Up next in 10
Ice Cube, E-40 and Too $hort sit down with Sway and Heather B to talk about the Mount Westmore album and their illustrious careers.
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0:00
Can I get a yay, yay?
0:03
Turn my mic up, man. Turn this mic up,
0:05
baby. Turn my mic up. Turn this mic up,
0:07
man. Turn my mic up, too.
0:09
No, I just want my mic up.
0:13
Hey, man. I know I got up on the right
0:14
side of the bed. I feel like me and Cube
0:16
got the same jacket on, Heather. Is that
0:18
true?
0:19
Y'all do. That's crazy.
0:20
Similar? Yeah. I wish we had the same
0:23
bank account.
0:26
Come on, man. Come on now. Let me tell
0:28
you for so many reasons that these three
0:32
men, you know, these three leaders,
0:34
these three icons uh means so much to me
0:39
uh cuz we're from the same school. I got
0:42
a chance to watch their growth. I used
0:44
to work at a
0:46
what they called a one-stop called the
0:48
Music People in North Oakland.
0:52
I definitely know about that.
0:54
Okay. And the Music People used to do
0:56
what they called consignment deals for
0:58
independent artists to help you
0:59
circulate your music around the world.
1:02
Another place called City. I used to
1:04
work in the back and when the Click uh
1:06
put out their first project, I was the
1:09
person that used to monitor how many
1:11
sales they had, right? And put it on the
1:13
shelves for when the retail of the
1:15
buyers used to come in. I was the person
1:17
I used to say, "You should get that
1:18
Click." You know, when Life Is Came Out,
1:21
when Short, you know, and all the music
1:23
before that came out, Born to Mack, all
1:25
of these different projects came out, I
1:27
was the kid in there saying, "Man, but I
1:29
was the kid in there that was like, man,
1:32
damn, I can see how this is moving."
1:33
Same with Hammer, right? Uh yes, sir.
1:36
When NWA first came out, I feel like
1:38
y'all was with Macola
1:40
at one point.
1:41
Yeah. First started out with Macola.
1:43
Macola Records.
1:44
Ruthless did. Ruthless did, right? And
1:47
any music that came out, I was aware I
1:49
that's how I was picking up the game. I
1:51
was an artist, too, so I was inspired by
1:54
what they were doing. But nobody knew
1:57
that I don't [ __ ] 20 20 however many
1:59
years later
2:02
He like to math. He almost tried to do
2:03
it in the air that they would be here
2:05
really expanding the boundaries of what
2:08
this culture can accomplish. We met each
2:11
and every one of them as an MC. But we
2:13
know each and every one of them today as
2:16
a business mogul. Give them a round of
2:19
applause for that.
2:21
Got to add Snoop in there, too, you
2:22
know. Snoop Dogg.
2:24
Forgive me. Salute to Snoop Dogg, man.
2:27
Give it up for Snoop as well, the fourth
2:29
member of Mount Westmore. And look what
2:33
Snoop is doing with his career. Snoop is
2:35
hobnobbing with Marsh Martha Stewart.
2:39
187 on the undercover cop.
2:43
That's a long distance. That's a long
2:45
distance, right? And so for me it
2:48
Martha done did more time than Snoop, so
2:50
Thank you. Thank you.
2:51
Get out of his kitchen. She should be
2:53
happy he hanging with her criminal ass.
2:55
And she did and she didn't snitch. And
2:57
she didn't snitch.
3:00
Kept it solid, not salad.
3:02
Hey.
3:03
Yo, and then I can't forget the other
3:05
icon. Hey, man. I don't travel without
3:07
her. Give it up for the one and only
3:09
Heather B.
3:09
Yeah, yeah. The first
3:11
iconic Heather, the first
3:14
African-American reality TV star ever,
3:16
World World season 1. Give it up.
3:19
They wouldn't be eating if it wasn't for
3:20
Heather. And a dope rapper. Don't think
3:22
I forgot. Thank you. All right. Bars.
3:25
Cuz y'all was in the Heather at the time
3:27
on Box That? Come on now. She was
3:28
Soul Train together.
3:30
about her. Yeah, we come on. We go back
3:31
with Soul Train, man. Me and Sugar D We
3:33
all watched Yo! MTV Raps, right? Was Was
3:35
Sugar on there with me? Yeah.
3:37
We all watched Yo! MTV Raps. All of us
3:39
All of us watched it. Wow. Okay. See,
3:41
Heather, told you, man. You got fans,
3:43
too. Shut up.
3:46
Uh let's talk, man. Uh Short and I was
3:49
having this conversation, Cube, uh
3:51
backstage. And Short so eloquently um
3:55
talked about why he's excited to be
3:57
about this be a part of this project.
4:00
And we'll talk about that in a second,
4:02
but what excited you? You have so much
4:04
on your plate. Why Mount Westmore? What
4:06
was it about this that this ideal and
4:08
this concept? Uh it was just the perfect
4:12
group, you know, um
4:15
we're friends, you know, y'all cousins,
4:17
but we're cousins, too. You know what
4:19
I'm saying? It's just we're cousins
4:21
through entertainment and then
4:23
friendship and um
4:26
you know, we have genuine love for each
4:28
other.
4:29
Never had a argument that didn't
4:31
um
4:32
start with the Raiders or the 49ers or
4:34
something like that.
4:36
But
4:37
you know,
4:38
love and respect uh always happy to see
4:42
these dudes coming. We've done a
4:44
thousand shows with each other, you
4:46
know, me and Too Short have been touring
4:49
since the NWA days. I met him in 19 88
4:54
when he put out Born to Mack
4:56
and we was
4:57
we was
4:58
uh opening up for
5:00
Heavy D
5:02
uh and the boys, Salt-N-Pepa,
5:05
um
5:06
UTFO at the time.
5:09
And uh
5:10
you know, I just you know, we gravitated
5:13
toward each other and it we've always
5:15
been friends and same with 40.
5:19
You know, I love to see 40 coming, you
5:20
know what I mean? It just put a smile on
5:22
my face. And Snoop, too. You know, we
5:25
like
5:26
I know I'm I'm a you know, I'm a grouch,
5:29
but for the most part, we're the funnest
5:30
group in hip-hop.
5:31
Yeah, real life.
5:32
You know what I'm saying? Without a
5:33
doubt. We having fun right now. And
5:36
it just it's just really about um
5:39
you know, doing something cool for the
5:41
culture. Why not? Like this is our job
5:43
to be innovative and creative and do new
5:46
stuff that you don't expect. You know,
5:48
it's dope cuz nobody was expecting it
5:50
and nobody believed that it would really
5:54
come together and um
5:56
and you know, Mount Westmore is more
5:58
than a group. It's you know, we got a
5:59
business together. It's a LLC.
6:02
We done made a lot of money, you know,
6:05
before the album even came out. So,
6:08
you know, we planning to grow this
6:09
thing, do more albums. We got more
6:11
albums cocked and loaded. So, you're
6:14
going to see a lot more of us. So, it's
6:15
just
6:16
it's special, man. It's my third group.
6:19
Um you know, NWA.
6:21
As far as, you know, on the professional
6:23
level. But I've been in, you know,
6:25
Stereo Crew and CIA.
6:27
CIA. That's yeah. You know, a round of
6:28
applause for that, man. Yeah, yeah,
6:30
yeah. Yeah. So, it's just been um
6:33
Don't forget Don't forget Westside
6:33
Connection. Westside Connection, you
6:35
know. So, it it it's uh
6:38
it's I'm you know, I'm just happy to be
6:40
in this position to be able to
6:42
you know, rock with my cousins. That's
6:44
what's up, Cube. And I'm glad you said
6:45
it, man. When you said that grouch
6:47
thing, none of us want to ever tell you
6:48
that, but thank you for
6:50
No, it's cool. You know, I get it.
6:54
Short, you said something so eloquent in
6:57
that room. We just talking, you know,
6:59
and
7:00
I uh you know, I have to admit us the
7:02
three of us is just an affinity
7:04
being from the Bay. It's a little
7:06
different, right? Uh for us. And
7:09
a lot of people would get the Bay. I
7:11
remember coming up in LA confused. You
7:14
know, if you was from Cali, we were all
7:16
from the same city, which wasn't
7:18
necessarily true. I remember first time
7:20
meeting Ice Cube. Ice Cube ain't going
7:21
to remember this and I'm not trying to
7:22
put that pressure on you. Um you guys
7:25
were doing a show in the Bay
7:27
um in Oakland early. This was in the
7:29
'80s. Up there This was in the '80s.
7:32
And me and King Tech was a fledgling
7:33
group and we were throwing a party, I
7:36
want to say, in Hayward.
7:38
And after the show, they said NWA want
7:40
to come to y'all party.
7:43
And we was like, NWA want to come to the
7:45
you know, Eazy was huge. Eazy-E, man.
7:48
Round of applause for E.
7:52
Eazy was huge, man. And
7:54
Cube, y'all showed up to our party and
7:56
me and Tech was so broke, we were
7:58
asking, "Are they going to pay the $20
8:00
to get in?"
8:04
Damn.
8:04
Yo, and We did not pay.
8:06
Y'all did not pay.
8:08
And then y'all walked in
8:10
and we was like I was mad cuz y'all
8:12
didn't pay. Hey. Yo,
8:15
you know,
8:16
I I don't remember that. You know, we
8:18
was young. Looking for somewhere to go
8:21
all the time, you know, from the mall,
8:22
anybody had a party, pool parties,
8:25
anything, we was showing up cuz we was
8:27
just having fun, happy that we was
8:30
finally getting a chance to go on the
8:32
road and do things, but
8:34
NWA, they wouldn't let us in our own
8:37
album release party.
8:40
Like
8:41
we hit the door and they was like, nope,
8:43
you're not getting in.
8:45
It's like, man, it's our it's our [ __ ]
8:47
What you talking about? Not getting in.
8:50
What you mean we're not getting in, man?
8:52
No no hats, tennis shoes, all that [ __ ]
8:54
you got on can't get in. It's like,
8:56
dude, this this this for us.
8:58
Jerry I mean not Jerry Heller. Brian
9:00
Turner came out there trying to talk to
9:02
the people. Nope. So, we didn't get in.
9:04
We went up to Bob's Big Boy or some
9:07
[ __ ] and ate while they was having
9:09
our album release party.
9:12
You know what I'm saying? And
9:13
Brian came up there to the table while
9:15
we was eating like, man, I'm sorry, man.
9:17
I thought we was going to be able to get
9:18
y'all in and [ __ ] So, we had a habit of
9:21
you know, showing up and blowing up the
9:23
spot. And
9:24
yeah, that didn't make the movie, but
9:26
that happened for real.
