Episode 516 w/ Mistah F.A.B.

Drink Champs

In this episode of Drink Champs, N.O.R.E. and DJ EFN host Bay Area hip-hop legend Mistah F.A.B. to discuss his deep roots in Oakland culture

Key takeaways

• Mistah F.A.B. discusses his improvisational rap skills developed through 'Bar for Bar' battles with Philly B.
• The guest recounts a viral moment where NBA star Steph Curry participated in his local summer basketball tournament.

Main topics

• Bay Area Hip Hop Culture
• Freestyle Rap Techniques

Notable quotes

Turn that beef shit into some checks, man, and get paid.

Conclusion

A masterclass in respecting local legends while navigating the complex

Transcript preview

Speaker 5 (0:00) This is an iHeart Podcast. Guaranteed human. Is there an epidemic against literature? More specifically, Black literature. I'm Jacquees Peace Thomas, and on this season of the Black Lit Podcast, we're outside asking why. They don't want a whole bunch of little Ella Bakers, Malcolm Xs, and Martin Luther Kings running around. And when you look at a lot of different cultures, they're like, we need to know where you came from. And considering this is Black Reading Month, the only real question is, what are you reading next? Listen to Black Lit from the Black Effect Podcast Network on our iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Speaker 2 (0:36) On recent episodes of the Questlove Show, I chatted with JoJo about her music and Wallo267 about his story and everything in between. Speaker 4 (0:43) Don't invite me to karaoke. I'm going to make it weird. Someone's going to try to sing Leave Get Out or Too Little Too Late or Baby It's You. Oh, no. And I'm going to be like, okay, Speaker 2 (0:52) cool. Check out my conversation with JoJo, Wallo267, and more on the Questlove Show. Listen to The Questlove Show on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Peace. Hey, it's Alec Baldwin. This season on my podcast, Here's the Thing, I talk to actor Stephen Root. Speaker 1 (1:12) I'm a people watcher. You see that guy going down the drain and go... Yeah, I can use that. Speaker 2 (1:16) And Open Igloo co-founder Alia Mohammed. Speaker 7 (1:19) I love staying on top of what is going on in our city, what is on renters' minds, and taking all of that knowledge to build a platform that hopefully is going to make New York City better in the long run. Speaker 2 (1:30) Listen to Here's the Thing on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Speaker 5 (1:38) Did you think you were the only one? Like no matter what you did, it was never good enough for your mother. I'm Jennifer Arnese, and this is the Black Mother Wound Podcast, where we unpack and heal from the very first relationship Speaker 7 (1:49) that shaped us. Speaker 5 (1:51) We rush to accommodate other people when we have been hurt and our hurt has not been healed. Listen to the Black Mother Wound Podcast from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts. Speaker 2 (2:09) Hey, everybody, it's me, W. Kamau Bell. This season on my podcast, Who's With Me, I speak with Bruce Lee's daughter, Brandon Lee's sister, and my friend, Shannon Lee. Speaker 5 (2:18) Back to your initial point of stewarding my father's legacy and giving my energy to that. You're lending your life to stewarding somebody else's life. Speaker 2 (2:30) Listen to Who's With Me with W. Kamau Bell on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Speaker 7 (2:38) You broke me. You do Speaker 2 (2:40) not deserve happiness. I'm Andrea Gunning. On this season of Betrayal, Carl thought he was living a normal, Speaker 7 (2:47) drama-free life. Until the messages started. Someone's not going to make it out of this alive. Every piece of evidence pointed to the wrong guy. Speaker 1 (2:57) He was not going to stop unless we stopped him. Speaker 7 (3:01) Listen to Betrayal Season Speaker 2 (3:02) 6 on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Speaker 7 (3:08) Welcome aboard Season 6 of The Girlfriends, Flight or Fight, which takes place 30,000 feet in the sky. A beautiful woman smiles and hands you a scotch, but you have no idea just how messed up her job actually is. It was the most sexist job I think you could have. Until one day, a group of stewardesses spark a revolution that reshapes America. Listen to The Girlfriends, Flight or Fight, on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Speaker 6 (3:59) And it's Drink Chats motherfucking podcast. Speaker 4 (4:01) Make some noise. He's a legendary Queens rapper. Hey, hey, it's your boy N.O.R.E. He's a Miami hip-hop pioneer. One Speaker 1 (4:09) of Speaker 4 (4:09) his DJ EFN. Together, they drink it up with some of the biggest players. You know what I mean? In the most professional, unprofessional podcast. And your number one source for drunk facts. It's Drink Chats motherfucking podcast. Where every day is New Year's Eve. It's time for Drink Chats. Drink up, motherfuckers. Speaker 6 (4:31) What it good be, homies? What it should be? This your boy, N-O-R-E. What up, it's DJ E-F-N. And this is Militant Crazy World, Drink Champs, Abbey Hour. Make some noise! Now, now, this artist is a legend, legend, man. When you look up the Bay Area, his picture pops up. There's a couple of others that pop up with him. But man, I used to watch him on Instagram playing basketball. And I said, man, I need the brother back on. We got to give him his flowers the proper way. Every week, every month, every second, the Bay Area screams out loud and says, why is there not a Bay Area artist on there? Why? Like, what the fuck is wrong with y'all? You started, you had the Bay Area artist on. He's an alumni, too. And he's an alumni. We're going to give him his flowers. He got a book. Man, he's the mayor, the governor of everything. And this motherfucker is a legend of a legend. Super legend. And we're going to give him his motherfucking flowers properly today. In case you don't know what we're talking about. Motherfucking one only, Mr. Motherfucking Bear! Like I say, I follow you, right? And one of the most amazing things I've seen, and this is period. Speaker 6 (5:47) Not