Shyne EXPOSES Diddy Fallout, Survived 10 Years In Prison, Music Comeback & Plans To Run Belize 🚨

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33:13Visit Bahamar.com today. So I want to talk about Israel. You live there. Yeah. So you have a unique perspective that most people don't. what is your take on the current situation and what was your experience as a black person living there uh my experience was i did not face any apartheid i did not face any um discrimination per se uh i lived in a religious cluster in the religious cluster i was accepted I lived at the Wailing Wall, and I didn't see the things that some people claim. What I saw was a security situation, a legitimate security situation. Two brothers, because Ishmael and Israel are both sons of Isaac.

34:18so Jews and Arabs are only separated by religion you know one believes in Islam and other believes in Judaism but they're the same blood yeah but I wasn't necessarily focused on that because I was there studying you know the five books of Moses who Islam claims Moses his name is Musa you know everything in Islam is in the Torah. But I wasn't focused on that. But yeah, so as far as what is happening now, let me say this, being religious doesn't mean that you're a Zionist. So being religious has nothing to do with people who uh and again it it it may not dawn on some people but uh when you go to the the books of moses uh jews have been in israel for thousands of years well they always they were there when it was a country called palestine they were there indeed and before it was a country called palestine it was called israel if you read the koran and you read the five books of Moses.

35:35It refers to a land of canon, and then it's called Israel. Now, this is by the testament of both Muslims, Jews, and Christians. There is a time where it becomes Palestine, and whoever lives in the land of Palestine is a Palestinian. So, practically and technically speaking, Jews would be Palestinians, Arabs would be Palestinians, Christians that live there would be Palestinian, anyone could be Palestinian. But my position is a two-state solution as per the United Nations charter. It's complicated. Yes, you know, Jews have a legitimate claim that they've been there for thousands of years. Arabs have a claim that they migrated there as well, or they were born there as well.

36:29And I believe that the United Nations Charter of the partition was the most practical solution. And I would like to see that come to fruition, where there is a Palestinian state for Arabs, and whoever else wants to live there, and the continued Jewish state that has Arab Israelis and Christian Israelis, and anyone can live in the state of Israel. I think the problem that you have is that in a state of Hamas, Palestinian state, you can only be one religion. Your orientation, the way you dress, everything is dictated in extreme terms. And their position, their charter is that Israel does not have a right to exist.

37:24So I'm a centrist. I want to be in the middle. I want to find a solution. There are over 40 Arab states. There's only one Jewish state. I accept that Palestine should be one more Arab state because of what the United Nations had agreed to, and so that we can have a solution. Fine. But the solution will never be that Israel does not exist. it will never happen, right? We're wasting our time if the position is going to be that Israel doesn't have a right to exist. But I don't associate myself with some extremists in the Israeli government and in Israel that don't accept that there should be a Palestinian Arab state.

38:10I don't agree to that. But I answer the question because as a journalist, an investor, I want to be respectful and polite, but respectfully, my concern is Belize. Obviously, what happens nonetheless, what is happening in Iran and these different places in Venezuela and Cuba, it impacts Belize though. And so that's why I answer your question as well. When we think that terrorists, that people who are extreme, people who feel that because, you know, you dress like this or because a woman wears tight clothes or because, you know, a woman shows her face, she's evil. She's the devil. That's how these extreme religious zealots think.

39:00And that's how they feel. And they believe that we should all be destroyed. So, you know, Iran, the dictatorship, the Ayatollah, they sponsor terrorism all around the world and they're reviled and loathed by their Arab neighbors. So when the United States and Israel eliminates those threats, I'm sorry, I support it. I believe that they have to have a comprehensive plan of exit. And, you know, we hope that it's not going to be Afghanistan and Iraq all over again where it becomes a quagmire. But listen, when Obama eliminated Gaddafi in the worst way, it was terrible what they did to Gaddafi, how they dragged him through the street.

39:51It's terrible. But he had intelligence from his CIA and his military apparatus. And that's what they felt they needed to do. and and and biden bush one bush two president trump clinton they've all felt the same about iran it just so happens that this is the administration tough to get out but let me just follow up real quick with your political question yeah my last political question yeah you as somebody that has aspirations of being president of belize or prime minister of belize yeah should the caribbean nations i'm counting belize as a caribbean they are they are part of caribbean should they be in support of Cuba, a country that has supported Caribbean nations for over 50 years?

40:40Most respectfully, I appreciate the sentimentality of what you just said. But principally, I can never and will never support dictatorships. That is a dictatorship in Cuba, you're not going to allow it to be you. You can't have freedom of press. You can't criticize the president. You can't criticize the state. We have to underdate. They put people in jail. They kill people for dissenting. They have a safe country. I don't know about that. I really don't know. I couldn't imagine. And you have to remember who you're talking to. You're talking to someone who was the opposition leader of Belize. I used to go in the House of Representatives and shut the House of Representatives down.

41:37I used to tell the prime minister all types of things, legitimate information and intelligence that I had. And the Speaker of the House would be like, hold on. You know, Parliament is over. Right. But nobody would arrest me. Nobody would be outside, you know to shoot me Nobody would come to my house and kidnap me and tie me up In in cuba that's that's you wouldn't even you wouldn't you don't even have an opposition leader You don't the people of cuba don't even have an alternative Right, so so for me. I'm sorry. Um My good brother, you know, you're my good brother. I respect you I've never understood the fascination with dictatorships, but I get it there was a time long ago and and one of my heroes would agree with you um he would be very sympathetic to to cuba a gentleman by the name of michael manley he was the prime minister of jamaica um that's my political hero but i totally disagree with him on the alliance with russia and and cuba it's an axis of evil it's making a deal with the devil because at the time it was a different America.

42:47They felt like, you know, America was racist and America wasn't doing right with African Americans and brown people. That was a different America. I believe that, but I get you. So there was a relationship forged there to be against the real apartheid that were happening, the real Jim Crow, the real people drinking at different water fountains. So yeah, America didn't really have a moral compass at the time. And so, yeah, aligning with dictators, it kind of made sense because it's like, well, you know, you don't even give us equal rights in a country that we built. You traffic us to a country.

43:30We build it and you treat us like this. Right. So I get it. But now is the time to transition. I think we've long arrived at a time to transition to aligning ourselves with people with democratic values. I can't live with myself aligning with people who don't give their populace the same opportunity that I have to be great, the same opportunity that I have to criticize governments, the same opportunity that I have to choose. at least the people in Belize and the people in America get to choose who they want. Right now, I don't get into your politics as far as the performance of President Trump.

44:12I didn't get into the performance of President Biden. But however the people feel about the state of affairs in the United States right now, if they're not in accordance with going to Iran, if they're not in accordance with whatever the policies are of the current administration. Midterms coming up in November, you get the vote. The people in Cuba don't have that alternative. So how can CARICOM nations that are democratic nations not align themselves with the United States when it comes to the removal of these dictators such as Maduro and Cuba. That's why I appreciate Sean, man. He's a well-versed person and very intelligent.

45:00Hey, Ernest, what's going on? We always talk about using tools that help you stay in control of your money. Cloner is one of those tools. It gives you flexibility to decide how you want to pay for your purchases, whether that's paying now or spreading payments over time. The best part is you can manage everything in the Cloner app. Download the Cloner app today or visit cloner.com to learn more. California resident loans made or arranged pursuant to a California finance law license. NMLS number 1353190. Cloner balance account required to be eligible for cashback points. Limitations, terms, and conditions apply.

45:38The world is transforming faster than ever, and standing still isn't an option. at Oppenheimer we're working at the forefront of the innovation economy to invest where progress begins finding opportunities that build and protect wealth for individuals and institutions that want a seat at the edge of tomorrow put the power of Oppenheimer thinking to work for you wealth management, capital markets investment banking support for the show comes from public the investing platform for those who take it seriously On Public, you can build a multi-asset portfolio of stocks, bonds, options, crypto, and now generated assets, which allow you to turn any idea into an investable index with AI.

46:21It all starts with your prompt. From renewable energy companies with high free cash flow to semiconductor suppliers growing revenue over 20 % year over year. You can literally type any prompt and put the AI to work. It screens thousands of stocks, builds a one-of-a-kind index, and lets you backtest it against the S &P 500. Then you can invest in a few clicks. generated assets are like etfs with infinite possibilities completely customizable and based on your thesis not someone else's go to public.com slash podcast and earn an uncapped one percent bonus when you transfer your portfolio that's public.com slash podcast paid for by public investing brokerage services by open to the public investing inc member finra and sipc advisory services by public advisors llc sec registered advisor generated assets is an interactive analysis tool output is for informational purposes only and is not an investment recommendation or advice Complete disclosures available at public.com slash disclosures.