9:28
That's a crazy ass [ __ ] up moment.
9:31
It is. It is. Uh wow. Okay. Dre did DJ
9:36
at our party, though. He got on the
9:37
turntables. Oh, damn. Y'all got Dre,
9:39
too?
9:39
We got Dre to DJ, but you know, the Bay,
9:41
you know, you know, we had some ill DJs
9:44
in the Bay, so I think he wanted to show
9:46
and prove. Short, you said uh Mount
9:49
Westmore, this movement was important to
9:52
me because these are areas that people
9:56
at this stage of life and our careers
9:58
have never gone before. So when the
10:00
history is being told, you want to be a
10:03
part of it. Yeah, you know, I'm just
10:05
saying um
10:06
there's going to come a day where the
10:07
conversation is had like, you know, what
10:09
what is hip-hop in those years when you
10:13
50-something years old? What is it? And
10:15
and the debate it might be a debate, but
10:17
it's going to definitely be a
10:18
conversation and we're going to be
10:20
examples of whoever's arguing that point
10:22
that hip-hop is in the same uh it's in
10:26
the same on the same level as rock and
10:28
roll and jazz and the blues
10:31
and country when it comes to like a
10:32
artist just performing your days out.
10:34
Just keep going. Like keep getting
10:36
money.
10:37
What's his name? Willie Nelson smoking
10:39
the weed and old dude just still doing
10:41
his shows. BB King did his shows
10:43
forever. Many of our jazz musicians, you
10:45
know, went on and on and we know about
10:46
the rock stars with their big tours. So
10:48
hip-hop is
10:51
isn't old enough to say that yet. But
10:53
now, you know, we're about to have our
10:54
50th anniversary as hip-hop, a whole
10:56
hip-hop, and we're there, man. We're
10:58
there. We're getting money. Grandmaster
11:00
Flash getting money. We're getting
11:01
money, man. You know what I'm saying?
11:03
It's it's it's real. So I just love that
11:06
I'm doing something I'm a part of
11:08
something that is going to be solid. You
11:10
could say these guys
11:12
they made this much money after they did
11:14
100 albums. They added up we got 100
11:17
albums combined. You know what I'm
11:18
saying? 100 million albums sold like
11:20
combined. Everybody that's in in Mount
11:22
Westmore. And
11:24
Wow. You when when you want to start
11:25
counting the the plat platinums and
11:27
golds?
11:28
It's a lot. It's a lot of
11:31
a lot of accolades in the group of Mount
11:33
Westmore and and we will be in the
11:35
conversation of
11:37
beyond that career you wish you would
11:39
have had. You wish you could have. These
11:41
dudes still kept going and it's
11:42
successful. So, you know, I want to do
11:45
this, man. It's short as the all three
11:47
of these dudes are probably three of the
11:49
smartest men you're ever going to meet.
11:53
Beyond this art form. Like three
11:56
smartest men for so many reasons. I've
11:58
studied these guys, right? I know them.
12:01
I found out with Cube in the Bay. 40
12:03
really my cousin. I got to keep
12:04
repeating this cuz nobody believe it
12:06
when I say them. That's my blood
12:07
bloodline. Same bloodline. Same thing,
12:10
you know. And so when I hear these this
12:12
conversation, I think it's so important
12:14
for the culture. I want to
12:16
I want to go back to this moment and to
12:18
my dudes in the production room. Pull up
12:21
the picture that Ice Cube and Short are
12:25
both in.
12:27
Not that one. Go back. Not that one. Go
12:29
back. That one right there.
12:31
That's dope. No, no, that ain't
12:33
That that that ain't it either.
12:35
Cube ain't in that one. It's another
12:36
one.
12:38
Not that one.
12:39
that.
12:39
Oh Jesus. Let's stop right there for a
12:41
second.
12:43
Found another moment.
12:44
Found another moment. Crazy. All right.
12:46
Uh
12:47
your cousin, too, man?
12:49
Hey, that's a trip cuz they used to kind
12:51
of we were similar. We I wore Kangol, he
12:53
wore you know what I'm saying? We wore
12:54
the
12:55
coogi outfits and all that. We dressed
12:56
similar if you can see, you know? Same
12:59
height. And that wasn't on purpose. It
13:00
was just the look in the '90s, you know?
13:02
Players with the baller belly.
13:03
Yeah, we had the baller belly.
13:07
Y'all even the same height, man. That's
13:09
crazy. Look how much y'all I didn't even
13:11
peep that. You know why I like this
13:13
picture, cuzzo? It's because
13:16
when people talk about you and Bay, they
13:18
always like to talk about the conflict.
13:20
Yeah. Right?
13:22
We all we all conflict.
13:24
This was after the conflict.
13:25
This was after the conflict. This is the
13:26
resolution. Definitely. And in hip-hop,
13:29
we don't get to the resolution. This was
13:31
the handshake and the hug. Puffy was
13:33
there, too. He He wanted the picture.
13:34
They just didn't show it on this one,
13:35
but he wanted one, too. What was that
13:37
moment like in the resolution? How did
13:39
it make you feel? Actually, it's a trip
13:41
cuz we didn't even plan it. We was both
13:43
in Vegas for the Mike Tyson fight. He
13:46
had just returned home from doing some
13:48
jail time, I think. It was 1995 and uh
13:52
my wife had we we we was like said they
13:54
go What's his name? So we went over
13:56
there. My wife was like, let's get a
13:57
picture. So we was we already was
13:59
chopping it up and you know what I'm
14:00
saying? Cuz we had already just like
14:03
you know, 86 that whole situation. You
14:05
know what I'm saying? And um
14:07
and we took that picture, man. It was
14:09
legendary, you know? The resolution is
14:11
something that's never discussed. Yeah,
14:13
yeah.
14:14
Everybody going to ask you what happened
14:15
with the beef.
14:16
That's right. I'm asking you what
14:18
happened with the love. The love was
14:20
there and people don't know that he
14:22
shouted me out in the inside of Life and
14:23
Death. Back then we did shout-outs on
14:25
the inside of the cover, you know? So
14:27
it's like shout-out to E-40 and he
14:28
reached out to me to get on this album,
14:30
but I couldn't get I didn't get to it in
14:31
time. On that last album before he died,
14:33
man. You know what I'm saying?
14:35
So
14:37
Can you imagine if that had happened?
14:39
Come on.
14:40
Imagine if him and Pac did an album
14:42
together, you know what I'm saying? You
14:43
just
14:44
God just work with he they died so
14:46
young. They did a lot in so little time,
14:48
you know? Uh-huh. A lot but Yeah, man.
14:50
Thanks for sharing. I had to get in
14:52
there, man. I'mma hog this.
14:53
No, I'm tripping because like when you
14:55
really sit and think about it like
14:56
growing up with your parents, you hear
14:58
people talking about I'm retirement. I
14:59
don't work 20 years. It's time for me to
15:01
retire. 25 and done. But I'm looking at
15:04
y'all everybody including Sway and
15:07
myself and when Sway mentioned Real
15:08
World in '92, like we've all been doing
15:11
this for 30 plus years. Yeah. Like let
15:14
that sink in. You've been doing
15:16
something for 30 years and by the grace
15:19
of God successfully. You know, there's a
15:21
lot of ups and downs in this game that
15:22
sometimes you can talk about it legally,
15:24
you can't all of this stuff, but for 30
15:26
years you've been in something that
15:28
you've been passionate about. And with
15:31
that and this is for each one of you.
15:32
I'll start with Short. What do you do
15:35
though to decompress from all of this?
15:39
Well, you know, me um I I I
15:42
work hard and play hard, you know what
15:43
I'm saying? And I also relax hard. So,
15:46
you know, I I I believe in um
15:49
It sound like something a OG would say,
15:51
you know, I believe in taking naps.
15:53
Power naps. Power naps.
15:55
that.
15:55
I got you.
15:56
taking naps at a young age and they kept
15:57
saying, bro, how you go so hard in the
15:59
paint? And I'm like, bro, I I I actually
16:01
I really work hard. I get up in the
16:03
morning and work hard. I stay up late at
16:05
night and party hard. But then I get
16:07
that little sleep in. I've just been
16:08
having that balance of of just like
16:10
doing me all these years and I just
16:12
think uh if you get focused on one of
16:15
them too much of one, too much kicking
16:17
back, you get that you get that that
16:19
struggle and you get that foot in the
16:21
door and then the success and they're
16:22
waving and yelling at you and loving you
16:24
and then you go home and kick back. Or
16:26
you know what I'm saying? Or you just
16:27
get in there and you start having too
16:29
much fun. We've seen the we've seen the
16:30
party guys burn out. Facts. And then,
16:33
you know, you you a workaholic ain't
16:34
really like the best thing always to be
16:36
either. It's like I don't play or rest.
16:38
I just work. So I think that I've always
16:40
been comfortable in
16:43
tapping in, tapping out, coming to the
16:45
party. I can party five nights a week,
16:47
but you sitting there going, how's he
16:49
doing it? Taking naps.
16:52
40, what about you cuz I follow you on
16:54
Instagram, the cooking. I'm like, he he
16:56
must love it just because it's
16:58
Goon with the spoon.
16:58
That's it.
16:59
with the spoon. I go to bed late and I
17:02
wake up early.
17:03
I you know, and I do take power naps.
17:05
And I was asking
17:07
it's a trip cuz I I've and I've been
17:08
taking them more now, you know, a good
17:10
15 minutes to really just make
17:12
rejuvenate your rejuvenate your whole
17:14
day, you know what I'm saying? I was
17:15
asking I was asking Snoop Dogg there
17:17
like, how you how do you
17:19
He goes so damn hard. I'm like, Snoop,
17:20
he He said, cuz I take power naps.
17:25
But when you about your grit, man, you
17:27
know what I'm saying? The grit don't
17:28
quit, bro. You know what I'm saying? Cuz
17:29
it's like to be getting money at this
17:31
age, half a hundred years old, you
17:33
understand me? This is a blessing. God
17:35
is great.
17:35
Great.
17:36
me? And still on top of the game. Like I
17:38
was talking to my little brother Mac D
17:40
Shot. He was like, man, I wish I could
17:42
just go, you know, 45 minutes and go get
17:44
a hundred thou out right quick. You know
17:46
what I'm saying? On on a show. You know
17:47
what I'm saying? That's amazing. That's
17:48
a lot of scrilla, man. You feel me?
17:51
That's a lot of cheesecake, man.
17:53
You know, it's a lot of quid.