just recently, but you and your man battle rapping, arguing. Yo, that shit. I'm talking about this was bars. That Speaker 4 (5:56) shit Speaker 6 (5:56) sounds dope. I didn't see Speaker 4 (5:57) that. Like they Speaker 6 (5:58) were arguing, but rapping. Like, and I'm talking about, it looked like they rehearsed this, but you know. From how they're using the words, you know, like, I know when it's a freestyle. And then I know, like, I was looking and I was like, that was the most amazing shit I've ever seen. My nigga Speaker 3 (6:15) Philly. Philly represent Double Speaker 6 (6:17) Rock. Speaker 3 (6:17) That's Speaker 6 (6:17) what Speaker 3 (6:17) his name is. Philly B. He's Speaker 6 (6:18) not from Speaker 3 (6:18) Philly? Nah, he's from Frisco. He's from this place called Double Rock, man. And he's a content creator, man. He's a hardworking dude, man. And, man, we do these things called Bar for Bar. And so bar for bar is basically... Oh, Speaker 8 (6:31) so you haven't Speaker 3 (6:31) done this Speaker 8 (6:31) before? No, Speaker 3 (6:32) we just, like, we just... That Speaker 8 (6:33) was the Speaker 3 (6:33) first time? We just was, like... On the fly? On the fly. So he'll do, like, a bar, like, two bars, and then I got to come two bars off his last two bars, and we did it for, like, an hour. Live. Wow. And, uh, no, Philly is crazy, man. Philly is a good dude, man, and he represent Frisco to the fullest, and as a content creator. He, like, he went super viral. I threw a, um... I threw a basketball tournament, my annual summer basketball tournament. I created a basketball court in my neighborhood. It's called the Dope Air Playground. And we do like our Rutgers every summer. And so two, three years ago, Steph Curry came out and played with us. Wow. And he hit, like, a big shot on Steph, and it went, like, viral, right? It was on ESPN. Oh, Speaker 4 (7:17) boy. Yeah, Speaker 8 (7:17) Philly. Philly? Yeah. Oh, he balled and ran? Oh, yeah, yeah, he balled. Oh, Speaker 4 (7:21) man. Speaker 8 (7:21) Okay. And it went viral. Like, he hit a shot on Steph. He quit after that? I would have quit. I would have retired. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like, that's the highlight of life, though. Like, you can't Speaker 3 (7:29) do nothing. You could tell Steph really got mad. He went down and went for, like, 30. And we ended up winning the whole tournament. But it was crazy, though. But Philly a good dude, man. It's great. I'm pretty sure you're going to be super happy to hear his name mentioned on this, man. Look at that dude. Yeah, Speaker 6 (7:41) nah, nah. Shout out to him, for sure. Not only did I watch the whole thing, I think I rewinded it. Because I was like, I was, you know, you my friend. Speaker 4 (7:48) That's a Speaker 6 (7:48) perfect Speaker 4 (7:49) plug. You rewind time. Speaker 6 (7:51) Also, rewind time. That's right. Rewind time. Bring it back. Because you my friend, and I know I could have called you, but I was like really just trying to deteriorate for myself. To say, yo, is these motherfuckers street straw? Is that bar, did he have that bar in his mind? Like, because, like, I kid you not. Watch when you go see this shit. This shit is perfect. It's like a play. But they, like, you could tell it's happening right now. In real time. In real time. That shit Speaker 8 (8:15) was like, I was like, I rewinded this shit. Speaker 3 (8:17) And real MCs understand. Speaker 3 (8:20) how difficult it is to do that for a certain amount of time. Like, of course, you could play back a few bars back and forth, but if you like a real MC and you sitting up and you're like, wait a minute, like, you're not going to stop me. We just going to keep going. All right. And you got to be. So it's really a bar skill. I think that they should intertwine that in like some forms of rap Olympics or something. Y Speaker 4 (8:39) 'all were bar Speaker 6 (8:39) exercises. I always just think that's how Remy Ma and Pat Poose argued in the crib. I always used to think that. Like, you know what I mean? But I seen you do this. Like, a lot of people don't know, but one of the first times we hung out, I knew of you, you probably knew of me, but one of the first times we hung out was at SOB's. Yeah. And I can believe you was battling Joe Button, right? Right. I was supposed to battle Joe. Joe didn't show. Me and Royce ended up battling. You Speaker 3 (9:03) and Speaker 6 (9:03) Royce. Yeah. But I remember you applying that pressure, like, of what you see. in front of you and doing that so that, because some of the bars in between those are so good, like, I could tell that people would probably, man, this guy had to write that shit. But then you would fuck people up because you'd be like, man, Oakland A's hat. You know what I'm saying? Like, how do you develop that, like, spontaneously? Speaker 3 (9:26) Improv rap skills. It's just, it's something that you work on, practicing, and just continuing to keep doing it, man, with a freestyle ability. It's like certain artists, if they, if they, If they had baseball cards and you look at, you know, you look at what's their special powers or what's their strengths, what's their weaknesses, like that would be one of my strengths, like improv thinking. I think just being able to kind of like adjust. Right. And that's been a skill set of mine, man. It comes from, you know, the Slick Talk is where we from in Oakland, California. A lot of people got spectacular vernacular, so they understand how to. at it the way they, you know, how they do it. I'll post the corner on y'all. Yeah, you get the corner. Speaker 6 (10:03) I ain't Speaker 8 (10:04) know Speaker 6 (10:04) what I was doing, but I was like, get the corner with me, Nori. I said, no problem. You Speaker 3 (10:07) know, my brother died, man. My brother, yeah, man. Rest in peace to my brother G Field, man. But when G, like, you got to think. No, you was like a god to us, bro. Like, growing up. Bay Area Speaker 6 (10:18) was my number one market in the West Coast. Like, for real. Like, growing up, Speaker 3 (10:20) a lot of Oakland really rocked with, like, you know. At Speaker 6 (10:25) Melvin Flint. You know what Speaker 3 (10:26) I'm saying? You know, the war report. Like, it was really like. Like, N.O.? So when you came to our neighborhood. All right. All right. Thank you. It was a call out. Like, niggas like, yo, N.O. in the hood right now. Like, swear to God. My brother just took the opportunity. Like, yo, you got to hit a corner with me, yo. I don't. Nigga like that. I Speaker 4 (10:44) definitely Speaker 3 (10:44) did Speaker 4 (10:44) it. I didn't know what I was Speaker 3 (10:44) doing. Speaker 8 (10:45) I did it. Nigga, it don't look like it. Like, hit a corner. You want me to go punch the corner? Like, what you mean? Nah, nigga, get in the car. It was like, are we on the corner? It was like, no, no, no. Speaker 6 (10:53) Get in the car. