WYCLEF JEAN Talks Haiti, New Music, Legacy

[MUSIC] This is the original, no carbon copy ladies and gentlemen. Before the AI, it was I. I-A. And tell it to it out for. Maria, Maria, yeah, I. She remind me of a West Side story. [MUSIC] [MUSIC] Ready and not. Here I come. You can't hide, shout out to the Fouji's. I'm gonna, y'all know what this is. Sing along, everybody like. Ready and not. Here I come. You can't hide, yeah. I'm gonna, y'all know, y'all know, y'all know. Now that I escaped, sleep, walk away. Those who cover late know the world ain't cake. Gel bars ain't golden gates. Those who fake they break. When they meet their 400 pound made, if I could rule the world. Everyone will have a gun. And together, of course, when you're the up and on a horse, yo. I kick around drinking moonshine. I pour a sip on the concrete. But the disease will know, don't we? Wild clefs in the state of sleep, thinking about the robbery that I did last week. Money on the bag, man, can look like a drag. What you smoking on, what you smoking on, man? [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] I go by the name of Wild Clevshun. I got seven albums coming out one a month, starting in April until you feel me? Country hip-hop reggae. Let's end on some like real like world type vibe, y'all feel me like. [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] >> You caught the bars, bro. >> You missed the bars. >> This is not going to bother again. >> No, there's new bars, every day there's a new bar. That was like a big old, like did the whole alphabet. You didn't know the numerical. >> Yeah, I'm from battle rap was part of my natural come up. I mean, I'm being in the projects that was sort of like, I always said being like the oldest. You miss with my sister, brother. They're like, I'm going to get my big brother. >> And I was show up. And I only weighed like a buck, like ten. You feel what I'm saying to you. >> How old were you? >> Like when you started. >> When I started rapping. >> Battle rapping. >> Battle rapping, I was 12. >> You were 12. >> Yeah, cuz I came from Haiti when I was like seven, eight. >> Yeah. >> And then I landed in marble projects. So marble projects, you know, getting into a lot of fight. Coney Island battle rap was just like it was just an avenue. Where you didn't have to like slap bucks as much. >> Yeah. >> It's a lot of authentication. So you would use, it was like brain dancing. Or if you was a graffiti, this would be like your way of like, you know, like let's do the fade. >> Yeah. >> But we're going to do the fade liverically. >> You feel me? >> As like an immigrant and like a refugee, of course. Didn't feel like you were integrating culturally. And then you were like kind of like getting, getting the mean kids off your back a little bit. >> What the thing is, remember on the album, the score, if you go back and you listen, there's a line I always say Haitian Sicilian in the score. Like you'd be like, well, I don't get it. Hades, Italy, like where's the connection? >> Uh-huh. >> I grew up in marble projects. >> Right. >> I feel what I'm saying too. >> Right. >> So that growing up in an area and just understanding that we always immigrants. You feel what I'm saying too. So whether if you was Italian, you Asian, you Irish, you, it's like at the end of the day, this is like the city of immigrants, right? >> Right. >> So coming from the city of immigrants, you're going to find certain passions that you just used to. So I have family members. There was more into like the gang culture. I had something that they weren't to sports, you feel me? And like every, like literally, we all trying to find an avenue. You feel me? >> Uh-huh. >> And so my avenue was music. >> Yeah. >> And like, um, what was like the most shocking? Because obviously you're from, you're from Haiti, we should back up. >> Straight up, yeah. >> The Americas. >> Yeah. >> I always say like Haiti, the Americas, because sometimes in America, you know what I'm saying? Like I think like sometimes we as Americans. >> Yeah. >> Like you know what I'm saying? Sometimes because of the course of history. Like, I don't think like we understand like Hades within the Americas. >> Well, I mean, it's a country that I think isn't thought about enough, maybe. Because it is like, like especially currently, like it is like the, the biggest, like a political crisis probably in its modern history. Am I correct in saying that? >> A hundred percent, but you know why it's