In short
Ice-T discusses his transition from West Coast gangster rap to acting, including how he got cast in New Jack City as a cop, plus the backlash and label fallout around his Body Count song “Cop Killer.” He also reflects on navigating gang politics without joining a gang, and how he later pivoted his career after controversy.
Guests
Ice-T (rapper/actor; born in Newark, NJ; orphaned young; moved to LA; attended Palms junior high and later Crenshaw High; says he “survived Los Angeles” by staying out of gangs while navigating gang dynamics; formed Body Count with Ernie C; played a cop in New Jack City; later appeared in films like Ricochet, Surviving the Game, and Johnny Mnemonic; hosted/appears in TV including Law & Order: SVU for 28 years). Other voices include Rob Markman (interviewer/host) and co-hosts referenced in the show’s intro/outro segments.
Key claims
“Colors” was created after Ice-T negotiated to see the film and then worked with Africa Islam to make the theme song. He says he never joined a gang, avoided being targeted by “players” status and “gift of gab,” and learned “checking in” between territories. For “Cop Killer,” he claims police unions, Texas fraternal order of police, and politicians condemned it; Warner Bros/MTV backlash followed after the president (George H.W. Bush) mentioned him.
Notable examples
the bathroom comment that led Mario Van Peebles to cast him; his undercover scenes next to Nino Brown in New Jack City; an ad-lib line during the fight scene; “Cop Killer” being triggered by police brutality; Warner Bros meeting where executives told him he was “a speck” on the Time Warner quarter.
Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.
Chapters
Tap a time to open that second in VOIce-T's Legacy and Impact
1:13 to 6:13
A discussion on Ice-T's career, music, and experiences in LA.
“And together, we host the NFL Fantasy Football Show.”
The Colors Phenomenon
6:13 to 14:00
Ice-T shares insights on his iconic track 'Colors' and its cultural significance.
“Like for me, I'm going to go back to one of our favorite movies, me and 50.”
The Evolution of Gangsta Rap
14:00 to 16:13
Explore the origins and evolution of gangsta rap and Ice-T's role in it.
“Like where New York niggas was tapping in with y 'all, right?”
The Evolution of Gangsta Rap
16:57 to 17:12
Explore the origins and evolution of gangsta rap and Ice-T's role in it.
Ice-T's Role in New Jack City
18:51 to 24:00
Ice-T shares his experience being cast in New Jack City and the context behind it.
“Now the East Coast is like, oh shit, Ice-T is in fucking New Jack City.”
Behind the Scenes of New Jack City
24:01 to 29:20
Delve into Ice-T's experiences on set and his thoughts on acting alongside other stars.
“know, you got Nino Brown, Wesley Snipes, you got G Money in there.”
The Challenge of Breaking Into Acting
29:20 to 31:01
Ice-T discusses his transition from music to acting and the initial struggles he faced.
“Rob Markman, and it's crazy because I'm expecting you to have like a Wex Coos like, what up cuz?”
The Impact of 'Cop Killer'
31:01 to 32:29
Ice-T reflects on the backlash he received after releasing 'Cop Killer' and its cultural significance.
“I got paid scale, but I was in no place to negotiate.”
The Impact of 'Cop Killer'
32:31 to 32:50
Ice-T reflects on the backlash he received after releasing 'Cop Killer' and its cultural significance.
“Me, I'm going with the beard growth for fuller, thicker hair.”
The Controversy of 'Cop Killer'
33:04 to 34:11
Ice-T elaborates on the events surrounding the release of 'Cop Killer' and the reactions from various figures.
“You got dropped from your label, I think.”
Show all 38 chapters
Facing Presidential Backlash
34:11 to 35:59
Ice-T recounts how President Bush publicly addressed him and the implications of this publicity.
“And I had a nice little tune called Cop Killer.”
Navigating Industry Challenges
35:59 to 37:34
Ice-T discusses the complexities of the music industry and his experience with Warner Brothers.
“Now, very few people will know what it's like to have a president, a real president, say your name in anger.”
Integrity vs. Commercial Success
37:34 to 38:58
Ice-T reflects on his decision to leave Warner Brothers to maintain his artistic integrity.
“You know, you could be out just having dinner and you run into someone.”
The Evolution of Hip-Hop and Controversy
38:58 to 42:01
Ice-T discusses the evolution of hip-hop and how societal perceptions influence its acceptance.
“I said, let me go because my integrity is more important.”
The Backlash of 'Cop Killer' and Gangster Rap
42:01 to 43:40
Ice-T discusses the backlash from his controversial song 'Cop Killer' and the perception of gangster rap among different demographics.
“The guy that stood behind me was the head of Time Warner at the time.”
The Backlash of 'Cop Killer' and Gangster Rap
44:31 to 44:41
Ice-T discusses the backlash from his controversial song 'Cop Killer' and the perception of gangster rap among different demographics.
Ice-T's Journey in Hollywood and Law & Order
45:21 to 54:46
Ice-T reflects on his transition from music to acting and his long tenure on 'Law & Order'.
“And this is Joe McCormick, and we're the hosts of the Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcast.”
The Hustler Mentality: Adaptation and Survival
54:47 to 56:00
Ice-T shares insights on the hustler mentality, adaptation in the face of challenges, and staying relevant in the entertainment industry.
“Now you told me back then you only - 28 years.”
Ice-T Reflects on 28 Years of Law & Order
56:00 to 58:00
Ice-T discusses his long tenure on Law & Order and the reactions from his peers.
“And I was like, I don't really fit in with that.”
The Hustle Mentality
58:00 to 1:00:02
Ice-T shares insights on hustle, success, and how he maintains his integrity.
“Dick Wolf did Law & Order, General Hospital.”
Love for Cars and Collecting
1:00:02 to 1:02:35
Ice-T talks about his passion for cars and his collection over the years.
“But now I watch the music kind of come around.”
Navigating the Music Industry
1:02:35 to 1:06:35
Ice-T critiques the streaming model and discusses selling music directly to fans.
“You know, the Ryan Pace album cover, I had a Turbo Porsche slant nose on that cover.”
Understanding Criminal Migraines
1:06:35 to 1:09:59
Ice-T explains the concept of a 'criminal migraine' and its relevance in life choices.
“Yeah, so you go to.com and say, okay, come over there, stream.”
Thug Life and Elevation
1:10:01 to 1:11:41
Ice-T discusses the idea of hustling and the importance of elevating oneself beyond a thug mentality.
“Like, I'm like, get some clothes, nigga.”
Acting with Denzel Washington
1:11:42 to 1:13:04
Ice-T shares his experience acting alongside Denzel Washington and the lessons he learned about acting.
“If Fifth wants to go to war, Ice is going to say, let's do it this way.”
The Art of Acting and Music
1:13:05 to 1:14:56
Ice-T reflects on the relationship between acting and music, emphasizing the importance of cadence and learning from others.
“Like I seen Jay-Z rap and I was like, wow.”
The Value of Authenticity
1:14:57 to 1:16:46
Ice-T explains how authenticity in acting and music is crucial for making an impact.
“So I know they're going to have a season four.”
Rapper Solidarity and Influence
1:16:47 to 1:19:04
Ice-T talks about the camaraderie among rappers and his experiences with notable figures in hip-hop.
“If you don't put anything special on it, and you don't try to, you can't help it, then you become a character actor.”
Rapper Solidarity and Influence
1:21:25 to 1:21:49
Ice-T talks about the camaraderie among rappers and his experiences with notable figures in hip-hop.
“That's a sign you've got to get T-Mobile.”
Tour Stories and Memories
1:22:29 to 1:24:00
Ice-T shares memorable stories from his tours, including his experiences with NWA and Eazy-E.
“And we're the hosts of the Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcast.”
Ice-T's Wild Tour Stories and Album Covers
1:24:00 to 1:34:23
Ice-T shares memorable tour experiences and discusses the significance of his album covers.
“What's one of your craziest tour stories?”
Ice-T's Wild Tour Stories and Album Covers
1:38:42 to 1:38:53
Ice-T shares memorable tour experiences and discusses the significance of his album covers.
“Fastest based on analysis by Uklah Speed Test Intelligence Data of National Speed Score Results, incorporating 5G download and upload speeds for the first half of 2026.”
Influences and Inspirations in Hip-Hop
1:40:32 to 1:43:19
Ice-T shares his journey and the artists that inspired him as a rapper.
“Number two is, I got to ask you, your top five that motivated you on the West Coast before you came out or before you was on that we might not know, or your top five on the East Coast that you was feeling?”
Gangsta Rap and Its Evolution
1:43:20 to 1:46:01
Discussion on the origins and evolution of gangsta rap in the music industry.
“Well, then I guess I'm the original gangster.”
Tributes to Influential Artists
1:46:02 to 1:47:47
Ice-T reflects on influential rappers and their impact on hip-hop culture.
“Like, we all knew how to rap, that nigga knew how to flow.”
Personal Reflections on Success
1:47:48 to 1:52:00
Ice-T discusses personal success, competition, and staying true to oneself.
“And niggas want to sit back and talk about it like it's sports.”
Ice-T's Wisdom on Authenticity
1:52:00 to 1:53:15
Ice-T shares insights on staying true to oneself in the industry.
“I roll with, you know, I'll end it with this.”
Ice-T's Wisdom on Authenticity
1:53:19 to 1:54:22
Ice-T shares insights on staying true to oneself in the industry.
“Hey guys, this is Gia Giudice from Casual Chaos.”
Transcript
Automatic transcript. May contain errors.0:00This is an iHeart Podcast. Guaranteed human.
0:30hard stuff, so you have the confidence to keep moving. Learn more at geico.com. This episode sponsored by Minky Couture. Fair warning, bring a Minky Couture blanket home and it may instantly become the most wanted seat in the house. That's the magic of Minky Couture. Minky Couture created the original soft Minky blanket, trusted for premium quality and custom styles. One touch and movie nights, naps, and cold mornings suddenly revolve around who got to it first. Shop now at minkeecouture.com. That's minke, M-I-N-K-Y, couture, C-O-U-T-U-R-E.com. Go to minkeecouture.com and get your Minke Couture blanket now before everyone in your house claims it is theirs.
1:14Hey, I'm Mike Yam. And I'm Trevor Sykema. And together, we host the NFL Fantasy Football Show. Are you ready to dominate your fantasy league this season? Because if you aren't locked in with us on the NFL Fantasy Football Show, you're already playing from behind. Whether Whether you're a first-time player or a grizzled vet chasing another championship, we give you the advantage and the confidence you need to make every move count. Listen to the NFL Fantasy Football Show on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Whether you're a seasoned NFL fan or new to the game, there's one place to keep up with all of it.
1:48The league's newest podcast, The NFL Report, hosted by me, Andrew Siciliano. It is your home for everything football. breaking news, expert analysis, game picks, and hear from your favorite players too. Join me and an all-star cast of experts for everything you need to know from around the league. Get new episodes of the NFL Report Monday through Friday, all season long. Listen to the NFL Report podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
2:14Tony Yayo:Because I remember you said, I give you one chance you get banned from the mansion. So me and Murdoch come to the crib. Y 'all welcome. And he's looking at Coco too long. He's cool. He's been from the crib? No, he has his priorities straight. I know he's just admiring the art. Ice is a player. I've been around before. I've been around Coco before in Ice crib. Yeah, I'm just trying. Ice is a player, man. Ice is cool though, man. He's admiring the art. That's it. He didn't get stabbed. Go ahead. Shut the up. Brovins! Brovins! Let's have point to get movies with it. Out! Rebels! Yo, bro, bro, bro, bro.
2:45Tony Yayo:All right. Just get a. That's how I'm going to get out of here. I'm going to get out of here. I'm going to get out of here.
2:54I got what you wish you had Bank roll crazy and my ass is bad
2:59Tony Yayo:I like the beat too bro Talking ass still ice man
3:20What's known as you? The license speaking, you are now in school. Just look down at your feet and scoop up the jewels. Pay attention, every word is meant. Constance is a game that I didn't invent. But I master every angle of the games I know. And no matter what I know, there will always be mo. Bentley Continental or Black Six Four. I keep a crew of YNs, they all ready to go. I give a f*** about what you think. I'm that n***a up in court in the full eight minutes. You never find a n***a on the earth this cool. I'm kicking back, throwing balls to my dog in the pool No drama, no beef at all Got issues, that's the block they cause You might out-rap me, but that's just rap You say out-ball me, that's just cap Yo, cop killer in the building Yes sir To show you what's going on Give me new vibes, right?
4:10The album is out now OG still got balls No competition I don't see none I see no competition Oh, murder. Let me break it down right here. Let's go. I hear you, I hear you. I'm a keep it real. If I thought these niggas out here was really that dope, I'd shut the fuck up. I see no competition. Yeah.
4:38Tony Yayo:Oh, it's the real report. It's the real report. I see. Criminal Minds are out now. It's the real report. I don't see no competition. I agree, I see no competition Let's finish it up I see no competition I'm all the way up, you should see my view You never reach my level, look, you do what I do Blessed, I'm one of the chosen few If I was you, I would hate me too Meg Infoson, Rhymer, I'm the hill beat designer If they ask you if I'm dope, don't front and say kind Who's the producer again? These niggas so goddamn white I went back to 87, brought that bar back Most of you niggas ain't been off your block I'm on my fifth passport, nigga, rapping rock Live on the beach, represent the West Might fly past you, GG3RS Social media, wanna be me Only time you ever went viral, nigga, was an STD You wanna age niggas out in hip-hop?
5:35Most of you bitch niggas, so garbage, why the fuck should I stop? Yeah! Criminal 5 brand out there! Yes, sir! Only at ICT.com, no screenings I see no competition. I see no competition. I see no competition. Cop killer turned cop on TV. Ice Team, 28 years. Listen.