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And go around the block, man. But Speaker 3 (10:55) nah, we really appreciate you, too. You know what I'm saying? Forever, man. But Speaker 6 (10:58) let me ask something, right? Because I have went. To the Bay Area with you. I went to the Bay Area with Ghazi. And Ghazi, I'll pick up the Ghazi. Big shout out. Ghazi just turned 50 the other day. Happy birthday, brother. And Empire Records. And I remember, this was a contrast. This was two different things from when I used to go to the Bay Area to now. And when I got out the car with Ghazi, Ghazi made me take my Charger. Oh, yeah. The Bip Gang. Yeah, so I thought he was exaggerating, right? And then I went in his studio, and he had cameras all around his studios. And there was people literally coming up to cars just looking to see if there was in there. When did that happen to the big? Because I didn't. Yeah, during the pandemic, it got crazy. Speaker 3 (11:46) Oh, during the Speaker 6 (11:46) pandemic. Okay. Speaker 3 (11:47) It got real splashy, man. So the situation is called Bipping, B-I-P-P-I-N-G. And it's something that we're not proud of, you know what I mean? But at the end of the day, it was kind of like the correlation between New Jersey Drive back in the day when they were stealing a lot of vehicles. Yes, yes. And it kind of was the same situation. And where we was from, there was vandalism and breaking into cars. And it kind of ran rapid when we realized that you could hit for something huge. Right. And what I mean hit for something huge is, like, say, for instance. Everybody done got BIP. Nobody's above the BIP. BIP stands for Breaking In People's Shit. Oh, shit. So, BIP, you're breaking in people's shit. And the youngsters made it famous, man. It got real popular in the city, San Francisco. A lot of the young dudes. Burner actually just did a movie about it. Oh, really? So, it's a movie out right now. Y'all make sure y'all check out the movie. Yeah, it's a movie out right now. It's called Splash City. It's an excellent movie. I want to watch that tonight. You know, it showcases a lot of, you know, Bay Area culture, some Bay Area artists that's in the movie. it's called Splash City, but it just kind of like shows how it started, how detrimental it can be, and it's very, it's a sad thing. Like, you know, I think the most I probably ever got bit for, I probably lost like 50,000. Get out of here. Like, true story, words from my mama. Left Speaker 6 (13:01) in your Speaker 3 (13:01) car. On a humbug, too. Like, on a pivot, like, let me go run up in here real quick and come back out. At any point of the day. Broad daylight. Yeah. And that's what, Speaker 3 (13:15) It's demoralizing. It's 9 o'clock in the morning. You going into Starbucks thinking that you just finna get some coffee real quick to start your day. You come out, splash city, everything gone. And don't have a rental car. Speaker 4 (13:27) Yeah, Speaker 3 (13:27) that's what God's doing. They look at the rental. They like, oh, it's something in there. They follow cars from the airport. It look real strategical. And then you'll get to looking at the person you with like, you set me up. Like a lot of people fell out over the bit. Like some out-of-towners came into town. You know what I'm saying? And like, say I'm with you and we go get, you know, and we'd be like, let's go to the store. We go in there and no bags get stowed. He going to look at us like you set me up. Damn. Like, so it was, like I said, it's something that we're not proud of, man. But it was what it was, man. That's, you know, that's what the youngsters was doing to go hustle. It Speaker 6 (14:01) was funny as hell because I remember me coming out there and doing a show with you. And it was like kind of different. But then when I went to the, to the hotel, and I parked on the side. The valet was like, uh, uh, uh, don't park on the side. Yeah, yeah, yeah, park in Speaker 8 (14:17) the Speaker 6 (14:17) front. And I was just like, holy shit. Like, I just didn't see the city because, to tell you the truth, like I said, the Bay Area, I always do that, was my number one market. Like, and I, and this is real talk. This is real talk. I would go to L.A., Los Angeles, and I would feel like I had to be on guard. I would go to the Bay Area and feel like I was like accepted. For sure. Like, you know what I mean? Because when I say on guard. Speaker 6 (14:49) we didn't know color corrections. Like, we knew Bloods and Crips, but we didn't know we in a blood neighborhood. We don't know, like, we couldn't read the graffiti. Like, that's when I started to learn, like, yo, read the graffiti. But prior to that, so we would be, but then in the Bay Area, they're like, man, you can wear whatever the fuck you want. It's just pimps and players, player. Like, you know what I'm saying? And it's like, all right, cool. And hence, Melvin Flint, the Hustler album. Like, I spent so much time. In the Bay Area, I almost thought I was a pimp at one point. Speaker 4 (15:15) I Speaker 3 (15:16) wasn't a very good one. You got to Speaker 6 (15:17) tell your pimp story. You know, I was a pimp for a week and I failed tremendously. But now, okay, I want to take people into the Bay Area because I met Ryan