Club Shay Shay - TK Kirkland Part 1

Summary

Club Shay Shay - TK Kirkland Part 1 Summary

Podcast Information:

• Title: Club Shay Shay
• Host/Author: iHeartPodcasts and Shay Shay Media
• Description: NFL legend Shannon Sharpe—3x Super Bowl champion and member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame—sits down with the biggest athletes, celebrities, and influencers to discuss their accomplishments, challenges, and everything in-between.
• Episode: Club Shay Shay - TK Kirkland Part 1
• Release Date: July 2, 2025

---

Introduction and Guest Background

Shannon Sharpe welcomes TK Kirkland, a pioneering figure in the world of comedy and entertainment. TK is recognized as hip hop's first nationally recognized comedian with over 40 years in the industry. His multifaceted career includes performing to sold-out crowds worldwide, acting, writing, and mentoring legends like NWA, Lil Wayne, and Jay-Z.

Notable Quote:

• Shannon Sharpe [01:10]: "Hello. Welcome to another episode of Club Shay Shay."

---

Early Career and Industry Beginnings

TK recounts his early career starting in 1988, opening for New Edition, which led him to meet Eazy-E. This connection resulted in his first national tour with Straight Outta Compton, marking his entry into the rap and comedy scene.

Notable Quote:

• TK Kirkland [06:17]: "A week later, Eazy E said, yo, let's go. And I went on my first national tour, Straight Outta Compton."

---

Touring with Major Artists

TK shares experiences touring with iconic artists such as NWA, Jay-Z, Lil Wayne, Too Short, and DMX. He emphasizes the importance of maintaining control over the audience's mood and highlights the unique performances of artists like DMX, whom he considers the greatest solo rapper he's ever seen.

Notable Quotes:

• TK Kirkland [10:20]: "Comedians don't do their homework. They don't have what I call comedy IQ like you guys in football."
• TK Kirkland [34:26]: "No, nobody can touch him. If I had to go solo rap artist, DMX number one."

---

Life Lessons and Personal Experiences

TK delves into personal anecdotes, including his experiences with relationships and the harsh realities of the entertainment industry's pressures. He discusses an incident involving Ren, revealing the personal costs of life in the spotlight.

Notable Quote:

• TK Kirkland [16:04]: "I want men to understand since Shannon brought this up, is a great segue into this. Learn to control your emotions."

---

The Evolution of Comedy and Industry Insights

TK provides a deep dive into the history of black comedy, crediting figures like Michael Williams and Robin Harris for laying the groundwork before Def Comedy Jam's rise by Russell Simmons. He stresses the importance of supporting black-owned comedy clubs to sustain the legacy and success of black comedians.

Notable Quotes:

• TK Kirkland [10:27]: "They don't have it. They do not have it."
• TK Kirkland [12:12]: "It's important. That's what's missing."

---

Money, Success, and Independence

Throughout the conversation, TK emphasizes financial independence and prudent money management. He criticizes the dependency on traditional platforms like Netflix and champions self-management and leveraging modern tools like social media and apps for personal branding.

Notable Quotes:

• TK Kirkland [23:55]: "I know I got a M behind my name."
• TK Kirkland [50:16]: "But I have my own network called TK Kirk."

---

Thoughts on Modern Comedians and Entertainment

TK expresses a critical view of today's comedians, highlighting a lack of "comedy IQ" and foundational respect for the art form. He contrasts the hard-earned success of past comedians with what he perceives as the gimmick-driven rise of current entertainers.

Notable Quotes:

• TK Kirkland [53:59]: "Comedians don't do their homework. They don't have what I call comedy IQ like you guys in football."
• TK Kirkland [62:29]: "You know, how much you make, is how much you keep."

---

Personal Challenges and Redemption

TK opens up about his brushes with the law, including multiple arrests and a significant incident involving Puffy (Sean Combs). He shares his journey through probation, jail time, and the lessons learned about controlling one’s life and emotions. TK emphasizes resilience, self-love, and the importance of not letting others dictate one's path.

Notable Quotes:

• TK Kirkland [85:25]: "I was rich, but I was doing stupid stuff."
• TK Kirkland [86:07]: "I took my deal off the table. Because I took a deal."

---

Mentorship and Legacy

TK highlights his role in mentoring and supporting other artists, including Mike Epps, Damon Wayans, and members of the Wayans family. He underscores the value of giving back and helping others navigate the complexities of the entertainment industry.

Notable Quote:

• TK Kirkland [87:00]: "He let him go on. He turned it out."

---

Health, Wealth, and Future Outlook

In the closing segments, TK discusses the importance of health and financial security, advising listeners to respect money and invest wisely. He reflects on the fleeting nature of life and the necessity of maintaining peace of mind.

Notable Quotes:

• TK Kirkland [54:52]: "I go to the doctor every four months."
• TK Kirkland [62:28]: "It's not how much you make, is how much you keep."

---

Conclusion

Shannon Sharpe and TK Kirkland wrap up the first part of the conversation, with Shannon teasing a continuation of TK’s journey and deeper insights in Part 2. TK expresses gratitude for the opportunity to share his story and emphasizes the natural unfolding of his appearance on the show.

Notable Quote:

• TK Kirkland [78:53]: "It's in the universe already. And it has to come natural, because if we go after it, we ain't gonna get it."

---

Final Notes:

• Timestamp excerpts: Significant quotes are highlighted with their corresponding timestamps for reference.
• Themes: The conversation navigates through TK's extensive career, personal struggles, industry insights, financial wisdom, and mentorship roles, providing a comprehensive look into his life and philosophies.

For Full Episode: Part two of this conversation is available on all podcast platforms under the Club Shay Shay profile.

Transcript

[TK Kirkland]

This is an Iheart podcast.

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[TK Kirkland]

And I normally don't say this about people. Somebody need to whoop his so he can get some guts. All my life been grinding all my life Sacrifice, hustle paid the price Want a slice, got to roll a dice.

[Shannon Sharpe]

That'S why all my life I be.

[TK Kirkland]

Grinding all my life all my life.

[Mitsura]

Been grinding all my life Sacrif hustle.

[TK Kirkland]

Paid the price wanna slice, got to roll a dice that's why all my life I've been grinding all my life.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Hello. Welcome to another episode of Club Shay Shay. I am your host, Shannon Sharp. I'm also the proprietor of Club Shay Shay. Stopping by for conversation and a drink today, he's a trailblazer, a pioneering force in the world of comedy. Hip hop's first nationally recognized comedian. A seasoned veteran with over 40 years in the entertainment business. He performs to sold out crowds around the world with an unapolog. One of the most authentic voices in the industry. He's celebrated for his original storytelling, motivation and advice. An underground legend, a versatile actor, prolific writer, multi hyphenated businessman and well respected host. He helped launch careers of so many legends. The best kept secret in America. T To the mo fo K. Here he is, ladies and gentlemen, TK Kirkland.

