Questlove SupremeThe music community suffered a giant loss this week with the passing of Roy Ayers. In 2017, Roy returned to Electric Lady Studios to sit down with Questlove Supreme. Ahmir adds some reflections and stories about his experience with Roy, as this conversation provides extra insight into the Jazz-Funk pioneer. In this special chat, Roy spoke about his early days in South Central Los Angeles, the strange way Miles Davis had of saying hello, why Electric Lady was the right home, plus so much more.
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Questlove Supreme is a production of iHeartRadio. This classic episode was produced by the team at Pandora. So last week we lost a giant in music and in culture, brother Rorieers passed at the age of eighty four. Almost eight years ago, Quest Love Supreme sat down with Roy at the Electric Lady Studios at New York City. You know, with this interview, this means so much to Quest Love Supreme and the members of Team Supreme. Roy did say a lot, and he spoke about as many movements, and it was so special. Happened him back in the room where he made history. You know, at the time when we recorded at Electric Lady, you know we chose Electric Lady. First of all, I'm in Electric Lady's history, So I guess you can say that even DiAngelo bringing us all to the attention of Electric Lady Studios, I really wasn't where the history of the place until you know, maybe the first week of Voodoo back in nineteen ninety seven. But even then, I'm never thinking like history. I'm just thinking of home because that's kind of where we planted our black However, I believe it was Sugar Steve that reminded me it's like you realize that this is where you recorded Everybody Loves the Sunshine and then even pointed to the vibraphones that were over in the corner. But that's the thing about electricating studios is that what's notable about it is the artwork and the equipment. Bear has been there since day one, since nineteen seventy. So yes, the very keyboards and the very drum set and the very mics and all those things we used on Voodoo were the same things used on you know, Stevie Wonders for filling his first finality and inner visions and Roy's Everybody Loves the Sunshine. That's kind of crazy that the roads that made the Angelo's Voodoo is the same roots that made Everybody Loves the Sunshine, which the same roots that made it ain't no use by Stevie Wonder. It's kind of weird, like how much history that place holds, so it's rather apropos of having him back there. Please enjoy this classic episode of Quls Rest in Peace, Warriors.
Supremo Suprema Ro Calm Supremo, Suck, Supremo ro Suprimo, Supremo ro Suprima Supremos.
Love and the Sunshine. Yeah, the Summer's Sun. Yeah, should we do?
Yeah, Supremo roll Calm Suprema Sun Sun Supremo Rome.
My name is Fonte. Some say I'm crazy, Yeah, because we live in Brooklyn.
Baby Supreme Son Son Supremo, Roll Cal Suprema So Supreme, roll came.
My name is Sugar. Yeah, I'm a little moody. Yeah, it's been a month since. Yeah, I got some star Booty.
Supremo Supremo roll Lost Bill is not crazy yeah or cuckoo aha, Yeah, but let me kiss you on your poo Pool.
Son Supremo, Roll Cal Suprema Son Supremo.
Roll Call paid Bill, Yeah, came to share.
Yeah, I love the Sunshine and Roy Supreme Supremeo roll Call.
Yeah, what's your infatuation?
Yeah?
What Roy is?
It's the Vibration.
Song.
So we know you still doing too many.
Roll call.
My name is Roy. You know what I'm saying. Yeah, I'm just trying to forget that I'm not playing roll Call.
Supremo, Roll Call Suprema, Ya Supreme, roll Call Supreme, So Supreme.
Roll Call Suprema something something Supreme roll call, damn you. Steve the Road prop Comedy, Steve actually had a copy of Roy Start Steve. I've been thinking about that for a long time, even waiting.
I wont.
You've been winning.
He's been winning for like the Beast, like, let's move on You doesn't like you, don't like the Sunshine, Spotlight you the next.
Transition, of course that album was was done here.
So yes, we know Bate Famous and Juice here. Wait a minute, we'll find out.
Hello, this is your show? Can I get him in a degree? Ladies, Welcome to another classic informative episode of Quest Love Supreme. Yeah, I am quest Love, I'm your host. I am on the pictures now. And we have Fico on first base. We got Boss Bill on the catcher's position. What more of a cash No, no, no, no, you know anyway, we got Sugar Steve in the center field, like the left field. Yeah, unpaid Bill is our third basement. Nice and we got a k Margaret. She is our shortstop. You're a sports We are on it and with us the day. He's a quarterback. Who's the quarterback and with us today is a gentleman who has quietly stood the test of time for starting out in the burgeoning jazz era of the sixties, Los Angeles to the jazz funk fusion of the seventies to the electro funk boogie of the eighties, just to come full circle and to watch his work come back in the form of classic hip hop samples that have stood the test of time in the nineties and then to the neo soul era of the early aughts and and tens, and basically, our guests, Roy Airs to me is the black music world's jeans and t shirts. He sold music's tuxedo, something that will never ever ever go out of style. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome back home to Electric Lady. This is how you doing. Yes, all right, so we okay, all of us have been dying to know, because we are in the a room of Electric Lady Studios in the village of New York. When's the last time you were here? Well, well, first of all, you've been here a few times recording, you know, with Erica and Kanye. But I mean, like during the Polydor years, Like how often did you use the studio?
I can't even remember, But now I can vaguely remember. I used the studio so much that that I wore engineers out. Really, I wore engineers out because people like Jerry Jerry Solomon, my god, Jerry Solomon and his wife they said, wait, Roy, this is ridiculous.
Jerry Solomon and his wife.
They decided they were gonna go okay, and so it's I said, get another engineer.
So you would how long would your sussons be?
Sometimes?
Uh, you know, a day, the whole the whole day. So in true jazz mode, you would record an entire album within the three day, you know, No, no, I would.
I would do about three songs. Oh, okay, three songs A lot, a.
Lot, that's a lot. Yeah, And what the song? Would you write them in the studio at that time or would they be pre written? Usually they were.
Written written right right out.
H I paid it played everything, you know, like everybody loves the sunshine, just made it up. Really most of my most of my compositions were spontaneous. Really they want to sponsor, Yeah, a spontaneous key. Everybody else is doing doing whatever they do.
But that's what I did. It was really a lot of fun. Is it something about this room that makes people just write on the spot and not prepare right? That seems to be a running thing. That's the only good narrative of studio am I I'm assuming that did you record in Studio A or Studio B or but they'd both both studios, both studios they were really fantastic, really, And what made you want to choose Electric Lady of Like, I know that a lot of artists that have chosen the studio for the folklore Jimmy Hendrix and just the location in the village.
Was it was Jimmy for Jimmy is right. Jimmy was a wonderful person.
Man.
So even as a jazz guy, you you had respect for the folklore of Oh.
Yeah really, oh yeah, but you knew him, right, Yeah, I knew Jimmy, but I didn't know him that well, you know, I knew.
Him, Okay, So knowing that you grew up in Los Angeles part of my ignorance. But it's like for me, I've I've already studied I've always studied the history of most jazz guys that came to New York, right, But I never always knew that like most guys in Los Angeles felt similar to hip hop, that New York was a real snobby place for the culture, and you know, it was slow to give respect to them. So tell me, especially in the sixties when you were coming up in in in the jazz world, Like, what was the jazz scene like in Los Angeles? Was there a scene similar to New York like what New York had in the forties?
It was.
It was a very very cool scene. You know, people like Teddy Pendergrass. I'm sorry, Teddy Edwards.
Okay, I'm sorry, excuse me, Teddy Teddy Edwards and Haroland and the.
Jeral Wilson Big Band. My god, those all those, all those guys were just fantastic.
And I worked with Curtis Curtis Amy, uh and and I worked did records with Jack Wilson, did Jack Wilson Quartet. Oh man, it was really a great thing. Uh. It was a great experience for me, truly a great experience.
But was there I mean, as far as the scene was concerned, I know, like here you know cats, we were hardcore. As far as like you being up on your chops and and they're quitd down you. I mean, most people know the story of Bird getting the symbol thrown at him? Do you know the story? No?
You know, I don't.
Okay, now just seeah, I want to verify if you know it, then I can explain Charlie Parker, who's you know, I mean, one of the virtuos is of all time of sex. When he was first I forget not Men's playhouse, I forget the name of the club that he was in. But cats thought he was so bad that at one point the drummer just took the riot symbol and through it apper to get him to stop playing. To him, that was like, oh, I got to go back and practice, and then he came back murdered a monster. He came back a monster. So what was it was?