Coogler, right? My man who made Sinners, right? For sure. And... Yo, let's give a round of applause for Ryan. Yeah, that's right. Speaker 2 (15:41) And when I tell you... That's my childhood friend. Hey, what's up, y'all? It's Questlove. And on the Questlove show, I've been sitting down with some really interesting people. And I've got two recent episodes you should check out. I caught up with my good friend JoJo to talk about her music, her career, and what she's been up to. Speaker 4 (15:59) Don't invite me to karaoke. I'm going to make it weird. Someone's going to try to sing Leave, Get Out or Too Little Too Late or Baby It's You. Oh, no. And I'm going to be like, okay, Speaker 2 (16:07) cool. I also caught up with Wildo267 for a conversation that covered his story, his perspective, and plenty more. I don't even call it cheat day. That's a life day. I'm not doing nothing. Don't try to be slick and just go Sunday. Go Wednesday. This is what you do. Sleep later. Make a reservation for the rest of our later. Just chill. Listen to the music you want to listen to. Just enjoy it. It's going to be all right. Nothing's going to happen. You want to wake up Wednesday and be like, ah. And you're going to feel better. And those are just two of the many recent episodes of the Questlove Show. Listen to the Questlove Show on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, wherever you get your podcasts. Speaker 7 (16:52) The WNBA playoffs are about to begin. The talent is insane and the personalities are giving main character energy. And of course, the fans love it. But 30 years ago, when the league first started, it was a different story. I remember sitting with a couple of male writers all whining about, oh, what are they going to do if they break a nail? No one's going to show up. But from the very beginning, there were two teams that captured everyone's attention. The Comets were the real deal. I mean, come on. The Liberty never gave up. They never stopped fighting. I knew that rivalry was going to be amazing from the beginning. I'm Carrie Champion, and this is Biggest Rivalries of All Time, Season 2. The New York Liberty versus the Houston Comets. The very first rivalry. of the WNBA. They picked us to finish last and they picked them to finish first. That's all you need to know. I remember looking around thinking this is going to change things. Basketball was going to have this fundamental impact on the way people viewed women athletes. Listen to Biggest Rivalries of All Time on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Is there bad blood between you and the Comets as you guys meet again in the championship? Oh, we're coming back to win. Speaker 7 (18:11) Welcome aboard season six of The Girlfriends, Flight or Fight, which takes place 30,000 feet in the sky. There's great food, comfortable chairs, and attentive stewardesses. The stewardesses were so beautiful. But in reality, the stewardess job is far less glamorous than it appears. It was the most sexist job I think you could have. Speaker 7 (18:41) In this era, the airlines told these stewardesses they have to be single. They had no good excuse for why they wouldn't let women be married. They have to be skinny. Speaker 5 (18:52) We were starving ourselves. Speaker 7 (18:55) And they have to be young. You would retire at age 32. But one day, a group of stewardesses said, This has got to stop. They risked it all, turning a fight for fairness into a revolution. Speaker 7 (19:11) Listen to The Girlfriends, Flight or Fight, on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Speaker 2 (19:20) Hi, it's Alec Baldwin. This season on my podcast, here's the thing. I'm speaking with more artists, policymakers, and performers like actor Stephen Root. Speaker 1 (19:28) I think for me to be any good or for any character to be any good, you've got to put enough of yourself and your empathy for people in it. I'm a people watcher. You see that guy going down the street and go, yeah, I can use that. Speaker 2 (19:41) Open Igloo co-founder Alia Mohammed. Speaker 7 (19:44) I love staying on top of what is going on in our city, what is going on in city politics, what is on renters' minds, and taking all of that knowledge to build a platform that hopefully is going to make New York City better in the long run. Speaker 2 (19:57) And actress and singer Melissa Arrico. Speaker 7 (20:01) Partnership took on a whole other meaning when I started making my own work. It's like you with a great actress or actor. It was best to come out of your trailer full of life and just face another person who's full of life and don't talk. Speaker 2 (20:16) Listen to Here's the Thing on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Speaker 5 (20:23) Is there an epidemic against literature? More specifically, Black literature. Our books are being banned, scanned by AI, and destroyed. I'm Jacquees Peace Thomas, and on this season of the Black Lit Podcast, we're outside asking some of the custodians of our stories, teachers, and our modern day writers why. They don't want a whole bunch of little Ella Bakers, Malcolm Xs, and Martin Luther Kings running around. They want to build children who have no empathy. That's really the ultimate goal. We want books that don't make white kids Speaker 4 (20:55) feel bad. Speaker 5 (20:55) So is the war on literacy and information or our ability to connect? We want people to know how sexy reading is and how fun it could be and not always associated with education. It could be an escape. It could be entertainment. And that is the beauty of reading. It can be all of those things. And considering this is Black Reading Month, the only real question is, what are you reading next? Listen to Black Lit from the Black Effect Podcast Network on our iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Speaker 1 (21:31) This is Jay Valentine. I've spent my career on the executive side of this industry, multi-platinum songs, building artists, and building business. And alongside my brother Tank, the superstar R &B singer, songwriter, and producer, we've created something special, the