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Markuann Smith, Executive Producer of The Godfather of Harlem Talks Season 3 | SWAY’S UNIVERSE
Feb 7, 2023
Godfather of Harlem is back for an exciting premiere of the third season, with the rebranding of EPIX turning into MGM+, which is available to stream live on fuboTV.
Executive producer Markuann Smith stopped by Sway In The Morning to talk about the path that Bumpy Johnson is on in season 3 and how his life aligns with Malcolm X.
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Exclusive interviews from Sway Calloway and the Sway In The Morning/ SwaysUniverse.com team with some of today's biggest celebrities, like Kevin Hart, Kanye West, Eminem, Usher, Jessica Alba, Steve Aoki, Torey Lanez, Julia Stiles and so much more.
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0:00
oh my gosh
0:03
it's just certain things that happen in
0:06
TV and now on streaming platforms or
0:09
even in the movie theaters that just
0:12
they just become these cult trends
0:15
right right right
0:17
um we've seen it happen with Empire
0:19
right right
0:22
we've seen it happen with power power
0:24
you know the first the big one out of
0:27
Baltimore the wire I would say I
0:30
remember to me it first happened with
0:33
New York Undercover New York Undercover
0:36
that's when the appetite got wet yo I
0:39
was like what
0:41
yeah Malik Yoba yeah and every rapper
0:46
every arm B singer remember Natalie's
0:49
they used to come through to the club
0:50
and sing and perform up at Harlem that
0:52
was crazy shout out to New York
0:54
Undercover Andre Harrell Andre Harrell
0:56
but we made those those uh series really
1:00
special is because of the authenticity
1:02
like when you watch New York Undercover
1:05
it looked like a place you would have
1:06
been in a lot of times TV would miss the
1:09
spot you know Mr Mark a little bit some
1:11
movies with Mr Mark too you know but
1:13
when you find those series that hit the
1:15
target right you you're gonna be with it
1:17
you're gonna stick with it for the
1:19
duration of this it's it's longevity you
1:21
know and so we've seen that happen with
1:23
the wire New York Undercover we've seen
1:25
that happen we see what's happening with
1:26
power snowfall snowfall the empire
1:30
but boy when I tell you about this
1:32
Godfather of Harlem
1:34
oh my gosh y'all it's been it's done so
1:39
well
1:41
um that when I'm watching it now I feel
1:43
like it's happening in real time facts
1:45
right and uh the authenticity in this
1:49
series is so on point but it couldn't be
1:52
anything else of all of Harlem would
1:54
have ripped it apart wrapped it apart
1:56
and then I think what the Godfather of
1:59
Harlem did very well
2:01
is that when you cast someone like
2:04
Forest Whitaker come on come on just the
2:07
name alone you know that it's just some
2:10
respect behind it The credibility or
2:12
else Forest wouldn't even showed up
2:16
when you leave with something like that
2:19
the forest Whitakers the rehearsala
2:20
Ali's you know somebody knows come on
2:23
you know what somebody know what they
2:25
doing they know what they're doing and
2:26
that person knows what he's doing
2:27
because he's been doing it for quite
2:29
some time I love telling the story how
2:32
we always will see each other on the
2:34
come up you know for years you know and
2:37
he was always one of those people who
2:38
had an idea he was always pitching I've
2:41
seen him do a bunch of different jobs
2:42
but he was always pitching so when you
2:45
see let's talk about pep
2:47
um featuring pepper salt and pepper
2:50
okay you might have saw him on juice you
2:54
might have saw him on Poetic Justice
2:55
cold blue A Good Day to Die you might
2:57
have even seen him on the Dave Chappelle
2:59
show but you could definitely see him on
3:01
the Godfather of Harlem because not only
3:03
is he an actor he's an executive
3:05
producer this is the homie right here
3:08
have to be this is tribe me and torch
3:10
was running with him the other day
3:11
Harley all the Harlem came out came to
3:13
the Magic Johnson Theater to watch the
3:15
the first episode of season three and
3:17
it's off the chain we got the one and
3:20
only Marquan Smith
3:25
[Music]
3:36
[Music]
3:43
so we were all on air talking about you
3:47
know the lobster fish soup I bought in
3:48
here one day and Marquan I don't know if
3:50
it was listed I don't know what happened
3:51
I was listening
3:56
I need a cup of soup a spoon something