17:58
Cube, what about you? Are you napping?
18:03
You know, it it's really
18:06
proper planning and prioritizing, you
18:09
know what I'm saying? You can get a lot
18:10
done if you know what to do and when to
18:13
do it. When to plan, when to execute,
18:16
and when to kick back and
18:19
you know,
18:20
um
18:21
what you say? Decompress. Um
18:24
You know, we I'm a I'm a fan of sports,
18:27
so I use that to decompress a lot.
18:30
Kicking it with my wife, me and Kim, you
18:32
know.
18:33
Me and her, you know, always chopping it
18:35
up and
18:37
you know, smelling the roses. And but
18:40
it's all proper planning, like I said,
18:44
prioritizing and executing and you can
18:47
get a lot lot lot done. You know, don't
18:49
waste your time. And I'll say something
18:52
for
18:52
I'll go say and I was speaking on
18:54
something earlier this this morning. We
18:55
was on Zoom. I was just talking about
18:56
how you know, these youngsters got some
18:59
great opportunities to get money.
19:01
They're getting money.
19:03
Just know that, you understand me? It
19:04
ain't about how much money you got. It's
19:05
about how much you keep. So and it's all
19:07
about, you know what I'm saying?
19:09
Really looking at it like this is a real
19:12
occupation, not a vacation, you
19:13
understand me? It's It's no days off, no
19:15
recesses, no interludes, no commercials,
19:18
man. We gritting, you know what I'm
19:20
saying? So we got to take it serious.
19:22
Get money right now, you understand?
19:24
Right. Hello.
19:25
Um I'll just add by saying the other
19:28
thing that I love about seeing you
19:29
including Snoop, whatever they put in
19:32
the water this last decade of it, I love
19:35
seeing y'all with y'all wives and your
19:37
families. There was a time in this era
19:39
in this music where you just didn't see
19:41
that. People hid the fact that they had
19:43
girls, hid the fact that they had kids,
19:46
hid the fact that they had wives. I love
19:48
seeing y'all with y'all families.
19:49
I I
19:50
I always was with my wife and kids, you
19:52
know I
19:52
but not a lot of people would do like
19:54
you just didn't see it. I see you and
19:56
your wife at the game. I see your kids
19:58
in movies. It's granted it's so
20:00
beautiful to me. Continue that y'all
20:02
because to see black men doing this is a
20:05
plus right now for black and brown
20:06
women. Man, I love it. For real.
20:10
Shout out to my wife Tracy. I love you.
20:11
Tracy! Tracy here?
20:14
She not here. Hey yo, that's a first.
20:16
lady too. She's handling some paperwork.
20:18
was his high school sweetheart.
20:20
Yeah. What?
20:21
Yeah, she was 16, I was 17. Skinny, too.
20:24
Yeah. I was I was skinny with a six-pack
20:26
and a perm, man. Shorty, I
20:28
was a player, man. You dig? I remember
20:30
being on on the interview NWA tour 1989.
20:34
Ice Cube, we get little three, four-day
20:36
breaks here and there on the tour. Ice
20:37
Cube dipped to Hawaii
20:40
and came back with these pictures. And
20:42
it was like him and his wife. And he was
20:44
like, "Yeah, man, this the one, man. She
20:46
a keeper."
20:48
I kept her, too. She kept me. Which is
20:50
how you know I'm important. But I was
20:52
1989, man, for real. Wow. Yeah, we've
20:55
been together since '89. We just
20:57
celebrated 30 years on November 28th.
20:59
Come on, man. of marriage.
21:01
Congratulations. Y'all Y'all don't want
21:03
to stand for that?
21:05
Come on, give him a standing ovation.
21:06
Yo, that's like
21:07
grandparents and parents numbers. 30? 30
21:10
years, yeah. We just celebrated
21:12
Congratulations.
21:13
Cabo and hung out in Mexico. It was
21:15
cool. But it's a different kind of 30.
21:18
30 years famous
21:21
Ain't nobody been
21:23
famous as long as you know other than LL
21:25
seem like he's famous for at this height
21:28
as long as Ice Cube. 30 years famous is
21:31
like 90 years Yeah. of regular, right?
21:34
Television, film, it's crazy. What I
21:36
appreciate to build on what Heather says
21:39
is you all involved your wives in your
21:42
business.
21:43
Right? And a lot of folk when we younger
21:45
men, we tend to just kind of do our
21:48
business to ourselves and come home and
21:49
we report to the results or whatever the
21:51
case may be.
21:53
Where did you learn that? Like
21:55
I mean, she one of the smartest people I
21:57
know, so
21:58
I'd be crazy not to use her, you know,
22:01
even if it's just brainstorming. You
22:03
know, she used to she used to run Lench
22:06
Mob Records for a while when I first
22:07
opened it. And um
22:10
you know, so
22:12
she's just a smart, you know,
22:15
very in tune
22:17
person, you know what I mean? She's
22:19
you know, everything I need to be who I
22:22
am, so you know, we
22:25
we stuck, you know, we see you in 60
22:27
years and you know, I'll be here talking
22:29
about my 60-year anniversary, you know
22:31
what I'm saying? One day. Snoop does the
22:32
same thing with his wife. She's right
22:34
there in the business. I'm right behind
22:36
you.
22:37
What about me, yo? I was going to ask
22:38
you, Short.
22:39
Did you get You didn't get married, yo,
22:41
did you?
22:41
I I did not get married, but I have a
22:44
beautiful daughter.
22:45
You have a daughter? And family.
22:47
I'm not hanging out in clubs no more.
22:49
I'm not trying to have a bunch of
22:50
girlfriends. I'm I'm I'm settled and
22:52
chilling. Okay. And I want to speak up
22:55
for that. Y'all should stand up FOR THAT
22:56
[ __ ]
23:01
HE USED TO BE SHORTY THE PIMP. STAND UP.
23:04
I STILL HAVE I DIDN'T KNOW THAT.
23:07
I CAN'T THROW MY players under the bus
23:09
though, man. Keep on playing, players.
23:11
That's what I'm playing. Don't don't
23:12
listen to all this, man. He playing.
23:15
Hey, when you find the right one, man,
23:17
pull the trigger. Don't don't trip.
23:19
That's real. That's pulling the trigger.
23:21
Getting over that hump. Man, we just had
23:23
our what? 91 from '91. We got I got
23:25
married in '91, so I was with her in
23:27
'86. 31. '91, so how many years is that?
23:30
Uh that's 35.
23:32
I'm talking about married. Married.
23:33
31. 31. So I'm 31 31 years strong. If it
23:37
wasn't for my wife, I wouldn't be where
23:38
I'm at, straight up, cuz we was living
23:39
off of love. BR before rap.
23:42
BS before streets. You feel me? Like it
23:45
was just I just spotted somebody. I
23:46
said, "She's beautiful. I love her." Off
23:48
top. Like, you know what I'm saying? And
23:50
I'm after that and I stuck with her.
23:56
And we got two sons, you know what I'm
23:58
saying? Young Ice Cube and Droopy. And
24:00
Droopy was little E back in 1993
24:04
on Federal album. He had We had a
24:06
skit on there called Questions. And then
24:08
on In the Major Way, he was rapping at 5
24:11
years old. And it was a song called It's
24:14
It's All Bad. So he's one of the first
24:15
kid rappers at 5 years old on a platinum
24:19
album In the Major Way, one of my
24:20
biggest albums, if not of all time.
24:22
Hello. Sprinkle me, man. The album was
24:24
Sprinkle Me on there, yeah. Yeah.
24:27
I know that cuz I'm I'm live on cam. I
24:29
played that every day. That was that one
24:31
right there.
24:31
That was that one, right? Yes, sir.
24:33
Short, you change You changed diapers?
24:35
What was your diaper game like? Uh I
24:38
stepped in probably like near the end of
24:41
that phase, you know, like around At
24:43
first like the the first them little
24:45
them little uh them little infant wet
24:47
ones, I was like, "I ain't touching
24:48
that."
24:51
But then I remember how I came about to
24:53
uh
24:54
I was I was left alone.
24:56
Probably, you know, one of the first
24:58
times I was left alone like
25:00
Mom's just out floating around and it's
25:01
just me and the baby. Ho- Hold up. Hold
25:04
up. Hold up.
25:05
Hold up. Hold up.
25:07
How long
25:08
did you smell the [ __ ] before you
25:10
decided that it got to be you? It's the
25:13
This is modern day, so y'all
25:15
Y'all 40 minutes, an hour? Y'all come
25:17
from way back. This is modern days. I
25:19
immediately jumped on FaceTime. What do
25:21
I do?
25:24
SO I PROPPED THE PHONE UP AND GOT
25:26
INSTRUCTIONS, BRO. Like it's this
25:29
technology, man.
25:31
So I got a question. Can I ask him a
25:32
question? You can ask him any question.
25:34
When you What's that? Like Did it stress
25:37
you out? Was you kind of nervous when
25:39
you had to hold the neck when she was
25:40
first born? Like the the head
25:42
Yeah, it it it took a while, Earl, you
25:43
know what I mean? But you going to have
25:45
a second chance any minute. You about to
25:46
be a grandpa soon. I know. No. No,
25:47
seriously, I got a little niece and I
25:49
hadn't held a baby in so long and a
25:52
nephew. My brother's daughter and son.
25:53
I've been seeing Snoop on the 'gram as a
25:54
granddaddy boy. I hadn't held I hadn't
25:56
held a baby in hell of long and I was
25:58
like, "Oh, let me see if I remember how
25:59
to do this." Then I started getting the
26:00
hang of it. "Oh, this ain't nothing."
26:04
Hey, Short, what you going to teach, you
26:06
know, I got a 24-year-old daughter.
26:08
Yeah, I've been I've been I've been
26:09
hearing the journey on on the radio
26:11
show. I've been hearing Thank you. By
26:13
the way,
26:14
have y'all heard Too Short on SiriusXM?
26:17
Have you heard his show?
26:18
Check it out. Check it out. I'm
26:20
impressed. Yo, I love what you do, man.
26:22
I just I love hip-hop, so whatever
26:24
however you interpret anything I'm doing
26:25
in life, it has a lot to do with
26:27
hip-hop, a lot of it. But your wealth of
26:29
knowledge is amazing. I'm wondering how
26:31
you going to use that knowledge to teach
26:33
your daughter about men.
26:35
Uh well, you know, I just think that the
26:37
truth carries a lot of weight and just
26:39
keeping keeping it really real. So, you
26:41
know, I'm not trying to push
26:43
a child in any direction. I'm just
26:44
trying to give you that game. And the
26:46
game that I have happens to come from,
26:49
you know,
26:50
different places. It's from an intellect
26:52
point of view, it's from a street point
26:53
of view, it's from a pimp point of view.
