of open format d.

Jan I mean before before it was called that now.

Yeah, I mean like there was one night where you just started playing just some obscure heavy metal song I never heard before. So this is before the days of sus Am so Hi, Sarah, how you doing? We were talking about you, Sarah. This is the reason why I'm not in the movie. But anyway, anyway, yeah, I'm just saying that, yes, I know you guys' knowledge is is crazy. For those of y'all just joining, we're broadcasting line from the Roots picnic in New York City. We really want to thank you guys for everything that you've done hip hop culture for real.

Thank you.

You guys have really been ambassadors just for the world, the lawge, just for for good music all the way around, and just you know, to know that y'all a fans still look the music we do.

Uh yeah, I can't thank you guys enough. For what you've done, siously or you as a former college radio DJ. I just want to say that basically every college radio DJ copied you guys. That's basically, you guys were the blueprint for every read everything that came after.

Thank you, Thank you, yo, well Yo.

Being here makes me remember, makes me reminisce about our own show, gud y'all having mad fun. So thanks for having us as a guest, and thank you for all those out there. The film is called Stretching Babido Radio That Change Lives. It's available on Showtime. It's about to kick off on Netflix Public now No not really, but whatever.

We ain't gonna be ont on iTunes. It's on iTunes, Vimeo, YouTube, Amazon.

You could download it directly from our website Stretching Bobido dot com.

It's on DVD at local barbershops to the bootleg version.

Right here, I'm sitting in front of a young brother who I feel is uh not just EMC is a dopa just coming out of Philly. I think he simplifies, uh, the things that I look for in an MC. When I'm listening to an MC, I'm looking for wordplay. I'm looking for a command of the microphone. You know, you want charisma, you want some engagement, and you want a cat that really sounds like he's living what he's talking about.

You want a guy that walks it like he talks it.

And uh, this young brother certainly sympathies all those things lazy and gentlemen.

And he's a and he like.

Has his hands on a lot of superneur.

Entrepreneurial like a motherfuckerlemen, Let's give it up one time for my brother, Chill Moody.

What up?

That means a lot?

It means a lot in my top five mcs. That really means a whole lot. That you said that I was trying not to tear up.

Crying in your bear.

You gotta you gotta tell you. I know you're tired to meet saying this to you, but they are new to they don't know.

You.

Gotta tell you the story of your Roots Picnic evolution.

So how you got to this stage because you are an unsigned artist still and you come from philadelph but now you're doing this New York.

This is my third Roots Picnic that I've performed at. I meant to ask quest when I seen him as it like a law that you can't do it more than once, because I don't know nobody. I don't know nobody that's done it more than once other than me and litl Uzi now because he did the one earlier this year. But I went from like legit, sneaking into the roots picnic, sneaking backstage, to you know, one year at least, getting like a general mission ticket and sneaking back stage again, meeting I ran into actually one year you were in the crowd watch it. Yeah, I think Red and Meth was on stage at that time, and I got to meet method Man that day. Yeah, it just went from from that to performing. We did the joint the two day the first time they tried to do the two day joint, and I went on right before rock Cam and it was like a hurricane, like legit, like the craziest torrential downpour you have ever seen. And I was performing. That's when we had the tent. Everybody flooded into the tent because of the rain, and you know, escaped the rain. So I went from at that point, which was a crowd of like let's say like two thousand, to like five like that quick in the middle of my set. That and I'm just looking like, yo, this is crazy, Like bill Board wrote about me and hot as hell that tips really hot. But Billboard Magazine wrote about and I'm like, I'm not I wasn't even selling music at that.

Point that when the tent flooded.

Oh, I don't know. That's the Daylight year.

No, that was the the year Kit Cuddy didn't come the two day train with rock him and Kid Cuddy. I think I think Major Laser went on and then Diplo went on in the intent.

Yeah, because I do remember. Yeah, they called it right, yeah, oh, Diplo body.

And then from there did the the first year they had the ping pong and stages. I think Bronson was on that year with me on Channelle Monday, I believe. So it was like, what's this twenty sixteen? So I did twenty twelve, twenty fourteen, and now twenty seven two years.

Yeah.

Man, So with all that you've gotten into, we're going to get into that. So you know with your beer that you're drinking.

Yeah, and thank you.

By the way, nobody brought anything, but yeah, yeah.

Mama, my mama told me right, she did you come into a picnic, you gotta bring something you gotta bring something and not cups.