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47:59like our 15-acre tropical water park, wildlife sanctuary, world-class golf course, and so much more. Visit Bahamar.com today. You alluded to the music, and I want to talk about it because you said that there's three albums, not just one. Three albums. You said this is not just— The Honorable. I got it. The Honorable, Rap Prime Minister, which I think is a dope title, and Actual Intelligence. Actual Intelligence, yeah. Come on, man. You know I got you, bro. You know I got you. So I wonder, how do you envision those laying out? And let's break down the titles because, like I said, Rap Prime Minister.

48:32I think you told us that before. I may have said that off record. Yeah, but now you put it out to the people. I had to because, you know, I don't want anyone to run with anything. Things are moving fast in the culture. Yeah, yeah. And, you know, certain things that I saw and that I was doing months ago is all happening. I decided I was going to go on tour to celebrate 25 last year in September. Hove is going back on stage now. There's a couple other guys. No, but on the 30th anniversary. A reasonable doubt. Yeah, Wayne just announced he's doing a 20-year anniversary of the carter. So, you know, it's just important to put certain things out there so no one can rewrite history, right?

49:15Yeah, so how are you envisioning the layout? Because the producer list is crazy. You talked about Dre, which that's crazy. You don't even know him, but you were able to work with him. How are you envisioning it? Like each producer is getting it. Each album has a different theme. How is this going to be worked out? Well, what I'm doing right now is just following the thriller template that I got from Jay-Z. And I've told the story before. Maybe you've heard it. When Jay-Z came to see me in Rikers Island in maybe 2004, Maybach just came out, pulled up in Rikers Island. And Maybach, we sat in the lawyer's station for visits with those held in captivity.

50:03And he was talking to me about moving forward. And we put out The Godfather Buried Alive. It was number one. But then he was like, well, what's next? We can't just make another album. And that's when he went into his conversations with Michael Jackson, Quincy Jones about the making of Thriller. And the information that was given to him by Mike and Quincy, bless their souls, was that every song had to be better than the other song. So you make a Thriller, that's when you make Billie Jean. That's when you, you know, you just keep going and going and going. and so that's the mindset and that's why my producer list is like that because I'm so excited about Dre which is you know I'm in a dream but then you hear the Swiss records like Fallout you hear the Swiss record but then you hear the Timberland records and they all picked up the call easy I don't want to say easy like it's easy but i think the same love and respect that you guys have for me relationships everybody um that i mentioned by the grace of god they have that love and respect for me um some for me as a human being you know not as much as the music and dre is particularly that person because you know like what can dre do next like what what else dre doesn't have to do anything He was a billionaire then and then went down.

51:45Now he's a billionaire again. What else can Dre do? But for our connection, it was more as a leader. And my evolution on being an opposition leader of the House office and the things I wanted to do for Belize, he was really impressed with that. and that's how our conversation started and when we had that conversation we had so much in common with what he was doing in compton with the hundreds of millions he was investing in education and and philanthropy and then it's like oh man come on let's go downstairs let's go listen to some music right um so so hip boy uh you know big boy that's my guy uh he's my plug he anybody i want to talk to when I go to LA he puts it together but it's not like big boy telling hit boy yo please talk to shine it's like when hit boy when big boy calls hit hits on the phone like yo shine is my favorite rapper ever one of my you know like all time and so that's the energy that's the energy that's the energy by the grace of God you know when I go and see Tim it's like you know he's a legend he's a goat but you know he respects the contributions that have been made like it's so incredible when i went to see tim i got a gift because i didn't have polo to dawn on my list most respectfully and his catalog is crazy incredible but i just didn't have him on my list that he wasn't on the vision board and he happened to be there.

53:24And we had a whole versus in the studio because he was so excited to meet me. And again, he loved the music, but he loved the human being, the leader, you know, the hip hop that fit the evolution. And he gave me some of the best music that I've ever heard. When you hear Polo to Don, when you hear the Timberland records like I said listen the Swiss record was so crazy me and Dre working on our music and I played the Swiss and he like let me help you with that what is the raps that would be my question because when you came out you was 19 years old coming from Brooklyn you was a street dude and the raps matched that godfather burial alive we know that but then your life just changed you you became religious you became a father you became a politician you're in your 40s what what do you rap about now why can't the conversation that we have been having for uh the last 45 no you can but you can ask you you can and that's what i think that's exactly what is that is that what we I mean, I don't want to give everything away, but no contemporary.

54:50I'm definitely not going to be 19 year old. And I'm sorry for anyone who. And I'll tell you, one of my someone, a young man that I'm so impressed with. And I say a young man, no disrespect. He might be, you know, I don't know his age, to be honest, because I haven't done much research. But someone that I just got turned on to. I might be late to the party is Stove God they were asking me like who's in New York who's the new young artist that you like and I would never say the things that he said because I'm not living that way and I don't and on my leisure you know if I'm out to dinner or I'm at the house that's not what I'm listening to but because I'm you know I'm getting you know back into the arena I'm getting ready for, you know, the NBA season or the NFL season, the MLB.

55:45You got to look at what, you know, how the terrain is, right? And draw inspiration. And I draw inspiration from what is the art of hip hop? What makes Stove Guard impressive to me? Not because he's talking about, you know, heroin and narcotics and all of that. it's his wordplay his penmanship the metaphors the triple entendres how he's painting on the canvas his personality that talk like he's he's New York right now that's why when I heard the titles I'm like yeah what I'm saying is I could I could give you shine Po without being 19 years old I'm all for it what made shine shine was a lot of the things that impressed me and a lot of the things that impressed me about Stove Guard.

56:39It was my attitude. It was how I talk that talk. It was the wordplay. It was the melodies. It was the flows. It was, it was, it's a lot that goes into making a classic album and I still got the formula. So that's why when I, the titles, when I heard honorable, I'm thinking we're going to get the Sean who is living in this moment, right? The honorable, right? And then I'm thinking the rap prime minister is like, let me get on my, my shit. Like, let me show you how this pen really works. Like when I hear rap prime minister, we heard that with Rakim. Big Daddy Kim. And Big Daddy Kim. So I'm thinking like, oh, here come the wordplay.

57:13And then the last one, the actual intelligence is like the conversations that we've had that aren't on camera. And it's like, yo, this is one of the most brilliant people we've ever met. That's in my mind how it's being mapped out. Am I off task by it? Put all that together on every album. And the bottom line is making hits. because most respectfully, that's why every platform is different. What you'll get from a lecture is different than what you'll get if you go to my show. My performance is a celebration of great music, right? For you to bop, for you to dance, for you to get in your feelings, for you to get inspired, for you to get excited.

58:00music I remember where I was when I when I you know go back to certain songs so making a song is different than anything else that you would do and to make great songs it's a formula the beat has to be incredible your flows your melodies have to be incredible and then you just be you The content, that's what people are not understanding. You don't have to be a dope boy to make great records. You don't have to be a gangster to make great records. I go back to Bob Marley. Who made more hits than Bob Marley? Well, hip-hop is a different genre. Not at all. Than reggae. Not at all. I vehemently disagree.

58:48I'm talking at a level of greatness. Greatness is greatness. It doesn't matter the genre. And all I'm saying is Michael Jackson, Bob Marley, Jay-Z, B.I.G., N.W.A., what do they all have in common? The Beatles, you know, Rolling Stones, Marvin Gaye, they all have in common that they made classics. They made incredible hit records. But we're just getting to this. All right, hip-hop, right? Yeah. Hey, Ernest, what's up? One thing we always say on this show is you've got to be intentional with your money. Because it's not just about how much you make. It's about how you manage what you spend. Exactly.

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1:00:10Cloner balance account required to be eligible for cash back points. Limitations, terms, and conditions to buy. The world is transforming faster than ever. and standing still isn't an option. At Oppenheimer, we're working at the forefront of the innovation economy to invest where progress begins, finding opportunities that build and protect wealth for individuals and institutions that want a seat at the edge of tomorrow. Put the power of Oppenheimer Thinking to work for you. Wealth Management, Capital Markets, Investment Banking. Support for the show comes from Public, the investing platform for those who take it seriously.

1:00:52On Public, you can build a multi-asset portfolio of stocks, bonds, options, crypto, and now generated assets, which allow you to turn any idea into an investable index with AI. It all starts with your prompt. From renewable energy companies with high free cash flow to semiconductor suppliers growing revenue over 20 % year over year, you can literally type any prompt and put the AI to work. It screens thousands of stocks, builds a one-of-a-kind index, and lets you backtest it against the S &P 500. Then you can invest in a few clicks. Generated assets are like ETFs with infinite possibilities, completely customizable and based on your thesis, not someone else's.