not thought about enough? The reason why it's not thought about enough is this, right, did. So Haiti is the first black republic in the world. >> Correct. >> 1804. >> Tucson. >> Tucson, over to, right? So think about it. So that means like in America, when you run in a slave trade, you literally have an island where a bunch of people are completely running the island and they're free. They're moving around. So they never wanted that connection to happen. So whether if you're looking at Thomas Jefferson or different people, even like look at what Frederick Douglass likes about Haiti. So at the end of the day, Haiti being that it got its independence, had to pay over a billion dollars to France, right? So literally-- >> They had to pay to literally not be made slaves again. >> Yeah, like literally like Napoleon is like, "Yo, y'all want me to come back here?" >> I will blow you up. >> Yeah, it's going to cost y'all so insane that-- and can you imagine like Haiti was one of the number ones for trade. It was known for like sugar and like sugar and cocoa. So at the end of the day, I know like we think of like what happens in Haiti and the idea of like reparation. We're screaming like, "Yo, what does reparation look like?" But I want you to like even think a step further. What would have happened if those Haitians had connected with the black Americans, for example, and America? I'm just giving you an example. What if the black Americans in America understood that Haiti was part of the Louisiana purchase and strategic and helping that? You know, I think like all Americans like watching say, "Oh, that's really cool." Like, you know what I'm saying? and the biggest real estate deal happened to Haiti. Now, Chicago, it's Jumbo, it's East Point, G-Sop, the founder of Chicago's Haitian. - I mean, you guys bought the Eiffel Tower for France. - Yeah, so at the end of the day, what I'm saying is, we're part of it, right? The one difference that pops up in my mind is that that was the first, oh, I forgot. Okay, I'll keep grabbing it. I wanna pay tribute. - Anytime we have a goat or a legend, we get them a little 1942. - Oh, okay. - Also, this is an Adam-free legion hat. - It's kind of bad, I'm stirring it. Maybe I'll let it go. - Hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on. I feel it, I feel it. Let me switch up, though. You feel me? - Oh, I really, it is better than honor. It is, give it up for that. - Yeah, yeah, yeah. - Give it up for that. You got it. - Merchant, guys. - We got a switch up, man. - Yeah, we'll do a little-- - Yeah, we'll do a little-- - And you don't give a rap a drink, and you don't-- - I gave Jaiticus the same order, but you didn't get a hat. - Yeah, I love Jaiticus. - He's the one kind of, he's kind of the one. - Yeah, yeah, Jaita is, man. - It's a corny question, but who would you conceive of as your top five? - Well, I think that top five for me, it depends, right? Because at the end of the day, people would be like, yo, Cleff, I wanted to be like top five composer of the world, like Quincy Jones, Gershwin, and whatever. When it comes to rhyming as a composer, I love raw rap, you know what I'm saying to you? So I could just tell you, one of my favorite rappers of all time, his name is Kooji Rap, so if people should definitely look at that, that's one of my top five for all time. Another one that's my top five for all time, I was in video when I was 18 years old. - I know. - Kim. - Rock him. - Yeah, that's every way I get what I'm saying to you. - You play bass. - Now, another one, Big L, why Big L? 'Cause there was a show called Stretching Barbito, like so. - That was the, there was like a Columbia, right? It was like a college radio thing. - Yeah, so yeah, so it was like, we always coming up. And Nas, right? Nas is one of my, 'cause this is like, I'm telling you this because, so the lens that I see it from is a different lens than y'all see it from. The lens that I see it from, I'm like 18, 19, and I'm going to a show called Stretching Barbito. - Yeah. - You know what I'm saying? Where college radio was the underground, and that's what was killing it. So then when you hear somebody like Big L, so you have many that came up. Another one of my favorites of all time, I can't really say five, like, you know, I love him and then, and I think, - It's very good to wrap. - Biggie Smalls. - Yeah, he's very good to wrap, yeah. - You know, and two pockets, my, my go to when it comes to consciousness. - What