Ice, bring ice, bring utensils like you people who raised you. I was I was broke, man, I was broke. Will excuse you, boss Bill. You keep it, you keep it together, so we'll excuse you for breaking cups.

Uh.

So with all that you have going on, you know, with the with your with your beer, Doc Street, nice things. I p a and this man has he's the Prince Beer.

When I say he has, he has his own beer. You gotta check that it's delicious too. I have.

So with with the hands, with everything that you know, you have your hands in. Is it even worth signing.

A deal for you? Do you weigh that out at all?

I mean, if somebody's listening wants to sign, it's definitely.

Worth because you on your own way more than some people. Very true, very true.

I don't know nobody else a rapper with a beer like like I made this beer. It's not like I'm not endorsed. I didn't get signed to some rock and you know produced, I mean endorse it or whatever. It's like I made this. I went and sat Doc Street probably like four months straight, twice a week, maybe just rigorous hours of drinking but I'm talking like from like twelve to like five, like just drinking.

The restaurant.

They put a white board up and they teaching me about you know. So I learned a lot about beer too. So like I really like got into it and got heavy into the Philly Beerson We got like a crazy bear scene in Philly right now.

Made you want to get into that.

I mean, beer is good, really good. It's lucrative, is moving right now in the city. And I had hosted a couple events for Philly Beers scene. I did the presented award the Philly Beers Scene Awards, and they have a band of brewers or Battle with Brewers where every brewery somehow and it's city for some reason, all these guys play music and so they do a battle of the bands, but you have to work at the brewery.

And they did that.

Yeah, it was crazy. They did a World Cafe live and it was popping. So I hosted that and like every after every band performed, I brought a couch onto the stage and I said, and I interviewed you know the band, what do you.

Think about your performance? Whatever? Whatever?

What beers you'll got coming up whateverever? So doing more stuff with the with the beers scene. I kept getting into it, and I'm like looking around, like hip hop's not here, Like there's no hip hop here. It's not a bunch of brown in the room either, but it's really like no hip hop. I'm like, all right, I'm all about putting hip hop and places that it hasn't been, Like I'm the first artist to perform at City Hall, first hip hop artists perform at City Hall in Philly. It's been a couple since then, but I can honestly say I opened the door for that to happen. Like my mom is hyped that I can be able to say shit like that, stuff like that, but I can say it, but I can't say ship and my mom. I was apologizing to my mom.

But yeah, so I forgot your question.

And what be taste good?

That was a very simple answers good, And that's and that's good to damn all right, keep it simple, hell, don't don't make it calculus when it's arithmetic is good.

Don't make it calculus when it's arithmetic. Is that it original? That's original? You know, I have every now and again, I get it right every now and then.

So Uh so talking about in terms of coming up in Philly just as a as an outsider, Uh, you know, coming up in the South, I didn't really get into the geography of rappers until I really, you know, kind of started rapping myself. So to me, everybody's from New York, Like y'all all had accents like I couldn't imrientiate like rock him and three times and cool See and like it was all just like New York with chains on and I just love this ship that was that was just it was just one big kind of blur coming out of Philly.

What was that like for you coming up? And who were your influences? Like who were you looking up to by the time you came along.

There's a lot of different different answers like coming up, Uh, you know, Cool Sea lived around the corner from me. I remember Cool Sea pulled up in the in the G Wagon. No, it's like one of G Money joints, like the G Money g with the with the whole everything off told everything he hopped out and I'm actually.

Cocaine for your face New Jack City modern Negro classic.

I'm grabbing my mom some mom some saying like one hundreds from the from the Chinese story and I'll come out in cool seas right there. I'm like, oh, that's dope, Like can you sign these like this pack for me? Like this, like seeing how like he hopped out with chained on and everything, like just running in the store to get probably something drinks, I don't know, but just seeing that he was just still in the hood, just doing things like chilling, like it was like, oh, I could be I could be that. And then as I got into that, and I'm like, all right, I could be more than that. Like I don't want to just be a Philly celebrity neighborhood superstar. I can be more than that. So I start seeing, you know, stuff that the Ruce was doing. You see the stuff that right now I'm admiring stuff that like Kevin Hart's doing taking out of Philly. You see stuff like like that fifty always did he these people all did more than just the music. They I always say, hip hop got me here. So the music got them there, but then they expanded into something else, like Queen Latifa and Will Smith again, like just just watching them, I'm like, I want I want to be more. I want to do more than just rap. But you know, I'm good at this, So I'm gonna use this to get me, you know, every yeah, and get everything else.