5:56Tony Yayo:He said, fuck the streams. He keeping all the money to himself. I'm so happy to be here with y 'all, man. Come on, man. We happy to have you here, my brother. That's all, Ice. Come on, Ice. We know the legends have the best stories. I love all the young rappers out there, but when we interview the legends, it's always good for me. Like for me, I'm going to go back to one of our favorite movies, me and 50. Rob Markman 1-O 'Hellis Jr.: Hold up. There's something I got to do right quick. Let's make some noise for Ice-T in the motherfucking building. Yeah! Rob Markman 1-O 'Hellis Jr.: That go back, Paul, BJ.
6:30Tony Yayo:So like, you know, a lot of people don't know, like after 50 got shot, we in the crib and shit. And yo, all of West Coast movies, we watch, Boys in the Hood, you know, Menace to Society. But one of the original shits where I really loved you for was Colors. Rob Markman - Right. Rob Markman - Hearing you on that, even though you wasn't in the movie, Colors is like a movie that I watched like a Scarface. Rob Markman - The crazy story about Colors, you want stories - Rob Markman - And that shit came on TV a lot, like back in our days. Rob Markman - Who Colors? Rob Markman - Hell yeah. Colors used to play on TV a lot.
7:02Rob Markman - Yes. Rob Markman - So what happened with Colors was I was on Warner Brothers, and it was a Warner Brothers soundtrack. And so they wanted to use a song I had called Squeeze the Trigger off Ron Pace. And I knew that in order for them to use my record, I could ask to see the movie. If anybody ever wants to use your music, you could say, I need to see the movie on some bullshit. You're gonna let them use it, but you get, I need to see the movie. So I went in there and I saw the movie and I said, okay, the movie wasn't really official to me because they had the Crips fighting the Mexicans, which has never happened in LA.
7:37If a black gang and the Mexicans went to war, LA would be annihilated. That's never happened. But I was like, okay, this is a movie. So I asked them, I said, do you guys have a title song? They said, yeah, Rick James did it. So I listened to the record. It was called Everywhere I Go. I said, no, this is not official. So me and Africa Islam, the producer of that last track, we went in the studio that night. Oh, he did Colors? Yes. And we made Colors. That was my first producer who produced my first three albums. And, you know, me and him were tuned in and I was like, okay, cool. So we went in, we laid that song.
8:13I turned it in to them and they went crazy. Now, I've never been a gang member. I'm not a gang member. But I grew up and enrolled in 60-hood. I went to Crenshaw High School. So I'm totally involved in gang theory and how gangs operate without actually being a member. How did you dodge that? It's easy. You just don't join up. See, I'm from New Jersey. I was born in Newark, New Jersey. Shout to Jersey. And my mother died when I was in the third grade. My father died when I was in the seventh grade. So I was orphaned. And I was sent to L.A. when I was in the seventh grade. And I was bused to a white junior high school called Palms because they were integrating the people from the hood with other people.
8:59So they moved us, me and Gompers. And we went over there. That was cool. You know, I mean, they treat us like the Jackson Five over there at that school. You know what I'm saying? The white girls, everything was cool. But I wanted to go to Crenshaw High, which was in walking distance from my house. And when I got to Crenshaw, the gangs were there. But see, the thing over there is murder. You're not in a gang. You're from a gang. So by me, I was living in an area called View Park, which wasn't a gang turf. So there's rolling 60s, 8-Trade Gangsters, Harlem Crips, which is the 30s, Hoover Crips, Sevenfold Hoover Crips.
9:31So all these different sets were there. But because I'm not from one of their neighborhoods, it's not like I could be part of the gang. I could ask to get put on, but why? So I figured it out early. Like by being in any gang, you become enemy with the rest of the city. So I just learned how to meet the shot callers. I just learned I always had to give the gab. I've always been fly. So I meet the shot callers. And once you're good with the shot callers, you good. You good. So I just knew the headshot, Carlos from 60s, Hoover. My baby mom's is from 7-4 Hoover. And I just was able to move around.
10:07And later on in high school, I became a player. Like the players kind of separated from the gang members and the players dressed different. We wore perms and had feelers, sweatsuits and all that. Superfly, clean. Once you become a hustler, you're not a gang. Gangs weren't about money at the time. They was banging, you know. So I was like, okay, I'm going to be a player over there. And you kind of get diplomatic immunity. Because the gang member is looking for the enemy. They're looking for somebody else who's banging. Soon as you say, hey, man, I ain't banging, man. You know what I'm saying? That's not what I do.
10:39You might be able to get it passed. But I tell people I survived Los Angeles. You said you might, because not everybody that was doing that shit got it passed. You can get checked. He told you we got the gift of gab. Come on, man. You can get checked. I used to always have the gift of gab. I mean, say you're wearing red in a crip hood or whatever, which doesn't matter anymore. And you say, yo, I'm not a gangbang. Well, they come up out that red. Because, you know, they might bang on you, but they're not necessarily going to do nothing to you. Because they're looking for the enemy. They're looking for you to go fuck that.
11:08You know, you say G-Unit and I go fuck G-Unit. We got beef. That's it. That's what they're looking for. So I just learned how to just stay away. Like I say, I navigated L.A. You have to know where to go and who did in this and that. You know, people talk about checking in. You check in from hood to hood out there. You don't, you know, people, oh, I'm going to LA, nigga. If I'm going to this neighborhood and I'm checking in with niggas over there, like I'm coming. Got you. You got to learn how to move around. So I survived it, like I said, you know.
11:38Tony Yayo:I feel like when he dropped Colors, he was solidified on the West Coast with the Bloods and the Grips or any gang member. To an extent. I mean, why you say that? Because when you're dealing with a gang, right? Like, OK, so say I'm with the Uncle Murda's crew. He got 10 cats and he's a shot caller. Two of them cats don't give a fuck about me and they mad because the big homie likes me. Like, why? Murder on ISIS, dick. You know, like I didn't earn to be in that neighborhood. So there's two of them out of all the eight that really ain't really with it. And when you leave, them niggas can try to get off on you.
12:15So you got to understand, I could come to your neighborhood. I could come to Brooklyn and you say, yo, Ice, I got this lock. I always know there's a small percentage of them cats that ain't really giving me that pass. Only because I'm right with you. And this is called just knowing how to move.
12:32Tony Yayo:Yeah, motherfucker always say, yo, you good in my hood, you good in my hood. And then you won't be good in your hood. You won't be good if the main cat happens to blink. Yeah, yeah. So, you know, and then the niggas will rob me and be like, I didn't rob you. You know, like. Right, right, right. So I just know how niggas operate. And so I just stay on, I keep it moving. Rob Markman - That's crazy, because we never knew if he was a blood or a crip. I just know he had colors. And colors is like the biggest, to me is the biggest gang banging movie in history. I watched that a million times like a Scarface.
13:07Rob Markman - But one thing I did, I intensely did photos in red and I intentionally did photos in blue. But dig this, me, Cube and all of us, we used to wear a lot of black. Right? Like to try to be neutral. So then I went to my homie Tony Bogart's funeral and I met the head of Santana Block, which was a guy named Raider. He was like, all right, you repping me. I'm like, oh shit, there's a gang that wears black from Compton, they call Santana Block. I'm like, so now I'm trying to duck blue or red and I'm still in the gang.
13:34Tony Yayo:Look at that, that's some funny shit. That's crazy, because what was gang life in the 80s? I could just imagine. You got the black on today. Look, you still repping it. You still repping it. Santana. Santana, shut up. Santana Block, Compton. Rob Markman - Nah, cause I can imagine how gangbanging, cause watching colors like, in New York it was mainly hustlers, right? So in the 80s as kids, we looked up to hustlers, but out there like, when you came, Eazy-E, Ice Cube, like y 'all marketed the whole West Coast, know what I'm saying? Like where New York niggas was tapping in with y 'all, right? Rob Markman - Right, right.
14:07Tony Yayo:Rob Markman - Know what I'm saying? Cause it wasn't too many West Coast rappers at that time that, like if it wasn't you, N.W.A., Dr. Dre snooping them. It wasn't... It wasn't, yeah. Spice won certain Jews, like certain dudes in the Bay and E-40. Like it was just... The two shorts. The two shorts. The two shorts. Yes. But California, Gangsta Rap, it felt like you was the first one with it, because Colors came out what? 1980 what? Five? Yeah, I was the first one to really come to New York and really put my feet down out here and get a gun. I had two albums out before N.W.A. came out. Those were the homies.
14:42You know, they toured with me, D.O.C., Dre, all of them are my guys, you know. So it was a movement. But I think the real gang stuff really exploded with Death Row when Death Row really went out because they like put a lot of that in the game and stuff like that. So, you know, it is what it is. I always tell people gangster rap is not necessarily gang banging rap. To me, gangster rap was whether you're a hustler, a pimp, a drug dealer, if you handle your business and don't use the police, that's gangster. But then Snoop and them kind of embody gangster gangbanging rap. And that kind of came up with it.
15:21MAC-10 and all them, they were gangbangers. But you don't hear me. I rap about the gangs, but you never heard me claim a gang. But with their gangster shit, you got to walk lightly. You know, my niggas in prison was like, Ice, don't send nobody to jail. So I always wanted to be cautious about how I dealt with it and also not incriminate nobody. You know, so, you know, like I said, all my career, you never heard about me in any trouble. No beef, no nothing. You know, the closest thing I ever had is when I challenged LL Cool J back in the day. But that was some rap shit. That was just rap. That was rap.
15:59Tony Yayo:It's crazy when you think about all the politics and what you was rapping about was nothing but gangster shit and you was moving smart and militant and it's like every move you made in your career was a great one. Hey, our ride's almost here. Are you ready? Just grabbing my shoes. That's what you said 10 minutes ago. I just dropped the video call, uploading this giant file on my tablet, looking at my watch go bananas with the group chat and, of course, still lining up tonight's playlist on my phone. All at once? Yep, story of my life. That's why I switched to T-Mobile. They have the fastest 5G network.
16:35Okay, multitasker. I see you. Honestly, I never imagined I could do all this at once. It's awesome. Say no more, I'm totally switching. My post is taking way too long to upload. That's a sign you've got to get T-Mobile. So many reasons to join T-Mobile. Find yours at T-Mobile.com.
17:01Fastest based on analysis by Ooklo Speed Test Intelligence Data of National Speed Score results Incorporating 5G download and upload speeds For the first half of 2026 This episode sponsored by Minky Couture Fair warning, bring a Minky Couture blanket home And it may instantly become the most wanted seat in the house That's the magic of Minky Couture Minky Couture created the original soft Minky blanket trusted for premium quality and custom styles. One touch and movie nights, naps, and cold mornings suddenly revolve around who got to it first. Shop now at MinkyCouture.com. That's Minky, M-I-N-K-Y, Couture, C-O-U-T-U-R-E.com.
17:44Go to MinkyCouture.com and get your Minky Couture blanket now before everyone in your house claims it is theirs. Say big on your next project at Menards. Check out our huge selection of Richmond water heaters. Whether it's electric or gas, tank or tankless, Menards has what you need in stock. Ensure that you have hot water when you need it most with a new Richmond water heater from Menards. Plus, check out our weekly flyer on Menards.com for all the great deals happening now. Save big money at Menards. Hey, this is Robert Lamb. And this is Joe McCormick, and we're the hosts of the Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcast.
18:26This week on the show, it's Star Trek. So we're going to be talking about the Borg all week long. Are you ready to get some probes put in your flesh? That's right. Tune in. Resistance is futile. We're going to talk science, the culture of the Borg, various interpretations. And we're going to talk about Star Trek First Contact on Weird House Cinema on Friday. Listen to Stuff to Blow Your Mind on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
18:49Tony Yayo:So we go from Colors to New Jack City. Now we in the East Coast. Now the East Coast is like, oh shit, Ice-T is in fucking New Jack City. Rob Markman - So New Jack City, how that happened, they were going to do the movie, but they needed somebody who could play the player and the cop at the same time. So at that time it was me and Public Enemy were the hot, radical rap groups. Rob Markman - But you had Cop Killer was before this, correct? Rob Markman - No, Cop Killer was after that. Rob Markman - Oh, Cop Killer was after that? That was happening. Copy, copy. Copy, copy. So I was like, okay. So Pac was not really up yet as far as acting.
19:26You know, it wasn't, his brain came with juice. You know, that's when that happened. So I was like the guy, like, okay, we'll see if we want iced tea. So I was in a club and I was talking to some bitches. I was campaigning, doing my thing. And what really happened was I was in the bathroom and some nigga was talking shit to me. I was taking a shit. nigga was like, yeah, nigga, I see this, that. I said, look, cuz, I say, if there was a molecule in my body that gave a fuck, they could angle me, but they can't angle me. And Mario Van Peeples was in there. He said, whoever said that needs to be in my movie.
20:02Dig it. You was taking a shit in the bathroom. I'm in the store talking shit to some nigga on the outside. He knew you was taking a shit. Having a conversation with a nigga. In a club? In a nightclub. He saw me go in there. The nigga didn't want to quit talking to me. Yeah, I ain't spotting any good acting. Listen, this is true story. So I come out of the spot and Mario Van Peep, now I'm talking to some females. And Mario Van Peep walks up to me, says I would like you to be in a movie. So I'm like, this is that Hollywood shit. You know, you wanna talk to these girls, so you coming in on the producer shit.