about Tunchy? What about Wayne? Wayne to me is that? No, no, no, no, Wayne's to me is genius. - He's a genius. - And what I mean by that is what I mean by that, that you're tapping in. So I got you, I got you, I got you. So, yeah, so when you, when it, you see, when you say people like Wayne to me, you got to understand, now this is a little bit. - That's a lot, I got you. - We want to get family. - This is good news. - This is a lot to my believer brother, Little Wayne. - What's your go to, like toast? Tell me, look high, what's it? Wait, tell me how to say it. Tell me how to say a Haitian toast. - Now we ain't gonna, we're just gonna say, you know? - Look high. - Bolivian. - Bolivian. - Bolivian. - Bolivian, good life. - Beautiful, okay. - Look high. - Yeah. - Okay, but no, you were saying it's Little Wayne thing. It's important why we talk about culture in modern day time. So for me, Little Wayne is in a category all by his self. Like it don't exist, it's like saying Jimi Hendrix. And I'm saying that because- - I feel you are that. - I've been in the studio with everybody and that dude is on his own planet and on his own time. One of the greatest. - He's like on a, in a flow state, from what I understand. - Yeah, and when it comes to the women, I ain't being biased, but they know women on the planet that could touch El Budi. - Oh, I thought you were going to say that could wrap. Ain't no woman that could touch Lauren Hill from the Fuji. - You were- - And I ain't being biased. - You realize that was a genius. You better, you're like, this is a genius. - Yeah, of course. - So yeah, so we met very young. And a lot of people talk about Fuji's, but guess what, the first thing we did, we did an off Broadway play together. - Really. - Go club 12. - And what you see- - Is that how much you was an sister act? - Before. - And what you see in Hamilton, like when you go to Broadway, Hamilton? - I would never, I would never go. - Okay, but you just say, like, how much are they doing? Wrap, and they doing all of that? - Yeah. - Man, we was doing that when we was like 12, 13 and people, like literally flipping Shakespeare and rap form. And it was so ahead of people. And now I guess they make it money out of me. - One of my favorite songs is named after you. It's the young, the third song, "White Club Shark." Which is interesting, 'cause you're also, you have a feature on that. - But it's not on "White Club Shark." - Kanye West. - Yeah. - Yeah, my feature, I'm Kanye West, I'm Kanye West. - Yeah, yeah, yeah. - Shout out to Douga, too. - He's a genius, too. I think that he's got that little magic as well. So, Douga reminds me of modern day Bob Dylan. - So cool, just to say. - That's what you know, that's my favorite guy. - Well, I mean, that's one of my favorite guys. - You were talking about it on Facebook, right? - Yeah, yeah. That's like, fill me, like, I had him in the video. You fill me in? - Tell us about, so you obviously played "Gontal November," but Bob is in the video. - Yeah, just sitting there at LAX, just Bob, but-- - But so how that come together? - Well, the thing about it is, Bob Dylan, I fell in love with just his movement when I read about, like, "Hurricane." You fill me, that was like, "Hurricane was my introduction "of Bob Dylan." - He says the bad word of us all. - Yeah, yeah, but it's fun. - Yeah, so "Hurricane" for a good cause. - Yeah, "Hurricane" was just, you know, a boxer, who, you know, a lawfully gay or whatever. So, there's the bottom line to it. So, I'm doing a record "Gontal November" and I have an epiphany. And I was like, "Yo, I need Bob Dylan in the video." And this is how it went down, right? - Uh-huh. - The person I asked 'cause I ain't gonna even, like, blow 'em up right now, but I'm gonna tell you exactly what he said. I was like, "Yo, you know how, you know me, let me do it." I was, you know, I have my split, right? So, "Bredgin," you know. Me, I think, you know, for the "Gontal November" video, why use Bob Dylan? - Who'd you, who was the person? - I can't even tell you where he looked. - Who's it, Joan Baez? - He's looking at me and saying, "Listen." - Bob Dylan don't even show up for his own son, video. Jacob Dylan. - It's true. - What makes you think he's gonna show up for you? - It's true. - And I was like, "Yo, Dylan gonna show up for me, man." So, I called and got on the phone with Dylan. You feel me? - And you already know, you know how Bob Dylan is. You know how he talk with me, do you