I gotta get you remember like your first rhymes that you remember?

Yes, my first first raps was in like third grade. We won this third grade talent show and then it turned into like a weekly talent show we used to have in Doctor Mason class. We had a residence and so we want every week, me and my guy a little s martial shout out a little marshall.

My rap.

But it was like I had like three bars. It was like, yo, back in the days, I used to hate my teachers and everybody said I used to wear crummy sneakers.

That was it.

That was it, and that was third grade, and then it was something then and that was it.

Nigga.

You took a couplet and stretched it into a residence. That's amazing.

And I'm saying back in the days, I'm in the third grade, like a lot happened before grade.

It was popping. Oh man.

So from those from Bristol's early you know, back in the days, my sneakers all that, from that couplet.

How did you go into building songs? I know, for a lot of MC's A lot of times, you know. You know when I was coming up, it was we just wanted to rap, you know, were just like bars, right and bars and bars and raps, but rap because I'm rapping.

So I'm just gonna wrap.

Like after a while, you're rapping about rapping, so like it's like, all right, let's make some some music. So what happened was when I started college, City Bank or something. Yeah, I did finish.

When did you when you come out of colleg where'd you graduate from?

Millersville University? I graduated in two thousand and Who went to Miller's Bill? Yeah exactly, Sean G. Who else went up to the league? What was your public public relations?

Speech?

Communications?

Of course?

So originally it was psychology. I went with I had a full academic scholarship, drank that away.

And.

It had changed my major like junior year to it was it was psych and then I switched to pr because I'm like, yo, you only need like one hundred and seventeen credits to finishes. Let me just get out of here. But uh, when I started college, you know freshman orientation, these credit card people is out there, Yo, you need you need to.

Discover got me.

So City Bank got me on two joints.

One of their free T shirt, didn't he Yo, that's what it was said.

College.

I'm not lying, no, I know, I know college a free T shirt you can do.

Yeah, so you can get anything out of collegehoot if you offer them a free T shirt. I got shirts.

Bet.

I went in studio equipment with the with the credit card went you know, but the mic boo like Q base, cool edit and a bunch of stuff, and I I don't know any of this stuff. I'm not like musically inclined, like you know, I'm not an engine. I don't know. But I just start recording stuff and I'm like, all right, let's make songs, making records or whatever. And just seeing my family is huge, so all of them, Like I started wrap to fitting with my bigger cousins, my older cousins, like they introduced me to Woo Tang and nas and all of that like early on, so I wanted to wrap the fit in with them. But growing up at Philly at that time when I started rapping, it was the figures was out state property.

So I was happening.

I bought some nonsense like I'm like I said, I had a full academic scholarship, but I'm I shot everything and killed everybody. I did all kind of stuff and.

Right right.

So my cousins was like, yo, it's lyrical, it's there, but that's not you tell your story. And that came with, you know, rapping as my like I had rap names. And then it was like, yo, your name's chill, like why not just be chill? Like I was like, oh yeah, soill is I've been chilled since I was six months. I've never heard nobody call me nothing. I mean I've heard people say that, but like my father's never called me nothing different. Teachers always called me chill or they called me moody. Mood is my real last names. So I've always been chill Moody. But I had like I was tagged. I was young chilled a block captain spelled.

Young Yo, I'm spelled if it was y U n G of course C H I T H A B L O kk C A P C A P t apostrophe and do not forget my posture.

It's gonna be a problem.

That is so like that were you were like Emerson Pop before you were the boers.

Called Street cleaning, like I was young child the block and I had street cleaning, and then I had the neighborhood watch, and then I had the neighborhood watch too, and then I was like, yo, I'm.

It's so interesting that you had that name because that's such like a nineties because because the nineties rap template name was like name the.

Adjut, the damage head, pudgy, the fat that's right right.

Right, herald the bilateral metaphor, I had to have like this is me and I am the adjective, this is how I do it.

And then this is my time.

JT, the bigger JT, the bigger, just the figure, the bigger I'm the bigger fie the larger one, greater statue than yours.

Wow, but that's real though, when you made that shift from you know, I made that shift and also made the shift in the lyrics like all right, let me tell my story. This is shill movie, this is who I am. I'm a Philly guy. Let's let's you know.

How was that? What was what was that story? What did you what did you want to come up?

