Michael Sterling | Video

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Hi. This is me and Michael Sterling. A many house life fanages right here. And you are looking at the proper social.

SPEAKER_06 0:30

Yo, yo, what up, what up, what up? You already know it is, man. Man, man, Papa's o the Papa Zoe Show with my co-host.

SPEAKER_07 0:36

Walk the walk, walk the walk is in the building, baby.

SPEAKER_06 0:39

In the building. In the building.

SPEAKER_07 0:41

So who you got over there, man?

SPEAKER_06 0:44

Bruh, I got a living legend in the building.

SPEAKER_07 0:48

Living legend.

SPEAKER_06 0:48

Michael Sterling. Welcome to the show, Mr. Sterling. Oh man, thank you very much, man. Thank you for having me. Most definite. Listen, listen. I have to give you. I can't say your flower. I'm gonna give you your Bel Air bottle. That's your that's my flower to you. Okay.

SPEAKER_05 1:12

This is for you. Big boy, for you to just put up in your trophy. Alright? And acknowledge you as a living legend of South Florida. I appreciate you.

SPEAKER_01 1:25

I appreciate you. Okay. So you got me over here feeling like the biggest boss right now. About to grow a beard. Okay, okay.

SPEAKER_05 1:43

All right.

SPEAKER_01 1:44

Okay, all right, all right. Let me figure this out. Yeah, let me see. Let me see. I seen it done. Yeah, just yeah, I'm not busy. I seen it done, yeah. Okay. We better get this body quickly. All right, okay, okay. All right now. I love it, I love it.

SPEAKER_07 2:25

Got it, got the hang of it. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 2:32

Trust me. All right, all right, okay, all right.

SPEAKER_03 2:43

There it is, there it is. Okay. All right, Antony.

SPEAKER_06 2:49

Salute. That's it, that's what it is. That's what it is. That's what it is. All right, you ready? Uh yeah. Alright, alright, alright. Now, you know, it's it's a it's a real pleasure to have you on the show. You know, it's a real, real pleasure to have you on the show. And then when I reach out to you, you was more happy to come. Show some love, and and and then it's like I had you, I, I I've been a fan of your music. You know, I'm I'm up age too now. I'm 60. Okay. I'm old school. Okay. You feel me? But uh, boy, I've been loving your music, boy.

unknown 3:38

For real.

SPEAKER_06 3:39

Some babies got made off your music. That's what it tells me. You feel me? You feel me?

SPEAKER_07 3:46

I learned to slow dance off my computer. You know how you have to hold the girl and you go like ego. Well, you say that they rewind, put it on the movie.

SPEAKER_06 3:55

Rewind and keep playing it. Let me ask you something, right? Growing up, right, growing up in Miami, right? You know, what musical sound shape you the most as a young artist?

SPEAKER_01 4:08

Oh man, it's um it's such a fusion, you know, of uh things because I actually, you know, when I when I turned pro, I was actually playing Salsa. Uh, you know, I started with a um with an act uh called Ray Ray Fernandez, Ray and his court. Okay, okay. Yeah, man. I used to be on the bandstand, and you had to sing it, you know, it's been a la cran du bando. I was on the you know, yeah, and I played, you know, bass, you know, uh guitar. So I started, you know, there. That was you know great influence. Uh-huh. And then in Miami, there was all of these like great, you know, singers. Right, right. And some of these people went on to do like marvelous, you know, stuff like when uh the guy John Edwards, who went on to become the lead singer of the spinners, I used to open, you know, for him, there used to be some, you know, old clubs like the Jetaway and you know, Tina Green, you know what I'm saying, you know, over Sir John's Night Beat. And I was like a JIT. Yeah, man.

SPEAKER_06 5:20

I don't remember them clubs.

SPEAKER_01 5:22

Man, Galaxy Club, you know, um strip club now. Yeah, yeah, yeah. 79th Street. Oh, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay. Yeah, it used to be called like the Double Decker back in the uh day. That club that's right off of 7th Avenue and 79.

SPEAKER_06 5:41

That one right there. Okay. Oh, yeah, yeah, that the club, yeah. Right in the corner, right in the corner.

SPEAKER_01 5:46

So even um uh the uh the climax, the Rolex. Right, right, right. The Rolex was actually called the climax. The climax, you know, back in the day. I used to play, you know, there.

SPEAKER_06 5:57

There wasn't no strip club, you know, no, it wasn't a strip club.

SPEAKER_01 6:00

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Regular, you know, it was the place.

SPEAKER_06 6:02

Yeah, now strip club is what it is now. Everything is strip club. You can't even go to the club and dance and and have a good time. Yeah, go to the strip club.

SPEAKER_01 6:11

Yeah, one of the first bosses, you know, I was out here, gentleman by the name of Quartz used to you're on the you know, place.

unknown 6:19

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 6:20

Originally, you from you from you from Miami originally.

SPEAKER_01 6:22

Born in Miami Beach. Born in Miami Beach. You know, at Mount Sinai.

SPEAKER_06 6:27

You got you got you got you got Island Roots?

SPEAKER_01 6:29

Yeah, yeah. My family uh uh Bahamas. The Bahamas. They're you know, yeah, I wasn't born in the Bahamas, but yeah, but we had you know, my mother was born in New York. My father, you know, was born in the Bahamas, and her people was born in Bahamas. So you so you got you got you got Island Roots. Yeah, I think a grandmother was uh um one of them, my father's mother uh from Haiti. Okay, okay.

SPEAKER_06 6:55

Yeah. So you got that everywhere. You got some of that so blood. You got some of that so blood in them. Yeah, you're a melting pot. You're a melting pot by yourself. That's what it did.

SPEAKER_01 7:07

You notice it when they turn it was like, oh, yeah, you already know about us. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, nobody, you know, I didn't know that.

SPEAKER_06 7:14

Yeah, yeah. Yeah, it's because there's a lot of Haiti Haitians, a lot of Haitians in the Bahamas, most definite. Oh, yeah. There's a lot of that over there. A lot of that, a lot of that. Yeah, so uh okay, Miami, right, have such unique musical identity. How did the city influence the city of Miami influence your sound?

SPEAKER_01 7:34

Well, like here's the thing. Okay, so I come up as a musician, which is something that actually a lot of people don't know. They don't even realize that those records that you're listening to, you know, of me is me playing like all of the instruments, you know, all the you know stuff. So I was always a musician, you know, from the conception. And I mentioned that, you know, to say that's where the musical influences, you know, came, you know, into play about Miami. Because there's a certain way it is that, you know, Miami, you know, like their their funk, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 8:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 8:15

It's a different kind of, you know, thing. We really did our own thing, you know, down, you know, on this end. And and so I came up through the ranks, you know, with the people, you know, who were all, you know, making stuff, you know, happen. Uh the Betty Wrights, and then, you know, we were very close, you know, and the Jimmy Bohorns and George McCrae's, all of the original, the hitmakers that was here. So I I went from, you know, singing in the clubs and opening, and then when I, you know, started playing in the you know, the bands.

SPEAKER_06 8:52

Right, right, right, right.

SPEAKER_01 8:53

And in Miami, the one thing that hasn't changed here is this is not a state or a city that you can pretend. They will run your ass out. Off that stage.

