BONUS: Ari talks NY power & realness with The LOX in Beat Intv

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1:22including any token expiration and max wager amount. See full terms at fanduel.com slash sportsbook. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or 1-800-MY-RESET. Some things are etched into culture. When you hear the phrase, I'm going to make him an offer he can't refuse, you know it. Even if you've never seen the entire Godfather, a movie now over 50 years old. When you hear money, power, respect, it echoes as an iconically familiar phrase in your mind, even if you might not recall when that banger dropped. was 1998. When you hear, forget the frail, we gonna make it, you might immediately feel a gritty anthem that personifies real hip hop, which other rappers and acts have mimicked really for many years now.

2:07And when millions of New Yorkers recently heard the new mayor proclaim that he's outside, well, the reference was understandable for its authentic New York mindset. Even if not Not everybody was able to immediately place the both tough and I think funny boast from one of the most celebrated versus battles of our chaotic pandemic era. All of these are classic cultural moments from the locks.

2:47Flash, SP, the only flow that you know, with a bounce in the head. All over the projects, these gangsters know who the best. So if I gotta go to war with y 'all team, I'm leaving the noise. We gon' make it. We gon' make it. We gon' make it. We gon' make it. Jadakas, Styles, P, and Sheik Looch have held rap down. They are, of course, the Locks. They have a new single called Never Change and a forthcoming documentary, Trinity, the story of the Locks, which debuts at the prestigious Tribeca Film Festival this year. joining us now making their beat debut together styles p jadakus and chic luch the locks welcome can i tell you something that was an amazing introduction i loved it the intro was facts what's up bro that's how we feel so starting with you when you say new york hip-hop and you see that's what what you personify how does that feel being able to look at it now it's amazing i mean it feels like i'm getting old you know what i mean but like it's so dope actually dope just seen all that.

3:43Yeah. Yeah. What we accomplished. And Jada making new music. You're doing podcasts. You're doing business. Where are you at now? What's your mindset right now? Just to keep going. I think we come from the families of strong mothers and fathers that they instill to keep working. Things might be going great. They might not be, but whatever where they're going, keep the question, stay the course. You know me, always keep working, man. We're happy to be here. It's a beautiful thing to have a career this long, for the city to be, appreciate us, multiple businesses, and to still go, and people still love the music, and we still on tour, still doing shows, still rocking, so it's a beautiful thing.

4:33Absolutely. I mentioned the new track, Let's play that. This has never changed.

4:59What's this song about to you and what does it mean to just get everyone back together? You guys tour and you play all the time, but to get back in the booth. Brotherhood. I don't think we ever look at it as get back together. We're together too much. We share the same studio. We're in the same space all the time. So it's more so just throwing the LOX hat back on and doing what we do. We only got two out of three hats, though. You went with the bucket. I forgot I went with the bucket. It's like 100 degrees outside, so I was just going to be cool. This was a practical choice? Yeah, absolutely. Form over fashion?

5:33Practical, absolutely. Okay, because fashion, they say, is important in hip hop. It is, it is, it is. Very important. I want to also do some throwbacks because we were looking through the archives as we do. This is MTV. You go back to late 90s. And your story, which I want to talk about because we have a moment here today, was fascinating because you were asked to be more than one thing. And yet you were so yourself, so gritty New York that that always came through. Even when you were surrounded by dynamics where we all know, at least those of us who love rap, that there was a period where it was like every rapper's supposed to put on the shiny suit or be something else.

6:05You been there? Yeah. This is Loyalty 98. Let's look. We've been together all our lives since childhood. So we was already a group before we was a group. Always a group. Same football teams, junior high schools to after college. Everywhere. When we ain't doing this rap, we gonna be together, hanging tight. Wow. It's fire. Yeah, no, that's fire. Those are some different guys right there. That's right. I remember that guy. I'm not him anymore, but I remember him. We made it, though. We made it. That's a beautiful thing to be able to look out there and say, we still here, we made it. Yeah, Jada, anything to jump out there?

6:48He said different guy. You feel like the same guy, different guys? No, those are some different guys, but we transitioned to be some pretty good men. Yeah. You know what I mean? Did you feel like Versus was important for hip-hop, the battles? I think battling is important for hip-hop, but when we came into the pandemic and then things shut down, I think Versus was actually a breath of fresh air for the culture, for hip-hop, for everybody, something to do, something to watch, something to enjoy. And not to cut you off, like a master class, kind of, like when you said, don't do it without your lyrics, and, you know, showing them that we're not singing up there.