What did you want to above all those It's like, yo, I wraped like better than your like I just want to like it, like express that and like really be like on my you know, this is me and you know it's lyrical, like I ain't got a lie and be lyrical like it's lyrical at first, but it's like no, like I can, I can just tell my story. So it's like big family oriented guy. Like I said, my family is huge. I can walk to like probably like twelve family members houses from from outside. Yeah we're all from yeah, shout.

At school my guy.

Yeah schoolly D. We had an interesting, uh interesting night with him one time playing the group show.

It was I think it was interesting. Bring the fell did he bring the He didn't bring the feather board? He he it was boy boy. This was like man, he like you know, this was got five.

Something I can't remember and he was doing a mirror was playing I'll never forget this, and just to see the sheer look of terror on a mirror's face when schooly wouldn't leave the stage.

Man, that is hilarious.

I don't think it's one person in music that doesn't have a schooly D story like that. Guy is epic, like and then his stories are even more epic than anything you could say like he like, so it was me, Prince, what's the story?

Told us.

Donald was there?

But anyway, let me he's telling me about like the sneakers he had on that's the point of the story. Like but yeah, so Prince is over there, he doing his ship whatever, but the sneakers like like, but you're just gonna buy press the fact that Prince with Donald's over there, like yeah, they always stay with whatever, like school, he's a homie. He been to the house like he like come to the cookouts and stuff, my mom graving stuff.

But another MC. I'm always fascinated by mcs who take and then do other great things with them cartoon adult swim carts.

He painting now, like or he got back into the art. He just did these converts like the what's the first album s? Not Saturda Night?

You know the album he.

Drew is the Yellow And yeah he did some converse that like it's just the artwork, but he's drawn, like doing them himself and like just selling them like just really like going old school.

Ye.

From listening to you man, you sound, one of the things that I find very refreshing is that you seem to God damn that you got a whole jug.

I'm about to ask for some more on the Doc Street Brewery.

Yo.

This this nigga pulled out the prohibition.

Grounds.

This is the moon shine that it comes to that kind of in the house. It's there a pineapple situation. Yes, Yes, is that like a thing?

Yeah?

Is that what I was telling I was trying to.

That when you went to like beer beer class and you sat there for six years, learned all about beer and brood it with your own goddamn head.

You learned all about the ship, and.

Then you took the fucking cut up the pineapples.

We really cut the pineapples up, like we really like. He actually cut a couple of pineapples up. My attorney and put and put a couple of Jason there.

You got your lawyer cutting up plane. You performed already.

Yeah, you earlier too, crazy, complying crazy.

My family.

I got a lot of family up here in New York too, So a couple of them came through and like my mom my sisters, my sister's birthday. So they're there and in the middle of it, or towards the end of the set, I see the guy say you got five minutes left, and I'm like, all right, I got one song left and then on like three, so I'm like, I can probably just get acapella off real quick, and I just start rhyming. And then as I'm rhyming, I'm like, oh, yeah, that's the first time rapping right now. So like I just start. I just went off and in the verse, I shout out my mom, I shot out my sister and talk about some things that we you know, got going with the family and you know, whatever, whatever, and no bullshit, it's tears.

Like I was like, wow, what works.

Yeah, it's just a verse, just just a verse. But I you know, I said this LP that I'm working on, I might call it Mom, you ain't gotta work no more. Tell my big sister she ain't got to hurt no more. That's all I'm working towards. And then everybody just hugged each other. I was like, oh, suld have done it.

Na, that's that's a great moment.

It just kept good.

I just I could never that was always hard for me.

I mind people that can do that, Like I always would tell my family never to come to my gigs. Really yeah, I was like, y'all stay with that because it just kind.

Of it just adds unnecessary not pressure, it's pressure, and it's just.

Like it's almost like just for me.

I mean, it almost feels like you're undressing in front of your family, Like that is the most vulnerable really.

You know.

I mean I don't really like having my family. My kids told me played for the first time last night. Take some four. They came to the show. Did they enjoy it? They just kept on waving to me.

Yeah. I felt like, yeah, show yo, yo, it's sold out in six seconds.

What we played the Grammercy Theater last night. Oh it was fun.

Be talented and Bill I.

Got ship to do. I got he's got that oscar to work on. He got that, he got the g T. We got to give him to win an oscar whenever you want to do that.