SPEAKER_06 9:08

Miami ain't no joke. You ain't got Miami. No, no, no, no.

SPEAKER_01 9:13

You know what it's interesting too, because you know, I'm a guy that, you know, um uh I've appeared at the Apollo, you know, in New York. Right, you know, uh, within a circle and stuff. And you know, people we used to hear these stories, and we thought, like, you know, boy, the Apollo now, that's rough, you know, right, right, right, right. And we went to the Apollo, and then people were so polite, it was like, wait a minute. My if you want to make it, you know how they tell you, no, if you make it in New York, you can make it in the next one.

SPEAKER_06 9:43

Make it anywhere. It's crap.

SPEAKER_01 9:46

Not compared to Miami. If you can make it in Miami, you can make it anywhere.

SPEAKER_06 9:51

Anyway, Miami's tough.

SPEAKER_01 9:52

Yeah, yeah, man.

SPEAKER_06 9:53

Got a tough crowd. Tough crowd.

SPEAKER_01 9:55

These people move different, you know.

SPEAKER_06 9:57

Everything we do down here is different, man.

SPEAKER_01 9:59

So that's how, you know, so so the answer, you know, uh your question, uh, it influenced because, you know, here you have to play what will move the people. And so, you know, I you learned that.

SPEAKER_06 10:14

And it takes it takes a lot to move, man. To move Florida, Miami, not Florida, but Miami.

SPEAKER_01 10:21

Yeah. Crowd. Because we didn't have, you know, all of these great tools that we have, you know, now. So it's kind of like, you know, like the way a DJ is. Uh this that DJ could be your best friend, but he can't play a song to a crowded house if that thing is not gonna move, you know, the people. So it's the same thing, you know, with bands. And we were actually the stars of the show. The bands were, right? Not the DJ. The DJ got to play in between, you know, when the bands played. Because the bands and musicians, you know, were to draw. Right, right. And so uh as DJ stuff got popular when the disco era, you know, came in, you was in a fight with the DJ. So they influenced us a lot, you know.

SPEAKER_02 11:12

You know, also because you can see, oh, these guys are rocking the house, you know, we uh with these records, man.

SPEAKER_01 11:18

So that's what it is. It had a lot to do with, you know, you know, how my vibe, you know, came in. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_07 11:26

When did you realize like, I know you say you have like a little music background, but when did you realize, like, man, I can make a career out of music? I decided it early.

SPEAKER_01 11:35

I turned pro at 11. Wow. Yeah. It's you know, I I could play uh I don't say as well, you know, as any body. And I used to there used to be a place with some people too young to even know about it called the Castaways. Castaways is um was like an island uh in a club on uh the beach, but not what do you call it? Um what do you call it when you go over uh you know 163rd Street and you go over there, you know, where where Trump has that Newport, you know, tower on the right side, that bridge used to be an entire, you know, um club thing called the Castaways. And it was a uh a very big like like like you talk about like going like like not you know what I'm talking about?

SPEAKER_02 12:35

Yeah, no, but 163rd Street. Yeah. Go 163rd Street and keep going till you go over the you know over the bridge. Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_01 12:43

As soon as you go over the bridge to the right side, there was a big, huge place called the Castaways, where it is that only the top shotters, you know, you know, played. And they had two rooms. They had a thing downstairs called the Rec Bar, you know, and a spot upstairs called the Innocer.

SPEAKER_06 13:01

They made a parking lot of that spot.

SPEAKER_01 13:03

Now, imagine that. So guys like uh Howard Johnson, um, Casey and Sunshine before they was KC King Sporty had, you know, yeah, they, you know, the band, um uh what these guys call themselves. It escapes me right this second. But these were the top, you know, guys that started going into the record, you know, business. Okay, okay. So yeah, man, they used to be like, listen, when when I when I was like 15, the Latin people have a thing called like sweet 15s, stuff like that. We used to play these things and um Miami Sound Machine. Right, yeah. They ain't had no records either. I was in this band called Unit 3. There was Miami Sound Machine. There was all of these groups, Chucky, I mean, with the Chubby in the antiques, there was all of these people, you know, that we all used to play around here before the record stuff happened. Before Howard Johnson had so fine, so fine. He's playing in the castaways, you know, you know, you know, with us. All of us, we kind of come out of that. Phyllis Hyman was around here gigging in the clubs. Even for our record stuff, you know, popped off.

SPEAKER_06 14:26

How was it? How was it? Was you, do you guys ever like perform on the beach? You ever perform like boss?

SPEAKER_01 14:34

I played every spot on the beach, every single hotel. I played the, you know, all the private clubs too. It's still there, the multi, millionaire, the bath club, the surf, you know, club. Nah, I played so many. Bob Mitzbush. Listen, when the Jackson 5, I ain't say the Jacksons, when the Jackson 5 came, they played the the Americana Hotel, which turned into the Conover. I played every single one of these things. Damn. When you do that, you know, you learn how to play all kinds of different music. You know, that's actually, you know, the background. You know, I come up doing this. So I decided early, early, you know, that I was gonna do this. I never did anything else. That was it. You big dog.

SPEAKER_07 15:24

You're a real rope short with all kinds of things.

SPEAKER_06 15:26

Big dog. So who uh what was the first record company label you signed with?

SPEAKER_01 15:32

Was it well Ray Fernandez songs was coming on a label called Sound Triangle. Okay. Those are like the you know, the first, you know, things. And then uh later on, I signed with Spectre and Capitol Records when I was with this group called Solar Platinum. Okay, you know, um, you had a top 20 song called Dance, you know, um and that was like the beginning of uh that was actually my first and last, you know, thing that I, you know, signed on because um after that I actually owned all of those companies that put those records out, you know what I mean? Wow. And all that stuff was playing on BET and all of that. That I I learned early, you know, it don't take but one bad deal, uh-huh, you know, to learn. I became like a you know a student. You know, you have a lot of people that throw around that word, you know, CEO. But most of these guys they really don't know uh legal language, you know, contracts. I can draft them. You know, I can read them. I've I I turned I decided I didn't really want to sign any more, you know.

SPEAKER_06 16:51

I want at one point I thought you were at one point I thought you had you you was uh you was with Luke at the one toy.

SPEAKER_01 16:58

Listen.

SPEAKER_06 16:59

I thought you was with Luke.

SPEAKER_01 17:00

Let me tell you how that yeah let me tell you about that, because a a lot of people don't actually know that story. Uh I met Luther really when we got a chance to talk, uh trying to find a pressing plant to get his first records pressed. My friend owned the pressing plant. We were just you know hanging around, you know, sitting. But I knew, you know, seeing him, you know, around town, you know, spinning, you know, uh, you know, records, you know, with uh, you know, DJ. Gettel star DJ and all that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But I was already long in the record business by the time, you know, he came around.

SPEAKER_06 17:43

Right.