3:59
so I was like how we gonna do this this
4:01
is fair we gotta look out so of course
4:03
my husband downstairs I'm like yo get a
4:06
mason jar bottle off some soup and we're
4:08
just gonna send it in a lift he like who
4:10
this [ __ ] you said
4:13
you sent me the duty baby yeah
4:18
somebody's soup in a car what you doing
4:20
who that I was like yo golfer he was
4:22
like oh a word tell a piece I like it is
4:28
um put it in the message
4:32
yo and he came all the way you kind of
4:35
came to my house yeah I drove like 80
4:38
miles an hour I'm mad this is a true
4:40
story real true story
4:43
came to my house to get the he ain't
4:46
came for no other reason but he came to
4:49
get the bisque yeah yes
5:02
um that hustle mentality yeah it's
5:04
interesting with Marquan we were playing
5:06
um treat them like treat them right
5:09
treat them like they wanna be treated
5:13
Father MC
5:15
Legendary Legendary
5:19
um a lot of people were were really got
5:21
their exposure because the singer
5:23
background on his music Jodeci you know
5:26
Mary J Blige who else intro intro really
5:30
I don't know about intro yeah intro was
5:32
in our records as well too um you know
5:34
father you know the funny thing about
5:36
father is that he was the type of
5:38
individual that gave everybody an
5:40
opportunity yeah to use his platform and
5:43
um
5:44
it had to come out of a budget right so
5:46
it came out of his budget yeah so what
5:48
I'll do for you Mary J Blige was uh
5:52
you know with the with the with the
5:54
blessings of puffy and Mary and father
5:57
she became the singer and I'll do for
6:00
you same thing with Jodeci you know
6:01
would uh treat him like they want to be
6:03
treated you know R.I.P Marky D you know
6:06
that was a certain Market yeah that was
6:07
a soul convention thing that was Corey
6:09
Rooney and uh Prince Marky D that was
6:11
the name of the production yeah that's
6:13
the name of that production company yup
6:14
they wrote a lot of bangers Chris Marky
6:17
D from the Fat Boys yeah you know you
6:19
got to say that now you got it Marky D
6:21
from the Fat Boys
6:23
what people don't know all people don't
6:26
know is that Father MC is Mark Marquan
6:29
Swift's brother yeah I didn't know that
6:31
he just facetimed him I know Father MC
6:34
is going to come on the show so I didn't
6:35
see you used to live down the street for
6:37
me in Jersey City Wow real talk and he
6:40
used to give these Barbecues in the
6:42
summertime man we used to have fun yo
6:46
right downtown Jersey City where it is
6:47
super unaffordable now yeah yep it is
6:50
unaffordable but we used to I used to
6:52
walk to his house he used to give
6:53
Barbecues in the 90s in the backyard
6:55
yeah I mean we've all we were blessed to
6:57
be able to um tour the world you know
7:00
myself and my brother my brother
7:01
actually gave me my first opportunity
7:03
and you know watching how he he grew you
7:06
know I was a roadie and if you knew
7:08
about Roadies you know your audience
7:09
knows about Roadies I was the first one
7:11
off the bus yeah last one on So You Know
7:14
Myself and park became really really
7:15
good friends pop was a roadie for
7:17
Digital Underground Treacher's a roadie
7:19
for Latifah and we used to sit down on
7:22
the tour bus steps and just talk about
7:23
life how we just wanted to be successful
7:25
what's the what's the conversation you
7:27
can remember verbatim well you treaching
7:29
pot well I remember with Park you know
7:31
Treach came on later on but myself on
7:33
Pock you know POC was very emotional man
7:35
pocket If he if he loved you he loved
7:37
you if he didn't like you he didn't like
7:39
you that wasn't something that just you
7:42
know came on later on and like that was
7:44
from the beginning you know he didn't
7:46
like you know dancing on stage in those
7:48
little you know drawers or whatever like
7:50
that but um he was doing a Humpty Dance
7:52
that was the thing that uh Digital
7:53
Underground did yeah yeah and um we used
7:56
to sit down he's like yo man I can't
7:58
wait till I get my my own deal I can't
8:00
wait you know I want the world to hear
8:02
my story and that's what I appreciated
8:04
about Park we was it was just two brown
8:06
boys man trying to make it trying to do
8:09
something in life what was you saying
8:10
back to him what you couldn't I couldn't
8:12
wait to to get on stage with my brother
8:15
then my brother gave me the opportunity
8:17
