0:00

Quest Love Supreme is a production of iHeartRadio.

0:05

Yo, What's Up?

0:06

This is fon Tigelow from Team Supreme.

0:08

We all celebrating Black History Month of QLs

0:11

and releasing new weekly interviews with some incredible

0:13

guests from film and music. In the meantime,

0:16

we've selected some special classic episodes

0:18

as well, which we run on Mondays.

0:20

This classic two part of CURLSS is from September

0:23

twenty twenty, and it is with the incredible

0:26

my homie, my friend.

0:27

Jamail Hill.

0:28

Jamail is not only someone to call

0:30

a friend, she's one of the most important voices

0:32

in sports, where she always leaves in art,

0:34

politics and social.

0:35

Issues and we love her for it.

0:37

In part one, Jamail joined Amyror like Eas,

0:39

Steve and I to talk TV, movies and

0:41

life. Sometimes these are the best discussions

0:44

on QLSS and we just talk on our shit. It's

0:46

also a little time capsule back three and

0:48

a half years ago.

0:49

Enjoy

1:06

all Right, ladies and gentlemen, welcome

1:08

to what I think is guaranteed

1:10

to be a highly.

1:13

Interesting episode of Plus Love Supreme. You

1:16

might as well consider this.

1:17

Ease dropping in on a conversation

1:20

already in progress, just to give

1:22

you, guys a preface.

1:24

We practically started this episode.

1:25

About five to six hours ago on the QLs

1:28

chat when Laia has

1:31

discovered the fonte Salmon

1:34

and Smoothies, I'd say, Salmon, Salmon and Smoothies

1:36

episode yes, of our of our guests,

1:40

of our podcast, of

1:42

which what ensued is at least on my

1:44

end inn all day research

1:48

excursion on the Bad Boy trilogy.

1:51

And I'm talking about.

1:52

The movie, not the label, which

1:54

then led me into a Tyler Perry Rabbit.

1:56

Bull, which is old another episode. Anyway,

1:59

give me, just give you guys a heads up. We might

2:01

not even get to a.

2:02

Real like Jamail Hill question to like

2:04

forty six minutes forty six minutes

2:07

into the episode.

2:08

Anyway, if you're still listening

2:10

by this point, you know me.

2:11

You know Laia Fontigelow Sugar

2:14

Steve shout out to Only Bill, who's

2:16

not here right now. If he's

2:18

on a list, he's he's

2:20

only Bill. He might as well be Only Bill.

2:23

Our guest has been a.

2:25

Big deal for over

2:27

a decade.

2:27

If you haven't caught up right now in

2:30

the overpopulated, toxic male atmosphere

2:33

world of ESPN, she came to our attention

2:35

now as a member

2:38

of the beloved sports talk show

2:41

His and Her on ESPN two with Michael

2:43

Smith.

2:44

What Mike Uh?

2:45

Soon following being a staple on Sports

2:47

Center, a thinker and uh, even

2:50

as a non sports guy, hear me right

2:52

now, Steve, I'm not doing okay. Even as a non

2:54

sports guy, I can attest that her

2:56

Mike had a rather run DMC chemistry

3:00

and they're on screen banter.

3:02

Uh.

3:02

And then twenty sixteen came and

3:05

need I say more, Ladies and gentlemen,

3:07

please welcome to QLs UH

3:10

from the Atlantic and my current favorite

3:12

podcast, Jamil Hill is Unbothered.

3:14

Also my other other bens, my other

3:17

favorite one which is.

3:19

Way down the Hole, which is a

3:22

wire recap show with Van Lathan,

3:25

which is probably the only place where you hear

3:27

black people speak.

3:29

On the wire.

3:30

I only no, I'm saying, anytime

3:32

I hear about the wire being broken down, it's

3:35

always by white people. So

3:37

much to say, ladies and gentlemen, I

3:39

can't wait for this efficition efication.

3:42

Yeah, I'll say you just made a new word. Made

3:44

new word.

3:46

Yes, this efication. Please

3:48

welcome Jamil Hill to.

3:50

You, Thank you, hello,

3:53

old friend, and what up, old friend? This

3:57

is?

3:57

This is a great moment for me to be on with

4:00

with two musical legends. And and

4:02

I'm glad you you provided me this

4:04

space because me and Tigiloa can keep

4:06

arguing.

4:07

About dude, we

4:09

gotta get let me keep arguing it.

4:12

I watched after after

4:15

that initial chat, I sat in my office

4:17

all day watching.

4:19

I recapped Bad Boys Too. Still

4:21

don't like it. No, I'm shocked

4:23

that.

4:23

It was not good.

4:24

I'm just not good. Just I'm

4:27

shocked that's your favorite.

4:30

I don't get it. I don't get it.

4:31

And here's the thing, this is what has

4:34

me sort of not ruffled. But I

4:37

see Liaa's point is

4:39

are you still standing on that hill that

4:42

Bad Boys woman's classic.

4:44

I'm standing on the hill that nobody.

4:46

We should let people know that Fonte had never

4:48

seen part one and part two until.

4:50

As he's about to watch three. And I do

4:52

not.

4:52

Think that you should compare something that

4:54

happened fifteen to twenty.

4:55

Years ago to a current installation.

4:57

That's what we agree on.

4:58

And yeah it doesn't yes because of

5:01

the time, Yes, I agree that.

5:02

But I can say that you were genuinely

5:04

perplexed that Fante

5:06

and I didn't see Bad Boys one

5:09

as classic.

5:10

Well, let me be clear.

5:11

I think it's I think Bad Boys One is classic,

5:14

But as I was in the group Chess, I think

5:16

classic, right exactly. Classic has

5:18

more to do with time, place, era, Like

5:20

there's a lot of things that make something a

5:23

classic. I didn't think it was

5:25

a good movie, but it was a classic for

5:27

what it stood for. That was like Will and

5:29

Martin coming together. Like it was

5:32

what it stood for and what it represented made

5:34

it a classic moment.

5:36

I will not say it was a good movie.

5:40

Its classic era.

5:41

Nigga.

5:42

I was there.

5:43

I didn't have to see the ship what you talking about.

5:45

I saw the movie. I lived there. I

5:47

saw what it was. I saw it's these two

5:50

niggas on film. I know what it

5:52

was.

5:52

I was in the era.

5:53

I was outside. I just went to the

5:55

theater.

5:56

What I'm saying is is that, like,

5:59

are you saying that had Fonte

6:01

been of age in nineteen ninety four

6:04

and seeing it on its first run, that

6:06

he would have thought Bad Boys One was

6:09

a classical film.

6:10

Yes, it's like a millennial watching Do

6:12

the Right Thing on HBO.

6:14

Nah, that's not true because I saw my show

6:16

my sons do the Right Thing like a couple, and

6:19

they love that shit.

6:20

Hell yeah.

6:21

Well, but you know what it is certain movies

6:24

that don't necessarily age well,

6:26

even though that they're classics, right, I

6:28

mean I saw bad Boy when you

6:30

know, right in that time in space, and so

6:33

I totally understand why it's a classic

6:35

movie.

6:36

But there's other shit.

6:37

That we have.

6:37

It just don't age well. And like

6:40

I think this about Scarface. I think Scarface is

6:42

one of the most overrated movies I've ever seen. Like

6:44

that movie does not hold up. It's cheesy,

6:46

it's corny. I'm shocked that you have

6:49

all these brand new racers. It's

6:51

definitely racist. Right, So I'm.

6:53

Shocking you saw two times, didn't

6:55

you.

6:55

Yeah, all right, I watch.

6:57

It, Yeah, I watch it. Whatever's on. I mean, I'm

6:59

not gonna learn from it.

7:00

But you have al Pacino, you have f

7:02

Murray Abraham, you have all these

7:05

wonderful actors in this movie

7:07

that just doesn't hold up.

7:09

It just looks.

7:10

I mean, I've never been on that bandwagon

7:13

that this movie was one of the greatest ever. Like

7:15

I think to even put it in the same sentence as

7:17

like a Godfather Godfather too, is just like disgustingly

7:20

bad.

7:21

Like that's just it ain't even in the same category as Good

7:23

Fellas.

7:23

To me, none

7:28

of that.

7:28

You do understand why

7:30

that film at sentimental meaning though, right Scarf?

7:34

Often do we get to see someone

7:36

stick it to the man.

7:38

Right, it's about it's a rags to riches story.

7:41

The Cuban.

7:41

It's the Cuban Superfly, Yes,

7:44

basically like that. And that's another word that doesn't

7:46

age that well.

7:47

I have not seen Superfly yet, is

7:50

it worth I'm glad you wait

7:53

if nothing, I haven't seen the original

7:56

super.

7:57

I'm telling you you you don't want to choke somebody

7:59

out on the new and like the New one, you were, but like they didn't

8:01

see that one.

8:02

The new one. Man they got what's his name? Damn?

8:05

I Trevor Jackson.

8:06

I think jacks from yeah,

8:09

from the Hazing movie, from the movie.

8:12

Right, they got Trevor Jackson with a with

8:15

a dope ass Hawaiian silky And it's

8:17

just like Superfly has advanced.

8:19

It's crazy because Superfly has advanced

8:21

from you know how I used to get his money.

8:23

This dude now is in bitcoin.

8:25

We like, look, Harriet

8:28

Tubman didn't point to the North Star for this motherfucker

8:30

to be into bitcoin, Like that's the new Wave.

8:32

I'm like, this, what were doing?

8:36

He got a whole bitcoin electronic

8:38

operation.

8:39

I was like, I'll be damn, like, I just

8:41

I can't. I can't.

8:42

They had to bring it. They had to bring it to the new era,

8:44

Like the new era is.

8:46

You know, a crypto currency don't

8:48

go together.

8:48

I'm sorry, I agree, but I mean

8:51

I saluted for trying to bring it to twenty twenty.

8:53

You know a movie I watched the night I saw on.

8:55

The group chat that did not age well for me

8:57

at all, Like Beverly Hills cop and

9:00

is fucking Coppaganda, Dude, Like, I'm.

9:01

Looking at this and it's and it's you know

9:03

what I mean, it's Eddie Murphy and I mean we love Eddie

9:05

always.

9:06

I mean, but I'm just like, yo, this nig is

9:08

just a scammer that just goes around line to people

9:11

like every movie, like that's all it is, like

9:13

he lining to get into this building and he's lining,

9:15

and I'm like, Yo, this is nah,

9:18

this was not right.

9:19

I am bound by Detroit And it's not

9:21

to talk shit about that movie, even though I

9:24

understand what you're saying, because if you in the movie,

9:26

he wore a T shirt from Mumford High School,

9:28

which is my high school where I.

9:29

Went to went to school.

9:30

Ass Oh wow, yeah, because Jerry Bruckenheimer

9:33

Actually he went to my high school

9:35

as well. He's from Detroit, which is how the

9:37

Lion's jacket wound up on Axel Foley

9:39

and the Muffer High School t shirt.