SPEAKER_01 17:44

But our relationship started because I'm an engineer. At one point, I made every record in the loot catalog. I made everybody's records. That was we he and I got together. He's, you know, felt like, look, man, you can make a run for this. And uh we didn't have no sexy offices at that time. Uh there was a back office at the Pac Jam. Yeah, yeah. You know, say, you know, you over there, like 50, what was that? 54th Street? In the 70s. Yeah, 54th, 54th. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That one. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, we were over there. And so um we're talking about um quality control. Right. And uh, you know, Luke was like, hey man, you know, uh, you know, you want to be friends, you know what I'm saying? I know how to be, you know, a great, you know, friend, you know what I'm saying, you know, too. Somebody want to be, you know, really want to be, you know, a friend. Right. You know, we can, you know, we can be friends, you know, and we can do some stuff. Right, right, right. You know what I'm saying? I was like, yo, you know, okay, I'm with it. You know, so um, so I made the records, and he, what do you call it? And he was distributing, you know what I'm saying and putting out. And I, you know, he was like, Yeah, man, so you know, uh, I can distribute as long as because I was in the studio doing um uh Lawan Love and Quiet's, you know, album, uh Two Live Crew. Uh, we did it. I did everybody.

SPEAKER_06 19:19

You were part of you were part of all that.

unknown 19:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 19:21

All that MC Twisting the Dev Squad, Poison Clank. Listen, call JT Money, man.

SPEAKER_06 19:28

It was Jits. I had Matt, we had Matt Ballett Matt Ballett Uzi uh uh last week.

SPEAKER_02 19:33

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. The rough town.

SPEAKER_01 19:41

Man, but yeah, I mean, you know, them records on them on them people, man. So it wasn't like, you know, yeah, we were very much together. Couldn't be more together. You understand?

SPEAKER_02 19:52

Every day, all day, every day.

SPEAKER_01 19:54

Yeah, you know, um I need those records. And this was before uh there were no Luke Studios, right? You know, right? Because I was with uh the band Inner Circle.

SPEAKER_06 20:06

Okay, okay.

SPEAKER_01 20:08

Yeah, I didn't, yeah. I didn't know. I didn't know. Yes, and so, and so um, yeah, I play lead guitar, you know, in a circle. You know what I'm saying? For shit. I mean, wow, you know more than 20. I mean, it was, you know, in there, man. Uh, and so, and so what happened is um we're trying to find a better, you know, situation, someplace where it is I could just focus all my attention on doing the record. So I said to Luke, you know, that hey man, listen, probably what should happen is, you know, come over, we could probably, you know, cut a deal, and I can do all of the records, you know, here. And we had a thing, it wasn't circle house, it was called Circle Sound, Circle Sound International. We was in Warehouse. He was in Warehouse, you know, place we called it the box. And I was doing the records, you know, there. So I I I Luke came down, you know, we made the deal. We made the deal, and so I did all of that. MC Shidey, you know, all of that stuff, the shake it and coming to correct Native.

SPEAKER_06 21:18

So you engineer all those.

SPEAKER_01 21:20

All of those records. I engineered mixed those records.

SPEAKER_06 21:22

And Dig County, all Dig County. All of the records. All the back, you know what I'm saying?

SPEAKER_01 21:27

You know, before that, you know, I know I did one of the first uh rap hit records, you know, that I actually made. Do you remember there was a record back in the day called Donkey Kong? Yeah, catching breaks.

SPEAKER_04 21:40

That was me.

SPEAKER_02 21:44

Yeah, man.

SPEAKER_06 21:46

I didn't know.

SPEAKER_02 21:47

All the way back, bruh.

SPEAKER_06 21:48

I didn't know.

SPEAKER_01 21:49

All the way back, Donkey K. Man, but you ever work with Betty White? Betty? Yeah. No, actually, I mean, and it's funny too, for it's it's it's close to. Friends, you know, as we were. No, we never worked, you know, together. Well, we talked about it, you know what I'm saying? Because I would be in her house. You know what I'm saying? We'd be there, you know. She was a very big supporter of mine. You know, um, I met her uh during the um uh silver platinum days when we had it, because we had like the same attorney. Uh and uh I admit we met her at um at a lawyer's office, you know, and that was our first time, you know, meeting her, and obviously she's the queen. You know, I mean she's like the inspiration because you know, Betty's story was she was a she was legit. You know what I'm saying? She was legit. And we all knew that. You know what I'm saying? You know, that hey, so that's the first time we found out that um, yeah, man, that was actually possible, you know, that you can do it. Betty, Betty's like the first one, first kid. You know what I'm saying? That could actually break out, you know, uh, like that. Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 23:09

Okay, on your on your song, right? What do you what do you think the song loves Lovers and Friends continue connecting with audience decades later?

SPEAKER_01 23:18

Well, um, I was very different from the uh RB guys during uh time. And being an engineer, the record has bass. It has boom, you know what I'm saying, you know, in it. The records were constructed, you know, for um a youthful, you know, audience, yeah. And in the direction that we were going in, you know, at the you know, time. So it the record has all of these uh kind of like tone-based, you know, notes, boom, boom, boom, boom. It's not it's not a conventional thing, it's actually a drum machine, a kick drum that I tuned, you know, to say, you know, the play, you know, this stuff. So these kind of things I think had a lot, you know, uh to do, you know, with it. And and and I guess I didn't really sound like you know how you have these things, you always hear this story about um how it is that, yeah, man, I in the church house and you used to sing. I'm not a church, I'm not a church house singer. Um I have a problem with church house singers. I'm not one of them. Not one of them.

SPEAKER_06 24:32

You outside with it. You outside. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 24:34

So but I was singing in a way that I think, you know, the kids just I can't hit that note. I think it kind of resonated a little. And because of that, you know, also, you know, back in the day, the army guys was bougie. They didn't associate it with no with no hip-hop, you know, guys. They didn't even want rap music on the radio. They didn't even consider it to be music. Music. They did not. And I humbly disagreed. You know, I was like, I I don't agree, you know, and so I didn't go that route, you know, and that's probably really the secret, you know, to my coming across, you know, the timelines because, you know, these other guys, they didn't have no connection to, you know, uh hip hop until guys started sampling, you know, their records. And a lot of them told them not to.

SPEAKER_06 25:48

You have you have anybody ever reach out to you and want to sample some of your some of your stuff? I mean, I know I know I know they have, but I'm saying, have you always okay it?

SPEAKER_07 25:59

Or do you, I mean, do you have to draw up a contract?

SPEAKER_01 26:03

Yeah, that always has to happen. But I always have to hear what it is, you know, that they're uh doing. Like, um, yeah, that I mean it's been a number of them through the years. Uh, but let's say when Trick Daddy, you know, came, which if y'all ain't figured out by now, Thug Holiday is a derivative of my song.