It?
Was there any other viberphone players that was like, you know, eye in your spot, Like, okay, Bobby Urchison, he's also La based.
Yeah, Pasadena, Pasada, California. I'm getting ready to go do a what do you call it? A predude to hiss uh uh his demise he died, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, you know did you didn't you know that? No?
No, I knew he passed away, right, yeah, that's a but I didn't know he was from Los Angeles.
Pasadena, that's right, Pasadena, California. But when they have the Rose Parade and he was like a genius man, he's a genius as far as I'm concerned.
Oh yeah, so was was receiving Linald Hampton's drum You told me the story before of Lonald Hampton giving you a pair of vibr right, was that? What is that? What determined you to play vi phones? Or were you a drummer or did you do others?
I was I was really stuck on the vibes. You know, I wanted to play the vibes. So Lionel Hampton gave me a set of vibraal phone malice, and of course that that was I was five years old.
I always wanted to play the vibes. Lionel Hampton was my was my he was my mentor.
You know.
Everything was wonderful man. Okay, so how would you were you how were you able to even practice or that? Because the vibraphones are not the things that are easily transportable in that time period. I know now you have devices that you can pack up and you know, electronic vibraphones or whatever. But how what was your practice method? Like?
Uh, I played for quite a while, but I was just on the piano. I had a piano there. My mother played piano and taught piano lessens. But I played the piano because I didn't have a set of vibes. My folks bought me a set of vibes when I was like seventeen years old. I drove them crazy.
So for the instrumental dummies though, miss Airs, let me ask you, what's the big What are the differences between the vibes and then the piano? Like, how hard was it to transition to the same keyboard?
It's as xylophone, you know. The xylophone is the same as as a keyboard.
You know.
So it's black keys, white keys, you know, same thing.
You grew up in South Central?
Correct, it's right, South Central, La.
So knowing what I well, knowing what movies have told me about South I don't know if I can trust the information or not. You know if a lot of times, you know the problem is that most people get their views of black people's lives via entertainment, the music they produced and the movies and the television shows and any think that's real life. What was South Central like?
Uh?
During your childhood growing up?
It was uh, basically a drag. South Central was was you know? I mean South Central? If you look at all the guys like h and I never met a lot of the young guys, the young younger, younger guys. It was quite different, man. It's quite different because I wasn't even exposed as as far as I got the exposure during the time I was with Joe Wilson and Jack Wilson and and and and It's really crazy.
Growing up in your early childhood. What was south was South Central Plague with gang activity was South Central mired in trouble as as what I've known it to be in the eighties or nineties, Like did you guys have or were Did your parents take you out of that and constantly keep you in music?
My folks they loved me.
They spent four four four four hundred dollars on my on a on a record that I did. People don't even know about it.
Really exclusive.
Wow, no, no, but they don't even know that I whether the singer. Okay, I sang you know, I sang at a young young, young age.
I was like, so even before the Atlantic record, oh you you were saying way before right? Oh damn, I did not know about it. Nobody nobody knew that where are these records at? Oh?
Uh?
Source?
It was the Vowels of Love. The group was called the Vowels of Love and uh.
The Latin Latin lyrics with the Vowels of Love and it's on Embassy Embassy Records.
So was this close to uh like do wop or do? Okay? Okay, I see, Roy Man, I see. So what what drove you to jazz music? I mean, did you improvisation? Yeah?
You know, improvisation I was.
I was.
I was good. So you know, I kept I kept playing and and uh kept grooving. Deucey Williams. Do you remember Ducy Williams? Familiarize He was a producer on that album.
Okay.
Uh, we did the Vowels of Love and uh we did a song called Stranded in the Jungle. Okay, god my god, it was very nice. We did one record.
Okay, do you still have copies of those records?
No?
I have one copy still in your possession right now.
I have one copy. Right somebody sent it to me.
It's like a forty five record.
Yeah, it's it's a forty five right, okay.
Which one of us is going to volunteer to go digitize it? So I imagine it could be preserved in history. I got that. I want to hear it. I want to I want to hear this. So, so when did you get serious about jazz music? Like leaving leaving doop?
And I was always serious about jazz, you know, so I you know, I was always serious, serious about it. It was very very personal to me, you know. Uh as a as a matter of fact, h.
I had Uh.
I had most most, not not everything, but most of Linohampton's.
Records, Okay, and of course the MG a Q and.
Uh Bobby, she said, Bobby. Bobby did very well with me. He was a very progressive vibeist.
As a matter of fact, I looked at looked at this plane, I looked advanced, its performing and it was fantastic.
He was a year younger than me. Oh really when he passed in that even seventy five, seventy five years old. I'm seventy six.
So it's kind of weird.
It seems like I'm getting all the work now. No, I'm serious, but I'm getting so much work, which is good. I'm not complaining. I'm just saying I'm getting all of it now. But it's all right, it's all right, it's cool.
But what's that like a seventy six though, what is that like like now? You you tour a lot.
I mean it's great, tour all the time, that right to all the time.
I just came back from Australia.
Wow, what is that like though for you? Now that you getting just so popular and.
Like, I'm tired.
No, no, no, but I'm tired when I'm when I when I when I'm good tired. But you know, so I'm awake. When I'm awake, I'm kicking ass. I'm serious.
You know I've seen you.
I know you are.
That's right.
You know you came to my city. This was I think it was a year or two ago. You played the Article Festival in Durham, North Carolina, and I came and saw you. It was it was amazing.
It was amazing.
Yeah, I just say that. Even we did a show with you once. The Roots did a show with you in Brighton, England, and there was a trick that used to do with the solos where you know, all of you stopped playing your instruments and you just start scatting the solos. The Roots try that once once again. No, it's just because you. One thing we didn't know was that you are easily out of breath after nineteen seconds of scatting. And you know, these guys were doing an efforts effortlessly for like six minutes. So yeah, that was that was a short lived you know, I understand that that was hard to do. So how did you hook up with Herbie Ben a friend of mine, Reggie Workman from Philadelphia? Yeah, Ressie, Reggie Workman from Philadelphia. He said, Roy, Herbie Mann's in town. He needs a by player. I called him up his got in touch with him. He said, hey, can you can you come play with me tonight?
I said, no problem. I hooked up the gig. The rest was straight ahead. It was great with Herbie Mann. It was wonderful.
Man.
How many years did you I did four years? Really four years.
I was also his roadie, also a member of this band.
Okay, you're also the roadie and.
Yeah, whichy'all helped me to understand the road. The road understand it's very complicated. Sometimes it can be very confusing.
You know. So you would also drive the trucks in the equipment and well, you know, whatever we had to do, we flew everywhere.
Okay, Herbie did very well.
Okay, now explain this to me because again like with the way that I tour. Now there are backline rental companies. They're at your beck and call to set things up for you and to have it there. How like did you live in a fifth story walk up apartment?
Like?
How would you get your viberphones two and from gigs effortlessly or would they already be that? Because it's not like a piano, it's not like it's something that's just commonly there. So how do you get your your your instruments to and from gigs?
Yeah, yep, we'd have a special truck, a special guy to transport it. They would actually put put it away, you know, put everything away based based drums, piano, guitar, and Herbie Mann. And sometimes we would add other individuals like you know, Jimmy Owens, who on whoever?
You know? Wow?
Yeah, yeah it was it was nice.
So did you play on any Herbie Mann albums?
Oh?
Yeah, he was on Atlantic, right.
He's on Atlantic. Yeah, I did this?
How you got your deal with Atlantic? Initially Picnic and all that stuff? I was.
I was performing with Jack Wilson the first time, Jack Wilson Quartet.
Okay, and then we do we did Herbie Mann with with h the organization.
It was very nice.
Did you have a relationship with I met Urdigan and Jerry Wexley, like the Cats Atlantic Like, yeah, I knew, I knew both of them, but uh, because you only stayed for like three records, And I always wondered because you know, they they seem like, at least from my perspective, a jazz friendly label. But for some reason, I always noticed that a lot of their artists would leave after somewhere between three to five years to go somewhere else to do right, you know, the same a Coltrane like, you know, to have a fruitful career exactly.
Yeah, I agree with that. I agree with that.
So was it that you just felt that they were more of a soul label and really not adapt to marketing jazz? I believe that they could everything. They could do everything.
They did everything everything, okay, jazz, blues, soul, whatever, they did a lot of stuff, man, you know, you know it was. It was a good record company, man, very good company.
