Club Random with Bill Maher - Xzibit | Club Random

Episode Date: March 2, 2025

In this episode, Bill goes deep with legendary rapper, producer, and entrepreneur Xzibit—shedding light on his childhood as a military brat, the discipline that shaped his hip hop journey, and the inspiration behind his new album, “Kingmaker.” Xzibit opens up about chasing creative ambition while staying true to himself in an ever-shifting hip hop landscape, shares thoughts on social media’s addictive pull, and hip hop rivalries. He also reveals the hilarious story behind his fight scene with Jennifer Aniston in “Derailed,” complete with Brad Pitt lurking awkwardly in the background, and Bill recounts how one of Xzibit’s iconic lyrics made its way onto “Politically Correct” —a testament to Xzibit’s impact on both music and pop culture. Go to https://www.RadioactiveMedia.com or text RANDOM at 511511 to save up to 50%, today! Go to https://www.zbiotics.com/RANDOM to learn more and get 15% off your first order when you use RANDOM  Connect with quality therapists and mental health experts who specialize in you at https://www.rula.com/random #rulapod #ad Follow Club Random on IG: @ClubRandomPodcast Follow Bill on IG: @BillMaher Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast for free wherever you're listening or by using this link: https://bit.ly/ClubRandom Watch Club Random on YouTube: https://bit.ly/ClubRandomYouTube Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

I kept hearing about pre-alcohol and wondered what it was actually like. Now I get why everyone's talking about it. And with their GMO technology, Zbiotics is continuing to invent probiotics that will help with everyday challenges of modern living. Go to zbiotics.com slash random to learn more and get 15% off your first order when you use random at checkout. Remember to head to zbiotics.com slash random and use the code random at checkout for 15 percent off. The way the world is going everybody could use therapy but a lot of people I know who really need to complain that it costs a

fortune, that it's time consuming because of the back and forth and sometimes is a mismatch with their personality. Well, this shouldn't be that complicated. RULA connects you with a high quality, vetted, licensed mental health professional. Go to rula.com slash random and take the first step towards better mental health today. You deserve quality care from someone who cares. Club Random is brought to you by the audio marketing gurus at Radioactive Media. Congratulations, you survived 2024. Now the question is, are you as a business owner or CMO going to ensure your business survives and thrives? Discover how audio marketing can surpass your current strategies with new and

innovative ways that sound better. Go to RadioactiveMedia.com or text RANDOM to 511-511. Text RANDOM to 511-511 today. Message and data rates may apply. You don't get to... I don't think you really know somebody until you divorce him. What a great line. Ha ha ha ha. Club, random. Yeah, the nightclub shooting where Shine was at. I call it a bathroom misunderstanding. Ha ha ha.

Club, random. X. What's up, brother? How are you? Well, nervous as hell because, no, just because I will, I'm not sure if I brought enough firepower, the right, I don't want to disappoint you. No, no, I'm not disappointed.

We, I have plenty. Well, you don't know, you haven't smoked either. Yeah, yeah. That's what I'm saying. I don't want to be the lame guy who brought the, but I think this is from my store, The Woods. OK. You know, you know The Woods? Yes, I do. Woody Harrelson from my store, The Woods. Okay. You know The Woods?

Yes, I do. Woody Harrelson. I do, I do. You have partners in that store? Yes, I am. Awesome. John McEnroe and I are minority owners like I was with the Mets.

Yeah, yeah. Always a minority owner, but that's good because you're not in for the downsides. Yeah, yeah. Well, I have something for you. Yes? I have a store as well. Oh.

I have actually two stores. Yeah. One in Bel Air and one in Chatsworth. Bel Air. Yes. Excuse me. Yeah, exhibits West Coast cannabis, so look. So here are.

Okay, well. Yeah, here are, here's some shirts. Great. Yes. Oh, thank you. Shirts. are, here's some shirts. Great. Yes. Oh, thank you. Shirts. Shirts. Lovely.

And then here's some, yeah, you got some hats in there. Oh, wow. Yeah. I will wear this proudly. No, I will. Here's more merch. I think I told you once that I used your- Yes.

You know what I'm talking about? I was, I was, I was actually, somebody sent it to me and it was the line where you said, in the words of exhibit, I might leave in a body bag with no brain cuffs. For people who don't know what I'm talking about, I was at the show that signed behind you, Politically Incorrect.

That show was on for nine years, I Got Canned, which is, you know, oh my, right. This is heavy. That's a lot of weed. That's a lot of weed. So if we run out of what you brought, then we have plenty. There's a lot. Well, if we run out of what even just I bought, we'll be dead.

These are from the woods, which is the, I mean, if you've never been to the woods, it's just amazing. I mean, this one is like a pot store, because it's just a pot store in the front, which is as nice as any pot store I've ever seen. And then in the back, it has these, it goes all the way back to the next street on the block, which you don't see from when you walk in. And back there, it's like a jungle,

and there's all these cabanas. It's the best place to, if you wanna smoke it, where you bought it, there's no place like it. Absolutely. How is he smoking with Woody Harrison? Pfft. Come on, man. It's like getting violin lessons from Paganini.

I mean, he's, I mean, you know, I don't know. He's sat here and we were like literally on the floor, you know, like drooling. So that's- That's one of my bucket list items. Woody? Oh, I can arrange that. Absolutely.

You don't have to ask him twice. Yeah. All right, well let's fucking light up. Let's do that. Oh, but no, for the people are like, Bill, tell the story about what are you talking about with the... OK, so when I got canned, this is back in the day when you got canceled.

You actually got canceled while they canceled your show. Absolutely, and announced it. Yeah, it wasn't a metaphor. Yeah. Like, you're out of a job, you're fired, you're canceled. Which is fine. I had a nine-year run. I loved it. It actually was a blessing in disguise, because I like real-time.

It made more sense. It was good for when I was young and immature, and now I'm old and immature. So this suits me better. So I think, how am I going to leave this nine year trip I've been on where the show is called Politically Incorrect? And I got fired for doing what I did the whole time, which was speaking my mind. This is right after 9-11. And they thought I was with the terrorists.

I was just saying they weren't cowards, which you're not when you stick with this suicide mission. So I said, OK. And I wouldn't retract. Sorry if I hurt your feelings. So I said, okay, and I wouldn't retract, you know, sorry if I hurt your feelings, you know, and I did. I mean, the country was raw and maybe the timing was whatever, but you know, that's what the show was. So I said, what can I say?

And I guess I'd been listening to that song a lot at the time. I mean, I'm no expert in rap. I do, I mean, I love your, I mean, your. No, Bill, you are, I would say, connected to the culture in a way that is genuine. And look, I watch your show. Appreciate it.

You know what I'm saying? And I enjoy your takes, I enjoy the wittiness, and you see the forest for the trees, and you tell it how it is, and I think we miss a lot of that. Yeah. In today's perfectly brewed system of stewed shit. You know what I'm saying?

So I think it's dope that I- Oh, thank you. Yeah, I mean, I feel like- I think it's dope that you continue on. Yeah, I mean, I hear this all the time from people who, you know, basically are saying what you're saying, which is like, it's great to be an ally, but being real is almost,

it's not better, but like, it's very important to be real, even if you don't agree. Yeah, yeah. You know, and so anyway, I had to find some line, you know, when Neil Armstrong walked on the moon, not that I'm comparing my leaping politically, correct, but walking on the moon, but he had to like come up with a line,

you can't just fucking walk on the moon and go, geez, that was some shit, huh? Yeah. Neil Armstrong, who famously said, geez, that was some shit. No, so he came up with One Small Step for Mad and one, okay, great. So I was like, but I'm leaving this politically incorrect

and your song. And I know the whole, I don't know a lot. I'm not Ari. I'm not. It's the Eminem record. Yes. I'm not Ari Melber. I don't know rap songs like that.

But I do know that one. And I know that whole thing. I think it starts, well, I can't even sing it, but I'm the head African-American in charge. Yes. The way, man. Watch your move. You're found dead in your garage with 10 o'clock news coverage. And then it's like, you got love it. I exposed the facade.

Your little lungs are too small to hotbox with God. All jokes aside, come bounce with us. Standing open, you would at 12 gauge, about to bust. Like ashes to ashes and dust to dust. I might leave in a body bag, but never in cuffs. And I thought, leave in a body bag? That's theuffs. And I thought, leave in a body bag, you know, that's the message I want to leave. Standing on your principle. Yeah. Well, you know, whatever shit I said at the time,

I may not even agree with all of it now. I mean, 37-year-old me is not, or whatever I was, is not, I'm almost 70. Right. But mostly, yeah, I'm pretty much the same guy. Absolutely. And I would do the same thing. I just found a network, or they found me,

or it was just lucky we got together, where that was never really gonna be an issue again, because there were no sponsors. The show never lost its audience. It just lost the sponsors. And in commercial TV, you can't survive without sponsors. They pay the bills. Right, right.