[TK Kirkland]

Yo, yo, yo.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Bro. Thank you.

[TK Kirkland]

That's how you introduce a motherfucker, man.

[Shannon Sharpe]

It is a pleasure to have you on Club SH. Man, 40 years in the industry, man. We got to toast that.

[TK Kirkland]

Yes, sir. Yes, sir.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Bro, thank you for stopping by. Appreciate your time. I know you're busy, you got a lot going on. I see you all around. Appreciate you stopping by.

[TK Kirkland]

No, I really. This means a lot to me as well.

[Shannon Sharpe]

You don't have my drink.

[TK Kirkland]

Oh, that's so good. Ah, yeah. Going to have me up in here.

[Shannon Sharpe]

TK since you started your career and you've opened up so for so many, NWA and Luda and Jay Z, some of the biggest and brightest. So for you today to come here, we're gonna open up with a very, very Special performer she flew herself all the way from Japan Here she is, ladies and gentlemen, a witch.

[Mitsura]

Mitsura Then you had money, then you order whatever Coco, karate K hunger with the balls shift mental damage cut clean hygiene so essential Tiger like Kenzo box you up like bento call me, miss me yagging wanna bust you in your dental wap Wax on, wax off Clothes with the luggage gotta get the bags on Never graduated but you get your cap on you running around my way Gotta shut the dags off nr I say wax on, wax off hey. Wax on, wax off Wax on, wax off Wax on, wax off could get vicious so they better greet us show me who your leaders I can argue with these is filling up arenas, running up the commas when you hear my voice to them Baptist they run up Baptist they pick it then they married to the grandma too many want to kick it think it's Gary, Indiana Yokos and the mice and them Shiros and my washi I was on the side catching flies with my chopsticks Ta ta, ta no hip hop like the pop queens TikTok hurry up stick tick ticking in the dojo with a shay shay sensei crushed every level okay, now what? Hey, don't make me take a trip to Okinawa Break a brick with a chap Keep a stick and a chopper I teach you how to block, you ain't know it Sicilia yours Lupe warrior poet yeah. I ever tell you cockback, you know how we go? We got the flow when I blow and we sh. Put the swirl when we throw back the boat through your throat you be gone like gone with the storm and we calm, never slow if you cold with the palms we could go toe to toe Wax on, wax off hey. Wax on, wax off Wax on, wax off Wax on, wax off.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah. Wow. Stick around, guys, because we're going to bring back a witch to perform again. And you're gonna learn more about her story. As I mentioned, you started your career, and I didn't know this was a thing until recently. When I see a lot of young comedians and they say, open up for X, Y and Z. But that's how you started your career. You opened up for NWA way back when.

[TK Kirkland]

Way back. 1988. Wow. And I got my start. And I always. I wanted to start giving New Edition their start. I mean, their. Their. Their props.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Props.

[TK Kirkland]

Okay, Because New Edition, I toured with them first.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Okay?

[TK Kirkland]

And Because I toured with New Edition and I met Eazy E because Bobby had left New Edition and Al Heyman, who's now the business manager of Floyd Mayweather loved my style of comedy. And he booked me to host a show with Bobby Brown. I'll be sure Tina Marie and Keith Sweat at the LA Farm in Los Angeles turned it out. But during intermission, a DJ put in a cassette of a local rap group. It was NWA Me being the kind of guy I am, I needed to know who these people were, right? So Bobby was next to me. He told me where they were. He saw them in the audience. I walked off the stage, I walked up to this young man, and I told him my name was t to the mfk. And he said I was eazy. Mfe and eazy e, Dr. Dre, ice cube, all came to see me perform at the Comedy Store.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Right.

[TK Kirkland]

A week later, Eazy E said, yo, let's go. And I went on my first national tour, Straight Outta Compton.

[Shannon Sharpe]

So you started with New Edition. New Edition, then you met NWA I.

[TK Kirkland]

Met nwa and then they put you.

[Shannon Sharpe]

On, and that's kind of where you started.

[TK Kirkland]

And then that's what took me to everybody else. And I always had that same formula, right?

[Shannon Sharpe]

Right.

[TK Kirkland]

So that formula took me to writing comedy skits on albums. Then I was rocking with Too Short. Then I was rocking with Luke in Miami. I was rocking with Jay Z. I was rocking with Lloyd from. I did Player's Diary. I did Timbaland's first album, Gwen Stefani. Right. So I did everybody's stuff. So I always kept quiet. Cause nobody knew my path of my career. So I always just stayed low key and all that. Because I come from a different era than the comedians today. Because I was in the streets as well.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Right.

[TK Kirkland]

So my OGs, we had a certain style of communication. We don't say nothing. Even back in the day, the way we take pictures now, you would get beat up. Back in the day, if you took somebody's picture, they didn't authorize it.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Right.

[TK Kirkland]

But now everybody takes a picture. But we. We didn't want to be in the spotlight, right. But because of the business I'm in, I have to be on Instagram, which I kind of hate.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Right.

[TK Kirkland]

I have to do it.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah.

[TK Kirkland]

You know, you got to say, I.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Mean, you independent, you got to sell yourself.

[TK Kirkland]

I got to sell my. You hit it right in there. But there's going to be a day, and it's coming soon, where there's no more text messaging, there's no more videos. I'm just going to stop.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Then what's going. So what's. What's. What's the next step? What's the Progression.

[TK Kirkland]

Well, the thing is, I just want to continue traveling the way I do. I think I've saved up enough financial security to take me into when my time is over, right? And I just want to enjoy. I got grandkids. You understand we getting there, right? I mean, we work so hard, and it's only so many damn jokes you could say, right? Even though. And I'm gonna tell my fans, even though I love when they come to see me perform, I love getting ready. Just like I told you, I was getting ready for you three years ago.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Wow.

[TK Kirkland]

I was preparing for you three years ago. So when my team was like, tk, I can't wait for you to do Shay Club Shay Shay, I said, don't worry about it. Is gonna come. I promise you it's gonna come. So when I got the call, I thought it was fake because somebody had sent me a fake email pretending it was you, right? And they was like, oh, we want you to do Club Shannon's a big fan of you. But they didn't have no phone number, right? They did it twice. So when your guy. Dave. Yeah. So when Dave reached out to me, he had the phone number there, right? I knew it was official, right? So when I called, he said, man, Shannon want yo. You know, they got that. And I said, boom. It was set up. So we supposed to have done it a month from now, but I got to do Boston, Massachusetts. So when I said, yo, let's do it earlier, everybody said it was okay, perfect. And boom, here we are.