26:55
So, I'm definitely like I mean, one of
26:57
the first things I'm going to tell her
26:58
is
26:59
don't fall for nobody that wears a pinky
27:01
ring. That's one of the first
27:02
Okay, good. We need
27:04
You said that to me. I told you that.
27:07
I told you. Dudes with pinky rings? Cuz
27:09
I wore a pinky ring all my life. Avoid
27:11
the pinky ring, dudes. Pinky ring, mate.
27:13
That's a red flag.
27:16
The pinky ring is a red
27:20
With the long nail. With no other rings.
27:22
They got no They got one with With the
27:24
long nail. With the long long nail. What
27:26
you think that long nail weighs?
27:27
Speaking on it.
27:29
Nah, yeah, the long nail. Nah, we ain't
27:30
doing the nail, but but if you got eight
27:32
fingers, two thumbs, and one ring,
27:34
Exactly.
27:35
them here. Nah, that's it.
27:37
That's a sign.
27:39
I'm flying to the Bay Friday uh to host
27:44
a ceremony that's taking place Saturday
27:46
in Oakland
27:48
um where we're from, right down the
27:49
street from my grandmother's house on
27:51
Foothill Boulevard, um right next to a
27:54
high school called Fremont because
27:56
they're renaming a street
27:59
after Too Short.
28:01
Yeah. Give it up.
28:03
Yeah, man.
28:04
I'm pulling up, too. You know I'm there,
28:05
right? They They asked me what street
28:08
like what did I want. They like, "You
28:09
want downtown? You want uh like like
28:11
Jacqueline and Square?" I'm like, "Nah,
28:13
it got to be in East Oakland." And while
28:16
you're at it, might as well just do the
28:17
street that I walked down the most.
28:19
When I was a little dude, like I walked
28:21
I walked High Street so much.
28:24
Yeah. Like just foot. You know, you just
28:26
got the memories of foot on the ground.
28:29
Yeah. I was like, "Yeah, put Name the
28:30
street that I walked down the most."
28:32
What that mean to you though, man?
28:34
Uh it means like you think back on those
28:37
those cold Bay Area mornings getting to
28:40
school with the hoodie and you just
28:42
bundled up, you know, it ain't like New
28:44
York snow, but it is it's it's cold.
28:47
Yeah. And Bay Area mornings it's cold.
28:48
Just, you know, just just that journey
28:50
walking down the street, dreaming, bro.
28:52
Yeah. Just dreaming the dream like
28:53
dreaming and dreaming. And one thing I
28:55
say about our city, I wrote down one day
28:57
me and Mr. Fab made a song about it. I
28:59
wrote on a list
29:01
all the Oakland legends.
29:03
And the list kept getting longer and
29:04
longer. And I just remember being little
29:08
seeing people like Reggie Jackson and
29:10
you know, Yep. Dave Stewart or somebody.
29:12
You You would just see people that made
29:14
it. Like you knew Bill Russell was from
29:17
from the town, you know? And Ricky
29:19
Henderson. Ricky Henderson. Ricky
29:20
Henderson. Ricky Henderson, I'm saying.
29:21
He was breaking the the the stealing
29:22
bases record, but he was riding right
29:24
down the street waving at you. And I
29:26
just I just remember like the dream in a
29:28
little ass city like Oakland, the dream
29:30
was always real. It was always real. You
29:32
got to love it, man. Give it up for Too
29:34
Short, man. I have to make that one.
29:38
Hey, Cube Cube. Um
29:41
When when I think of one of one of them
29:43
was naming um
29:44
albums America's Most Wanted,
29:47
um
29:48
really landed in my in my DNA.
29:52
Uh when you made that project, that was
29:53
one of my favorite projects. Thank you.
29:56
Um by you. What is one of your favorite
29:58
projects by you?
30:00
I mean, that one was dope because I got
30:03
a chance to work with
30:05
the Bomb Squad. Mhm. You know, Chuck D,
30:09
Eric Sadler, Keith Shocklee I mean,
30:11
yeah, Eric Sadler, Keith Shocklee, Hank
30:13
Shocklee.
30:14
Um
30:15
and and they
30:18
they showed me, you know, a different
30:20
way to make a record, you know, um
30:23
and um
30:24
I learned a lot about,
30:27
you know, who I am just as a
30:29
you know, black man in America
30:32
um from being around those guys.
30:35
Um
30:36
but I I think my favorite record is is
30:39
probably Death Certificate.
30:41
Um
30:43
because, you know, I just think it's uh
30:46
you know, kind of a a commentary on
30:48
where we were
30:50
at that time, you know, like a time
30:52
capsule.
30:53
Um
30:55
and so that's that's probably my
30:57
favorite record, but but I like my Laugh
30:59
Now Cry Later record, too, you know,
31:01
that
31:02
that's dope. Raw Footage is dope, you
31:04
know, I got a few.
31:06
Yeah, I got a few. Um
31:08
In a Major Way
31:10
was um
31:12
for you I mean, you got a lot of I mean,
31:16
In a Major Way to me was the one that
31:18
catapulted you, right?
31:20
To a whole 'nother level.
31:22
But a lot of times artists have their
31:23
own favorites. What was your favorite?
31:26
Uh
31:27
it was In a Major Way.
31:29
Uh that made more impact in Well, now I
31:32
can't say that cuz Get in the Rap Report
31:33
Card was in the in the 2000s and that
31:36
made a big worldwide impact, you know,
31:39
cuz we had a movement in the Bay called
31:41
the hyphy movement and I gave it to them
31:44
hard, me and Short. We gave it to them
31:46
you know, that them them days, you know
31:48
what I'm saying? And uh
31:49
but my favorite one of my favorites is
31:51
uh The Element of Surprise. I was just
31:53
telling somebody asked me what was one
31:55
of my favorite songs. I was always like
31:56
um album cuts. So, one of my album cuts
31:59
was 999,999
32:03
plus a dollar equals a meal ticket.
32:05
That's actually what it was really
32:06
spelled. Like I mean, that's how it was
32:07
really labeled as a song.
32:10
You know what I mean? It was one of the
32:11
If you y'all Google that when you get
32:13
you you going to say, "Man, 40 was going
32:14
so sick on that." You understand me? It
32:17
was the music the Rick Rock did the beat
32:19
was the it was the sound was sinister.
32:21
It was mob We called it mob music. Too
32:23
Short created the sound of mob music. I
32:25
gave it the title and we kept the legacy
32:27
going by continually doing mob music.
32:31
slow funk with a whole lot of bass and
32:34
it just is so sinister that you can't
32:37
you can't not like it. Like you try to
32:39
be like
32:39
eerie like, you know, like spooky like,
32:42
you understand what I'm saying? It's a
32:44
certain sound, but uh yeah, that was In
32:46
a Major Way, baby. In a Major Way,
32:48
right? Tupac was on that album, too.
32:49
Exactly. Dusted and Disgusted.
32:52
Yes. That was a slap. I love that, man,
32:54
cuz I'm going to interject myself into
32:56
your story cuz we're cousins and we got
32:58
to share the same DNA.
32:59
Yes, sir. We definitely do.
33:01
Very true story. Based on a true story.
33:03
called me and told me, you know, I was
33:05
like, "Stop playing." And then it was
33:07
true.
33:07
He did his research. We we we did the
33:09
family tree and everything. It was like
33:10
official like a military missile. You
33:12
dig? You come on, man. But that was at a
33:14
time when my own personal
33:17
King Tech and I our careers
33:19
we you know,
33:20
this goes hand in hand, right? We we
33:23
couldn't accomplish what we accomplished
33:26
without playing music that y'all made
33:29
you know, or talking about moments that
33:31
y'all had or being inspired by things
33:33
that y'all have done, you know? And so
33:35
when In a Major Way came out, um I was
33:38
able to utilize your music
33:40
for all kinds of reasons, whether you
33:42
know, I'm at the club trying to hype the
33:44
crowd or you know, I'm trying to get my
33:46
ratings up on the radio show, so I'm
33:48
playing your music. I'm playing your
33:50
music. I'm playing your music. Y'all
33:52
helping us out the same way. It was a
33:54
mutually beneficial symbiotic, you know,
33:57
interaction between us, right?
33:59
for shizzle. And so uh Short, your Life
34:02
Is Born to Mack
34:05
and Life Is but Life Is I felt like
34:09
I remember you went platinum with Life
34:10
Is, right?
34:12
It went double platinum. That's the only
34:13
one I got that's double platinum. I got
34:15
a lot of platinum, but that's the only
34:16
one that's double. And I always
34:18
attribute um I give credit to Eazy-E
34:21
cuz, you know, Eazy-E passed at a young
34:24
age, but
34:26
uh Eazy-E
34:28
like had this lineage
34:30
that you sitting here looking at Ice
34:31
Cube and what he branched off to be and
34:34
uh Dre and what he branched off to be
34:37
and Snoop and what he branched off to be
34:39
and and in those branches you find the
34:41
Eminems and the 50 Cents and it's you
34:43
know, it's just so much just the Friday
34:46
movies and I mean, all this stuff that
34:48
was born from like one guy just
34:50
dreaming. Eazy-E
34:52
called me personally. He was like, you
34:53
know, like like Cube told me he was like
34:55
him and Eazy would when they first got
34:57
the first Too Short tape, they played it
34:58
over and over again. They was like,
34:59
"This dude is crazy." But Eazy called me
35:01
on the phone. He was like, "Hey, man,
35:02
you want to go on tour?" And I'm like,
35:04
"Hell yeah, I want to go on tour." That
35:05
was the Straight Outta Compton tour. And
35:08
when I went on that tour, I had dropped
35:09
the album in January of '89, early '89
35:14
and it just sold like 300,000 copies
35:15
immediately, which is really good. I get
35:18
on the tour and when the tour is over,
35:20
I'm at 800,000.