Okay. So what made you what made you go to Polydor in the early seventies, I.
Left the company. I went to another company. It was a better deal. Oh okay, it was a bunch better deal.
Yeah, I was gonna say you and James Brown I believe were the first James Brown, Yeah, you, James Brown and mandrou I believe were the first signees to Polydor Records, and I was there before him in nineteen seventy correct. Yeah, yeah, So for you it was just a better deal business wise, and yeah.
Yeah, it was very nice. It was a very nice deal.
I guess. Infusing funk music into your jazz, I mean, it seemed like a radical idea at the time. So can you talk about the effects of the idea of fusion not playing straight ahead jazz, but more or less cats starting to infuse rock music into their as and soul music into their jazz, and you know where people were. Did you see this as the future adding more rhythm to your jazz as opposed to just straight ahead shuffle, which you know, I mean, there was no evidence of that by the time you got to If anything, I think you planted the seeds of what will be neo soul absolutely twenty years later. So I'm gonna just explain what was your philosophy as far as the music you wanted to present, Like just with the whole mysticism and the vibes, and just like what was your philosophy, Like, what were you trying to present to the people that was way different than your straight ahead jazz stuff.
I was just trying to present the music that I love and I can tell that it was it was represented through the trials and tribulation of the music to that.
I felt the vibe.
You know what I'm saying, Yeah, I can get it. I felt the vibe.
It was just the vibe, the vibe to teach, especially to teach like the songs like searching and and and the beautiful things that I'd said, I'd set it musically.
So besides jazz stuff, what what what other types or what other bands were you listening to at the time that you were nick in the early seventies, were in the sixties, Well, you know, I.
Was listening to Herbie Hancock and to uh, you know, check Korea, several different styles, and of course I always had my favorite Miles Davis.
If Miles Davis is my favorite artist, you know, So at.
The time when uh like on the corner and a lot of Miles is more deeper like post bitches and stuff. Were you digging that? Because I know a lot of jazz heads were like, I don't know, Miles, you might have felt the deep end, but did that speak to you?
I was checking him out.
Of course. Of course that did teacher teach me. He taught me a lot, taught me a lot about music. You know, Miles was the innovator man.
He was great. Miles Davis was one of the great ones as far as I'm concerned.
Did you ever get a chance to meet him or talk to him?
Ye?
Did.
The great thing about it is that Herbie Hancock told me, you know, when you meet Miles, Miles will hit you in the stomach.
And he hit me in the stomach. He knocked, knocked the funk out of me. I knew it was coming, but he didn't know I was coming. He said, oh, you're in shape.
So so it was funny.
So Miles Davis was so great.
Uh oh he was.
He was wonderful.
But when I went to his house, I wanted to film him because I wanted to film, get get him on film, and he didn't didn't let me. I bought a camera in but.
I told the cat take it home.
Uh.
He was. He was magnificent. He's a great guy.
What's the concept of the ubiquity albums because some of your albums were straight up roy Airs and then there were roy Airs Ubiquity, right, like was it meant to b side projects? Also? Was Edwin Birdsong a part of that? Or was he just so cleaver?
Edwin Burthsong was part of that? That's right, okay, part of the whole ubiquity family.
But by god, Evan Birdsong is in California also with Marta Williams, and Marta Williams is the individual.
That told me.
Get get got me interested in in ubiquity And I said, what does that mean? She said to me the state of being everywhere. At the same time, m M, and I said, all right, so I can tell people I can be everywhere if you you had one of my elbows. So you know, no, it's caught on very well, it's very it's a very good line. Uh, you know, it's uh, it's interesting. I used the ubiquity now now I use roy Or's production period.
You know.
Uh, I guess we changed with all the all the Enlightenment, Enlightenment everything of everything else.
You know what I'm saying, right, Bill? Yeah, yeah, you have on an old logo earth winding fire T shirt. You told me it's relevant to today. Yes, Why why is your your old logo earth Winding Fire?
It would actually be more relevant if I was wearing some white shorts and some white sneakers because it's a reference to the song.
Oh yes, because just when he was.
To do the Earth, because he says what he's wearing and the song that he's talking about, he was wearing his white white t shir with with earth Winding Fire inscribed on the front, and his white shorts and some white sneakers.
And you couldn't tell you. You couldn't tell you wasn't clean.
Steve, he beat you.
You couldn't. Yeah, Steve, we gotta take it back technically.
Let's how you guys roll take it back.
I get it now. You got way deep on that.
Yeah, you still tell that every every show you do to.
Yeah, I do it, do it every every I love that. I love that record. I love that record.
It's it's pretty difficult because you have to do it. You add on things to it.
I thought you were God.
So somebody says you do I'm not gonna do that one tonight, And I do that one tomorrow night, and they'll let you audience cool out.
That's right, okay to night not being the audience like no, I want tonight, tell me about it.
Add on to it like the aristocrats joke like have more things? Okay, yeah, something else. I mean that I have so many questions about your your your songs in particular. First of all, was it what was your what was your ideology as far as trends were concerned, Because when I really got familiar with you, I was six or seven years old when Freaky Deey was like immensely popular and unavoidable on black radio. And you know, it's like I thought of you as a disc artist. I mean because again I'm seven years old, that's you know what I mean, Like you be on soultry and all that stuff. So I didn't realize of your jazz background and none of that stuff. And really like not until hip hop did I really put all the pieces together that you just morphed into, right whatever. But you know, by the time the mid seventies came around, h did you I mean was it label? Was it label pressure like okay, you got to come up with something or was it just like you wanted to hear your clubs and disco you want to hear your music and discos now.
And.
Uh, I don't know, you know, it's a it's it's it's a versatility is like is my key this being versatile and very creative? And uh, I guess when you look at it, the whole the whole spectrum, the whole spectrum of music, you just gotta just deal with it. As as far as I'm concerned, you gotta deal with the fact the facts of grooving.
You know, just the groove is is in the ansense of when I'm talking talking.
About so disco was not a four letter word to you, not like well, you know everything everything is relative to me, Everything is related. All the stuff is related.
You know.
I've I've seen a lot of artists, uh uh play play funk. When when Herbie Hancott plays funky, it's it's funk. But if you if you check him out, everybody's been with me several times, several times on several albums, and he is it's so so fantastic with his creativity. His creative level is so immense. It's it's it's seems it's it's it's crazy. I mean when you when you when you think about Herbie Herbie had Herbie Hadcott and and you really talk about his music, he's he's enormous. It's it's it's incredible. So uh, you know, it's it's so fantastic.