20:35I'm like, yeah, okay, Mario, blah, blah, these are the females, blah. He gave me his card, right? Cause you know, when we go out to, niggas talk shit, niggas talk shit every day. Yo, my CEO, we got a link, we gotta make a hat. Right, that's that post. And never, never, never, never. Every time you go out, everybody got a plan for you. For sure, for sure. So I'm like, whatever. So he gave me the card. So I called the card, and it was real. It was Warner Brothers. So he's like, come to read. So I went down there to read. I looked at the script. I'm like, damn, it's all the lines. I've never acted before.
21:07Then I read more, and he goes, I'm the police. I had an album coming out called Original Gangster. then I was like, I got dreads? I got a perm. I was more offended about the dreadlocks. I was like, my shit is whip. You know, my shit was more wavy than the ships in the Navy. You know what I'm saying? So I'm like, you want me to dread my hair? So then you want me to be a cop and dread my shit?
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21:30Tony Yayo:But you said you was in the bathroom taking a shit. He went way down. He still wanted to go back to that part. No, because you didn't finish that. I was in the bathroom taking a shit. What did he tell a dude? I told a dude he was talking about they trying to get you ice and they can't fuck with you. And I said, yeah, I said, because if they could find one molecule in my body that gave a fuck, then they could angle me. But because I don't, they can't they can't find nothing to bother me with. So just that comment made Mario think this is a bad man. Whoever that nigga is that said that. And so that's how that happened.
22:03So now I go to do the reading and they want me to do this. And I had to sit on it. I was like, I'm doing a reading. Can I make a movie? So I talking to my homies. They was like, nigga, can I be in the movie? Right? I was like, they want me to play police. Street niggas. Word? Could I be? No one ever said no. Nobody like, yo, nah, nigga, not the police. I'm talking to homies in jail. I'm like, yo, you stuck. They want me to be police. So if I was out, could I be in the movie? Then I was talking to.
22:34Tony Yayo:He talking to lifers on the phone. Yeah, man, what about me? Nobody. And then like I used to get my hair done. And the girl was there named Pearl. I'll never forget. She said, nigga, if you do not do this movie, you know how many niggas out here waiting on opportunities? She's like, if you if you don't do it, you a real life sucker. You got it. You can't you cannot shit on this. And so then I had to really take it in. Right. I never really hated the police. I was a criminal. And to me, the criminals were the opponent. The cops were the opponent. They were not the enemy. They were the opponent.
23:07I hate racists. I hate bullies. But if me and you got to rob a bank, we know it's illegal. So we just got to outdo them. If we're selling drugs, the cops create the margin. If it becomes legal, the coke's worthless. Right? So they need to exist. So they're not the enemy. They're the opponent. Right? Real gangster shit. Right? So I'm like, I don't really hate the motherfucking cops. I'm like, I don't like bullies and I don't like racists. But I was like, fuck it. I'm going to do the movie. You know what I'm saying? And I did the movie and New York loved it and the world loved it and album Original Gangster even though went platinum and I ain't looked back since.
23:50And you know, at that point I realized Katz will accept you acting. And my homies was like, niggas know you ain't the motherfucking police. Niggas ain't tripping like that.
24:00Tony Yayo:Rob Markman - I was even on set, because I always want to ask you that, because you know, you got Nino Brown, Wesley Snipes, you got G Money in there. Rob Markman - Did you know Wesley Brown being it? Rob Markman, in my classic movies, to me there's a realm of classic movies. Rob Markman, Yes sir. Rob Markman, So for me it's like, Colors, it felt like you was in it because - Rob Markman, Of the song. Rob Markman, Because of the fucking song. The theme song, Colors. Rob Markman, You know what I mean? That's some shit stay in your head forever. Rob Markman, No, that's a fact. Rob Markman, I am a nightmare.
24:27Tony Yayo:Rob Markman, I am a nightmare. Rob Markman, That's my final song on my show. That's my song. Rob Markman, Look at that. Rob Markman, Colors is a hit, right? Rob Markman, Right, right. So I felt like he was a part of the movie even though he wasn't in it. Rob Markman Got it. Rob Markman And then he went to the East Coast and now you got the drug dealership. New Jack City is like a classic, bro. Rob Markman Classic East Coast movie. Rob Markman I'm watching it as much as I watch Scarface. So I'm going to ask you, how was it on the set? Rob Markman Well, I'll tell you like this. They were concerned when they booked me for it, they were not so concerned with me playing the police.
24:59They wanted it to be believable when I went undercover next to Nino. They wanted me to have that conversation because you could teach a player how to act square, but you can't teach a square how to act like a player. So when I had to go undercover, they wanted it to be like ice is more fly than Nino. When I say, yeah, I got your back, all that old shit, that's what they was concerned with. Like Nino wouldn't believe this cop guy was, no, but I transcended. Now on the set, I was terrified, Tony. I was terrified because I'm not an actor. I had never acted. And me and Chris Rock were together and we were just nervous as hell.
25:37And, you know, we had an acting coach that showed up one day for like a half hour and she just told us straight up. She said, look. Don't be nervous. All the actors are going to mess up. You're here. The hardest part about acting is getting the job. If you guys really want to do it, you're going to pull it off. And honestly, you and Chris are bigger stars than anybody on the movie. The reason they got it financed Was because you guys You know Wesley had done You know A major league You know There was no other big stars So like You guys are selling millions of records Like you sold millions That This
26:15Tony Yayo:Oh so that gave you the confidence You got juice You're not here by mistake Right Right So they gave me the confidence And then you know Working with Judd Nelson And Wesley was wonderful He was cool And You just had to be prepared And you You know what it is Yeah yo You have to want to do it. Right. You know, if you don't want to act, you ain't going to be able to do it. But if you really want to do it like anything else, you're going to be able to do it. You're just going to put yourself in it and say, I really want to pull this off. And once you commit, I think that anyone that could be successful can be successful in many things because you understand the work ethic that requires to be successful.
26:53Right. Did Wesley have a little gangster in him? Wesley's not to fuck with. You know what I'm saying? It's funny. It's funny, I bust Wesley's ass. People say, you whoop Wesley? I'm like, it was in the script. Wesley is blade. Wesley can get busy. Got you. Got you. No, cause the fight scene, it was so crazy. It's like, for you, put it like this, murder where I'm surprised at,
27:15Tony Yayo:is like, I watched New Jack City so many times that we know like every scene from beta. So I know this is gonna pause, but when he say, I wanna kill you so bad. My dick's on my dick's on. Pause, yeah. Like you see the, like you see the face like - I don't say pause, I ain't never said nothing. I ain't sure. That's what I'm saying. Thank you, Ice. I don't say pause. That's the new thing for some reason right now. We about to erase that. Your niggas don't say pause. The players don't say that. That means you suspect. If you gotta say that, you suspect. Look, with no acting classes, Ice, no acting classes or nothing, just the reaction on your face.
27:49Tony Yayo:I know I can't do that. Like, you don't want to kill yourself. Bad motherfucking. Pull that off, man. You look like you was going to pull the trigger, kill Nino. And dig this, I ad-libbed that line. How's prompt and fraud. Me and him was fighting all day and this, that, and the third. And, you know, we came down to fire escape. We fight, fight, fight. And then finally it was that one scene. They like, okay, you got him. And I don't know where that line came from. I never said that before. I said, I'm going to shoot you bad. My dicks are. You know, we did it one time and they were like, are we keeping that?
28:19Yeah, dig it. The producers, George Jackson and them, they was in the video village. They said, what did that nigga say? What did that nigga say? That's in the movie. That's in the movie. What the fuck did he just say? And it was just like one of those moments. It was just like organic. It just came out. So, yeah. But you could do it. If you want to do it, you could do it. You could do it. And the thing of it is you get in the moment of the scene and everything. I'm sure you've been on the set with some of 50's stuff. When you're in the moment of the scene and, you know, when Nino Brown turns to you and says, yo, I killed your mother, he's such a good actor, you believe it.
28:59And that's the thing, like actors want someone else's good because it's gonna bring it out of you. If you're trying to act with somebody who can't act, you like, nigga, I don't believe that. Like, you know what I mean? Man, you talking bullshit. Yeah, right, right. But it was a great experience, New Jack City. And like you said, I kind of like after that, I got the keys to New York. New York, you got the keys to New York. Yeah, they did.
29:21Tony Yayo:Rob Markman, and it's crazy because I'm expecting you to have like a Wex Coos like, what up cuz? Like the accent, but you sound like a straight New Yorker. Murder, hip hop trivia, what actor played in Do The Right Thing and New Jack City? Rob Markman, Wesley Snuggs. No. No, Stutterman. What's Rest In Peace? Yeah. I forgot his name. Look it up. You know his name. Shit, you make me feel bad right now. Rob Markman, hold on, look it up. Look up his name. Stutterman played in... Rob Markman, that's what I mean. Rob Markman, yeah. Rob Markman, was in New Jack City. Stutterman, yeah. I had to watch that shit.
29:59Rob Markman, my brain is glitching because I'm saying somebody else's name. Bill Nunn. Bill Nunn. I was about to say Bill Duke. Bill Nunn.
30:08Tony Yayo:Yeah, rest in peace to Bill Nunn. Rob Markman, Radio Rahim. That's crazy. I didn't even really know that. I had to watch it like a... It took me a while to realize that. Like, yo, hold on. Stutterman is fucking Brady O 'Rahim Yeah I mean you know There's a small pool of actors And one of the reasons They used me back in those days Was there was not a lot of black actors There just wasn't Now we can do You know we can do Black Panther But you know There wasn't that many Black actors And they figured like Well maybe Ice's record sales Would translate Into seats in the theater And that's why I got the role Not because I was a great actor It's funny though because some people say, well, how'd you get into acting?
30:48I said, well, I sold a lot of records. Oh, you got in the easy way. I'm like, that's so easy. Go sell a lot of records. It's not that easy. So I kind of got the bug after that. New Jack City, I made$28 ,000. What? Yeah, I made 80-something million. I got paid scale, but I was in no place to negotiate. You know what I'm saying? That's a lot of things people have to learn. You feel like that, though. You already sold millions of records. So how you wasn't in no place to negotiate? I was not in any place to negotiate. Because the whole movie business was new to you, you mean? I could have said, I don't know, and Chuck D would have been in there with a dread wig.
31:24You know what I'm saying? Okay. I was like, yo. And my next movie was with Denzel Washington, which was Ricochet.
31:32Tony Yayo:Ricochet, yeah, I was going to go into that. Ricochet was another one that's a classic, too. And Joel Silver was the producer, and I walked in. I said, well, I know I'm about to get paid now. He said, Ice-T, you've been in one movie. For ice, you fast forwarding. Oh man. For ice, hold on, ice. So you ain't get paid for that one of these guys? I got paid double. I started making money later on, but it took a minute. Got you. You're fast forwarding it because, you know, I take my notes. Yeah, it's the Talk of New York, Tony Ayo. And it's the Boy Uncle Murder, AKA Learjet Lenny. It's the Real Report show.
32:04Tony Yayo:And you know what, Lenny? What's that, man? You know, I know we just came back from Paris. Yeah. And one thing that I always realize, and you always realize, is that the water feels different everywhere we go. It do. I feel like it irritates my skin. I ain't gonna front. Yeah, yeah. I know what you talk about, man. And that's why I never leave home without my Baskin Lather. I told y 'all I was gonna show y 'all a little bit of the waves. Okay, you got the waves going? All right. Make sure y 'all get that close up on that. You know what I'm saying? You know what, Lea Jet Lenny? What's that, Turbulence Tony?
32:28Tony Yayo:I'm gonna put you on game to some Baskin Lather products. Me, I'm going with the beard growth for fuller, thicker hair. And there's a young sister that's running the whole thing too. I think that's dope. I could tell she get it by the way my waves is coming out. So shout out to Baskin Lather for the dope job they do. Shout out to Baskin Lather. Explore viral bestsellers and products of healthier hair of all types from Baskin Lather. Go to BaskinLatherCold.com and use the code REALPORT for 20 % off. And that's 20 % off at BaskinLatherCO.com. Code REAL Report. Whoa! Yeah! After New Jack City, you dropped Cop Killer, which politicians condemned you.
33:11Tony Yayo:police unions hated you. Cop killer. Right? Police unions hated you. President. The president said something to you. You got dropped from your label, I think. I don't know if that's true. You got dropped from your label. Did you get dropped from the label? You was banned. Look, hold on. Break it down. He was banned from MTV or whatever television there was, right? It's one of the biggest comebacks ever in life. But talk about that situation. All right. So what happened is on the original Gangster, I debuted Body Count. Body Count was my heavy metal band. I wanted to do metal because I'd been on tour with P.E.
33:43and I seen, you've seen overseas, they mosh off hip hop. The kids would set off a mosh pit. So I was like, I would like to do a rock band. My best friend Ernie C. was a guitar player. So I said, we're going to create a band, right? We're going to make it have the speed of Slayer, the intensity of Suicidal Tendency, and the impending doom of Black Sabbath. But I'm going to sing my same shit over it. We're going to call it Body Count. So we go out, blah, blah, blah. We went on the Lollapalooza tour. We were on the first Lollapalooza tour. And I had a nice little tune called Cop Killer. Cop Killer is better you than me.
34:18Cop Killer, fuck police brutality. And it's about a guy who went at the cops. Now, the way the song comes, I'm in the studio with my homie Beatmaster V who passed. And I'm singing this song by Talking Heads called Psycho Killer. Psycho Killer. I'm singing. He goes, we need a cop killer. Just like you would have said, hey, Iceman. I'm like, why? Cops did this and ran parts out of pocket and they taken off on niggas and they killed the homie. So I start thinking. I said, what if somebody got triggered by the police brutality and went after him like a psycho that went after him? So I write the song.