9:41

Look trivia that you can literally do nothing with. So

9:43

just take it on now.

9:45

If we live for useless

9:48

information on this show, we lived for that. Yeah,

9:51

I was gonna say that

9:54

already today. I've had enough

9:57

research with that.

9:59

I'm almost bored.

10:00

Line afraid to ask Fante his

10:02

opinion. I

10:06

want to wait till she least come on this show.

10:08

Okay, no, no, no, no, no.

10:10

On on Lovecraft Country, love

10:12

Craft County.

10:13

Oh okay, I haven't watched it yet, all right.

10:14

Yo, I really liked it, and I'm

10:17

not I love it.

10:18

I didn't know what to expect. I didn't know what it

10:20

was.

10:20

I was just like, all right, see what it is, yo,

10:23

I fuck with love Craft. I'll see where it goes, you

10:25

know what I mean. But they got me on the first episode and that

10:27

and those are the hardest ones. The pilots is like the

10:29

hardest episode Yeah, I'm

10:31

fucking with it.

10:32

And I watched it in real time, and

10:35

it is weird because we

10:37

were like texting each other as it was happening,

10:40

and she's being like really quiet about

10:42

it, and I'm talking about Journey Journey Smalllett

10:45

and yeah, like

10:48

I without spoiler

10:50

a learning it's it's I feel

10:52

I trust that this will be excellent.

10:55

I mean, the pilot is awesome.

10:58

Yeah, I'll say I like it. So

11:00

this will probably be the first

11:03

time that I'm gonna follow a television

11:05

series in real time since

11:08

The Wire. Yeah, I'm

11:10

a guy that will let the entire thing

11:12

go on so I can just have all the episodes.

11:14

At That's what I'm doing with I may

11:16

destroy you, That's what I'm doing.

11:17

Yeah, that's what I.

11:20

Need.

11:20

I need to get on because I just hear too many great

11:22

things about it.

11:23

Yeah, everybody's saying it's it's it's great,

11:25

it's worth it's worth getting into, or

11:27

none of us has seen it yet.

11:29

No, No, all the feedback I heard from it

11:31

from like my movie and TV homies

11:34

that really you know, they like nah that they say.

11:36

It's really good.

11:36

Can I just tell y'all?

11:37

I mean, and I want to stay with Jamel to like Sundays

11:40

No Offense, but black women are killing it like

11:44

Lena waf Misha Green, Katoy

11:47

from Pea Valley.

11:48

Y y'all on Pea Valley.

11:49

I still I ain't watched that yet.

11:52

Hit me, do that? Hit me? Do that?

11:54

Hit me?

11:54

Do that.

11:55

It's a strip club joint.

11:56

Yeah, yeah, it's about the Yeah,

11:58

it's about Mississippi Strip club. And

12:02

it's called p Valley, which you know what the P stands

12:04

for? Yes, Pussy Valley. That's the name, right,

12:07

So it

12:10

is season that's right, So.

12:12

Women against Patriarchy.

12:18

That's what I told my grandma stood.

12:23

But it's it's a it's something

12:25

that you you don't see often. It's like the way that

12:27

it's shot, great strong

12:30

characters. I mean again, you know somebody

12:32

tells you it's a drop. It's a drama about the Mississippi

12:34

strip club. You're like, ship, I'm in, Like why would I not

12:36

be in on that?

12:37

Right?

12:38

Written by a wonderful writer that

12:41

I've gotten a chance to know, Patrick Ian Polk and

12:43

outside you mentioned Katy Hall, like it's it's

12:45

it's like that like me, Me and the Hubbie.

12:47

We three episodes in. I think

12:49

it's been about six episodes, but we really

12:52

enjoyed. Uncle Clifford is my dog, that's

12:54

all.

12:57

It's interesting.

12:58

I want to prepare people who haven't seen Pee balle Okay,

13:01

this is a highly inclusive show where

13:03

you'll see all kinds of sex and I

13:05

love and Jamel. It's funny because they'll show

13:07

Uncle Clifford, who is a let's

13:10

not put a label. No, no, I know, what's the I'm trying to think

13:12

of what would be the best way, Like he's clearly gay's.

13:15

Fluid or he's fluid.

13:17

I think he I mean, he's very gay, but

13:19

he also wears beautiful wigs.

13:21

Sometimes he may be dressed up.

13:22

From like Frida Callo and he runs

13:24

the club, Thank

13:27

you babe.

13:27

He is gender fluid, right, yeah.

13:30

Yeah, that's probably the best way to put definitely

13:32

gay, but he's gender fluid.

13:34

Yeah.

13:34

For sure. They play with you a.

13:35

Little bit because you'll see Uncle Clifford get his thinging,

13:38

but you'll also self cut to like the stripper doing

13:40

her thing too.

13:40

They're trying to satisfy everybody.

13:42

Yes, time

13:44

out. Isaiah Washington's in

13:46

this.

13:47

Yeah, so that's the part way I know, I

13:49

know that's the part that kind of You're

13:51

like, hold up, because I didn't know he was in this series

13:54

until we got to the episode where he popped

13:56

up because he's the mayor of this little little

13:58

bitty town or whatever, and I was like, oh,

14:00

ship is that?

14:02

I mean, I hear your reaction quest

14:04

because I.

14:04

Thought, I'm amazed that he got

14:07

another shot.

14:07

Like I know, I'm

14:10

like word they let him back word up?

14:11

Yeah, And then the fact that they let him back on

14:14

what is clearly a black show is ironic

14:16

in itself, considering everything out his mouth

14:18

is so fucking anti black that it's OK.

14:21

I haven't followed. I don't, I haven't followed. I

14:23

said, what's this deal?

14:25

Yo, man e might as well join yea.

14:28

Yeah, he probably

14:30

worse than yea though, because what are you saying? No,

14:33

I mean he's definitely one

14:35

of I mean he's a he's a MAGA

14:37

supporter, like he's a he's a Trump dude.

14:40

And it's just like, man, I don't know what happened

14:42

to you? So he broke Yeah?

14:44

So he is, I mean, he ain't

14:46

got he okay on on the on the levels

14:48

of what is it one to Terry Crews,

14:51

He's not like but

14:57

yeah, they would definitely welcome at

14:59

the Publican national convention.

15:02

Wow, disappointed him. I would think he'd be more self

15:04

educated than Tearing, So.

15:06

Yeah, you would think, but surprisingly

15:09

he isn't, or not so surprisingly he isn't.

15:12

So anyway, if you get it over that part

15:14

of it, it's still a wonderfully done series worth

15:17

your time, absolutely, as you know.

15:18

That's the thing about this pandemic.

15:20

It's like you just realized, and not that I

15:22

didn't know this before, but just how much content

15:24

is out there. I mean, it is almost

15:27

possible to keep up. Like I still haven't seen

15:29

little fires everywhere. Like I'm still trying to really

15:32

good everybody.

15:33

My wife watched that.

15:34

I watched it though, yeah, Washington

15:36

and.

15:38

Pot But I'm going to finish that, yeah,

15:41

the pilot.

15:42

So I find myself feeling, you know,

15:44

feeling like constantly behind. And yet

15:46

you know, they're still old favorites that

15:49

I'm not gonna come up off the old favorites to

15:52

make room for the new stuff.

15:53

So I just kind of have to.

15:54

I have the budget, my TV time better, is

15:56

what I'm saying, you know, because like Monday

15:58

Nights is below deck medic to Radiant.

16:00

Tuesday's million dollars about

16:03

your episode?

16:03

Now? Can we can we talk about

16:05

it? Listen,

16:07

me and me and the boyfriend over here, we're rather addicted.

16:10

It can be a new episode coming on or an old episode

16:12

of me or I don't know. And Steve, I don't know if you'allre up on a

16:14

below Deck Steve.

16:16

From watch Stevie, I haven't

16:18

seen any of the bad Boys.

16:22

Wave man, but

16:25

uh yeah right now, I don't watch

16:27

like what I'm watching Quantico right

16:29

now.

16:29

There was a Quantica,

16:31

I remember it, but I never wat Quantico.

16:34

What's his name's wife?

16:35

Yeah, Jonas brother,

16:37

Uh, what's the name?

16:39

I don't know. I don't know that their names, but

16:41

it puts me to sleep real quick.

16:43

Man. That's you

16:46

need to get with Below Deck because Below

16:48

Deck is awesome and amazing. It follows different

16:50

crews depending on what part of the world they're in,

16:53

and it's like a reality show based on the crew

16:55

and they're guests that come on for chartered chartered,

16:58

uh chartered, both rides and

17:00

needles to say one day, no, you gotta say it's a charter

17:02

yacht. Yeah you can't unders you're

17:05

right, it's shot and

17:07

one Saturday afternoon, to the delight

17:10

of me and my my sweet team. We were like, yo,

17:12

black people, Yo, that's jamil

17:15

yo.

17:18

I got it in.

17:19

So I guess they'll give you

17:21

the bones of what happened is, as she said, below

17:23

deck is a reality show.

17:25

You know, they follow they put

17:27

you in the location.

17:28

It was Thailand, so this is uh,

17:30

this was a pre bachelorette party event.

17:33

So me, five of the my homegirls

17:36

win.

17:36

So it's six of us, six black women on a yacht

17:39

in Thailand, and you

17:42

know, people like you know, you're in that environment

17:44

where you're getting everything is

17:46

catered to you.

17:48

Uh, the great food, all the liquor

17:50

you could possibly want it.

17:51

So you're on this yacht for three days and they

17:54

film you and really the show

17:56

is mostly about the crew that services the yacht,

17:58

but of course, you know, guests like myself, we we

18:01

get in on the entertainment.

18:02

So goot of mine is I

18:04

was.

18:04

Drunk as fuck for like literally three straight days.

18:07

It's pretty much what happened. In fact,

18:09

so drunk that at one point we

18:12

were having dinner one night and I just had to tap

18:14

out and I just like I tried to whisper

18:16

to my girl that I was tapping out, but of course, you

18:19

know, I got a mic on me.

18:20

Uh and they showing the cameras just showing me.

18:22

It had just focused on me and I am literally

18:24

at this dinner table about to pass out in my food.

18:28

Yeah, no, it was.

18:31

It was the drunk items.

18:33

But I was drunk as fun because we have been drinking

18:35

since the moment we got up, and

18:38

you know, because we all vacation, so we were like getting

18:40

it in. But as far

18:42

as much as they showed, I got to be honest, I'm thankful

18:44

for all the shit they didn't show you.

18:48

I was like, oh, okay, like they just showed

18:50

when my girl fell off the jet ski when

18:53

I floated out to see you and they had to come get me, like they

18:55

did show none of that.

18:55

I was like, thank god, Oh my.

18:57

Goodness, wow yo.