[Shannon Sharpe]

You mentioned that you open up for a lot of rappers. Is it common now for comedians to open up for rappers now, or is that a thing of the past?

[TK Kirkland]

It was a thing of the past, I don't think. The one thing I know for sure, you had to have a gift to open up for a rap group. See, Leo Cohen said it best to me. I was opening up. It was the Rough Riders, Cash Money Millionaires Eve. We was doing show in New York. It was packed, 18,000 people, and I'm turning it out. So Leo Cohen said, tk, a lot of people don't know you have the most important job of the night because you have to control the climate of the room. You can cite a riot or you can keep them laughing. And I always kept them entertained, and that's what always kept me going. And that's one thing I could say for sure that will solidify my position, because most comedians don't have comedy IQ like you guys in football. Know who was the great running backs? You know who was the great quarterbacks. You know, you. Do you watch film to know when you play a team. Who's that guy?

[Shannon Sharpe]

Right?

[TK Kirkland]

In our business, comedians don't do their homework. They don't have what I call comedy iq.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Really?

[TK Kirkland]

Yeah. They don't have it. They do not have it. So common IQ is knowing your history, right. A lot of people think Russell Simmons started black comedy, but it was a gentleman named Michael Williams, right? Michael Williams started black comedy in South Central on 43rd in Crenshaw. A place called the Regency West. The Regency West. The reason why he rented out a hall, Cause he had the best Stan the comedian probably ever touched the mic. Robin Harris.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Oh, yeah.

[TK Kirkland]

But this is before they would let us into improvs, right? The funny bones. See, comedians think that's easy now for them to get in there.

[Shannon Sharpe]

It wasn't.

[TK Kirkland]

It wasn't. I'm not saying they disliked us, but we did. Only people that was popular back in the day was Richard Pryor, Paul Mooney. It's so many more comedians today, it's insane. But back then it was only a few black comics, right? So we had to get our own venue. And once that took off, it started spreading to Chicago, started spreading to Miami. Then Bob Sumner and Tina Graham, who worked with Russell Simmons, started Def Jam.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Right?

[TK Kirkland]

Now, what they did with Def Jam.

[Shannon Sharpe]

So you think that's why they gave Russell Wrestle get so much credit, because he started Def Comedy Jam?

[TK Kirkland]

Yeah, because people don't know the history.

[Shannon Sharpe]

And it kind of blew up.

[TK Kirkland]

It blew up. So he's gonna get the record, he's gonna get the credit, and the rest is history. But by Def Jam, starting is what got everybody into the improvs, into the funny bones. And that's why I always tell comedians, if you can always try to work at a black owned comedy club at least two, three times a year to get our people, our black owners rich. Because we made everybody else rich.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Correct.

[TK Kirkland]

And we don't take the time to look out for our own people. And that's so important to me because I remember when we only get $20 and two chicken wings. Wow. Yeah, sir. See, I go way back then. So comedians are making a lot of money now.

[Shannon Sharpe]

They make a lot of money.

[TK Kirkland]

And, and, and. But if they knew the comedy iq, if they knew the history, they would say, yo, it's my duty to give back, to give back. And that's what's important. That's what's missing.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Do you. Were you the first comedian to open up for rappers? Was there somebody?

[TK Kirkland]

Yeah, there was Nobody before me and anybody could say that. Nobody. If you wasn't doing comedy in 1985, which most of them wasn't, you wasn't before me. I started in 1985 and 1988. I was on tour with NWA so.

[Shannon Sharpe]

What was your wildest experience being on the road with NWA I could tell.

[TK Kirkland]

You that it was easy. Our first day going to Indianapolis. This is for headphones. So Dr. Dre was on the plane with the boombox. And he was playing loud on the plane.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Damn.

[TK Kirkland]

Exactly. Flight attendant came and said, sir, you need to turn that off. Dr. Dre said, you. That's exactly what he said.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Damn.

[TK Kirkland]

So nobody thought anything. Next thing you heard the pilot say, we're making an emergency landing. They dropped our asses off. Where they drop y' all off at in Arizona?

[Shannon Sharpe]

Damn. Y' all hadn't even made it halfway.

[TK Kirkland]

Not even halfway. They dropped us off. But Eazy was so rich, he bought tickets and put us on another plane and we left. But, yeah, that's the crazy experience I had with NWA Is it true that.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Ren slept with your old lady?

[TK Kirkland]

Yeah, that's so true.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Hold on. It was reported that you took a shop and had a knife for Ren.

[TK Kirkland]

Yo, that's so funny. Been doing your homework. Shout out to Ren. But he had taught me the game, you know? Cause I was always been a player, you know? So, you know, I flew the girl in, and I never get the man. The road manager was like, no, tk Liability. You can't bring her. I like, nah, we could do it. He didn't care. So we go shopping, we hanging out. So because I'm the emcee, I gotta be there first.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah.

[TK Kirkland]

So she.

[Shannon Sharpe]

So you left her back at the hotel?

[TK Kirkland]

I left her at the hotel.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Oh.

[TK Kirkland]

So it's six o' clock? Seven. It's eight. I think she finally got there around eight. So we do the concert. Nothing happens. I see her, we doing our thing. Hey, how you doing, babe? Girl, good to see you. 2:00 clock in the morning, I get this knock on the door.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Boom, boom, boom, boom.

[TK Kirkland]

It's easy. He says, come out for me. Come in. Come in. I come out. He said, ren had sex with your girl, huh? And then he fell out on the floor in the hallway and rolled. Ezekiel's funny. He was funny. He rolled down the hallway and laughed her. But because of my mindset, I had to go get my stuff for her stuff put in the bag, and I threw out the hotel. Dang. Yeah. That was my first lesson of being a player. But Getting played.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah.

[TK Kirkland]

Yeah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Do you and Ren have a conversation about that?

[TK Kirkland]

We see each other. We don't bring it up. We just laugh. Yeah, yeah. We see each other. I mean, I'm quite sure he sees the interviews over the years. It is what it is. You know, it was a valuable lesson.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Was that the only time you had a young lady taken from you?

[TK Kirkland]

Well, she wasn't my woman.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah. But she feared. I mean, you brought her there.

[TK Kirkland]

Yeah. Yeah. Got a nice outfit for real to take up off. I think that's the only time. I think that's the only time. Yeah. But that's why is. Glad you brought this up, because men today will shoot somebody now for sure. Right?