34:55We do the song for a year. Then the fraternal order of police in Texas, they on everybody. The cops is out of pocket. They take off on me. They say this record. and that was it. Warner Brothers got a hold of it. Charlton Heston got a hold of it and they was out the president.
35:12Tony Yayo:Who was the president at the time? Bush. Son of a Bush. So I'm in the crib. Let me date you. We were playing Technoball. Remember Technoball? Remember that? Let's go back there. So niggas was playing that. That's the old football game before Madden. Way before Madden. Way before Madden. You got to a certain age, remember? And OJ was on the highway in the Bronco on the run. This is when this happened. And so my niggas was calling me, saying, yo, Ice, the president is on TV talking shit about you. So we go run up in his quail, the VP, like in Ice-T. You ain't never seen a bunch of homies just go like this.
35:54Oh, shit. Oh, shit. Oh, shit. Now, very few people will know what it's like to have a president, a real president, say your name in anger. It's not a normal thing.
36:05Tony Yayo:Yes. That's safe. It's only really cartel and certain people like that. You don't really even hear rappers. Not in a bad, like a bad way. The minute the president says Tony Yeo. That was regular, but back then, definitely. Yeah, this goofball. But now if the president says Tony Yayo and Uncle Murder, that minute you get checked by CIA, FBI, NSA, all of them, because the next question the president could say is, what do you know about him? Can't be like he's a rapper. They like his shoe size is this. His blood type is this. This is the Fed. Damn. They really do a deep dive because the president needs information.
36:45So when they do a dive on you like that, you feel it. You feel it. You get IRS, you get audited, all kinds of shit. I used to say I had ice cream trucks sitting in front of my house in the middle of the winter. It's like they watching you because they're trying to see are you really a threat? Are you trying to start some type of insurrection or some bullshit? I'm like, no, I just made a record. But they want to check. You thought you was about to get knocked off? You know what? I'm going to tell you like this about me. I didn't feel like that, but this is the problem with beef. And you guys are very familiar with beef.
37:23The beef, the problem with beef is not the person you're beefing with. It's their fans. It's anyone on the outskirt. So when you say cop killer, don't worry about the cops. My brother's a cop. You don't like the cop. You know, you could be out just having dinner and you run into someone. My brother was a cop and he got killed. That kind of beef. So say, for instance, I always use method. If I diss Method Man, I got a problem, which I love Method Man, I don't have to worry about it. I can worry around any one of his fans that really wants smoke.
37:51Tony Yayo:Rob Markman - But now you got police unions, politicians, and the president. Rob Markman - Yeah. Rob Markman - And you dropped off your label. Rob Markman - And all that. Rob Markman - It's crazy. Rob Markman - Now the thing with Warner Brothers was, after that, I wanted to put out another album called Home Invasion. Rob Markman - Oh shit. Rob Markman - Oh shit. Rob Markman - And Warner Brothers - Rob Markman - They said, brother, can you pick a different title? Rob Markman - For sure. Rob Markman - Home Invasion was more about - rap invading white kids' heads and them now going against their parents and stuff from listening to me and P.E.
38:21and Iceberg. That's what home invasion, all my shit is not simple. It's always another level. So I'm like, you know, so I had a lyric and it says, I don't give a fuck about a cop or a G man. They all talk shit. Their breath smelling like semen. I take them in the alley all alone, put them in the prone, pop, pop, pop to the dome. It's a G style. So I kill another fed, right? In this one. So Warner Brothers had my lyrics on this big board. They're like, ice. Ice. Ice. Ice. You're bugging. You're bugging. I'm like, so what I did was I said, can I go? They didn't kick me off. I asked to leave. Oh, look at that.
38:59That's right. I said, let me go because my integrity is more important. I understand y 'all up against the wall, but can I go?
39:05Tony Yayo:Right. So what they did was they let me go, and I went to priority. Now - They let you go with a clean release? No, no bullshit? I didn't have to pay for that album. And I got a big budget. They cleared it. Because it wasn't, I wasn't their fault. It wasn't the problem. They were, they had made, they, we had a gold record party for, for, for, for Cop Killer, the body count. So they like, they was up against the wall. Now at the time, Warner Brothers had me, Ghetto Boys, Sam Keniston, Slayer, Prince. They had all the hard stuff. They knew this was about to be the end of it. They knew it. So I'll never forget, I went into this meeting at Warner Brothers.
39:44Nobody knows this story, but I had a meeting with Mo Austin and Lenny Warnaker, the biggest bosses up there. And there was a big table. And they flipped a quarter onto the table. And they said, Ice, this is Time Warner. That quarter is the music division of Time Warner. You're a speck on that quarter. And your car's from the whole table a problem. Is that cold? Oh, shit.
40:08Tony Yayo:Damn. I understood. I said, can I go? I mean, you know what? Me and you have been in business. Murder. I'm sorry. No hard feelings. Let me go. And they let me go. And I went over the priority and I started doing my other stuff. But I had problems because the Source magazine at the time said I folded. And, you know, it was a bunch of shit that happened. But, you know, I feel the people that aren't in the war shouldn't comment on the battles. You have no idea really what the fuck. I could have just imagined how much stress I make a record cop killer. I got the president going after me. police unions.
40:40Tony Yayo:I'm thinking, yo, I might get killed. I got CIA looking into me, FBI, IRS. You got the president talking about you in the 80s, one of the biggest rappers in the world. Yo, yo, president, imagine this people's calling. Yo, cuz, yo, the president talking about you now. Was you excited about it or like scared? Cause some people - Rob Markman - No, I wasn't scared. I was just, I can quote the art of war. I read the art of war, like 50 got the things of power. I'm an art of war sun suit. Sometimes you must retreat and return with superior firepower. So I was like, okay, we'll retreat. We're not going to push the line right now.
41:19Let this thing, this will go away. And we're just going to come back and we're going to rebuild, you know. And slowly those people who were scared of me, you know, there wasn't going to be no New Jack City 2 because of me, everything. But I did learn something, just like anybody been to prison. When the shit gets hot. New Jack City 2. Yeah. No, they wanted to do one, but it just, I was in trouble.
41:43Tony Yayo:Crazy you mentioned the Art of War, bro. It's a good book, man. But what I learned, though, and any of you guys probably know, is when the shit hits the fan, you usually are by yourself. You're by yourself. Now, hip-hop couldn't back me up because hip-hop is one big nigga. Like, it won't help. The guy that stood behind me was the head of Time Warner at the time. He stood on it. He wrote a big thing in the Wall Street Journal. But that's neither here nor there. You know, I touched an electric fence, which was fucking killing police. And that wasn't fuck the police. That was kill the police. And they was like, we got to check this nigga.
42:18Now, what caused the problem was the white kids loved it. See, gangster rap is not a problem as long as only us listen to it. Right. But when you infect the white kids, that's when it becomes a problem. That's home invasion. when you invade their brains. So they, you know, I just pimp past that shit, man. Me, myself, man, I figure a way out. You know, hustlers don't complain. We figure it out. And I have to always figure it out, the pivot. And I almost plan to pivot before it happens. I'm like, okay, well, if that don't work, this will work. And I'm always thinking like that. Art of war. Yeah, the art of war.
42:59Before you go to war, you must consider the expense. Yes.
43:03Tony Yayo:I got to start reading that again because I know there's five laws. I know one is know who your commander is. That's why I'm always loyal to my, know who my commander is. I think it's discipline and I think it's something else. Discipline, respect, and I forgot the other two. Never go against the commander unless you're ready for an absolute takeover. Yeah. Know who the commander is. That moment you go against, you better be ready to go all the way. Know who the commander is is one of those rules in there. Yeah. Yeah, it ain't going to be no back and off. That's our book of the week. All the war, bro.
43:32Yeah, Sun Tzu.
43:34Tony Yayo:So you retreated. Now how do you make a comeback to getting Ricochet? Hey, our ride's almost here. Are you ready? Just grabbing my shoes. That's what you said 10 minutes ago. I just dropped a video call, uploading this giant file on my tablet, licking at my watch go bananas with the group chat, and, of course, still lining up tonight's playlist on my phone. All at once? Yep, story of my life. That's why I switched to T-Mobile. They have the fastest 5G network. Okay, multitasker. I see you. Honestly, I never imagined I could do all this at once. It's awesome. Say no more, I'm totally switching.
44:14My post is taking way too long to upload. That's a sign you've got to get T-Mobile. So many reasons to join T-Mobile. Find yours at T-Mobile.com.
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45:13Go to minkycouture.com and get your Minky Couture blanket now before everyone in your house claims it is theirs. Hey, this is Robert Lamb. And this is Joe McCormick, and we're the hosts of the Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcast. This week on the show, it's Star Trek. So we're going to be talking about the Borg all week long. Are you ready to get some probes put in your flesh? That's right. Tune in. Resistance is futile. We're going to talk science, the culture of the Borg, various interpretations. And we're going to talk about Star Trek First Contact on Weird House Cinema on Friday. Listen to Stuff to Blow Your Mind on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
45:49Every case has a story. Every victim has a voice. But will it be heard? I'm Nancy Grace on Crime Stories. We go beyond headlines to examine evidence, challenge the story we're fed, and pursue justice for victims and their families. Please join us at Crime Stories with Nancy Grace on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you find your podcasts. Hope you join us. I'll see you there, friend. Well, even though, you know, the music business kind of wasn't messing with me, Hollywood didn't really trip. They weren't caught up in it. And, you know, the bottom line is this is money, man. And if your movie makes money, you're going to be in another movie.
46:36Let me turn this off. It's just simple as that. It's like if your movie makes money, you're going to be in another movie. And the movies were making money. So you get booked to the next movie. So I do Ricochet and I do Surviving the Game. I do Johnny Mnemonic. I was doing all kinds of movies. They just liked me. And I was starting to get the bug with it. You know, I mean, me myself, man, to me, rap is the gateway drug to everything. Everything else. You know, we rap because that's what we found a way to do. It got us out of trouble. Most of us did it. The passion came from knowing the options.
47:12Right. That's the passion. Like what made you some kids right now, they want to rap, but they don't have the passion behind them, which might be prison like this. There's something that says, man, I cannot do that anymore. I have no option. I have to make this work. So when we came into it, we had that. And I've I've been able to maintain that, you know, I. But, you know, all players move differently. I move. I try to, you know, my name is Ice. You don't get named Ice by being aggravated. You know what I'm saying? Rob Markman - You know how to be calm in certain situations. Rob Markman - Always.
47:49If niggas see me mad, they know there's a real problem. Something's really going bad. And I haven't been mad in many years.
47:55Tony Yayo:Rob Markman - Come on, man. You a smooth operator, man. Talk about you being in New York, rest in peace, Scott LaRoc. Because I remember hearing KRS songs back in the days. Shout out to the whole Bronx. Scott LaRoc. Rest in peace, Scott LaRoc. Tell us about your experience in... We said the tunnel, wasn't the tunnel? Rob Markman - That was Union Square. Union Square. Talk about that one. So I'm in Union Square. Scott LaRocq's a DJ at the time back then because I was up in the Bronx with everybody, and Africa Islam put me on with everybody. By having Africa Islam as my producer, I met New York from the top down.
48:26I met Red Alert. I met Chuck Chillout, everybody. I mean, I was in the tunnel when Flex was playing. So I'm at the Union Square, Scott LaRocq. So I got on a gold chain. I got my famous gun chain on. I'm standing there. I'm on the stage. They spin it. Everybody in the audience was smiling at me. I'm like, they like me. You know, Scott plays six in the morning.
48:50Tony Yayo:New York, it's what, it's 85? What year is this? Don't ask me. Grimey. It was grimey. Grimey New York times. Grimey New York. Don't ask me. That was the 80s. Yeah, it was the 80s. So at the time, they were sticking. They was buck 50 in people. That was the thing. They hit you and take your chain. And I was like, okay, so I'm cool. I got my gold on. and they was feeling me. Then a security guard comes over to me and says, Ice, there's no gold allowed in Union Square. Wow. And I looked around and I'm like, holy shit. I'm the only person with a gold chain. Now, all these smiles, they turned into like wolf faces.
49:27I'm like, oh, man. And my chain just crawled inside of my shirt by itself. It just chucked itself like that. So now I'm like, I'm scared. Like, fuck. Like, I'm about to get killed. I'm by myself. So I go to get ready to leave. Scott's like, I'm leaving with this honey. I'm like, fuck now. I can't tell him I'm scared. I got to just play this off. Now I'm go-lo. The robbery is about to occur. I'm like, fuck. So I walk off the stage and I meet this brother from the Boogie Boys. Now, I don't know if he's hearing this story, but it was one of the guys that made that record. Fly Girl. Let them know where he from.
50:07Brooklyn. Brooklyn, baby. Brooklyn wins again. Brooklyn was definitely going to kill me that night. Brooklyn wins again. They might not have killed me, but they wanted my chain. I knew my chain was gone. So I'm like, and I don't got nothing. I don't got nothing on me. I know I can't fight the whole Brooklyn. So I'm like, fuck. So I'm already planning on it. I'm like, look, making this habit. Right? I don't need to get stomped out. So I'm like, you know, so, you know, I come off the stage and this nigga just goes, yo, Ice, man, I'm from such and such, Boogie Boys, I met you in L.A. I was like, my nigga!
50:44I grabbed the nigga, like, I got the nigga, like, yo, oh, man, yeah, that's the best record in the history of the world. Nigga, what's happening? I'm trying to get to the two train. I got to get across the park. So I'm hanging with him. He got his own crew and they got me to the platform. I had to catch the two up to 156 and 10 in the Bronx. and I made it home with my chain that night. Like Rick, well, sick Rick said, it was the moment I feared. So I said, good luck in Brooklyn. Brooklyn wins again. Good luck in Brooklyn. But you know what I always say is, all this tough talk and this, that, and the third, I'm like, you know, if you challenge the hood, the hood will catch that fade.