SPEAKER_06 26:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 26:25

So, but I'm not necessarily like a guy that's quick to say, like, you know, okay. But Trick, you know, was on the phone. And um, you know, a BB, uh from Circle, I was like, BB, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, his ins son, you know, um, and gotten him, got him on the phone because he wanted to, you know, to ask me, you know, about it. And so I didn't know I didn't know him, even though I knew his father very well. You know what I'm saying? Um, you know, but I didn't know him. And and and he said to me that uh that his brother Hollywood, you know, that he had lost, you know, that that was really a you know a favorite you know, song, you know what I'm saying, uh of his. Right. And that uh, you know, he wanted you know to do it. I was like, yeah, but what you, you know, what you gonna use it for? Yeah, what you gonna talk about, you know what I'm saying, on it. And he spit, you know, some stuff through the phone versus, you know, from that, yeah, boy, it was and let's go, bruh. You know what I'm saying? Yeah, yeah, it's gonna be a yes for me. You know what I'm saying? You know, I like that. Boy, you going, you you you going like that. I mean, he was really, you know the record. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. The the stuff that he was saying was really, really, you know, it was something. You know, and it was uh, and that that was that was one of the first uh that was one of the first ones. Huh? Cedric? Yeah, management. Yeah, so Trick, you know, Trick, Trick's own was uh, you know, you know, the first, and then um actually Trick and I got a song coming on us on his new album, too. Oh, there's another thing that's gonna be uh looking forward to hearing that one. Man, yeah, yeah, yeah. But um, yeah, man, that, you know, that happened. And so, you know, I got these records. You know, everybody don't do the right thing. Uh, but they end up having to do the right thing, you know. Everybody don't come, you know, do like, you know, trick. I I I I couldn't even argue, you know, that I was so I was proud, man. Proud, yeah. You know, when I heard, you know, where it is that he was going at, you know, uh, you know, with it. And there's a lot of those records, like um didn't um Luda and Lil John do something? I didn't even bother to talk about that one. Yeah. But they ain't come through the front door. They didn't come through the front door. No.

SPEAKER_07 29:09

No, it slid, it okay, okay.

SPEAKER_01 29:12

Yeah, that that um that wasn't good. That was I mean, it ended up being great, you know, for me. Right, right, right. Not so good, you know, for uh for them, though. Uh, on account of uh, you know, um their their record company president was um he was a little out of pocket. John said that you know um they were really responsible for you know for for getting the record clear. Clear, right? You know what I'm saying? Because John John ain't in the he ain't in the clearance business. Guy's a producer. Producer, exactly. Yeah. Turn the records in. You know what I'm saying? That's y'all part of the movie. You know what I'm saying? You know, from here. Yeah, I gotta get it clear. You know what I'm saying? But they didn't. And, you know, by the time, and and if I'm being honest, I think the reason why that happened is because um I don't think that they was looking for any black people. I don't think they were looking for any. You know what I'm saying? You know, and they went a different route. You know, but the time to ask for a deal is not after you have shipped you know over a million records. Right, right, right, right. That's not really the time. You know, I I'm legendary for telling people, look, man, I'm I'm practicing my shit. You know what I'm saying? I you know, I don't do I don't do practice, I don't do test. I don't not that with that's not what we're doing here. You know that what that's not, I'm I'm I'm very hard line, you know, on that. I'm not a difficult guy, you know, to get stuff done with. But what you won't do is play in my face concerning.

SPEAKER_06 31:01

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. That's what you will not do.

SPEAKER_01 31:05

Because I'm a real record executive. I'm not a fake record executive, where it is that I don't understand the math or the language or the stipulations. And as a matter of fact, you know, from the time the situation happened, even concerning, you know, John, I had already said to them, Oh, I know what this guy's gonna do. Because it's boilerplate in most of all of these contracts that these guys have, that there's any records, you know, that's actually not cleared that cause any legalities, you already know. The first thing that they do is freeze all of your funds. That's what they do. And essentially they're gonna pay me with your money. You know what I'm saying?

SPEAKER_02 31:43

That's what they're gonna do.

SPEAKER_01 31:45

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 31:48

As both being a singer and a composer. Which comes more naturally to you? Writing melodies or writing lyrics?

SPEAKER_01 32:00

Um originally uh it probably was the uh melodies, because I'm gonna think melodic, you know, first. But in terms of my song structure, uh I've always been a you know person. Like in the in the old days, I would write, you know, songs, uh, a great deal of them, based on uh the title and subject matter.

SPEAKER_06 32:28

Right.

SPEAKER_01 32:29

So I I could start, you know, there and say, hey man, well, we're gonna name this song Mars. Okay, cool. Well, you know, now that we have the title, I think, you know, let me just figure out exactly, you know, how it is, you know, what kind of melody, you know, the rhythm, you know, that will go along, you know, with it. But sometimes it doesn't come that way. So like um when I wrote Lovers and Friends, I didn't know what that song was going to say. I didn't know. I just had the, you know, um, the melody, and I'd play, you know, piano, you know, stuff the way I heard it.

SPEAKER_02 33:07

Just the, you know, the thing like when you hear Khaled sitting at the piano talking about bam, blah, blah, blah.

SPEAKER_01 33:13

Another way, Khaled, you're playing, I was actually playing that uh that melody.

SPEAKER_06 33:20

So you then, so when you when you wrote it, right? When you wrote Love as a Friend, so you, you don't, you you really, what what were you trying to capture from the record?

SPEAKER_01 33:33

Uh I first thing I wanted the melody to tell me what the words would be. Understand?

SPEAKER_04 33:43

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_01 33:44

So it's like that. Okay, okay, okay. That's kind of like how once, you know, I cut it and you're playing this thing, bing, bing, bing, and I'm like, okay, so now what is this saying to me? Bing, bing, bing, and that's that's where the words came in because I just had the melody, and as a matter of fact, you put the word to it. I had done the entire arrangement musically. I did the entire arrangement, the whole score, you know, the strings, all of the stuff, and I hadn't sang anything on it yet.

SPEAKER_02 34:21

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 34:21

After I'm playing it over, and I'm playing it over, you know, in the studio, and and then it was like, Oh, I I hear this. This is what this is saying. It's saying this right here. Tell me again, you know, there will be lovers and friends. You know, and then from that, you know, I needed to work on uh the verses of the it if you listen to that song the next time you hear it, you'll notice that the melody of the song is being played throughout the composition. Everything that I'm singing, you'll hear bing, bing, bing, bing, bing, bing, bing, bing, bing. It's me playing. And then I made the words to go along with the melody.

SPEAKER_00 35:09

Put your hand girl, oh, yes, uh, unique style.

SPEAKER_06 35:14

I mean, that voice, though, that that voice out. That voice, I can't say I've there is, I've never, I've I haven't heard, I haven't heard no voice like your voice. Your voice, like you said, well, it's a unique, you had a unique style. Yeah, it worked out for me, man.