to become his height man yeah and I was
8:19
tired of carrying these uh big 1200
8:20
coffins yeah putting them under the bus
8:22
I mean it wasn't Serratos or dad tapes
8:25
back then it was these huge 1200 coffins
8:27
plus the stage props so you know my
8:29
brother had to um open up a budget to
8:32
allow me to be on the road so that was
8:33
the reason why I was able to get on the
8:35
road and be able to so they had he had
8:36
to justify why is uh why is silk here
8:39
yeah well he's my Roti you know so I did
8:41
all the things like going to the
8:43
cleaners to get the clothes and and
8:45
taking uh the coffins off the turntable
8:48
I mean off the bus setting up the
8:50
turntables making sure the sound checks
8:52
were good so it gave me a a a great
8:55
motivation you know and disciplined me
8:57
to where I'm at right now amen I love it
8:59
man I'm Marquan Smith man and so and
9:02
while you were doing that
9:03
you went by Silk yeah absolutely
9:07
if you know me you did you know that's
9:10
that's my name you know my name was
9:11
mentioned in a few my brothers raps yeah
9:14
I'm saying that was that was my name
9:15
silk I didn't know that was you yeah but
9:17
I know I was a big fan still am a fan of
9:20
your brothers so he played a lot of his
9:22
music on the west coast you know that
9:23
North of California yeah my first tour
9:26
was actually with a second to none uh
9:28
high five AMG DJ Quick you know so I got
9:32
acclimated the West Coast Music early in
9:34
the game man you always been that
9:37
personal when it comes to and he knows
9:39
the difference between Southern and
9:40
Northern California he always took that
9:42
extra effort
9:44
um back at a time when people don't
9:45
always do that right well you know that
9:46
was because you know I went out and
9:48
spent some time in Marin County okay
9:50
um Tony Tony Tony you know Raphael Sadiq
9:53
uh those are my those are my guys out
9:55
there you know saying um uh their
9:58
bodyguard uh what's his name big uh
10:01
I think was big will big will big will
10:04
passed away yeah these are guys that I I
10:06
met on the road I met on tour and uh I
10:09
love the different Vibes like you know
10:11
coming from New York City from Harlem
10:12
and Far Rockaway I love to just see what
10:15
other cultures were doing other music
10:17
food everything like that so I love I
10:19
have a I have a special special love for
10:21
the day in my heart yes indeed Marquan
10:23
Smith executive producer Godfather of
10:25
Harlem
10:27
um man it's out now on MGM plus Tracy G
10:30
yo I love my Quan Howe your reverence
10:34
for many different cultures I feel like
10:37
that perhaps influenced you to minor in
10:40
theater when you went to Morgan State
10:41
and the reason why I bring that up is
10:43
because considering the time of your
10:46
come up I don't feel like a lot of
10:49
straight black young men would have
10:52
really gone to theater Route you know
10:54
what I mean maybe it felt a little bit
10:56
too soft or a little bit too feminine
10:58
you know they're just a lot of judgments
11:00
around that even though you can get such
11:02
a great source of foundation and obvi of
11:05
um inspiration and obviously that was a
11:06
part of your foundation speak about your
11:09
drive to minor in theater well it
11:11
started off in uh you know be growing up
11:13
in Far Rockaway you know to drown out
11:16
all the white noise like Far Rockaway is
11:18
nothing but an inlet right but nothing
11:20
but housing projects around so imagine a
11:22
small Inlet they don't even call it
11:24
Queens but it's part of queens and you
11:26
have about 20 housing projects so I used
11:29
to stay in my room and watch movies and
11:31
with the door closed I drowned out
11:32
everything else that was outside so I
11:34
used to watch movies like on Rebel
11:37
Without a Cause on the waterfront down
11:38
these Mean Streets Raging Bull you know
11:41
kids my age will usually watching Beat
11:43
Street and Breaking and stuff like that
11:46
I was my favorite movies Once Upon a
11:48
Time in America like noodles was my
11:49
character like noodle Sergio Leon you
11:51
know so me being able to dive into play
11:55
and make believe it just kind of like
11:57
took away from the reality what was
11:59
happening outside and uh looking up the
12:01
thespians is like Sidney Poitier and
12:03
Harry Belafonte I never thought they
12:05
were soft you know theater doesn't have
12:07
to be soft it is a way of expressing