7:30And how we were rocking together, it was just different. And Hov was saying in a recent interview, oh, maybe the battling's gotten too far, too out of hand. I mean. The aftermath. I think it's so much extra things that with technology and AI and there's a lot of additives to the elements that don't need to be there. The media and the fans make it difficult. Facts. Explain. The media and the fans make it difficult. Well, as an emcee, you're naturally competitive. Yeah. That's what you do. It's a lyrical sport. So you're going to always, people, even you want to see the best clash, but you don't want to see an aftermath.

8:14Like, I don't want my fans hating you. Like, even when we battled whoever we had, we still play their music literally us three would still be in the car like who who would you still play Benny Muff Benny Siegel State Property 50 Cent yeah we played it we still played it Rockefeller yeah whatever it was we never took it to where we hate their guts and we don't we hate what they're doing for the culture I would stay in the booth and all that these kids these days man they're taking another level drop it atty and show me where you at and all that we're not doing all that That's crazy. You don't want to stop nobody's business.

8:52You know what I mean? I think now that's where it goes. All lives. Because what you're talking about is really a type of sportsmanship. Yeah. You could be on the court, and it could be that intense. Yeah. And then you walk off the court, and you dab, and you go to your families, and you live your life. And you're saying what? That the internet has made people real confused about where the court is and where the line is. Like there's, I think when, speaking of Hov, I think he made a great point in an interview where I believe he's saying And part of the taking it too far is now Drake's fans hate Kendrick.

9:23Now Kendrick's fans hate Drake. And we all making music for everybody. And you don't want to put the people who's listening to music. It's okay to like Drake better than Kendrick. And it's okay to like Kendrick better than Drake. That's how the ball bounces. But now the fans and media make it to where you have to choose a side. If you choose a side that I don't choose now, we have to argue about it. Now there's a podcast on our argument. Now, there's a podcast on an argument's argument, and it goes so on and so on. And now people want to hear the view of the view of the view of the view. And it's just...

9:57Hip-hop fans want it to go forever, too, man. Yo, dude, I said something, he said something, that's it. They want it to keep going and going. And why do you think that is? Entertainment. They just want to be entertained and turn their phones on and look like, oh, he said this about you today and this month and next month. Dude, it's old now. Leave it. It's funny you say, and you mentioned 50, you know, he said the history of entertainment is the creation of entertainers for the sake of entertainment and the destruction of entertainers for the sake of entertainment. Lost me a little bit, but, you know.

10:27That they build you up because they make money off you. And then when they're done doing that, they take you down and make money off that. And his point was like, whatever, 50. I mean, we could debate 50 because people would say, take shots at plenty of people. But his point was the system, right? And you guys are talking about a system now that says, oh yeah well whatever drake has been now there's going to be a whole mechanism to kind of rejoice in trying to take it down too rob's hip-hop because now there's no drake kendrick concert so it was cool for them to battle but now us the fans media now you're not going to see two of the best in hip-hop on the road together so i'm not saying it was possible anyway but now I was, I'm pretty sure it's not possible now.

11:13I have a complimentary question. That's like when I talk to my mom and I say, you know why you're the best mom? And she's like, I like where the question's going. Why? So I'm curious if you can speak on why Locke's dip set was, according to many heads, the best verses we got. I mean, it just... It was. To me, I mean, I respect to... I would say New York. Yeah. We were big. with both Monsters in New York. With both Monsters in New York. You didn't know where that battle was going to go. It happened in New York. It was exciting. Madison Square Garden. Coming off the pandemic and every Versus before that was more so, not all of them.

11:58It was more harmony. I didn't know the results of the Versus would turn that way, but the point was the show. We went in to show people but there is a way for how we do our show, how we rock our show. Absolutely. We fuck it up. We're going to fuck that stage up. We're going to be in sync with each other. We know each other's shit. If he stops mid-verse, I can carry his verse, vice versa. Oh, yeah. And there's going to be no words on. So it was the point of showing that. But, dude, come on. What's my man's name that said, in this corner? Michael Buffer. Oh, come on. Once you've seen him, you should have known.

12:33It's about to go down in here. It's going to get crazy. And the promotion before it kind of just grew into it, when people were weighing in who they thought were weighing in. And I think it was also important for New York to be the mecca of hip-hop to show a proper lyrical scrappy. Jada, you agree with that? Yeah, I just think everything worked out perfect. It's two New York-based groups that people love. There's a bunch of tension in the air of people saying who's going to win. it's in the Mecca of New York. The doors are going crazy. The green rooms is crazy. Everybody was proud. A bunch of stars were there.