18:58

Wait below questions though, like

19:01

how many people are actually on that ship because they only.

19:03

High like maybe like six of the cute crew

19:05

members, right.

19:07

And then I also wanted to ask you about that tip

19:09

at the end, because that's I was like, oh, we was praying

19:11

this all black women. Please, Well

19:13

now you okay. So it's

19:15

a lot of money, Yeah, it is a lot of money.

19:17

I mean the crew.

19:19

There's a lot bigger crew than what you see

19:22

on the show. They of course focus on the deck

19:24

hands. They also focus on the captain and

19:26

the interior crew, but there's like a whole there's like a

19:28

bunch of engineers, like you know, this is a

19:30

this is a mega yacht, so they have

19:32

to have like a really full staff, and so you

19:34

you definitely see them.

19:36

But all the drama that's going.

19:37

On with the crew, like I watched, having

19:39

watched the whole season, now I understand

19:42

some little things that I felt but you

19:44

don't necessarily see because

19:46

the old.

19:46

Girl is being rude to you, but you didn't know that she's just the

19:48

bitch.

19:49

Well, I knew she was just a bitch because I had watched the previous

19:52

seasons of Below Deck, so I knew how she got

19:54

down. But I understand the attitude

19:56

I got when we got there. It wasn't a figment of my imagination

19:59

because they had just had a big blow up

20:01

in the last charter and like things

20:04

were going left on that but of course

20:06

you know, they blew that up, and they made that kind of an

20:08

anchor of what the episode was about.

20:09

But it really wasn't that bad.

20:11

It's like, we said that to her, and

20:13

you know, she had her commentary, which I

20:15

didn't know until I saw the episode that she called

20:17

me all them names. Because I'm like, believe me when

20:19

I tell you. Had I known that, we might have had a different

20:22

conversation then. Oh

20:24

but we her and I were cool. I mean the day

20:27

that my episode aired on Bravo, her

20:29

and I were texting that day like we're still cool.

20:31

Like it's no beef whatsoever. I think it was

20:33

just like a misunderstanding that. Of course, not surprisingly

20:36

that Reality TV blew up the other

20:38

part about the tip. So one of the big moments

20:40

in the show is there's a tip

20:42

reveal at the end, and this is where.

20:44

You figure out like, all right, who really

20:46

got some money over here?

20:48

Oh here, we

20:50

got to understand it's like what it's like seven

20:52

people that got to be tipped out, right, like seven to eight

20:54

people? Yeah, so you mean leaving

20:57

money? Yes, like a tip. So this

20:59

you're getting the yacht. The way it works is you're

21:01

getting the yacht at a very discounted rate. Okay,

21:04

not like what it normally would cost to be on a

21:06

super yacht or mega yacht. So you're

21:08

getting the yacht at a discounted rate, and you know that

21:11

they fly you out there, they

21:13

put you up in a hotel the night before. In

21:15

our case, we wanted to spend some time in Thailand, so

21:17

me and my girls have been out there for a good four or

21:20

five days before we even got to the charter,

21:22

So we have been kicking in the Thailand from Thailand

21:24

for a little bit. So anyway, you

21:26

know, watching the show, what's considered a good tip

21:28

and what's considered just an okay tip, and what's

21:30

considered a great tip. Anything below

21:33

twenty grand is a shitty tip.

21:36

Anything below twenty Like if you're like, like

21:38

when you should see their faces when they get like fifteen

21:40

or sixteen or whatever. They're just like, what

21:42

that's it? Because they're going by what

21:45

is the cost of it? What is

21:47

the normal cost? What it is for this yot that you're getting

21:49

discounted already, So my

21:52

goal was like we going twenty and up,

21:54

you know, and then even the night before the show, what happens

21:57

is that there's a there's a base fifteen

21:59

thousand dollars.

21:59

Tip built in col tell

22:02

Us.

22:02

Truth, I'm fifteen thousand dollars built

22:04

in, so you know, if somebody just gives fifteen or

22:06

they give seventeen they really hated their

22:08

service, or the cheapest. Fuck, it's like one of the two,

22:11

right because like if they give you if the starting

22:13

point is fifteen and the producers hit you

22:15

the night before that, you're

22:18

leaving the charter and they say, would you like to leave

22:20

an additional tip?

22:21

Because they, you know, they bring the cash for you.

22:23

So it's not like people don't just magically

22:25

have like twenty grand and cash like

22:27

they you know, you've worked

22:29

out that arrangement beforehand, so I knew

22:32

minimum we were gonna leave

22:34

twenty grand, So that's what we left like we left twenty

22:37

because we did really like the service and

22:39

we thought we had a great time. And so as

22:41

you see from the episode, they were very happy about

22:43

our tip because they know what

22:46

the base point is. And then for us to be kicking

22:48

another five grand there it.

22:50

Is Wait can I ask?

22:51

So you're saying that the

22:54

whole premise of the show is

22:56

how not hospitable,

22:59

but how your tipping action

23:01

is?

23:01

That's the whole goal of the show.

23:03

The whole premise of the show is to get you and your

23:05

friends, your homies, whatever, on this yacht.

23:08

They y'all all the alcohol that you want,

23:10

all the food that you want, because it's a chef that because

23:13

before you even step foot on the yacht, you

23:15

are given what they call preference sheets,

23:17

so you fill out the person who's the

23:19

primary charter guests, the person who gets

23:21

to determine everything that

23:24

is done there. In this case, it was me. It's

23:26

like, okay, so let's say I hate

23:28

ribs or I want I

23:30

only want Chilean sea bass

23:32

for dinner, Like you put that on this sheet, so

23:34

they have all your preferences, what kind of snacks

23:36

you want, what kind of liquor you want, like everything

23:39

laid out.

23:40

The point is to combine people

23:42

who.

23:43

They think will be a little extra with

23:45

a crew that's trying to work hard to

23:47

get their tip, and then alcohol

23:50

and see what happens.

23:52

Yo.

23:52

I would have loved to been a fly in the room

23:54

when this pitch was being made.

23:56

Yes, but it's brilliant though. I mean, the show

23:59

is like super successful and

24:02

you.

24:02

Know what, Wait, Steve, are

24:04

you getting any flashbacks about this story?

24:07

She's telling me

24:09

and Steve are world fame like all

24:12

throughout.

24:13

Maybe two thousand and five to two thousand

24:15

and nine, the dynamics

24:17

between Steve and I. If you don't

24:19

know Jamillo, Steve has been my

24:22

recording engineer for the longest, for like

24:25

the di'angelo stuff, the common stuff,

24:27

the roots stuff, like, oh, he's been

24:29

my engineer. So we would go to restaurants

24:32

and usually, you know, I would pay the bill,

24:35

and I have a theory like I'm

24:37

one of those over compensatory nouveau

24:40

reache people that has to like overdo

24:43

the tipping because I

24:46

have this thing in my head about well, first

24:48

of all, like they have expectations

24:50

like they're not going to tip whatever.

24:51

I've heard that before.

24:52

But more than that, I just if

24:55

I like a restaurant, I don't want them tating with

24:57

my foods.

24:58

I make sure I leave a good tip.

25:00

So one time Steve insisted on leaving

25:03

a good tip, or leaving paying

25:05

the bill and leaving a tip, and I

25:08

let him do it, and then somewhere in the

25:10

car, I said, wait a minute, I left

25:12

my cell phone and snuck back in the restaurant

25:15

just to see what he left. And

25:18

I didn't like it, so I like put more

25:20

on top of it, and man Steve was

25:22

right behind me.

25:24

I knew you didn't trust what I left. That's why

25:26

I came back in there. Like literally, that's

25:28

been our whole dynamic.

25:31

Steve doesn't trust my

25:33

not trusting him tipping like

25:36

that is our whole dynamic.

25:37

That sounds like a loving friendship.

25:40

It does.

25:41

And you use your stripper club standard for tipping,

25:43

Okay, that's.

25:44

Just the strip what's the strip club standard?

25:46

Well, at this point, I mean in college it was twenty

25:48

so it got to be like twenty five to thirty percent at this point,

25:51

right, So if you tip in twenty five at

25:53

the strip club, you gotta do that.

25:56

There's different rules for cats like

25:58

me. You gotta.

26:02

Yes, I leave more than what the bill

26:04

is worth.

26:06

Yeah, I mean but some of it too though.

26:08

It's just that we know, especially like

26:10

this is this is black trauma.

26:12

This is what I call black trauma.

26:13

That's why, Yes, this is black trauma,

26:16

because not only are you famous, but like even

26:18

if you weren't famous, It's like, I

26:20

think a lot of us feel like we got to compensate

26:22

for the stereotype that we don't tip, and

26:25

so I.

26:25

Gotta I gotta tip, well

26:27

so that the black people to come after me, get

26:30

treated treated correct.

26:33

Which Yeah, like one

26:36

time we took James Poyser for

26:38

it's like thirtieth birthday to a club

26:42

and they did not come

26:44

to our table at all.

26:46

You went to want on white strimp?

26:50

What else is left? What am I going to go to the

26:52

left?

26:53

This is why you need to watch Pee Valley? Are you kidding

26:55

me?

26:55

What else is left besides the white?

27:01

There was no no Philadelphia. There

27:03

was no Vanity whatever

27:06

that.

27:06

Name that Philly.

27:10

And when I asked a girl

27:12

that worked there, I found out that

27:15

Allan Iverson basically ruined

27:18

tipping in Philadelphia for like

27:21

the entire city, like anywhere that he

27:23

frequents, he doesn't pay the bill, doesn't pay

27:25

his tab, all that stuff.

27:27

So they just assumed that everyone

27:30

is non professional.

27:32

Oh yeah, back in the day, a

27:34

out of paper time you had to go to Fridays.

27:36

Yeah, I was like, I heard Fridays it was a spot.

27:38

Yeah.

27:40

So wait, so I'm curious of the

27:43

of the panel here. What's the most money y'all?

27:45

Haven't ever tricked off in the strip club?

27:47

In the strip club money? I'm

27:50

really.

27:53

Probably whatever?

27:56

I mean, it gives me to spend I spend. And

28:00

by the way, I overtipped

28:03

when that situation he's talking about, I overtipped

28:05

because I knew his mentality

28:07

and I tipped more than I ever tipped percentage

28:09

wise on any break.

28:11

The over overtip.

28:14

Damn they ca come up that night.

28:16

Oh yeah, yeah, answer

28:20

the question what you were saying, like not

28:23

like what you saying, we

28:25

were talking about most ever spent. I think

28:27

for me, the thinking about it, like I

28:29

always treated strip clubs like a casino, So

28:33

I just go in with a set amount, and when that amount

28:35

is gone, I'm going so nicolots.

28:38

Yeah for me.

28:39

For me, it's probably like I think the most

28:41

like when I was with the Homies that we be on tour

28:43

and like I think, probably like two hundred

28:45

dollars.