My first couple of shoes, Like having a family there was the most vital part because they like thirty deep, so all his family comes to that. That helped fill the crowd up, like they thirty deep. Everybody bring one friend and it's a small little I got sixty people in there right now. I was like, so that's how that's really how the buzz started in the city because you know when the family leaves, everybody goes back to a different spot and they telling more people and more people and all it all just worked up brilliant.

That's dope, man.

So I'm happy when I when I look out in the front my mom right in the front row every time.

Like listen, man chill man, brother, thank you so much. Thank you for taking his time, for coming out and and for doing.

This on a show that bring bringing up. Thank you for showing up. You know what I'm saying.

It's Fante Fantigolo holding it down for the boss Man and our coat leader quest Love, who is busy working. Today we were broadcasting Live from the Roots Picnic in New York in New York, New York City, the city and the state. We got uh, we got lovely unpaid Bill Sherman, my Man Sugar, Steve my Man, Scott yea Yo. This young lady is one of the new voices and one of the more prominent voices of the grime hip hop movement coming out of the UK, and she has been very patient with us after coming out of her performance today Uh from the Roof's Picnic and waiting for us, and she showed up with some liquor and.

To get to people's heart, ladies and gentlemen, and I'm gonna and I'm.

Gonna say and I'm gonna say her name, and then after I'm gonna take your sip, and that ships gonna sound got like that, ladies and gentlemen, give it up for Lady Lasia.

I told you that.

First picnic performance.

Yes, yes, how was it?

It was amazing?

You know, I didn't think I was gonna get that reaction, but a lot of them out that knew he was already.

It was incredible.

One of the things I think is so fascinating about mcs from the UK is that we speak the same language. I mean, we're both speaking English, but that right almost the dialect.

It's just something.

It's the accent really, that's that's.

Well, the accent to me, I can, I can, you know, listen to the accent and I can. The accent doesn't get in the way of me understanding what you got to say. A lot of times it's just the I guess most of the dialect is how you just will have certain terms from words that we just you know, we just don't use or even like the way. Another one of my favorite singers from you came my man Doring It, who is incredible. He does the same thing I noticed you do. Will you guys use f's for th h. So it's the I don't even know if he knows it. But like you don't say think you say, think yeah, I say, think you said.

You said or was it? She didn't say the F? No, she said think she said think she did.

Something with the F.

She said that.

You know what it is is because I'm actually from Birmingham and maybe he's from London. Because London accent and sound and dialect is completely different to anyone from up north in the UK. We have like a lot of melody and our you know what I mean, and they're very monotone.

Do you think that comes from like there's that like the kind of Caribbean influence.

No, I don't.

I don't think it's that.

I think I think it's just basically, you know, you have Birmingham, not in Manchester. They're north and they have a different sound, a different vibe and energy to Londoners. Londoners they just laugh at us when we speak, you know, because it sounds like we're singing that They say, we're singing basically when we're talking, and yeah, some things they say that we don't say in something.

So they say.

Glass pass fast, we say glass past fast. Is there in fast and past? You know it's it's glass. It's not glass, it's glass. So that's what we do, that's what we say. We pronounce things properly. What Londoners you know, they always win because the biggest.

City, you know, that's where ours comes from. The RS that's yeah, that's extra, so many extra fucking continents.

Yeah.

So, so in doing your performance today, do you notice the difference between performing for crowds in London versus here or are there any adjustments you have to make?

Uh in performing in the U in the US?

Yeah, I feel like in the UK they get it straight away because the music I make is grime, and that's straight from the UK. That's gritted, that's that's us, that's what we've created. And when you try to take another jumble of music that people might not have heard of to another another state, another area, they might not take to it as well as the original place it was created in. So in America, I mean, I'm not gonna lie. I think it's incredible when they actually when they're nodding their head and they're listening and they're vibes into the music because it's it's UK music, you know, and I respect that. But at the same time, what I try to do whenever I come and do is showing America, is I try to merge American beat or I try to connect with the crowd by you know, today I play Biggie you know that's it's New York and I got New York on.

But I wear these all the time.

This isn't just.

I just didn't fake it today, But yeah, man, I tried to connect with the crowd as much as possible and and yeah, and try to show them that I'm British as well as being able to understand and relate to them as well. So it goes, it goes down of it, it depends.

Actually, the Americans are kind of assholes when it comes to like listening, like music, appreciating music. I felt like that when it comes to America comparing them to the UK. Yes, I feel like you guys are way more open minded and accepting.