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah.

[TK Kirkland]

Or kill the girl or kill themselves.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah.

[TK Kirkland]

And what I want men to understand since Shannon brought this up, is a great segue into this. Learn to control your emotions. Because you guys get so upset that you want to kill someone and risk your whole life over one woman. When it's a billion people out there. And I want men to. I know it hurts. We know it hurts. It hurts.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Especially if you're invested in her.

[TK Kirkland]

Yeah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Because, you know, the more time you invest, the more you know. If you invest money, you invest time, you invest energy. It's just like anything. Like when you're an athlete and you invest all the training, all the eating. Right. The denying yourself, going on vacation. Denying a lot of things. And so when it doesn't work out in your favor, it hurts you.

[TK Kirkland]

It hurts.

[Shannon Sharpe]

And sometimes you see athletes cry and you're like, man. What, man, it's just a game. No, it's not. Because you don't understand. Understand what I invested in in order to win this game. And so anytime you invest time, energy, effort into something that doesn't go your way, it hurts. You invest time, you invest, whatever the case may be, your love, your attention into an individual. And it doesn't go your way. It hurt. And it should. Because the more invested you are, the more it should hurt.

[TK Kirkland]

Yes. But control your ego, because it's your ego.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Cut off the ego.

[TK Kirkland]

Your ego is what's hurting. Right. Can't believe she did that to me.

[Shannon Sharpe]

I'm me, Right?

[TK Kirkland]

And then you lose your life. And gentlemen and ladies.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yes.

[TK Kirkland]

Hold tight. Cause they will be a better tomorrow. And that's important for us to say that to the world because they crashing out here.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah.

[TK Kirkland]

Bad.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yes.

[TK Kirkland]

You can't even compliment a woman on a tattoo or compliment her. It leads to a fight of killing.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah.

[TK Kirkland]

Crazy.

[Shannon Sharpe]

You open up a Jay Z, Lil Wayne, Mike Nelly, Outkast, Luda, Cash Money, Rough Riders, dmx. What's your favorite story? Give me a couple of your favorite stories from Opening up from. Cause, bro, I mean, you talking about you some heavyweights, Jay, Lil Wayne. Cause you Talking about top five, top 10 rappers, easy. There's not a whole lot of. There's not a whole lot of lists that won't have Hov, Wayne em on that list.

[TK Kirkland]

Yes, I totally agree. We start with Lil Wayne first. I was rocking with Lil Wayne when we were 16. So I was like a big uncle to him, right? And he loved me to death. And we just truly enjoyed each other. Baby showed me how money didn't matter. When he first got his $30 million deal. Me and a man named Ron Bird. Ron Bird is the person that introduced me to cash Money, okay? So me and another gentleman, we hanging out with baby and him the night that we was doing a concert in New Orleans, right? And baby took the whole community shopping. We was on Canal street shopping for everybody. But then he stopped at a Bentley dealership. He was. He bought five Bentleys at one time. This is in 90s, 1999, 1998, when Bentley's wasn't even out like that. And I was telling my man, don't look at him because probably he's going to get us a Bentley. You know, he has. People just don't care. And you don't want to make eye contact, so maybe you look the other way. He might say, I thought that was gonna happen, I ain't gonna lie. But it didn't happen. But no, we didn't get the Bentley. But baby, Baby was a. Baby was something else. And still a great gentleman to this day. Jay Z. What I liked about Jay Z and Shout out to Jay, I hired him first for my birthday party.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah, your 35th.

[TK Kirkland]

35Th birthday party. He came, he was late. I didn't want him to go on. And my crew that I was working with, Eric Von Zip, Frankie B, Haitian Jack, I rode with some real powerful people back in the day. And they said, nah, tee that I'm gone. I was being a little egotistical, you know. Cause they would mink coat fly. Yeah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

And he showed up late like, nah, you ain't mean to show up late to my party. Thinking about the grace to stage.

[TK Kirkland]

Exactly. That's exactly how it was. But my crew got in my ear and said, he let him go on. He turned it out. Yeah, he turned it out. And him, Damon Dash, all of them was there. And the love came when he blew up he took me on the Hard Knock Life tour.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Wow.

[TK Kirkland]

So we rocking the Hard Knock Life tour. And that's how I met with Cash Money. And it was just a great moment. Timbaland. What I liked about Timbaland, I knew his father, and Timbaland was just getting ready to come out. And I was doing interludes on everybody's album, from the Loonies to Luke to everybody. And Timberland just showed mad love and respect. And he just wanted him. Missy Elliot. He truly just loved what I was doing. And I just love this. So, I mean, it's good. I love your questions because this is giving the comedians. Who's gonna watch this education on the history of comedy, which is very important.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Right. Help me understand this. Ray Daniels, he's in the industry and he says he's kind of lost some respect for hoves because hov won't help Dame Dash out of his financial situation. Now, there have been times that Dame has taken an opportunity to kind of take a dump on hold.

[TK Kirkland]

Yes. Yes.

[Shannon Sharpe]

And so it's kind of hard, I agree. When every time somebody got a microphone or a camera in your face, you taking a shot at me.

[TK Kirkland]

Yes.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Now when you at your lowest, you want me to pull you up?

[TK Kirkland]

Yes. That's a good question. I want to do this respectfully because I love both of them.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah.

[TK Kirkland]

I truly felt what hurt Damon was he talked too much.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah.

[TK Kirkland]

And the goal in life is when you get the plug, when you get to connect, is to shut up and get the money. You get the money, you don't care about the fame. And what most business people do where they mess up is they want the fame. And that's what hurt to me. Damon Dash. Now that this has happened to Damon, and it hurts me that, that it.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Has, because he was the guy that had it all.

[TK Kirkland]

I've seen him, man. He was one of the great. I love that dude. I've seen him on tour. I've seen how. What they came up. I remember us driving down Park Avenue, you know, we got the fly rise. And then I thought my car was fly. He pulled up at the red light with something even flyer. We got the windows down. We talking mess to each other. I'll never forget those days. And when I read that in the article, I was hurt. But Jay Z, as men now. We're men.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah.

[TK Kirkland]

We're not 17.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Nope.

[TK Kirkland]

We're not 18. Back then, you find loyalty. Like, I'm gonna look out for my people.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Right.

[TK Kirkland]

But now when you have a family, you've got mortgage. I Don't care if you got a billion dollars.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah. It's gonna be hard for somebody to talk about me in a negative light basically every chance they get.