28:46

Just what Like,

28:49

I'm not, I'm

28:51

not. I'm just I.

28:53

Ain't even making it missed.

28:56

Not ain't even Magic City numbers.

28:57

Man.

28:58

I didn't get a bitches, no promises. I

29:02

came here and enjoyed myself. I'm just killing

29:04

time before I had to go to the show. We used to go in.

29:08

Like in Detroit, in Detroit

29:10

downtown because we would play at Saint

29:12

Andy's and we would play at uh,

29:15

we would go to It was a spot.

29:16

Used to be down. I don't eve know if it's still there.

29:18

It was a Bazookies, yespkis

29:23

it was.

29:23

It was literally just a spot like

29:25

we go sound check, We go sound

29:27

check. Is in Greek Town.

29:29

We go sound check and then we're like, all right,

29:31

we got you know, two hours, two and a half hours.

29:33

We won't want to go back to the hotel and just see

29:35

if I go into the tail, I'm gon lay down and go to sleep, and this

29:38

is gonna be all bad, So fuck it, Let's

29:40

just.

29:40

Go to Bazuki. So me and the boys just go to Bazooki's

29:42

and you know that's

29:47

the name of the club, and two

29:50

hundred dollars later getting to the

29:52

show.

29:52

All right, daddy.

29:56

With me?

30:00

All right? So if

30:03

I go to a mainstream

30:07

jawn and mainstream

30:10

jowin.

30:10

Is like a gentleman's club, I mean,

30:13

you know, like if we're in Vegas or something and it's

30:15

like that they

30:19

replace Yeah, yo, wait, I tell

30:21

you about Spearmint Rhino Dog.

30:24

Their their crab fries are

30:27

the best thing on I

30:30

know it's the wrong thing to say about strip club.

30:33

No.

30:35

Well, one night after show.

30:38

We made a stop the Spirit Rhino.

30:40

They was, you know, like in whatever

30:43

the Players club where it was like, oh, the tour bus

30:45

is pulling up, the green light comes on, there's

30:47

money time.

30:48

No no, no, no, no, no, no no.

30:49

We just want to order about

30:52

twenty crab

30:54

fries. And they looked at us like, huh,

30:58

yes, I only went there for the craft

31:00

fries. If it's a mainstream

31:02

John, probably I'll

31:04

stop it five.

31:05

Five, geez, I'll stop it five.

31:09

However, okay, back

31:12

in two thousand and four, you

31:14

better remember I went

31:17

to cause the thing is is that

31:19

you haven't lived until you experienced

31:23

a prime Atlanta strip club.

31:26

I agree, now right now, more

31:28

bang for the bang for my buck is

31:30

a spot called Follies.

31:32

Oh yeah, everybody said they they have the best

31:34

wings in Atlanta.

31:35

Yeah, it's it's Follies is off

31:38

the chain. There was a spot that I went

31:40

to with Chris Robinson in

31:43

like two thousand and four.

31:46

This is the first time I'm

31:48

being introduced to the concept of make it rain.

31:53

And Table number one

31:56

is well known, well loved basketball

31:58

player. Table number or two is

32:01

upstart Atlanta

32:04

rapper. That's kind of a household

32:07

name now and then table number three

32:09

was some other sports

32:12

figure that I think is a box or whatever,

32:14

and to watch to

32:18

watch them and to watch Chris give

32:20

commentary on the

32:22

art of making it rain, Like I didn't realize

32:25

that the whole point of going to a strip club in

32:27

Atlanta is too And

32:29

this is a spot that had a bank inside

32:32

of the club. I

32:34

didn't know that you can have a bank inside

32:36

of a club. So to watch these

32:39

people wheel out money barrels,

32:41

like money whatever,

32:45

like they.

32:46

Get college book and for it tonight, yes,

32:50

yo.

32:51

And I realized that the

32:53

whole purpose of going to strip club isn't

32:55

even to get a lap

32:57

dance or any of those things.

32:59

Like the women were non factor.

33:01

It's about how long can

33:03

you take this water cash and make it stay

33:05

in the air. And there's a

33:08

accounting clock. There's

33:10

there's a clock to the last dollar drops,

33:13

and there's like people are trying to break the record.

33:16

I think Big Boy has

33:18

the record. I think he made like one

33:20

particular bill stay in the air

33:22

for seventeen seconds, so people are

33:24

trying to break that record.

33:26

I will watch this event in the Olympics.

33:28

I just want to Yeah, we get I

33:30

think we can replace curling with this

33:32

right here. Oh dude, curling can

33:34

get the fuck what was.

33:36

What was even crazier was that sixty

33:39

dollars fell in the

33:41

crest of my afro my afro.

33:43

Pick in the crest.

33:46

Wow, the crest, well, you know, I kept the

33:48

back I kept my afro pick in the back of

33:50

my head.

33:51

So the dollars rolled down and

33:54

just like in a nook and cranny, like sat

33:57

inside there.

33:58

I swear to you, I was about

34:00

to remove it so I could put it on the floor. I wasn't

34:02

going to steal it. Yo.

34:04

They was on me like no, and

34:07

they'll say, we'll take that, And they just took

34:09

the money out of my afro.

34:11

The strippers did. The strippers did.

34:13

No, you're

34:16

not.

34:16

Allowed to touch none of that money, like

34:19

you know, slippery, you know slippery a

34:21

cheesecake factory floor is.

34:23

I can't buy it right now because you know what

34:25

I'm telling the truth factory

34:28

and yes I have.

34:30

I don't know. We had carpet at the

34:32

Gold Club.

34:33

I'm sorry, No, I'm saying that that's

34:35

how slippery the floor was because there was

34:38

nothing but money on the floor.

34:40

Oh, I didn't get it.

34:41

So the next time I went, I was

34:43

like, well, I better represent So the

34:45

most I ever tricked was

34:48

I was feeling myself that night.

34:49

I brought ten there, but I was also

34:51

with like I I was with fifteen

34:54

people.

34:55

Oh okay, you got to balances out.

34:57

Yeah, no, I mean it's like for me,

34:59

me and my homegirls, we look at the strip club

35:01

as liberation. So when we go, you

35:04

know, because one the strip club has become

35:06

a really good place for women to go because we know

35:08

there are other obviously very naked women

35:10

in there, We're unlikely to be bothered.

35:12

We can hear good music, and we can get good food.

35:15

So it checks the Bengo cars

35:17

if you really want just a night out of which your girls

35:19

are just unadulterated, pure ignorant ass

35:21

fun. And we wind up almost always

35:24

befriending all the strippers like we

35:27

have the hottest booth, Like if you go there with a woman

35:29

trusts me or women like,

35:35

we will have the hottest booth. So I've

35:37

had some times in the strip club that what ruined

35:40

me is one of the first times I really

35:42

went to the strip club. I went with a

35:45

professional athlete some of his friends,

35:48

and they one of them handed me a stack

35:50

of tens to make it rain, and they

35:52

showed me how to make it rain, and I was like, why

35:54

did y'all ever teach me how to do this?

35:57

It's so fun, Yes,

35:59

it's it's so liberating.

36:01

I was like, I could just put this dollar the crack of the ass

36:04

as let you pay more places than he'll

36:07

like.

36:08

I had to be like, hey, oh right

36:10

there, yes, no, they will get aggressive

36:13

with other women, So I I want

36:15

to say I probably I

36:18

probably have done maybe about

36:20

three I think, you know, and

36:24

yeah, maybe a respectable three. But one

36:27

of one of my girls as a bachelor rep uh

36:29

uh party actually no, as a birthday

36:31

present was before I was even a gage, she got me a stripper

36:33

gun, which, oh my god, you

36:36

take a stripper gun into the strip club?

36:38

How much money does that fit?

36:41

I think this would fit like three hundred

36:43

bucks, and like you just keep loading the g that

36:50

you want to load it up multiple times, just real

36:53

quick. The best of the best strip

36:55

club I've probably ever been to. As a spot

36:57

in Vegas, it's called it was then

37:00

called the Palomino. We used to call it

37:02

just the Mino. That one of my girls took me to that who

37:04

lived in Vegas, but this was a place

37:07

where men dance for women, and

37:10

what I had.

37:10

This was I was just about to ask you that what is

37:12

the draw of the male strip club for women?

37:15

Yeah?

37:15

Well, I mean but this one was off the hood,

37:18

so I wouldn't even twist my face up. Okay, I

37:20

tell you. This one was off long

37:23

socks on the on the danga lang long size.

37:25

No, no, it wasn't socks.

37:28

I mean, yeah, but I have

37:30

never seen this ever in life at the strip club.

37:32

This dude put his man

37:35

part in a hot dog bun and crumpled

37:37

some chips over it, and I'd like, it was

37:39

both the blackest thing I've ever

37:41

seen and also the craziest

37:44

thing I've ever seen in the strip put

37:46

it in there. And I also realized

37:48

that that's when one of those moments when I realized

37:51

I was a little bit famous, because they shouted

37:53

by name out. The DJ did and this

37:55

is back when I was at ESPN, and I was like, and

37:57

next, like all the dudes I I

38:00

got, I had to turn away lap dances. I was

38:02

like, okay, so new rule, Like, they can't

38:04

really know I'm here because this is right, this

38:06

would be a whole thing and you know with women

38:08

when we get a lab dance with generally you

38:11

know what they do, like they're obviously dyrating in front

38:13

of you, but they also have little tricks of like

38:15

where they're trying to if you're wearing a belt

38:17

or something, they're trying to unbuckle the belt with their teeth,

38:19

or they pulled down their zipper, your zipper with your teeth,

38:22

like this is the whole.

38:23

They're trying to flip you up and flip you. So

38:25

that's another thing that I saw. I saw

38:27

this dude.

38:28

He sat this girl on his face and then

38:30

he flipped her around and never lost her

38:33

position and on the face.

38:34

And I was just like, I've just closing

38:36

my eyes so I can imagine hold on, John she was.

38:38

She was on his face, and then he flipped

38:40

her like he somersaulted her and they

38:42

popped right back up in the same position. And I was like,

38:44

I don't know how he did that without breaking her neck, but

38:47

somehow, somehow it happened.

38:49

I don't know. I got lost for a second.

38:53

But it's all about the fantasy. And certainly I've

38:55

had Onyx in Atlanta, Magic

38:57

City. You also, you know to that

38:59

to questions point about, like, when you're at a strip

39:02

club and other famous people are there,

39:04

you cannot get caught up trying to throw money with them.

39:07

Don't do that.

39:08

Yeah, don't even do it. Don't mean it's

39:10

a competition.

39:11

It well, it's just that you just are trying

39:13

to sort of like, yeah, I can be fun at the strip

39:16

club. Because the last time I went to Magic City, Ti

39:18

I was.

39:18

There at oh

39:21

Names, he was one of the rappers. Okay, now.

39:26

Shout out like he's all right.