SPEAKER_01 35:34

You know, um and but I don't really think of myself as a singer. I didn't think of myself as a vocalist. Being a musician, you know, for so long, I didn't really think of myself. And what and in Silver Platinum, when we had a hit, I never put the instrument down. I used to sing, you know, all the songs from, you know, behind playing bass guitar, you know, or whatever, you know. I I didn't think of myself as a vocalist, I still don't really think of myself, you know, as much, you know, of a vocalist, though, though I understand um I I okay. This is what happens if you're a musician or you have like educational knowledge of the arts. Okay. Okay. I've always believed that my strong suit was uh my ability to arrange. See, it's not just the song, it's what the music makes you feel. So when you hear like a one more chance, you know, and people love you know the song One More Chance, is the actual music itself and the arrangement of the strings and the horns and all of the things. Let me ask you this. How many, how many instrument do you play? But I play my, you know, but I play my share, you know, of things. I don't play, you know, horn or you know, woodwing. But uh in school, I I was in the I was in the jazz ensemble. I was in the marching band, the jazz ensemble, you know, the orchestra, you know, and so when you're an orchestra, you get a really under this is something that it's kind of almost witty to a certain degree. Like most of these, you know, so-called producer, you know, guys, you know, that's out here have samples of things that they don't even know what it is. You know what I'm saying? You don't, you don't actually know what that instrument is. You know, when I, you know, right, uh, I arrange music based on what the actual instruments, you know, are. We know that this is, okay, these are violins, these are violas, these are the cellos, you know, these are French horns, you know, this is, you know, a bassoon, you know, different things that I'm using, you know, and the records were very different, you know, from other guys. And I think um I had the pleasure of uh of knowing um um the late great Barry White.

SPEAKER_07 38:12

And he thought that, you know, he thought that we had, you know, stuff in common.

SPEAKER_01 38:17

You know, uh he said, you know, I don't like in myself necessarily to be, you know, like uh Barry White. But having said that, you know, he never made anything that I didn't understand.

SPEAKER_06 38:32

Absolutely, you know, because he because he was like he was like you. He's a composer. He at a record company when I just moved.

SPEAKER_01 38:41

He he invited me to come sit down with him at his home, you know, uh in California, man, and we sat down and we, you know, chopped it up about that. And I was saying that, you know, he had started that the record label, uh Unlimited Goal, you know, he was a real record executive, you know, and he had an understanding of that stuff. And I had an understanding, you know, of it. So when I listen to, you know, to music, I can dissect the the piece, you know, I get it, get it. All right, this is what's you know happening. And I come across, you know, from a different time zone before there was drum machines. There was none of this stuff. You understand? There was no sampling, there was, I was around for all of that. There was no digital, there was no hard drives, there was none of that stuff.

SPEAKER_06 39:33

You had to make that off scratch.

SPEAKER_01 39:35

Yeah, exactly. So I come from that, you know. Yeah, I may not look it, but you know what I'm saying? I was, hey man, you know, yeah, I come from that.

SPEAKER_06 39:46

Do you do you do you do you think today's uh today's RB music is missing anything that records from your error had?

SPEAKER_01 39:57

Uh yeah, I do. I do think so. Uh not all of them, because there's always exceptions. There's never, you know, any 100, you know, percent. There's there's exceptions. But most of uh the thing that if I if I have a a peeve about it is that I don't think that they understand what the essence of that music, you know, is about. I think there's a great deal of people who think of it more as a hustle or something that you know that they can do. They don't realize that the music that we do, it it's in the roots of um the timelines of how we felt about our women or our significant others or our men at the time. See you at a if you listen to the music, you uh go back, go back, listen to the song, and you will get a picture of how we felt about each other as well. Everybody Absolutely and so when you listen to today's RB, you're not a lot of sometimes that stuff got removed. What I think people did is I think they started marrying, you know, elements of hip hop, lyrical content, into, you know, the RB and not realizing that, wait a minute, that's not a requirement. I, you know, like gangsters gonna make love also. And they're not necessarily gonna be reaching, you know, for the hardcore, you know what I'm saying, in order, you know what I'm saying, you know, to get, you know, to get that done. That's, you know, so I think that uh if if I could give any advice, you know, to any of these people, I would say that you all need to be mindful of what it is that you're talking about. Because if you're trying to be the continuum of what it is, you know, that we come from, you cannot make RB devoid of love. Right, right, right.

SPEAKER_06 42:25

That's it.

SPEAKER_01 42:26

Because if you do, you know, then you'll see, like, that's why you can make the argument there's a whole lot less love in our community, you know, these days, because we went through this period where everybody wanted to be hard. They wanted to be hard and they wanted to be, you know, Jesus. Exactly. I'm like, oh. Absolutely. What you singing about, bruh? You know what I'm saying? Like, wait a minute. See, you took strip club culture where it is that, okay, you go to the strip club, and you don't have to give her no lyrics in order to see what she's working with. But RB and love some is born out of that, where it is that, yeah, you don't need to romance, you know, sweetie, cuz it ain't going down like that there. And that's the reason why it is. I guess the term could be RB has been compromised.

SPEAKER_06 43:31

I've been compromised.

SPEAKER_02 43:33

It's been compromised, it's been tampered with. You gotta ruin it. You know what I'm saying? What brother Rockefelle? I'm here to tell you you've been had. You've been took. It ain't the same.

SPEAKER_06 43:41

You babbooze, we've been hooding with.

SPEAKER_02 43:43

Yeah, let it straight. Definitely easy. Run them up. That's what happens.

SPEAKER_06 43:48

You're right about that, because I don't know what I what what what makes the love song truly timeless?

SPEAKER_01 43:57

You you know what makes it timeless. you know, is uh love is the one subject that you know most of us know uh the most and the least about, right? I'm saying it's a great expert in Drago D. You'll be inexpression that two things can be you know true at the same time that we know the most and the least you're gonna say you know uh about but what makes it timeless you know in my you know opinion is the stories you know that you know we tell you you know there's a there's a there's a difference you know how uh uh stack 3000 said that uh the South has something to say something to say yeah okay and so he was talking about the lyrical content yeah of what it is you know that the hip hop guys you know saying which is very very valid yeah but in RB you have to have or you should have something to say and what it is that you have to say if you want it to be timeless needs to be something that can actually come across the timeline. And so what happens is a lot of those songs you know from the last decade you know or so it's gotten almost like disposable you know it's not lasting because you ain't really saying saying nothing you ain't really saying nothing. You want something to be timeless you need to say something I'm definitely hungry you heard when when when when when Rick Ross hog said a superwoman needs a superman okay that ain't going nowhere I promise you that ain't going nowhere because that's gonna be valid ain't no time coming when that ain't gonna be valid you have to actually have something you know to say if you want something to be you know timeless and I and I try to you know avoid when possible you know any trendish you know things like you know you know like you know remember when uh cross colors was the funk yeah yeah but yeah I don't want to wear them no more yeah you know what I'm saying okay that's how your music can be but I try to say things that like all I need is one more chance where's that argument going you know what I'm saying where's that argument going?

SPEAKER_07 46:34

That argument ain't going nowhere hey I'll be way off the planet you would have said 50 years from now and trust me somebody will say all I need is one more chance so you try to say you know you try to say the things you know that actually you know mean something mean something the lyrics the lovers and friends the put your hand in mine you know girl don't waste no time I love you and that's all that matters you know but you're trusting me you know darling you will say you you you you you had a lot of hits you had a lot of hits remember he said I buy a house for you baby that's right for your mama too always seemed like you know I you I can't see no generation where that ain't gonna work you know brother of that every every holiday I used to look turn on 59 jams because they're gonna play that holiday November December using the airwaves just to talk to you that's why I said send my message loud and clear and there you go you know absolutely still be soldiers that ain't coming home this year.