R &B Money Podcast. This is not just a podcast. It's a safe space where artists, executives, and fans of R &B music come to reminisce, pull back the curtain, and tell the stories that shape this culture, the real history behind the hits. That was... Hood Speaker 5 (21:58) famous. Speaker 1 (21:58) Yeah. And Speaker 5 (21:59) then Real Love came out and it blew up. We lived in a project. And they're seeing Speaker 1 (22:03) all the success. They're Speaker 5 (22:05) hearing the Speaker 1 (22:05) music and Speaker 5 (22:06) we had nothing. Speaker 1 (22:07) We're covering the entire spectrum from Smokey Robinson, Alicia Keys, B2K, Mary J. Blige, legends, current stars, and everyone who's contributed to the sound of R &B. You come out the gate with a hit. Speaker 2 (22:20) And it knocked Michael Jackson out of number one. Speaker 1 (22:22) Come on, man. I was like, hold on. I'm not going to MJ out of the number one spot. If you're a super dedicated R &B fan who wants the real discovery, the real stories, this is your podcast. This is the R &B Money Podcast. Listen to R &B Money from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Speaker 5 (22:44) I'm Mimi Brown, and every day on Front Page Podcast, I help you make sense of the stories shaping our world. Each day, I break down the biggest headlines, provide important context, and explain how these stories could impact your life, your family, and your community. My goal is to deliver clear, trustworthy information in a format that fits your schedule. And when a story deserves a deeper conversation, I'll sit down with experts, newsmakers, and thought leaders to help you better understand the headlines. I spoke with Gary Mayor Eddie Melton about what's happening on the ground, whether race is playing a role, and what help is available for families who simply can't afford the added cost. Joining us now is Tennessee State Representative Justin J. Pearson. Thank Speaker 2 (23:28) you so much for having me. I appreciate it. Speaker 5 (23:29) Absolutely. Whether it's a major national story or an issue impacting your community, join me on Front Page. Listen to Front Page from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Speaker 6 (23:44) When I tell you, um... Speaker 6 (23:48) They tell me my New York accent is fucked up, right? I know this, right? What's my man name? John Singleton. I asked John Singleton to go on Snowfall. He said, I will never let you on Snowfall. This is my friend, by the way. He lives down the block from me. I'm like, why? He's like, you can never act like a California person. Your accent is too heavy. He's like, your accent is too heavy. By the way, this was a diss, but it's also like a good compliment to me. I'm cool. Speaker 6 (24:17) When I met Ryan Coogler, I sat there. I was like, yo, what's up? Man, from the moment he opened up. Town niggas. Speaker 4 (24:25) Yo, you know. Speaker 6 (24:26) Town niggas. Speaker 4 (24:28) And Speaker 8 (24:28) he don't try to hide it, which is so dope. Speaker 6 (24:29) At all. Speaker 8 (24:30) Yo, yo, that. Me and Coog grew Speaker 3 (24:32) up with each other, man. Like, Coog, like, Coog's grandmother stayed. From where you was that day, she stayed, like, four blocks down. Okay, wow. So me and Coog grew up with each other, man. And Coog is an all-around. Like, straight town. It's like, you know, he spent a lot of time in Richmond as well. California? Yeah, yeah, Richmond, California. Okay. So that's like a few cities over. And he got like the best of both worlds, man. But ain't no doubt about, man. That's what Master P for him, right? Yeah, P got a lot of, you know what I'm saying, his roots in his game in Richmond. And took it around the world, man. Big P, you know, P the icon, man. That's one of my role models, man. That's like my superhero. Master P. Yeah, Master P. That's like... That's somebody I've never met, right? Get the fuck out Speaker 8 (25:14) of Speaker 3 (25:14) here. Oh, y'all got to connect. Never met people. P's like my... This is how crazy it is. P actually reposted something I did about seven, eight months ago, and I was like, I met him. I felt like I knew him. I'm like, yo, P reposted some of my work. I'm on. Speaker 8 (25:27) Nowadays, it is me. It's no limit. I met him. That's my uncle now. That's my social media uncle right now. So if I see P, I'm, what's up? Social media uncle. I feel like Speaker 3 (25:36) I know him. You reposted one of my... And it was one of my Speaker 8 (25:39) passionate contents where I'm in my... Martin Luther King, man. I'm preaching. You know what I'm saying? I'm in my Malcolm X mode. So you really have to watch it Speaker 3 (25:46) to really, you know what I'm saying? So, yeah, I feel like I know Pete through that, though. But, yeah. So Kool gets like that, though, man. Kool gets, uh. Speaker 3 (25:55) Hey, man, Coog is amazing, man. I just want to say that, man. And the move, the power move that he did for black directors in film with making the 20 years later, he comes back and owns ownership of his movie and everything. Which movie is that? Sinners. Speaker 8 (26:09) Oh, but he didn't own it? So in Sinners, his contract is they Speaker 3 (26:13) helped fund the movie and fund the movie. But 20 years later, he gets 100 % of all the rights to his movie. Speaker 8 (26:20) Oh, that's a Speaker 3 (26:21) good thing. Speaker 6 (26:21) That has Speaker 3 (26:21) never been done before by any directors, by anybody. And so the way he was able to set that up with his story, because it's a story based off his real, you know, his family, his uncles and a lot of his family from the South. So for him to maintain ownership of that, that was like the ingenuity for him to. construct that kind of contractual agreement was brilliant and uh it just goes to show you more of his oakland you know the brilliance and his resilience man it was independent oakland that straight independent hustle and he changed the game by that man you know and to go out and for it to reap the success that it did all right and that it's doing hey man kug is uh cool goes down and to tell you Speaker 