1:01:26Go to public.com slash podcast and earn an uncapped 1 % bonus when you transfer your portfolio. That's public.com slash podcast. Paid for by Public Investing. Brokered services by Open to the Public Investing, Inc., member FINRA, and SIPC. Advisory services by Public Advisors, LLC, SEC Registered Advisor. Generated assets is an interactive analysis tool. Output is for informational purposes only and is not an investment recommendation or advice. Complete disclosures available at public.com slash disclosures. Hello, it is Ryan, and we could all use an extra bright spot in our day, couldn't we? Just to make up for things like sitting in traffic, doing the dishes, counting your steps, you know, all the mundane stuff.

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1:02:46Visit Bahamar.com today. I like to think of myself as a hip-hop historian. I think we just got to the point where we're at adult contemporary hip-hop being accepted mainstream. So Nas could come out and rap about real shit that he's dealing with as far as casinos, and it's adult rap. Jay-Z, 444 album. That wasn't always the case. Previously, elder rappers or rappers that were in their 40s tried to still rap like they were 20 and didn't make any sense at all i vehemently disagree with you let me interject let's go back to the foundation mr hip-hop history uh rakam was never selling dope but rakam that's how he came out That's like J.

1:03:30Cole. Off in this. Off in this. Off in this. We never. Cam was telling. No, no, no. He was paid in full. Hold on, sir. No, no, no, no. But you're missing my point. Tribe Called Quest never sold. No, but I'm just saying. But they also never got to rap at 40. But hold on. Exactly. No, but it doesn't matter. I'm not with the ageism. All right, got it, got it. The ageism, throw that in the garbage. Yeah. What I'm saying is when hip hop first started, there was no such thing as gangster rap. so the point that I'm making to you is what hip-hop was all about was always making hits and what it doesn't change The reason Rakim is Rakim is because his flow was incredible Let me finish the reason Big Daddy Kane was Big Daddy Kane was because his flow was incredible the reason um KRS-One was KRS-One right is because when he hit his flows was incredible.

1:04:29I think, you know, a little bit too much on the lecture side sometimes. But, you know, that was... That's a Brooklyn bias. That's a Brooklyn bias, man. Don't do that. KRS was born in Brooklyn. If you didn't know, KRS was born in Brooklyn. KRS was born in Brooklyn. Listen, listen. Let's bet. Let's bet. We could bet. When South Bronx claims it, and that's a Brooklyn bias. Don't do that. It's too much of a team. Let me reframe this from a hip-hop perspective, right? It wasn't necessarily, because even now there's rappers that don't talk about drugs at all. Hip-hop has always been centered to the youth.

1:05:04It's always been youth culture. It's been youth culture. Yeah, but who says the youth, this is what I'm trying to say. No, I'm all for it. Who says the youth need to be thugging and bugging? Who says the youth, and then look at J. Cole. No, no, but what I'm saying. J. Cole is not a gangster rapper. No, not at all. And the youth love him. But that's what I'm saying. Kendrick is not a gangster rapper. But now we have to. And the youth love him. But we have the transition of adult. We didn't have, Rock Eminem wasn't 30, 40 years old when they was rapping. I'm saying now is the first time in history that we have adults 40 years old, 50 years old.

1:05:42That's a different conversation than you're asking me, what am I going to be rapping about? And how is that going to transition? That's different. No, because that's the conversation because you got two groups of people, I think. You got the older people, that, and when I say older people, I'm in that book. I'm 42. You got the older people that rap about stuff that's really relevant to what somebody 42 is going through. That's what I want to listen to. Then you got people that's 45 that's rapping to try to make songs for the club. There's a disconnect because you're not in the club. I don't know.

1:06:15I wouldn't because I never want to be the art police. I never want to be the music police. But you have an opinion. No, you a hip hop not. We're not doing that. You got an opinion, man. We can't be politically correct. We're not talking about politics. We're talking about rap. You can be politically correct when it comes to politics. This is rap. There ain't no politically correct that's been rap. He would like Sean Paul to step to the front. No, I'm telling you, this is my principal position. I'm not going to tell a 45-year-old that wants to still live like he's, you know, 20-year-old not to do that.

1:06:49That's up to him. You know, let him be great. If it's not connected, that's on him. Let him take that L. But I'm not going to sit here and say, I'm not I'm not even thinking about that because I don't really like I don't get into people's minds and why someone would do that. I know why I'm not going to do that. I know what I'm going to do, but I'm not going to say because there may be, you know, Hove might come out with some young Hove or some, you know, young boy hits and we would never even see it. And that's what I love about music and I love about creativity because someone can always do something that you didn't think was practical.

1:07:30And it just there's no way he could do that. And they'll come and they'll do it. Right. That's what I love about creativity. So my thing and that's why I'm having so much fun. Yeah. Because I'm going to be me who I am today. And I agree with you on that point that there are people that have grown up with me that want to hear the conversation about, you know, getting to a trillion dollars and growing GDPs and, you know, investments and, you know, instead of instead of buying watches, you know, building an entire community. You know, but the challenges that we face as human beings never really change.

1:08:20We always have betrayal. We always have heartbreak. We always have disappointment. So all I'm saying is the canvas is there and it's just for me to paint my truth. but all that matters at the end of the day because your truth can be as compelling as possible if it's not a hit then it's like you and you in the wilderness you in the forest and nobody's falling nobody's gonna listen so at the end of the day it gotta be hits content comes after the fact but as far as my integrity my artistic integrity i'm not gonna be the person trying to chase the ghosts of 19-year-old Shepard. How is this working for you?

1:09:03You have a list, two-part question. You have a list of producers that are coming together to make the project. You said we got a Swiss joint, we got a Pharrell joint. I already got all my beats. I mean, like, I'm so fortunate. I'll get to you one second. Like, Boy Wonder. I hit him. I said, listen, you know, it's time. He said, say no more. He sent me a file and of that file I walked away with a whole album. I could do a whole album with him. Just Boy Wonder. Just Boy Wonder. Right? Mids, ups, slows, just him alone. That's how fortunate I am. Yeah, and it's like that all across the board. I hit RZA, That's the one I really wanted to talk about Oh man I did mention Riz What do you mean No no I'm saying You haven't mentioned that the track is done yet Cause you said you got the Rizza built the track Cause you know why Rizza I think I think he kind of gets slept It's weird that he slept on Because we grew up in the era where He was making all the Wu-Tang tracks Yeah And then Cause he was a singular producer But he also And the CEO Yeah and the CEO But then he He didn't work with a lot of other artists Outside of Wu-Tang Exactly Well, he's on Life After Death, which I think is probably the best double album.

1:10:29But he's also on Marjit Twisted Dark Fantasy. So it tells about that evolution, how he's grown. But you haven't heard anything in the past few years from him as a producer. So when I saw RZA, and I didn't hear you say the track is done yet. I'm like, what's up with the RZA situation? I'm not giving out all my secrets as far as what's done, what's not done. All you got to know is he gave me the missiles. um yeah he gave me incredible records that that he gave me exactly what i wanted what i knew he was capable of because the the the approach that i have it's not necessarily you know what have you done lately uh you know did you make a hit in the last couple of years um no i'm just I'm enjoying myself and I want to work with who I want to work with.

1:11:22I want to, the same way people admire me and I'm their favorite, this is one of my favorites. And so now, you know, if he'd have gave me, or if I couldn't find, because nobody's going to give you 100%. And so sometimes even your favorites will give you 10. But if I walk away with five, I'm good. If I walk away with one from my favorite that I loved and I did it. And I'm telling you, I walked away with a few from RZA that I love and I don't take, my grading is harsh. I'm stringent. I'm not, because I believe that what I have to deliver and what I want, not what I have, what I want to deliver. I want to deliver when I'm listening to whoever, when I'm listening to that Don Tolliver or I'm listening, you know, to whoever, to a Burner Boy or to a WizKid, you know, to Chris Brown or whoever's putting out those great records, to a Drake, to a Kendrick, putting out great records.

1:12:28And I know how I feel when I'm listening to those great records and, ooh, just hit after hit and it just keep going. And that's what I want to create. I'm not going to create anything less. So it starts with me. so if I don't love the record so I'm not doing anything because it's so and so so the only reason I'm working with so and so is because I know that they could give me what I love and I've not been disappointed everyone has hit this is the second part because I got the list of producers here the one name and maybe you worked with him or did something brewing I didn't see Premiere Premiere is on the list yeah I reached out to him I'm just waiting to hear about it alright perfect then I can live with that he's on the list No ideas on the list.