12:09
yourself that's right and that was one
12:10
of the reasons that I took that up at
12:12
Morgan let's go
12:13
man when you were talking about taxi
12:15
driver I was thinking I'm a huge score
12:17
safety fan myself like um after hours is
12:19
one of my favorites yeah absolutely
12:20
absolutely yeah Cheech and Chong in
12:22
there but anyway
12:23
um I know that period pieces can
12:24
sometimes be under a ton of scrutiny
12:26
because it's like that car wasn't out
12:27
back then or that song didn't exist back
12:29
then you know so
12:31
um but also when you see those old New
12:33
York films and something like taxi
12:34
driver for instance uh with um Travis
12:38
Bickle being a character where it was
12:39
like you almost didn't know like is this
12:41
guy a bad guy or is he just
12:43
misunderstood and I feel like you can do
12:45
that with the Godfather Harlem where
12:47
it's like we don't have to just paint up
12:48
one picture of of a person just because
12:50
maybe his reputation might precede him
12:52
or whatever so I just wanted to pick
12:53
your brain about like where you took
12:55
that love of Taxi Driver In Those Old
12:57
New York movies and brought it to
12:58
Godfather Harlem well watching if you
13:01
watch the character Bumpy Johnson right
13:03
um
13:04
people get misconstrued he didn't come
13:06
up to New York City to become a gangster
13:08
he actually came up here to become an
13:09
attorney like Malcolm X so when he went
13:12
to City College and they found out
13:13
Ellsworth Raymond Johnson was attached
13:15
to a black man they said we don't give
13:17
out financial aid so he took the cause
13:19
he dealt was dealt with and played it
13:21
the best way that he could now if you
13:23
look at characters like Tony Soprano
13:25
what makes him so interesting right he
13:27
never saw the relationship between a
13:28
mobster and his therapist
13:30
oh you look at Walter White why why is
13:32
this character so interesting he's a
13:34
chemistry teacher that has a deadly
13:36
disease that's selling methamphetamines
13:38
to provide coverage to you know for his
13:41
uh his disease Jason Bateman you know
13:43
these are different characters that are
13:44
are trying to balance and and play Both
13:47
Sides they have one foot in one foot out
13:49
playing with the cars that were dealt
13:50
and that's the same thing with uh with
13:52
bumpy bumpy wasn't just a gangster man
13:54
he read Shakespeare he read Nietzsche he
13:57
even rumors that he beat Bobby Fischer
13:59
in chess
14:01
yes so published poetry out there like
14:03
you can literally go and find out the
14:06
the warden with Alcatraz said he was the
14:08
highest he had the highest IQ he ever
14:10
saw for a person of color so these are
14:12
characters that you know are trying to
14:14
make it one way but they're he knows
14:17
what he's doing is wrong like you can be
14:18
a drug dealer and by
14:20
300 book bags and sent 80 kids to Great
14:23
Adventures still a drug dealer still a
14:25
drug dealer you know so he's trying to
14:27
transition as you see in season three
14:29
you know from from his hands in the
14:32
streets to actually trying to do
14:33
something beneficial for himself and his
14:35
family he had a unique relationship
14:38
um with a lot of the uh Premier
14:40
activists at that time why didn't they
14:43
shy away from him well because if you
14:46
look at Malcolm X Malcolm X was what
14:48
Detroit Red okay and these are people
14:51
that were in where they were in the
14:52
streets as well so they related to what
14:55
bumpy was going through they might not
14:56
have supported him publicly but they
14:59
understand like you know I I had a
15:01
conversation with Charles Rangel and you
15:03
know I had asked them you know what
15:05
what's the difference between politics
15:07
and crime
15:08
he said absolutely nothing you know why
15:11
because if you look at the Kennedys the
15:13
Kennedys were where they were
15:14
Bootleggers yeah you know one is legal
15:17
one is illegal right so you know bumpy
15:20
you know I've talked to the older guys
15:22
you know that that lived in the
15:24
neighborhood and they said that bumpy
15:25
actually was trying to protect Malcolm X
15:27
to his death yeah but Malcolm shied away
15:30
from him
15:31
and said that you know my followers
15:33
wouldn't follow me because I have a
15:35
relationship with somebody that's a as a
15:37
dope dealer but bumpy knew that you know
15:40