6 (27:02) the truth it's the first time i've seen hollywood like supported like i i The support came from, like, I can't even say just black people. Right, not Hollywood. All around. All around. Like, Speaker 3 (27:12) Sinners was a movie that, like, it affected everybody because you watched certain innuendos and you watched different things in a movie and it had a multitude of dimensional meanings. It Speaker 8 (27:23) had Speaker 3 (27:23) layers. It was layers. So it was dope, man. But it just represented culture, man. And that's what he represented. And with his films. You know, after you had the success of what he did with Black Panthers, it was like, you know, they couldn't deny him. Yeah. He got like a blank check. Speaker 6 (27:37) Yeah. Speaker 3 (27:37) Hollywood gave him a blank check. He's just getting started. For sure. You know what's the Speaker 6 (27:41) illest shit about sinners? And I just want to stay there for a second. Is anybody who, like, I grew up with a lot of twins, right? I know like at least seven to like 10 or 12 sets of twins. And there's always one thing about one twin that you could probably tell if you're friends with them. For sure. And although Michael B. Jordan is not a goddamn twin, it was something different about that other character. Michael B. Jordan a fool. I was fooled that this was another fucking character. That's how good Michael B. Jordan is. I actually thought that was another person. Y'all twins? Speaker 3 (28:15) Nah, we cousins. That Speaker 8 (28:16) nigga was Speaker 3 (28:17) hard. Michael B. a fool. I'm anxious to see that new movie where he playing like James Bond or some shit. He like the black Bond. He not playing Bond character, but he like a, I don't know what it was. I just seen the highlights the other day when I took my daughter to see Spider-Man. Speaker 6 (28:30) It has. You can probably Google this. He's also playing like a skateboard dude, Michael B. Jordan. For real? Yeah, he playing the skateboard dude. He learned all the tricks and all that. Get the fuck out of here. He played a town nigga. He played Speaker 8 (28:40) Oscar Grant. A football station? Yeah, he played a football station. That's a real person. Yeah, so Oscar Grant was a... He was assassinated Speaker 3 (28:47) by the police. The Metro. Like the Metro, like the Metro, by the BART police. And the story was like, it went worldwide just based off the fact of it was probably one of the first capturings of an assassination on camera on New Year's. It's Speaker 8 (29:03) before Speaker 3 (29:03) George Floyd. Yeah, it's before George Floyd. And he was murdered on a platform, like on the BART platform, and BART is our Metro, our subway. In front of everybody. Speaker 6 (29:12) Yeah, because on the movie, they actually showed actual real footage. Speaker 3 (29:15) And so he was playing a kid named Oscar Grant. And the Oscar Grant Foundation has been, man, it was a sad situation to watch because the way that Michael B. Jordan embodied Oscar was like, wow. And you knew Oscar? I knew Oscar's father. Okay. And I know his father. And I've become very fond with his mother. That's like moms. Because the day it happened, we was all just like in an uproar. We was in an uproar, and a lot of the activists showed up, and we were there on the front line wanting to know what could we do in advocacy to go out and spread awareness about it. And me and his mother, from the first day I showed up to years later, a decade and a half later, still there on call whenever Ms. Wanda calls me. You know what I'm saying? Hey, man, that was a cold situation, but Michael B. Jordan, man, he played the hell out of Oscar Grant, and he kind of immortalized that character. So now the world will know who Oscar Grant is. Speaker 6 (30:18) So, listen, I watched 40 Water and Short. Go at it on that versus, right? I tried to do every dance that 40. I try every dance. Listen, I have no problem turning into a Bay Area nigga. Hey, Speaker 8 (30:40) instantly off that music. Speaker 6 (30:42) I ain't gonna lie to you. Listen to me. I'm gonna be honest with y'all. I said that in the beginning of the interview. I know there's parties all over the place. If you have a good time in the Bay Area, you go to a party like the Bronx. They know how to dance. They know how to fun. And you got to know the difference. Like, what's my man? God bless the day who passed away. I'm in a party with Mac Dre. And Mac Dre, he just kept going like this. And I'm like, he don't like me. He don't like you. And they're like, nigga, that's Joe you respect. I'm like. Speaker 6 (31:21) Yo, and like, what I'm trying to tell you is you have a good baby, a party. You ain't leaving, bro. You get good love. If Speaker 8 (31:32) a nigga walk up to you and he do you like this. Yeah. They like, oh, he fucking with you. Yeah, he fucking with you. He got the look on you. Give you the screw face. He looking like this. He this facing at you and he, huh. Speaker 3 (31:42) He fucking with you, man. Speaker 8 (31:44) That's Speaker 3 (31:45) an Speaker 8 (31:45) invite to be like, nigga, what's up? What you got? It's like a breakdance. Like, nigga, it's your turn. Nigga, what you on? Speaker 6 (31:51) And you know what's crazy? The day that Mac Dre passed away, I was in the Bay Area. I don't know if you remember that. And that's the reason why I had jumped on stage. Excuse me, not jumped on stage. Excuse me. I had performed. And you could tell everybody was, like, just going through it. Speaker 6 (32:06) So they were trying to watch me perform, but they were going through their own shit. Like, you know, like, I guess this was pre-sold tickets. And I had jumped on the bar, and I did that to everybody. Like, I walked up to everybody's face, and they did that to me. They understood that I understood what was going on, you know what I mean? And I ain't going to lie to you. I didn't know. That day, I really knew how much Mack Dre meant to the city, bro. Like, that shit was like... Like, they were crying, but they were partying crying. I don't know how to explain that. Like, you know what