1:13:13I saw that. Just waiting to hear. Oh my gosh. That Bad Boy era, you owned your masters and you owned the publishing? Is that correct? I owned my publishing always from the beginning. From the beginning. But I didn't own the masters for the first album. Second album, yes. How did you own your publishing from the beginning? Because that was always a big thing with artists saying that they didn't have their publishing. So how did you have enough leverage enough knowledge at that young age to even Fight for that most artists they get a watch and they they cool. I was I was very fortunate to just have intuitive Entrepreneurs Spirit I'm an entrepreneur by birth.

1:13:59I'm a leader by birth I you know, I got to chalk it up to genetics I have some powerful brains that I inherited uh respectfully um you know i was always a reader i was always someone that um immersed themselves in reading i remember one of the first books i read uh that i remember to this day was uh michael eisner's uh biography about disney and then i would end up putting out a documentary with disney i read that when i was like 10 years old um yeah so i was always reading and my brain was always working and the hand of God, you know, has always been on me. Hey Ernest, what's up? One thing we always say on this show is you've got to be intentional with your money.

1:14:43Because it's not just about how much you make, it's about how you manage what you spend. Exactly. That's why tools like Kloner are interesting. It gives you flexibility when you're making purchases. When you're checking out, you can decide how you want to pay, Whether that's paying right away or spreading payments over time, depending on what works for you. Everything's organized in Klarna app, so you can track your spending in one place. And when you shop through the app, you can find deals and earn cash back with participating partners. Download the Klarna app today or visit Klarna.com to learn more.

1:15:19California resident loans made or arranged pursuant to a California finance law license. NMLS number 1353190. Clown a balance account required to be eligible for cash back points. Limitations, terms, and conditions above. At Oppenheimer, we're proven because we're grounded in discipline. For 145 years, we've been building and protecting wealth through every market cycle. With precision, clarity, and the courage to think boldly beyond the moment. This is what market-tested legacy looks like, for this generation and the next. Put the power of Oppenheimer Thinking to work for you. Wealth Management, Capital Markets, Investment Banking.

1:16:52We'll see you next time. Advisory services by Public Advisors LLC, SEC Registered Advisor. Generated Assets is an interactive analysis tool. Output is for informational purposes only and is not an investment recommendation or advice. Complete disclosures available at public.com slash disclosures. Tyler Reddick here from 2311 Racing. Victory Lane? Yeah, it's even better with Chumba by my side. Race to chumbacasino.com. Let's Chumba. No purchase necessary. VGW Group. Void where prohibited by law. CT &Cs. 21+. Sponsored by Chumba Casino. Discover a spectacular island destination with crystal blue seas, endless sunshine, and the cool Bahamian breeze.

1:17:27Baja Mar, located in Nassau, Bahamas, offers your choice of three luxury hotels, over 45 fine dining and nightlife venues, Jean-Baptiste's all-new jazz club, the Caribbean's most luxurious casino, and one-of-a-kind experiences for the entire family, like our 15-acre tropical water park, wildlife sanctuary, world-class golf course, and so much more. Visit Baja Mar.com today. And so when Chris Lighty, I met everybody. I met Puff. I rapped for Puff. Thanks to Mark Pitts. I got to call him as soon as I leave here before he goes to Japan. I missed him in L.A. but um yeah so i had rap you know i got discovered by a kid named austin took me to dawn pool doing brooklyn chop house together by guy imani heli uh hollywood executive um and so we were making our rounds rap for puff i would mark pitch rap for him rap for un uh you know i i think i rap for sylvia roan that's my like my mother she's one of the most incredible human beings um and that was like in september october november no deal signed yet you know i ran up on hove yeah you you know that story that hilarious story we don't need to repeat it here um and then chris lighty i got the call to go see chris lighty at the death jam building on Varick Street.

1:18:57And that changed my life because once I went into his office, he was like, all right, you know, I hear, you know, everybody's after you. All right, you know, I want to hear what, you know, what you got going on. I'll play you this, this dat tape from a young producer. His name is Swiss Beats. And I moonwalked all over the Swiss Beats. Like, you know, he was just playing beat after beat and I just kept bong, bong, bong. and he's like, all right, stop. He couldn't control himself, couldn't contain himself. He's like, you're not leaving here unless we sign the deal. He took me to Lior's office. I did the same thing.

1:19:32That's when I first met Irv Gotti. I was talking crazy, and that's Jay-Z's best friend, but I was talking about, you know, Hov at the time because he threw my tape away. Yeah, and that's what really put me in a position to have incredible leverage because once Puff, I think that all the moguls, all the CEOs, they're all friends. And they all compete with each other and are inspired by each other. So I think Chris and Lior thought they had the deal done. And they called Puff to talk crazy. Celebrate. To talk crazy like, yeah, yeah, you wait. because remember, Def Jam wasn't, you know, like, I wouldn't say Def Jam was cold because they had meth, you know, meth.

1:20:23People sleep on meth. We were talking about sleeping on Reza. Yeah. People sleep on meth. I brought him back. Him and Redman, we're talking about this. People sleep on meth. Yeah. Redman. DMX is around in that term too, right? This is... Oh, no, no. 94, 95 is Red and Meth. Didn't come yet, but this is 97. We just heard X on double, no, not double up, on Harlem World. We just was hearing X on 24 Hours to Live. Yes. We just was hearing X on Stay Out the Duck. If I get you in the center, 2-1. Run it, Klan. Hold on, hold on. Oh, he was on fire there. Hold on, right? He's building, he's building, right?

1:21:03So, but as he, but he's building, but, you know, Puff is still Puff and Bad Boys, 97 years. Bad Boys. Yes. It's 97. It's nobody else. It's life after death. It's no way out. Life after death. Harlem world. It's nobody else, right? Yeah, everything else is building. But remember, X is building on Harlem world, right? And then building on Mr. Smith, you know, respect to the icon. We can't leave Irv Gotti out to conversation. Rest in peace. Because Ja Rule's happening at the same time. Yes, yes. But I'm just showing you how it's building. Yeah. then um but so it's puff everything is puff bad boy everybody's building and then we'll get to what happens in 98 but but they're building but it's not the 98 hard knock life not yet dark hell is hot jarru um you know put it on me you know murder inc death jam is not there yet but i just wanted to give respect to Uncle L and Mef.

1:22:13So you signed your deal in 97? In 98. But I'm just telling you, when I met with Chris, I met with Chris December of 97. So it was still all Puff, all Bad Boy. Michael Jackson, Quincy Jones, the biggest record company on planet Earth. So now, and I'm just going into the leverage, we get to 98, but in 97, I'm telling you that their They're chasing Puff. And so the conversation is like, yeah, we're about to catch you. Watch. Right? Is what I think. Because then Puff hit the line and he's like, yo, come to California. I'm ready to sign a deal. Come now. And he had a better offering. No, no, no, no, no.

1:22:59Hold on. So we get to California. First time I leave Brooklyn, I leave New York. me Don Poole Matt Middleton um I land in California go check in the Beverly Hills Hotel Eddie Murphy coming out the elevator I'm getting on the elevator I'll never forget it gotta tell you that story go to record plant uh J-Lo Puff at the record plant J-Lo is doing I'm sorry Puff is doing the Godzilla record. Come with me. Yeah. He's recording that. He comes out. He's like, well, you know, I know everybody wants you. I know what's going on, but I'm not going to do that. If you want to sign with me, let's sign. And I'm like, yeah, of course.