51:18They'll catch it. They like, oh, you can't get got? They'll change. So I never, so I'm never challenged the hood. I understand when I'm outnumbered, I understand the situation. Anybody can get it. Anybody. I don't think anybody can get it in, man. Yeah, anybody?
51:31Tony Yayo:That's why I say move smart. It's not being stupid or you shook. Nah, move smart. It's the smartest thing for you. Oh, I was shook. I don't got no problem saying it. I mean, being shook has made me go left when I was like, oh, this, that, no, I'm good. I go this way. You know what I'm saying? Because most of the times I'm dolo. I'm here by myself today. I mean, you was the only one with a chain on in the whole club. In the club. Security came and told you. You made a mistake. Skylar Rock should arrest him. No, he didn't know. He didn't know. He's a DJ and he doing his thing. You know what I'm saying?
52:01I was just lucky to be in his presence. But, you know, I told you the other story. Right. I was at Union Square. So once again, I got my jewels on. Melly Mel's there. Red Alert is. No, not Union Square. Latin Quarter. Original Latin Quarter in Times Square. So I'm there. I'm with King Sun. Now, King Sun's six, seven. He's big. So he's like a rapper slash security. He's there. I'm with Melly Mel. You know, Red Alert is spinning. Red Alert is yelling, girls are snatching chains right now. Everybody, girls. I'm like, so I'm like, yo, this place is bananas. So this dude walks up to me and he says, yo, Ice, such and such wants to see you over there.
52:43So I'm like, who wants to see me? So I walk over there and this dude is standing there with the biggest chain I've ever seen in my life. and he said Ice-T. He says, you know Rakim and Eric B, right? I'm like, yeah, I'm good with them, blah, blah, blah. He says, okay, you good. And it was Supreme Magnetic. And he was like one of the top tier cats of Decepticons back in the days. And he gave me that pass. And at that point, I was good. But it's the same thing if you, I mean, I went to Bahamas, right? So we in the Bahamas, right? So me and Coco decided we're going. That's a Supreme Magnetic. Supreme Magnetic, OG, Eric B's friend.
53:23Definitely, man.
53:23Tony Yayo:Eric B and Rakim. So if you wasn't good with them, you think you would've been a fool? It would've got bad. It would've went bad. It could've, it probably would've, but I got the pass. I was in the Bahamas with my wife, so we decided we want to go off. We were at the Atlantis. We want to go off the resort. So we go to this club, so we standing there, chilling. Ain't nobody, definitely ain't no white girls in there. We in there just standing there and stuff. So this dude calls me, he says, come over here. So this dude's sitting at the bar. He got the starter drug dealer kit on, like the little chain, the rings on every finger, right?
53:59But he's obviously the dude. So he's like, Ice-T, what are you doing? He said, people don't come off the resort. I said, man, I just wanted to see what it's like. He says, okay. He says, you all right, man. That whole night, he had four guys standing around us. So I'm that cat. Take me to your leader. Let me meet your leader, pay homage. And then, you know, I'm not trying to boss up like I'm that guy. And that's a challenge. Got you. Got you. So that's how I operate. Pay homage and I'm here to enjoy myself. I'm here to enjoy myself, man. I'm not here for nothing. I came with my own bitch. I'm not even trying to knock your bitches.
54:32I got my lady. I'm here with my wife. I'm chilling. Yeah, I'm not even tripping. I'm chilling.
54:37Tony Yayo:I look at you as the ultimate hustler because you went from hit music, movies, TV, acting, your own film, right? But you had a song called Cop Killer and then you fast forward to Law & Order. How long have I been on TV now? 12, 13 years? Nah, 28. 28? Now you told me back then you only - 28 years. Back then you said you was only supposed to do four episodes. Real talk, murder. I can't - 28 years. That's crazy. I did five shows with Dick Wolf. Dick Wolf is the producer. Mm-hmm. I did five shows. I did New York Undercover. I did three episodes. I played Danny Up. I was wilding on there, cutting people's fingers off.
55:14Tony Yayo:Oh yeah, I'm up with New York City. Then I played a gangster on Swift Justice. I came out drunk with a shoddy blast, a nigga. Then I played a pimp on Order Exile. They killed me with a bowling pin. Then I had a show called Players, which was mine. It was on for a season. And then when that was over, Dick Wolf said, I would like you to come over to SVU. I said, nah, at the time I was trying to start my own label. I was trying to invent MP3 things. I was ahead of the curve on that. But I came out here. I did four episodes. And they asked me to stay. And at the time, hip-hop was making this weird turn toward ringtone rap.
55:58And it was getting ringtone rap. It was auto-tuned. That was 20 years ago. And I was like, I don't really fit in with that. I don't rap like that. So I was like, mm-hmm. So it was the perfect time. 28 years later, still on the show. I'm the longest running. What's your people saying about that when you first started with Law & Order? Come on, 28 years. So when you first started with Law & Order, shout out to Law & Order. So when you first started with Law & Order, what's your people saying about that? Get money, nigga. Got you, got you. My hustler player buddies is like, look man, they call me, they're like, you like Kaiser Sosa, nigga.
56:33You that nigga that can transform into whoever for whatever it's being. You know, you send me with the rich white aristocrats, you might talk to me, I might be using an entirely different dialect. You know what I'm saying? You don't know. But I mean, a hustler's job is to get paid, man. So I come from a long line of players and hustlers that made me understand that, you know, your integrity and how you feel about it. Like, I don't have a problem with it. And I see this thing. I never let niggas dictate my moves. I used to prey on niggas. I thought niggas in my neighborhood was suckers. I thought we was the only my crew was the only fly niggas.
57:09All these niggas is prey. These niggas don't understand the hustle. So for me now to turn around and let the streets dignitate my moves, I would let, you gotta be on my level. Like I fucks with y 'all. Y 'all know what it's like. Y 'all been at the altitude. You know what it's like. So I'll pay attention. But average cat can't tell me nothing, man. I'm like, I hear how you feel. You still stuck in your emotions. You niggas is in your emotions. We trying to make moves. So like I said, I became the longest running actor in television history. Damn. Oh, shit. Law & Order, baby. Not black. They want to put black on it.
57:44No. Longest running actor. Period. Mariska has me by a few episodes, my co-star, but I'm the longest running. And Law & Order is the longest running primetime drama in television history. That's crazy.
57:55Tony Yayo:Come on, another one for that. That's crazy right there. So hold on. Let me get this right. Let's get it right. Dick Wolf did Law & Order, General Hospital. What else? No, he did - He ain't do General Hospital. No, not General Hospital. He did a lot of shows. No, he has FBI on, he has Chicago Fire, Chicago PD. I'm gonna be wrong. I'm wrong. Go for it. Run it down. Run it down. Run it down. Run it down.
58:20New York Undercover.
58:25How about jury, quantum, fiction, CIA, night watch? But dig this. When I went to do 50.com, back in the day, I came to 50's office and we sat down. And I was talking to him. And he said to me, I was like, you making your moves. He says, I'm trying to do what you doing. But I didn't really realize he meant I'm trying to do what Dick Wolf is doing.
58:53Tony Yayo:Right. Right? He was talking about that not too long ago, doing what Dick Wolf is doing. And he's doing it. He's doing it. That's a fact. He's doing it. So, you know, like us players, we watch each other. We watch and like, ooh, ooh, that was a fly move. I just watched that, you know. And we inspire each other. People think things can't be done until it's done. And so when 50 walks through those doors and gets those deals, stop hating. Now that means somebody else that looks like him can bring it. And do the same thing. You know, maybe I'm not 50 Cent, but I'm Ice-T. Maybe that'll help me. He might help me get a deal.
59:27So, you know, we got to stop all this hating, man. We got to understand that every move we make helps everybody else. Definitely. It helps everybody else. He definitely flipped the power series to like the Lord Noyes. We was just talking about that. That's what I'm saying.
59:43Tony Yayo:28 years on TV, bro? 28. And it kept me out of trouble. That's what I want to do. Kept me out of the Diddy parties. I got call time. I can't hang out. He said you kept me out the ditty part. I mean, you know what I'm saying? I just kept me inside, so to speak. And hip hop went so left that I didn't really want to be a part of hip hop. But now I watch the music kind of come around. I see Nas dropping records. I see Rick Slick Rick. Put out the Mass Appeal. I've seen clips and all them. So I'm in the studio with Tretch, my guy. And they like, nigga, you ain't done. You ain't done. Because I think you ever stop rapping.
1:00:23You could rap and you'd die on your deathbed. A rapper can rap. So I was like, and then I just got the bug again. I said, let's just go in. And so we went in and made this new album.
1:00:34Tony Yayo:Rob Markman, That's good. Because I mean, as much money you got the Richard Mille on. See that? That's why I said, leave my phone on the floor. Richard Mille. You got the Richard Mille on. Rob Markman, This is Swatch. Come on. I mean, listen. This is Swatch. I don't know because - Ice low key. He's low key, man. You know what I'm going to talk about? Because I know them chicks, talk about... I know you know I ain't going to ask you this. Talk about the car collection, man. I do my homework on you. Talk about the car collection, man. I've always been there. Because you get crazy with the cars. Murder don't know nothing about the car.
1:01:00Tony Yayo:I seen the police trying to pull you... I seen the funny footage one time, I asked you my brother. Let them talk about the car. Hold up, man. We're going to talk about this, man. I seen the funny footage where the police was trying to pull you over and you like, yo, listen, man. You motherfucker. The DMV... No, I didn't say that. The DMV is right there. I'm crying. It's right there. I'm on my way to handle the problem. And he told me, I was cool, then the cops says, we about to tow your car. I was like, hold up, you ain't finna tow my shit. We not going there. And by playing the cops, I already know, it's always, they have the right to do whatever.
1:01:32Got you. I could be the cops and I could tap you down and feel the burner and be like, yo, get out of here. They don't have to. So all that bullshit, they got to. So I'm like, this dude is just particularly being an asshole and he was sweating me. You said from playing the cop, you learned certain shit. I learned how they operate. Gotcha, gotcha. I learned how they operate. That's funny. I'm like, okay, motherfucker, you don't got to tow my shit. I'm trying to get there. And I got pissed off. I was like, come on, man. But my boy said he got mad when he said, well, how many? I was trying to register the car.
1:01:59I said, I got seven cars. He said, once you said that, it was a wrap. It was. He was on his bullseye. It was over. It was over. The car he was in was probably$400 ,000, bro. It was over.
1:02:10Tony Yayo:Talk about the car collection. I'm a car guy. Okay. I've always been into cars. When I was in high school, I graduated early. I had enough credits that I had four periods of auto body and fender. I always wanted to work on cars. I can paint cars. I know how to, I went to trade tech college. I wanted to be a car guy. That was my thing. And I've always had a love for cars. Like they say cars sometimes is the carrot that piece men working to stop the one or that next car. So I've had a lot of different cars. You know, the Ryan Pace album cover, I had a Turbo Porsche slant nose on that cover. And on New Jack Hustler, I had a Ferrari before niggas could spell it.
1:02:57Ferrari?
1:02:57Tony Yayo:You had that shit. You said before niggas could spell it. Yeah, I had that at the MTV quiz. I had Diablo with the brains blown out. So I was like, I've always just liked cars. So, you know, I have a few cars, you know, but you can't drive them in New York City. You have potholes and shit. So when I came out here at that time, I had a Ferrari and I hit a pothole and felt like it broke the chassis. Bam! I was like, damn. So now I live in Jersey. But I got a driver to bring me in here because New York, you can't park them. They disrespect cars in New York. Yeah, you keep those on the West Coast. Yeah, yeah.
1:03:35And New York, the only way you can take a nice car out is you have to call ahead and tell them, can you give me a spot, make sure. They won't, like these parking structures, if the car is expensive, they won't even park them in the parking garages. Yeah, they don't. They only want to be responsible for this. The liability. Yeah. Lamborghini. Lamborghini. Yeah. So I don't have Lambos, but I got, I think my most high end is I have a McLaren 720. But I hit the wall with cars. Like, at some point, the cars become so exotic that they're just unpractical. You know, you can't go anywhere. You can't park them.
1:04:10It's something like you want to put in the middle of your living room or something like that. Unless you live in Miami and stuff.
1:04:16Tony Yayo:Yeah, Miami, West Coast. Yeah. But, no, I mean, you know, I like cars. We could talk cars later. Yeah, we could talk cars later. So with this new album, what made you not want to go streaming? Criminal wide grain. Make sure y 'all go get that. Definitely. So we can keep all the money. What made you not want to go stream? Because you know everybody go stream now. Streaming is the biggest ripoff in the history of music. Streaming is not something anybody ever agreed to. Like when I would sell records at Warner Brothers, I would get a dollar an album. Let's say that. So you sell a million records.
1:04:46That's a million. That was a lot back then because motherfuckers was getting only 17, 18 cents. Shit like that. 11 cents. Yeah, well niggas been getting fucked since time started. You know what I'm saying? But I'm going to say hypothetically, I would get a dollar an album. So you sell a million records, you make a million dollars. If you sell eight million records, eight million dollars. You get counted. It's numbers. We drug dealing. We understand numbers, right? Okay, cool. So after that million dollars, you'd have to pay taxes. So you might make$750 off that because government's the biggest pimp.