39:28

So he and out on the stage at Magic City and he

39:30

throwing money and I'm like, my stack running

39:32

low, and he just seems to keep growing larger,

39:34

and I was like, I tell you, it's not gonna happen.

39:36

This whole four on one g gonna wind up on this.

39:37

Dam Wait

39:41

a minute. It just sent me. I'm

39:43

old enough to remember a time when

39:47

women really weren't.

39:49

Allowed in the

39:51

strip club unless they

39:53

were with me a guy, because

39:57

of And it's weird now

39:59

because.

40:00

That wasn't that long ago.

40:01

I mean, well, the early two oughts, no, I'm sorry, the early odds,

40:03

like two thousands, right, But now.

40:05

It's like the only people

40:07

I know that still frequent

40:09

strip clubs are women more,

40:13

you know, I mean the last five times I

40:15

went, it was with more women than

40:17

there were dudes.

40:20

Because they realized that this is I

40:22

mean, to be honest, at

40:24

least from what I've seen, when it's been a situation

40:26

when there's you know, men and women sort

40:29

of equal in a strip club, the women spend

40:31

a lot more money like the women like

40:33

the guys. Or I say this, the women spend more money

40:35

and you have to do less because you

40:37

know, a guy spend ten dollars and he just.

40:40

Like he wanted her to put her leg behind her

40:42

ear, like you want to do all kind.

40:43

Of stuff for like ten dollars, whereas

40:45

women go there sometimes to just celebrate

40:48

and appreciate other women, and so

40:50

you don't even have to do all that, and you

40:52

can wind up, you know, making

40:55

a men I don't necessarily need. I've gotten

40:58

lap dances from women, like I got one

41:00

at ONYX one time.

41:01

I was like, oh, I'm about to fall in love with a librarian.

41:03

This islie, she's a phillis

41:07

No no Atlanta ONX Atlanta Atlanta

41:09

Onyx. Yeah, so uh but no,

41:12

I mean what happened was that that they

41:14

saw an expanding clientele base.

41:16

As I said the same, the strip club is

41:19

like the safest place for a woman because you you

41:21

a lot of the drama that you deal with in the club,

41:23

you really don't have to worry about and take

41:26

a place like in Miami, what's

41:29

the what's the big sture? King of Diamonds, Right,

41:32

King of Diamonds is a warehouse, like that

41:34

place is huge. It's basically a club, you

41:36

know, and there are

41:39

often more women in there than men.

41:42

But we in there and we spending money.

41:44

Is it worth going there? I've been discouraged.

41:46

I've asked a few

41:48

Miami friends like, Yo, let's go to King

41:51

and they're like, nah, you.

41:51

And Mike, No, it's not.

41:53

It's not the spot like it used to be anymore.

41:55

I think eleven is where a lot of people go. I think that's

41:57

the twenty four hour strip club. I believe

41:59

it's a let.

42:00

Yeah.

42:00

So do you want to come out on a strip club in a daytime?

42:02

Oh my god?

42:04

Or do you Well, that's

42:07

the worst feeling. Like once when

42:10

I left the Vegas One it was like seven

42:12

in the morning. Yeah, that

42:14

was the worst walking shame ever.

42:16

Man club club?

42:17

Okay, because that's when you feel a like, what decisions

42:19

have I made to lead me to this point right.

42:21

Now where I'm coming out the strip club at seven?

42:23

Al Yo, it's just hitting me that,

42:25

yes, we're forty five minutes into

42:28

this podcast and I haven't asked you one

42:30

question.

42:31

Yeah, I could have a

42:33

whole podcast dedicated the script clubs, brother, because

42:35

you want to get all up in this, mister Malhill.

42:37

That's right, okay, all right, well a free to ask

42:40

me a question.

42:41

I know it's it's just sometimes

42:44

we just have an episode where we just go rogue

42:46

and just ask questions.

42:47

Anyway, what was what were

42:50

your what was your early childhood like in Detroit?

42:52

You were born in Detroit? I assume correct.

42:54

I was born in Detroit. As

42:56

I like to say, I'm from the real hood, not the rap

42:58

hood. And you're from the east

43:01

side or I'm a West Sider. I'm

43:03

a little bit more refined than the east Side.

43:05

Thank you, any any

43:08

Detroiter that's ever been on the show. I

43:11

was told to take him the task because I

43:13

heard that the east side

43:15

of Detroit is the real hood side

43:18

of Detroit and the west side

43:20

is.

43:20

Why, to be honest, both

43:22

sides. They we both

43:25

can win the contest. I mean to be honest, because it's

43:27

many parts on the West Side that look

43:30

as bad, if not worse. But

43:33

we but it's just a running joke in the city because

43:35

East Side is like they just think they so hard, like all

43:37

of them, all of them think they DMX from belly

43:39

and it's like, come on, relax, like let's

43:41

let's you know, let's be real. But

43:44

no, I mean, I I grew up you know, Detroit

43:46

is a is another chocolate city, So you

43:50

know, grew up in uh, you know, a black neighborhood,

43:52

raised by a single mother, single

43:55

mother who also to some

43:57

degree was co parenting with my grandmother.

43:59

So those were who really big influences, you

44:01

know, on my life.

44:03

And you know we're talking about you

44:05

know, I was born in seventy five, so coming of age

44:07

at least from a music standpoint, you

44:09

know, being right there at the CUSPA when

44:11

hip hop got going, and also you

44:14

know, coming to age I think as a music fan

44:16

in the mid eighties to late

44:19

eighties and in high school. You know, I was

44:22

thinking about this because my husband is

44:24

actually five years younger than me, and so we were just talking about

44:26

music, what was hot during our respective high school

44:28

times. And you know, like my senior

44:30

year, like the Chronic dropped, and then my

44:32

freshman year of college it was Doggy

44:35

Style, so yeah, its like and

44:37

also my senior year it was like the

44:40

Chronic drop, Shades, Love Deluxe dropped,

44:43

Jodas Divery.

44:44

Mad Band dropped.

44:45

It was like, you know, a really really good

44:47

a good time in music like those early nineties

44:50

and hell, the first roots album

44:52

I was I was actually working as a music

44:54

reviewer. I was interned, and I

44:56

was a view of music. The very first CD that

44:59

landed on my desk do you want more? So

45:02

yeah, that was the very first one A landed there. And so that's

45:05

when I started rocking with y'all because

45:07

because question knows this, like if I, if

45:09

I just had a little bit more money, if I just hit

45:11

that power ball, I swear to god, I would tour

45:14

with the Roots. I would just be like, you know what,

45:18

A thousand times I would do this. Any thinks I'll

45:20

play it. I'm like, you don't understand.

45:21

I'm just waiting. I'm just waiting to get that last number on that

45:23

power ball quest And so.

45:26

All right, so slight confession.

45:29

I first had my first real conversation

45:31

with Jamil at the NBA

45:33

All Star Game.

45:38

New Orleans.

45:39

Yes, the one that you surprise,

45:42

Yeah.

45:43

Right, And the thing was, i'man again

45:45

full being totally

45:48

transparent here. I'm not a

45:50

sports guy, I'm the I'm the

45:53

ESPN so on the gym, get

45:55

all my information on Sports Center the first

45:57

go round, and then hanging

46:00

the circle at work like yeah, that

46:02

was a great pitch.

46:02

But then like someone like Steve will call me out like,

46:05

no, man, this is football we're talking about anyway.

46:08

So my point was that my

46:11

manager, my bandmates,

46:13

when when you and Mike walked in in

46:16

the room when we were rehearsing, they

46:19

was going ape shit like.

46:20

Yo, oh my god, we gotta

46:22

talk to him, we gotta talk to him. And I was

46:24

like, what are you talking about. He's like, Yo, man,

46:26

it's gonna be such a good look. We gotta do it. And

46:29

the one I will, I will

46:31

go on.

46:31

Any platform and any medium and

46:34

talk my asshole for nine hours except

46:37

for any what

46:40

the amount of no's that I've given local

46:43

Philadelphia affiliator talk sports,

46:46

Yo, can we get crost love on it?

46:47

Like one time the Eagles wanted me to like sit

46:50

in the booth, like and do

46:52

a game. I

46:54

was like, Nah, no, I'm

46:57

not. I'm not being the laughing stock of nobody

46:59

in the embarrassed them.

47:01

So I was trying to duck and dodge

47:04

y'all the whole time, because nothing is

47:07

more kryptonite than me than

47:10

having to weigh in on any opinion

47:12

of sports when I'm not emotionally invested.

47:15

Look at Steve laughing right now, I'm

47:19

guessing with.

47:19

Mike and Jamal, I don't even want to talk to you about we didn't

47:21

we like we You know.

47:24

The thing is, though, when we run into what Quest

47:27

said, very often what we did ESPN

47:29

is that there were people that we just like fuck with because

47:31

we respected their talents.

47:33

We have been rocking with them a long time.

47:34

The roots were number one, and so

47:37

because of that, we we

47:39

often would get turned down by people like, yeah, but

47:41

I don't really know about sports, Like, trust me,

47:44

we don't want to hear your sports opinions at all, but

47:46

we want to hear you all day. Yeah,

47:49

we do, Like, we want to talk about what you're an

47:51

expert in and why people love you. And

47:53

on top of that, you know, no

47:56

disrespect to you know, entertainers

47:58

and other celebrities. Most of their sports

48:00

opinions is trash anyway, Like we can tell y'all,

48:03

well, tell y'all cashual fans, like we

48:05

know, we tell you

48:08

know that's fucked up because you can't say that about

48:10

you can't vice versa that because music is

48:12

something that you know, you grew up on, you, you study

48:15

on your own. So it's just it's interesting,

48:17

but it's it's subjective though, Like I mean,

48:19

I yield to the trained years because this is what y'all

48:21

been doing your whole lives and you regardless

48:24

of whatever is my musical know

48:26

how, I can never know as much as you all ever, so

48:29

you have to come into it with that automatic respect.

48:32

But like we anytime we ever asked

48:34

for y'all, like we never wanted to talk about sports.

48:37

If anything, we'd have been annoying and been like so in

48:40

nineteen ninety eight at that concept, what.

48:42

Do you do?

48:42

Like No, but that's the thing,

48:45

like y'all made me feel so comfortable, Like I was so

48:47

panic stricken that oh my god,

48:49

they're going to ask me about the sixers and then I'll

48:51

be like, uh, yeah, I

48:53

like Maurice's cheeks.

48:55

No, we don't care about what you think about and

48:59

you know, I want to be that guy.

49:01

So no, no, it was it was all

49:03

good. But it was the same with It

49:05

was the same with Ticolo.

49:06

It's like I told him that when we first met,

49:08

I was like, I could give a shit less

49:10

abunch of sports opinions, like I'm here because

49:13

I.

49:15

I don't watch none, I have no

49:17

I don't care.