you need the streets behind you you need
15:43
protection and
15:45
um unfortunately Malcolm you know turned
15:47
to turn down his protection and and what
15:49
happened to Malcolm he had a um Affinity
15:51
a love for black people he had a love
15:55
for Harlem so as he The Duality of being
15:58
a somebody who sold massive drugs that
16:02
uh really kind of leads to the
16:04
destruction of a community yeah and
16:06
being somebody who wants to uplift and
16:08
Empower yeah you know what I mean and
16:10
strengthen the community how did what
16:12
did you learn about how did he deal with
16:14
that Duality like that's conflicting I
16:16
would imagine it is I mean when Margaret
16:19
Johnson was alive at the time um I was
16:21
Bumpy's grandmother my godmother she
16:23
used to tell me all the time that you
16:25
know the man that you saw in the streets
16:26
wasn't the man that you saw in the house
16:28
you know Malcolm X would come upstairs
16:30
and play chess with him every Sunday
16:31
they would tease him and make bacon
16:33
knowing that he doesn't eat bacon you
16:35
know these are the things that uh you
16:38
know it's funny
16:39
how dare they yeah you know she used to
16:43
tell me that you know no they would they
16:44
would put uh little Jabs at each other
16:46
you know um
16:48
from from my research bumpy was very
16:52
tortured there wasn't that many tools
16:54
that was given to a black man at that
16:56
time you got to remember that African
16:59
Americans migrated from the south
17:00
whether you went to Virginia whether you
17:02
went to DC Jersey Philly or New York
17:04
trying to escape both Connor's dogs and
17:06
his water hoses but they were still
17:08
dealing with the most turmerless times
17:09
in in in history in the 60s so uh
17:14
bumpy bumpy believe that the only way to
17:18
to fight this is with
17:21
with fear
17:22
and with punishment letting individuals
17:25
know that I'm not a joke on these
17:27
streets you know Harlem is mine
17:30
but he also was dealing with the The
17:32
Good Devil and the bad devil saying the
17:35
I mean the good Angel and the bad the
17:36
good Angel saying you shouldn't be doing
17:39
that
17:39
so that's why you always see Malcolm and
17:41
Adam trying to get bumpy to come up with
17:43
bumpy he's like how how else am I going
17:45
to make money yeah as a black man with a
17:48
record
17:48
as a felon what what could I do in
17:51
America did you get a chance to meet
17:53
bumpy man I would have been you know how
17:56
old bumpy was born in 1905. oh okay and
17:58
when did he die 1968. oh six he born oh
18:01
he was oh he died oh you made him born
18:05
October 31st 1905. yeah you didn't get
18:08
that I would have been like uh yeah
18:11
my mom probably even think about me
18:15
I'm here
18:16
I know all right let's talk more about
18:17
this Marquan Smith is here there's a lot
18:19
of people who want to learn about how to
18:21
break in the business I watched this man
18:23
you know really for for before Godfather
18:26
of Harlem for years I watched him pitch
18:28
a lot of ideas and and you know with a
18:30
lot of ideas a lot of pictures comes a
18:32
lot of no's yeah knows a lot of ups and
18:34
downs so let's talk about all of those
18:36
things we're on the up now
18:39
888-742-3345 of Our Guest Marquan Smith
18:42
who's here executive producer of
18:43
Godfather of Harlem entering his third
18:46
season
18:47
um Forest Whitaker is also an executive
18:49
producer yeah you can find us on MGM
18:52
Plus
18:53
what is your greatest joy about the
18:55
success of this ah man my greatest joy
18:58
like
18:59
was season one and you know I'm still
19:02
looking at uh like seeing all the honey
19:04
wagons and and and uh hearing makeup and
19:08
and the trellis
19:09
and what really made me just be like wow
19:14
I was one of teams that walked up to me
19:15
and said um a Teamster a union person
19:17
Union person walked up to me and said
19:19
thank you for never giving up for you
19:22
not giving up allow me to feed my family
19:23
for the next six months yup it's never
19:26
only about you what did he mean how
19:28
meaning the fact you know in this in
19:31
this business we work in they work from
19:33
Project to project oh
19:35
mm-hmm
19:36
damn ain't that something so that was
19:39
like damn something that was really
19:40
meaningful to me and um I tell people
19:44
that I tell people all the time that you
19:46
know you can get a thousand no's in one
19:48
yes if you knock on success door