understand what I'm saying? - Dylan's like, "Okay, I'm gonna come, LAX." And I told everyone the directors that Dylan is coming. But I think that, 'cause, so, peep this, right? When my daughter was like, at a very young age, I guess she used to have imaginary friends and I would have to go with it, you know what I mean? - Oh yeah, yeah, I think that's how they felt when I told him Bob Dylan was coming. - Yeah, they were playing me on the set. Like, "Yeah, sure, he's there, he's coming." Like, "What are you talking to?" And he goes, "Here goes the goat." You know what I'm saying? I was like, "What are you talking to, LAX?" He comes through and I was like, literally, like, you know, he came and was like, "Well, you want me to do my brother?" And he was like, "You remind me of a bassist, "a cool, my cool bass player." They used to play with me back in the day. I was like, "Mr. Dylan, I just need you to sit right here." (laughter) - Wow, that is just crazy. He's close on. - Yeah. - Did he tell you he's a fan? - Yeah, he loved me, said, "I'll remind him," but you feel me? - Wow. - Yeah, and I don't, he's like in a universe, we come back over and over and over again. But I never put an age to a musician. I mean, oh, he's boom, boom, boom, boom. 'Cause cool musicians that are like, all about the music and the art, whether it's country, classical. We all know each other. - He's still cool. - Yeah. - I mean, he's still good at it, huh? - I see him, he's still playing. I think he's gonna play till he's dead. Like, I mean, he's like in his 80s and he looks incredible. - That stage is terrible, my bro. - He's the best. - I love it. - When you get to a level like that, potentially everyone sees you as a genius, so everyone's trying to drop the most profound thing they've ever said, and it must be a very lonely thing for him. 'Cause everyone's trying to be like, do bars, and then they walk away, they're like, I'm a loser. What was I doing? So, what I imagine is on stage, it's like, he doesn't have to feel like that, you know? - Yeah, I mean, Dylan is just one of the best. - Yes. I mean, even Jimmy Hendrix covered Bob Dylan. Like, Dylan is just a man. - The player up pushes, heating up, and tournament hoops are here. And there's no better way to cash in on the high flying hoops action than the prize picks, where it always feels good to be right. - Every dime? - Yeah. Every bucket, every dime, every win means more when you play with prize picks. That's a little bit offensive. I apologize. - So, don't pass up on your extra with prize picks and get $50 instantly in line-ups when you play your first $5. - I've picked players on prize picks, and can I tell you something? It really, really, it feels good to pick and to be right. Okay? There's so many good players in the league right now. You've got Shay Gilles, just Alexander, Luca Donschitch, and let's not forget Nikola Yokich. 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You have all these stories, like, you fell in poop and you went to school after that and then you would, you would, you would, you would, you would, you would have some of your golf time. Well, it was a good, it was good. It was good poop though. Yeah, no, wasn't good poop. I was just saying, like, you, you, what? Slimdog million. My impression that I got was like, we have this notion of Haiti as like, just like, you know, just backwards, like, you know, but like, you, you, you referred to it as like, you kind of missed it. Like, you kind of like, uh, enjoyed, like, your childhood and like, uh, yeah. Does it feel like you, your life was saved by going to America? You ever seen City of Guards? Yeah, of course. All right. So at the end of the day, it's like beauty and the beast though. Yeah. Cause right, you have the most beautiful, gorgeous beaches. Yeah. You have the most beautifulest things, right? So the way I got to America, my dad was a missionary, like, so literally my dad came on a work visa when I got to America, bro. What I experienced was the idea at a very young age of what the American dream was. Yeah. Like, cause at the end of the day, so when you're young like that and you're sitting in that village and you're in a donkey, you're like, yo, if only I could get to America, you give me that. I want to live in America. I want to get to America, you know what I'm saying? What was the first thing that blew your mind when you moved to America? Was it like elevators or like, I don't know, man, it was like from