So anyway, what did you line up there? What did you put in there? with sponsors, and in commercial TV, you can't survive without sponsors, they pay the bills. So anyway, what did you light up there? What did you put in there? What is in that dropper? Ging, I drink it. I do, I love it. It's a way to make diet soda without any chemicals. What do you drink?

Oh, you don't drink anymore. Well, I do. What are you having? Coffee. Oh, no. You don't drink liquor. Well, I do. What are you having? Coffee. Oh, no. You don't drink liquor. Yeah, I do. Oh, you do?

Yeah, but OK, so here's the thing. So I'd say maybe eight, nine months ago, I was 268 pounds. Really? You look way down from that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And so I started eating, you know, clean, getting going and, you know, getting rest, going to the gym, doing all that stuff.

Just was really not liking what I was seeing. And so now I'm down to 220, and now I'm just drinking when there's a... There's a reason to celebrate. You know what? That's almost exactly what I do. I drink here. Yeah. and never more than two. Yeah, sure. When you're my age, I'm almost 70.

Well, I mean, I'm with you, Bill, so I'm going to take a shot eventually. Great. Yeah, yeah? I'm going to take a shot eventually. Well, let's try this one from the woods. It's Lil Woody's. See that, Lil Woody's?

Yeah. And it looks like it's a substance. What is that, like a four gram? Three gram? I don't know. Those kind of things. But I mean, Woody seems to have signed it. It's very fancy.

Wow. I'd almost say gay. But I won't. So let's light this gay joint. OK, let's do that. Have a gay old time. So you got a new record coming out? Yeah, yeah, man.

I haven't put out a record since 2012. So it's important for me to go into this knowing that I have to reintroduce myself to my fans and people who may not even know I do music. The whole generation that wasn't even around. Right. Wow. Or people that just know me from doing film and TV. So Kingmaker is the title of the record and I really feel good.

There's 20 songs on there. We've been rolling it out. I partnered with Conor McGregor. He started a record label. Conor McGregor? Yes. I did not see that coming. No one did. As the kids say, I did not have that on my bingo card. When was the last time anybody played bingo? Yeah, but I think it was attractive to me because we're the first. There's no level of expectation. He is, you know, there's no real way of...

So he's rapping? No, he's not rapping. Oh. Yeah, he just, you know, he's got a group of people around him that do his investments and whatnot, and starting a label was something he really wanted to do. So he ended up, you know, getting his group together, pulled the executives in. Oh, a label? Yeah. And so we came in.

We're the first ones out. I think he signed Bone Thugs in Harmony. There's a diverse genre of music on the label. Bone Thugs, yeah, I remember them. I lost a lighter already. No, no, that's not the one. Oh yeah, the metal one. I tell you kids, don't smoke pot because this is what will happen to you.

You'll just be two washed up celebrities getting high in my basement. And I'm telling you, oh here it is, right in front of my fucking face. So that's on Conor McGregor's bucket list. Greenback Records. Start a record label. Throw a chair through a bus, start a record label. He's a bad boy. Yeah, I mean...

I don't dislike him. I just, you know, he's just a badass. He's him. Unapologetically. And I think that, you know, whether you love him or hate him, he shoots over people's heads. And I think that's what we needed to kind of get past the algorithm of, you know, ageism is in hip hop.

You get past a certain age and then they tell you, you don't belong. It's everywhere. Right. But especially music. Yeah, yeah, music is like, you know, especially in hip hop. And they say, they describe it as a young man's sport, but we music. Yeah, music is like, especially in hip hop, they describe it as a young man's sport, but we're the first of our kind.

Hip hop just turned 50-some years old, so now... I know. You know? Unbelievable. We're now crossing this threshold from the last shift change was going from cassette and vinyl into CDs and now streams, and so we've transcended into this new age and we're the first to actually experience this.

So now it's time to figure out, you know, where do we land? What do we rap about? What do we talk about? I don't talk about any of the things that I've been doing in my 20s, so I have to make it so that it's comfortable in my skin. Oh, I mean, they go through people's old tweets.

You're very fortunate that they don't go through people's old raps. Yeah. I'm just gonna say there are some advantages, my friend. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Sometimes you draw. They will one day. They could. And it wouldn't be hard to find.

No. Things that are just so misogynistic. Yeah, you can't say that shit now. I mean, Bitch Please? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Choke me, spank me, pull my hair. Like, that's one of my biggest songs. And that's the title.

Yeah, that's the title. I know. But I'm saying, Bitch please, you must have a mental disease. Yeah, assume the position and get back down on your knees. Get back down. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Not bad enough. It's like, she got up to get a glass of water and that pissed you off. Yeah, that would not win Now's Man of the Year award. Yeah, it didn't age well.

It didn't age well. It didn't age well. Really, but you know what? I make this case all the time. There's an author who wrote a book about it. He calls it Presentism. It means you don't judge people by the mores of the past because people were always just different. You're not better, you just came later.

You're not better than George Washington. Everybody had slaves in that era, including people of color in other parts of the world. They did it too. They have this big argument going, they say, well, schools aren't teaching slavery. I don't know, I grew up in New Jersey. We did in New Jersey, even in the 60s.

You know, it wasn't like the 1619 project where they defined the country, but we got the message it was wrong, and it was done, we were in the North, so it was like, oh, those assholes. Whereas, of course, the North participated in that. Correct, right. Of course, everybody was, you know,

talk about an economy built on cheap labor. Yeah, yeah, yeah, free labor. We got them saying. But I think, I think, even with that conversation, I think that the after effects of leading with slavery, especially in grade school and the way we're taught and the way it was defined and the narrative was changed.

Yeah, I think when people feel as though they've been lied to or feel as though that they have been disenfranchised, or that is definitely a real feeling for a lot of people. Oh, of course. Yeah, and I think that, you know, when you look at, when you have a conversation about slavery and the way it's introduced to us and led to us, I mean, you can see, I remember being in grade school

and having no issues with people in, you know, or racial kind of bias or whatever, but as soon as those lessons started, you could kind of see the mental shift in where it was. The pecking order was introduced. Pecking order of amongst whom? The pecking order of the mentality of the way the white kids started looking at the black kids

in the class, you know what I'm saying, and vice versa. Looking at them with guilt, scorn, superiority. Who knows, who knows? You know what I'm saying? But there was, it scorn, superiority. Who knows? Who knows? You know what I'm saying? But it was like, oh, man. See, today, it's funny, because today, the country's so divided and so different. In blue state areas, like here, if they introduce this topic,

because the way the white kids have been brought up on this subject, they're gonna be like, oh my God, we're terrible people, we're oppressors. Whereas I feel this is wrong, because kids, you didn't do it. Yeah, yeah. You had little league, you know? Right, right, right, right.

And this was many years ago. But maybe when you grew up, or still in some places in the country, where this subject comes up, maybe the white kids look at the black kids with scorn. Like, you know, safe. Yeah, I mean, but there is what I'm saying is whether those things, whether that feeling is from there or it goes into guilt or where it goes into something,

that you could tell that this was now being introduced, right? And so now you look at the systems and the things that have been, you know, I guess what we have been dealing with, you know, like from different ranges, you know, racism does exist and all that stuff, you know, but I definitely know from like grade school onto the introduction of it.

And then when you get into being an adult and you see how the disparaging differences between being able to get alone or not get alone or how you identified or singled out, that's a real thing, you know what I'm saying? So I think that, especially in this climate. It's a real thing, but some of that they can measure. Yes.

And they do. Yes. And we've got to go by measurements, not feelings. Correct. You wouldn't use the blood work in your body from 1990. You'd use it from this year. Correct. So you could look at that loan thing was certainly prevalent.

Still might be. I don't know. But when you look at the numbers, you know, especially in the last five years, people know that there's a real spotlight on this. There has been a real effort. Well, it's been turned up on purpose. Of course, and it should be. But you know, the question isn't is, are there racists?

Of course, there always will be, on both sides by the way. But of course more historically, it was not a two-sided thing. It's only recently become where yeah, you could benefit as well as suffer because we divide everything racially. Right. But the question is, you know, not whether there are still racists, of

course, this word they use systemic, how much is it in the system? Who is it holding back? And what are the real solutions? America got a real wake-up call when they thought DEI meant black people. It doesn't mean... Surprise, motherfucker! What do you mean? where they thought DEI meant black people. It doesn't mean, ha ha ha ha, surprise motherfucker. What do you mean? Ha ha ha ha. No, I mean, I think it was funny, but you know, like when they started attacking

the whole DEI thing, you know, black people weren't like the last level of that. That was, it affected so many people before it got to black people. No. Yeah. No, no, no, no. DEI programs? No, no, come on. It was there to even things out with black people.