19:51
and they don't open enough for you go to
19:53
Home Depot buy some Lumber and build
19:55
your own door and create your own
19:57
opportunity create your own destiny
19:59
because that's what I had to do you know
20:01
people say they want success but they're
20:03
not ready to eat tuna fish sandwiches
20:05
they're not you ready to eat ramen
20:06
noodles they're not ready to say yo sway
20:08
you got to connect with buddy passes
20:10
because I got to get out Sunday night to
20:12
go to La for a meeting with Netflix on
20:14
Monday but I can't afford a flight or I
20:17
need to sleep on somebody's floor you
20:19
know everybody wants success but you
20:21
really really willing to pay the price
20:23
to get to it that's real what's a Honey
20:25
Wagon by the way Honey Wagon van that's
20:28
like uh a terminology where we we get
20:31
dressed at you know like uh okay like
20:33
you change out to our wardrobe and
20:35
things of that sort got it okay we got
20:37
um Cedric on the line from New Orleans
20:38
go ahead Cedric you got a question for
20:40
Marquan hey study yes sir how y'all
20:43
doing this morning good
20:50
except for the last one but I just have
20:52
a question
20:53
um and you're serious you they always
20:56
say juicy instead of like you know
20:59
heroin or cocaine I've never heard him
21:01
say anything like that is there like a
21:02
particular reason you say douching like
21:06
what it actually is well Doogie is what
21:09
they called heroin back in the 60s the
21:11
old time is called the Doogie uh and
21:15
it's it's the same thing as heroin but
21:17
that was a terminology that they used
21:19
back then dooji
21:20
oh there you go Sam and quanine and all
21:25
these these are things that you got to
21:26
look up in chemistry class man you know
21:30
all right hey said thanks for support
21:32
man you're a citizen let's wait in the
21:34
morning Marquan you've been here before
21:36
but I don't think he's ever done the
21:37
mystery sack Heather B oh wow this is
21:41
gonna be good since this is your man's
21:42
in them all right
21:45
go ahead and reach in dig deep dig deep
21:49
put your hands into sway's sack that
21:53
sounds grass it sways mystery sack
21:58
unshade 45.
22:02
it sounds much more dangerous than what
22:05
it really is so yo he should have saw
22:07
his face
22:14
some really really interesting questions
22:16
in here so you're gonna have to pick out
22:18
the questions one at a time
22:21
um you have to do it three times pick
22:22
one read it out shout out to uh on the
22:25
guard sister Onika too oh what up big
22:27
old what up oh oh coming to town too she
22:30
gonna be staying a couple of weeks
22:31
Heather nice we gotta hang out yeah she
22:33
needs a place to stay
22:35
it's always back to what my Quan said
22:37
let somebody stay with you all right got
22:39
it I got some food for you got her some
22:41
food for her okay I'll get the shelter
22:42
Mark what you gonna get I'll get it I'll
22:44
get the um you know I wanted the likes
22:46
you know some brown some brown you know
22:48
go to the store get my ground floor okay
22:52
you like that brown juice she's from the
22:54
bay she like the brown Hugo okay so what
22:56
it says you gotta read it out loud have
22:58
you ever witnessed folks having an
22:59
affair while working on set on a set oh
23:02
no Lucy I've never had a hunch no I
23:06
haven't at all great answer never ever
23:12
if you saw an affair I just
23:15
never ever hope I ever see that to react
23:19
a certain way I feel like I'm wearing a
23:21
wire in here
23:25
yes Ma'am
23:27
why are you answering like that like you
23:30
know like you look at us like we don't
23:31
know like Law and Order no actually I
23:33
haven't even though you know these
23:35
things happen because you spend a lot of
23:36
time with someone of you if you're on
23:38
set regardless if it's six months to 12
23:40
months you know things happen you get
23:41
close to people but I haven't personally
23:43
seen it okay okay good answer
23:46
don't put it back in there all right
23:49
don't be seeking my quad okay
23:53
I want to say
23:55
is there anyone you ended up working
23:57
with that once rejected your idea or
23:59
said no to you in the past oh
24:03
wow
24:05
um
24:06
I think if they did say no to me I
24:08
wouldn't have hired them because I'm a
24:09
boss now to be honest with you
24:11
but what if they were perfect for the
24:13
job
24:14
you know what I forgive my enemies but I