the air. Cause you remember where I came from, I came from a hut. So I never seen like real electricity. So the thing that blew my mind was in the air. Yo, and I'm looking down and we're going over New York. I remember like the twin towers, right? But then everything, like, bro, the lights and just, I looked at my brother and I was like, yo, you know, we're in the city of diamonds. Yeah. Yeah. It was definitely a trick. Like you're seeing avatars, something straight up avatars. It was a complete, different world. Can you imagine I get to the projects and I go to my brother and the first time we trying to force it, bro, and water is coming out of it. Yeah. I don't know what that is. You know what it was. Of course not. I get the water from the way I feel like this is magic. Yeah. It all looked like magic. The idea of an oven, that idea of an oven and then you put it on. So peep this. So the oven gets warm, right? Uh-huh. And I remember like in the projects at a time where we didn't have no heat, right? Uh-huh. And then the heat was coming from the oven. Uh-huh. For me, that was just normal. Yeah. You're like, I guess you're like, I'm the richest guy in the world. Come on, bro. It was like the Jefferson's. You're like, you're like, I'm the queen of England now. Yeah. Yeah. One extreme to the next. Do you get to see of yourself as the most famous Haitian? You kind of are, no? Yeah. On a planet. On a planet. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. For sure. Does that come? Do you feel a sense of like a responsibility? Is there a weight of like a of that being the, I don't even think of it. Like my brain don't even adjust it. Yeah. It's just at the end of the day. Um, I just do what I've got to do, huh? What do people like not understand about Haiti? I think what they don't understand about Haiti is every time they hear is going down in Haiti. And you hear all it is bad news. Yeah. Geographically, they don't say where it's going on. So at the end of the day, if you hear it's going down in Port-a-Prince, right? You could be like, where is it going down? Is it in Kingston? Is it in Montego Bay? Is it right? So in Haiti, when they tell you it's going down, it's like one area in Port-a-Prince, the capital, right? And then there's an area outside of Port-a-Prince going naive. Other than that, bro, you go to like places in the north. You're going to find the most amazing blue beach, white sand that you can imagine. So I think like the PR is terrible because we have to identify Haiti as a full country. Yeah. Not as just a, yo, it's going down to Haiti, but where in Haiti is it going down? Correct. Yeah. Is there conflict inside of you because of like, obviously the United States has had a complicated relationship with Haiti? Like, for instance, like after the earthquake, right? Like most of the money was funneled to Washington DC, to NGOs, and they, you know, they devastated the-- Like in New Orleans. Well, they were sending over like American rice, right? And so rice farmers in Haiti, like, lost their farms basically because they weren't investing in infrastructure for the people there. They were basically just paying off American interests and making money off of the earthquake in your country. Yeah. So the thing is, I'm a modern day Haitian, right? American, right? Yeah. And what does that mean? That means that I can't look at what was done then. I'm looking at it right now. But it's racist, no. And then when I look at it right now, in Jacques Mail, I have one of the-- I'm watching how these kids are developing AI. Yeah. In the past two years, they came-- they went to Greece in the world stage. They came in number three, right? And last year, we went to Panama. So what happens is, I have to forward think, right? And I'm forgetting the past, right? Because I can feel a certain way about the past. But the only way that I'm going to move things forward, I got to be present right now, real time. And I got to be in those rooms that can make a difference for 12-year-old kid. Do you feel like now that you're-- you're so your famous person, right? And you're like, well, like, you're beloved, right? Do you feel like-- Because the US government is like, like Bill Clinton, like, basically, may then promise not to make the minimum wage $5 a day, right? And like Obama, basically, you know, didn't make sure that the money was going to Haitian people. It was going to American NGOs. And it was funneled out. Like, do you feel like now that you have a profile like that, like, you can lobby or like, you can communicate with the people in power and be like, this is like what we need. What I love about what you're saying is y'all the new generation. And what I mean by that is people can't bluff y'all because the information is actually there. So as we move forward, I count on y'all to have my back. I agree, right? At the end of the day, I want to move forward and see how we get better policies for that country. You know what I'm saying? How that happened in your estimation? Well, what needs to happen? 