SPEAKER_01 47:47

Yeah you know and we're gonna miss the people that we love because we build up so many memories with them during their time you know with us during the holidays you know that I thought that wasn't a popular choice when I um decided to do that because that came after one more chance and one more chance was so successful you know for me as a breaker uh people were thinking that yeah man you need to come with the next you know love you know song and then I said that well it well it is a love song of a different you know nature right you know right I got love for the you know for the guys that's in prison yeah you know that you know you know what I'm saying and not with them man you know and the soldiers that's what I'm saying I had you know things you know to say so it was kind of like you know but but that's what it's about you know when you said you want something to be timeless yeah yeah it needs to be you know relative let me let me so let me ask okay look look look at looking back right what was your biggest challenge you face in the industry um my biggest challenge you know was uh during the time that I came up the competition was very very stiff and the majors had a whole lot of money to throw at you know promotion and marketing you know to for the acts you know that was in debt you know to them that they wanted to get their money back right so as a testament to my pen me using up my brain I was thinking like okay so what's the thing that I can do what can I do you know all right Negro you don't have the money you know that people who don't share this paint job you know what I'm saying have you know what I'm saying for folks with a different paint job they got different money you ain't got none of that you know so you're not gonna be able to outmarket them and since you insist on being you know independent you know what is it that you can do that don't have nothing to do with money what can you do and it was my pen great is baby face you know us was a wonderful you know uh composer and the songs you know that he wrote you know and Jam and Lewis and all of them they didn't write Lovers and Friends they didn't write holiday they didn't write what do you do so I was thinking that was my end so it was my challenge my challenge was you know my pen they didn't write I will always be there for you and write that you know it's fine so my thought you know was always that it was like that was the challenge for me was like yeah man you can't compete how you gonna compete against these people I remember the true story there's a guy that you know named Keith Isley was program director at WHQT of what you call Hot 105 you know back in the day back when they didn't belong to Cox those stations were separate and distinct you had you know 99 Jams right you know which was a D Rivers station you know owned by that guy and then you know you had Hot 105 they were the enemy competition you know in the market okay so um when the when my trouble album came out uh my song uh what do you do you know went number one at that station and so after that you know we came with uh lovers and friends and when we came with lovers and friends I was sitting in the man's office and he said that Capitol Records is on the phone salty because they wanted to know why are you playing this guy Michael Sterling and you have not added the Freddie Jackson record that they had at the time memory escapes me which particular thing you know it was but what happened you know was he said my reason for playing the Michael Sterling Lovers and Friends song is because we're getting calls you know for that song the the actual people are calling calling you know for this you know not 105 for this song yeah you know I mean I was just in his office and and he shared that with me that you know I'm um and that program director is not a black man not a black man he put that record you know he put that record on you know at that station you know and he went to bet you know for me because obviously Capitol records is a huge you know they had you know these guys you know at the time and you know if Freddie you know had a run he was hot as fish grease from the 80s you know what I'm saying you know coming in the you know but coming in the 90s you know you know you know or you know I was I was John Blazon you know at that point and we did everything that we needed to do we got you know the videos you know BT you know in the uh in the box uh jukebox network you know at the time jukebox the the little company that thinks it can we were doing all that we could do you know to just you know to cover the bases but that man went to bet you know he really did and he said yeah I heard he was like that's why so it's pin I don't think if the songs the material wasn't you know as strong I don't think that uh I don't think that I would have had you know the you know the success because um uh listen all the major record companies have they could have 10 artists at a time exactly there's only so many slots yeah you know at the you know station so only where you're gonna get in when you got to write something that means they like something they won't I remember Betty Wright saying to me she said to me when holiday broke she said you know she said I'm so proud of you she's this she said you have something I don't have I don't look at that I was like what's that she was like you this that Christmas song thing that you know you wrote is she told me she told me she said that that's you know that's special she was proud of me you know that that meant a lot you know from her because you Betty Right well you when you know when you said that right so let me ask you what moment you saying that Betty Right so what moment was like your proudest moment ever in your career you know um I I don't I don't know I guess um I think probably when I begin to be recognized there are some people that did you know some really nice things you know uh for me you know during um during the time that we were like this just this year I got a chance to speak to Donnie Simpson to thank him for the you know the first you know time like I I had a um the first video I was one of one of the first guys making like music video stuff you know around here when it wasn't it wasn't sexy right you know uh and so I had this song called The Girl is cheating while she's wearing my ring it wasn't a it wasn't a ballot you know what I'm saying but it was uh you know cool and the video you know was you know clever big budget you know um to do you know easy video we rented out what was Gussman Hall shut down downtown Miami you know a couple of streets and there were all kinds of stuff you know that we did you know to do it when I went to uh BET and um there was a producer the guy that was in charge his name was Jeff you know Newman you know though those guys showed me a lot of love uh and this guy that they used to call the unseen BJ guy by the name of Alvin Jones you know uh Jeff Newman the producer senior producer at the time he said that Donnie you know was gonna break you know the record you know the video you know and he did and um I think that's the first time my mother really believed that that's you you know she had a superstar she had a she had a superstar flux true what they say you know because the the because the the neighbors you know were saying you know that oh that we seen because you know everybody was watching video so you know at the time that was like a big thing and when Donnie Simpson you know broke that video that's gotta be like I was like really that was a proud moment just because my mother because my mother actually you know I don't my mother's like not really wanting to give it up not like that you know not really not like not like that she wasn't no she wasn't a show biz mom you know at all and um but even her when she she was watching she seen it all she seen her baby on TV okay so that was it because she wouldn't go down to the set you know she wasn't going to the for me that was like a big thing so if if you could uh if you could sit down with your younger self doing the recording of lovers and friends what advice would you give would you give them you know I've always been of the opinion that uh when you go to make a record uh you do your best it doesn't mean that your best is going to be you know a hit you know it's great but you you have to develop a system that will allow you to live with yourself. Okay okay I like that if you know that you've done your best the best that would have happened you know what I'm saying while you were you know doing it like I I don't think that the music is like perfect per se right right but it's it's nice when it you know when it's successful and the people you know receive it but I can hear things where it is that oh man if I you know if I could have done it that's the only thing that really makes me keep my head up is because if I could have done better you know I would have done you know better but I really couldn't do any better you know at the time because those people who know me I go really really hard and I'm very very critical of my efforts. I'm very very critical of my efforts I would tell my young self you know that hey kid you know yeah stay at it you know what I'm saying you'll keep you know I would say the same thing stay at it kid stay at it man stay at it you know uh and I and I would also thank I would thank my younger self also for not believing that there was just one thing that you needed to do because a lot of folks fought against me with that they didn't think that I needed like all right there are a lot of great musicians we have no shortage of great musicians like lots of them a lot of good music so people would be like you know like okay you're Whitney Houston and she isn't playing on any of those records you know you know what I'm saying she's not like there's a lot of you know records so they used to say like hey man you know why is that so important you know to you you know because these records could be done a whole lot faster you can call in my man here this guy that guy these are all great guys you know they can play this you know thing you know and knock it out but my attitude was I don't want to be blindfolded when we say when I say blindfolded you know it's like somebody take you to a location blindfolded and if you needed to get back there you don't know yeah you don't know how to you know get back there I was one of those guys that felt like look it was like look man you ain't Stevie Wonder dog you know what I'm saying you you know I was like yeah but maybe I could be wow it was like yeah but that's gonna take a while and it was like yeah I believe that you know I didn't believe a lot of other things that they said but I believe that you know that yeah you're not gonna be good enough you know for the execution to be able to do all of the stuff you know that you want to do you know you're making records and you're playing all of the you know parts and everything like that that's gonna take a level of excellence in order to be able to compete it could take a minute you know what it what it took for me was my leisure time I didn't have that I didn't have a lot of leisure time I was always a guy you know workers locked yeah locked away so it's a lot of people who would tell you like I never met the guy I never you know what I'm saying you know he's from Miami you know what I'm saying I never met the guy I know because I'm not an easy guy to see you know I'm a guy who's always locked away working on it's a privilege then for you to be here yeah I appreciate you man you have me but I do have something that I want to discuss you know that I have new that you know that that's coming I I like uh a little different from Drake you know yeah I have multiple projects but I'm not gonna turn them all loose you know at the same time but uh second week in June um I'm gonna have uh my most successful album the trouble you know album uh what we call the Trouble Deluxe you know edition it's got some uh um it got some extra you know songs you know on it that I had proposed that should have been you know there that wasn't okay uh and uh remastering different you know uh things that's coming you know with that that I think that um people are really gonna have a good time uh you know with it's it's it's strange how that works like daily there are thousands of people playing the music is getting discovered in places where it is like for some reason or another Africa missed the first wave they own it now though they own it boy now yeah they own it now people people don't get it Africa is a big market right now there's a lot of big market right now a lot there are a lot of places I got boy I got a couple I got a couple good good homies over there in Africa that's yeah some radio stations some major you know yeah man yeah Africa's yeah that's you know that's you know so um you know people have called me and ask you know like dude when you you know coming you know yeah yeah yeah and I've been within a circle but I've never gone as a solo art as a solo you know artist they love it oh boy they love they own it man i tell you yeah yeah I know I know yeah what's what's one of your um biggest lessons that you learn from the music industry um I learned you know that uh and it came early on too I I learned that um you it's great to have an attorney to interpret things you know for you because that really pales in comparison to you actually speaking the language it because it it's you're blindfolded again right this guy's marching you through and he's you know telling you but you don't actually understand the intent of the language you don't understand they make it like that so you don't understand of course so they could go ahead and swingle you see that's a part of me being locked away right because not it wasn't just at one point it used to be all musical and then it turned from that you know to all corporate now you need you know to understand you know you have stewardship over a catalog of for music you know and that but you realize that there's a responsibility that comes along with that and you need to be able to represent it properly to do that you need to understand you know the land how would you even know what to ask for you know what I'm saying you don't even know what to ask for you know the the the greatest record man that ever came from Miami is a gentleman by the name of Henry Stone he had a company yeah called TK Records all of those people you know the our first group of stars that came through here all came through him as where Betty Wright that's where George McCrae and his Rocky Baby and Casey and his unjun to get down there all of these people Bobby Caldwell, what you wanna do for love? You know, all of these are all TK, you know, artists. So um I uh knew him very well and had a very good relationship uh you know with him. And then we met each other with me negotiating a contract, you understand, you know, for you know, people. And so uh obviously with that we had a very different kind of relationship, you know, about that. And he said something to me that was very apropos interesting. He said to me, uh, we're talking about uh the point structure and and contract.