24:17
never forget their names
24:22
no u-turns
24:24
I'm a Scorpio you know like that's the
24:27
difference
24:28
years ago if you burnt that bridge I
24:31
hope you had a canoe but hold up hold up
24:33
is it really a burnt bridge if during a
24:36
period in your career you wasn't as good
24:39
as you are now you know what I mean and
24:41
so they were just like this is not the
24:43
right time no I don't think so
24:47
your birthday November 19th
24:51
so you understand what I'm saying
24:53
Heather right week man listen you can go
24:56
find you know I wish you the best of
24:58
luck on the other side of the street but
25:00
you won't be over here eating with me
25:02
doesn't matter huh we're supposed to be
25:04
visionaires right Visionaries right yeah
25:06
if I'm coming to you with something
25:07
that's really dope and I put my I'm
25:09
talking about the individuals that gave
25:11
me those contracts those boo-boo
25:13
contracts the contract that you wouldn't
25:15
even give your grandmother earlier in
25:16
the day I'm talking about those people
25:17
those individuals
25:19
okay all right cool all right all right
25:23
that's hilarious dude ain't bending no
25:26
u-turns over here
25:28
yeah EP executive producer of Godfather
25:31
of Harlem yeah he's here what's the most
25:34
difficult job position you had to take
25:35
because you knew it was beneath you and
25:38
you were better than that position
25:40
oh man
25:42
um if you want to go into later on in
25:44
life I think it's when I was working at
25:46
a network
25:48
and um they had me in the cubicle in the
25:51
dark no air condition just one phone and
25:55
everybody would just drop all these
25:56
videotapes on me and um
25:59
I used to sneak out to go to auditions
26:02
and then my boss used to call me but
26:03
your black ass at you got 20 minutes to
26:06
get back in here I don't care these
26:07
tapes need to get fed down you know it
26:09
was just such a horrendous job and I
26:11
ended up being there for 16 years
26:13
because of just needing a uh a place to
26:18
be creative and a place to
26:20
try to live out my dreams and um
26:22
eventually I got fired and that was the
26:24
best thing that ever happened to me even
26:26
if even though they gave me four
26:27
thousand dollars and Severance for 16
26:28
years
26:30
yeah that was like the worst or thousand
26:33
worst place I've ever thousand for every
26:35
four years okay so they gave you 250 for
26:39
dollars for every year you work there
26:40
yeah absolutely it was it was it was it
26:44
was I I didn't like it at all you know
26:46
because you know as a creative person
26:47
you know that you're good and you know
26:49
what you're doing and these people are
26:51
giving you contracts you know that
26:53
aren't good you're always telling you
26:54
they're not good but they're still doing
26:55
it to you yeah so um I didn't I didn't
26:58
really I didn't like I didn't like it
26:59
there I I didn't think they gave
27:01
everybody opportunities there I felt
27:03
that they told you was a glass ceiling
27:05
and as far as you you would be going can
27:07
can you share it if possible the name of
27:09
the network don't do that he said he was
27:11
wearing a wire you're a radio app I keep
27:13
telling him
27:15
is there anything you learned from that
27:17
experience what did you take yeah I
27:19
learned that being comfortable is scary
27:21
and uh never have a plan B I've always
27:24
had a plan a and I've I'll stay to this
27:27
day if you have a plan B I think you're
27:29
planning to fail by having a plan B too
27:31
comfortable too comfortable stick to
27:32
your player a because you know at this
27:35
network I worked at when they started
27:36
letting go of people they started
27:38
sending grief counselors out oh why
27:40
would you send a grief counsel out
27:42
because people got comfortable they were
27:43
there for 21-22 yeah 23 years they were
27:46
depending on that check to put their
27:48
kids to college they were depending that
27:49
check for mortgage payments and when
27:51
that check is taken away from you you
27:53
weren't prepared for that yeah
27:55
every other plan B yeah marquana ain't
27:58
bending and he says what he says and
27:59
looks away yeah
28:01
new season man okay man thank you for
28:04
doing the message
28:07
by any means hey Moses you our last
28:11
caller what you want to say Moses
28:15
what's popping man it's Moses y'all what
28:18
up Moses
28:19
hey I know I'm a little old I'm I'm 60