80% of the country is living on less than a dollar, right? You have 12 million people. How do we put 6 million kids back to school and back to work, right? So in order to do that, we need policies that are towards them. And Haiti can't be a playground for one party. Like, Haiti has to be a bipartisan. Yeah, but we need a president. You haven't had what it nine years ago. We need someone that's not a puppet, right? Because you have to have someone who understands from, you know, how policies work and someone who just can't be bought by private sector and also can't be bought by lobbyists in DC, you know what I mean? I mean, it's just fascinating to me. Just learning the full history. Yeah, man. I want to talk about music, though. You're making seven albums this year. You're locked in. Locked in. Like 80% is done already. 80% done. And of course, of five years. Like you're in your 30 years in to your 30 years in career. Yep. And I'm just getting started. You feel like you feel that way. Well, how did you pay tape like that like that motivation? My mentor, Quincy Jones, R&P to him. Wow. Yeah. Yeah. So I feel like I'm in my 30 years right now. I feel like what I'm about to create and the different artists that I'm going to work with in the different generations. I feel like I'm in my 30 years right now. Let's see what happens in the next five years. Well, Thriller is a very diverse album too. Yeah, and it was songs like kind of like I just feel like my 30 years is like, you know, like Quincy Jones, when he hooked up with Michael and it was magic that happened. And so I feel like why Clev G. Herbo, there's magic happening. That's but you know, he's a little Wayne. There's magic happening. Why Clev rap city? What happens when you connect like you get what I'm saying? Because this is like two generations. So when I said the three little Quincy Jones, I feel like this is like I feel like I'm a bridge to like because my passion has always been the music man. Right. So I'm the music man. Earlier you said that like hip hop for you in your generation was the underground. For me, it was pop pop music, right? Hip hop was the dominant art. Like I've been a fan of yours probably my entire life. Like I got in trouble with my baseball team because we were singing killing, killing them softly. One time? Yeah. And like we had a run laps because we were singing a girl song. Our coach thought we were gay. I don't know, but for me personally, what's interesting is you made this iconic album with this group and you would lower it at Prague, you guys had this synergy, which was your second album, is that right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Sound more, man. You know, cooking something historic, did it feel that way? Well, I just felt like we was cooking something amazing because we didn't produce the first album. The first album was signed a cool end of the game. Really? Joanna, you know what I mean? So the producer was Kalees Bayard, who's a genius. And then so with the score, it was like, so could you imagine, so everything we was doing in the first album, when we went back to the neighborhood, it wasn't sounding like that. So that's when we was at me, my cousin, Gerwonda, you know, Lauren, Prague, who's in the basement, John Forte, the NPCs, you know, because we could hear the block. Like literally, the book of basement is there, the crack house is right behind, like I'm telling you it's the neighborhood. So we was just cooking. And one day, I went to see my man, Salam Remy, and Salam is the one who's responsible for Amy Winehouse, a whole lot of different people. So no, he's a producer, a little young, a little genius. So we clicked, and once we clicked, I just kept doing these beats and then it just, you know, Fadjo? Of course. So when you hear the beat, that beat originally was the Fadjo. Shout out to Fadjo, but the Fuji's took the beat from Fadjo. So, and