That's why a lot of groups wilsta Europe But that's why a lot of brooks here like he I think of the Roots, you know what I mean? Like the Roots were touring three hundred days a year in Europe. They can do that here.

Let me used to be I think that used to be the case.

I think more so now I think the Internet is kind of the great equalizer, you know what I'm saying. Like, I think back in the day, like maybe tweeny years ago or so or whatever, like the UK and like Europe was kind of seen as the Promised Land.

So it's like, if you were fucking.

Bricking over here, you could go to Europe and you could be the.

Guy right now.

If you're bricking here, you're fucking bricking everywhere, you know what I'm saying, Like, no one.

Like the jig is up because you're just a Google search away. And if you're whacking New York, you're whacking London, Birmingham, Manchester, England, England, everywhere.

I don't nobody want to hear that shit.

So it's not I don't think that's the case anymore. In terms of your music, how did you get started and what were some of your earliest recordings?

What were they like?

Okay, so I wrote my first lea week when I was six years old, and that.

Was just like a lot of young writers.

Yes, six eight A voicemail for my mom on that phone, so whenever anyone would phone, it would go straight to and that was over a reggae track, sister Nancy Bamba. Yeah, So everywhere I go, I have to perform that. I don't care if people don't even know about it or reggae. That's something I have to do for myself. And then at the age of twelve, I discovered Eminem and I was just totally in love with him, and I knew from that point I wanted to be a rapper. There was nothing else for me. Like you know when you just feel like you know, you're certain of something. I knew that I didn't want to do anything but rap. So from the age of twelve to fourteen, I learned how to mix and master my own stuff, produce DJ rap, sing at dance. I was trying to do everything, you know what I mean, and at a young age, and I had the experience, you know, to be who I am now, you know, and to perfect on my craft. So I've been working for so long. I had my first show when I was fifteen, and because I'm Caribbean, and I watch a lot of like dance hall shows and stuff. The way they they've got the crowd, put the flag in the air, all that stuff. I learned that from early, so I'm not I'm not scared to to put myself out there when I'm on the stage. Even if the crowd doesn't react to me, I don't care because I'm in my zone and I've learned from the best.

You know, So who are your teachers?

Eminem Lil Wayne, He's just He's one of my biggest teachers. A little bit of Missy Elliott as far as just having fun and not came what people think and the crazy visuals, Buster Rhymes saying with the visuals, Ludacris with the visuals and the flow. But there's a few UK artists I used to listen to as well. So there's Cano. I don't know if you've heard a Cano.

Was he so solid?

No?

No, he wasn't so solid.

Crue He he was in a crew called the Movement, but then they were all doing their saying that their their own thing. So there was scorch Air, Cano, Ghetto and Deviling in this crew and Ghetto is like he so amazing I think he would do great here.

I think the UK don't get him. He's so he's like eminem like, he's.

So articulate, he's crazy with the flow, and because of that, I don't think the UK get him, and I think he'd be amazing here, like people would respect him on here. But Gets was a big part of my career, like as far as like flow and technique and content and syllables and trying to hit every pocket.

He was that guy in terms of listening being in the UK and hearing American music, were there some parts of our music that just did not translate over there, or were there some parts that culturally it was kind of like, Okay, I like the music, but what exactly are they talking about?

Not at all.

I think for a very long time England and UK have worshiped American music. We've even me growing up, I thought, you know, to be a rapper, you had to be American. So when I was younger, I was speaking in an American accent because I just thought that was it that you know, I'm not going to make it with a British accent, especially from Birmingham, that's a completely different accent.

What does you rap like in an American accent, Like what does that sound like?

Or not?

Just like talk in an American accent? What does that sound like?

Oh my gosh, got bars Son, You know, I really do this. I don't know what this accent is from. I don't know what city, what area, New York.

Okay, I got the New Era on the New York you know, we got this.

I'm in sad with pandormic.

Seriously, like literally, I do this so with this time, like when I'm on Snatchat, I always do the American access.

So I love it.

I actually love America, Like I just think you guys. At the time, at the time when I started rapping and stuff, I thought that was the only way to make it. But I think after like a decade, things of change now and and a lot of the American artists are looking at the UK, and it's it's refreshing to see that there they're finally reaching out to us. Like Chris Brown has worked with a few UK artists. Draker's Co signed a.

Few UK arts usually like with Skeptic.