All right. So you know, if you're familiar at all with my story, and I've said it a million times over, I assume that most of you know that at the top of ninety four, the Roots relocated to live in London because we felt that if we made London our hub, we could take advantage of Europe, who was latching on quickly to the Roots more than America was at the time. So we felt it was best to live in Europe and really work it so that way, you know, it's like going to the gym, coming back home and being well toned, well exercised, ready for prime time. So we, you know, lived primarily in Europe, in London specifically for you know, between ninety three to we gave our apartment up I think around like nineteen ninety eight. Anyway, that said, we got a call from the Red Hot Organization. Red Hot Organization was an organization that I believe back in nineteen ninety figured out ways to raise money for AIDS research, which at the time, you know, was pandemic levels of urgency, even though our administration back in the eighties, the Reaken and Bush administration, didn't treat it as serious as or quickly as we treated COVID in twenty twenty. But that said, there were definitely you know, Tinto's on the ground as far as like doing service work and raising money and advocacy and whatnot. So there were various albums coming out under the Red Hot organization. The first one, of course, was Red Hot and Cool, which was like an interpretation of Cole Porter song. So by nineteen ninety four, I think Red Hot and Cool was our project which to to pair like jazz musicians with modern contemporary artists. So Leave the Far Side was on that record, and The Roots were asked to be on that record, and they asked us to do a collaboration with Roy Ayres. At the moment in nineteen ninety four, which we were kind of as a band readjusting to what the reality was, there was a lot of hope that this thing of ours was going to take off and be successful, you know, something new, this band's going to take the world by storm, and that didn't happen. So I'll say that around the time when we were doing this, there was kind of a murky we might not make it sort of thing. At least that was my standpoint. Let me speak for myself, that we may make it, we might not make it. But that said, I almost felt like any trip to the studio was almost like a chance to prove ourselves. Helps And we got a call that Roy Airs was in town. We were doing dates with him. We'd Probably the best show that the Roots ever did in their lives, according to our manager, was with Roy Airs in Brighton, England. Shout out to Steve Rohn of the Average White Band. Brighton, England was sort of where we learned the power of volume, the power of effects, and watching Roy Air's show, like there's a point where he did this trick from Sli the Family Stone where he would do a solo and then the band will break down. Instead of playing their instruments, they would just scat their instruments. The guitar player is going to scat like the guitarist, and the drummer is gonna like a drummer, and Roy is gonna like it was really cool and innovated. The audience just ate it up. Man, it was awesome watching him. So the Red Heart organization people said, you know, why don't you guys get with Roy tomorrow and come up with something for this red hot and cool thing. In soundcheck, I believe that Hubb was messing around on the keyboards with these chords and I was like, hey, what are you doing? He did these three chords and I was like, Yo, that's something. So the music of pro Seed too, Yeah, that's like hub Spotlight. Hubb wrote that entire that entire bit and the next day this is pre Kamal. Kamal had not graduated high school yet. So there's a jazz sensation. Nikki Yo y e o h who came to our attention courtesy of Anthony tid of quite saying, Anthony TI has done a lot of work with the Roots on Things Fall Apart in Phrenology and since then relocated to Philadelphia. But you know, there was like a buttoning underground jazz scene in London and Nikki Yo was on keyboards, Treika Mallick of course on vocals, like I also believe that's like one of the last times that we recorded a song in real time, in real time meaning my preferred method of recording Root songs is sort of individually, which is not recommended if you're trying to establish a synergy spoil. There are a few songs on this new Roots album which we actually go back to the old method are playing together because there's an energy there, but in terms of like maticulation and timing and all those things. Playing to a click track, I was a drummer that just wanted to play to the click track alone and add each part on afterwards. But Proceed two is probably the last time in which we all recorded together, and Roy was just such a burst of fresh air and came in on Happy, which you know, his energy sort of wore off one to us, and we were happy at a time period in which we didn't know we had a future or not, and we were recorded it. As far as the videos concerned, that to me was like an especially very crucial weekend in the development of the Roots. We did that video in January of nineteen ninety five, and the only thing I remember about that time period was the Roots had just come back to the United States for the first time, like after living in England for the longest, to do a series of shows. Now that our album, do you Want More was out and we did a show at Irving Plaza and all the rap luminaries like Wu Tang showed up and Skills showed up. And that's the first night I met this guy named j D. And I was very disappointed that JD was producing the Far Side and not Q Tip, so I was rather dismissive to JD. Next morning, we had to be up early to go to the Tommy Boy Records offices shout out to Monica Lynch to shoot a video on their rooftop. Tommy Boy granted us permission to shoot on the rooftop of their headquarters. And what's notable, Well, first of all, it was freezing on that video. If you watch it, proceed to the roots and Roy ayers, we're just kind of just having a cipher on the rooftop. It was very easy to shoot, although it was cold. It was so cold that whenever we weren't shooting, we'd run back downstairs in the offices of Tommy Boy. And when you go down from the rooftop and re enter the Tommy Boy building, there's a photo of four young women that we look at and you know, beautiful women walking in the streets of Los Angeles, and I was like, who are they. They're like, there are new signees. They're the Jazzy Fat Nasties, And I was like, huh, They're like yeah, Jay Swift from the Far Side producing them. Hey, you want to hear something? And I sat in that room and listened to like five songs and in a way that I hadn't been gobsmacked, like before my Slum Village Jay Dilla sort of championing, you know, I just I couldn't believe that all the rules that Jay Swift, the producer of The Far Sides first album and brother of Mercedes Mercedes Martinez. Yeah, but the amount of rules they were breaking was stuff that I didn't know that one could do. Of course, now like anything goes in music, but back then, you know, hearing Mary j Bliges my life and wondering like our singer is allowed to sing over loops like a rapper does whatever you felt for the if you were of age and you were just mind blown to the Far Sides first record. Imagine someone singing with the zany energy of the Far Sides first album, like they were just breaking rules that I didn't know could happen. I was like, I got I have this demo, and I stalked them and next thing you know, I was flying the four of them to live in my house and they never left. They came in late nineteen ninety five and I worked on our ladelph Half Life record and the Things Fall Apart record, and eventually we got a deal for them. But yeah, we shot that video with Roy Airs and then you know, there's a memorable, memorable weekend. So sorry for this long winded recapitulation of our time with roy but yeah, that's that's the memories that spark with shooting the Proceed two video and recording that song with him in London.
It's funny you mentioned I mean you was talking about your first time you remember hearing his music was with Freaky Dicky. I think my first roy A song I can remember hearing on the radio. I was God, I couldn't been hi one of five years old, but it was actually it was program for low Man and and and I didn't put it together until later on that like, oh this is the same guy that did everybody loved the Sunshine like it was because you know, when you talk about how everything was relative to you. The thing I always thought was about your music, was that you never you always seemed to wherever the trends were or whatever, like the younger cats were doing. I always like that you seem to embrace the younger generation, like just from what I could tell, I mean, even with a record like Program for Love at that time that was like a drum machine record, but it had you still playing and it sounded current. It sounded like something that was on the record that was like eighty five eighty six like that. But yeah, I always thought that was dope. Has that always been just a driving philosophy of yours to look at the youth and try to help them or.
Well that was produced by produced by James.
To me, ah, it makes perfect sense. Wait, so it's something I went hot. Yeah, I'm trying to program It's like a slow Jowin when he was on Soul Training. That was the second song change the two weeks That's my Ship.
But that was that was the first bo As record I remember like hearing as a kid and uh, yeah, man, it's crazy a gas man.
He's a great guy. Man, he's a great, wonderful guy.
So on on your on your earlier records, the a lot of the themes of afrocentricity are definitely uh uh, just prevalent throughout all all of your works, you know, with speaking of Africa and and and confusing red, black and green imagery and and you know, black skin and those things like for you, like what made you even want to go in that direction when you know the idea of afrocentricity was rarely a thing heard. I know, like a lot of you know, maybe the Earth where yeah, like self discovery was just coming into play, but you know that the idea of afro centricity was still brand new. Like what means you, especially with those first five records on Polyador.
Go there, Yeah, Africa that that's that's it. The key is Africa. Africa is in the center of the world. The world is rounding and.
Stuff like that. But it's Africa is so beautiful, man, it's so so so beautiful. Fella kute he is in the mind.
He grabbed your mind, He grab grabbed my mind, certainly, man, it was so wonderful. I mean, you have to understand everybody doesn't relate to Africa, but they relate to Africa, but.
They don't they don't really go to Africa. They don't go there I've got When did you first go there? Man? First time I went there? My god, Wait a minute, that's a good question.
Okay, I went there in nineteen seventy nine, seventy seventy eight.
The first time you went with FLA, I was with the Paila with oh Man, what was.
That I went to Nigeria? Is that straight in Nigeria?
The shrine? I went to Nigeria and I went to say that again? What was it like at this I assume you went to the shrine? Yeah? What was that experience like to go to the shrine in its prime? Like? What was it like? Heavy? And how did you too hook up? Like? Who hooked you to up?
I had an attorney, an attorney that was dealing with the Africans, African people, and he is from from uh He's from from Nigeria, Nigeria, right, he's from. He said, you you should go to Africa, Roy, you should go to Africa because there's a musician I want you to meet.
And I went over there to meet Fella and I paid for the whole trip con ghetto, the musician and the engineer. My god, I paid for all that. It was very expensive.
Man.
You went there a sight unseen, like just based on it, I just yet, it was based on conversation with him, with the African, the African brother.
But it was it was wonderful. I mean when when when I when I met Fella, he gave me.
A big hug. It was like it's like it was like.
It very very very weird when you when you saw these people and all the people he bought about seventy people and everybody, this is my family. Oh oh man, it was, it was, it was, it was. It was fantastic. You can't imagine. Well, my head was was spinning, man, it was. It was a motherfucker. My language it was something else.
It was.
Uh, it's it's heavy when you think about it, you know, and you think about the thoughts that think about the craziness. And then I did a rehearsal with with Fella.
Oh man, these all these musicians, they don't read any music, but they conceptually, the saxophonists, all all of everybody, the dances, the dances, all his wives are dancing. It's it's it's it's it's it's unbelievable. When you see it, you say, oh ship because you can't believe it. It's unbelievable. It's unbelievable because this guy was really a genius.