also, something I learned was that in Hip-So-Live, that one guitar line is inspired by cream. But yeah. Yeah. So, it's a whole. It's a Wu-Tang. Yeah. I was saying that Hip-So-Live was done two years before you heard Hip-So-Live. Yeah. I did it for a movie called Havana Night. Right? Do you know the story about that movie? Havana Night's. Yeah. Havana Night's being. Dirty Dancing, too. Dirty Dancing, too. Yeah. But Dirty Dancing, too. It was a really. It was a completely different script. I thought it was a political thriller. And by the time the studio was done with it, it became dirty dancing, too, but Havana Night's. Yeah. Yeah. It's a completely different story. And a dark and legendary story. Yeah. Like Hollywood. Yeah. What'd they do? They. Yeah. But, yo, that's where that song was first done two years before Shaky. Yeah. My favorite of your, like, soundtracks songs is with Maya, of course. But man, you know what? You're taking me way back. So, that is such a good. Okay. So, now, watch this. So, out of one of my seven albums, you can understand why one's a country. Yeah. Well, I also saw you did a cover of "Jolly Cash" as that one. Cash was there. Yeah, I saw that. Before he passed. Yeah. I did that with my man Rick Rubin called me in for that. Yeah. You just know all these guys. Huh? You know all these guys? I mean, you know, I'm pretty legend, man. That's crazy. I mean, I was just a baby. You were very nice for being so accomplished. Yeah? Because at the end of the day, whether I'm accomplished, you were accomplished. Well, whether you're accomplished, I'm not all blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. At the end of the day, look, you see what we're doing? The air that we're breathing is the same. It's the same, bro. It's so nice of you to say that. The dirt. Yeah. We go to the same dirt, my brother. So at the end of the day, respect is respect. You day. Yeah, no. You're a girl. You're a legend. Yeah, I respect respect, baby. You dropped carnival. You're after the score. Yeah, and the labor thought I was out of my mind. How did you--how did you--after, like, such an intense period of your career, right? Are you with that group making, like, a classic album? How did you flip--that has, like, 25 tracks or something. It's, like, a long-ass out-- Yeah, carnival. Audiovisual. I had my friend burn me that CD in audiovisual. Audiovisual. Yeah, yeah. A lot of weed smoking. Really? Yeah. What's your style, like, in the studio? You just--it just comes out of you? Your way in style? Well, yeah. But you know I'm from the church. So, like, coming up in the church and being in the church-- In the church, I was 10, yeah. I felt like the spirit connected. And we just go with it. But carnival was, like, one of those, again, it defied what they said hip-hop was. Yeah. Like, you go back. It was--it was ahead of its time. Like, you didn't miss it. Half people got it. Y'all got it. But then there was a whole 'nother crew who didn't know what the hell else was talking about. 25 tracks, due to out of 20 different rhythms. Do you know what carnival is? It's a playlist today. You don't have money, J-Z, 50 cent--you get what I'm saying, it's a playlist of everything. Yeah. Yeah. But it's just so prolific, that's what I'm saying. Like, it's--it was just coming out of you. It was just flowing. Yeah. Yeah. That's the spirit, baby. That's the church. It's church. I can't even, like, take no credit for that. Really? They throw me in the church at 12 years old, and you got to go with it, you know what I'm in. Are your parents still with us? Yeah. My dad passed away. My mom's still here. She's running the church in South Orange Avenue. And you said something, which is ill, it clicked to me. So one day I was in church, you know, young prodigy, and putting all the music together. And I noticed in the hem book, I ran out of fucking songs. And then I went to my dad, and I was like, "Yo, I'm out of songs." And he looked at me, and he said, "Well, you make up a song, then." Right? He said, "Because somebody out there of cancer, they depend on you. Some student out there, they press your head, they SAT, they're not going to pass it, they need you." So to your point, it's like, so when you remember the song? So when I come out, that's just the music in general. So when I do music, right, I think of those that I can't see, but are going through things. Yeah. If that makes sense. Yeah. And do you feel like you're better at music than