SPEAKER_06 1:06:42

And contract, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:06:44

Henry Stone says to me, I need you to understand, you know, uh the music business from a very pragmatic standpoint, not just you know, the language and everything, but from a very practical standpoint of why. He says, You need to remember this that I'm about to tell you. He said, It doesn't matter what the contract says because the contract is only as good as the person's word that's issuing. I promise you 25 points, Mike. Doesn't matter if I don't intend to pay you. Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 1:07:26

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:07:29

How's that for, you know, how's that for a lesson? You understand? How's that for a lesson? Okay, so you need to learn, you know, that, yeah, man, it's about the honor, you know, on the popular belief, you know, yeah, man, I'll get a lawyer, I'll sue you. Captain, there are people out here that are very, very good at hiding stuff there from a little smart thing.

SPEAKER_06 1:07:57

You would never know.

SPEAKER_01 1:07:58

It's the honor.

SPEAKER_03 1:08:01

Yeah, well, where where where's Rick Ross these days?

SPEAKER_01 1:08:06

Where he what part of the world is he in? He's everywhere.

SPEAKER_06 1:08:09

Yeah, you know that, yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_01 1:08:11

And man, every time, you know, yeah, Rick, looking at this, yeah. Rick's always said to me, three times he said to me, he says, hey, hey, when you ready, I'm ready. Okay. Alright.

SPEAKER_06 1:08:28

So you ready?

SPEAKER_01 1:08:29

Hey, man. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Next time we talk to him. You ready?

SPEAKER_06 1:08:34

Tell him I catch him early in the morning.

SPEAKER_03 1:08:40

You always say that to me.

SPEAKER_06 1:08:49

You go, you go, I'm gonna be like, yo, Michael's on the show. Mike said he's ready.

SPEAKER_02 1:08:55

He always says that. He always says that to me. Hey man, when you ready, I'm ready. Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 1:09:01

What what what legend what legendary artist, past or president, would you have love to collab with? You know what I'm saying?

SPEAKER_01 1:09:11

Um, I don't know. I don't know that there's necessarily like, you know, um uh particular, you know, artists, uh, but there's certainly some you know arrangers, you know, that I would have loved to, you know, collaborate, you know, with. Um there's uh the late great, you know, Tom Bell. You were responsible for all the spinners, you know, you know, stuff. Oh man, I would have loved to have, you know, done that. Um uh I think I had an opportunity uh that I didn't, you know, Gerald.

SPEAKER_04 1:09:56

Oh man.

SPEAKER_01 1:09:57

Uh I was at a photo shoot um for the album that he did with his father uh called Father and Sons, namely and we were in New York um when he was shooting the photo, you know, for it. And when they uh took a break, I was chopping up with Gerald, and Gerald saying to me that, yeah, man, you need to get by the you know house, man, by the you know, studio. You know, we there all look, you know, the time, man. You know, we you know you do something. And I, you know. And I didn't get a chance, you know, uh, you know, to do that.

SPEAKER_06 1:10:40

Uh I was a bad I was a bad boy.