1:23:52Before, he was like, yeah, you nice, but I got to teach you how to make hits. And he kind of left me on ice. now he's like listen if you want to sign let's sign now and and you know welcome to the family and i was like yeah but everyone was after me so then now i'm taking pictures with puff and well there was no there was no social media back then um but i don't know how it was going viral but it was going viral that i'm out in la with puff and the deal is done and you know i'm the newest bad boy uh so puff is at a mega mansion in maholland and has a party it's everyone is out there for soul train awards so leor russell chris lighty come to the house for the soul train award party everybody Chris Tucker you know NBA players playing basketball everyone is at the house so they pull me to the side like yo meanwhile my lawyer Matt Middleton he's like listen they'll give you anything everybody's prepared to give you anything so I'm like okay what's Puff offering all right tell him you want triple that so that's what I said I had an entrepreneur spirit uh i was not like i was impressed but i wasn't impressed uh the hand of god was always with me as to just my vessel expanding and expanding and i didn't necessarily it's kind of it's a gift and a curse because i didn't feel puff was doing me a favor but he was it's a great opportunity but i was great because everybody saw what he saw it's not like he saw it and you know he's manufacturing me everyone that ever heard me rap thought I was incredible initially except Jay um but I was literally sitting there running the numbers up because I wasn't I wasn't infatuated I wasn't smitten it's not like oh you know puff it was like no I could be puff I could be I always had that mentality I was just shot when I was 16 so like in 96 I was shy 97 i graduated i'm delivering messages like i went through so much coming from belize not even a toilet system father abandoned me poor mother and and where i'm at right now now i'm in beverly hills every record label want to sign me um i by the grace of god and my mother got myself there i never had any help you know i had an uncle who loved music and used to give me advice so basically no I had that entrepreneur instinct and I just kept telling Matt run the numbers up if Puff is saying 150 tell Def Jam 400 tell Sylvia 500 just keep running the numbers up numbers went up man and we ran them up the publishing thing that's not even on the table let Puff know no publishing off the rip that's a deal breaker non-starter right um and so nobody else could get the publishing i did a great i don't remember the lady's name um but i did a great deal joint venture um with polygram but i just kept running the numbers up and and people kept accepting the number what was your deal it was a million dollars advance uh yeah publishing you had your publishing deal with you had an apartment none i was just that uh okay but you had an apartment though right you was what you're You say he was like Soho or something like that?

1:27:31You had like a luxury apartment in Manhattan. Well, no. Well, Puff had an apartment like next to Al Pacino. Okay, so that was his apartment. Yeah, but everybody would go there. Mark Curry, everyone. Like Mace used to be there. But I was in Fort Lee. I had a penthouse in Fort Lee. Yeah, Biggs, Rockefeller, they were out there too. But yes, I just kept running the numbers up and I had that entrepreneurial spirit. But ultimately, I also had the genius because I think people who make it the furthest are people that have honest self-analysis and can rigorously assess themselves and do the heat check and be able to say, uh nah um you know maybe a little bit more nah i'm not quite ready for that i know i don't have that information and instinctively they asked me about this uh the other day jay-z went from uh shadowing jazz his name is based on jazz jay-z is jazz right jay-z had did that um hawaiian Sophie, he went through a process before we got Payday distributor, CEO of Rockefeller Records, along with Dame and Biggs.

1:29:06Right. There was a process before you got there. X and D and Y and Rough Riders. There was Born Loser on Sony before we get Rough Riders, JV with Def Jam. A lot of what we saw were people going through processes. Puff was Andre Harrell. Before Andre Harrell, he was dancing in videos, in Albie Shore videos or whatever videos he was dancing in. And there are processes that people have gone through before you get to that point of being a CEO. And I think for what I ultimately became, I went through the right process. I think if I'd have gone, you know, one of the things Jimmy told me, because Jimmy wanted to sign me as well.

1:29:56I forgot to mention that. And he said, listen, you know, I'll give you anything you want. But what I want from you is to be self-contained. if you're going to come to Interscope, it's because you're going to be death row. You know, you're going to be aftermath. You know, you are going to do your own thing and I'm just going to support you. And yeah, that sounds great. But I was 18, 19. I had never even been in the studio. I'd gone in the studio one time and the beat was over here and I was over there. You know, no lies told. Don Poole, you ask me about that. the next time you go to Brooklyn Chop House.

1:30:38So not to say that it couldn't have worked with Def Jam or Interscope, but in the immortal words of Kanye, I guess we'll never know, right? But I felt the need. I went back after, you know, buying out the whole Iceberg store in Beverly Hills. We went back on and living in the peninsula for weeks and driving the 600. We went back to New York. me a guy by the name of Eric Nix that was working for Violator Death Jam and I was living in the St. Regis. I was going to, they were waiting to close the deal. I would go to John McNeil every week or at least a few times a week just to keep getting money while they're waiting to close the deal because that's how bad they wanted me.

1:31:22I'm living in the St. Regis and I just wake up one day and I call Mark Pitts and I'm like, yo, let's sign a deal with Puff. And again, remember I'm not pressed I left the the mega mansion I left you know whatever off he had on the table and puff was puff and this is before hard knock life is dark and hell is hot and forever came out and he went flat on his face this was before that uh this was him at that was that was That was a cheap shot. No, I'm just... You said he fell flat on his face. No, come on. After forever, that was it. It was bad boy with cold. Come on. What happened after that? Come on.

1:32:06Black Rob? Black Rob happened after that. G-Dep? G-Dep? No, Black Rob and G-Dep and them ain't come out yet. That's what I'm saying. They had a resurgence. They had a resurgence. Sir, sir, sir. What year are you talking about? This is 98, sir. 98, yeah, yeah. For ever came out in 98. You know what? Now, this is crazy. Depp ain't come until 2001. Rob, Robby O, God bless his soul, ain't come out until 2000. I think his album came out after my album came out. All fairness, all fairness. Come on. So I'm talking from 98 until Bad Boys comes out and Woe come out. Yeah. Puff and Bad Boys, Cole. Nothing is happening.

1:32:45Define Cole because he has number one records. R &B? You have R &B artists? No, the number one, Public Enemy number one was a number one record. Bruh. Godzilla was a number four record. I don't think they're great songs. That's not hot. We talking about - I didn't think it was hot. You don't go from No Way Out to Forever. Come on. The Forever album, yes. All right, I'll give you that. So when you came out, Bad Boy was - We brought - I brought Bad Boy back? Bad Boy back. Yeah, me and Robbie O. Those things - That's true. Rest in peace to Robbie O. That is true. Don't get me wrong. Don't get me wrong.

1:33:11Let me correct the record because, yes, Total was hot. 112 was still hot. 112 was hot. So I take - Carl Thomas is getting hot. Carl Thomas. Yeah, so see it. Carl is bringing him back. That's on the R &B. Yes, yes. So he stayed hot on the R &B, respectfully. So let me correct that. He stayed hot on the R &B, but it wasn't the, it wasn't, remember him. His claim to fame is life after death, no way out, Harlem world. That's the claim to fame. So if you're not there, then you're not anywhere, right? But respectfully, Faith was still hot. Yes. Faith was still hot. Total was still hot. 112 was still hot, respectfully.

1:33:52and then Carl Thomas. Carl Thomas really brought, really, really took it like. And the year you're talking about, for sure. Yeah. Summer Rain. No, before Summer Rain. I wish I never met her. Did you know, I'm about to give it to you, did you know I was on the remix? Yes. I heard it. I heard it. Here's the thing. Here's the thing. With LL and Prodigy. No, that's the faith joint. That's the faith joint. We never saw you. Here's the people. What song is that? That's a capital S, capital H. capital Y capital N that's that's that's that's my little sister from Oakland that's Keisha Cole Keisha Cole yeah that's Keisha Cole but you are on the Faith and Carl Thomas joint when they did the video you wasn't in the video yeah that's because you know yeah yeah yeah because I was telling the truth so I didn't even get my Grammy that's a fact nomination for that here's a crazy part people not gonna remember this yeah we heard about you before we ever saw you yeah I think the first time I see you and maybe I could be wrong the first public appearance I ever saw you on was like TRL and that was because they had just signed you and they brought you up there and I was like everybody was like oh that's him?

1:34:59Am I off on this? Well I definitely had the buzz You had the buzz The buzz was there Everybody heard about you It was before social media That's what I'm saying We never saw him Remember everyone was trying to sign me so I was buzzing from the door Ben Wall was incredible and yeah so it was incredible buzz yeah it was incredible buzz I was moving I was moving like a superstar out the gate you know like I was folklore I was you know 600 you know leave the 600 there door open come back and get in the next morning you know Gucci Park I was in Gucci everyday you know the platinum rollie first person to buy the the Audemars Piquet introduced Audemars to the hip hop world Ask Jacob the Jeweler No Lies Told Nobody else was buying APs I was the first one, I bought the titanium AP from him, ask him He can correct me, no one was wearing AP in 98 No one in hip hop At least, so yeah, I was on You know, Alpo Without Being a Snitch, Rich Porter Yeah, AZ You know, Frank Matthews From Brooklyn Harry O Harry O you know his was interesting I was on it it didn't dawn to me so a lot of that had the buzz right I was running around with the big comparisons hold on I was running around with the pop divas rap divas don't forget that part no I'm just telling you so you gotta paint the picture for him it was a lot it was a lot with the big comparisons hold on so then when we so then when I was going in the studio when i was going you know bottles and bottles of cristal everywhere i go and so now when i got into the studio the music wasn't sounding the way it was supposed to sound and that's where the comparisons came in because i was doing the most the whole year 98 um you know being a superstar but not putting in superstar work in the studio to get superstar material and so when I did go in there um you know records were getting leaked uh because I had built up you know so much anticipation some would say you know animosity because as I said I was you know taking the way the CEO's girl ended up becoming his baby mother respectfully.