you've ever been? Is it a progression that's like linear? Or is it like, I'm telling you right now, I'm better than I've ever been, man. It's amazing. Yeah. Like, I'm better than I've ever been. Uh-huh. Yeah. That's awesome. Yeah, sir. It's so cool. I'm coming out with eight albums, this year, actually. All right, baby. Let's go it. Yeah. Let me get a feature on one. You know? Oh, yeah, yeah. But for free. But I think what about entertaining people do you love so much? Like, well, I'm a born-in-to-chainer, and what I love about entertainment is every time you see me on the stage and you see me going crazy, those that's been on Wildclev show, they're like, what that energy come from. Yeah. Bro, I'm celebrating life. When you see me on that stage, I'm celebrating life, and I'm reminding y'all how important it is. It's a good thing to be alive. And at the end of the day, we take that most little thing for granted, right? Yeah. 'Cause we ain't promised tomorrow. So when you come to my show, I'm going to give you, remember like, Prince 1999, I'm going to treat every day like it's 1999. Yeah. It's like the world's going to be over the next day. So what I love the most, yo, I do shows and people come up to me and be like, bro, I was thinking about offering myself, and then I heard this song, someone please call 911, and I changed my mind. I've done shows. People came to me like, yo, good looking man, if it wasn't for you, I wouldn't have smashed that. Baby, you know what I'm saying? We married now. So at the end of the day, I know my assignment. You feel what I'm saying to you, and like all my peers, I'm just the music man. I get it. Yeah. Do you feel like, do you feel like you are afforded your, your flowers adequately? Do you, or do you not even care? I don't really care. Yeah. The reason why I don't care is because I don't, because when you look at Bar Marley, he don't have one Grammy. When you look at Jimmy Hendrix, when you look at the Loaniest Monk, when you look at the illicit, I got the assignment, right? And my assignment is to raise the higher consciousness of the human race, and I have to do that, I'm going to do that. That's just my assignment. You ever look at Bar Marley in the face, and he looks like James Franco, almost exactly. Yeah. You seeing the young bitches of Bar Marley as a guy, what? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah. Bar before the drinks, right? Yeah. It would be so dope if we got to meet him. Just the three of us got to chill. Yeah. Yeah. That'd definitely be a lot of smoke. Oh my God. I would try and act like I like a guy. A lot of chalice, man. Yeah. I mean, like, when speaking of chalice, have you ever hit the bomb? Like chalice? Yeah. What do you mean? You've been in Jamaica? Yeah, of course. So you've hit like the actual chalice of the bomb. Oh, yeah, yeah. Okay, my man. Of course. You know the vibe. I do it regularly. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay. I'm bad at weed. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. It makes me think of everything I say throughout the day, and then I'm like, everyone hates you. Why did you say that? But you've hit the bomb, though. Yeah. He hit a bomb before, bro. All right, good. No. My man. Cool. I am half-baked. You performed recently again with Lauren. Is there an ambition? Like, will we ever see you guys make music together again? The greatest ambition that's dear is like, I got my sister back. Yeah. And what I mean by that is at the end of the day, I'm an uncle to Lauren's kids. I can't even ask. You know what I mean? They call me uncle. Yeah. And at the end of the day, that magic that we have, that, you know, when we create music [BLANK_AUDIO] Or, you know what I mean, saying that energy just the fact. - You have to. - Just the fact. I can do a beat and be like, yo, since check this out, I'm content. But bro, check this out, I'm content. Now, what that lies in the universe is the most amazing thing right, 'cause none of us know what's gonna happen. But I can tell you what I feel though. Magic's in the air. - There you go. - We got it back together, we got it back together. - We got it back together. - I honestly, I've been trying to keep it cool. I think maybe a little bit or no, have I embarrassed myself? - No, you check. - Okay, great. - It's just an honor to be here. I appreciate you coming out so close. - Oh, ready. - I think give it up for why not try it. (audience applauding) (guitar music) (guitar music)