35:22
Then like just weeks after the tour is
35:24
over, it's just selling cuz we went out
35:26
there promoting. Now I'm at 1.3, you
35:29
know, and I'm like that is my
35:30
best-selling album. I think that that
35:32
was me it was pivotal in my career. We
35:34
all have that moment where your career
35:36
just turns that corner and it's on and
35:38
popping and that was that moment for me,
35:40
but
35:41
when I when I
35:43
as I started growing, I met Ant Banks,
35:46
then the then the production goes up a
35:48
notch
35:49
and we start going, you know, Life Is
35:51
Too Short is my first platinum, but then
35:53
it goes another platinum, another
35:54
platinum, another platinum, another
35:56
platinum. That's me and Ant Banks. We in
35:57
the studio with Shorty B and Pee-Wee and
36:00
you know, they was also members of
36:01
Digital Underground. People don't know
36:03
we had the same members and stuff, you
36:05
know, the same crew making all that
36:06
funky music, but
36:08
I just think uh when we got to the to
36:10
the apex of what it was, we made an
36:12
album called Getting It, album number
36:14
10. And when you listen to that album,
36:17
it's all those years of trying to figure
36:19
it out, we figured it out. And that's my
36:22
one cuz I sit there and go nothing is
36:25
wrong with the production or the the the
36:27
the mixes. It's just it's that moment,
36:29
you know? Yeah, man. That man [ __ ] You
36:31
just I just had a nostalgia moment. Give
36:33
that man a round of applause. I'mma cry
36:35
right there. Should be Getting It.
36:37
Getting It.
36:40
I feel like we're approaching the 2-year
36:42
anniversary of the Versuz.
36:44
Is that right? So, 2 years since y'all
36:46
did the Versuz?
36:46
It was December. December December 19th
36:49
to December
36:49
remember the date. It was It was
36:50
December 19th.
36:52
Okay. Or 18th. Yeah, yeah. Two years
36:55
ago, right?
36:55
18th to 18th. Yeah. Yeah.
36:58
Um
37:00
what would happen
37:01
if there was a Versuz
37:04
with E-40 and Too Short
37:07
versus Ice Cube and Snoop?
37:10
Mount Westmore would happen.
37:12
Yeah.
37:16
Yeah, we ain't we ain't going to do no
37:17
Versuz versus each other, you know. Um
37:22
I don't know if I would ever do a
37:23
Versuz, you know?
37:25
I think the format
37:27
shouldn't be
37:29
two MCs that you love versus each other,
37:32
but two MCs that you love
37:36
admiring each other, you know, like
37:39
you know, if I was sitting there with
37:40
with, you know,
37:42
uh LL, you know, I'll be like,
37:45
"LL, uh Do the Right Thing. Come on,
37:48
give it to me, baby. Do the Right
37:49
Thing." And he would look at me and be
37:52
like, "Yo, give me Once Upon a Time in
37:54
the Projects." You know what I'm saying?
37:55
And to me that's it's love, you know, I
37:58
don't want to go against the greats, you
38:00
know, why? Like, you know, they had fun
38:03
cuz they
38:04
they they had fun together about and
38:06
they they um
38:08
clowned with each other over stuff all
38:10
the time. But some of these crews that
38:13
got up there, you could tell that they
38:14
weren't really [ __ ] with each other.
38:16
Tension. And so, you know, who needs it,
38:19
you know what I'm saying? It's enough of
38:20
that. So,
38:21
you know, I would flip it and it
38:23
wouldn't be about Versuz, but it'd be
38:25
about, you know,
38:26
acknowledge
38:27
I love that I need you to do right now.
38:30
And then he's like, "Give me 10 I love
38:32
that I need you to do right now." And
38:34
then it's all love and it ain't nobody,
38:37
you know, tripping at the end. Ain't no
38:38
winners, ain't no losers, none of that
38:40
silly [ __ ] I like that, man. Come on,
38:43
man. Hell yeah.
38:45
Mount Westmore is here, man. I want to
38:46
go into a video real quick to rock out
38:49
and come back and let you guys ask a
38:51
couple of questions. Who got questions?
38:52
Just show of hands.
38:54
Okay, make sure your questions are
38:56
intelligent.
39:00
Don't waste our time here, man. It's
39:01
been a long day, haven't been We We
39:03
already did a morning show already
39:04
today. We did two shows already. All
39:06
right, let's go into this video, Mount
39:07
Westmore. Y'all rock out to it, okay?
39:10
And uh we'll come back with some more
39:11
questions.
39:13
Yo, yo, how how how when y'all formed
39:15
the label the business,
39:17
y'all y'all sat at a round table and
39:19
said,
39:20
"Okay, this is how we going to do this.
39:22
This is how we going to divide it?"
39:24
Yeah.
39:25
Um
39:26
that was actually the hardest part. That
39:28
was the most complicated part. Doing the
39:30
music was fine, you know, we was
39:33
uh you know, Too Short could
39:35
tell you exactly how everything came
39:37
came up,
39:38
you know, together.
39:40
But that part was easy, fun. We was a
39:42
ball. But it's complicated fun trying to
39:45
pull
39:46
four guys with 30 years of doing their
39:49
own business
39:50
to form a company like Mount Westmore.
39:55
Um but we got it done, you know what I
39:57
mean, and
39:58
everybody worked together. Um we've all
40:02
uh taken on uh um
40:05
a manager that that works with the
40:07
group, you know what I mean, it's not
40:08
none of our personal managers, but my
40:11
man Tony Draper, shout out to Tony
40:13
Draper, you know, Swave House. He uh
40:15
Draper? Tony Draper is our manager.
40:17
on Tony Draper because I don't know,
40:19
man. Tony Draper is one of the you know
40:22
biggest and one of the smartest dudes in
40:25
hip hop that you know, I don't know if
40:27
you know him or not, but you should know
40:28
him. You know, he's he's
40:30
very low-key, you know what I mean, he
40:32
don't like the spotlight, don't like the
40:33
camera, but he get a lot done. He's
40:36
always been an independent guy, you
40:38
know, um from Memphis, but he did most
40:42
of his damage out of Houston. And
40:44
it's just been a great thing to work
40:46
with Tony. We all been knowing him over
40:48
30 years. We all argue on who know him
40:51
the longest.
40:51
I knew him the I knew him the longest.
40:53
And so
40:54
it it's cool that
40:56
that we we have a
40:58
a person like him because
41:02
he knows, you know, the dynamic of the
41:04
group, the magnitude of the group, and
41:07
he's able to articulate it
41:09
to people when we're not there, you
41:11
know, he won't he won't let you not
41:15
um
41:15
salute you know what I mean, the work
41:18
that we've done and and the fact that
41:20
we've gotten together, he makes sure
41:23
everybody understand the movie. And so,
41:26
um he's the perfect um manager for the
41:29
group because you know, he can be candid
41:32
with all of us. He could be real with
41:34
us.
41:35
Um
41:36
he ain't starstruck, you know what I
41:37
mean, so he's the right person at the
41:40
right time. And knock your socks off, DJ
41:44
Pooh is our DJ.
41:45
DJ Pooh.
41:46
iconic all the way around.
41:48
You you and Pooh have a really special
41:51
relationship, man. Can you can you talk
41:53
about DJ Pooh and y'all relationship? DJ
41:55
Pooh is a genius.
41:57
Um
41:58
you know, he's been doing West Coast
42:01
music and been part of hip hop
42:05
longer than you know, I can remember.
42:07
You know, I remember you know, uh even
42:09
my man, you know, Treach and would would
42:13
admire Pooh's get-down. You know, Pooh
42:16
is one of the first dudes to
42:18
to be uh national with it, you know, he
42:20
was straight out the hood, but he was
42:23
working with LL Cool J and Bobcat, you
42:26
know what I'm saying, on the Bigger Than
42:27
Def record, you know. He he helped
42:30
uh you know, bring songs like Going Back
42:33
to Cali, made them, you know, relevant
42:35
because he was showing LL what Cali was
42:38
like, you know. This is this is Pooh's
42:40
history.
42:41
Um you know, King T, you know, another
42:44
dude who don't get enough credit, but
42:47
King T came out right after Ice-T, you
42:50
know, before Eazy-E and before NWA. King
42:53
T
42:54
had you know, he had hits, you know,
42:56
produced by DJ Pooh. DJ Pooh, you know,
42:59
helped me write Friday, you know, the
43:01
first Friday movie
43:03
in 1995. He also helped put together
43:06
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, you know
43:09
what I mean, or San Andreas, sorry. And
43:12
uh so
43:13
he'd been a undercover
43:16
uh
43:17
you know pioneer. Yeah, you know, secret
43:20
weapon. Three strikes. He put me in
43:22
three strikes. Yeah, you know,
43:23
all the movies he did, yeah. Pooh got
43:26
one of the best scenes in Friday, too.
43:28
Oh yeah, I mean, you know, he going to
43:29
cry in the car, but that's cool.
43:34
All right, this is what I want to do um
43:38
let's do some questions. Y'all ready?
43:39
Hey. You know, we talked about this. I
43:41
lectured y'all earlier, so you know,
43:43
make sure
43:44
I'm just kidding. Who got the first
43:45
question?
43:46
Put your hand up, man in the blue shirt.
43:48
Go ahead and give it to him.
43:49
How y'all doing? Name's Michael from
43:51
Gardena. What's up? Uh
43:53
my question to you guys is with so many
43:54
legends on this project how the hell
43:56
y'all choose the order? Who go first,
43:58
who?
43:59
Cuz I mean
44:01
Too Short Too Short know the whole
44:03
breakdown on how we got down like that.
44:05
Yo, so it's it's it's a formula, man. Uh
44:08
we we got on the um we got on the phone
44:10
call, everybody agreed to be in the
44:11
group. The next thing is somebody
44:13
suggested we start in like a group text,
44:15
so we would we would keep this group
44:17
text going and we would, you know,
44:19
periodically jump on the phone like
44:20
quite often like jump on either a
44:22
FaceTime with all four of us or maybe a
44:24
Zoom or something. This is night this is
44:25
2020 quarantine time. So, um
44:29
the the process went a beat would get
44:32
sent to the group text. Just be like an
44:34
MP3, it'd pop up in the group text. And
44:37
nobody's like like nobody's saying, "Oh,
44:40
that's a dope beat. Oh, I'm about to get
44:41
down." Nobody said nothing. The beat
44:43
come up and you just
44:45
wait a little while and then bam, the
44:47
beat pops back up again, but this time
44:49
it got an E-40 verse on it.
44:52
You know, nobody say, "Ooh, dope verse
44:53
E-40." Nobody say nothing.
44:55
Bam, pop up again. Now it got Snoop Dogg
44:57
and E-40 on it. So now that that mean
44:59
the last two guys is like thinking like,
45:00
"Well, [ __ ] let me make a move, you
45:02
know." And
45:04
the songs will start coming to life and
45:05
then and then, you know, sometimes a
45:07
beat would come up.
45:09
Nobody would say nothing, no verse would
45:10
ever come back, then obviously you
45:12
assume we all ain't agreeing on that.