1:37:40She was incredible like you had to be there. So there was a lot of there was a lot of negative energy like who does this guy think he is? Yeah, it was a lot of that. Just came out the gate or something. And as I was saying And you was like a one man army too. That was the time when everybody had the crew. Yeah, I didn't have a crew. You was by yourself. And listen, you hear the baritone it's 28 years it's 1997 it's 29 years I never thought you sound like like Gorilla Black sounds like big the baritone has not changed but I believe what happens is as I said I was doing the most so I wasn't on my superstar performance level hadn't had much experience in the studio so as you're getting in there you're not performing at high level one.

1:38:37So the records weren't the hit records that you heard on the Shine album. Definitely nowhere close to there, right? One. Number two, whenever you hear someone new or see someone new in the NBA or anywhere. You compare them. You have, that's what we do. And it's the same label. Right? When we saw Kobe, we were like Michael Jordan. Yeah. But then Kobe ended up being Kobe and now we see other players and we like, yeah, he reminds me of Kobe. Right? Maybe not the best analogy, but it's some, you know, unfortunate for how things turned out with this gentleman. But there was a time where he was like one of the goats and surpassed the person he was compared to.

1:39:21And that's R. Kelly, who was compared to Aaron Hall. Yes. I know when, I remember when he first came out, you know a lot of people felt that he was you know there was an Aaron Hall that's a fact and then R. Kelly became you know one of the best musicians ever right regardless of the things that he's away for right now respectfully the victims pray for them pray for him yeah let's not forget so I'm just saying for me I'm always me I'm always him so what that did is it inspired me to get myself together so when the stuff leaked I was getting the feedback you know yeah and everybody you know prof everybody that was 2001 so hold on so I'm swiping sniping the CEOs girl then hold on then now you gotta chill you gotta chill yo where'd it go left where'd it go But I'm tying it in because then now the feedback is negative.

1:40:33So then he's like, yeah, don't put him in the studio. Nobody's feeling him. We're about to shelf him. Right. I'm just trying to show you how it ties in. Right. So then Barrington Levy. No, hold on. Before we get there, before we get there, that's why I don't, you know, I'm always grateful. And when I talk about people, it's always with love. And I always have to give Brandy the credit for getting me right because we had a situation with her and a rap superstar female and they had an argument relating to Shine. And this was like the end of 98. Like I said, I was doing the most. I was not focused, not performing top tier in the studio.

1:41:24no hits whole year passed by and my hits I have a greatest hits but it's not the greatest hits in the studio it's another greatest hits right and so and so Brandy is like after the argument with the rap superstar female she calls me and she's like from Brooklyn my guy I mean while you're at it damn my guy you're doing the most my guy this guy is over you want to tell me pull back now pull back you want to tell me to chill on the CEO nah pull back man you want to tell me to chill on the CEO but then you want to do the most investigative journalist Rob Rob I'm starting to think there's a bias there Rob no no no we can't do that we can't do that there's that there's that upper New York bias there there's that Mount Vernon bias there Rob 914 forever anyway but back to Brandy and me giving her her flowers yes right because Because as I've always put on the record, I admired her.

1:42:28Meeting her was a dream come true. I had the biggest crush on her. And just having been able to be invited into her world and spend time with her was one of the greatest things that ever happened for me. But when she checked me and told me, like, yo, you're wild. And you know who I am. You can't be treating me however you think you could treat me. you're nobody like you haven't sold one record stone like because i couldn't i couldn't say what could i say what could what could i say yeah you had to get in the booth what could i say i was like i'll make a hit i was like say less okay you know all right you're right you're right so that was the motivation?

1:43:17Nothing devastated me more than that. I mean, but you know, obviously the record label not putting me back in the booth, you know, because, you know, the CEO, he's feeling a certain type of way. It's a lot happening. But you obviously reconnected with him. This is my point. After that, once she, once that exchange happened, I was like, nobody's ever going to talk to me like this again. I'm going to have hit records I'm going to sell millions of records I'm going to be the superstar that I came here to be and that's starting now and I was like at the end of December right around New Year's and I you know stopped going out started going in the gym Hey Ernest what's up one thing we always say on this show is you've got to be intentional with your money Because it's not just about how much you make, it's about how you manage what you spend.

1:44:17Exactly. That's why tools like Klarna are interesting. It gives you flexibility when you're making purchases. When you're checking out, you can decide how you want to pay, whether that's paying right away or spreading payments over time depending on what works for you. Everything's organized in Klarna app, so you can track your spending in one place. And when you shop through the app, you can find deals and earn cash back with participating partners. Download the Cloner app today or visit cloner.com to learn more. California resident loans made or arranged pursuant to a California finance law license.

1:44:53NMLS number 1353190. Cloner balance account required to be eligible for cash back points. Limitations, terms, and conditions to buy. at Oppenheimer we're proven because we're grounded in discipline for 145 years we've been building and protecting wealth through every market cycle with precision clarity and the courage to think boldly beyond the moment this is what market tested legacy looks like for this generation and the next put the power of Oppenheimer thinking to work for you wealth management Capital Markets Investment Banking.

1:46:23We'll see you next time. purposes only and is not an investment recommendation or advice. Complete disclosures available at public.com slash disclosures. Hello, it is Ryan and we could all use an extra bright spot in our day, couldn't we? Just to make up for things like sitting in traffic, doing the dishes, counting your steps, you know, all the mundane stuff. That is why I'm such a big fan of Chumba Casino. Chumba Casino has all your favorite social casino style games that you can play for free anytime, anywhere with daily bonuses. So sign up now at ChumbaCasino.com. That's ChumbaCasino.com. No purchase necessary.

1:46:59VGW group void. We're prohibited by law. 21 plus terms and conditions apply. Discover a spectacular island destination with crystal blue seas, endless sunshine, and the cool Bahamian breeze. Baja Mar, located in Nassau, Bahamas, offers your choice of three luxury hotels, over 45 fine dining and nightlife venues, John Batiste's all-new Jazz Club, the Caribbean's most luxurious casino, and one-of-a-kind experiences for the entire family. like our 15-acre tropical water park, wildlife sanctuary, world-class golf course, and so much more. Visit Bahamar.com today. And I found Puff as soon as the new year was over and made amends, and I was like, listen, I need the Holy Grail.

1:47:39I need the instruction manual. I need all the secrets so that we can make this classic album, and I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure that I realize my full potential. And I started in January 99. And that's how we got the bad boys because I was shadowing him. I was on my understudy protege mode. And that's all I was doing, right? That's how I got on sitting, sitting at home. We did the sitting at home record. That was really my first set off where, you know, the label felt that that was, that was, that I delivered. because one thing, you know, I give Puff, you know, he's harsh when it comes to if it's great and if it's not.

1:48:32And then with all the criticisms that we were getting because of what was being leaked, he was like, listen, we're not putting anything out unless it's undeniable. And so they thought that the sitting at home was undeniable and they were banging that in the club. And then I did the, I think I did a 112, the 112 remix. I forgot the name of it, but I did a 112 remix that was hitting as well. And so there was the buildup. And then in August of 99, I got the beat for Bad Boys in the Hamptons. We were in the Hamptons, maybe it was a little bit before August, because we were still finishing Forever.

1:49:17So maybe it was July, right? Because Forever came out in August. So we were still finishing up July. Maybe it was even June. Maybe it was before August. It was June. For some reason, I remember August. Maybe we were coming back. Maybe we'd already put out Forever and he was still working on music. But we were working on music along with Junior Mafia and a bunch of, I think the locks were out. Everybody was out there in the Hamptons working on music for Puff. and that's when he gave me the EZLP beat and he was like if you body this beat you're out of here this is it right here this is your moment you did the remix you write I remember I had oh I was on the Forever album as well I was on the reverse track and I wrote the remix for PE for him and yeah like I was the momentum you could tell in 99 the momentum was building I did that guy in um in the UK I forgot his name he's where everybody goes to freestyle and to go on his show he's a big uh radio host Tim Westwood Tim Westwood yeah that freestyle it was incredible if I do say so myself but um yeah and uh and I went in and I and I I did the most with Bad Boy I you know can I ask you this though because at the time the time period you're talking about that's August 99 I mean even to recently when I saw you with Cam and Mace I was like damn I never really thought about how your relationship was right like you and Mace because at the time he is the superstar that is carrying the torch outside of Puff at the time and then you're the next superstar but your time's kind of did they cross paths or did like did y 'all have a relationship at the time like the story you told i was like i didn't even know that they was cool you know that's that was my guy he um initially obviously the the brandy thing happened so there was you know a little uh confusion if you will but him and i um became close because remember i was on the second album uh but that was as a result of, you know, us connecting.