1:05:15They're going to take their cut. Then you got to pay your producers. You got to pay this. You got to pay that, pay that. You might walk with$450 off a ticket, right? Then you got to split that amongst your group. It's not a lot of money, okay? Now they come with this streaming shit. You get.007 or.003 cents a stream. I ain't never even met a pimp that could break a penny down. These niggas done found a way to break a penny down. Give a nigga a penny. How do you break a penny down? That could break a penny down. How do you break a fucking penny down? So it takes about 300 million streams to make a million dollars.
1:05:49And let's be honest. Who's going to do 300 million streams? Maybe Bad Bunny. Maybe Taylor Swift. But I'm a rapper. We got the Drake's, people that's like that. That's going to do that. But yeah. So so now I'm like, I ain't coming back to this business to get fucked. Right. So I figure, OK, you move 20 million records over your career. Let's sell the record straight to consumer. You know, I did a double album. It cost twenty dollars. OK, so twenty dollars. All I got to do is move 50 ,000 of them. That's a million. If I could get 10 ,000 people to spend one hundred dollars, that's a million. So I'm like, you know, like I said, it's math.
1:06:30Of course. Street niggas understand math.
1:06:33Tony Yayo:TonyAo.com's coming soon, like Ice-T.com. Right. TonyAo.com. Yeah, so you go to.com and say, okay, come over there, stream. So now you go to my website. You pay, well, it was$10 pre-sale. Now it's$20 because it's a double album. It's 24 songs. I don't really need no new fans, Diego. I don't care. If you've never heard me, fuck, go away. But if you ever fuck with me, if you one of those 20 million, cop the record. You a loyal ICT fan. We need you to go get that now. Yeah. So now what is a criminal migraine? A criminal migraine is that moment in your brain when you think about going back. Like when a nigga cuts you off in traffic and you like motherfucker and your brain goes to that crime and then you go, oh, shit, I can't do that.
1:07:20Like the other day we were getting. So I was ready to take it back. That means I got too much to lose. I got too much to lose. That's the migraine. Got you. So like the other day, me and Coco were getting ready to park, and a girl cut in front of her and took the parking space, and I seen her. I said, criminal migraine. You want to kill the bitch, right? For sure. So and the way this album, once you listen to the album, the album is about getting out of the game because I feel like, okay, I'm 60 plus. I'm 68. Okay. I'm the oldest rapper. Man, I'm looking good for that shit. Real talk. Well, I'm a pimp, man.
1:07:53We stay thin in the way his hands are in the face. Ain't nothing going to get old around me. Salute, my brother, salute. Ain't nothing going to get old. Thin in the way his hands are in the face. Only thing I keep rolled around me is money. You understand? So anyway, I lost my mom. Oh, so The Criminal Migraine was an album I said at this point. By all practical observations, I've been successful. Right? My early records was me hustling and we going to get the money. So now I think the people who listen to my record want to know, ice, give us some game. Like, tell us what to do, what not to do.
1:08:31You obviously did what you set out to do. So now give it up. So that's what the album is more about. It's about getting out of the game. It's about the transition period of the gangster into the other world that we all want to be in. You know, I tell cats, I say, OK, so you a gangster, right? You big gangster. You're going to make all this money illegally. Where are you going to live? Is there an island or a planet that gangsters live? You're going to have to move right next door to somebody legitimate. And they're going to want to know where you got that money from. So now you're going to have to spend the rest of your life acting legitimate.
1:09:12Right. If you want to stay thugged out, you're going to have to be stuck where you started. But you want to elevate. You're going to want to move into that condo. You're going to want to move into that upscale neighborhood. Well, guess what? They're going to want to know who you are. They have friends that are governors. They're going to go up in your ass with a microscope. They're going to want to know who the fuck you are. So even though you want to be a gangster, you're going to end up trying to become legit. It's the end result. So I'm less like, you know, I ain't never been with the thug shit either.
1:09:41People are like, oh, you're a thug. I'm like, I never wanted to be a thug. I was not a thug. Never. That's hard to believe. You know, some people can't. You can't tell people that shit, though. What? Ice-T wasn't a thug. Wasn't what that thug is. Thugging is something different. Thugging is not. Thugging is something different. I'm a player. I'm on another channel. Like, I'm like, get some clothes, nigga. You look like a thug. Like, what? Step your game up, man. Thug, you go to Popeyes, man. We going over here and have some shirts. That's why I tell him. Passport boys. You want to be a friend of the bodega.
1:10:18Tony Yayo:Smoke duck yet? Smoke duck yet? Now, as a thug, you can elevate, but the object is never to stay that. Of course. Right? The boss is not a thug. What? He's a boss. And I've never been wanting to even be a boss. I'm just like, I always wanted to play, you know, like in the cut. Like, that's why I love Empowered, the dude's name was Ghost. And like I said, some people hustle to be seen, others hustle to disappear. You don't see me in, well that day they got me. And the time they showed that, that was a police cam. I did not post that. It was a police cam, it was a police cam, yeah it was. Yeah that was them trying to put me on black.
1:10:58You won't catch me doing that goofball shit, no.
1:11:01Tony Yayo:He survived the gang wars in LA, he survived the crazy times in New York City, he survived having a rap career, having beef with politicians, police union, president, he know how to move, But I could walk out of here and get banked by some kid with a 12, you know, six ounces of pressure. It doesn't matter. Like any anybody could get it. So I think the trick with me is I'm very humble to this and my surroundings and humans and knowing how fucked up humans can be and know how how jealousy could turn into something different. And like I say, your boss, 50, he likes that energy. He thrives in that energy.
1:11:37He's that kind of a person. I'm not that type of a person. But in a certain situation, I might be the right type of a person for whatever. If Fifth wants to go to war, Ice is going to say, let's do it this way. Rob Markman Right. Rob Markman You pick at your pick. We both going to end up surviving. Rob Markman Thanks.
1:11:58Tony Yayo:Rob Markman When you did Ricochet, was you taking acting classes at that time? Because you went straight from New Jack City to Ricochet, and that was another, that was like a big movie also. Rob Markman I was scared as shit again, Tony. I was so scared. I was scared. I was like, I got to act with Denzel Washington. That's what I'm saying. Denzel Washington. Denzel's a G, though. Denzel came in my dressing room and he shopped it up with me for like two hours just talking because I had to play his best friend. And he was like, you can't. Later, I understood why he did it. But it's like, you can't walk on the set and play against Denzel Washington if you never met him.
1:12:35So he wanted to drop off. Yo, we homies. We cool. He told me some stories. We shot the shit and we played. But I'll never forget the first scene I did with him. Denzel was laughing and shit. And then they go, action. And that nigga jumped in the character. And I flood my lines. He was like, come on, Ice. Come on. So I was like, oh, that's what you're doing. You're dribbling between your legs. You're showing, you know. And at that moment, I said, I want to learn how to act like that. What I think is that great people do what they do effortlessly. It's effortlessly. Like I seen Jay-Z rap and I was like, wow.
1:13:11Like, you know, back because he didn't write it. I seen him do it. I was like, wow. The people that make it are the big thing. I'm about to do something. You an amateur. Like the real cats, it just seems simple for them. It's not a big thing. So when I watched Denzel Washington, I was like, okay, that's who I would love to be. And now after 25 years, I think I know, I feel comfortable on the set. if you put me in front of a De Niro or somebody, I wouldn't be intimidated. I'm like, let's go.
1:13:40Tony Yayo:Right. But when you start - Yeah, because then at that, come on, Denzel - Did you eventually take acting classes? No. Oh, you never? No. I did survive in the game with F. Murray Abraham, and he had just won the Oscar. Right. What was his character in Scarface? He was the one they hung from the helicopter. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I never liked that guy. Yeah. I never liked that guy. F. Murray Abraham. Anyway, he asked me in the movie, he said, Ice, you ever took acting class? I said, no. He said, don't. It'll ruin your mechanism. He said, you have a musician's mind so you understand the cadence of conversation.
1:14:18Because when you read a line, it'll say, somebody's outside, go outside and check the car. That's how it reads. Someone is outside, go out and check the car. But the way it's said it, somebody's outside, go check the car. There's a cadence of conversation. You have to be able to translate what is written into conversation. And he said, being a musician, you can do that. He said, learn from the other actors you're working with. Learn from the working actors. And I'd say that to any rapper. Learn from working rappers. Like, get around other good MCs. You're going to learn something. You're going to pick something up from them.
1:14:54Don't have somebody that doesn't rap teach you. They say those who can't do teach. you know if they could do it why are they teaching go do it you know got you
1:15:08Tony Yayo:makes sense yeah so I've been fortunate and I just learned I got a chance to work around Denzel Rugga Hauer all these great actors and being on Law and Order every day working with Mariska working with all the guest stars I mean I feel I can act now of course so what advice because I just shout out to Shane Gillis I just was on Ty. It's a big show on Netflix. Good for you. It's on. Thank you, man. Yeah, good for you. That's what's up. I love that. I love that. So I know they're going to have a season four. Hopefully I can be on that, right? Yeah. It's a big show. I don't know how long it's going to last.
1:15:45Tony Yayo:I don't know, 28 years. It would be great. It doesn't matter. Everything you do is an audition for your next gig. Right. So it doesn't matter as long as you just did good on that. So what advice would you give me, Uncle Murda, any inspiring actors out there? like that you know we took acting classes but not too many but what advice would you give us just humble yourself to it just humble it you're not Tony Yeo you just a brother just walking on there you ain't Uncle Murder you just a an actor now the flavor you got is what they hiring you for you have a flavor you can't take it away because no matter who you are it's going to come through.
1:16:23Like no matter who Al Pacino plays, it's an Al Pacino-ish character, Jack Nicholson-ish character. All of them put this thing on it, right? That's what you are going to put on the character that no one else has. That's your flavor and your flavor and ice's flavor. If I'm a school teacher, it's going to be an iced tea-ish school teacher. And that's the part of acting that makes you really valuable. If you don't put anything special on it, and you don't try to, you can't help it, then you become a character actor. You've seen people in 100 movies, you don't know their name. They just go in there saying their lines, and that's it.
1:17:06But it's not their fault because I don't like this, but it either happens or it doesn't happen. You know what I'm saying? Like no matter how well I act, it doesn't matter how great I can act. For some reason, people like it. For some unknown reason, they like it. Right? I can't make people like me. They just like it. When you make music, they either like it or they don't. And if you're lucky enough that people like it, you're blessed. You're just lucky. You know, you can't say, oh, they're going to feel me. Like, niggas is like, no, that's just garbage, nigga. For sure. Don't that shit. You know, and you know, the thing of it is, though, one thing I teach my son, I teach everybody.
1:17:49Right. And I think Maya Angelou said this. It's not how much money you got. It's not where you live. It's not cars, nothing. What people either feel. It's how you make people feel and how that's your value. If I like you, you invited shit coming around. But you only get one try. You get one audition. You come to the party and like his energy. That's it. Right. Right? But if you like people's energy, then, and think about that in your life, like people that you, you could make millions of dollars with them, but you're like, I just really don't fuck with this nigga. Like there's something about him.
1:18:27I don't, and you can keep that, man. I don't want it. But you know, so I've always had the ability to dip people dug my energy, you know?
1:18:35Tony Yayo:For sure. Only people that didn't dig my energy would be people that my energy intimidated them. They like, I can't be as fly as this nigga. I don't want to be.
1:18:48I'm just talking my shit. I'm just talking. You know what I'm saying?
1:18:51Tony Yayo:You come to this crib, you got one try, nigga. Ain't that how it works? I remember you from messing with Smooth and Trigger too, man. Shout out to Smooth and Hustling and Trigger, man. Smooth is on the album. Okay, he's on the album. Look at that. I met Smooth at, look, so can I tell a quick Smooth record? Of course, man. I was in New York back in the day, and I went to see Bugsy at BLS. And he said, who are you feeling right now in New York? I said, this one record, It Takes Two, I Want to Rock Right Now, and this other record, The Jesus Christ Bible Ripper, the Ike and Tina Turner ass whooping learner.
1:19:28Tony Yayo:That's a classic. And they were like, oh, that's called Broken Language. That's Smooth to Hustle, Trigger Gamma. Before I left the studio, them niggas was downstairs. Look at that. Brooklyn showed up. That's how it was back in the day. We pulling up to that radio station. They pulled up. And I met Smooth. I met Trigger. At the time, Papoose was part of SMG. He still is. He got it tattooed in his skin. I met them. I hung out with D.R. Period in the Bronx. I mean, in Brooklyn. And I've been friends with Smooth ever since. You know, Devialius Christ, all the Brooklyn cats. Facts. The Devialius Christ.
1:20:00Tony Yayo:That broken language was a flame at all. Smooth's doing a new album right now. I inspired him. He's on two tracks on my album. and I inspired him. He's like working on some stuff, you know. So I'm kind of like executive producing him and Tretch. Yeah, we just had Tretch on the show. Shout out to Tretch, man. I'm the one sticking Tretch like, nigga, go, go. And since I, you know, the way I rap, I rap crazy. I'm pushing him, you know, because Trigger Tretch is wicked, you know. But, you know, Naughty by Nature was a little bit more calm. Facts. I want Tretch to go in. he's treacherous you know that's where he's going in so you know and and can't you can't out rap tretch you know he talk his talk man and smooth the hustler is a beast on the mic so i like rappers man and hey our ride's almost here are you ready just grabbing my shoes that's what you said 10 minutes ago i just dropped the video call uploading this giant file on my tablet looking at my watch go bananas with the group chat and of course still lining up tonight's playlist on my phone.