That's what the program, diversity, equity, and inclusion. Who went first? Who jumped the line in diversity? Well, I mean, in those settings, and what they're talking about is primarily, it was like women in the workplace. Oh, well, women don't- Before it got down to-

But see, women don't need help in the workplace. That's how, very often, we're just so far locked into previous narratives that we get involved in what I keep calling zombie lies. Like, it's a zombie lie. It was true, and then it became not true, but you keep saying it. And that women, yeah, women did used to not be treated equally

and like not paid as much just because they were women and were and they were weren't avenues open to them. Women now are leading in the workplace you know they graduate more from college. It's the boys who are who are lagging behind now in those areas. You know it's like we're not living in the world where women can't get ahead. Women can't. No, I'm not saying that. I'm not saying that, but I mean,

I just think that people were trying to generalize and then it became another code word to talk about black people. Oh, but it is that too. Yeah, no, it turned into that for sure. But it wasn't quite the silver bullet that they were thinking it was. Well, they just get rid of it like three weeks ago.

Yeah, yeah. No, they did. As usual in this country, Biden over did it with DEI, and Trump is going too far in the other direction. The pendulum never stopped in the middle in this country. I think the uneducated people were thinking like, J-Rock from Compton is working at NASA. You know what I'm saying? They just ushered him in. No.

It's not that, but it's a lot of dumb shit going on out there. No, but there was, I think it was the University of Michigan, someplace like that, a college, which is already one of the most liberal places in the world, had something like 200 DEI officers. Now, come on, man. It's like, what are they doing? What needs to be done?

Uh-oh. No, I know. It's okay. No, no, no. Let's face it. After a night with drinks, I don't bounce back the next day like I used to, and I hate to waste a day. So I have to make a choice. I can either have a great night or a great next day. That is until I found pre-alcohol Zebiotics. Zebiotics pre-alcohol

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Zbiotics is backed with 100% money back guarantee, so if you're unsatisfied for any reason, they'll refund your money, no questions asked. Remember to head to zbiotics.com slash random and use the code random at checkout for 15% off. The way the world is going everybody could use therapy but a lot of people I know who really need to complain that it costs a fortune, that it's time-consuming because of the back-and-forth and sometimes is a mismatch with their personality. Well, this shouldn't be that complicated. That's why today's sponsor, RULA, was formed. RULA

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From there, RULA matches you with in-network providers who fit your criteria. You can book your first session and start your journey to better mental health as soon as the next day. Head over to RULA.com at slash random to begin. That's R-U-LA.com. slash random. Because better mental health should be accessible, affordable, and easy. Thousands have already trusted RULA to support them on their journey toward improved mental health and overall well-being. Head on over to RULA.com. slash random to get started today. After you sign up, they ask where you heard about them.

Please support our show and tell them our show is who sent you. Go to rula.com slash random and take the first step towards better mental health today. You deserve quality care from someone who cares. What is your ringtone? I just have the regular shit. I don't really change much

on it. Yeah. So it's not something we wouldn't expect. No, no. Peter Gabriel. Ann Murray's Snowbird. No, I just I really don't do a lot on there, man. I just get phone calls. Yeah, I don't either. Yeah, it's just... So you said before that you... So interesting about the, I think, the... Subjects that, you know, are so different from... When was your first album? 90s? My first album was 96.

96, okay, so yes. Wow, that's, I mean, that's a ways. That's almost 30 years. Yeah, 96, yeah. Okay, so yes, and in 96, I mean, certainly all the misogyny and like all that shit was fair game. Right, right. Now, and so what are the subjects now that have replaced it, I guess, is what I'm getting

at? Because when you cut down a tree and you see the rings in it, you can tell how old that tree is. When I started my records, I was kicking and screaming. I was very angry, so I was kinda... You hear it in your voice. Yeah, I found a safe place for me to kick and scream and not hurt myself and others. And so that was like my therapy almost.

So hip hop, I feel, saved my life. But I was 19, 20 years old making those records. So now being able to, you know, go back and listen, you could tell what the environments, you could tell when I got paid, you could tell when I, you know, was frustrated, you could tell when things got hard, you could tell when things were great,

you could hear it in the music. You can't in your voice. Right, right. And I think now fast forward to 2025, the things. I feel like all hear it in the music. You can't in your voice. Right, right. And I think now fast forward to 2025, the things. I feel like all of it, I mean, I'm sure I don't know everything you've ever done, but I heard a lot. And I feel like you're almost always,

I mean, I wouldn't even say angry. I would just say forceful and energetic. Aggressive. Aggressive, which is kind of what I'm asking about. When you take away some of these things, they're the things that inspire aggression. It's harder to have that sound if you're rapping about how great your marriage is.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I think, you know, like now, I still like aggressive music. I still deliver aggressive, but I found my voice in the sense of not the tone or the projection of it, but what I'm supposed to be saying and how I'm supposed to be saying it.

Like I feel I was very doubtful. That was, I had a lot of doubt in my early records. I didn't know. I was trying to compete. I didn't really know what I was going for. I just knew the kind of music I liked to make and I would just say what I thought sounded good. But now when you speak with purpose

and you speak with drive and you speak with conviction, it feels different, it lands different. It feels good saying it. I hope you go to the style of the, I mean again, no great expert, but like, that's X, is one of the greats of all time. Thank you, man, thank you. Just for name checking, Walter Cronkite.

Yeah, yeah. But no, just that, is that Dr. Dre? Yeah, that was Dr. Dre's gosh torch Okay, cuz if he has a very distinctive sound I would say he's the he's the Phil Spector of rap Yes, we call him the chairman of the board. I'm sure you should I mean Jones of our generation Yeah, absolutely because he just I mean that sound on that record the same sound on bitch Please yes, so yeah the same sound on Bitch Please, or two. The same sound on the one, the great one I love,

that Mary J. Blige, I mean, normally not my favorite. Yeah, yeah. Right, right, not that I don't love songs about having your period, but like, you know, Family Affair, is that what, you know. Yeah, Family Affair, absolutely. I bought the whole album, which was one of the Breast Boy albums, and like, there's nothing else on that album

that like that records. It's like the single, and then a bunch of songs, like, oh, this, but that one, dun, dun, dun. Yeah. Yeah, that sound is really, again, someone who's heart-frumping, next one really gets you. No, I mean, your ears don't lie to you, you know?

I mean, and music touches your soul. And, you know, so the frequencies that Dre knows and that he produces with and he, you know, pushes through the board are extraordinary. You know, when the Chronic first came out, you never heard a record sound like that. And then, you know, it became this standard that people were trying to figure out how you made everything

sound the way it was and everything. You could hear all these different sounds, but each sound had a specific place. It's crazy. It appeals to someone like me from my era because it's melodic. And it's got that great beat. It's got something that, to me, it's the most sophisticated kind of style because it brings in me. Yes.

Not all rap can. Just because, come on, a 70-year-old white guy? Yeah. You're 70? Next year. Oh, dude, you're fucking amazing. I'll finish your thought. Come on, man. Thank you. No, dude, you're fucking amazing, man. I'll finish your thought. Come on, man.

Thank you. No, I'm serious. It's the weed. Yeah, yeah. It's the weed of never getting mad. That's what it is. Kids are great, I'm sure. I hear.

I hate them. But even at best, you would have to admit, they do suck the life out of you. They do. They suck you of money, of time, of attention, of patience, right? I mean, they just must suck the life out of you. I think that's what it is for me.

Yeah, I was dad at 19. My oldest was born at 19. Took you so long. Oh, yeah. Well, you know. Were you gay? No, no. 19? ha, ha, ha. 19?

Yeah. I'm kidding. Yeah, and then, you know. Was that a boy or a girl? It's a boy. He's 28 now. Wow. How do you relate?

I always tell him. Just like buddies now, because he's a grown man. No, no, no. He's still very much father son. Good. Good. I was telling just like buddies now because he's no no no it's still very much father-son good Good and and I always tell them, you know when he was old enough that we always grew up together You know, we we kind of grew up together My father was a military guy. Oh, yeah. Yeah, so he was in the Marine Corps

Hello, and he And he did two tours in Vietnam. And then you met my mother in Michigan State. And then we went in. Oh, Michigan State. Yeah. Yeah, and then here we come, me and my sister. So my mother passed when I was nine. She passed. And then my dad kind of, he got remarried,

but it didn't really work. But for the most part, my dad raised me. So he was. Oh, yeah. Oh for the most part, my dad raised me. So, you know, he was. Oh yeah, oh yeah. He was kind of like a single dad? Yeah, yeah. Well, I mean, no, he was married, but then it kind of broke up.