Man he was. I couldn't believe how you could teach teach everybody their parts. Oh man, Oh wow, it was amazing. It was amazing.
So how can songs go for it? Like? How long was the average show?
Sometimes when the power goes out, Oh, the drums, the drums remained playing, the drums playing, So they wait till the power goes back on, and then he keeps on. He played for at least three hours.
Oh man, it was, Oh it was, it was.
It was great. I wish I had a time and scene just to go back to see that. What did you guys ever record and you got to see that?
No?
Did you record it on your own personal I have something I'm cool with it. I get the feeling that your story's unit. I know for a fact that your storage unit has magic in it. Because the first time, the first time I met you, and you were just so casual like, yeah, I gotta you said to me, yeah, I got about sixty yeels that poly door and never seen I was like this is right before yeah, and he was just like, yeah, I got it. I got a lot of artifacts you know that people haven't seen yet. And I was like, yo, man, you know, do you need historians to rummage through those things?
Just you? I hear you.
So you would record stuff and then just not turn it into the labels. Is that how you? Is that how you work?
Exactly?
That that's how I did work. Yeah, that's what's up, man, word up finess.
You got to really understand the whole industry. It's like, it's real fucked up. It's real fucked up.
Up, is it right?
Hey man, it's very.
Fucking bullet The most fucked up about it.
But they take all the money is that they take all the money.
Was there ever a law in your uh in your business? Like, was there ever a time where it's like, damn, I can't get no work? Or I always felt like you were constantly I mean because you did projects of Wayne Henderson and the Crusaders, I believe, And so I'm thinking that you're always working, like, well.
I'm I'm I work most of the time.
So a down period where it's like Okay, I don't know, this might be the end of the road, and.
Well that's a down period. But the down period it gets better and it continues to get better as you as you will probably grow in your life, you'll see you to get better.
I see, how did your records, how would they selling and pola at the time, and what was the standard for what they considered a successful record.
Oh, it's interesting.
Uh, you know, I was making two hundred two hundred thousand dollars some damn two hundred two hundred period four hundred thousand of the year for every time you turn, every time a record, right, every time I turned the record, they had it so fucked up. Excuse me, but they had so fucked up, and I was I was sitting on the record and the promotion people said, hey.
He's got another album coming out, and we haven't finished with this single, which is the other single.
They were crazy, So you're moving too fast for them.
Well that's right, they were moving too fast. Seriously, they were moving too fast, and I was fucked up.
You know this, oh ship, this is great.
You know.
So you were basically saying you were basking in the glory of that time period and kind of glory of the dollars. I see, right, every day everything was cool.
But they started getting too organized and then they fucked it all up.
Well, they fucked it up. They fucked it up.
That leads me to your production projects, because there's two side projects that you worked on that, although it didn't make initial noise when they came out. Uh, both of them found life years later once hip hop both discovered them. Uh, Sylvia Straplan and It's Stripling, I'm sorry, and the Ramp project.
Right?
So is Ramp basically the Royers you Bigger Ubiquity record minus roy Airs or was that a total?
Actually r a M P. Roy As Music Productions right?
Right? But that particular band was Was that also the band that you utilized for your projects or you they were separate from I got.
A completely separate band and I used them to to create the group.
Okay, you know because in my head I just thought that they were the band that you would use on Running Away and all the other stuff without you on it, per se.
Right, But but let's go there.
They were a whole nother entity.
Exactly.
Could you explain those projects and why you chose to work with them. Are they from Ohio?
They're from Ohio?
Okay. I discovered them on social media recently and they're you know, like they're from Ohio, right, doing tours and that sort of thing. So how did you how did you run into those guys? I met him.
I can't I can't even remember when I met her, But I know I met the the leader of the band. It's named John. Uh uh yeah, John. I met him and and and he agreed with me, John Manuel Manuel. Damn right, that's supreme.
We do our home. We did we Google?
You did?
I don't even Google, that's he added, like Google, Google, You're Google, right, fingers Joan Manuel.
But I met him and he produced helped me produce the records. Man, I signed a contract with U.
A, B C. ABC Records, right, So yeah, so what was what was the deal? Why did why didn't you bring that project to Polydor as opposed to another Why did you bring into another label? Or you just had a separate production deal with a separate production deal with with uh what's that guy's name?
ABC?
Black Bob the president of ABC. The vice president just passed away.
Damn Now I need I wrote, did you say you say the vice president A president?
Well, I know that he this particular guy was fond of the project, even though it didn't sell all that well for him on the label. But I'm forgetting his name right now, but he recently just passed away. Damn, I'm bad. This is this is a fail for quest Love Supreme. We'll go back to it.
I have no problem.
But uh, it was a good deal. It's a great deal.
As a matter of fact.
H I don't I don't think did you did you feel vindicated like once hip hop had discovered it and really brought it to life, because I felt that that album really didn't.
Oh didn't it really didn't do the max or whatever?
So were you were you shocked in the nineties when suddenly like it's you know, it became I'll say that of the Holy Grail Records to to own or obtain that ramp to find you know, a copy of that ramp record Everybody Lives the Century, right, Yeah, that that was like they like, yeah Daylight right, Well they had a copy of They had a version yeah, kwai as it. Yeah, the brand Ubie version of Everybody Loves Sunshine on that ramprick. Yeah, but that's paid hundreds for that, So.
It sold sold a lot of records. They sold a lot of records. They didn't tell you guys whatever, but they sold a lot of records.
I know because I paid a lot for it, exactly.
That's what I'm saying. They sold a lot of records.
So talk about the Sylvia, uh, the Sylvia Strepplin album, Like what was at the time, How did how did you you guys? Was she always a part of your camp or how did you guys meet?
Well?
I met her and she was she was working in the Wiz and uh, Stephanie Mills. Stephanie Mills never ever got sick at all. She was Stephanie Mills assistant and she was going on stage. She never she never went on stage. She never ever went on stage period, because Stephanie was never ill, ill or anything.
For the Wiz but the Wiz okay.
I didn't know she was. So so what happened is that.
She died.
She died. I didn't even know that she died. This is only a few more few she died.
Oh my god, I was a manager and she died. But this is all when when when I took place what you got on the label? Oh, man, I didn't even know that she died.
So said, so what were those sessions, Like, I'm sorry, the sessions with Sylvia, Oh, they.
Were wonderful she Oh she was great. She was great. She was a very unique, very unique artist. And a lot of people are still requesting, did I sell sell those sell those things?
Hell yeah, I mean Chicago alone considers give classic. That has saved me many a night out of Chicago DJ Gig. I learned early like if you're if you're set is failing, you turn that on and Blamo, your party comes alive. Oh, it comes super alive. You signed to Sony? I believe CBS. Did Lark and Arnold signed you to uh? Say that again, Lark and Arnold? Did he sign you to your Columbia deal in eighty three?
It? No, I never did work with Arnold? Okay, okay, I never worked with him.
How did you come to Sony or Sony Columbia? Back then? Barly Door signed to Sony. Really, I never even knew about it until until I found out. I was Oh, ship, I'm on another label. I'm on another label. So they just transferred to you to Sony.
They didn't give a damn.
That's right, that's crazy, I know.
But that this is intermingling is up there of the industry.
Sucked up right?
I did not know that. Yeah, it's crazy, man, the things I learned when quest Love Supreme. One one question I had, well, see, I felt that they were super supportive of you because there's a moment and Michael Jackson is the way you make me feel video and which they used your your hot song. Yeah that was hot songs like freaking thirty seconds like in the beginning, and notice like have you seen so the first thirty seconds right when Michael's like, hey, I complained about it, complained you didn't think that was great? Wait?
No, I complained about it because they didn't pay me to any money.
Whoa oh that said, where's the money?
I see it's it's see that's where in my head. I was like wow, like because you know, back they were still running Michael Jackson's yeah they would stop TV right And I felt like, oh man, this is really a good look for roy erres not if they ain't pay that man no money.
They ain't give me no money. It ain't funny. It ain't funny, man, they ain't give me the money.
I said, oh shit, you didn't see it as Oh, I'm getting exposed to new artists or to a new audience and exposed. Man, I put all my cousins down with them. I'm like, oh, this is Roy Airs who and like explained to him what hot was because you know, and also like how you said James and too many produced that entire record.