1:21:06All at once? Yep. Story of my life. That's why I switched to T-Mobile. They have the fastest 5G network. Okay, multitasker. I see you. Honestly, I never imagined I could do all this at once. It's awesome. Say no more. I'm totally switching. My post is taking way too long to upload. That's a sign you've got to get T-Mobile. So many reasons to join T-Mobile. Find yours at T-Mobile.com
1:21:39Fastest based on analysis by Ookla Speed Test Intelligence Data of National Speed Score Results Incorporating 5G download and upload speeds for the first half of 2026. This episode sponsored by Minky Couture. Fair warning, bring a Minky Couture blanket home and it may instantly become the most wanted seat in the house. That's the magic of Minky Couture. Minky Couture created the original soft Minky blanket, trusted for premium quality and custom styles. One touch, and movie nights, naps, and cold mornings suddenly revolve around who got to it first. Shop now at MinkyCouture.com. That's Minky, M-I-N-K-Y, Couture, C-O-U-T-U-R-E, dot com.
1:22:22Go to MinkyCouture.com and get your Minky Couture blanket now, before everyone in your house claims it is theirs. Hey, this is Robert Lamb. And this is Joe McCormick. And we're the hosts of the Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcast. This week on the show, it's Star Trek. So we're going to be talking about the Borg all week long. Are you ready to get some probes put in your flesh? That's right. Tune in. Resistance is futile. We're going to talk science, the culture of the Borg, various interpretations. And we're going to talk about Star Trek First Contact on Weird House Cinema on Friday. Listen to Stuff to Blow Your Mind on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
1:22:57Every case has a story. Every victim has a voice. But will it be heard? I'm Nancy Grace. On Crime Stories, we go beyond headlines to examine evidence, challenge the story we're fed, and pursue justice for victims and their families. Please join us at Crime Stories with Nancy Grace on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you find your podcasts. Hope you join us. I'll see you there, friend. I look at rappers like every rapper. Think of it like ball players. Some niggas got jump shots. Some niggas will slam. Some niggas got handles. You know, you got people like Tech N9ne and them that's like the globe trotters with it.
1:23:45But then you've got different people that just got punchlines. You got different. So every rapper has their own thing they do. Like you mentioned E-40. You mentioned Tusha. Everybody. and all of them survive in the game. Definitely. Definitely, man. Definitely.
1:24:01Tony Yayo:What's one of your craziest tour stories? Because I heard you say you was on tour with NWA, fucking Eazy-E, and them back in the days. What that was like? Because I'll always be one of you. Eazy was wild. Eazy was wild. You know, the cool thing about Eazy, Eazy would tell people he was 15. You know, because he was little. He has a lyric where he says that. No, that's funny stuff. I mean, Cube used to write all this stuff, and I remember Cube told me, And one of the lyrics, Eazy-E, said, Ice Cube writes the rhymes that I say. And Cube said, I wrote that, but I didn't think he was going to say that.
1:24:33But we had so much fun out there with D.O.C. and early back in the days. I think one time they were there when I knocked this nigga out in Kansas City. What the fuck I'm talking about, Ice? I told you, Ice Team Gangsta. Knocked the nigga out. We were in Kansas City, and I used to have this part of my song before I would say six in the morning. First, I would say, the police say if I do this song, they're going to put me in jail. I make the crowd yell, fuck the police, fuck the police, fuck the police. And I say, my name is Ice-T. I got a rep like a killer, killer. No one gets wilder. No one gets iller, iller.
1:25:09I don't get high. I don't drink Miller, Miller. But if your bitch is empty, I'm sure I can filler, filler. I make stupid ass records because I just don't care, care. motherfuckers can't play my shit on the air air but y 'all know you love it you say you want more cuz every time I leave the crib and go to the store I hear six in the morning police at my door fresh Shadida scream boom so that was the intro so this night I'm doing it my name is Ice-T I gotta rep like a killer this nigga in the front row I want to fuck that bitch where is that bitch no one gets wilder no one gets iller that bitch on the album cover I want to fuck that bitch.
1:25:46Now that's Lil Ice's mother. That was Darlene at the time. So I was like, this nigga is in my dead air. Like, loud as a motherfucker. We're in an arena. This nigga's louder than me and I got the mic. And you feel like everybody hear him too? Oh yeah, he was loud. He was loud. So I'm like, so I don't know. You know, he, criminal migraine. The nigga just hit the nerve. I was like, yo, come on stage, man. Come on stage. So they bring him over the thing, right? They bring him over the thing. Now, me, I'm a cold nigga. I'm not going to give the nigga a chance. So what I did was I backed off of him the correct amount of space.
1:26:25So as soon as the nigga put his foot on the stage, I caught him. Bing! The nigga just spun like this and fell into the hole between. I yelled, six in the morning, boys. Oh, the crowd went crazy. We need an Instagram for that. We need an Instagram for that right there.
1:26:44Tony Yayo:Talk about that cover, because that cover, that was your first baby mother. Yeah, that's Darleen. That cover was, you've got to admit that album cover was a classic cover. Well, what happened, well, okay, so Ryan Page, Darleen was in the Porsche, right? Because it was important for me, Glenn Friedman shot the covers and it was like, you have to represent LA. You can't look like New York. And I hired Glenn because he had did Public Enemy, he had done LL, he'd done everybody. I said, to get in the game, I have to look as good as the New York rappers. Eric being rocked, I have to. So I hired him.
1:27:17And he said, well, you can't look like New York. I want a car. We want a girl. We want a palm tree. Just so this says LA. So the next album was Power. And 50 Y 'all's me some money for that. But next album was Power. And I came up with the concept of, okay, it's three of us. You got the girl. She had the shotgun. Then I had the Uzi and he had the shotgun. So the first the first power is the power of sex. You see her. That's the first power. The second power is the power of weapons. You see the weapon when you turn it over is the ultimate power, which is the power of deception. You know, and, you know, it's not the guy you think that it is the guy that told him to do it.
1:28:04That's the deception. So that went over most people's heads. But, you know, it was the first time somebody seen an ass cheek. Niggas lost it. They was like, yo.
1:28:13Tony Yayo:Nah, the album cover was a classic album. It was. It still is to these days. Yeah. So, you know, I mean, that to me, the music is the music, but the album cover meant something. The liner notes meant something. The videos meant something. It's art. Like, it all tells the story. So, like I say, nowadays it's just, you know, you can buy one song. And the thing about a cassette is you had to listen to the whole side, you know? You had to. And CDs made you able to skip. So in the album, you would put it on. I used to have the Isley Brothers, the Heat is On album. And that B side, every day I dream.
1:28:51It had to slow. If you put that on and you wasn't fucking by the end of that side, take the bitch home. It's over. It's over. That album was, it was like, you know, it was guaranteed, that album. So, you know, I mean, but there's a song on the new album called No Regrets. And I say, I'm from a different place, different time, where niggas really meant what they said in their rhymes. Where niggas cooked coke, actually moved weight, where players got caught and would not turn states. Please believe me, I will not deceive thee. The code is gone. Now you're on your own. You're risking your life if you're still in the trap.
1:29:25No cap is infested with rats. Ooh, he ain't lying. Come on, man. Yeah, so we from a different place, different time, but it still stands. Real game stands forever. So I'm going to try to drop it and hopefully some cats will take notice and pay attention.
1:29:43Tony Yayo:It's so crazy because when you look at a young Dirk situation, where like OTF Jam and people that it's his friends that he took care of or telling on him for something he supposed to do. Sucker shit. How you feel, and you talk about that in the rap, so how you like. Well, you know, the game is not, see, people are getting the edge of the game. Like, the mob had it a certain way, and this, that, and the third. It's like, you know, I mean, I don't leave like discussing this shit, but the honest, the truth is, the catch you sent to whack somebody usually gets whacked. I know, and that's how the mob used to take care of it, and that's to tie up the loose ends.
1:30:24Yeah. You know what I'm saying? So if you got a bunch of people that have been putting a lot of work for you and they're still walking around breathing, those are loose ends.
1:30:36Tony Yayo:And I'm telling the truth. If you got shooters, nigga, and if they done shot enough people and like most of the shooters, you might as well shoot them niggas too. Well, or don't ever send them. Go do this stuff by yourself. I mean, I was taught. But I was taught if that - Put your own work in. Right. What you do, you go get in the bed with your girl. You put in that work. You put her to sleep. You slide out real slow. You go handle your business. You come in and you fuck her in the morning. And that's your alibi. I see if you remember you. But now they got GPS, all kinds of shit, television, this, that.
1:31:11Niggas, breaking the law right now, you got to be suicidal. Niggas doing it theyself. I'm glad he just said that. Can we play shut the fuck up? Can we play it? Yeah, we can play Shut the Fuck Up. Of course we can, man. I want you to hear this song. Let me get this up. You sit up to the speaker still?
1:31:28Tony Yayo:So he was talking about the technology and how people shut the fuck up is basically the podcast. It's self-explanatory. I rap very... You understand it. I don't really mix it up. I feel if you can't hear what I'm saying, how can you hear what I'm saying? So that's why I like you too. It's very... But you hear it. Let's go.
1:31:52Trying to figure out what's going on. Is Africa Islam again? No, this is another. I learned to gain from OGs and shot callers. Street pimps, drug dealers, hustlers, and top ballers. First rule, keep your fucking mouth shut. Watch what you're saying, don't talk about much. My name should never come out your mouth, no matter what the topic. You're talking too much, stop it. Never on the phone, consider every phone tap. Too many niggas had to learn about that. Now they're crying those tattoo tears. Feds watch niggas for years. You think you're getting it in, you're on a crime spree. 20, 30 indictments more than likely.
1:32:30Then you get on the net and break any fake. Why your niggas still fighting the case? I don't get it. Somebody help me out. These dumb niggas out here dying for clout. Nowadays these niggas talk too much. Get off the internet. Shut the fuck up. These podcasts know exactly what they selling. Self-incriminating you and you're the one telling. They bet you in, they say you're soft You start bragging about the bodies that you knocked off You're posting drugs, guns, cash, and jewels You gotta be some fucking fool Shut the fuck up, damn, shut the fuck up Stop talking, shut the fuck up Stop telling on yourself on the internet, man Pre-derf, I said, yo How many niggas got a cinch on theyself?
1:33:15How many niggas want a ticket to hell? Let's go The podcast, the job is views That motherfucker gives a fuck about you Listen Tell me that story Motherfucker love what you talking about They set you up, get you open Then you start spilling Next thing you done segway to some recent killings I don't trust none of they ass You never catch me on none of they cash That's how you're straight up live In my day for trolling you die That means I fuck it off Shut the fuck up These podcasts are going back to what they sellin' Self-incriminating you, you're the one tellin' They bait you in, they say you saw You start bragging about the bodies that you knocked off You're posing drugs, guns, cash, and jewels You gotta be some fuckin' fool Shut the fuck up, shut the fuck up Stupid ass nigga, stop talkin' Shut the fuck up, shut the fuck up
1:34:13Tony Yayo:Stupid ass nigga Shut the fuck up, shut the fuck up Shut the fuck up. Criminal by Graves, Icetea.com. Criminal by Graves. He's not streaming for a little bit of money. He want a bag. Let's go. Did that make sense? Yes, it makes a whole lot of fucking sense, Ice. Hey, fucking with that. Hey, you know, they bait you in. They say you're soft. So first thing they do is say, yeah, nigga, I heard you was fake. Right? Nigga, I got my gun on me right now. Say, nigga, they bait you in. Now you start bragging about the bodies you knocked off. Come on, man. The podcast's job is views. They don't give a fuck about you.
1:34:49So I wouldn't come. But we give a fuck about you. No, but take this. Take this. I done Nori. I done Nori. I done Fat Joe. I done y 'all. Yes, definitely. Because I respect y 'all guys. Appreciate it. And y 'all ain't asking me no sideways questions. Of course. Come on. Well, you know the ice, man. I'll tell you what the thing is before we go. The thing is this. They're not really even interviewing rappers no more. So if you only interview gangsters, what can they talk about but gangster shit? So that's their, it's not like they have a gold record. They killed people or they did this or they did time.
1:35:25So let's brag about the time. I've never been to prison. I never got caught. I paid attention when the game was taught. You understand me? So I don't get into it. Yo, I was on this yard or that yard. I'm like, all right, cool. You fucked up. You know what I'm saying? You got caught, obviously. So, my thing is that we have to start paying attention to the people that navigated around that shit. You know, like, show me how to get around it. Show me what to do with my money. Show me what I did. I got, okay, I got my street money. What do I do with it now? How do I trans... Because people ask me all the time, they say, Ice, what's you're most proud of?
1:36:03And I say, transition. Right. That's what... There's a whole world out there. I totally agree with you. I was rolling one night and this nigga pulled up on me and it rolls, right? We were going someplace down the street and I don't even look out my car. When I'm driving, I'm like this. Niggas can honk. I'm like this. Because one time I waved to somebody and rear-ended somebody. So I'm rolling and I look over and he said, yo, it's yeah, yo. Like that. He showed me some love. I was like, players, man. Real players. But we all, everyone's watching everybody. Everybody sees everybody. No matter who you think you are, niggas know who you are.
1:36:40So, your brain might think, oh, I'm the flyest niggas. Niggas like, no, you're not niggas. You corny. So, I don't know. I don't know.
1:36:49Tony Yayo:So, I got two questions for you. Let's go. Because I remember you said, I give you one chance you get banned from the mansion. So me and Murda come to the crib. Y 'all welcome. And he's looking at Coco too long. He's cool. He's banned from the crib? No, he has his priorities straight. I know he's just admiring the art. Ice is a player, and I've been around before. I've been around Coco before in Ice crib. I'm just kidding. Ice is a player, man. Ice is cool though, man. He's admiring the art. That's it. You know what I'm saying? I mean, I know he wouldn't do nothing disrespectful. I would never do nothing disrespectful to his wife.