I mean? Dre Speaker 3 (32:37) was like a... Speaker 3 (32:40) Dre was like a ghetto Michael Jackson to people. He was like a star. He was the people where he walked in, people started whispering like, are Speaker 8 (32:48) that Dre? Speaker 3 (32:49) He was viral before viral. He was viral before viral. And to anybody that want to know, like the legend of Mac Dre, I request, not suggest, I request you to go watch Trill TV so you can kind of see the whole. existence of what Dre was and who he was and his impact on the people. For years, our pioneers are, of course, Too Short, Lee 40. That's motherfucking right. And 40 and Dre are from Vallejo. They from two different sides. Okay. Like one from the Crest and one from Hillside. Okay. And it was just like the whole world knew 40. Speaker 3 (33:36) But in the city, like they knew Dre, they love, you know what I'm saying? And they would always, it was just like, it was dope to see the love that they all got and they all received. But Dre kind of like, Dre went to the feds for five, six years. Speaker 6 (33:50) So Speaker 3 (33:50) he kind of was like, he kind of was like kept away for a little bit. But when he got out of jail, Speaker 6 (33:55) he Speaker 3 (33:56) was like, I'm coming for, you know, my pioneer. I'm coming for the short and 40 ranks. Like y'all gonna respect me. And, man, when I tell you he came full steam ahead and everybody just fell in love with him. He was like, he was our rap star. He was a star where it's like, okay, he got platinum jewelry. He got the nice car. He got the stuff that we saw on TV, the stuff that we was watching on Cribs. He had it. He pull up in a G-Wagon. Then he pull up, you know, he got the old school cars that represent the Bay Area classics. He was just, he embodied what it was like to be a star to us. And he set the tone for, okay, yeah, yeah, that's what you got to do. If you ain't coming like that, if you ain't coming with the diamonds in your grillie, if you ain't coming with, you know what I'm saying, every, you know, your cars, if you ain't coming like that, you ain't it. And he just represented for us, man. And Dre was, Dre, till this day. get the party started. Like if you play a Dre song, it's going to get the party started. And it was dope to see him being embraced by other legends, by the other pioneers and how they all was just like, you know, him and 40 go way back from when they was young and just fighting for the throne of Vallejo. Right. All fun and all love. But it was just beautiful, man. It was sad, man, to watch Dre, man. what happened to him like that because all he was doing was just bringing the who's who's to the table. Speaker 7 (35:20) Like Speaker 3 (35:21) if you was dope and you was dope, he was like, come on, Cudi. You with us. So we go to a show and it's like, come on, y'all with us. And he just knew that it would be, it would Speaker 4 (35:30) look better. It Speaker 3 (35:31) would look better if we all came. He like, Cudi, look, you going to do a song, Cudi? Then you going to do a song. Then look, I'm going to come out and then we all just going to do the song, Cudi. And then by the end of the night, they all going to be on us, Cudi. It's going to be, it's a movie, Cudi. He was like, but, Speaker 8 (35:45) You got to change your clothes, Scotty. Do Speaker 6 (35:48) you? One day we at Speaker 3 (35:50) the house, right? We at the crib. We in Saps. What a guy. It's a true story, right? We in Sacramento. It's me, him, and my cousin Nucci. So Nucci was with me when we came to Yankee Stadium that night. That was the fool that was foolish with me that night. I don't know if y'all understand the story of that night. We went through it on the first one, you know, but we talked about Norrie called me at four in the morning and was like, yo, come to Yankee Stadium. I'm like. Speaker 3 (36:15) What for? I didn't understand. I didn't know what, like, 4 o'clock in the morning? I'm like, what for? So when I hang up, I had a decision Speaker 8 (36:24) to make. He was about to bip you. I was going to get biped. I thought I was going to get biped. I didn't know what was going on. My cousin, like, he's like, what was Speaker 3 (36:32) that? Who was that? I'm like, bro, that was that nigga Nori. He's like, you know? I'm like, yeah. He's like, what do you want? Nigga told me to come to Yankee Stadium. At four in the morning? I said, because I ain't going to Yankee Stadium. I ain't tripping, cuz. Speaker 8 (36:45) And I just got through dissing niggas on Yankee Stadium. I'm tripping. Speaker 3 (36:48) Nigga say, Speaker 8 (36:49) cuz, we got to go, cuz. He say, cuz, if we don't go, they ain't going to respect us, cuz. Nigga, it's four in the morning, my nigga. We go. I walk up to Yankee Stadium, my nigga. I see 30 Puerto Ricans on the bleachers. I say, what the fuck is this? He like, yo! Speaker 8 (37:14) So then I'm like. My next move was this. My jury. Like, y'all, let me see you. You better not tuck it. You better not tuck it. Speaker 3 (37:26) Once we jumped the fence, man, we came over there. We was drinking Speaker 8 (37:31) Smirnoff at 7 in the morning. My girl's New York story. We was drinking Smirnoff at 7 in the morning at Yankee Stadium. Talking about Beirut. So, we fucking, um. Man, the whole shit was just like, Speaker 3 (37:47) man, it was me and Nooch. We at Dre house. So my cousin Noochie was managing Mac Dre. So this is how I ended up coming over there, B-Love. And Noochie kind of like gave me the introduction with Mac Dre. Dre came to buy some weed for my mama one day. And he was like, mom's up in there. She got some weed. I'm like, yeah. I'm like, nigga, that's Dre? So Drake come in the house. One more. Make a short story shorter. We at the house. We got a show. I got like a, you know how you wear white tee for three days or something or two days and the kind of collar is kind of to the side? We old school all-nighters thugging it right fucking around. He said, Cudi, you can't wear that, Cudi. I'm like, what? He's like, Cudi, go in the Speaker 8 (38:32) living room and grab you a fresh white tee. He