1:51:36And as he said, you know, he definitely gave me the information and the manual as to his experiences and what he went through and things that I needed to avoid and how to deal with the system and how to make it to the superstar level. We definitely haul them together you know definitely you know his guys were my guys huddy god bless his soul huddy's one of the people that really um solidified the poe name because you know he's from harlem and they like i said my the way that i moved they felt that i gave him that poe vibe but i have to give it to like a an executive who was my friend um tracy waypools along with another executive Rhonda Cohen you know I think Tracy she was at Def Jam then went to Sony Rhonda was at Def Jam as well and they were like you know sisters but they knew Alpo so you know they used to be like you look like him you act like him but I didn't snitch like him so but anyway for the record for the record but me and Mace yeah me and Mace we definitely you know he definitely was a brother he definitely you know before he left and even after he left you know I would see him I guess when we would go to Atlanta because remember he hadn't left yet I think he left after the Double Up album let me ask you this because I feel like InvestFest was almost like a bad boy reunion backstage we had Puff obviously he was the headliner you was there Loon shout out to the brother Amir y 'all was speaking you spoke with it seemed like it was a good I remember I put you on FaceTime actually I felt like that was a good you was in a good space with him where did it where did it go wrong like as far as because obviously you had the issues it seemed like that had been made whole y 'all were in a good space and then shortly after that was his downfall and everything fell apart for him but now it seems like you're not in a good space with him?

1:53:53When did it fall apart? It's not, for me, a matter of not being in a good space necessarily because I'm not in a space at all. I'm always focused on what I'm doing. However, when media pundits ask me questions, I have to answer truthfully. and how I got to a truth where I mentioned how I feel based on what was historically factual. So the questions are, what do you think about the woman who says puff shatter and it wasn't you? then it's like yeah well I've been saying that so what am I supposed to do uh because we reconcile I'm supposed to rewrite history I'm not the one that you know came forward after all these years and said no it wasn't China shot me it's Puff that shot me and for the record I could show you email after email, NBC, New York Times, TMZ, everyone asking me to comment.

1:55:15And I declined comment. But then there's sensationalist journalists here and there in Belize that as the leader of the opposition, that should have nothing to do with me being the leader of the opposition. But they try to bring that. They try to bring it up. Yeah. To try to to try to draw me. He's a thug. Right. Or just to, you know, just just whatever it is whatever their same resume is and then for me i'm about transparency and this is not cuba uh journalists can ask you what they want to ask you no matter how off uh it is and and unlike some leaders that'll tell you stick to the script i'm you know i'll i i don't want to run away and i never want to take away a journalist's freedom to ask what they want to ask and and as a matter of historical fact I had always maintained that I didn't shoot those people that I was defending myself that the bullet fragments weren't mine because they never took the fragments out so that's how we get to talking about uh Puff it's never me going from being in a good space to a bad space but I will tell so that's where it started started there uh then there was a lawsuit from Cassie and to tell you instinctively initially I felt sorry for him I felt that he was under attack and this might have been some systematic orchestration to destroy another icon the way they did Michael Jackson and the way that they've done uh to our icons past instinctively that's how I felt.

1:56:52That's the record. But then when the Little Rod lawsuit came, I'm just, I'm I can only give you my truth. You could laugh, right? But Little Rod I'm not laughing. No, but Little Rod made made the Love album. Which is one of the greatest albums. I can't listen to it right now because of the Tiana Taylor record we can listen to. I can't listen to nothing, man. That's why I didn't watch the Diddy documentary. Fair enough. Respect the 50. But Lil Rod just went too far, though. Hold on, man. Let me tell my story. What I'm saying is we don't know what the truth is. I don't. All we know is what people's truth are.

1:57:32Nobody wanted to believe me at a point. People thought that I was capping, that I was being the bitter, you know, rapper, that it's not Puff's fault. It's your fault. And come on, we all know what happened. So the Lil Rod story changed it for you? Hold on. Okay. I can only deal with what spoke to me, right? And I mean, listen, man, I don't want to get into nobody's orientation. People's intimate lives don't matter to me. But when Little Rod says that Puff says that he shot up the club and he made Sean take the fall, that struck a nerve. And if you watch when me and Mace were talking. It's triggering.

1:58:14We both, me and Mace both agree that, yeah, that's something that Puff would do when he off that pink, that pink cocaine or whatever it is that he does. Yeah. Right. Yeah. He'll get to talking and get. And I'm like, right. I'm like, no. Like, really? That's what you out here doing? like 10 years behind the wall, 13 years deported, lost my career, lost everything. I would have been a billionaire. People like to talk about what this one would have been and that one would have been if I would have gotten all those years out here after Shine album, Godfather Buried Alive album, right? Yeah. So let's not rewrite history.

1:59:02So when people say, well, you was on stage with him. Well, yeah, because I moved on and I recreated myself. I resurrected myself and I had my own success in political leadership. And I let that go. But then when everything is coming, the lady saying that, yeah, Puff shot her. I seen him shoot me. It wasn't shine. All right. Yeah, OK. Cassie. All right. Yeah, OK. Then now a little Rod. Like, come on. That's a lot. That's true. And I actually talked to him. He hit me like, yo, I'm like, well, what are you? I'm not saying anything that's not true. I always felt that way. I've always maintained how I felt.

1:59:46I just decided to put it past me because I need to move forward. And even right now, if you didn't ask, listen, I did. I guess I can't say what a media it is on your media. You can. Yeah, it's okay. Well, I was on BET yesterday. uh what's the what's uh rodney what's the lady's name from uh bt all right so respect to mia bell she's from hot 97 she interviewed me for bt and we didn't talk about this and we could have kept going i'm just saying if you if you don't bring it up i won't talk about it so it's not that shine is out here um you know going from when we were in a good space to now it seems like we're in a bad I don't care to talk about it but if if you ask the question no it's an explanation it's an explanation information I feel that I that I have to share but um you know I'm in such a great place right now I pray for Cassie I pray for those people for little rod for everyone because respectfully to Alex who made the documentary and to 50 who supported her.

2:00:54I'm not going to be the one to disbelieve anyone because I remember what it was like for people not to believe my truth when everybody knew that I was thrown under the bus and I was the fall guy. But notwithstanding, I also pray for Puff. I pray that he is able to reform, rehabilitate, and ultimately have his redemption return to the streets to be a father to his children and to do whatever it is that he can to make amends for the damage and the destruction that he caused. Hey, Ernest, what's going on? We always talk about using tools that help you stay in control of your money. Klarner is one of those tools.

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2:04:41I want to talk about you, man. Yeah. I want to talk about May 2nd. I want to talk about coming back to Brooklyn, being in Brooklyn, celebrating 25 years of the self-titled album, Shine. I mean, what does this moment feel like for you, man? This moment, I'm so elated. it's so surreal, everything that is happening right now. I say that, you know, God is the ultimate screenplay writer. He's the ultimate director. He's definitely created a movie for me, a motion picture, that I just, I couldn't imagine it all happening the way that it's happening. You know, I always say to God when I pray that I've suffered for so many years, all those years in captivity.

2:05:33And then being deported, as much as I loved Belize, we got to make sure we talk about Belize, what we're going to do with Brooklyn Chop House, the resorts, investment opportunities there. We need to do InvestFest in Belize. I've been telling y 'all that for years. But yeah, I always say to God when I pray that I was deported for all those years. As much as I love Belize and its paradise, is not about not wanting to be in Belize, but as an entrepreneur, as someone who had such a vast portfolio and such great opportunities in the United States to not be able to travel here, to do my business, to continue to pursue my dreams and my professional life was devastating.

2:06:19That was another sentence. Yeah, I could imagine. I could be depressing. Um, I, you know, it was tough. Uh, so, but I would say to God, fine, it's my journey, my price of admission for now what you see happening. Right? So when I get the grace of Dr. Dre and RZA and Timbaland and Swiss and all these and Hit Boy and Boy Wonder and all these incredible people that I want to work with in polo. That's what I prayed for that will let the next 30 years be, you know, a trillion times better, better than the past. bad to suffer. And so when you see these things happening, I prayed for this. I prayed for this.