No, no, he produced one, two, three, four songs? Okay, four songs, that's right.
Who produced the hot single? The lead single Hot?
I'm trying to think, what's what song you say?
Did you say, uh hot? All that hot? James them to me, that's what I'm saying, Yeah, okay, did it feel good to have that?
Oh?
Man, well that was a comeback single for you at the time, so we had a groove. Damn.
That was very very nice. I was being fantastic with James and to me and then uh uh what's sash phone?
Oh Darry No, no, Trump, Trump's right. They were both good, good producers. Man, very very good. And Rick James is very good. I was gonna say, because you did a lot of work right on everyone else's records. I believe that's you scatting at the end of the Fire and Desire on Street songs. That's right, on the fade out Street songs. That is that you do.
That's right, that's right. I played played on that and that was real nice. And he told me, uh Rick James told me. He said, he said, because this, he said, this guy's this.
This works with me.
He says, you gotta watch this, watch this guy because he would stab you in the back. I got a contract with him before he died. My god, did he die? I didn't that damn it died just so quick.
Man.
You two were going to do a project together.
No, we already did a project. We did. We got got the The music is being sold right now.
Double trouble. I think it was. Hey, wait, you've heard this. They got a version of Everybody Loves the Sunshine, Man James, he.
Got version version of Everybody Loves such it's the best.
Version of all of all? Is this available?
I have it?
I have it available. No, I'll give you a record, take the record. I should have bought it today. Damn fucked up?
Wow that damn?
How did this?
How this sneak bast because it's.
Interesting, right, people don't even know what's happening, right, I got a copy of.
You got copies?
I don't. I do not have a copy. I don't like a copy. I don't have a copy. But yeah, uh Bill has a copy. Wow, shocker. So when did you When did you first meet rick James?
Oh?
Years ago?
That was he the villain. This is gonna be the best story you're gonna tell.
It's probably been very good. It's a very good story. But uh he was Uh my god, is that research? You know?
He was very aware of aware of.
He was very defiant.
M hmm.
Defiant. They didn't want to funk with him, the motile they do that, they have to kill him. I'm serious, I'm serious, man.
He was a rebel. Sorry, it was some very freaking ship.
I'm serious, man.
I believe you.
Because he said, Hey, don't funk with me, let me chain because I'm Ricky James. That's right, I'm serious man. He was serious.
Man. What other what other albums have you or songs have you appeared on that we might not know of? At least during that time period. I appeared on a very a very very very good guy. Uh yeah, what's this guy named Sony?
He's crazy? But that's almost only saying that he looks a little crazy.
But uh uh, who's Who's who's the the guys.
On Sony Uh Sony Records.
It's a big artist, big big Who was that no, said Billy Joel, Billy Joe. What's this?
What's Billy Joe?
What you want to add?
What happened to him?
No?
No, no, Steve was joking about Billy Joe. He's on Sunday.
No, dude, Dud's the guy that it plays on. Sony plays.
I think keyboard John Legend, uh keyboards Sony?
Oh?
Is he is?
He a young he's young, young, young, He's probably about twenty years old, twenty twenty twenty two.
Right now? Wait, man, wait, I play I play his wrong room. Wait? We have this guy like, how can I this is? This is he's twenty he's a young guy. Now this is today.
Maybe he's twenty two, you know, twenty three or something like that. But you know what, and he plays, Wait, I know that you are on Tyler the Creative Yre we go again.
That's right, damn okay, that song is dope.
He called me, he said, he said, they said I want you. He said, let me, let me, let me, let me, let you play some music. I'm good.
Let you. I'm sorry. When when Tyler was on The Tonight Show, I remember him running up to me saying, yo, man, in the same sort of ambiguous puzzling way. He just mad to me like ran off and I was like okay. And then later on and now now suddenly the circle the story comes full circle four years later, like oh that's what.
Wait, how did Tyler get the golden ticket to get you? Because I'm sure he's not the first young dude.
He called me up.
He had people called me up and I said, yeah, this is Roy. He said, Roy did yeah, you could you do some something on my album? I said, sure, you send it up. He sent me the record. It was three songs. He said to put it on all of them. I put it on all of them, all of them, and I played it. He's a very he's a very nice artist, he said. I liked him.
He's interested. Wait now, now I think about it. Now, I'm thinking of every Rick James production ever known that we're vibrantphones on it. So I guess I can also assume that that's you on all night long at the end of yeah, the vibephone. Yeah, well, the.
Song the songs I played on is I forgot the name of it.
You're definitely all on it along. I mean, assuming that you're that viberphone it's doing the same time period. Yes, I believe that is you. You are also on the Jasmintaz project with gour that's the first time I'm at you. What I didn't know was the the the album, the first time that you collaborate with the roots when we did proceed for the Red Hottive sing right, yeah, I remember.
I want to know why I didn't do it.
Man, I have done that, man, you know it was put on as the last minute. But what I didn't know was that time magazine declared that album album of the year. Oh it did the Red Hot and Cool. Yeah. When I did my research, I.
Was like, oh, that was an awesome album like that proed yeah, ship, thank you'll.
Starving years so yeah, I meant for you know, we were slumming in London at the time, but no, it was it was that that to me, that that whole experience that was the That was the first time. I mean, excluding Cassandra Wilson, and and and Steve Coleman, who even though they were jazz monsters in their own rights, like we all, we almost felt like they were more family than anything. Like I didn't know how powerful Cassandra Wilson was until I really did the research so like, in my eyes, like the first true like star guest that we've ever done anything with was, you know, working with roy Ayres that that was a masterful moment. When you're discovering that hip hop is sampling your work. I mean, there's two ways to look at it. I've known some guys that were just like, well, you know, it's not art and it's theft and it's whatever, it's not really art. And then I know some people that are just like, wow, now my music is now expanded to another audience. Was what side of the fence did you fall on? Once? I fall on both sides, like I love this? Where are my money?
Yeah?
But that's I fall on both sides.
I'm serious, man, I follow everybody's side. We're just a musician.
You know.
The musicians are usually, you know, kind of fucked up. They are kind of fucked up as far as the business and stuff that's concerned. Man, they are they all fucked up. Make sure they're into music. They're into music, you know, So the musicians, you know, I talked to George and I said, George, what's up? What we what we're gonna do? He said, Prince princes got killed. I said, oh, okay, fuck that.