13:17It was the closest you could probably get to like an old school hip hop, you know, with just the real elements. And it was what it was. It was a good moment in hip hop. We got a look at it. Let's take a look.

14:04I wonder, does it also speak, Jay, to how like we still, especially in a city like New York, we got to be in the room. And it was really a wild time to ask everyone to be separate. And those battles allowed people, yeah, there were people in the room, but allowed the country to kind of feel like they were in a room. And that was rare.

14:26I think people was also actually happy to just get outside. Yeah, really. To be able to do something like that. That played a big part in it. as well. Yeah. With all of the build up and all of the... It was the right event at the right time. Especially in the garden, especially with New Yorkers. And the right two groups. Yeah, it was just the right two perfect groups. Not chippy. It was just really... And those was our brothers. That's what made it dope too. I don't think it was... Nobody never saw us like that. Yeah. I think it was... Like that together. But you guys were going to do tours and stuff like you've been out there, right?

15:03Yeah, we were supposed to do tours. I did that. We've done shows together. We had done a few shows together a couple months before that, actually. But not as rivalrous. No, no. Like a normal show. It's normal. Yeah. And Cam, you like being on stage with Cam? It's my guy. Yeah, Cam is our guy. Yeah. We did a show like a week before that versus together. I was studying. I was watching. Looking at how he moves. Like, okay. Yeah. Yeah. So when you think about, you know, what the locks means to New York City and we have new leadership, And I'm not talking ideology. I mean, people can debate that left, right and center.

15:37But, you know, there was old old saying, Jada. How are you going to let the Terminator win the election? Come on, pay attention. And we put something together, which New Yorkers know about and the rest of our national audience might learn about, which is you have this new mayor, Mom Donnie. He's really excited a lot of people. He's also controversial to a lot of people. He was just in the White House going back and forth with the president. He's a big figure and he loves the locks and you and brings you into his orbit. Let's show this from his actual inaugural address. New York, the real New York.

16:16I'm outside. I don't live in Miami. I don't live in Colorado. Come to my block and see me. This is Jess. I'm outside. And throughout it all, we will, in the words of Jason Terrence Phillips, better known as Jada Kiss or Jada Mwah, be outside. Because this is a government of New York, by New York and for New York.

16:54What does that mean to you? Uh, he's outside. I mean... I swear I asked you that. Is he still outside? I don't know. You know how to... But it means that... Yeah. I mean, I think he was... Being that he's so young, to show that his connection to the streets of knowing our music and knowing us and being. I think that helps. You know what I mean? Every, a lot of the politicians use, they use the culture the way they can use it. He actually has a little bit of knowledge. I actually, he came to my dressing room at the Woo Show. Yep, yep, yep. So he, you know, he put his boots on the ground and did his thing.

17:35I appreciate that. You can't, you know, the New York mayor shouting you out. No, that's fine. From New York. It's fine. How could it be anything but a plus? Yeah, it's that you guys are embedded in New York, and you were coming up in the 90s. It's like Mayor Giuliani. And now, does it surprise you or feel right that you were shaping the soundtrack and the minds of the people who are now running the city? Oh, it's an amazing feeling. And also, like my brother said, it makes you feel old. He was such a young guy listening to our music. Now he's the mayor of New York. Yeah, it's wild. Now we have more on this because you know on the beat we go deep.

18:14Let's do it. He also at the victory party walked out to New York, New York, which is Ja Rule featuring you. Fat Joe. And Joe. And has been shouting you out in other forums. So this has like been on his mind. We put this together. Take a look. He's an artist. Mwah. My dream is walking out to New York. Ja Rule. Yeah. J.D. Kiss. The winner of the New York City mayoral race. Oh wow. There you go. will be Zoran Mamdani.

18:49Walked out at his victory party to a banger by Ja Rule, who was a rival to the aforementioned 50 Cent. That song was an anthem for the city, and it features a classic verse by Yonkers rapper Jadakiss. Yo, then the next day, Mondami we outside yo you what's up man it's a good start off of the year man

19:17that's fire crazy yeah it's fair to say he loves hip hop he loves KISS was New York was that the right time to come out to oh yeah winning the mayor the mayor election of New York is coming out that New York is no better soundtrack to walk out to I just hope when I need him yeah Yeah, yeah. I hope the reciprocation... That's why I asked. He's still outside. All right, what do you need from him? Tell us right here. I don't need... I don't need... I might need some... I might need anything. You might need something from the mayor. I need it. Do you need any waivers for your business? A couple of permits.