Yeah, and hence Skeptic has been doing it for so long, you know, and it's just good to see that finally something that the UK has created, which is grime. It's finally getting seen on really big platforms.

Can you break that down?

Grime is like over there, grime.

Is one forty b pm, so it's quite fast. It's like, it's quite fast. It's a slower than drum and bass. I don't know if you've heard. It's slower than drum and bass. But it's very it's very it's very raw, it's street, it's it's just us, you know. It's you can tell a grime beat from a hip hop beat. And whenever an American artist goes on a grind beat, they always hit it in a different way to a grime EMC.

You know, we're hitting with.

The speed flows like, and then American artists would be like, you know what I mean, So we have we have that, we have our own sound, you know what I mean, and we hit it. It's very aggressive, it's very hard hitting, it's powerful, it's energic, SOMNISSI man, it's it's.

It's we haven't tried to feel it.

From you yet.

Has come over and.

A couple of years don't speak to.

So after they leave the count in Africa, they'll be back.

In terms of like, because I also saw that you're a singer as well, like you sing as well.

Well, I tried to sing, I'm not singer, but let's swiftly move on singer, guys, I actually not that. I just know how I used to.

I grew up in a church, like I used to be in choirs and stuff like that. So I know about melodies and about harmonies and stuff like that.

But I.

Think she, I think she can actually sing with me. I need I need a lot of work. I need a lot of melody, and.

I need a lot of auto tune.

I need a lot of that because I know, I know I can't hit those notes that Maria carry hitch, you know what I mean.

So I saw her, but I performed at New Orleans Essence Festival.

Because that's a very black experience. Okay, that was very African American.

That is specifically it's put on by Essence magazine, Black Woman's magazine.

Just you know what I feel like, Because I'm British, they straight away that just they're lucked in because they hear a different accent. It's refreshing for them, it's unique, it's new. So I didn't really have to do so much to win the crowd over there was just like, wow, you know is it?

Yeah?

But I saw Mariah Carey at this this festival.

And she performed every song live except for Heartbreaker, and she managed to hit that. I can't even do it, but you know what that that she does, she managed to hit that. And I always just like, Okay, you've still got in you know what I mean.

So that's dope, yo.

That the voice is something that is very It's an instrument that's very delicate. I mean, you have to really treat it like it's an instrument and it's something that you know. One of the greatest tips I received was from a guy who was telling me. I was asking about care and stuff, and he was saying, you know, you have to treat if you look at what all the other players do at the end of the night, they put the instrument in the case. So you gotta do the same thing with your voice, you know, at the end of the night, put it in the case and.

A little bit.

Get those real that that that real grit.

Of course you've been saying in them holes where you want to remember, it'll get you there. So we're here now, So where are you at now in your creative process in terms of what you're working on, you know, in terms of records, what is your what is your creative process?

Like?

Okay, so at the moment, I'm working on my album, Queen the Listine, which will be out next year, and my process is quite weird because if I'm not in a good place, I can't make good music. I know that sounds as easy as as I've said it, but it isn't that. Mentally, I have to be in the right place to make fun music, which is what the Queen Speech project was all about. So if I'm in a happy place and I'm in a good place, I can make happy, funny, good music. If I feel sad one day, I'm going to make Drake music.

You know that, you know.

Music?

You know?

Is it is it that you prefer to do like happy stuff or in the dark snus do?

I do prefer to do happy stuff because I just love to see people laugh. Man, That's That's what I'm about. Like my personality off Mike as Militia because that's what Miami is. I just love to see people laugh, make people laugh, and just you know, have a good time with my people. So that's that's the only reason why I thought of doing a project that is funny and relatable and can connect to any common man around the world, you know what I mean, Like Queen's speech. The things that I say in that are things that people can be like. Oh yeah, I know someone who does that. I know someone with Christy Bacon lips. I know someone who don't change their planeties.

I know someone someone you know.

You know some people do that.

You know, some people just wake up, they've got their parties an't already, they've slept in their planeties, and they just they boss out.

They go, they go work, they go, they go to their friend's house.

The base.

Say, there are some men, now I don't okay, yeah, some men did like a little twang on that thing, you know.

You know, one.

Can't blame.

Wait, I'm going to ask you guys a question. Ever left the house without watching underneath?

You don't want to question I do. That's why we want to not by choice, not by choice. It depends, Okay, Okay, it depends. Okay, here's the thing.