And then, you know, so it was me and him for a while. I bet he was strict. He was strict, but he was also, you know, doing the best he could with what he had. No, I'm not against strict. I always get along well with people who had military parents, including women. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

No, really. I think it's because they're not brats. They just were not raised like other people. I wasn't coddled. Not coddled. Somebody slapped the snot out of them the first time they were like other people. I wasn't coddled. Not coddled. Somebody slapped the snot out of them the first time they were like a brat. And sometimes you move around a lot

when the parent is military. So you kind of have to learn matters, because you're always the new kid. No, that was the standard. You know, respect, being able to conduct yourself with some self-discipline. Right. You know, just a to conduct yourself with some self-discipline. Right. You know, just a moral compass that a lot of my friends didn't have.

Right. And so, it was dope to be able to have that relationship with him. It was kind of tight when we were kids, but then when I started making music and started doing shit with my life, and you know, he was worried about me, but we turned it around and did something though. You know, so we had a really great relationship up until he passed. And so I have that relationship with my young. There's always been boundaries and respect and, you know,

I wasn't as hard on him as my dad was on me, but those principles are still there. And I believe that, you know. It had to happen that way. Yeah, I mean, he must be very proud. Yeah, he was. I mean, what do the kids say when you, who's your father?

Exhibit. No, really. What? Really, come on. Yeah, yeah. I mean, that's cooler than most kids have to offer. Now, were you hoping he'll become a nepo, baby? Aw, man.

Come on. Yo, he actually was doing music for a while. He still does music. But I told him he can't be a starving artist. You have to work until your dreams come true. You can't just chase your dreams and just wing it. You know, you have to do something. And so, because my kids aren't built like me,

I was out there, crash test dummy, you know, in the street. And so, I don't want that for my children. I don't want them to experience that. I don't want them to have any parts of that. So they're gonna have different challenges and I welcome those. Yeah, cause they're gonna be nothing like the ones I had. Yeah, and kids need to be challenged

and they need to learn that failure happens. Yeah. You only do them no favors when you prevent them from experiencing that all through childhood because it's gonna happen at some point in life. At some point you're not even gonna be there. But even before that, you know, I mean look, I guess every generation looks back

at the younger generation and says this, but by God it just seems true that they just are not tough. No, they come from the immediate gratification entitlement feeling. And I always tell my boys, my biggest fear is I leave this planet without you all knowing how to provide for yourself. So you'll always be looking for a handout or help or a pusher. I want you to be driven and I want you to follow through on things, you know, whether I help you or not.

My job is to make sure that you know how to lace up your fucking boots and get kicking at the day. And I try to show that by example. And there's other ways I get around it, but I try to get the message where it's not forced. So does that point of view come through on the record? Absolutely. Really? Absolutely.

I think there's a lot of mindless music out now. There's a lot of fluff. Always has been. Yeah, always has been. But now I think there's a direct concentration of what's focused on and what's available and accessible. When you go from people physically putting on clothes and jumping in their cars and going to a record store

and picking up an album, having that physical experience with it has been changed. So now, you know, the scrolling, the able to pick through a record and, you know, really not have to leave your whatever you're doing, you can kind of get any record in the world. And then it's all boiled down to this, you know, these couple streaming services squeezing out the mom and pop, squeezing out that experience. So now, you know, you're boiled down to what's happening on your phone and a live experience.

And, you know, it's sad to the attention span of the audience is a lot shorter. And during the live show, it's also the phone. Yeah, they're holding up the phone, not even having the experience that they paid to see. That, to me, is frightening. I watched the Taylor Swift concert because Nikki Glaser was here and she made me.

Mm-hmm. She insisted that I was missing something. Yeah. Spoiler alert, I am not. Yeah. But that doesn't mean, I don't think she's, I'm a great admirer. I mean, just, you gotta just,

the level of success is just astounding. But so I watched it. No, I'm sorry, I don't get the music. But everybody, every song, when they show the crowd, when they pan out to the crowd, or when you see the crowd behind, it's almost all just through phones. I mean, you see the light in the phone,

and I'm just thinking, well, we have kind of passed this AI point. Ray Kurzweil wrote that book years ago, and he said, 2028, I think, he called it the, I forget, the reckoning or something where it meant, this is the moment when humans and machines sort of- Merge. Merge.

And we're kind of there in a lot of ways. The phone is the sort of bridge to that moment. And look, we have machine parts in us already. But not that one. Not that one. So I've kind of watched this thing go from like a landline with the rotary phone, and then it turned into the handheld. And then it turned into this, now,

do you remember the brick mobile phones? Yes. Yeah, it was a big deal. And then that thing. And then there's the cell phone, but that's not a smartphone, a dumb cell phone. Right, the flip phones, the pagers. This thing has literally unplugged itself from the wall,

crawled over to us, and fucking connected to us. And right now it's a physical connection because we can put it up and put it down. But now that thing is on, when it jumped to the Apple Watch, I was like, oh, they got us. But why do you, you don't have to? I don't. No, me neither.

That's me, it's so stupid. No way, fuck that. Oh, I don't. No, I mean, that's me. So still like, fuck that. Oh, I'm gonna check my watch to see what's on my phone. Like, what the fuck? I mean, how many steps do you need to put in? Club Random is brought to you by the audio marketing gurus at Radioactive Media. Congratulations, you survived 2024.

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Terms and conditions apply. No, no, it's just part of the crawling process. You're right that it's still there, but it's sort of also not. It's almost connected to their hand. I think they did a poll, yes, I'm sure they did, because I think we did a joke about it, where like one in 10 Gen Z said they would like cut off

a finger before they couldn't hold it, or something like that. Like literally, we're moving toward that. And I think I told this story recently here, but forgive me if you know it. I know as a kid sister, who first boyfriend, they're like 17, they go to sleep at night, not in the same bedroom, but with the phone on all night, on like FaceTime. Yeah. Okay. That's the dumbest shit ever. on like, you know, FaceTime. Okay, this is- Dumbest shit ever.

To us, it is. But to them, it is not. And just on the subject of moving toward this singularity, that's the name of the book, singularity, when we become one with the machines. And this guy was right about a lot of things, like when the Soviet Union would fall. And I think he's got it pretty close.

You know, I mean, we are, and it could happen before then. Yeah. We're talking about the chip, the processor? Just like, you know, it starts with the calculator. A calculator. I mean, we didn't have those when I was in school, but that's why you had to learn your multiplication thing. Right.

And then you, now everybody has a, I mean, I don't think the kids can do it because they don't need to. Why would you? Right. You have it right there. You could just say, Suri, what's six times four? Whatever it is.

But if I take your phone, you can't do shit. Right, but that's the singularity. You are one. I mean, Google glasses are kind of that. Yeah, that's another thing, the watching the glasses, they're on us now. They're on you. They're becoming part of you.

And again, watching the concert, everybody, why can't they just watch Taylor Swift? Why do you need to see her through a phone? Because you've given up the ability and the choice to use your memory. Instead, this is better. I don't have to remember it. Now I can just have it forever.

Whoever fucking watches a concert back on their phone, nobody. Well, the thing is now attention is the new drug, in my opinion. You're right. Attention is new drug and people want to be judged by their experiences and what they portray on Facebook and TikTok and IG. And it's pretty interesting to see people have this life that they can project to the world. And then it may be a total different thing,

but everybody wants to project the TV show. It's like everybody's on a Truman show now. Literally, people get up to post themselves and show, I can't do that. Even though I do music and I go do things for entertainment, I don't like the attention. We're from a different era where we want this bright wall between public and private.

They don't. Like I wanna say goodnight and then go in the door and like not have it on, you know? Take off my super suit. Right, yeah. No, they don't get that. That's not even desirable. Which is why sometimes that generation doesn't fight for free speech, for privacy,

because the great sin is not losing privacy. The great sin is losing publicity. Yeah, yeah, everything needs to be projected. I hate that. I think it's weird. I don't wanna know, you know what I'm saying? Everything needs to be projected. I hate that. I think it's weird. I don't wanna know, you know what I'm saying? Like people splurting all kinds of personal shit on me. I hate that, you know what I'm saying? Do you think your kids have been captured

by that mentality? I think, I think my youngest spends a lot of time on that kind of stuff, but his whole friends circle are in that. And it's tough, it's tough, because I know there's gonna be a lot of deprogramming that needs to happen once he grows out of that.