SPEAKER_01 1:10:43

Yep. I was getting um an award uh one night, and um Gap Man was getting uh an award. So little little John and I when he got um an award, but house was filled that night. That was uh it was really my first time really chopping it up with our you know Kelly, you know. We went on, you know, to be cool, you know, later on, but just that particular night, since we were all at the you know the awards, you know, stuff, um, he got and Charlie Wilson said to me, Hey, like, you know, you write one of them, you know, you know, one of them songs. It's on my bucket list. You know what I'm saying? I ain't done it. You know what I'm saying? You know, uh, you know, yeah, we hadn't gotten, you know, uh together. But um, but I think I'd like to do that. Because I think that uh I will write something, you know, that's uh, you know, that's different. Uh remember, and probably uh and since you know we had it, I guess, you know, um Stephanie Mills. Stephanie Mills I think, you know, um I really became a big fan of hers when she uh she had a I think the album was called Night Games and she had a song on there called Night Games, you know, and when I heard the vocal performance, you know, that she put on it, I thought like wow, you know I could do something with it. Yeah, I could do something. That you know and I think at some point that happened yet. Oh, and I think uh one of these days I wouldn't be surprised, you know, I would probably write something uh something great for Beyonce. Oh wow. I think I, you know, because because you know your music as you get older, you know, and you do different you know projects, it's gonna change. As you get older, yeah, you get your thought, your thought, everything you look for opportunities to do greater and greater and greater. Now, not that she needs, you know, me, because there's obviously you know a lot of people who can do stuff. Yeah, but like I said, you know, about what was my in, my in is my pen. Right, right, right, right. You know, I don't care who it is, you know what I'm saying? You know, that's you know, that you know, you know, you understand? Yeah, that's what makes us, you know, unique that particular way, because once again, you sit over there with a billion dollars, but somebody's ability to be able to write something, you know, that would be very, very impactful, you know, I always I have always felt like there's certain singers, and she's one of them, you know, who it is that can make people feel the composition.

SPEAKER_06 1:13:45

You know, with happy. I think what makes her good, though, is she has some good writers. That's what I me personally. Yeah, I heard that, you know, she you know, she got some good writers.

SPEAKER_01 1:13:56

I heard she ain't no slouch herself, you know what I'm saying? She got a pen. You know, she got a pen. But she surrounded herself with some pretty, you know, good people. But it's like anything else, you know. Like I said, there is, you can't corner the market, you know, on a person's pen. There is somebody right now in some room, you know what I'm saying, that we never heard of, who has written the most amazing thing. You know what I'm saying? That's gonna, you know.

SPEAKER_06 1:14:24

That's gonna do amazing stuff. There you go. That's what I'm saying. So before we we close out, right? I got I got I I I'm this this last question I got for you, right? I want you to finish this sentence.

SPEAKER_01 1:14:40

Real RB will never die because there's always a handful of artists that believe, you know, and live that's alive, that will be alive, you know, to pass the baton. That's why. That's why I won't die. Because these Eric Beneys and all of these guys, that these guys that's out here, that they're gonna leave behind that body of work, you know what I'm saying? You know, that, you know, those Freddie Jacksons, you know what I'm saying? Um, there's always gonna be, you know, some guys that's gonna leave something behind, you know, of that like breadcrumbs, you know what I'm saying, you know, Skittles, you know what I'm saying? For for somebody to walk behind and go, oh, you know, that's the reason why, you know, it won't die. You see, it's that's kind of like the difference between RB and hip-hop. Yeah, people tend to think that hip-hop, you know, you know, is always gotta be the thing that, you know, that's in the moment. But RB's not like that. RB's not like that. You know, like, eh, man, nobody's trying to hear the old, you know, rap songs. What's the flow you're saying, you know, right now? That's true. RB's not like that.

SPEAKER_06 1:16:01

That's true. That's true. Uh uh. They definitely, RB could you could be whatever, you're gonna keep going. But like hip-hop, you you get a certain age, oh man, he ain't know nothing. What are you doing trying to bring music? You know what I'm saying?

SPEAKER_01 1:16:17

You know what I'm saying? People don't, you know, say all of a sudden they can't hear, they can't hear the argument because they're looking, you know, at the aesthetic, going, yeah, man, he's too old, he's to this, he's to that. Man, I ain't trying to hear that. Listen, I did a show, I did a show last Sunday, Mother's Day, where in which uh the helicopters and police and everything, we felt so bad that they oversold the thing. One of the saddest things that, you know, happened. Uh Disco Rick uh Brethren, you know, and you know, pretty tiny. Disco Rick calls me up. Uh, and we were at the I'm at, you know, the hotel. We haven't gotten to the venue yet. And Rick says, hey man, you know, um uh what time uh you know you know you getting you know the venue. I said, um they told me to leave, you know, the hotel at 11. You know, and Rick, you know, laughed. Rick said, oh yeah, okay. How you gonna get in? I was like, what are you talking about? He was like, bruh, man, it's 20 police cars, helicopters. It's crazy, bruh. It's you know, all I was like, what? Yeah, and he showed me thinking on FaceTime. I don't think they, you know, it's a lot of people are not really familiar with like the the fans are no, they serious, you know. They get opportunity, you know, to you know, see me. They really come in. They really came, when I tell you, they came out. Show love.

SPEAKER_06 1:17:59

Yeah. Man, you're a legend, man. They better come out.

SPEAKER_01 1:18:04

Yeah, that's you know, you know that's cool, but you know what I think really makes you for you know, for me, like this is what everybody will know, so this will go on the record. When I can no longer be that guy, the guy that you're listening to on the way to the show, you know, expecting to see, I'm gone. That's one thing about me. Ask around. He'll tell you that I pride myself on being able to sing those records. It will be scary. You would think I ain't singing. You were like, what what it what do we have here now? What is what is this? You know, yeah, because I come from the days where in which you needed to be able to defend whoever that is, you know, that that what it that you made, they're expecting to hear. And I even gotten to the point, I haven't changed the keys, nothing. It is just like you know. Oh, it is just the oh, just the way you know different. I haven't lost any, you know, range. I hear these guys, you know, some of these guys that's out here. I mean, you know, God bless them, man. You know, they still out here, you know, trying to eat, you know, off of it, but they're really shells of themselves. And they're not really you can't defend it like that. We don't play with it that way.

SPEAKER_06 1:19:29

We don't play with it that way. We don't play with it. We don't play with it. That's what's up, man. Yeah, yeah. That's what's up. That's what's you, man.

SPEAKER_01 1:19:35

That's when I will know that it's time to go. When I can no longer be that guy, then that's when you like gone. I'm gone, man.

SPEAKER_02 1:19:42

Y'all go, you know, I heard Bobby Brown had to be laughing. He was on the uh Bobby Brown said to these people on some, hey, y'all wanna see me dance?

SPEAKER_03 1:19:52

It was like, yeah, they say, go to YouTube. You understand? You understand, go to the video. Y'all can see me dance there, baby. Yeah, because I ain't trying to do all that.

SPEAKER_06 1:20:03

You know what I'm saying? Right now, not right now. Yeah, that's how I'm gonna be. Man, hey, I appreciate you, man, for coming through, showing love, man, to the show.

SPEAKER_01 1:20:13

Appreciate you, man. Thanks, you know, thank you for having me. Most definitely. You know, hopefully, uh, man, you know, the people uh, you know, well, don't this will this will be this will be this will air next week.

SPEAKER_06 1:20:24

Okay. It's gonna it's gonna air next week. It's gonna, you know, be on Apple everywhere, you know, as far as okay. Y'all heard it.

SPEAKER_01 1:20:31

Apple, iHeart, all that stuff.

SPEAKER_06 1:20:33

All that good stuff, Pandora, all that good stuff.

SPEAKER_01 1:20:35

That Pandora, look at that.

SPEAKER_06 1:20:36

Yeah, yeah, yeah. All that good stuff, yeah, yeah. Appreciate you, man. Appreciate you. Appreciate you for coming through.