[TK Kirkland]

But you're a man, right? When you're a man, unless that person, you actually agree with that person from the core, you won't look out for him. It has to be a special bond. And they separated because to me, too much talking. And that's why I was telling one of my friends the other day about Elon Musk. Topical second. Elon Musk played himself like a female. He gave Donald Trump 250 million. But what he should have did was shut up and lay in the cut. But he want to be in all the meetings.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah.

[TK Kirkland]

He want recognition.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Right.

[TK Kirkland]

He want to be seen.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Right.

[TK Kirkland]

And destroyed his stock in his business. Because I got stock. Yeah. Destroy his relationship with Mr. Trump.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah.

[TK Kirkland]

Destroyed it.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah.

[TK Kirkland]

I want people to use that example is if you ever get put on right, get your money and shut up. Shut up. To this day, you don't know who Will Smith's manager is. To this day, you don't know.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Right.

[TK Kirkland]

To this day, you have no idea who represents Will Smith. Cause his manager, and I know him, I'm not gonna say his name moves low key, right. And people always want to be recognized. Stay up, get your money, stay low key, stay off the radar, so to speak.

[Shannon Sharpe]

I want to pivot back to Jay Z, because Jay Z, although he got his start in music, he doesn't do a whole lot of music. Now. Maybe he'll jump on somebody's feature, but for the most part, Jay Z is a businessman outside of the world of music.

[TK Kirkland]

Yes.

[Shannon Sharpe]

When you was with him, did you see this entrepreneurial side of HOV then?

[TK Kirkland]

Absolutely. He comes on the streets. So when we was in the streets, all of us used to see each other. The thing about Jay Z, and I always noticed this in life, when you take care of your crew, you get blessed.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Right?

[TK Kirkland]

When Jay Z turns the corner in a Bentley, his crew turns the corner in a Bentley, right. We did a show in Philly, and they must have had nine Bentleys pull up backstage. I'm talking about damn cream top, burgundy. I ain't never seen these colors in Bentleys before. Now, I got a little jewelry on. But when they hit the stage, it lit up the stadium. Like when the lights hit it. Yeah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

They iced out like that.

[TK Kirkland]

It was iced like that. It lit up the stadium. It was like. It was a different type of rainbow type. Blue, purple, pink. I still remember to this day, because I was there. So that's what I liked about Jay Z. Now in life, men and women, women, everybody's not gonna like you, right? You can't make everybody happy.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Right?

[TK Kirkland]

It's impossible.

[Shannon Sharpe]

A lot of times, the more successful you would get, the more you disliked.

[TK Kirkland]

Yeah. The more you dislike. I had something that happened today. The dude told me he didn't like. He didn't like me. He said, your word doesn't mean nothing for the struggle. And I said, I don't even know who you are. I said, but if you need help with your credit or need to get out a little apartment, they got websites to get you together. Because you should.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Don't get mad at me because of your situation.

[TK Kirkland]

Because of my situation. Like, I'm an old. Anybody getting mad at me should be embarrassed, right? I'm damn near 70 years old.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Right.

[TK Kirkland]

Like, to be upset with me is embarrassing.

[Shannon Sharpe]

70, bro.

[TK Kirkland]

I'm damn near 70.

[Shannon Sharpe]

I mean, I would never believe that, bro.

[TK Kirkland]

And let me explain to you what I mean, right? Once you get past 50 something years.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Old, you tell day to day, 70.

[TK Kirkland]

Is here in like three days.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah, yeah.

[TK Kirkland]

People don't understand that one day you 50, you wake up, you 70 something years old or 60 something years old. This is a fact.

[Shannon Sharpe]

It is, it is.

[TK Kirkland]

And then when you got schedules like us, we know what we doing three, four, five years from now. Yeah, we know what we're doing. When you have it like that, it's even faster. So you play if you want to. You know, you play if you want to. It goes by fast. So that's what I liked about Jay Z. He whole crew was straight, right?

[Shannon Sharpe]

You also went out on the road with Em. What are the. What is it about Em?

[TK Kirkland]

What.

[Shannon Sharpe]

I mean, did you. Where would you rank Em? Did you know Em? I mean, like. Cause he's Eminem. Yeah. Because the thing is, look, Vanilla Ice had. When he had Ice Ice, baby. And it just blew up. And he made so much money off that one song. But Em was really the first white guy.

[TK Kirkland]

Yes.

[Shannon Sharpe]

To put it down. And you know, okay. The Beastie Boys. I mean, the Beastie Boys back in the mid-80s. I remember the Beastie Boys. But Em was the first with that, with the. I mean, the flow, the way he said. I mean, you like, damn, that's a. He was like for rap. Em was to rap what Tiger woods was to golf.

[TK Kirkland]

I totally agree. And what.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Cause at one point in time, Tiger woods was the best golfer and he was black and Em was the best rapper and he was White.

[TK Kirkland]

And let me tell you to the world what I see when you say that. To blow up, you always need a cosine.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yes.

[TK Kirkland]

Right. You need a co signer. I'm gonna take you way back, probably before you was born in 1968.

[Shannon Sharpe]

I was born in 68, you said?

[TK Kirkland]

Yeah. So you don't see this.

[Shannon Sharpe]

I got a. I got a. I got a. I got a. I got a. Birthday of the week.

[TK Kirkland]

Yeah. 1968, a man named Barry Gordy who ran Motown.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah.

[TK Kirkland]

Discovered a group called the Jackson F. What Barry Gordy did was to blow the Jackson 5Up. And you can Google this. You go, on the album. What I'm about to tell you. On the Jackson 5 first album, it says, Diana Ross presents the Jackson 5. That was the first moment of my life I understood co signing. Oh.

[Shannon Sharpe]

So they used Diana Ross, who already had a name, who was already established. So basically she was co signing for the Jacksons.

[TK Kirkland]

Exactly.

[Shannon Sharpe]

If I'm gonna put my name behind them, they got to be good.

[TK Kirkland]

They gotta be good. So now let's Fast forward to Dr. Dre.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah.

[TK Kirkland]

Snoop Dogg, the whole Compton move. Dr. Dre co signed Eminem. Dr. Dre already had the movement. If Dr. Dre touched it, you must be good.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Cause he was an nwa. And then he had Snoop in the Chronic. So he spoke.

[TK Kirkland]

And Tupac.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Tupac, yeah.

[TK Kirkland]

He had him. So this guy must be good. Now watch where I'm going. Get deeper.

[Shannon Sharpe]

I see what you've been.

[TK Kirkland]

That was his co signer. Now Eminem is a rock star. Dr. Dre is still phenomenal. They find another gentleman named 50 Hero. Co sign him.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yep.