1:37:18But no, you guys are definitely welcome. I would love to have you over, you know, mansion, see you connections on it. I've been around Ice T family before, brother. This is, we got history, you know what I'm saying? Niggas ain't disrespectful. You know, I always say, no matter how gangster you are, When somebody's mother comes in the room or kid, niggas change their behavior. That's what I believe. Or you probably, you'll really see some real gangsters. Better believe it. That's what we could be over here talking about this, that, and the other. And then comes your kid. All of a sudden, everybody.
1:37:47Of course. Fast. We know how to behave. Come on, man.
1:37:50Tony Yayo:You original gangster here, bro. Nobody ain't fucking with you. Hey, our ride's almost here. Are you ready? Just grabbing my shoes. That's what you said 10 minutes ago. I just dropped a video call, uploading this giant file on my tablet, looking at my watch go bananas with the group chat and, of course, still lining up tonight's playlist on my phone. All at once? Yep, story of my life. That's why I switched to T-Mobile. They have the fastest 5G network. Okay, multitasker. I see you. Honestly, I never imagined I could do all this at once. It's awesome. Say no more, I'm totally switching. My post is taking way too long to upload.
1:38:30That's a sign you've got to get T-Mobile. So many reasons to join T-Mobile. Find yours at T-Mobile.com.
1:38:42Fastest based on analysis by Uklah Speed Test Intelligence Data of National Speed Score Results, incorporating 5G download and upload speeds for the first half of 2026. This episode sponsored by Minky Couture. Fair warning, bring a Minky Couture blanket home and it may instantly become the most wanted seat in the house. That's the magic of Minky Couture. Minky Couture created the original soft Minky blanket, trusted for premium quality and custom styles. One touch and movie nights, naps, and cold mornings suddenly revolve around who got to it first. Shop now at MinkyCouture.com. That's Minky, M-I-N-K-Y, Couture, C-O-U-T-U-R-E, dot com.
1:39:25Go to MinkyCouture.com and get your Minky Couture blanket now, before everyone in your house claims it is theirs. Hey, this is Robert Lamb. And this is Joe McCormick. And we're the hosts of the Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcast. This week on the show, it's Star Trek. So we're going to be talking about the Borg all week long. Are you ready to get some probes put in your flesh? That's right. Tune in. Resistance is futile. We're going to talk science, the culture of the Borg, various interpretations. And we're going to talk about Star Trek First Contact on Weird House Cinema on Friday. Listen to Stuff to Blow Your Mind on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
1:40:00Every case has a story. Every victim has a voice. But will it be heard? I'm Nancy Grace. On Crime Stories, we go beyond headlines to examine evidence, challenge the story we're fed, and pursue justice for victims and their families. Please join us at Crime Stories with Nancy Grace on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you find your podcasts. Hope you join us. I'll see you there, friend.
1:40:32Tony Yayo:Number two is, I got to ask you, your top five that motivated you on the West Coast before you came out or before you was on that we might not know, or your top five on the East Coast that you was feeling? Well, like you say, I like to do inspirational. I don't like to do my favorite top five rappers. Like, who aspires you to do this shit? Who aspires you? Well, L.A., there was nobody because I was the first rapper out there. Tati T, Mixmaster Spade was doing tapes. Too Short was in the Bay doing stuff. But I was the one that wanted to truly rap like New York rappers. So I kind of was like the first person to kind of really break.
1:41:17And I was inspired by Schooley D. Six in the morning was really my impression of Schooley D's PSK. It is a long story that goes with that. But when I first started rapping, I was cosplaying the rapper. I was trying to look like New York. I had on a Kango. I was trying to look like New York because I wanted to get in. If you want to be a country western singer, you're going to buy a cowboy hat. So I'm trying to be like New York. Then Russell Simmons was with me at a party. And I was dressed in Fila, K-Swiss, Perm. And I rapped. And he said, that's you, Ice. He said, you have to be you. You can't be Melly Mel.
1:42:00Like, you have to be you. Just do it. And I was like, but there were no L.A. rappers. I was like, how do you do it from L.A.? But once I got the courage after Schoolie D. did PSK, I'm like, he's rapping about a gang, Parkside Killers. That was a green light. Like, okay, so I could talk about my criminal activity. You got to remember, the theory of making records talking about crime was unheard of. You know, you had the bar cage, you had all, Daz Band. I'm sure them niggas did cocaine and drugs, but they wouldn't sing about it. Talk about that shit. They wouldn't sing about it. So you want to be an actor.
1:42:36You don't walk onto the acting thing and say, yeah, I'm Tony Yayo. I sold coke. You don't do that. Highlighting the good shit. Music. Of course. But then PSK came out and they was talking about parts. I killed it. Put my pistol up against his head. It says, suck your ass nigga. I said, ooh. so I come with six in the morning and that shit took off and next thing you know I'm like well I can do this shit all day talking about this crime shit so it wasn't called gangster rap originally I was like the LA player this and the other but when Cube and them did Straight Outta Compton Cube said Straight Outta Compton crazy motherfucker named Ice from the gang called Niggas With Attitudes and the press said it's gangster rap And I'm like, okay, it's gangster rap.
1:43:25Well, then I guess I'm the original gangster. And that's where the OG came from. Because I had two albums out before they dropped. Even though Cube and them, they was touring with me. They had Dope Man. They had Gangster Gangster. And they the little homies and everything. But when they came out, it felt like Godzilla just walked over me. Like, God damn. Like, they... Well, it was on tour. No, just N.W.A. When they dropped that album, that album was like, whoa. You know? And at that point, they had the baton, and they was off and running. It was like gangsta on steroids there, man. But it was love.
1:43:57Of course. It was love. And me being from the West Coast, even though Too Short was up north, I was happy. And then Ghetto Boys came out, and I was happy. I was like, I was seeing the stuff just starting to morph. And like I told 50 back in the day, I think 50, to me, was the last gangster rapper. Like, he was the last one who. Because my favorite rap group was Mobb Deep. But let's go. Let's go. L.A. Q of course Pac you know I mean I seen Pac birth I seen him when he was with Digital Underground and all that so he was the little homie and stuff so I was seeing him and he got it just happened too fast and too quick that fame and you know so and of course Snoop you know to me Snoop is to me Snoop is the biggest rap star in the world to me fucking everybody knows Snoop is in Corona commercials Snoop is at the Olympics.
1:44:52Olympics, Corona commercials. You would recognize Snoop before Jay-Z if you wasn't in hip hop. Yeah, definitely.
1:44:58Tony Yayo:Overseas, definitely. And 50 is well known. But, you know, I'm saying these certain people. So at West Coast would be Q, Pop, Snoop. Those are the big bosses out there that really put. And also Cypress Hill. Oh, yeah. You got you back. Shout out to Cypress Hill. Now out here, I would start with Melly Mel. Melly Mel Melly Mel made us understand that you could rap about other things when he did the message that was like taking rap from parties to issues and he was the first real rapper cause Sugar Hill Gang was out first but Furious 5 was the first big rap group and Mel was rapping his ass up shout out Grandmaster Kaz and I met them early in the game so I'll say him then I'll say Chuck D Public Enemy Made us black, made us proud to be black.
1:45:50And when I seen them in the streets of Brooklyn with Spike Lee, and I got to tour a lot with Chuck, and that's my brother, and I love them. Rakim. Rakim made us all rap different. Rakim taught niggas how to flow. Like, we all knew how to rap, that nigga knew how to flow. And he would just like, I'm like, God damn, when I hear lyrics of Fury and I heard, you know, things like - And he ain't cursed. No curses. I went on tour with Rakim. My first tour was with, it was me, Boogie Down Productions, Biz Markie.
1:46:25Tony Yayo:Rest in peace Biz Markie, yes. Dougie Fresh, Kumo D and Eric B and Rakim. And I used to wait at night because he had this laser shit. And he had this one part of the song where he'd say the stage is the cage, the mic is the third rail, the lasers would hit the shit and go, across the crowd. I was like, yo, that shit is dope. Wow. Legendary tour shit. This is what I be trying to tell motherfuckers. That's why I love this show, bro. But you know what? Those who say don't know, and those who know don't say. Niggas, it was there. We witnessed it, and it was amazing. And like I say, my last one would be Mobb Deep.
1:47:01I think Prodigy -
1:47:02Tony Yayo:Rest in peace, Prodigy. Was to me my favorite rapper because it was understandable. I understood everything he was saying. The slow flow was crazy that he had. slow flow, I used to always call it. Yeah, the slow flow, but in the danger he put into the rhymes, like he just really, you believe that nigga would kill you with a butter knife. Like this nigga was that serious about it. And the cool thing about Mobb Deep is Prodigy and Havoc rap so similar that sometimes you wouldn't know who's rapping. Like they both had this same technical flow and the music that went to it. You know, the music. Havoc on the beats man havoc on the beast yeah and alchemist facts so my boy alchemist got the album with erica badu out right now yeah that's my like if i'm gonna sit back and i'm gonna listen to um you know also me technically like certain people's frequency i like to listen to certain voices because they sound better to me other people's pitch might it's rap is such rap is so particular you know everybody has their own opinion everybody got their own opinion of what they like right right nobody can fuck with him with what he does nobody you guys have everybody has their own shit we all basketball players everybody got their own moves and you know some people they need to be authentic some people like drake doesn't need to be authentic he's just a rapper he's a singer i like drake when he sings more you know but he's in the game and he's got a crazy following And, you know, Kendrick won a Pulitzer Prize.
1:48:40Who does that? You know what I'm saying? So you get to pick. That's the beauty of music. You get to pick who you like. You know, you get to pick who you like. And niggas want to sit back and talk about it like it's sports. Oh, I think this, like, the nigga got the crossover. You know, but this is, the thing of it is, it's like, if I walked in here and I said, Allen Iverson is my favorite nigga, you agree. This nigga going to, no. There's always going to be somebody that's going to go left. Nah, Jordan, man. Right, right, right. Jordan the goat, man. So it's your opinion versus who gives a fuck.
1:49:15I like that. That's a good way to end the show off. It's our opinion and who gives a fuck about his opinion. Listen, this is where I like having the legends on the show.
1:49:26Tony Yayo:It's not microwave music. This guy done did TV shows. Yeah. Shot his own TV shows. Yeah. movies, music legend, classic movies, and we got Criminal Migraine out now. Make sure y 'all get that on Icet8.com, because he's not streaming. The longest-running actor on TV right now, 28 years. The longest-current actor on TV right now. New Jack City, Ricochet, Newbies with Denzel, know what I'm saying? OG Network. Oh, I got a network too. Oh, yeah, set out that network. I got the network. Me and Big Court have a network just like 50. You know, I was talking about who's my competition. I'm like, I got everything 50 got.
1:50:11And he done got a rock band, so I got you, 50. But I got an OG network. Go to theognetwork.net if you want to see Superfly, Willie Dynamite, all the player stuff. You can see my movie, The Art of Rap. You can see whatever you want. It's free. You can get it on your phone. You got the Mac on there, too? You got the Mac on there? The Mac. Okay, all right. Okay, let's go, baby. Today, you go see the Mac. That's right. All the pimp movies, everything. And I own the network from the ground up. We built it to where it can't be taken down. Fire. So that's the OG network and just other shit, man, things I'm trying to do, man.
1:50:48I think at this point, I'm very happy and satisfied with what happened with my life. I just now just want to try to stay healthy and stay in there, man. I'm not competitive in any kind of way. I think one last thing. I think being too competitive is what takes down a lot of us.
1:51:08Tony Yayo:Right. You know, especially if you're a drug dealer and you're competing with a nigga across the street, you're going to take risks that you normally wouldn't take because you are going to outdo this other person. Just try to outdo yourself. Just try to be better every day. That's all you got to do. Worrying about the next man and this nigga. Like I said, I was in the car, right? I'm in a nice car, right? Nigga on the curb was like, nigga, you ain't got no more money than Dr. Dre. And I'm like, nigga, you ain't got money than iced tea. Like, why are you worrying about me? I'm not worrying about Dre.
1:51:43Like, now am I going to pull my car over and argue with this nigga on the curb? Look, just outdo yourself, man. And those who like you will like you. and those who don't for whatever weird reason. You know, there's niggas out there. I done had a nice conversation with you. There's some niggas out there still don't fuck with me. For whatever weird reason they got. But fuck them. Exactly. Yeah, fuck them. Exactly. I roll with, you know, I'll end it with this. There's no guaranteed way to win, but the guaranteed way to lose is to try to make everybody like you. Figure out who fuck with you and roll with who fuck with you.
1:52:18And that's it. On the real record.
1:52:19Tony Yayo:And that's coming from, Ice-T, a man that's been in the game. It's hard to stay consistent in this game for over 20 years, 30 years, 10 years. Some of y 'all five years. Some of y 'all one year. Some of y 'all a couple of months. You know what I'm saying? So make sure y 'all watch this episode. We got the legend in the building, Ice-T. Yeah. Respect. Make sure y 'all like, share, and subscribe. And health and happiness to all. Ice-T in the building. Swimmin' new migraine out now. Stop playing. Keep it gangsta.
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From the publisher
Ice-T joins Tony Yayo and Uncle Murda to revisit the making of “Colors,” explain how a wild bathroom encounter led to his role in New Jack City and reveal how little he was initially paid for the classic film. The hip-hop legend breaks down the political and police backlash surrounding “Cop Killer,” his departure from Warner Bros., learning acting alongside Denzel Washington and building a historic run on Law & Order: SVU. Ice-T also explains why he refuses to stream his new album Criminal Migraine, shares stories about Eazy-E and N.W.A, discusses rappers incriminating themselves on podcasts and reveals the lessons that helped him successfully transition from the streets into music, television and business.
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