49:19

Wait, well, this leads me back to my

49:21

next question, because I feel like, now, despite

49:26

despite the trials

49:29

and tribulations, the ups and downs

49:31

of your lane, it sort of

49:33

forced you in a position where you have transcended

49:36

sports. Whereas I would have strictly thought

49:39

of you as, oh, espn

49:41

anchor, you know, Jamel Hill.

49:43

Now I mean you're just I

49:46

mean, you're damn near.

49:50

Culture critic, your world

49:52

leader as far as I'm concerned, and that's like

49:55

one of the many feathers in your

49:57

cap. But like people now look to you

50:00

for some sort of some

50:03

intelligent civil discourse about

50:06

just what's going on in the world. Which

50:09

actually, I'll say that probably

50:12

the question I've been asking the most of

50:15

guests on the show in the last year is

50:18

how exhausting is it now

50:20

that you know, like,

50:22

do you want it to be a place where whatever

50:24

your version of shut up and dribble is, Like if

50:27

you just want to talk about this

50:29

college team and this particular you know,

50:33

player and that sort of thing, Whereas now

50:35

you you have to represent everything,

50:38

You have to be everything where we.

50:40

Are right now, particularly with sports, where

50:42

you have athletes who are who

50:44

have who are growing into their own sense

50:47

of power and voice, which

50:49

is where they always should have been, but at

50:53

various decades and periods they are discouraged

50:55

from doing this. And it got

50:57

to a point and I think Colein Kaepernick

51:00

was really the one who kind of opened this door

51:02

for this generation, if you will, a

51:05

combination of him speaking out and of course Lebron

51:07

James. Anytime you have somebody

51:11

of Lebron's stature, who is arguably

51:13

the best athlete in the world, speaking

51:16

out about racial and social injustice,

51:18

it gives everyone else, all the

51:20

other black athletes, permission to do the same

51:23

that they see like, Okay, if this guy has,

51:25

you know, all these financial deals,

51:28

if he's this beloved and he's still

51:30

speaking out, then what excuse do I have? So

51:33

between him and Colin as being the leaders

51:35

of this generation of athletes, and

51:37

now with the moment that we're in in this country, that

51:40

this idea hits the show title

51:42

for the show We Me and Carry Champion

51:45

have coming out on Vice on August

51:47

nineteenth.

51:48

This whole idea stick to sports is dead.

51:51

It should have never been a conversation to begin with, because

51:53

you know, you look back on history and sports

51:56

has often been ahead

51:58

of society and a lot of issues. I mean, Jackie Robinson

52:00

integrated Major League Baseball in nineteen forty seven.

52:03

I mean, the Civil rights passed

52:05

in the mid sixties that desegregated America.

52:07

So you are looking at a

52:10

lot of moments like that in sports, where because

52:12

sports is one of the few things that we still

52:15

do together.

52:16

I mean, we don't worship together, we

52:18

eat with the same people.

52:19

You know, America is still very much a segregated

52:22

society except when it comes to sports,

52:24

which is why they have this unique pathway

52:27

and opportunity to get people to

52:29

listen to broader issues.

52:30

So no, I'm glad

52:33

that these.

52:33

Conversations are taking place

52:35

because, frankly, what's harder is

52:38

when I was on Sports Center and the

52:41

country was continuing to fall apart, and

52:43

especially post twenty sixteen. You know how

52:46

hard it was some days to be anchoring Sports

52:48

Center and the world is on fire, like on a day

52:50

like what happened with Philando Castile

52:52

to anchors, you know, I mean we were on his and hers

52:54

there to do the show that day, so we just incorporated

52:57

it in the show.

52:58

You know, it's hard to pretend that.

53:01

You give a fuck about whether or not the Patriots

53:03

when the AFC East when you have black

53:05

bodies industry, So it's

53:07

really the opposite where I'm glad

53:09

that in sports I can be

53:12

this full black person and talk about you

53:14

know, the games and stuff that I love in cohesion.

53:18

That's something that you just said, be this full

53:20

black person. I just need everybody to take a moment, because

53:22

usually we are not allowed to be a full black person

53:25

out loud. Correct, I'm just saying, yeah, No,

53:27

I mean it's hard, Like I mean, really, it's

53:31

so few of us that get in any

53:33

situation where we can be our full black selves

53:35

at.

53:35

One and so can

53:38

I ask the first time

53:40

that you were whatever the proverbial being

53:42

called in the principal's office, how

53:45

dark is that moment where you're

53:48

you know, obviously trying to climb

53:51

up a ladder of

53:54

a career.

53:56

And.

53:57

You know there's that moment where you

54:00

might stop the stop the bag, or you

54:02

know you could get black ball.

54:03

Like in the beginning, I think now you're pretty much tept

54:06

line.

54:09

I'm still black dog Exactually.

54:13

No, I mean I think I think

54:16

you will be clapped at at least three times

54:18

a year. However, I

54:21

also think that you're you're in

54:23

the teptlne zone. Now, okay, I can get

54:26

it at the beginning, like when

54:28

was the first time that you rock

54:31

that boat and what was the feeling of

54:34

like did your mom call you, like girl, what did you do that

54:37

for?

54:37

Or whatever?

54:39

Well, I mean the first the first time I got into trouble,

54:41

and it was trouble that was totally self

54:43

inflicted. It was some dumb shit that I did. Was

54:46

this was in two thousand and eight and I was

54:48

at ESPN. Uh you know, I

54:51

came to ESPN not as on air

54:53

talent. I came there as a writer. So I was writing

54:55

for ESPN dot com covering sports, and

54:58

I was covering the Lakers Celtics NBA

55:00

Finals, and I was just writing

55:02

a column, an off day column because the game was

55:04

like the next day so this is something that just was being

55:07

posted in between and when

55:09

I grew up, you know, in Detroit, we're

55:12

talking about the height of the bad Boys. When

55:14

I was coming that age as a sports

55:16

fan, right, so I

55:18

hated the Boston Celtics. Hated

55:24

you hate them, right, so because they stood in

55:26

our way. You know, when Birds

55:28

sold the ball. I think that was in the eighty

55:30

eight Conference finals. Man, I thought, I thought

55:32

my life was destroyed, and the Pistols wound

55:34

up losing that series.

55:35

I couldn't stand the Mopuckers. I hated

55:38

the Celtics.

55:39

So once Rondo and KG

55:41

and Ray Allen and Paul Pierce were

55:43

doing their thing as they were in two thousand and eight,

55:46

when I wrote this column, you saw a difference

55:48

in how the Celtics were perceived because

55:51

they was a black ass team, right, and so black

55:54

people were rocking with the Celtics, which

55:57

was abhorrent for me to see in many respects

55:59

because in a way I grew up right, you

56:02

know, and you understand if you're a black Bostonian,

56:05

of course, but like outside of Boston people

56:08

black people really fucking with this team, especially

56:10

black people in Detroit, which I was like, okay,

56:12

I take some vomit in my mouth, Like what are we doing?

56:14

So I wrote this column about like how

56:17

even though.

56:18

These guys are good guys and are great basketball players,

56:20

like it was just a funny column about

56:22

how we all the reasons we can never be Celtics

56:24

fans. One of the things I said in the column

56:27

was that if rooting for Celtics is

56:29

like saying Hitler is a victim, right,

56:31

oh yeah right, so yeah,

56:34

that didn't go over to well.

56:36

It was just so dumb.

56:37

What was that?

56:38

Like, Like, what's the intricacies of that ass

56:40

whoop? So, I mean, look it was it

56:42

was though that doesn't matter.

56:45

She's culture when it comes to.

56:48

It was fire and brimstone.

56:50

It's like the column was only up for a couple

56:52

of hours. And when I tell

56:54

you, and to this day, a lot of Boston

56:57

people and fans do not fuck

56:59

with me because of this. In eight and

57:02

so they they they took the line

57:04

out the column, but it had already been up for an hour.

57:06

A few hours. It went viral back

57:09

as much as you could go viral.

57:10

Then everybody's reporting

57:12

on this, and even at the Celtics games,

57:15

people were because it was a Celtics home game,

57:17

like that next night, they were holding up picking signs,

57:19

basically saying I wasn't shit. A

57:22

Boston radio station got a hold of my home

57:24

number and live I tell you

57:26

that the calling was non

57:28

stops. I mean, I've been cussed out. I didn't I had

57:31

this. I didn't answer the I

57:34

stopped after like the first two first

57:37

two calls. And luckily it was my business line. So it's

57:39

like in my house, I had my own office. I had a business

57:41

line in there, and that was the one that kept calling.

57:44

And so they called me everything but a child of

57:46

God and then some and at work, I thought I was

57:48

gonna get get fired over that.

57:50

You know, I got suspended for a week with pay.

57:53

And when you get sent to the penalty

57:55

box, you know that that's something on your record.

57:57

So if anything happens next, then

58:00

you might be going to that.

58:01

Yeah.

58:02

Correct, they're gonna go back to that incident and say, oh, but

58:04

you got a track record, here's what it is.

58:06

And so I was thankful that that

58:09

happened in two thousand and eight versus say twenty

58:11

and seventeen, which prings me to My more

58:13

recent suspension was over the Donald

58:15

Trump controversy.

58:17

And you know that one it was.

58:18

It was a lot different, mostly because

58:21

I felt like I was on the right side of history. You

58:23

obviously, all he does is you has proved

58:26

me right ever since. And I appreciate y'all saying

58:28

that. And that was one of those

58:30

times. And I feel like we get this opportunity

58:33

maybe a couple times in our career or

58:35

just in our lives period where had

58:37

I lost my job, I'd have been okay. And I don't mean

58:39

like I don't mean to belittle

58:41

or diminish all the things and the

58:44

sweat equity, equity I had put into being

58:46

at ESPN. I've been there at that point twelve years.

58:49

It's just that some things you

58:52

have to be able to live with yourself. And I wasn't

58:54

going to apologize to the president, which they knew

58:56

off rip. The only thing

58:58

I felt sort of bad for it because you know, Mike and

59:00

I are trying to anchor Sports Center at that time, is

59:03

even though he supported me a thousand percent,

59:05

you know, I put him in a very bad position

59:08

just from the standpoint of I get suspended.

59:10

He's got to man this ship while I'm gone, and

59:13

you know he doesn't want to be there and suddenly look

59:16

like he doesn't support me.

59:17

So it just right, which he did

59:19

wholeheartedly.

59:20

I mean, because you

59:22

know, for a few days after into my suspension,

59:24

he didn't anchor the show because he just refused, And if it would

59:26

have been up to him, he would have just been completely

59:29

off the whole time that I was suspended. So

59:32

it was just all these things that were happening, and you

59:34

know, being called out by the White House and all that, and I

59:37

could give lesson the fuck about the Trump supporters, but

59:39

they allowed vocal, ignorant, nass

59:41

group a lot of them. And so then

59:44

it's a level of worrying

59:46

about my personal safety, which I never have

59:48

really had to worry about before. But after that

59:51

incident, you know, it really

59:53

put a whole ass grenade in my

59:55

life.