[TK Kirkland]

Co signed him and said to. Well, hey, you may not know who this guy is, but we got the next superstar. So for 50 and Dr. Dre to co sign 50 Cent, pow. It was rock stardom.

[Shannon Sharpe]

I read where Andre 3003 stacks gave you some great advice.

[TK Kirkland]

Yes.

[Shannon Sharpe]

And we're gonna talk about this a little later, but how to deal with your child's mom?

[TK Kirkland]

Yes. Yes. I was having some issues, but most of us have as we growing up. And I remember was going to the airport because me and Outkast are good friends. Right, right. Good friends. And one day.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah, yeah, I need one of them puppies.

[TK Kirkland]

Yeah, we six o' clock in the morning, we're going through the airport and me and him were talking and I didn't know where to stay with my. You know how we all get when we have that? Those the kids. You don't want to lead the kid. You want to be there to raise your. Your child because you think that's the right thing to do, Especially when you're educated. Because you educate. You don't want the woman that you have her children with to be a single mother.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Correct?

[TK Kirkland]

This is what you start saying, that I don't want to be a single mom. You know, you want to be. They don't. Women. Some women don't know that. Men think that way. We think that way to stay with the family, because we don't want you to be a single mother, and we don't want no one else to raise our child. But I want to be in my kid's life.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Let me tell you what a therapist told me one time. He said, shannon, sometimes you can be in a relationship with a woman, and while y' all together, you're a single man.

[TK Kirkland]

Yep. So true. So I told him that, and I remember, and I share this with people, right? He said, TK you got to choose which pain you want. That's what he said. You got to choose which pain you want. I didn't understand it. So one day, a great big situation happened. It had to happen that way, because I'm into quantum physics. I'm into the universe. I'm into God. And me and her had a big blowout. And it was the greatest thing that ever happened, because I probably would have kept coming back if it wouldn't have happened that way. And I'm here to tell young men and women, sometimes it's good to go separate ways.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Right?

[TK Kirkland]

You think the kids want y' all to be together? And they probably do, right? But sometimes it's best just to get away.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Better part.

[TK Kirkland]

Yeah. And believe it or not, you'll. You'll live, you will grow, you will become better. Depending on your determination of life. You will educate yourself to become a better man, better woman. And I'm here today to say that because I've actually lived it. And that's why I always tell young men on social media, you could be 25, 29, 42, even in the 50s. And I said, there's nothing you could tell me. I'm damn near 70, right? I'm here to tell you because I look young. It's a gift and curse if you don't know me. You think I'm this young kid talking. But I've seen it all. And the best thing sometimes is let your baby mom go on her way. You move on with your life. And the kids gonna love it down the line. Cause they get two Christmases, two birthdays.

[Shannon Sharpe]

It's a win because sometimes, I mean, you try to stay to make it work, and all you do is argue. That's not good for the child. You realize that, you know, you get pushed away and you're not there every day and that's not good for the child. So you're kind of dealing with basically a dilemma. Two equally perplexing situations. If I stay, it's bad. If I go, it's bad. Damn.

[TK Kirkland]

Yep, it's crazy. I totally agree. And I actually lived it. And I can honestly tell people everything the universe threw at me. I took it and built it brick by brick. And here I am today on Shannon Shop.

[Shannon Sharpe]

We appreciate your having.

[TK Kirkland]

Yes sir.

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[Shannon Sharpe]

You also was on you tour with DMX. You open for DMX?

[TK Kirkland]

Yeah, DMX is my man. Yeah. God bless him. To this day, DMX is the greatest solo rapper I've ever seen in my life.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Really?

[TK Kirkland]

No, nobody can touch him. If I had to go solo rap artist, DMX number one. Because he didn't have background dances. It was just him, a jumpsuit, a rock waller, dog collar collar and a.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Mic and some Tim's and he and some Tims.

[TK Kirkland]

He'll hop on the speakers, he'll run through the stage, he'll run through the audience. And I remember watching him. Not today. You appreciate it because when you're young, but when you get to our age, you go, wow. I was here for a special moment and he was phenomenal. I will put as a soloist DMX as a duo. Busta Rhymes.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Really?

[TK Kirkland]

Listen to me.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Have you seen anybody since DMX have that kind of energy on stage as a rapper?

[TK Kirkland]

Not at all. Not at all. Even though I love what Atlanta is doing. They have their own movement, their own style, but it's just something about the people that came up in the 80s and 90s and rap that was just phenomenal. The doc, Nelly, all these guys was just phenomenal. I mean they paved the way for these kids today doing what they doing. But DMX was amazing. And like I said, busta Rhymes and them. Nobody wanted to follow that dude. He was that good because he performed, Right? Right. He performed. And then Oakland had. They had Too Short and Too Short had, what I call that street swagger that was missing in the world. Now, let's just say If Eminem and Dr. J would have co signed Too Short, he'd have been a rock star.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Wow.

[TK Kirkland]

He would have been a rock star. But it's all based on marketing. It's all about, you got the machine behind you, and that's the difference in success.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Tupac and Biggie, you had a relationship with both of those guys, and you were with them days before they passed.

[TK Kirkland]

That's crazy. That's good. You know that. Yeah. They died in different years, like a year apart.

[Shannon Sharpe]

One is in 96 and the other was like March of 97. But very, very close.

[TK Kirkland]

Both. I've been blessed to be both sides of the game. Biggie and us was tight. Me, little Kim, even Puff, you know, before the freak offs.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Right.

[TK Kirkland]

You know, Puff and I don't let everybody know. Puff used to throw some of the best parties in the game in the early 90s, God bless him in his situation. What I've learned in life, too, when people in trouble, don't wish them well, don't wish them bad. Just say, I wish that person the best, and thank God it ain't me and you move on about it. Biggie, I was with him the day he died. But Tupac had died first, right? And Tupac, Meg. Actually, Vegas, it was me, Tupac, Mike Tyson, we all hung out during that day. And after the fight, we was going to the Club Six Six with Suge. Was throwing a party, but my dumb butt again. I was working out and I took some Fat Burner pills. Don't know why I'm not fat. I took Fat Burner, but I'll never forget it.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Try to speed up your metabolism. That's.

[TK Kirkland]

Took the Fat Burn pills. But I didn't know you couldn't drink alcohol with it. I drink alcohol later that afternoon. So as we're going to the party, I leave them because I'm not feeling good. Like, whatever that Fat Burner did, it did something that I never experienced before because, like, you could actually feel it in your skin.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah.