Right, If I'm just in the house, just in my natural just whatever, then yeah, I mean, it may not be necessary for me to shower if I'm just running the store because I haven't been like sweating. But like if I didn't left the gym, I'm not going to go to the gym, then hot my ass in the bed and then get I'm pretty sure they are like laws and doing that.

There are so no but noah, but okay, So have you ever came out your house without washing? But you've gone to a club as well? You accidentally just ended up.

That's that's happened.

That's happened. Ain't no shame, because listen.

If we were there's been times back in the days, you know, back before I was covered by the blood of Jesus.

Back when I was out there in the world. There was a time in my life. Well I will go to the club, go to the club. You know what I'm saying.

You sleep, you know, you come home, you crash like two three in the morning, wake up, you know what I'm saying, and then you realize, oh shit, I'm hungry.

Whatever.

So then you make your way to like the hop or whatever, and you still.

Are in your club.

So what happens when you're you're in the club and you meet a beautiful woman and then you connect and then she's like, Okay, I'll come home with you and then I So what happens Then the whole.

Time you're praying that until the next time you run into it. Well, well, I mean, listen, man, let me, let me, let me, let me say something.

You can record.

He's covered in the blood of Jesus. Let me play something.

Let me say Okay, listen. I personally like a woman's natural firm. So for me, I'm the type of guy's like.

Listen, if you go to the gym and you and your spind class or whatever when you come back, so it's like, I don't want you to.

Watch that off just yet.

Okay, swing around.

Listen.

I like some twang on that thing, so you know what I mean.

Yeah, it's at flavor, it's at a presence. I need to know it's there, Like I know, it's like it's that let me know what.

Yeah, yeah, you know, real woman doesn't need that. I did an ingredients. You know, we have that old record.

It's about me, lady. I got a lady in my life. This is not new she except last but you know what I mean, there's just things that I ever said.

So yeah, So for me, if I felt if answer your question, if we're in the club and it's been a night and it's been a little must or whatever, you know, I might want to freshen up or whatever.

But for her, hold on, if you're in the club, everybody is a little musk stinky, and and that's what drives it mean equalizer.

Yeah, that we're all funky. So let's be from we're drunk. Let's go we're drunk and funky, we're drunk. It's a it's a combination. So so yeah, so that's the thing. But okay, so now let's get off women's hea. She took the conversation.

I respect.

With you.

So working on working on a new record. If you need an interlude talking about that and feel.

Free, you can drop that.

I'm gonna need you for that.

I got you.

I drop it all this.

So you working on it on the new record be out next year. In the meantime, what are you.

Just touring the e P Yeah, so I'm just touring at the moment. A lot of shows, a few special features. Yeah, man, I'm just here and there and tomorrow or flight to Atlanta for.

A C three. I see a free see a C three Get yeah, a C three. So yeah, I'm just I'm just all over the place.

Man, enjoy it, enjoy Are you still do you still have your your clothing line? The freaking out line.

No, it's so crazy when people say that to me, because I just didn't think people will be researching to see that, you know what I mean. That was just a little thing I was doing on the side of music. But at the moment, I'm just it's our Yeah, that could do UK. It's got all the you know, the little the relatable quotes. I say, my queen's beeches like crispy bacon, bushy teeth, change your panties, you know, all that fat one eye and your man fit you up. Little little things there, you know what I mean. Because I knew, I knew people would want at least some type of merchandise. I've got the tooth bushes with the bushy teeth on my logo. I've got the crispy bacon lip balm.

I wish I brought something you guys saying you need it bacon.

No, it doesn't actually actually tastes like cherry. It's actually nice.

It's actually nice.

You know.

It's okay, you brought brown around.

Yeah next time and have to have to hook you up with some some stuff.

All right, well, lady, thank you for probably one of the most open quest Love Supreme. And you know what I'm saying. We wish you much love and much success on your on your journey and on your tour. You know, be saved, good luck at h you see, and just thank you for being a part.

Thank you for taking time your day and waiting and just you know, I know how it is.

So ladies and gentlemen, Lady on question screen, Lady Lake shop Lady.

It's a song by Johnny gil called Lady du Jour and I just in Johnny Gill is in my brain right now.

I'm hit me up.

I Do I Do funk cost Love Supreme is a production of My Heart Radio. This classic episode was produced by the team at Pandora. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.

Questlove Supreme

Questlove Supreme is a fun, irreverent and educational weekly podcast that digs deep into the storie 
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