Well, I think you're the man to do it. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm here. I'm here to do it. You are the man to do it. Yeah, yeah, I will be. No, I know you will. And you're not married? Oh. Oh, take a big hit on that one.

You're not, you are. I am in the middle, or no, I'm at the end of a very rough divorce. Yes. Is there any other kind? It's rough. It's been going on for four years. And you know, you know what?

That is a long time. Yeah, you don't get to, you don't get to, I don't think you really know somebody until you divorce them. What a great line. No, really. How did nobody ever say that before? That, and I've never been married, but that so rings true,

because I sure have lived through divorces with every male friend I've ever had, and some of the female. Don't know. But you don't know somebody until you divorce. Yeah. Did you ever see the movie Marriage Story? It was a Netflix movie.

It's with Adam Driver. Yes, yes, I did see that. Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson. I mean, I thought it was brilliant. It really should be called Divorce Movie, because it's about a couple that's married, and then as soon as the movie starts, they seem happy at first, and then the divorce starts.

And you know, it all starts, and I feel the movie rang true with people, because it's the way it is. It starts with, okay, once you get over the we're splitting up, then they go through this phase of let's be civil about it. And little by little, it's a back and forth, you know, they get a lawyer who blah, blah, blah, and then, oh, okay, well, if you're going to fight that way until they have that scene, it's one of the most riveting scenes I've ever seen in a movie, where it just builds over 10 minutes.

They're divorced and she comes over to his apartment, which of course he doesn't really wanna be living in a small apartment, but he has to because of the settlement. It starts out very simple. And can you take the kids on this weekend? Oh, I would, but blah, blah, blah. And it just builds to, I found that one,

you know, the nastiest, I hope you get hit by a bus. And not that I needed another reason not to get married, but when I saw that, it's like, that people can be that bad to each other. And you know, I think when things go out the window and boundaries are crossed and saying things you can't come back from, it sucks. You know what I'm saying?

I don't know if I'd ever get married again. You know? I am with someone, but not married, you know? And I think that's safe to say. You know, if you fuck with me, you'll be in the will. You know what I'm saying? I'll be there. Ash used to ashes.

Yeah. Ha ha ha ha ha. Well. Ha ha ha ha ha. Like, I mean, fuck it. I'm gonna know at that point. Ha ha ha ha ha. You know, the next line in that hook you sang there

was like, wasn't it about shooting with Puff? Yes. Yes. Whatever happened to him? What you doing now, Puff Daddy? Puff. Yes. Yes. Whatever happened to him? What you doing now, Puff Daddy? Puff Daddy? Yeah. But that's who you were referring to.

Yes, yeah, absolutely. Yeah, the nightclub shooting where Shine was at. I call it a bathroom misunderstanding. I don't know if we need to call it a nightclub shooting. I was online, I thought it was the other line. It happens all the time. Nightclubs are funny, Blake. He's got quite a bit going on.

Did you ever go to one of those parties? Well, it's a yes or no question, sir. Well, okay, so look, I was invited and I was there for like an hour and then I had to leave. Because? Well, I just, you know, it was, I think it was the person I came with. So, you know, it didn't work out. It ended up being a good thing. We were in and out of there, so. Yeah, I guess you don't know someone

until you've been to a freak-off. I mean, that's not as good as your thing about divorce. Yeah, yeah. No, it's true, you know, you get to know, you don't really, we all live in a very high civilization, especially if you look through history, I mean, my God. People take for granted everything we have. I mean, the phone, we're mocking it,

but I mean, it is a pretty amazingly great thing when you wanna order food or just call somebody or just texting. I think about all the time I wasted in my life having to make a phone call and then chit chat. Yeah, you get a bullshit for like 10 minutes and then you get to the point and then another 10 minutes to talk about shit.

And there you go, hour. It was like what you had to do with your drug dealer. Yeah. You had to like pretend. Ah, I know exactly what you're talking about. Yeah, yeah. Oh shit, absolutely correct. That's when I was first out of college trying to,

starting my life in the clubs as a comedian, you know, barely getting on stage, certainly not making any money from it. I was a pot dealer. I had this, I locked into a connection. Yeah. Was it with that press, the press stuff, or was a pot dealer. I had this, I locked into a connection. Yeah.

Was it with that pressed, the pressed stuff, or was it like buds? Pressed, I never, there was one time, that was college, when I was a pot dealer in college, that's where I got our dealer, the college dealer. Some dealers. He once got us Acapulco Gold. I mean we sold whatever he sold us.

We were the low of men on the totem pole. But I went from never smoking to selling it in six months. Because it was the only way I could afford it. It'll do that. I remember buying a pound and then dividing it into 17 ounces. I see what you did there. I would call that the head tag. So who's gonna weigh there?

So it's a little less. But it was a great business. But Acapulco Gold came in a brick. I can see it. And it was gold. It was gold. And I've tried to find it ever since. I couldn't ever. And it was different.

I mean, it was awesome. It was light. There was something about Acapulco Gold. So if anyone out there would like to contact me, but why don't we ever see Acapulco Gold? I think those, I mean, you gotta think back in the day, you know, they had the, they had sativas and whatnot when they started cross-breeding them.

And then, remembering was just stress and chronic. That was the only two types of weed, especially out here in California. Then the Kush came along, and that was the first one with a name, and then it became all these other things I think that when people started growing indoors and really cultivating and going at that became like the Boutique that became like the the top tier and so so the press weed that was getting sent over from you know

wherever it was coming from It just did it seeks to is that the taste that people didn't want that. I was stressed that we don't want that. So eventually it phased out because now, the more they produced the indoor and people, that was up for demand, it kinda squeezed out the bullshit strains. All right, well, there was nothing bullshit

about Acapulco Gold. I really feel there should be like a section, what am I saying, I own a pot store. Okay, I'm gonna have to get this done tomorrow. Find the strain, somebody has it somewhere. Well, I think there should be a whole movement toward like pot classic. Tie stick, another pot classic.

Remember this strain from 1978? Yeah. The beanjies were on the charts and people were smoking red herring. Right. Panama Red. That's another one. Yes. Panama Red. Yeah, that is real. Acapulco Gold. Yes. And tie stick. Those, I remember the tie stick came with a little string around it. Yeah, yeah, exactly. It was like, oh. I never got into that.

It didn't work for me. I was just like, ugh. Tie stick? Yeah. Maybe I had, somebody gave me some bullshit because I just never had a great experience with it. Right, I don't remember it being special. I remember the Acapulco Gold being special.

So then when I got out of college, I was first living in New York. I just lucked into a high school friend, introduced, I don't know, I don't know why, I can't remember why, but this guy, who lived in Connecticut, and I think like his brother or something must have been in the mob. I got him like for free,

because it was like a really great price. And I would take the train from Grand Central up to Connecticut, a town, a very toney town in Connecticut. I won't say which one. Get off at the train station. I was carrying a briefcase, which I was gonna take the two pounds of pot back in. Stupidly, like I was dressed like the bum I was,

and I had this, like, businessman's briefcase, thinking I wouldn't stick out. You know, so, and I would walk from the train station, it was like a mile and a half to his house, and I would just really want to get the pot, give him my... Yeah, you'd turn around and go. But you had to make the conversation.

Oh my God. He was a nice guy. Yeah. And. Well what do you want to talk about? He was kind of a hippie. He had a wife who was kind of like busting his balls for smoking too much. I remember once she was like,

he was like saying to her, she was like standing in the kitchen, it's like, I swear to God, I haven't had any today. She's she was like he was like saying to her she was like standing in the kitchen saying I Swear to God I haven't had any today and she said I can see it on your teeth So you got to watch Edith and Archie go back Pothead if they can see it on your teeth Like a little, like at the end of that, something like an ash or some shit, it was like, you know, I can see the pots.

But that kind of saved my bacon in those early years. You know, I mean, I needed, the only way I could have, I had even the shitty apartment I had, because comedians don't make money, right? I'm sure nobody, I mean, you did. No, I mean, you did. No, I mean, it's the same thing.

What did you make, mix tapes at first? No, I never made a mix tape. Really? And I never made a demo. When I came here, I came, I was born in Detroit. I lived in New Mexico, Albuquerque, for like seven years. Wow. And then from there, I came to California.