59:55

I mean it did.

59:57

But that's not to say that the shrap dough was

59:59

all bad, but it is

1:00:01

to say that it did blow it up for the moment.

1:00:03

So when you said that about the spaces

1:00:05

that I'm known in now, that incident,

1:00:08

good or bad, is what allowed me to transcend,

1:00:11

or at least to be considered

1:00:14

in some other circles, because suddenly, you

1:00:16

know, they put me in a political bucket

1:00:18

and you were highly supported. I

1:00:20

was watching the support during that time, and the community

1:00:23

had Joe back.

1:00:25

Yeah, I mean they did, like black people.

1:00:27

A big reason why I wasn't fired

1:00:29

at that point, I think, I know it was

1:00:31

because the high

1:00:34

level of support that I had in the community, and

1:00:36

not just from people at

1:00:38

the grassroots level, but you know, you

1:00:40

know, Colin Kaepernick was I think the first

1:00:43

person who tweeted, the first celebrity

1:00:45

or that ILK who tweeted his support

1:00:47

of me.

1:00:47

And then you had d Wade and Daryl.

1:00:50

Yeah, everybody was watching, and so they really

1:00:53

wrapped their arms around me and ESPN

1:00:55

seeing that Lebron James as well,

1:00:57

seeing that, they said, okay, you

1:01:00

know, after they didn't suspend me immediately after

1:01:02

the Trump comments because of that, because they knew

1:01:04

they were gonna have a bigger problem on their hand because

1:01:06

y'all was riding for me. So so

1:01:09

yeah, I mean, I say all that to say is that

1:01:12

when you go through those moments,

1:01:15

and I tell younger people this too, especially as they're

1:01:17

starting their career, regardless if you had ESPN

1:01:19

or if you had a station in a small

1:01:22

town, regardless of the career,

1:01:24

even as well.

1:01:25

You gotta know who you are before you go in the door.

1:01:28

And if you don't know who you are

1:01:30

before you go in there, that will

1:01:32

get you into more trouble than anything else.

1:01:34

If you know who you are, you know what you won't accept,

1:01:37

and you know what your boundary is.

1:01:38

There's a lot of thousand things a lot

1:01:41

of us will let slide as we try to make our

1:01:43

way in whatever profession that we're in. They

1:01:45

gonna come two or three moments where you're gonna

1:01:47

have to be You're just gonna have to be like, I ain't the one.

1:01:50

You know, I was gonna ask you about that.

1:01:51

I was like, cause you make it sound real easy, but we know that's like

1:01:53

a maturation process. Oh totally,

1:01:56

it's not like and sometimes it's

1:01:58

trial and error. Sometimes you look at way where

1:02:00

you didn't speak up and you have to live with

1:02:02

that, and but it teaches you the

1:02:04

next time that pops up, like you know what I

1:02:07

didn't before, But see now now

1:02:09

y'all got the wrong one, And.

1:02:10

So society didn flip me.

1:02:13

I used to talk real loud a lot, and then I just got to quiet

1:02:15

it down because so many people told me to shut the fuck up.

1:02:19

So now it's like it is it okay

1:02:21

now? Always

1:02:24

too much for somebody.

1:02:25

That's the thing is that that's the constant black

1:02:27

existence is that we could

1:02:29

do nothing and be too much for people.

1:02:31

Our existence is too much for people.

1:02:35

Existent.

1:02:35

Yeah, so that's why we can the

1:02:37

only people are the only thing that

1:02:40

we can do is really be ourselves.

1:02:42

But you're right, it takes years, and it

1:02:44

takes growth and leverage the

1:02:46

other thing too that certainly, I mean, let's

1:02:48

just be real. It's like at that point in my time, in

1:02:51

my in my career at ESPN,

1:02:53

I have been able to make some bags, you know, and

1:02:57

I knew that if we had

1:02:59

to come to a decision where I

1:03:01

wasn't gonna be there anymore, that that wasn't

1:03:04

gonna come without a check. So it's like,

1:03:06

you know, and I felt like

1:03:08

I was gonna be insulated financially

1:03:11

regardless, and even if I wasn't

1:03:14

as far as ESPN, even if I didn't walk away

1:03:16

with h with a check, that it

1:03:19

was uh, you know, there would be interest

1:03:21

in me to where I could make more money. So

1:03:23

it wasn't a situation where I thought that there

1:03:26

was gonna be I mean, I'm sure, there was gonna be some networks

1:03:28

that wouldn't have messed with me, don't get me wrong,

1:03:30

But I would have been able to make a living.

1:03:32

Right, So and ABJ was still like she the ship.

1:03:35

Yeah, yeah, I mean it was it was still

1:03:37

all right and all I But what it

1:03:40

did teach me, though, is something that we

1:03:44

learned, you know, at various points,

1:03:46

or sometimes it take us a long time to learn, is

1:03:48

that any relationship

1:03:50

you have with an employer is conditional. It's

1:03:52

a completely conditional relationship and you

1:03:55

need to you need to treat it as such.

1:03:57

And HR is not your fucking friend,

1:04:00

not your.

1:04:00

Friend ever at all.

1:04:02

Ever, this is a conditional relationship,

1:04:04

which is we should give you and empower you

1:04:06

more to be true to yourself. And you

1:04:09

know, despite all the relationships

1:04:11

I built at ESPN, despite all the

1:04:14

time I've been there and felt

1:04:16

like, you know, I did my job quite

1:04:18

capably, if not better than that, the

1:04:21

truth is is that when the president came after

1:04:23

me, they didn't say shit.

1:04:25

And that was a very important lesson for me

1:04:27

to learn about.

1:04:29

You know, they didn't.

1:04:31

I mean, It's one thing I mean, and it's it's a cold

1:04:33

thing too, because in journalism.

1:04:35

You know, I mean you check that a black concept.

1:04:39

Yeah, I know, I mean in journalism especially.

1:04:41

You know, I worked for newspapers before I got to ESPN,

1:04:45

and there was always just to understood

1:04:47

code, like when you go after city hall

1:04:49

or city hall comes after you, you got

1:04:51

to stand with your people. Because part of what

1:04:53

makes democracy work is a free

1:04:55

press. You have to have a free function in press.

1:04:58

People that are in the president's position have to

1:05:00

know you cannot attack citizens and

1:05:02

you cannot attack members of the press, because

1:05:06

that's not how our democracy works. You know.

1:05:08

The whole thing about you know, being a journalist

1:05:10

is that you're supposed to comfort

1:05:13

the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.

1:05:15

And so that's why there has to be.

1:05:17

An understood code in

1:05:19

media that when the city hall

1:05:21

comes after you, you protect your people. Now,

1:05:24

however ESPN wants to deal with me internally

1:05:26

is another matter. But when the President decided

1:05:29

to put my name in his mouth or in his tweet,

1:05:31

is when I expected ESPN to say

1:05:33

something and say, all right, hold up, now, if

1:05:36

she gonna be a problem, she are a problem.

1:05:38

She ain't right,

1:05:40

and that didn't happen.

1:05:41

And honestly, that's the most disappointed I've

1:05:43

ever been in working there, because

1:05:46

that's not the way that goes. I've been in situations

1:05:48

in newspapers and seeing how people

1:05:50

have stood by their people.

1:05:51

That's how it's supposed to be.

1:05:53

And even the NFL, as raggedy as they are, the

1:05:56

moment he called them sons of bitches.

1:05:58

What happened? They all tightened up.

1:06:00

That's what you're supposed to do.

1:06:02

So I was talking to my man the other day

1:06:04

and based on watching what the MLB

1:06:07

and MLB, the NFL, and the

1:06:10

NBA are doing, does it seem like good karma

1:06:12

that everything is working out right for the NBA,

1:06:15

But the NFL and the MLB when it

1:06:17

comes it comes

1:06:19

to just like they are like, is

1:06:21

it just me? I mean, meanwhile, the NBA got Black

1:06:23

Lives Matter all on this on

1:06:26

the thing. They safe in their bubble.

1:06:28

It's like, but well, but

1:06:30

what is it? It does teach you something about

1:06:33

the value of leadership.

1:06:34

And the thing is you

1:06:37

have Adam Silver, the commissioner

1:06:39

of the NBA, but you also have the de facto

1:06:41

commissioner and Lebron James right

1:06:44

here the de facto commissioner. Yeah, so you you

1:06:47

have this and you also have a black woman who's

1:06:49

the head of the players union, Michelle Roberts,

1:06:52

and the three of them collectively have

1:06:55

exhibited such amazing leadership, particularly

1:06:57

during COVID. I mean, not only are they in the bubble,

1:07:00

No NBA players have tested positive

1:07:03

since they've been in the bubble. They also

1:07:05

are testing out saliva

1:07:07

test for COVID because they spot

1:07:10

they they have funded these tests and they're

1:07:12

gonna use the players as guinea pigs

1:07:14

because these are saliva tests that you would get in minutes,

1:07:17

the results in minutes. Because part of that's part

1:07:19

of the issue with the testing now is like people are

1:07:21

having to wait seventeen to fourteen days

1:07:23

just to get a result.

1:07:24

You get exposed again exactly

1:07:26

time, right.

1:07:27

Or yeah, or you think about the number of people

1:07:29

you may expose because you don't know if you got it right.

1:07:32

So they are at the forefront.

1:07:35

I mean, who would have thought in twenty twenty.

1:07:36

I mean, it's been a strange year because we got Taylor Swift

1:07:39

way more woke than Kanye. Wow,

1:07:42

don't do that perspective that was but it's

1:07:45

it's true though, Like Taylor Swift out here leading

1:07:47

black people to freedom, not Kanye.

1:07:49

No, don't wait wait.

1:07:56

Now.

1:07:56

When I saw Kim Kardashian talk about free and

1:07:58

C murders, it's just like, yo, what

1:08:02

happened car?

1:08:04

Wait?

1:08:05

Say what? And if she able to get him free,

1:08:07

look, I'm just saying, just trying to stay in because her husband

1:08:09

fucking up. But whatever, go ahead.

1:08:11

Black people don't fall for it, even if she gets the

1:08:13

murder out. Don't fall for black people, like, don't

1:08:15

let this be like I'm a dope for Donald

1:08:17

Trump? Like no, no, until

1:08:19

she gives us our asses back in our hair and everything

1:08:22

else.

1:08:23

But it's not so much about her.