19:50A couple of permits. A couple of permits. A couple of permits. You might need... You might need the list for the storefronts. Yeah. You know what I mean? You might need to be in some of these boards of some of these things. That's a fact. Now, you have this forthcoming documentary, and it looks at the whole arc of your career and also going back and forth with the industry. And from Prince to you guys, so we hear from artists today. I mean, this seems to be, no matter the platforms change, the names of the companies change, but this is still this whole big part of whether artists are getting their due, getting respect and having the freedom to do what people love.

20:24Why is it important to tell that part of the story, which is different from what some people might see on the front page? They think you're flossing back then and living well and great. Nah, I mean, we're doing, we was doing okay, but we still had a lot more to go, you know, so we needed to show that. That's the part I was talking earlier, the part that I like about the doctor is showing the struggle, that we weren't always all the way up here, you know? You see all that from taking our kids to school to making it to that show or to that tour or getting off the tour bus, headaches and tired, and you got to see all that.

20:53A lot of people only want to show the good stuff. Absolutely. And they only want to make it look one-sided. Yeah, man. You've got to show both to be able to enjoy the story. Yeah. But that's the funny thing about hip-hop, right? It's so aspirational that you're supposed to claim your wins before you get them. There's a lot of pressure to show, oh, you made it, you're big. And that's great if you did, but it seemed like the equities, the splits, the compensation, contracts, it wasn't all fair and that got in the way. That's going to always get in the way, especially when you've got to think Most artists, if they didn't come from a certain background financially, they were struggling.

21:36So now you get on, you have an opportunity. And to this day, it's still not fair. Like you say, as long as the music industry has existed, people feel robbed and taken advantage of. So it seems like it'll never be fair, but you have to do the best you can. Surround yourself with good people and be willing to fight when you need to. And that's the important part. Like, that's another part of the game no one's seen. No one's seen us fighting behind the doors for the publisher. No one sees the hours of being on the phone, looking up things, trying to match everything up, seeing what goes, what doesn't go, what was paid, what wasn't paid.

22:15And then finding out you can't get paid if this many years went by. So no one really sees the rough negative part. Dude, I want to stick up for artists right now, but I don't know how streaming works. Yeah. You know what I mean? I don't know. It's still a lot of streaming work. It's crazy. Well, nobody knows. So I'll leave it alone. Yeah, right? Well, nobody knows because they'll say this new project did... $450 trillion streams. Here's a check for$1 ,500. Yeah, and then they'll say that's 80 ,000 album equivalents. Oh, my God. And you're like, what's an album equivalent? Yeah. And they're like, that's...

22:46Who came up with that now? That's somebody. And nobody... You know it's a problem when nobody will own it. Yeah, nobody knows. There's nobody in the industry. Nobody said nobody knows who's making this rule. So somebody said album equivalent, and then they'll compare you to someone from another decade. And it's like, I grew up buying music. It's fine today that it's different, but you can't compare what it is to wait in line and buy a Lox album. And then you look at being around Bad Boy was this rocket at the time. Crazy. But then, like any other, they say mixed blessings, it seemed to also be something that you ultimately had to move past to really be doing your sound.

23:20Is that fair? True. Yeah. I would say that's pretty accurate. The timing was incredible for even Rough Riders to pop off after that. You know, our scales was up there, but timing was amazing for the locks. Timing is a big thing in this music industry. Timing is very important. I'm going to do a lightning round. That's where we go real fast. I got one more question before I get to that, Jada, which is, you know, Fat Joe has been one of the earliest proponents of this program. Year one, he was on here. He came to our, performed at our anniversary event. We love Joe. You know, with an intro like that, where am I going, right?

24:00Is Joe telling the truth in all the stories on the Joe and Jada pod? For the most part, I think he is. I think he adds a little, he makes it, he adds his Stephen King, his Stephen King touch to it. But for the most part, people come and it's somebody there to backtrack their facts. Somebody comes on that was there for a lot of the stories. Yeah, crack. I got an apology. Yeah, crack. They do have some extra adobo on them. They all make it entertaining. It is a real, actual, factual thing. Because we love Joe. I mean, Joe is OG on this program. But, you know, I ask the question. It's part of my job.

24:47There's that word incredible. it often means something amazing or great but it comes out of saying in not credible it's so big it's not credible so when he says for example you've seen it online people talk about it that they went he went in the gym and they robbed 30 people and they helped also older than me so i wasn't around for some of this stuff well david wait a minute is it all true or he wasn't there those are different answers i mean i've been there for some of the things he talked about when he was young, you got to take, I wasn't around for that. Some of the stuff that I wasn't around for, I have seen people come and, in fact, yo, kiss.