45:14
And I think that you know, E-40 is he's
45:18
a quick with it. He was he was
45:19
quarantined, it seemed like he slept in
45:21
his studio cuz he jumped on hell of
45:24
first verses like he just would like
45:25
just be quick with it. And 40 was
45:27
sending a lot of beats and he was
45:29
sending us the beat already with the
45:31
first verse on it, so it'd be the first
45:32
verse
45:34
40 with the slick talking on the
45:36
beginning
45:38
the hook going and it make it easy on
45:39
all of us, you know, Snoop did the same
45:41
thing, too. Snoop jumped a few off real
45:42
quick, but it was just like the order
45:45
really went was like, "What you doing
45:46
that day?
45:48
Get on the song." I remember Ice Cube
45:50
saying like really like with that Ice
45:51
Cube voice, "You [ __ ] ain't going to
45:53
be putting me last on all the songs." He
45:55
did say that. You know, it seemed like I
45:56
was getting the beat and it was already
45:58
three verses on it. I'm like, "Hold Hold
46:00
up, swoll up, you know what I'm saying?
46:02
Let me
46:03
let me you know, then I said, "Okay,
46:05
that means I ain't coming up with enough
46:07
beats." So I started uh sending beats
46:09
The verse on the first verse already.
46:12
You know what I'm saying? So it was it
46:13
was uh it was fun to work that way. And
46:16
um
46:17
it it opened up a lot of creativity, you
46:20
know, they gave us some of those, you
46:22
know
46:23
Northern Bay Bay Area slaps that I
46:27
probably wouldn't have rapped on
46:29
if it wasn't for E-40 teeing it up, you
46:32
know, and and and Too Short
46:35
you know, giving it the
46:37
the stamp of approval. So, you know, it
46:40
opened us up as MCs to to work on the
46:43
like different varieties of beats,
46:46
rhymes,
46:47
cadences, hooks.
46:49
And it was fun to to work that way.
46:53
When you say that you say that like you
46:56
because
46:57
that you probably wouldn't have rap on
46:59
it. And that's, you know, even we're all
47:01
from the same era, from the same state.
47:03
But there are all those nuanced
47:05
differences.
47:06
And you said it earlier, you said
47:07
Without a doubt.
47:08
You said just sound like West Coast
47:10
people just sound West Coast to people
47:11
outside of California, but to us it's
47:14
very different.
47:14
Very different. You know
47:16
SoCal, NorCal. Yeah, I mean, the the Bay
47:18
got their own style, you know, it's like
47:22
I wouldn't I wouldn't try to duplicate
47:24
what they doing up there cuz that's
47:26
their style. Like Southern California,
47:28
we got our own style. And so,
47:31
um I respect them and
47:33
too much
47:35
uh to not get their
47:36
signature on one of those, you know, cuz
47:39
I don't want to I don't want to jump on
47:41
it if it's not going to be a a Bay Area
47:43
slap, you know what I'm saying? They got
47:45
to let me know this going to work. This
47:48
going to work in in in in in our area.
47:50
This going to work. And that give us the
47:53
that gave me the confidence, you know.
47:54
I've never worked with with artists on
47:57
this level and been in the same group.
48:00
Yeah, you know, we was with Eazy, we was
48:02
with Dre, but we were I wasn't looking
48:04
at them [ __ ] like superstars, you
48:05
know, they was just like we was arguing
48:07
all the time on what need to be there.
48:11
Here I trust 40.
48:14
You know, um I trust Too Short. I trust
48:18
Snoop. You know, if they say, "Yo, let's
48:20
do it this way." I'm rolling with it.
48:22
Just like if I say, "Yo, let's do it
48:23
this way." they rolling with it. And
48:25
that is a comfort zone that uh
48:29
that I, you know, love to be a part of.
48:32
That's dope. Um let's let's get some
48:34
more questions from the audience. Um
48:37
You you go ahead, man. You go ahead. You
48:39
pick.
48:43
Wait, hold on. Is that Lanell?
48:44
Yes, it is. That's LL. What up, LL? I
48:46
thought you were remembering my name.
48:47
Let me stand up. Come on.
48:48
Stand up. Go ahead and stand up. All
48:50
right, so I'm Lanell. I'm originally
48:52
from Bakersfield, but I'm now living
48:55
here in LA. And my question is a little
48:58
different than what everybody else is
48:59
asking. So when Heather B and Sway um
49:03
introduced you guys, they said that you
49:04
guys are icons. That you are really um
49:08
making a difference right now and you
49:09
have a lot of influence. So I want to
49:11
know how are you guys using that
49:14
influence right now in regards to mental
49:18
health? Because there's a lot going on
49:20
in the community, especially with black
49:22
people and especially in the the hip hop
49:26
world, period. You know, and I watched
49:28
you guys on Million Dollars Worth a Game
49:30
and you guys were talking about how
49:32
basically your albums helped to raise a
49:36
lot of people. And I'm one of those
49:37
individuals. I'm not I'm not a male, but
49:39
I'm a woman. I might think I'm a male
49:41
sometimes, but I'm not. But, I'm one of
49:44
those individuals that has grown and
49:46
learned from your albums. So, what are
49:48
you guys doing to help in that area to
49:50
use your influence to be able to tell us
49:52
that, you know, mental health is
49:54
something that's important and that we
49:56
need to really implement into our
49:57
self-care routines. I think we, you
50:00
know,
50:01
we do it all the time in some way,
50:03
shape, or form in the music.
50:05
Telling people how to um
50:09
to work on solutions and and how to, you
50:12
know,
50:13
hopefully get out of these tough
50:14
situations that they find themselves in
50:16
sometimes growing up in the
50:18
neighborhoods that we all come from. Um
50:21
you know, I've done
50:23
things, you know, like with
50:25
you know, I got a league called the Big
50:26
3.
50:27
And
50:28
we were the first league to embrace
50:32
mental health. Um you know, we got a
50:35
couple of of players who were basically
50:39
blackballed from the NBA.
50:41
Uh Royce White is one of them
50:44
because he had some issues,
50:47
you know, with flying and, you know, and
50:49
and and most leagues used to push those
50:52
guys away.
50:54
And we we went the opposite way. We was
50:56
like, "Yo, let's embrace
50:58
let's embrace these guys and figure out
51:01
what can we do to help our athletes or
51:04
just people with with mental health,
51:07
like, you know, shake that stigma and,
51:10
you know, it's not something you should
51:12
shun. It's something that you should,
51:14
you know, try to understand and help."
51:16
And so, in that way, we made a big big
51:20
statement. Um but, I you know, we we can
51:23
definitely do better in hip-hop, you
51:25
know, that's that's a good point that we
51:28
should all be
51:29
talking about, you know, how to ease
51:31
your mind, how to
51:33
take care of yourself. Um and, you know,
51:37
sometimes there's stuff in your head
51:39
um can can make make it feel like the
51:42
walls are closing in on you. And
51:46
but, sometimes it's all in your head,
51:47
you know, it's it's really how you, you
51:50
know, put things in proper perspective,
51:52
you know, which we all can do a better
51:54
job at that, you know, we all need a
51:56
little mental help when it comes to
51:59
just making
52:01
making
52:03
sense out this crazy world that we live
52:05
in.
52:06
So, you know, I think that's a good
52:08
point. I think we all could do better.
52:10
You know, we always try to lace the
52:12
youngsters with game. You know, we got a
52:14
song on here called Lace You Up, song
52:16
called Free Game. But,
52:18
we can speak on it more without a doubt,
52:20
and I think we should. Hey, I I want to
52:23
say that
52:24
as a professional game spitter,
52:27
and that's that's a term that we use
52:29
freely, game spitters as opposed to
52:32
rappers, I think that just in the game
52:34
alone that this this thing that we talk
52:35
about, me, 40, and you know, coming from
52:37
up top, that the game is therapeutic. It
52:40
is therapy. It is it is a therapist. And
52:43
if you
52:44
listen to
52:45
Snoop Dogg, Ice Cube, Too Short, E-40,
52:48
if you strip away the little humor that
52:50
we put in there and, you know, the
52:52
braggadocious parts of it, it's all
52:55
logic. It's very logical, this stuff
52:57
that Snoop Dogg been saying to you over
52:58
these years and Ice Cube. It's logic.
53:00
It's like this is how you, you know,
53:04
accept things. This is how you project
53:06
things, you know what I'm saying? And
53:07
we're just telling you how to do it,
53:08
man. We we're experiencing life. We're
53:10
very intelligent. We're running it back
53:11
to you. So, I think the music is
53:13
therapeutic in itself, period. Not all
53:15
hip-hop, but I'll stand up for my guys
53:18
in this group that we have been teaching
53:20
you
53:21
for years, and this album continues
53:23
those lessons of just logic, period.
53:26
Absolutely. Get activated. All right.
53:30
Let's do a couple more. This is for them
53:32
at this point.
53:34
Good morning. My name is Jessy from
53:35
Watts, California. My question is on the
53:38
topic of mental health. I'm a combat
53:40
veteran, retired from the US Navy
53:43
for your service, brother. Thank you. I
53:45
you know, I spent 24 years in the Navy.
53:48
This is my wife. We've been married 15
53:49
years next week.
53:50
Congratulations. Hello. Congratulations.
53:52
She's also a Navy veteran, also. And you
53:55
know, I'm a I got PTSD, so I know how it
53:58
feels. Music is therapy cuz when I was
54:01
deployed overseas, when I was in Tokyo,
54:03
when I was in Japan, when I was out
54:05
there, music is what actually helped,
54:08
you know, get me through some of these
54:09
things. Listening to Ice Cube, Black
54:11
Korea when when when my city was burning
54:14
down. You know what I mean? Those type
54:16
of movements help people like us get
54:18
through it. So, my question is, another
54:20
West Coast legend recently made some
54:23
comments
54:24
in regards to maybe not getting the
54:26
recognition, and that West Coast legend
54:28
is DJ Quik. He said, "Yo, what you know,
54:31
in when I read it, it sounded like he
54:34
was crying for help." Like, you know, he
54:35
was just sitting there just saying these
54:37
words. I would love to see the
54:39
collaboration with DJ Quik, another West
54:41
Coast legend, making beats with Mount
54:43
Westmore. Has anybody ever reached out
54:45
to Quik for some production? Yeah, we
54:48
got we got a song that he produced that
54:50
it's not on this album, but like I said,
54:52
we recorded 50 albums. I mean, 50 songs,
54:54
I'm sorry. 50 songs. Let me get that
54:56
right. We don't want to stop that. Don't
54:58
make a sound bite out of that.
55:01
50 songs, that's a lot of songs, though.