28:22
years old but my mother before she
28:25
passed she used to tell me about two
28:27
people Eartha Kitt and a guy from uh
28:31
South Carolina was bumpy her grandmother
28:33
used to talk about that and ever since I
28:36
watched The Godfather of Holland I don't
28:37
watch TV switch that show is is better
28:41
than the wider wow
28:45
wow he said better than the wire man how
28:48
does that feel to you I thank you Moses
28:49
I mean our job was when we when we have
28:53
such a diverse writer's room from every
28:56
nationality in there we wanted to make
28:58
our show a conversation piece and when
29:00
you have conversation pieces that means
29:02
your show was interesting you know we
29:04
wanted to make it a an affair every
29:06
Sunday where you could sit down with
29:08
your family and watch it regardless of
29:10
your age regardless of your race we just
29:12
wanted to create a a good show and thank
29:14
you thanks a lot Moses hey Moses keep
29:16
supporting man hey matter of fact if
29:18
you're on social media modes that you
29:20
should follow Mark Juan let them know
29:21
where they could follow you Marquan my
29:23
social media is at Marquan that's at
29:26
m-a-r-k-u-a-n-n I'm back I got hacked by
29:29
some Nigerians but I'm back baby there
29:31
you go
29:32
some nice experience for instance wow
29:35
hey man well congratulations
29:37
um what's next
29:38
oh I got a couple of great projects man
29:40
I'm I'm working with the uh uh the great
29:44
Joe Morton
29:45
yeah Joe Martin is uh a good friend of
29:49
mine's a mentor and Matt conahan who
29:51
created House of Lies yes uh with Don
29:54
Cheadle and uh one nine one nine is uh
29:57
my partner he he just did the nipsy
29:59
hustle documentary with uh Spring Hill
30:02
um LeBron James company so I'm working
30:04
with them on a project about uh about
30:06
the nation's capital and the Heyday
30:09
right BC DC you see what kind of
30:11
sneakers I'm wearing right now New
30:13
Balance they not the 996 but you still
30:15
passed I got those at home okay you know
30:18
I know the numbers baby
30:20
100 and up and um
30:23
did you do the uh when you when you met
30:25
up with Joe Moore and did you do the
30:26
Terminator scene I don't know how much
30:29
longer hold this
30:32
I didn't do that
30:37
working with a friend of mine by the
30:40
name of Corey Piggies and Ed bonero
30:42
Corey buchis is a police officer that
30:44
actually used to sell drugs for
30:46
notorious gang in South Jamaica called
30:47
the Supreme Team and uh
30:50
you know uh he was told to go kill
30:53
someone and he said he didn't want to do
30:54
it and went away to the Army and became
30:56
the highest ranked police officer in New
30:57
York City wow right on the deputy
30:59
inspector and when uh he wrote a
31:01
best-selling book called once the cop
31:03
after he did the combat Jack show just
31:05
to let kids know that a cautionary tale
31:08
that if I could do it you can do it
31:10
Raymond Kelly and all those guys they
31:11
found out his past and they tried to
31:13
take away his uh pension his uh Stripes
31:16
everything so this is it's going to be a
31:18
show about his life as well and I'm
31:19
doing it with Ed Venero who created
31:21
Criminal Minds in Third Watch it's
31:22
amazing man I'm proud of you Marquan hey
31:25
man can you get Onika apart oh
31:27
absolutely I always you know I always
31:30
give arnica alley-oops it's about
31:32
supporting each other man I say like I
31:34
want I want us to form a new Breakfast
31:36
Club like you know Molly ring wall and
31:38
those guys used to do you know if
31:40
Leonardo DiCaprio is working so was Toby
31:42
McGuire it's a fact you know so I I want
31:45
that to be I want us to formulate it
31:47
instead of being a collaboration instead
31:49
of being scared to help you each other
31:50
you know they got us thinking there's
31:52
only so many spots so we can we be
31:54
crabbing the bucket of each other yeah
31:56
everybody has their own Zone I love what
31:58
50 is doing I love what Lena Wade is
32:00
doing I love what Issa is doing and I'm
32:02
doing what I'm doing I like to make
32:03
history cool I call it edutainment
32:05
Marquan Smith y'all follow him at
32:07
Marquan
32:10
entertainment
32:12
k-u-a-n-n thank you brother appreciate
32:14
you man thank you always good to see you
32:16
thank you Tracy all right absolutely all
32:18
right thank you church thank you going
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