And when I got to California, that's where I first met Keen T and Alcoholics. They were the first people I met were record deals. And they took me to Keen T and the Alcoholics. Oh, not actual Alcoholics. No, no, no. No, it's a group called the Alcoholics. I see. Yeah, yeah. That's putting your t called out, dog. That's right. Yeah, yeah. That's that. That's, that's, that's, oh.

Okay. That's putting your tits on the glass, all right. Okay, I'll take a shot for that. Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah!

All right, salute, salute. Oh, great to see you. Yeah, absolutely. Here you go. Salute. Okay. All right, salute, salute. Oh, great to see you. Yeah, absolutely. Here you go. Salute. OK. Thank you so much for coming by. I was so looking forward to this all week.

And you know. Oh, yeah. And I don't know where it was when I feel like the only other time I saw you is when I told you about the thing I told you about tonight, that I used your line there. And I don't know when that was, but that probably was almost 20 years ago or something. I mean... And we're still here, man.

Knock wood. It's still early tonight. I mean, yeah, but, you know, like, I wouldn't trade even this age because I'm just smarter and don't make so many stupid mistakes. And that makes up, I think, I don't know, if I could spend a day in my 30-year-old body, maybe I'd be like, oh no, I forgot how awesome it is. But I don't feel like I basically do anything

that differently than I ever did. You know, I still run around and stuff that may end tomorrow or something and I'm sure I don't run as fast. But the bigger difference I feel is in my mind. And you're just so stupid. It's just so. Wasted a lot of time, resources. I get it.

Wasted time, bad decisions. Oh, horrible decisions. But those are the best ones, though. You know what I'm saying? Especially if you can learn from them. You know? I don't know what you're saying. Every choice comes with an invoice, right?

And so we- Great line. Yeah, so we have to understand that, you know, my dad used to tell me, you have to suffer the natural and logical consequences for your behavior. I knew some of these things I wasn't supposed to be doing, but it was like, I'm gonna try it, because I might have a different outcome. He don't know what he talking about.

After about 150,000 of those, oh, he knew what he was talking about. You kind of like fall into a different type of mind state. Now, when you first touch money, like when I first touched money, I did all the things that are exactly the opposite of what I was supposed to do. We ain't got a car, we ain't got a watch,

we ain't got a chain, we ain't got a watch, we ain't got a chain, we ain't got this and that. For the appearance of success, without actually being in the black, you know? Right. Yeah, and so it was a learning curve. Everybody does it. Everybody does it. I mean, and also, somebody once said this,

and I keep trying to remember who the celebrity was, but whoever he is out there, please tell me. Somebody said, when you become famous, you get a year to act like an asshole. Now, I may have taken two. I may have taken 10. You know what I'm saying? I may have done 10.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I may have too. Rocket fuel. You know, people understand, Yeah, yeah, yeah. I may have two. Rocket fuel. You know, people understand. Like, that shit is great. It's a great feeling. It is a great feeling. Also, there's sometimes some bitterness

because of who held you back or didn't believe in you. There's a little chip on your shoulder about, oh, you didn't let me in this club, you know, now you have to. Yeah, exactly. Not that, I mean, I never started any shit. Yeah. I mean, I wasn't in the club with Puff. Yeah, yeah.

About to bust. Me either, it was a great line, you know. It was, but you weren't there that night. No, hell no. Yeah, no. You were just friendly. I've actually been kind of unscathed. As a hip hop artist, there can be a lot of crash landings.

You know, but I've relatively been, you know, really true to character and that speaks volumes and allows me to walk in a lot of doors. And I haven't had a lot of that kind of stuff. Once I'd left that stuff behind as a kid and I got into a professional setting, some people don't know how to read the room. I, yeah, yeah.

You sure don't. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I was able to understand that my environment was changing. Right. These people don't, you know, you can't, we're not here on the block, you know what I'm saying? Like, we're here to do business

and make sure that we are building something. You have to grow age-wise with your audience. Your core audience is aging. The audience that you started with when they were very young, they want to love you because there's an emotional connection when you connect at that young age. The first song you got laid to.

It's always gonna be. You partied with your friends to this. This is your song. This was on your ringtone. This was what you grew up with. This is part of your DNA. And I get that. But I also, you know, when making this record,

I wanted to not only have a transfer of information, these are the ideals, these are the self-discipline, these are the motives, these are the way I operate, the moral compass I use. All this is kind of built into the album, calling it Kingmaker. So now I'm handing this over to people who are willing to listen.

And now you can do with it what you will. And that's the image behind Kingmaker. It has nothing to do with me sitting on the throne or feeling like a royalty. Like this is like serious, yeah. That's not what a Kingmaker is. Right. That's the king. Right.

A Kingmaker. Yeah. You know, that's the guy behind the throne. But that's what I'm saying. I think the listener is who I'm trying to empower. So that's why I said, here are the tools. I don't want to be king. I want to be a soldier.

Soldiers kill kings. So explain this to me as someone who maybe should know this, but I'm just, you know, I love that I can talk to you as frankly as I can. Like, I don't get the Kendrick Lamar Drake fuse. What I don't get is like, what? Why? Should I stop? No.

What? What's so funny? I feel like you're laughing at me. No. No? With me? Near me? Yes. You're laughing near me. I'm laughing with you.

Okay. All right. I just think it's the way that you work. I was expecting like that was a left turn like a motherfucker. When I said, when I told HBO I was doing a podcast, they asked. They said, it'd be nothing like real time. I will never plan anything. And I've lived up to that pledge, believe me. OK, what don't you understand about it?

OK, so I figure out why it was brought to my mind. But whatever you said, what I don't understand is, OK, Kenrick Lamar, I'm not going to pretend that I really know his music at all. Understood, yeah. That's not kind'm not gonna pretend that I really know his music at all. Understood, yeah. That's not kind of like the kind that I was describing. I think that's more melodic, you know? Okay.

So, but what I get is that, you know, he's sort of the great tribune of social justice at the moment. Like, he's taking more serious. He won a Nobel Prize, right? Right? Okay, so he's not rapping about the booty. I'm sure they're not gonna give you So I feel like okay, here's this great Nobel Prize winning poet of social justice, but his obsession is to have a fight with another rapper. If social justice is really that big an issue.

That is a super, that is such a super look at the perception that is from where you're at. Right. Okay, so I'm trying to figure out how to explain this to you in the best way you can understand it. Okay, okay. So, there's, Drake is the empire. So, there's, Drake is the empire, okay?

And Kid Drake is Luke Skywalker. This is, there was David and Goliath. I know very little about Star Wars, I'm telling you right now. Okay, fuck. Okay, there's a Democrat in the Republican. I get it that Drake is sort of the softer one. And he's more than- No, I wouldn't say softer.

I think that- Well. I think, I would explain it like this. Drake was, for a decade, if not more, arguably the largest selling. Oh yes, yeah, no. His presence in the music, in the world, it was huge. And did not he also, even more important perhaps,

change what was fashionable in rap? Made it a little more emo? He brought a lot of, he made a lot of records for women and you know, those ballads and keeping that fan base young and energized and you know, like he became really, you know, a different guy from the way he started, right? Was he a certified lover boy or was that grandfathered? I have no idea about what he's doing with his boy. You know, that don't sound right. But I don't know what he's doing.

But I never saw anything that proved he was a pedophile. There's been no court. There's been nobody brought brought any cases against him. Obviously, it's possible, especially in the music industry. But I guess it's possible for anybody. And so to like a, maybe it's well known within the industry. There's a clip of like him talking to a 14 year old girl on the stage and that was suspect.

And then, you know, it was- On the stage? On the stage. And we hear what he's saying? Okay, yeah, he's hear what he's saying. What is it, come back to my room? No, I wouldn't say that. Well, we heard it, what is it?

I don't remember what it is. I just know that's where that comes from, that clip. Well, I don't- And then he was talking to- It must have been something. I don't think it was, what are your opinions on the Don Boss? No, no, I just don't.

It was something that made your eyebrow raise. Okay. Right? And then he was talking to the Millie Bobby Brown girl about relationship shit. And you know, it's just, you know, and people like to run with things, right? So really it started from a feature,

and we'll probably never know when JAB started or whatever, but it boiled over into this thing where it became this David and Goliath moment. And what you're seeing and why people are celebrating it so much is that this big, huge machine and this so-called rapper from Compton, that yes, he has success, but he's not as big as us.

No, but hardly David. Right, right. Well, I mean, compared to the way you view things. Sure. And the perception. Again, this is all about opinion and perception. Everyone's always rooting for the rebel against the mainstream guy.

Somebody has to be the man. Somebody has to be the establishment. Or else it's no fun. You know, who are you going to shake your fist at? But it just seemed... Yeah, but it blew up, and it turned into something that, you know... Well, it blew up because he kept taking records about it. And he would never stop singing it.