2:07:12And so that's what this moment on May 2nd, because they're going to be an entire tour of the United States, of Europe, of UK, Africa, Latin America, Asia, the Caribbean. That's what I prayed for. This is a celebration of triumph, of resilience, of old Poe, new Poe. It's a celebration in totality because those people that love me, those people that have been with me since I was a 19-year-old child, they've grown up too. Some of them, some Gen Zs are just getting on to it. Like this kid, Rockstar, right? He's a young Caribbean kid. He's Barbadian and Trinidadian. And he knew bad boys. And so he was playing some music.

2:08:06I was like, man, I need to let you hear the album. And when he heard the Shine album, he fell out. When he heard the Godfather Buried Alive album, he was floored. The point I'm making is there are people that love Shine Shine and they never got a chance to have this celebration and that's what this is going to be a Worldwide celebration starting in Brooklyn of the legacy Of shine can they get tickets? I think there's still some tickets left go to shine underscore BZ and Press the link in my bio Yeah, and get your tickets before they're gone before we leave talk about Belize, your country that you love so much.

2:08:52You're always a great patriot for the country. I know Jay Prince got, what does he got, like a little island? His real estate portfolio is expanding rapidly. He started off with one island. Now that island is fully developed. He's developing another island in Amberguer's Key, what we call San Pedro in Belize. he bought thousands of acres of farmland i think last year uh the year before that he bought uh a mega mansion that's in like the jungle river vibe is his real estate portfolio is is exceptional so yeah he's down there uh and and that's the direction that i'm going so uh you know i'm finalizing uh several uh partnerships uh to do the same thing but more on the development side whereas he's doing some development i think the farmland is is for him personally he's big on that i think the jungle mega mansion is again another place that you know he may like to go um and even the the the island it's like where he goes for for for new year's eve right um but for me i want to develop things like that more for consumption of the tourists, right?

2:10:20So I want to create a river experience, a high lux river experience, jungle experience, high lux beach experience. And so, you know, the first places I'm going is San Pedro and Plasencia. So we're going to build five-star resorts, Brooklyn Chop House restaurants, yeah, tourism shops, yeah. When can we go to Belize? I gave you an invitation. No, but I want to go when you're there. Like, I gotta go, like, you know, I gotta get the full experience. Yeah, we just gotta coordinate. I'm going back home next week, but I'll only be there for Easter. What's big? Like, what's a big day? Do they have carnival?

2:11:08Yeah, maybe they should come for carnival because I definitely, I should have breaks around there from the tour. So, yeah, September is a great time to come because that is our most important month, most important days of the calendar because we have September 10th, which is the Battle of St. George's Key Day, which is when we defeated the Spaniards along with the British. So the enslaved Africans along with the British enslavers came together and we defeated the Spaniards. And then September 21st is our Independence Day. so we celebrate I believe 45 this year and my other political hero which is George Price he was the first Prime Minister first premier of Belize and he led us to our independence and then Carnival is in between that which is like I think the seventh it's the second week of September so I think it's right before well I think it's either right before they do it depends how it falls usually falls on a Saturday.

2:12:23So it's like the Saturday before September 10th because we do it September 10th on September 10th, but I think we do Carnival first week of September. So that'd be a great time. And that's the only country in Central America that speaks English, right? Yeah. Remember, we are a part of Central Latin America as well as a part of the Caracupian nations. Yeah. So we're... But you're on the Central America. Yes, we are literally, we land border Mexico and Guatemala and the Bay of Honduras. Yeah. No, we should definitely go. It's after InvestFest. Yeah, be a nice get-up. You know, and there's so much.

2:13:08There's so much. Look at some real estate. So much to look at as far as real estate investment, agricultural opportunities there. But tourism, tourism is really the safe. So we're going to watch this. speeches is a one a one and again every time i do interviews such as this these projects that i have coming out uh you know they're all being used as a vehicle to promote and market belize so now is a great time to get in because by god's grace i'm going to be extremely successful with the film projects with the music projects with the touring with everything that i'm doing the memoir we talked about the memoir uh yeah uh and and so everything that i do uh with my partners uh who are going to be some of the biggest distributors uh biggest publishers in the world uh is all going to be at the highest level and i'm going to use it all to put a spotlight on belize so now's a good time to get in is the tour coming to belize uh yeah when we do the caribbean okay my last question is you know people that speak spanish they say that like when you whatever language you dream in that's like the dominant language so you speak English and Spanish you you dream in English that's when you know you've officially made the switch over and you're like a full-time okay Brooklyn and Belize when you dream you dream in Brooklyn like what's your because you you speak you speak how you're talking now but I know you speak the Patois you walk both sides of the street Brooklyn Vietnam and then you, you know.

2:14:38Broken Vietnam. I know you, I know it's both, but what's that, what's that, like, what's the one that's like? Unquestionably Belize. Okay. It will always be Belize first. Okay. Yes. Everything Belize, but I don't, you know, it's a, it was a very, very tricky question to put it on. Because I am so, I am so transcendental and and and I am just I'm I'm me in totality because uh Belize birth me and Belize is my everything um you know but but it's like uh when God created man and woman if you you know you read it it says that you know the wind had something to do with it the earth had something to do with it you know uh the water had something to do with it like God went to all of them and said, you know, I'm going to create this, this, you know, human being.

2:15:38You know, I want y 'all to be a part of it. You know, that's, you know, you read that in the Quran and you read that in the Bible and the Torah. So that's how I look at myself. Right. But definitely is Belize. And then, yes, Brooklyn, Brooklyn definitely played a part, a massive part. New York played a part. But then, listen, I'm in California. When you hear that hit boy California bop. Going back to Cali vibes? Going back to Cali? Oh, I forgot Jermaine. How can I forget Jermaine Dupree? I got the list. Oh, JD, you cooked up with him? Oh, come on. Love to see who you didn't mention. I was one of the first people You got to say you got the all-star.

2:16:15You didn't mention Khalid, but obviously we see you with Khalid a lot. Well, Khalid, he's not a producer, though. What you mean? He produces? Yeah, he make records. He makes records? Yeah, he produces records. Yeah, he produces records. Come on, let's not get it. No, no, that's my scene. I'm trying to keep us safe, man. He want to spare the CEO, but then you want to play my guy, Caller. No, no, we're not going to Caller. Shout out to Caller. Shout out to Caller. You didn't say Mustard. Mustard on the beat. Mustard on the beat. Mustard is incredible, right? But like, Mustard is like, I think he's like.

2:16:52Out of here. But I did hit him. Because he's on your list. He wasn't on my list. No, I got this from you. I did send you that list? It's on your IG page. But Mus is on there. Nah. We can make some calls. Oh, I put him on the list? Yeah. Yeah. He wasn't on the list. No, I'm not going to lie to you. I'm never going to be this other. He wasn't on my initial list. I'm not going to lie to you. But then after the fact, I was like, yeah. Nah, he's having a hell of a year. I did hit him. But then the reason, maybe the reason I didn't put him on my list initially, because like I feel like he's so it's like it's so obvious that I would go there right yeah because he's out of here yeah he is right and then after that I said you know what it shouldn't be I shouldn't discriminate because he's so gone and it seems that he's on another planet right now you know what yeah a shot of mustard might you know might actually happen I like that I will say this man I've told you this personally when we first met that huge fan.

2:17:57I think people who've known me since I was a teenager know like, you're my guy. Like there's a couple people that you're one of my guys and they always tell you you shouldn't meet the people that you admire because it'll go terribly wrong for you. I will say that it's been the complete opposite. I said that you've been a good brother to us. Thank you. You've landed your time, your service, and your intellect. So I appreciate it, man. I appreciate this. Thank you. Yeah, yeah. Sean, my brother, get your tickets. Kingsteader, this show will sell out. Special guest alert. There will be some special guests.

2:18:28We can't tell you all that. We can't tell you, but just know. John underscore BZ. Get your tickets. Brooklyn alone. It should sell out just in Brooklyn alone. Yeah. That's easy. All right, guys. Thank you for rocking us. We'll see you next week. Peace. Peace. Hey, Ernest. What's up? One thing we always say on this show is you've got to be intentional with your money. Because it's not just about how much you make. It's about how you manage what you spend. Exactly. That's why tools like Klana are interesting. It gives you flexibility when you're making purchases. When you're checking out, you can decide how you want to pay, whether that's paying right away or spreading payments over time, depending on what works for you.

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