55:03
Yeah, he we did a song songs I mean,
55:05
shows with us.
55:06
Yeah, we we we perform with Quik, you
55:08
know, a lot. You know, I got some shows
55:10
coming up with him.
55:11
Definitely a West Coast legend.
55:13
Definitely could have been in this
55:14
group, you know, without a doubt. Um we
55:18
got a song
55:19
um
55:20
Damn, we got a song with him called Give
55:21
Me My Flowers, you know what I'm saying?
55:23
So, um
55:25
it's it's it's, you know,
55:27
it's a shame that everybody that's dope
55:30
like him, you know, is not um
55:34
you know, where where where he want to
55:36
be in the minds of of hip-hop um
55:40
legends or whatever, but he's a legend
55:43
in my mind, you know what I mean? Hall
55:44
of Famer. He want to
55:47
DJ Quik is Mount Westmore. Dr. Dre is.
55:50
Ice-T is. Warren G is. They all they all
55:53
Mount Westmore. We all that. Without a
55:55
doubt. So, you know, um
55:59
I agree with you. We need to give Quik
56:01
more love, man. [ __ ] that, you know what
56:03
I'm saying? He a
56:04
He
56:04
why our music sounds so good on the West
56:07
Coast. Real talk. Facts. Shout out to DJ
56:10
Quik.
56:14
Oh, Kevin Swain.
56:16
Thank you all for being here. I have a
56:18
moment. I'm J. Kevin from South Central.
56:20
Wait, hold up, Kev. Don't do that, man.
56:23
It's your show.
56:23
This is your This me and this man have
56:25
worked together for decades. He was one
56:27
of the first people I worked with at
56:29
MTV. He's a amazing producer. He's a
56:33
perveyor of the culture. He
56:36
always wanted the truth out. Kev hit me
56:38
just last week to tell me about
56:43
a project that we're going to be working
56:44
on.
56:45
Yeah, yeah. And I think you all will be
56:47
involved at some point if you if you're
56:48
so gracious about telling the West Coast
56:51
story um
56:53
and and and and parts, but the true
56:57
stories, not not the the
56:59
washover story, not the generalization
57:01
stories that you could read on
57:02
Wikipedia, you know, but you know what I
57:05
mean? Like the real stories, what are
57:07
these true like when you talk about LA
57:10
posse or, you know, and all these
57:11
different folk like so, Kev is
57:15
a special guy. So, I wanted to recognize
57:18
you, brother.
57:18
Appreciate it.
57:19
Shout out to you, Kev. Yeah, yeah, man.
57:21
We did the Bobby Brown doc together,
57:23
right? I have more of a moment of
57:25
gratitude for all of you for what you've
57:27
done for our culture. Um E-40, you and I
57:31
worked together on California Love. I
57:33
was like, "Okay, that's cool." Too
57:34
Short, not yet. But, Cube,
57:37
you know, we should always give us
57:38
thanks. It's hard, you know, you work
57:40
and you you play and you live. Cube is
57:43
very special in my career. Before I knew
57:45
what I was doing, they did We want Easy.
57:48
And the whole jail scene, you know, and
57:51
I was like, "This is cool shit."
57:54
And then years later,
57:57
when I knew what I was doing a little
57:58
bit more,
58:00
what was the thing we did?
58:02
Up in Smoke. And that was a beautiful
58:04
thing. So, I say it to say gratitude to
58:08
you and all of you. Could you have a
58:09
moment to reflect after a while? You sit
58:11
back, you look at your reels, like, and
58:14
I'll say it, on all of the Up in Smoke
58:16
stuff, Cube, yours is the best. I thank
58:18
you, man.
58:19
The coming down in the snowflakes and
58:20
all that. I tell my editors, "Make sure
58:21
you use that in my reel. Whatever you
58:23
do, use that." Thank you.
58:25
And I just want to say thank you. And
58:26
also, you have the branches of Eazy-E.
58:28
From that came
58:30
you and Eazy
58:32
you and F. Gary Gray. I think we did
58:33
Dress Code or something like that. Dress
58:35
Code, yeah, that's my man Dub C. And
58:37
then, from that, I recognized how good
58:41
F. Gary Gray was. And then, he ended up
58:43
doing my True to the Game video. That's
58:46
the True to the Game album.
58:47
day
58:48
video,
58:50
really, though. So, and then, we did the
58:52
Friday movies. We did a bunch of St.
58:54
Ides commercials together, you know,
58:57
so man, thanks for
58:59
reminding me about all that.
59:01
Yeah, and Gary was my PA on the
59:02
playground. He came to me, "Mr. I want
59:04
to be, you know, in the music business.
59:06
I want I want to work with you." Come
59:07
on, Kev, let's go.
59:09
It's a great thing, man. So, it's great
59:10
to give back. That's my whole point.
59:12
It is, you know, reaching and and
59:13
grabbing this talent, you know, Dre
59:16
reached out and grabbed me
59:18
at a at a certain point. And and that's
59:21
what we all need to
59:24
to shine, you know, we all
59:26
you know, these guys are self-made.
59:28
Nobody reached and grabbed them.
59:30
But, uh with me, I was
59:33
you know, somewhat
59:34
you know,
59:36
taken under the wing of the World Class
59:39
Wreckin' Cru, Lonzo Williams,
59:43
um
59:43
you know, who's
59:45
you know, who don't get enough credit,
59:47
you know, Grandmaster Lonzo of the World
59:49
Class Wreckin' Cru don't get enough
59:52
credit for what he did to spark this,
59:54
too. He the first one that gave Dre a DJ
59:57
job. Uh he the one first one that did a
59:59
record with Dr. Dre called Surgery.
1:00:03
Um so, you know, these are, you know, I
1:00:06
hope you're going to talk about Roger
1:00:08
Clayton and Ty Dee and Mix Master Spade
1:00:11
and, you know, Uncle Jam's Army.
1:00:14
Rap? You know, uh yeah, you know, DJ uh
1:00:17
Joe Cooley and and, you know, the great
1:00:19
Bobcat Egyptian Lover. Um you know,
1:00:23
Rodney O, you know what I'm saying? It's
1:00:25
like
1:00:25
Ice-T. Yeah, without a doubt. So, I
1:00:27
would love to be a part of that project
1:00:29
in any way, shape, or form.
1:00:32
There it is, man. All right. Um
1:00:35
E-40 is There's no other rapper in
1:00:38
existence of hip-hop that's more
1:00:39
original.
1:00:42
Anybody want to debate it?
1:00:43
No debate. No debate. Can we get your
1:00:45
stat, man? Give me your stat.
1:00:47
I got more
1:00:49
top 200 album
1:00:52
more top 200 Billboard album entries
1:00:55
than anyone in hip-hop.
1:01:01
And that's a lot of work, lot of work.
1:01:03
Come on. He a wordsmith.
1:01:06
We still using words that he threw away
1:01:08
a decade ago, maybe two decades ago. We
1:01:11
still using them every day. But, you
1:01:13
know, every time I see 40, he's saying
1:01:15
something new that make me smile, you
1:01:18
know what I mean? So, shout out to 40,
1:01:20
man. The culture needs you. The culture
1:01:23
should be thanking you every day for for
1:01:27
for keeping us, you know what I mean?
1:01:28
Just flossy with it. Thank you. I
1:01:30
appreciate that, fam. Absolutely. Thank
1:01:31
you so much. All right. Ice Cube,
1:01:33
there's no other voice There's some
1:01:35
powerful voices, but there's no other
1:01:37
voice that's more powerful. Anybody want
1:01:38
to debate that?
1:01:46
Okay, good. Good. All right.
1:01:49
Too Short was the first out of the Bay
1:01:52
that I know of. No disrespect to my
1:01:54
cousin cuz I feel like he's my big bro.
1:01:56
Okay. Okay. Self-made Kool-Aid right
1:01:58
there.
1:01:59
Yeah. Straight up. I tell this story all
1:02:01
the time. Nobody in hip-hop I knew had
1:02:05
houses
1:02:06
with a pool
1:02:07
with a dollar sign in the pool. And a
1:02:09
dollar sign in the pool.
1:02:12
I don't know what year that was, but
1:02:14
Probably '79 or some [ __ ] About '72.
1:02:18
No, that That was That was definitely
1:02:20
1990 cuz I was coming off the Straight
1:02:22
Outta Compton to a Bank the [ __ ] Up.
1:02:24
Bank the [ __ ] up, right?
1:02:26
That's when I knew that I could buy a
1:02:28
house on my own at a young age.
1:02:31
You don't even know this [ __ ] Like one
1:02:33
day I'mma tell all of, you know, how
1:02:35
this stuff influenced me. But, me and
1:02:37
King Tech bought our first house in '94.
1:02:41
You You I was like, we could own houses?
1:02:44
Yeah.
1:02:45
This young? You know, so
1:02:47
and he was the first to through trial
1:02:49
and error, he was our sacrificial lamb.
1:02:52
He broke the blueprint of independent
1:02:55
and being independent from Northern
1:02:56
California that influenced the whole
1:02:58
country.
1:02:59
That was Too Short. I used to see him on
1:03:01
the back of a bus with a boom box
1:03:03
playing cassette tapes.
1:03:05
Were you selling them?
1:03:07
The cassettes were for sale, yeah.
1:03:08
Yeah, how much were you selling them for
1:03:09
back then? It was anywhere from 5 to 20
1:03:11
bucks depending on what the, you know,
1:03:13
if you wanted the regular, it was five.
1:03:14
If you wanted the custom-made, it was
1:03:16
20.
1:03:17
Tell them about the custom-mades. We
1:03:19
used to make custom-made tapes. We like
1:03:21
pull up to the hood. My whole clientele
1:03:23
was drug dealers. So, we we just went to
1:03:26
people who had cash in pocket and went
1:03:28
from turf to turf to turf, which was a
1:03:30
very dangerous thing, but I had a
1:03:32
partner named Freddy B who was
1:03:33
well-liked across the board. So, we pull
1:03:36
up on all the turfs and basically, you
1:03:38
know, um it kind of happened by accident
1:03:40
at first, but after a while, we used to
1:03:42
take orders. I'm like, "Okay, your name
1:03:44
Sway? You from uh You from 38th? Okay,
1:03:47
um what you want You want You got a blue
1:03:48
Cutlass? Okay. I'll come back and name a
1:03:50
couple of your homies and the next day
1:03:52
you'll have a custom-made tape all about
1:03:54
you." And it was very popular around the
1:03:56
city. I think it was great marketing.
1:03:58
That was dope, bro. You know Yeah, there
1:04:00
was another It was some other dudes out
1:04:02
of Richmond, California that
1:04:04
I was saying we should do that, too.