1:08:25

Is that one thing that we need to understand,

1:08:28

Like those acts, individual acts are

1:08:30

great, giving back to the community, and that's great. Charity

1:08:33

does not fix structural racism, doesn't

1:08:36

fix it right because you get

1:08:38

C murder out, But what about And I don't

1:08:40

know if y'all watched uh uh the

1:08:44

watching it like watching that yes

1:08:47

on BZ yep, watching that and seeing I

1:08:49

mean I knew that Louisiana had a

1:08:51

racist criminal justice system much like most

1:08:55

states in this country. They on another level,

1:08:57

they god standard. It's a

1:08:59

whole state, a gold standard

1:09:02

of racism. And seeing se Murder's case but

1:09:04

also the other dude, Mack,

1:09:06

what happened to him?

1:09:07

You?

1:09:07

Like, how is this possible in America?

1:09:10

So Kim Kardashian freeing se Murder

1:09:12

isn't gonna address that, is

1:09:14

what I'm saying. And so that's not to belittle

1:09:17

what it would mean for Sea Murder to be out of jail, but like,

1:09:19

yeah, like you said, like I would have never in a million

1:09:21

years, But like, so Kim Kardashian

1:09:23

is gonna lead se Murder the freedom.

1:09:25

I'm like, I'm

1:09:27

surprised she knows well ar him

1:09:29

ala for all of that?

1:09:30

What's up with meya? He's still in there.

1:09:33

Yeah, it's been a it's

1:09:35

been a really crazy year. But

1:09:37

at any rate, I guess to get

1:09:39

back to your original question, is that who would

1:09:42

have thought that? And again it's

1:09:44

what I was saying about sports sometimes leading away

1:09:47

and leading in ways society can't that the

1:09:49

most competent, cohesive

1:09:52

response to COVID nineteen has been the NBA

1:09:56

by far.

1:09:57

All right, So now now

1:09:59

I feel all off key.

1:10:01

Going back to another sports question. In

1:10:04

your childhood, what made

1:10:06

you did you initially? When

1:10:09

did you develop this passion for sports?

1:10:12

Because I'm I'm I'm curious at

1:10:14

anyone who really commits to something

1:10:18

that they themselves aren't involved

1:10:20

in, you know, like it's

1:10:23

it's possible to be to faan music and participating

1:10:25

in it. For a lot of people, their

1:10:28

knowledge of sports just as spectators

1:10:30

is amazing to me. First of all, are you an

1:10:33

all around sports person or like,

1:10:35

do you have the same passion for golf and

1:10:39

that you do well?

1:10:41

I do love to bowl. I am a I'm a hell of a bowler.

1:10:43

I do.

1:10:44

Y'all want some young come get them straight up? Oh

1:10:47

wow, yes

1:10:49

that's right. I'm handing out ass whippers on the lane.

1:10:51

So you know, you're talking a lot for a person

1:10:54

that has a hometown with only one movie

1:10:56

theater in it.

1:10:56

But that's okay.

1:10:59

But you know what, we got a lot of bowling allts

1:11:01

because we're because a winner like you

1:11:03

need to have Yeah, you need to have activity.

1:11:06

So people a lot of people from Detroit,

1:11:08

Michigan period can bowl like that was

1:11:10

our thing. But to

1:11:12

answer your question, is you know

1:11:14

I would ask you the same about music. I'm sure there's

1:11:17

a time where you don't even remember not loving

1:11:19

music, right, and so I

1:11:22

don't there was a time I don't

1:11:24

remember not loving sports. It wasn't I don't

1:11:26

recall being introduced to sports.

1:11:28

I just recall from the beginning. I

1:11:31

love sports.

1:11:31

I love Did you grow up with your mom and your grandmom?

1:11:34

Right?

1:11:34

So?

1:11:35

Yeah, I mean my mother she was, I

1:11:37

mean she's she was, she's

1:11:39

been married before. She just didn't marry my biological

1:11:42

father and so but

1:11:45

as I like to mess with her, but it's true though, it's all facts.

1:11:48

My first step father.

1:11:50

All got one.

1:11:51

Yeah, my first step father was

1:11:54

somebody who was also into sports. And you

1:11:56

know, I was the neighborhood

1:11:59

tomboy, right. So I was

1:12:01

out there playing you know, uh football

1:12:04

and you know, playing

1:12:06

basketball and freeze tag

1:12:09

and you know everything.

1:12:12

Uh two not

1:12:14

we didn't call it two step.

1:12:15

What was it.

1:12:16

I'll think of what we used to call it.

1:12:17

But I was mother not mother

1:12:20

may I no?

1:12:23

Yeah, oh yeah, kickball, all of that. So I was always

1:12:26

out like kind of rough housing with the boys. I mean

1:12:28

it was sort of frustrated my mother, not that she wanted

1:12:30

me necessarily a girl, be a girly girl.

1:12:33

She'd just been like, why are you always playing with the boys. It's so

1:12:35

rough? And so that was that was

1:12:37

always me and what.

1:12:39

Did your folks do?

1:12:40

So my mother a

1:12:43

bit of a jack of all trades.

1:12:44

I mean she's like worked at the post office, she's

1:12:47

she had her own cleaner service by

1:12:49

trade. Though she was a medical laboratory

1:12:52

technician. And both

1:12:54

my parents are recovering drug

1:12:56

addicts. So my dad he is, uh,

1:12:59

well he retired, as I should say, a clinical

1:13:01

drug therapist.

1:13:03

So so he does like counseling

1:13:05

and that kind of thing.

1:13:06

Is this your stepdad, that's your biological.

1:13:08

Dad, my biological father, my stepfather. Uh,

1:13:11

the first one was like some kind

1:13:13

of computer engineer, and my current

1:13:16

stepfather.

1:13:18

Look, I'm just telling no

1:13:21

judgment, I make it no judgment.

1:13:23

Oh this was this is a public.

1:13:26

Thank you.

1:13:27

You couldn't look this up and you would know she she

1:13:29

just oh number two. I mean, hell, my grandma got

1:13:31

arab, so I'm mean.

1:13:33

But uh, but my second

1:13:35

step father he retired from the auto industry because

1:13:38

you know, Detroit's factory

1:13:40

town, so he worked at the plant for many years. But

1:13:42

no, I mean it's like sports always came natural

1:13:44

in terms of both playing and watching it, and

1:13:48

you know it was odd because I

1:13:51

knew, I'm I'm very fortunate. Is that

1:13:53

I knew I wanted to be a sports

1:13:55

journalist when I was around ninth or tenth grade.

1:13:58

Uh, And I was one of those people who who never

1:14:00

really deviated from that. You know, usually

1:14:02

you switched careers four or five times. And it's

1:14:05

not like I knew any sports journalists per

1:14:07

se. But the thing is, because

1:14:09

of where technology was during that time,

1:14:11

in order for you to keep up with your sports teams,

1:14:14

you had to read the newspaper. So I

1:14:16

had to read the sports sections to keep up, you

1:14:18

know, with the Tigers and the Pistons

1:14:21

and everybody else. And

1:14:23

that is what introduced me to newspapers. So when

1:14:25

I got to high school, I worked for my high school newspaper.

1:14:28

I got an apprenticeship at the local paper

1:14:30

then, and also in high school, I started

1:14:32

answering phones in the sports department of this same

1:14:35

newspaper and the rest I

1:14:37

went on from there.

1:14:38

I majored in journalism.

1:14:39

I've only done this, Like, don't

1:14:41

I'm not even equipped to do shit else. Like the only

1:14:44

other job that I had, That's true,

1:14:46

I'm like, I'm not equipped to do shit else. The only other

1:14:48

jobs that I've had outside of journalism

1:14:51

was I delivered phone books during what

1:14:54

I know. That's how I'm seven thousand years old.

1:14:57

I was like, I delivered phone books to earn some

1:14:59

extra money for ring break and.

1:15:01

They still make phone books.

1:15:04

Dog, I like this, this is like

1:15:06

the this is the late nineties, Like they were still

1:15:08

making phone books and it was

1:15:11

so heavy and I got to say, the game

1:15:13

must be crazy.

1:15:14

Oh my god. I got paid like seventy

1:15:16

cent per phone book delivered, Like oh god,

1:15:19

it was fu o way more than that.

1:15:21

Yeah, that shit was labor, and that's what I knew.

1:15:23

I was like physical laborer and me will

1:15:26

never get along, Like it's just not happening,

1:15:28

that, ain't it? So? I yeah,

1:15:31

I had internships in college. I even

1:15:33

interned at the Philadelphia Choirer. I

1:15:35

interned there so so in

1:15:38

Philly? I did I've lived in Philly?

1:15:40

Yup?

1:15:40

No, wonder you heard of the roots. I

1:15:42

refuse to believe it. I looked at it.

1:15:44

I was like, no, no, but

1:15:47

one of my internships questions like, no, bullshit.

1:15:49

It was nineteen ninety four. I think

1:15:52

I was an intern at the Free Press with Detroit Free

1:15:54

Press, which is the local paper in Detroit, and

1:15:57

they assigned me to the features desk and

1:16:00

the music critic at the time did

1:16:03

not fuck with R and B and hip hop at all,

1:16:05

so he said, you can have all R and B and hip

1:16:08

hop.

1:16:08

I'm gonna stick to this Bruce Springsteen over here.

1:16:11

And it was all good because you

1:16:13

know, A Leah's album dropped that year, it

1:16:16

was the Roots. It was like so many different

1:16:19

artists that dropped that year. My CD collection

1:16:22

was banging after that summer.

1:16:25

Joints Joy was like.

1:16:27

It was promos when I worked in

1:16:29

the for our college newspapers.

1:16:31

So I mean, this is the campus echo es

1:16:34

Central and I would get promos.

1:16:35

You get a hard time to sell Them's what I used to do.

1:16:37

I sell them, yes,

1:16:39

sell the ones I don't want, or I said, say, this was nineteen ninety

1:16:42

five by Bag, but like yeah.

1:16:44

So that summer that I was

1:16:47

interning at the Free Press, the reporters

1:16:49

went on strike and the Free Press

1:16:51

is also was at the time owned by the same people

1:16:54

who owned the Philadelphia in Choir, which is how I

1:16:56

got the Philly because they sent me to Philly. One

1:16:58

of my girls was already working at the Philadelphia

1:17:00

Inquirer. So I didn't even live in Philly

1:17:02

proper. I lived in McDade mcdave

1:17:05

Boulevard.

1:17:06

Damn yeah, I.

1:17:07

Lived in mcday man. I had to catch a bus and

1:17:09

a bus in the train to get to

1:17:11

the Philadelphia Acquirer downtown.

1:17:14

Wow.

1:17:16

Hold up, we need more time

1:17:19

with Jamail Hill, and therefore you'll

1:17:22

get it.

1:17:22

So this was part one. Stay tuned for part.

1:17:24

Two of our interview with Jamail Hill

1:17:27

on Questlove Supreme next Wednesday.

1:17:30

You don't want to miss it. It just gets better.

1:17:34

It's so good.

1:17:44

West Love Supreme is a production of iHeartRadio.

1:17:50

For more podcasts from iHeart Radio, visit

1:17:52

the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,

1:17:55

or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.