You know these sounds the original meme. All right, so this is where I really get to give some flowers to King brit King Brit is to me the person that really opened my eyes to a possibility of a world I never knew existed. You know, I just turned twenty twenty one, you know, I've been graduated school, and Tika and I were trying to figure out what we're doing this before like the Roots started busting on South Streets and really became the roots. So it's like a year before if the roots started, as you know it the roots, like in the summer of ninety two. Let's go back to like nineteen ninety one, so there was a counter culture vibe happening in Philadelphia where like if you wanted to go to a night club or whatever, I mean, you could go with what was hitting as far as modern music was concerned. And you know, by no means did I have complaints of what was musically happening in nineteen ninety ninety one. But like, if you're going to a modern club, yeah, you're listening to like whatever the songs at the moment you know they're playing, Like in Vogue, R and B. They're playing Tony Tony Tony. Radio and clubbing, I mean they weren't. Clubbing wasn't as anti hip hop as radio was, but radio was definitely you know, you know, more more music, less rap. That's that that would be the tagline of like most of the radio stations back in like eighty eight, eighty nine to ninety, like there was this backlash against rap music and it's and it's violence. So that said, I kind of wanted to find a place in Philly that like catered to the music that I dug, and that was, you know, like the left of center hip hop, like where can I hear a trip call? Quest? Where can I hear leaders in the New School? So King Britt and his partner Jeff Nett used to have these parties called like back to Basics, but the difference is they were bringing in like old music and I'd look through their crates and I'm like, wait a minute, this is my dad's record collection, Like you're gonna play BT Express in this club in like nineteen ninety, Like this came out in seventy four, and this James Brown record came out in seventy four, and this Roy Airs album came out in seventy six. Like, I've just never seen a club in which people like me would come into it and they would dance and respond to music as if it were new music. But this stuff was like twenty twenty five years old, you know, some like ten years old be you know, it was nineteen ninety, so, you know, playing stuff from fifteen years ago. And I couldn't wrap my head around the fact that if I wanted to, I could go through my dad's three thousand records and join these guys. And that's exactly what happened. They were like, yeah, bring your old records down and play the good stuff, and you know, so that kind of birthed, you know, my dreer. But I gotta say, like Roy Airs to me, his music, to me represents sort of the first steps into the unknown of rediscovery, like back in eighty six, when hip hop is first starting. A sample, like when you're hearing like Eric being Rock him used James Brown and Public Enemy use James Brown. A lot of the music from eighty six to like eighty eight eighty nine was kind of used via what I call a cheat sheet, and the cheat sheet is called Ultimate Beats and Breaks Compilation, and that's a compilation started by the legendary break beat Lou Flores, who was smart enough to make a compilation of all the breakbeats that DJs would use back in the first wave of hip hop. So you know, if you're seeing an African Membata spin, if you're seeing Grandmaster Flashpin, they're wiping the label off. You can't szam it. You don't know where that drum break is coming from. It's a secret. So eventually, like by nineteen eighty six, Luke Flores, who became a you know, like a record collector, made a compilation and what he would do is he'd make these EPs. He'd put six songs per record and it's a twenty five volume set. And if you're making hip hop back in this period, that's what you're using. So this is why like a lot of James Brown funky drummer gets used, or think by Link Collins or impeach the President, by what I call like the meat and potatoes of hip hop break beats and a lot of that various combinations of those breaks is what makes an eric being rock Him record or an ultra mat Netticum Ces record, or you know, Bookie Down Productions or whoever. Like the Class of eighty eight was Salt and Pepper public getemy and so the first kind of renaissance period of hip hop, which basically means music we're gonna use but isn't on the ultimate beats and breaks, because by nineteen ninety it was like a fatigue, you know, I mean, I guess the example one could use now is if you're scrolling on social media, like, okay, like we've everyone's using like this particular song or this song of the moment, like and over using it, like everyone's using it, so it's not fun anymore because it's being overused. That's how hip hop was. It's like how much James Brown can you make sound new, fresh and exciting. So as a result, there's a generation of producers that are finding other ways to get records. For a lot of us, we go to our aunts and our uncles' houses and take their records and there's always going to be a roy Airs record in the in their collection. And roy Airs to me is the he is the godfather of neo soul, even though Earth Wind and Fire kind of planted the flag in terms of like an afrocentric joy music. They clearly had their eyes on the crossover, you know, the landing strip, which basically means that they wanted to make their music palatable for an international audience, not just their black audience. Whereas roy Airs, who came from the school of jazz, I would say roy Airs kinda put a more less kind of what Grover Washington Junior pioneered of which we will call smooth jazz. I will say that roy Air was less smooth jazz and more funk jazz. Not to say that Grover Washington wasn't funky like his Grover Washington Live at the Biju is one of the greatest examples of where funk and jazz meet. But the sound of roy Airs is just the sound of comfort. A lot of that stuff recorded an electric lady. The Fender Rhodes was sort of his weapon of choice, his viper phones, and they sang about, you know, like kind of metaphysical the stuff that earth, wind and fire was singing a belt, but there really wasn't any pop songs on it, so it's almost like you felt he was speaking to us. So your idea of the person that's burning incense with the zodiac post sexual position posters on their wall, smoking a little j like, that's the audience, that's the demographic of roy Aers' music. So after a tribe called Quest comes out, who probably is the group that best made use of roy Airs' music, then we all just went rummaging through any roy Airs record and there was always a treat on there, no matter what for you to utilize. So you know, he is essentially the father of neo soul. So for you were you, was it a relief to see that suddenly your catalog was was there was a renewed interest in it and then people were going back to it and discovering you. And you know because when I really started seeing you on the circuit, especially at Ronnie Scott's, you know, there was there was this what was the genre they tried to put us in the first not Neil soul? Like like for you, when the nineties came, was there ever a fear like okay, well you know, will I still be a thing? Or or is this it?
And well, you know what, there's so many so many people have died that it just.
It's just a release because.
Now I'm working my ass off. Do you understand what I'm saying, I'm working my ass off. I'm not complaining about it, but I'm working my ass off.
I'm glad you are, which which is? Which is?
And I'm glad too, But I'm talking about I'm working my asshof. So so it ain't nobody out there, ain't nobody out there. The motherfuckers is dead man, the groups have died, have died, you know.
But you know what.
That that may be true, but your music is going to last right forever. Thank you, and that that to me is the most important thing because thank you. You're right.
Yeah, you're not getting work because everybody else is dead. You're getting work because you're a legend.
Right because I'm still alive.
I'm still alive. I'm still still alive. That's a beautiful thing.
But what does it feel like now?
Because I was talking to somebody about you the other day and I said, wow, like Roy, you can go to a show. It may be a grandparent, a parent and a kid.
And they all late.
You are still cool, Like your music is still You go to a club in any ages and you might hear, you know, see people dancing to it.
What does that feel like?
Happen?
Years old? And not a lot of people that can say.
That if they work and ain't not alive.
They worked the record, They worked the hell out the record. I mean Probaly Door Group, they worked the records.
But you made the record.
I made. I made it, But they worked it. You know, they worked, they worked hard.
And you know, you know, I may be seventy six years old, but hey, I'm glad I'm still here.
You know what I'm saying.
I'm serious, Yeah, it's serious.
One question I had regarding your song the Third Eye, is that you're singing. Yeah, that's that's is Would the lyrics? Would you write those like in the studio at the time or.
Maybe exactly exactly almost every song, almost every song beautiful. I just like that, just sponsored spontaneous feeling. It's wonderful.
Man.
You gotta try it sometimes.
It's all right.
I mean, you gotta try it on once or twice.
You know.
I have a question sure about one of your songs. Uh, we live in Brooklyn. In Brooklyn, were you living in Brooklyn when you wrote that?
Oh? No, Harry Whittaker wrote wrote the song Harry Whittaker, and he died.
I'll be.
Still here. You and George said, I was assuming you made Clinton.
So I'm like, yeah, that's right, he said, Edwin birds song is stilled bird song. Yeah, yeah, he is. He's still wrong occasionally.
Uh.
There his daughters in Vegas, but when I play there, sometimes they come to the gig.
They come to the gig.
Yeah. One time I played, uh, what was the deaf punk sample? Coca Cola More Time Babies. Yeah, I played that once and uh, you know, like how I can't be bothered when I'm dejaying, So someone keeps tapping on the t.
That's my daddy's sample.
Okay, sorry, sorry, So that's great. Yeah, everyone's still here and going strong. There's a there's a DJ.
There's a new artist out now named Kate Trinada who is a he's a DJ producer. I went to his show. He did a show at what's the place across street from Brooklyn Bowl via.
The Hotel No Output.
He did a show at this club this is maybe like two months ago, and he played Chicago by You.
I love that record with Chicago and that song.
I mean it was a room full of twenty yeah, twenty year olds like these are kids and they were going crazy over your song.
And I heard that at a club one night, like about ten years ago, and I lost my mind. It was the first I ever heard it. The record still goes, Yeah, I play whatever I can too.
So what are your what are your personal favorite songs of your catalog that you've done?
Like what?
Oh yeah? What?
What's near and dear to your heart? What's your favorite? Roy is.
Searching?
Okay?
What? What?
What is it about searching that you love?
Say, butterfly up in the sky. I got a story to tell you. I'll tell you why I'm searching. You see, my friend, I.
Need someone who feels the need to save his I I'm searching, searching, searching, searching, searching, searching for inspiration, searching for communications, searching.
For a better way, searching for a better day. Oh my god, that's wonderful. Doesn't work great words?
Man?
When you when you live that live that life, you know it's it's wonderful when you get it to that search searching, it is wonderful.
Do you have a favorite like sample roy Air song and song? And when you heard your song and it you were like.
Whoa married Mary?
J flies?
You see too?
The song of the checks?
So did you like my life when you heard it.
Yeah, I loved it. I said, why didn't not take those lyrics?
You know, I was thinking, you know, marriage, that was such a controversial day I felt. I mean, I've told the story before, but I just felt at the time. Yes, Now, in twenty seventeen, I consider that song and the album of which it came from a classic song and an album. But during the time when I heard it, right, I don't know. I never that was a historical first, because I'd never heard a singer just totally take a song and redo it as their own. I mean, it's one thing for rappers to do it, but I never ever considered like singers could have the same rules as MC's right. So in my head, we were we didn't like the first month I heard the first month of the first two, but you know, you you you dug it. I mean, but you were also like ten, What did you know it's ten? No, I wasn't my life. I was like fifteen.