[TK Kirkland]

Oh, man, it was. It was painful. I stayed in the hotel like a week. So I saw the Tupac thing on the news that he had got shot. I was like, wow, that's crazy. And so I said, he's gonna be all right.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Right?

[TK Kirkland]

And when I started getting well that's when I found out he had died. So I had to fly from Vegas to Charlotte to do a show. Year later, I'm hanging with Lady Note They Blacknor, who was Puppy's assistant at the time. And we're hanging out, Biggie and all of us having a good time. I had a comedy show that night at the Comedy Act Theater that the guy Michael Williams owns. Yeah. And when we went to the party on La Brea, it was at the museum. I'll never get. Biggie was like, tk, you better go do your show. But the party was amazing, right? Oh, Shannon, this party that night was amazing in those situations.

[Shannon Sharpe]

TK did you. Did the day see. Did anything seem off? Did it seem like a normal Saturday or normal Friday or whatever the day the case may be? Did anything seem off or. It just seemed like a normal day.

[TK Kirkland]

It seemed like a normal day, but I saw all the street guys. I saw the gang members there. Everybody was in suit stuff, right? I said, ah, shit, this shit ain't gonna last. That's what I felt, right? So I wound up. Me, I'm always pulling women. Snatched up three girls. We get in the whip and I go do my show, right? But we coming right back, right? You know, I got a certain time, I gotta be there. I'm gonna go on, do your dude.

[Shannon Sharpe]

And I'm hit.

[TK Kirkland]

I'm coming back as I'm coming back, coming down Wilshire, see all the police cars. And my man said, tk Biggie got shot, man. They can't get shot. They're brushing it off, right? I go hang out with outkast because they're on Sunset Boulevard getting ready to do their album release. And I wind up hosting a party. After I'm hosting a party, I walk into this other room and I'm looking out on Sunset Boulevard. I'm just staring, right? I said, maybe Biggie did get shot. Hopped in the car. And something just told me to go to Sinai Hospital, Cedar Sinai. And I walked up and Leota shout out to Leila, I haven't talked to you in years. She said, biggie died. I said, what? And I was just standing there and I never got staying at this hotel in Culver City. And I went in and called my mom and told her that Biggie had died. And the reason why I called my mother because my brother died in 1995. But he. Biggie got shot on the day my brother birthday, it was March 9, so that was my brother's birthday, even though he was deceased already. And I was talking to my mom about that. And that was the story. I've been in some crazy situations with people in their death. Even when my guy father's from the ojs.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Okay. Yeah.

[TK Kirkland]

What's his name?

[Shannon Sharpe]

Oh, J's. Who's it?

[TK Kirkland]

His father's ojs. Both of them passed away. Yeah, he said the beard heavyset dude. Oh, Lavert. Lavert. Gerald.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah.

[TK Kirkland]

So me and the Gerald's about to do a show this years later and Gerald dies before the night before we do our concert. And I just never forget that to see these gentlemen pass away and in my journey of entertainment. And like I said, you've seen so much depth that every. It affects everybody different.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah, for sure.

[TK Kirkland]

And it's something that you said that was very important. I appreciate this shit because I've been doing this since I was burying people since I was 11. So I don't take nothing for granted. I know people can pull you away from it. People can really bring you down to their level and destroy your life. And what people need to understand is don't allow no one to destroy your life. You got to love yourself that much. And what David Clayman had taught me, he said, tk, you're not afraid of nothing. I said, what do you mean? He said, you're not afraid to go to jail. He said, you gotta be afraid. There's nothing wrong with being afraid. Be afraid that you don't end up there. And I've always took that for the rest of my life.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Are you surprised Biggie went to Cali, considering that he knew how the west coast felt about east coast and east coast felt about West Coast? Especially because, like you said, Tupac had just died. I mean, it wasn't even a year. I think Tupac died in like September, October, and here it was March and Biggie is in Cali knowing how the west coast felt about the East Coast.

[TK Kirkland]

It's called inexperience when you don't know. You think everything's gonna be okay.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Everything. Yep.

[TK Kirkland]

Right? So when my boy got locked up saying that he was the guy with the situation behind Biggie getting killed, my business, my partner, my street guy, Eric Von Zip, they said Puffy had gave every Von Zip a million and Zip never gave it to the people to do the shooting. But the shooting happened, right? So everybody, zip died. But they knew me and him was partners. So the room on the street was I had got the million, right, because me and him was tight. But I wanted everybody to know I don't know nothing about no money. That was it.

[Shannon Sharpe]

You've also been featured on albums. You worked with Missy Elliott, Madonna, Gwen Stefani. And I wanna get ask you this, but when I go back and I think of Missy, I think of creativity.

[TK Kirkland]

Yes, Yes.

[Shannon Sharpe]

I think of the videos, I think she was ahead of her time.

[TK Kirkland]

Yep, she sure was.

[Shannon Sharpe]

I don't think she gets the credit that she deserves.

[TK Kirkland]

I totally agree.

[Shannon Sharpe]

And that's not a knock on anybody that's currently. That's in the genre that she's in. But Missy was way ahead of her time.

[TK Kirkland]

So true.

[Shannon Sharpe]

She was futuristic.

[TK Kirkland]

Yep. Absolutely.

[Shannon Sharpe]

She's 2085 and happened to be in the 90s, early 2000, when she was doing her thing.

[TK Kirkland]

I totally agree. She was creative in the videos. She was very unique, very creative. And I love that about. I mean, all you can say is she was great. I mean, you have the female rappers today, and yeah, they're good. I'm no, no knock nobody, but everything in the 90s when it came to hip hop was on a whole nother level. Whole nother level. And it's good to know. I'm glad to know I was part of it.

[Shannon Sharpe]

You know what I want? That's what I want to ask you. People say, like, somebody can do an album. Like, man, you do an album and you're really good. You have success. But I want to see him do something else. He does something else, man, I want the old guy back.

[TK Kirkland]

That's so true. I mean, it's like human nature.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah. It's like, you know, change, you know, it's inevitable.

[TK Kirkland]

Yes.

[Shannon Sharpe]

And, you know, you see an actor, man, that's all he does is that I want to see him do something else. And then when he does he or she does something else, man, I don't like. I want him to see the old thing. So how do we get. Because you see a lot of rappers, a lot of entertainers, be it R and B or whatever the case may be, they try to expand. Kudos to Beyonce.

[TK Kirkland]

Yes.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Because I don't know if I would have had to go country, which is so far away from the genre that she's in. And she says, I don't care. I'm gonna do it.

[TK Kirkland]

Yes.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Do you understand the chutzpah, the courage that it takes to do what she did? Cause I don't know if. I don't know if I can honest say I've seen someone do it to the level I'm here, but now I'm gonna go way over here and get the acclaim and the adoration that she's Been given.