And he sang it at the Super Bowl. And like, you know, it's just, I thought, well, he's definitely not going to sing it at the Super Bowl. He made his point. No, he did that shit. Oh, I understand. But I thought he would say to himself, you know, I've made my point.

It's just going to look like overkill. But no, it was like, let's have some overkill. OK, again, I would not want to be someone who, if I was innocent of this crime, because it's a pretty serious thing to level at somebody. You kind of have to really know for sure, don't you? No. Are you kidding? I'm not kidding. Hold on, hold on.

No, I understand. Pedophile? No, no, listen. Listen. This is a rap battle. Yes. This is not, you know, testimony or deposition. You know what I'm saying?

This is a fucking rap battle. I'm going to talk about your mama, I'm going to talk about your daddy, I'm going to talk about your mama, I'm gonna talk about your daddy, I'm gonna talk about your children, I'm gonna talk about everything, I'm gonna talk about your grandma's wooden leg, I'm gonna talk about your missing teeth. Right. It's all a game, right? So, you know, like, we're pretty savvy enough to say,

like, if there was something weird going on, then there would definitely be people that will come forward and and testify and do that and then people will be charged for that but when you when you playing the dozens yeah and I and I give you one that hurts your feelings right you know don't be the guy who wants to fight because I got a good joke. You know what I'm saying? That's quite a joke. Wow. It's... I mean, I think when you're in a rap battle, the option is to either bow out gracefully

or to come back with something harder. So you're saying we're not for the suit, the Drake? No, there's no suing it. Well, Drake sued his own record company. Yeah, I understand. But he's basically saying that you did something for someone else that you used to do for me, and here's how I know. Say that again? You're doing the same thing that you're doing for him you used to do for me, and I'm blowing a whistle now.

I see. Yeah. You're boosting this and boosting that. What I mean, I think, but there's that, that's not true. Like the world loves that song, you know? Okay, but does it not, my question is, does it not leave one with the impression

that maybe things aren't so bad if we can divert our attention to this seemingly internet scene battle between two rappers that really is, you know, just performing. It's just for- It was, like, people get into it all the time in hip hop. But that was significant, because now we have

this thing, this thing in hip hop, it was like, you know, is it skill over success? Is it the money versus the culture? These things have never had the opportunity to clash because it was always overshadowed by the profit, by the money that was made. So it didn't matter what your opinion was, but now we have somebody that really doesn't,

you know, live in the same lane. They're big. But is it culture versus capitalism? Is it real hip hop, quote unquote, versus commercial hip hop? Or it was like a heavyweight fight. So will there be further publicity hate to be made out of a rapprochement?

Listen. Don't you think? I think the people that tune into part two and part three of different boxing matches, as long as if they keep going at each other, what I'm pretty sure to be subliminally and then on and on and on. And hopefully, it stays entertainment.

Whatever lawsuit, whatever, that's new territory for me. I've never seen that before. I'm anxious to see how it pans out as well. But when I introduced that to the Gladiator arena? Like, come on, dude. People do like Gladiators. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, you're in a fight, bro. They just remade the movie.

Yeah, yeah. They did, I mean, that's what, most movies are some variation of. Yeah, why are they remaking all of the classics? Like, I would love to see something new. But then, you know, you see it on Netflix, and same thing happened to music when CDs were bootlegged. I mean, I feel like I remember a record of yours where you, and this is really a long time ago,

20, you know, again, that 20 year period, where you were saying hip hop is hollow. Yes. And, okay, so what year was that? It was like back the way it was, or there was some. Back to the way it was. Back to the way it was. Yeah, yes, yes, yes, back to the way it was.

And it was like, I feel like you said hip hop was hollow. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And that was the way it was. Back to the way it was. Yes, yes, yes, back to the way it was. I feel like you said hip hop was hollow. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And that was the theme of it. Which is, so why? Because I feel like that's when it You can hold your breath Got harder. Till you're blue in the face.

But you can never ever take my place. Yes, yes I remember that. Cause right now hip hop is hollow. With no substance. Expl explained with the roughness, because such sex just sucks sometimes, and many of us, the way we act, we even lost our minds. Yes, I remember that. Well.

So, what's your feeling on that 20 years on? Like, was that of that moment, or did you get it back? I feel like I'm a hip hop purist. that moment or did you get it back? I feel like I'm a hip hop purist. And when I say purist, I mean I believe in the five elements of hip hop. I believe in graffiti, break dancing, MC, DJ. I've never heard that there were five. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

There's one more. There's one more. I'm tripping. I guess fashion. Fashion. How ironic. The one we forgot. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

All of those things. Weed is pretty important. Absolutely. It's part of the culture. It's very. But weed has been part of music forever, right? Like even the blues, jazz singers, you know, like yeah, they all had a relationship.

Well, that's not forever, no. I mean, I don't know if Mozart was... Yeah, he probably got high. Uh... He was kind of crazy to begin with. Yeah, yeah. But they used to do cocaine freely back then, like, you know what I'm saying?

Like, it was like medicine. I don't think in Europe in the 17th century they were doing cocaine. I could be wrong. Maybe they got, the blow got into Europe, but I don't think so. I think that's because I think it was always- They didn't have cocaine. Well, I don't think it was grown in the Middle East, which it was- Maybe they had like opium or something.

Yes. No, they had, well, different things. Well, first of all, in Islam, drug use, you don't go to rehab. You go to pirates. Yeah, yeah, yeah. There's no in between. Very harsh.

But in Africa, East Africa, I think mostly, they'd kat. Do you ever hear that? It's K-H-A-T, kat. Yeah, it's a lot like cocaine. They give it to the soldiers to chew before they go into battle, gonna get you. Like cocaine in the same sense of if you just chew the cocoa leaf,

it's not the kind of high we know from cocaine. Right. You know, it's cool, but it's not that shitty, buzzy, talking man like me. You're not? Thank God it wasn't a cocaine addict, because you definitely don't want to have to talk to the cocaine dealer. The pot dealer's bad enough, but not the one on cocaine. You'll be there for three hours. Yeah.

But no, they, I mean, every part of the world, yes, I think, has something that makes you high. I mean, the Romans said wine, women, and song. And I think sex, drugs, and rock and roll is like 2,000 years later. Yeah, they go hand in hand. And music has always been there, you know? Yes.

I'd have to, I don't know what to do with myself, find something to do if I couldn't have music in my life. I think a lot of people feel the same way. We all like different kinds of music. But it's rare to find that person who doesn't like any music. Wow. Don't you think?

Those are scary people. They'll probably kick pets and shit. Yeah. Well, there are people who don't like dogs, which I don't understand. There are people who really don't laugh. Trump does not laugh. Like, he makes people laugh.

Sometimes intentionally. I'm trying to think. Have I ever seen him laugh? I don't know. I have not. Like really laugh? Like a belly laugh, like a gut laugh. Like any laugh. I don't feel like I've ever seen Donald Trump laugh.

Maybe he has, but he's kind of like, you can get a broad smile out of him. Yeah, yeah. But, you like, you can get a broad smile out of him. But I just don't think, no, I'm not saying that. Look, there could be people like that who are nothing like him, and that is not my issue with Donald Trump, but it is indicative. It just is funny.

And then there are people who laugh a little. Of course, as a comedian, you know a lot of these types who like, they laugh a little, of course as a comedian you know, you know a lot of these types who like, they laugh a little and then tell you a better joke. Yeah. Leno's that way. Yeah. That's good, yeah. And then he's got, you know, always has a better topping joke.

Yeah. But no, I think laughing people, Trump has also never done pot or liquor. Never had a drink. Wow. Never had a drink, yeah. Maybe that's connected to the laughing thing. I don't know. But look, I can't.

He's never had a like. No. His brother died of alcoholism. Mm. I mean, you had alcohol problems, didn't you? Didn't you like have a drinking thing? No, I think being able to moderate, and yeah, I used to party a lot when I was younger.

Oh, so did I. Yeah, but I mean, that's kind of like where the self-discipline thing comes back in. You know, it's, first of all, getting up there in age. I don't bounce back the way I used to. It doesn't feel the same. And there's no reason to really drink unless you have a reason to celebrate. That's the problem with having a young body, is that it takes so much punishment. Absolutely.

So you can just do the stupidest thing. Yeah, yeah. I was running into brick walls with my fucking body. You know what I'm saying? Literally? No, no, I'm just saying, it was some long nights, there were days that ran into each other. Kids do things like that. Do you know what the latest TikTok challenge is?