had like a box of just hella, this the white tee era where niggas used to buy white tee by like 200 at a time. Speaker 3 (38:38) He's like, Cudi, you got to get a fresh tee. Cudi, I can't go outside with you looking like this, Cudi. You got to get yourself together. Speaker 8 (38:44) That was his whole thing. Like you had to be together when you fucked with him. He's like, honey, we got an image to uphold. We can't go outside like that. And that morning, the nigga lost his grill. So he was like, I'm going to be outside talking like this the whole day. Nobody can see me without my grill in. He was funny as fuck. He had Speaker 6 (39:02) teeth. He just didn't have the gold. Yeah, he just didn't. He felt naked. He lost his grill. He was like, Cody, Speaker 8 (39:07) I'm talking like this the whole day. Until we find this grill, I'm not going outside, bro. And he was just funny as fuck, bro. He was like, he like you, Snoop Dogg. He was just funny as fuck, bro. But he was a gangster. So let me Speaker 6 (39:19) ask you. You know, like we just talked about Ryan Coogler. Ryan Coogler gets the budget. Mac Dre movie? Yeah, you already know what I'm doing. Ryan Coogler gets the green light for Mac Dre's movie. And I know the easy pick to play Mac Dre right now with the success of the movies prior is to say Michael B. Jordan, but you know Mac Dre. Who do you think should play Mac Dre if this wasn't to happen? Speaker 8 (39:47) Could Michael B. Jordan play Mac Dre? I Speaker 6 (39:49) mean, you know, the reason why I say... That is because of the history in the past. It Speaker 8 (39:54) just Speaker 6 (39:54) seemed like whoever is going to play the next Spike Lee movie, Denzel is going to be involved. You know what I'm saying? Right. But even though Denzel might not fit that character, he'll make it fit that character. Like, I don't think Denzel was made for Malcolm X. I think Denzel made himself. He became Malcolm Speaker 8 (40:08) X. Speaker 6 (40:08) He became Malcolm X. For real. So Michael B. Jordan can become. But who do you think is the actor out right now that. Then I got Speaker 3 (40:17) a question. I mean, I want a question after this. Okay, no problem. My bad. But who Speaker 6 (40:22) do you think? Speaker 3 (40:25) Lakeith. Okay, who is that? What's my man name? Speaker 4 (40:30) Lakeith Stanfield. Oh, yeah, yeah, I can see that. Okay, Lakeith Stanfield, he did... He was... Wasn't he in Atlanta? No. Get Speaker 8 (40:36) out. Yeah, Atlanta, right? Atlanta. What was the movie? Okay, what was the movie Hove got behind? Hove did the Cowboys. He did a lot of shit since Atlanta. Speaker 6 (40:45) Harder They Fall. Harder They Fall. So he Speaker 8 (40:48) was the... He had the quick gun. He was the... Not making good, homeboy. He Speaker 6 (40:52) was Speaker 8 (40:52) the nigga that cut the nigga from the legs. Speaker 6 (40:54) Let me see. Let me see. Okay. He's dope. Yeah. Nah, he's hella talented. I think he could... Oh, he from London? Oh, is he? Nah, nah, nah. I think this nigga at Nas' party. Yeah. That nigga raps. Nah, he's ill. Nah, he an ill nigga. Yeah, yeah. Speaker 8 (41:10) He an Speaker 6 (41:10) ill Speaker 8 (41:11) nigga. And I think... Didn't he play Snoop Dogg, too? Yeah. Did he? Did he? In NWA, he was straight out of Compton. I think he played Snoop. I Speaker 6 (41:19) didn't notice Speaker 8 (41:19) that. Speaker 6 (41:20) In Speaker 4 (41:21) Atlanta, his character was crazy. He's an ill nigga, Speaker 6 (41:24) man. Speaker 8 (41:25) Get out, yeah. And then, well, Mike is getting a little older now. Speaker 8 (41:34) But if Mike Epps, like, because that was like how funny Dre was. Like, Dre was like a real comedian. Speaker 3 (41:43) Hella funny. And I think Mike could play Dre. Oh, wow. Or him. Or what's his guy's name? Look, Keith is dope. Like, you feel me? He's dope, man. I would love to see a Mac Dre movie, man. I would love the world to see it just based off the fact that his story was. So to the people that may not know, Mack Dray went and did five, six years in the federal penitentiary because he was a part of a crew called the Romperoo Crew. And the Romperoo Crew was a group of young kids that they was like 15, 16, and they was robbing banks, allegedly. And they couldn't, they had no fingerprints. They couldn't be found. So they was able to get away with these bank robberies because these kids were still in high school. They were still kids hitting, you know what I'm saying? His crew was hitting banks. So they couldn't, the Vallejo Police Department couldn't get a lead on them because they was kids. So they had like no prior history to nothing. So they had no idea that the Speaker 8 (42:40) Romperoo crew were these kids. And that's why they was called the Romperoo. Remember Romperoo? Yeah, yeah. They call themselves that. That's what they called themselves, the Romperoo crew. Speaker 4 (42:49) So Speaker 8 (42:49) they was Speaker 3 (42:49) kids hitting banks. So they went on to go hit a bank in Fresno. And Dre rolled with, you know, one of his constituents. And the police had, you know, they had leads on him and they stopped him in there. And when they grabbed him, he wasn't in the act of, he wasn't robbing banks. He was going to go do some music. But his homies was like, they was all, you know, this is how they rocking. So when they grab him, they like, we know what your people is doing. Just tell us that. one of your mans is hitting these banks and we'll let you go. He was like, fuck nah. He was like, I don't know what the fuck you talking about. So he ended up doing six years for his homeboys in the feds for bank robbery. Speaker 8 (43:32) So like, Matt Dre's story is just bigger than rap. Like, what evidence they had on him to give him six years? Speaker 3 (43:37) It Speaker 8 (43:37) was Speaker 3 (43:37) like, you conspired because you knew. You knew that they was finna go do these bank robberies. You knew that they was, and you don't want to say nothing about it. We know that this is your crew, this is your team, all your folks. So all his people ended up going to do 15 years. Kilo