1:04:05
That's marketing, too.
1:04:10
Let me just say this. Let me just say
1:04:12
this real quick. I want to intervene,
1:04:13
but it was some other brothers out of
1:04:15
Richmond,
1:04:16
Calvin T and Magic Mike doing the same
1:04:17
thing around the same time that I grew
1:04:19
up on along with Too Short. I grew up
1:04:21
with Short and him. You know what I'm
1:04:23
saying? So, If you go to the Bay Area
1:04:24
lineage of hip-hop, you come from
1:04:28
the Too Short formula Uh-huh. You come
1:04:30
from the E-40 formula. I got it from
1:04:32
Dean Hodges at 75 Girls Records. He got
1:04:34
it from Uncle Saint Charles. Uncle Saint
1:04:36
Charles. I got to say though,
1:04:38
Hieroglyphics got a They got their lane,
1:04:40
too. You know what I'm saying? They got
1:04:41
their lane.
1:04:42
is? Them the little homies, man. Them
1:04:43
the homies. They came in and they went
1:04:45
their route, but they still from the
1:04:47
spirit. And the little homies, I
1:04:48
remember little Casual sitting on the
1:04:50
porch when my homie Boo was
1:04:53
going with his big sister. Yeah. We all
1:04:55
family, man. Them the family dudes. Like
1:04:56
it's all
1:04:57
the the Bay is little as as as little
1:05:00
when it come to hip-hop. And And Uncle
1:05:01
Saint Charles was responsible for
1:05:04
helping Master P,
1:05:06
us, and and a whole bunch of artists
1:05:09
come up. And my uncle is my is my real
1:05:11
uncle. He's my mama's brother. You
1:05:13
understand? So,
1:05:14
I Shout out to Saint Charles. He was one
1:05:16
of the independent like pioneers of all
1:05:19
this. Like he had a big ass book with
1:05:22
all the
1:05:23
retailers that sold hip-hop. And he
1:05:26
would send out cassettes and a one-sheet
1:05:29
giving you information about this group,
1:05:31
and that's how he got the orders in.
1:05:32
That's how we got the pre-orders. You
1:05:34
understand me? And he just showed us so
1:05:36
much, man. So, shout out to Saint
1:05:38
Charles. Shout out to Saint Charles,
1:05:39
man. Do it yourself. And I got a Cube. I
1:05:42
can't sit next to you and not shout out
1:05:44
the brother I went to junior high and
1:05:46
high school with, played little league
1:05:47
football, Eazy-E. Shout out to Eazy-E.
1:05:50
For sure. Yeah, for sure.
1:05:53
You know, we played for the Dynamites,
1:05:55
you know, and Eazy-E is a iconic,
1:05:57
legendary, successful, very successful,
1:06:00
but you know, we we used to call him the
1:06:02
Dr. Dre of the Bay. So, you just slid
1:06:04
that in like real subtle. Like, you
1:06:06
know, we played for the Dynamite. That's
1:06:07
like legendary to Oakland Dynamites.
1:06:09
That's like
1:06:11
You ain't never told me about that, man.
1:06:13
You You ain't never told me you was a
1:06:14
Dynamite, bro. Yeah, man. I played a
1:06:16
couple of years.
1:06:16
a running back, Sway? I was a linebacker
1:06:19
and a cornerback.
1:06:19
I mean, you was a kid celebrity.
1:06:21
He was a celeb as a kid. He was famous.
1:06:23
The Dynamites was famous. Sway was
1:06:25
looking at me like, "Stop. Stop, Short.
1:06:27
Stop." Was y'all Was y'all uniforms blue
1:06:29
or black? Purple, man. I knew something
1:06:31
that spoke out though. He wore the
1:06:33
purple. I remember the Dynamites. It's
1:06:35
not It's not just Sway in his uniform
1:06:36
though.
1:06:38
I got my mother on 23rd 23rd Ave. Got
1:06:41
all the trophies. I got We were
1:06:42
undefeated.
1:06:42
years did you play on the Dynamites?
1:06:44
Two. That's long That's long enough.
1:06:47
That's all it take, man. That's long
1:06:48
enough. We went undefeated though.
1:06:51
Uh before we go, um I was trying to pull
1:06:54
up a picture.
1:06:56
I want to see if we got it. And I This
1:06:57
is how we want to end it because this
1:06:59
This is a full circle moment on many
1:07:01
levels.
1:07:02
Um but, when you hear these stories
1:07:03
about these men who came up together,
1:07:05
you don't even know that they it was
1:07:07
just, you know, all intertwined like
1:07:09
this. I want to take you back to 19 It's
1:07:11
2022.
1:07:13
I'mma take you back to 1989.
1:07:17
Where you see these two guys right here.
1:07:20
That's Craig. That's how long we've been
1:07:22
doing it. Craig.
1:07:24
Exactly.
1:07:26
Craig.
1:07:27
That's them then. This is them now.
1:07:29
Beautiful. How How
1:07:32
Look how God work.
1:07:33
That's Jerry Curl Cube right there.
1:07:37
You remember this day, Cube?
1:07:39
I was on tour backstage just doing it.
1:07:41
Yeah, yeah, we definitely backstage cuz
1:07:42
I see the tour passes on us.
1:07:44
I remember that shirt you used to rock.
1:07:46
What was them shirts again? What
1:07:48
What we call the Homeboy? Was it
1:07:49
Homeboy?
1:07:50
The Homeboy shirts, but that's That's a
1:07:51
different one. That's a different brand
1:07:53
though. Yeah. Yeah, man.
1:07:54
Rocking that dookie rope. Yes, sir. What
1:07:57
you see, Short, when you look at this
1:07:59
picture? Oh, man. I just I I just
1:08:02
remember
1:08:03
I always remember that that guy right
1:08:05
there was very enthusiastic about what
1:08:07
he was doing. And when I
1:08:09
the movie brought back so many memories
1:08:11
to me cuz his character in the movie,
1:08:12
him, was mad as hell when when the [ __ ]
1:08:15
wasn't going right. And I remember
1:08:18
him getting like like just being like,
1:08:20
"Man,
1:08:21
you going to get me mine." Like he was
1:08:22
never He was never like a pushover. So,
1:08:25
when the movie tell the story about Ice
1:08:26
Cube going solo, I was there. Like his
1:08:29
first solo album, we went on tour
1:08:31
together. We went on the NWA tour, but
1:08:33
then when he left NWA, we went on tour
1:08:34
together. And I'm like, I just remember
1:08:36
that transition of just seeing him stand
1:08:38
up for his and then becoming who he was.
1:08:40
So, I I look at that and I remember that
1:08:42
guy was not taking no [ __ ] I remember
1:08:44
that.
1:08:46
With Short, he was just uh
1:08:49
one of the coolest dudes I'm I'm met,
1:08:51
you know, in the game. Um
1:08:54
real confident about himself.
1:08:57
Um
1:08:59
I actually thought he was a a pimp for
1:09:01
real, you know? When I heard Born to
1:09:03
Mack
1:09:04
and and just how nonchalant he was. You
1:09:08
know, he had these little dancers. Now,
1:09:10
like we going on the road, everybody got
1:09:11
their dancers back then.
1:09:13
And and nobody wanted anybody to mess
1:09:16
with their dancers. Could not talk to
1:09:18
them [ __ ] You know what I'm
1:09:19
saying? That's what they used to tell
1:09:20
me, you know? And
1:09:22
everybody was like that, you know? So,
1:09:25
um we just expected everybody to be like
1:09:27
that, but Short was like, "I I give a
1:09:29
[ __ ] man. Who cares about them girls,
1:09:30
man?" You know what I'm saying?
1:09:33
Well, I need to get my money. It's bare
1:09:35
rules if you like them and they like
1:09:36
you. He just uh not that he didn't care
1:09:38
about them, he didn't care that if we
1:09:40
talked what they did, you know what I
1:09:42
It's like, "Yo, as long as they ass is
1:09:43
on stage dancing, you know what I'm
1:09:46
saying? Doing their thing, I don't
1:09:47
care." And I just love that attitude,
1:09:49
you know? And I was like uh
1:09:51
I gravitated towards Short and uh always
1:09:55
wanted to kind of
1:09:57
see what he was up to. And we just
1:09:59
developed a friendship
1:10:01
um you know, over the years that
1:10:03
is probably the tightest
1:10:05
and the longest uh friendship besides,
1:10:08
you know, my my day ones, you know, like
1:10:10
Dre or somebody, but yeah, yeah, one of
1:10:12
my longest-running friendships in
1:10:15
hip-hop. You know, without without no
1:10:16
[ __ ] in between, you know? Yeah,
1:10:19
yeah.
1:10:20
And that's hard to maintain in hip-hop.
1:10:22
It can be, at least. Um
1:10:24
hey, gentlemen, I want to thank you for
1:10:26
your time today. Thank you too, man.
1:10:28
Absolutely. Thank you, cuz. Thank you,
1:10:30
man. Thank you for your your vision
1:10:33
because the success this this project
1:10:35
Mount This Mount Westmore project um is
1:10:38
already successful and it hasn't even
1:10:41
been released yet, right? And so, that
1:10:44
right now is a blueprint that folks will
1:10:46
be able to follow to continue their
1:10:48
success. So, you all consistently giving
1:10:51
back in the midst of your success. Your
1:10:52
success is our success. You know, that's
1:10:54
why Shé and I decided we wanted to fly
1:10:56
out here and do this one. Let us handle
1:10:58
this one. Yeah, we appreciate y'all
1:10:59
flying way out here to do this.
1:11:01
Absolutely. Absolutely. We know you
1:11:02
don't do this for everybody, so we
1:11:04
really appreciate it. Absolutely. Can I
1:11:06
go on tour with y'all? Come on with it.
1:11:08
All right. Come on, let's go. Come on
1:11:09
with it. Y'all need a host? We going to
1:11:11
have fun, man.
1:11:12
Okay, Heather B come too. Give it up for
1:11:14
Too Short, y'all. Make some noise. Give
1:11:16
it up for my cousin E-40. Stand up for
1:11:19
him, man, AND GIVE IT UP FOR ICE CUBE.
1:11:21
GIVE IT UP FOR HEATHER B.
1:11:24
I GO BY THE NAME OF SWAY. This is
1:11:26
SiriusXM Pandora Playback and give
1:11:28
yourselves a round of applause. And each
1:11:30
and every one of YOU ARE CITIZENS
1:11:32
IN THE MORNING.
1:11:33
HEY, ALL RIGHT.
#Arts & Entertainment