No. Dropping something super heavy on your foot. I'm not joking with you. Because they can. on your foot. I'm not joking with you. That, I, because they can. Because if we did it, I mean, if I stubbed my toe a man at myself for a week, you know. But I'm not gonna do it to get people to click on my fuckin' TikTok.

I'm not gonna injure myself. Like, this, the Idiocracy movie is coming to life more and more and more more more more every fucking day. Isn't that movie great? It's awesome. It's so scary It's so on there This Gary cuz I see it happening and Present was played by Terry Crews. Ah Terry Crews. Oh, yeah, you're right. You're right. You're right And he's a guy by the way. Oh okay, okay, so look, so look. He's the president, come on Joe. I'm stoned too, because I think

Tiny was the president in a different movie. You are so. Now that was Michael Douglas in the American president. Very similar, but. Oh yeah. So what movies do you watch? What's your diet of when you wanna chill out or when you're watching with your girl?

What do you watch? I watch. Netflix and chill or HBO. I like to. HBO, but that's. Yeah, yeah, I like to watch. There's a lot of good series, but then when I wanna go find a movie,

I watch like, you know, the Indiana Jones franchise. I like Spielberg, I like that era of directing, you know? Yeah. And the way those films, like the Indiana Jones series for sure. I watched a lot of that when I was growing up. The lighting, the story, it felt like you're watching a high-fi version

of the old way things, you know, that time stamp. I watched movies, you know, I'm always, I watch movies like in the bathtub and in the kitchen. Like, I used to watch cable news and I'm so much happier like not having, it's not like I don't keep up on the news, but just, I'm sorry. It depresses me.

But movies, it's just, and I was watching one that I remember I saw in the theater in 2005, so I recall who I was watching one that I remember I saw in the theater in 2005, because I recall who I was watching it with. And it's the, I can't remember the name of it, but it's Jennifer Aniston and Clive Owen. Derailed. Derailed. Yes. What are your memories of that?

There's so many. Really? You were not the hero, as I recall. I was not the hero. OK, so I got two great stories about that film. First of all, that was. It's entertaining. It is.

That was, my father went with me to London to shoot that. We shot that at George Lucas Studios. And. Oh really? Right. And it was dope because that was the first time he got to travel with me to a movie set. So I'll always remember this.

But on, there's, that's also because we were filming on George Lucas set, it was like somebody came over, wanted to take a picture with me and brought me a lightsaber. And I still have that fucking thing. You know what I'm saying? That like, it was like one of the practice ones

that they use. Even I know what that is. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Okay.

So, so, so first day of shooting, I am in a scene and it's the scene where I'm supposed to be beating Jennifer Aniston up on the couch. Right? And and, you know, it's the first scene of the day. Wow. And Brad Pitt is in the room. Oh, they. Wow. And Brad Pitt is in the room. Oh, they were married. Yeah, he was in the room.

Oh, wow. And I'm tense just listening to the story. Yeah, and so, so, and action. You know, man, I'm like. But you must have rehearsed it. Yeah, no, it's fucking Jennifer Aniston. So, you know what I'm saying? I'm like, ugh. You must have rehearsed it. Yeah, no. It's fucking Jennifer Aniston. So you know what I'm saying?

I'm like, bro, I'm not. But you did rehearse it. Yeah, yeah, we did rehearse it. But it was like, you know, I was, you know. Now they have intimacy coordinators. But no, but then the story gets a little better. So then the director comes over to me says, you know, she's full on crying.

And like, this is like going against all, I'm like, I'm fresh into acting, you okay? Like I say, I'm like, this ain't something I'm doing all the time, right? And so like, as I'm doing these movies, like this is a strange thing for me. So now the director comes over and she looks up to me, she has tears, she's full on in, right?

She's, it's okay, you can get a rough. I'm like, oh fuck. I'm like, oh fuck, oh fuck. You know what I'm saying? And so he's like, okay, yes, you bitch, you must say bitch. You know what I'm saying? I'm like, oh shit, okay, let me channel my inner Ike. You know what I'm saying?

Like, hey. This story is fraught with problematic tension in every possible way. So we do the scene and then, you know, that's what's in the movie. And then it was like, that was my first day on that set. Wow. So I'll never forget it. The second thing I remember about that movie was

my dad was on set one day and it was the same day I'll never forget it. The second thing I remember about that movie was my dad was on set one day and it was the scene where we had to get in a fight at the end of the movie. We were running up and down the halls and we fight in the room and then Clive Owen pulls out a gun and shoots me at the end of the fight. And so I have these squibs on, like a chest full of squibs. It takes about you know, 40 minutes to set these things up. So quiet on the set, first shot, everybody's pumped, everybody's ready to go. Okay, boom, boom, boom, boom, hit the door, we're fighting,

do do do do do do, pulls the gun, da da da da da da, I'm on the ground. Dead silence. My dad. Oh, how unfortunate. You're kidding. No. He said those words? Exactly. Well, that was better than anything in the movie. Oh, oh, oh.

That's fucking awesome. So y'all sort of then, then it's quiet again. Cut. Who the fuck was that? Who the fuck was that? And so, so, so my dad was like, oh, that's like dad, you cannot, you know, please go talk to your father.

Dude. He yelled at the screen before it was even on the screen. Yes. Oh, how unfortunate. I was like, you know, I'm still in it. So I'm like, oh my God. Dad. But did it ruin the take?

It did. So we had to reset, then we did the scene. It was good, it was good. Well, I can't tell you what a pleasure it is to get to know you. Every time, man. Okay. So I hope you will come back to this place,

whether the cameras are on or not. I will. You live in this area? I go back and forth between Vegas and here. Vegas? Yeah. Wow. Yeah, we had a fire here.

I don't know if you heard. Yeah. And I thought, next time there's here. I don't know if you heard. Yeah. And I thought, next time there's a fire, I'm going to Vegas. Really? Yeah, because I know people who, we're going to Palm Springs or whatever. And it's like, okay, well good luck getting a hotel

when everybody's bugging out. Also, I love Palm Springs. I've been there many times. But, you know, it's nothing to do. It's a million degrees, and it's only gay people and old people. I mean, I love both. I love both groups of people.

But Vegas? I was like, oh no, you know what? If I had to cool my heels in Vegas for a week, I think I could do that. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. It's not bad. There's shit to do there. You gotta stay off the strip,

stay out the fucking casinos. No, that's where I wouldn't. What are you talking about? Why would? I might as well go to Palm Springs. Yeah, okay, all right. But eventually that gets old. And you gotta, you know. Well, not great restaurants don't get old. Yeah, yeah, yeah, okay. Eventually that gets old. Well, great restaurants don't get old.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, absolutely. I wouldn't go to the club. Yeah. I'm not going there, but you know, there are, man, I was at Bruno Mars has a club there. You know that? Yeah, I do. It's like a lounge, right? Yes, it's great because- You do want more of these with you.

Yes, because Vegas needs more things like that. Things that are not exactly the big shows, which are great. Right, but have the experience of like- But later at night, but that's not a nightclub. Right. But have the experience of like... But later at night, but that's not a nightclub. Right. I'm not going to a nightclub with a zillion decibels. Oh my God. Are you crazy? Yeah, yeah, yeah.

No, and this was plenty loud, but you could talk. And it was like a great live band. And it played like stuff from all eras. You know, it wasn't just today. That kind of stuff is what I, and you're not gonna get that everywhere. No, you know, it's good, you know. But why do you live in Vegas? Oh, just, you know, just needed the space, really.

You know, just getting away from things. But you could have picked San Bernardino. Well, it was better to go all the way to Vegas. I'm not gonna be depressing on this, but come on, man. I mean, if you go to Vegas, of all the places you could go, I think you want to be near the Strip sometimes. No, no, no, no. I've had my time on the Strip. I mean no, no. I've had my time on the strip. I mean, it is fun. I've had my time on the strip.

Don't get it wrong. It's fun. Well, yeah, but I mean, it's time to work. All right. Yeah, it's time to work. Well, next time I'm in Vegas, we'll stay off the strip. Yeah. Blink, blink.

But if you put it by a hand. Bill, I will go hit the strip with you. Yes. No problem. We're going to hit the strip. Let's do it. Great. Thank you.

Appreciate it, man. Thank you. All right. Exhappin', everybody. The new album drops when? March 29th. March 29th. Yeah.

Is it February that has 28 days? Yeah. Okay. All right. Thank okay. Yeah. All right. All right. Thank you sir. All right. Appreciate it man. That was so much fun.

Yeah, absolutely. So much. Yeah. And Woody Harrison? I gotta come back out. Yes, I do. I do. I wanna come by the woods, man.

All right.