The very.
They release every black woman at the age of fifteen.
Was like stop because the first day we ever met was the day that you were also in this van.
Maybe I was just saying that because I was amongst the hip hoppers, you know, and I was just going to love.
Your asshole it did okay, nobody, I'm sorry.
Sorry.
I like my life. I liked it too. I liked it too. I like us really like I was you and.
You were me.
That's just crazy. I didn't do I didn't develop those rules until later. See I was the way you are now when I was twenty. Then I got leanient.
Anyway, where there any times that rappers wanted to sample your stuff and you denied it for any reason?
No, I let let him travel it.
I've gone over that.
Uh, that's some horrible things that I said. Damn, what is this?
What is this?
Everything?
Fu?
I said, put it out, put it out. I put it out, put it out, every every word. That's what your people were like, We don't know if you should. Your people were sort of cautious about maybe you should pass on this or no.
I was passing on it. I was, you know, I was passing on it. I said, no, let them put it out. It was it was only one person, be I wasn't you published?
I mean every group of people just put it out. Wow, okay, hey, put it out, put it out, put it out, put that ship out.
It's that the same Is it the same way? Like now, like if someone want to sample your music now to just go through you.
Yeah, but but I know that they're they're not gonna play this stuff anyway. They're not gonna play it, and they're not gonna play certain things well not they won't. Radio station won't play it.
So it's un the radar team. I'm gonna think the check and it'll.
Right.
At this point in your career, is it anybody that you see that you're like, you know what, it'd be interesting to do something with them? Are you just like, is it any like new blood out there? You're like, because I know people choo for real?
Right for reals?
Oh man, you name this name this couple of kids that me or something like that.
Yeah.
Wow, And y'all still have never worked together.
We haven't done it. He wants me to come to California. I just I can't get out there. You know, at the time, I couldn't, you know, Okay, that's right.
It's never too late though, well, it's.
Never too late as long as I'm still alive. You He need to come to you, That's what I'm saying. He needed to come to wherever you at, I hear you up. That's right to Royal Nigga talking about right, I forgot the U of the triplets. One of them his name airs Wow, but I believe the second one is either named after one of your compositions or or right, yeah, talk about a tribute. But but no, he is now You're gonna live forever because well he was on the stage. Yeah, after a concert.
I did a concert and he did a concert, and he was walking off stage and I walked up to him and I said, Pharrell, and so for he dropped on the man.
He did the worship thing he does.
He did the worship thing man. I said, come on, man, come.
On, that's all. He's a humble cat, he said, humble, very humble, very humble. So all right, what's what's what's the future for roy Ares? What's your your next your next project? And you tour more your I'm.
Planning on doing the album. Okay, it's about just about playing, playing, playing, playing, playing playing, Okay, playing, that's an album about playing by playing, about playing. Okay, about playing.
You're gonna give us some of the unreleased stuff you got in the Yeah, we got plans on well, yeah, you're.
Gonna let us go to the stories. I'm just saying, like you know it, I'm just saying.
Today today, man, One question, one question I have. How involved was weed in the records?
It was like marijuana like smoke? Was that reef?
Was that?
Presidents? Did you allow that that? Again, it's all right, didn't come How How was that was that allowed and encouraged in your recessions back in the day? We we oh mad, it's in.
We.
Weed is in.
We just in My god, they' never stopped at stopping.
Man, they're gonna crazy with all the broadcast and everything.
Man, But were you cool with it in your studio sessions back in the day? He was cool with it.
Oh yeah, it was cool man. It was cool. Everybody smoked, everybody.
Everybody because that because that was like the memories that I have, like of your music as a kid, Like I remember seeing like the album covers and hearing the music and the smell of marijuana.
They smoke to your they were I like that you could hear the smell of marijuana. That's an interesting It's called synaesthesis. Really it is. I was expected that word. Okay, who it is? It absolutely is well mister Ayres. Uh, I don't know. I think we've we've we've tagged on everything all right as we wrapped up, Uh, I just want to say, you know, it's kind of weird because a lot of people that are in my particular area of music. Of course, okay, I'll take it that I'm lumped in and called neo soul, but I mean you are considered the godfather of of our our our genre, and so I just want to thank you for you know, providing us with the the roadmap for which you know it's still being used to this very day. You know, your your your influence, and your art will be here forever, long after everyone in this room is going, even this building is gone, your work will still be here. So we thank you for coming on. Of course, love supreme and yes, yes, one last question. Can you tell us a little bit about scoring the movie coffee? That experience was like? Yeah, what that experience was like for you?
Oh? That was that was wonderful.
Uh.
As a matter of fact, I thought about that that uh meeting meeting Pam Grid, I met Param Grier and uh I was trying to wrap wrap my arms around but.
The breast was so big.
I couldn't even get my hands together.
But no, no, I said, oh.
I was so wonderful. I said, you are from param Grier. I said, I made you a star through my music. You know.
I'm telling you as I did that after I did that film. That that really made me think about how mad she was or aggravation. It was aggravation.
It was horrible.
So she was wonderful. She was she was a dream, a wonderful, wonderful actress, a wonderful person.
And I love that hug.
That hug with something else.
Man solls more about.
Oh man, it was. It was wonderful, wonderful.
Alright, Steve, Steve, Yeah, I got.
One more question. Did you ever meet Milt Jackson?
Uh?
I mean yeah, I mid Milton.
Milt was wonderful. Man.
His his touch, his touch was is one of the greatest things in the world, the touch and the Bible phone. If you listen to all it records, the touch, it's it's a magic it's a magic touch.
Man.
What about Cayle Jada?
I met Cal Jada.
I met Cal. He died. Damn all those cats died.
My question, I'm sorry you're still here.
Yeah, is there anybody in the jazz scene right now that you're you're really excited about.
No, I wanted to play it with al Ja. Oh my, he died together.
I know.
It's great because I was about to ask you about Dennis, but I can't even talk about it.
It's just too just.
Answer the question.
Yeah, No, I was just gonna ask you to, you know, kind of break down because for me, my Mike Spanish experiency with you went through Dennis who was your drummer for for a couple of decades.
And then died, you know, last year.
That's her cousin, Yes, Dennis Davis. Dennis Davis acologized Dennis.
Yes, but I checked this out. Dennis Davis worked with me, He was working with me all those years, and he was also working with Stevie Want with Stevie Wonder and also David Boy. That's right, David Boy.
And he did two, two or three.
Different gigs the same time. Really, it was amazing, it was amazing. It was amazing he was able to do that.
How long was he your drummer? Oh maybe since she was very young, so since the very beginning.
Yeah, yeah, wow, he just left and came back right and come back. He will always have a home.
You remember Dennis is, the infamous Dennis Is playing by himself on on Nothing Do I Do? Do I do?
Right?
Okay? Well wait? That also leads to uh Stevie's bass player what's his name? Nathan or the bass player was Nathan East? Did he play with you for a second? The guitar player, the bass player Nathan Nathan? He did not Nathan E. Nathan Wat Did he ever play for you?
For he didn't? He didn't play with me.
I could have sworn I saw a concert of you with Nathan Watched, because Nathan Watch's built like a full back.
So yeah, he's a big gag he.
There was a similar bass player that played with you, A big guy that I thought was was was Nathan Okay.
There might have been John Johnna somebody.
Also, the great Philip Wu also played with you. Yeah he did. He did play with me. He's in uh your pant I know how did you hook up with? He's been with you forever?
It's from Seattle, Washington.
Oh okay? Is that where the title of your song I did it in Seattle? Is Philip playing on that?
Yep?
Wow? I got it nice? Nice all right? So uh on behalf of Oh right, I'm sorry, should we do reflections? I know, I'm sorry.
Well, I just want one more, one more thing, mister.
People who worked at the studio and past and president just wanted me to thank you for coming here so many many times, recording so many records here over the years.
It's a pleasure to do it doing this. This is really wonderful. Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you.
It's amazing.
Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. That is quest Love Supreme. We will be back next week with another great informative episode of course Love Supreme. Also, don't forget to dig in the crates and check out past episodes and catch up with us on Behalf of Sugar, Steve Unpaid, Bill Boss, Bill Lady layah uh Aka, Margaret Fon, Tigolo, and The Great Boy as Love Supreme signing off West. Love Supreme is a production of iHeart Radio. For more podcasts from iHeart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