[TK Kirkland]

Yeah. And that's. You hit that right on the nail. Most people don't understand how hard that is to do. Cause it's very. It's impossible to do. And she's actually done it. She's actually done it, you know?

[Shannon Sharpe]

And the tour. I guess the tour has done sold out, 19 sold out shows. All the money that she's been able to accumulate.

[TK Kirkland]

Yes, yes, yes.

[Shannon Sharpe]

But I don't think she did it for the money. I think she. I think she strikes me as a woman that likes to challenge herself.

[TK Kirkland]

It seems that way. It definitely seems that way.

[Shannon Sharpe]

You gotta like a challenge, TK if you do that now.

[TK Kirkland]

Yeah. You have to. For her to go way country. Amazing. It's truly amazing.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah.

[TK Kirkland]

I met Beyonce a few times. Beautiful woman. Stunning. And I'm glad Jay Z pulled. Yeah, yeah, he pulled her because a lot of people was after her.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah.

[TK Kirkland]

You know, and I remember all of us hanging out. Aaliyah, Beyonce, Ananda Lewis. God bless. God bless Ananda. And I've seen everything from laying in the cut, you know? Cause they used to always say, TK you like the headline? Cause I always kept a bad breathing on me. You know what I'm saying? So they was like, who is TK Cause I always kept a fine woman. I kept one cat. One. No doubt about it.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Let me ask you a question, TK because you've been, like you said, you've been at this thing since the 80s. What happened to the music video? You know, like the music video with.

[TK Kirkland]

Yes.

[Shannon Sharpe]

And Missy. We go back to Missy, but I miss the days of MTV or whatever the case. Bet. When I saw the music, I get excited the song, and I'm like, oh.

[TK Kirkland]

Man, I can't wait to see premieres.

[Shannon Sharpe]

I can't wait to see.

[TK Kirkland]

Remember that?

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yes. I can't wait to see what this video's gonna be. Steve, what happened to the music video?

[TK Kirkland]

AI AI changed the game. They started in the. The music business. So many executives lost their job, they cut down the budgets. Now they want artists to be pretty much famous before they take you on.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Right.

[TK Kirkland]

Because social media, YouTube, they wonder how many YouTube followers you have, how many songs got played. It's big numbers, right? So nobody wants to work no more. Nobody wants to even. It's just not the.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Well, if I build it up, I don't really need you. If I'm gonna build my YouTube channel, I'm gonna build up my social media, my IG, my Twitter, my threads, or whatever the case may be. TikTok, why the hell I need you. If I got all this, if I got across the board, I got 30 million. Why do I need you?

[TK Kirkland]

I respect what you're saying, but most men don't think the way you think or I think think they think they need someone. And in today's world, you don't need a co signer. Today you got your phone. Today you can really market yourself. NBA YoungBoy is the prime example of what I'm saying. Multi, multi, multi millionaire. And he doesn't need nobody. And you don't see no hardly no videos. The only thing he had, he has, you know, his own personal problem.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Right.

[TK Kirkland]

But he was very successful at it. So when people come to me and say, tk what do you think, Man, I'm trying to get on. I said, why are you trying to get signed? I said, you could do it, y' all. Y' all do it yourself. You know, I had wanted to do Netflix, and I still do want to do it, because the. The people so brainwashed, they think to make it, you have to be on Netflix.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Netflix.

[TK Kirkland]

But I have my own network called TK Kirk. TK.network well, I mean, you saw what Alex Adiq did.

[Shannon Sharpe]

You saw what Ernest J. And some people are just doing it and going to YouTube. So you, theoretically, I mean, you could do that. I mean, look, I think Netflix is a wonderful platform. They do an unbelievable job. But I think the thing is now, in today's time, you can do it.

[TK Kirkland]

Yourself, and you cut out the middleman. You know what your cover of your project is going to be.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah.

[TK Kirkland]

You know, the date that you want to release it. That's important to me.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Right.

[TK Kirkland]

Because one thing I. I've never had an agent, never had a manager, really never done everything on my own. And I just don't like the fact you have to call someone and wait for them to call you back or someone to say they're out of the country or someone say they doing something when what you're about to ask them is only gonna take 30 seconds.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Right.

[TK Kirkland]

But because they took a week, two weeks, maybe a month, you get frustrated. I never like that. So when I've always been my own man. So when I snatched up D.L. hughley, when I snatched up Godfrey, when I snatched up Mike Epps, Sandra Bullock, I taught all them the game, you know, because I was in the streets, I had to really stay low key because my partners, Tommy Chesterell and David Clayman, two Jewish guys who love them very dearly, I was confused, young kid. They pretty much said, TK You Gotta fall back because you about to about money. That's what they say. Because you don't know what you want to do yet, but you ain't gonna about money. Right? So. But he said, TK this is gonna be the easiest money you'll ever make in your life. But nothing got done unless they ran it past me. That's what I liked about these gentlemen. So everything from Sandra Bullock. You know, when we did a nice little.

[Shannon Sharpe]

You had a nice little cut of Sandra.

[TK Kirkland]

Oh, yeah, yeah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Two decades.

[TK Kirkland]

And not just her. I had Anthony Michael Hall. Wow. John Lucasamo, all these guys on the artistry management. But because of me going through what I was going through at that time, I had to stay low key. But I was still getting a check. Right, Right. So it teaches you things. But I've always taught independence. I always taught ownership. Just like you running your own podcast. You're your own boss, and we want to show men and women to put themselves in position to be on. I hate that somebody got to say to someone, I got to speak to my boss on Tuesday, see if I can make my son's graduation Right. No disrespect. No man. To me, she had to live like that. That's just me.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Well, I think the thing is, how do you see yourself? Do you see yourself as talent, or you see yourself as ownership?

[TK Kirkland]

That's so true.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Talent, they cut you a check. Ownership, you do collabs.

[TK Kirkland]

Well, one rule I got. I signed the front of the check.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah, yeah. My name is in the top left.

[TK Kirkland]

Yes, I signed the front of the check. That's something that I truly believe in. I signed the front of the check.

[Shannon Sharpe]

TK when you came up comedians, basically, you had to hit the circuit. You're black. You probably started out on the chitlin circuit. And you go to these little small clubs, maybe there was 20, 30 people in there piloting. And you tell. You get five, 10 minutes, and you keep it moving. You do probably 15, 20 shows a week. Cause you're just trying to make it so true now. You see comedians, they can get on and do a skit on social media and blow up just like that.

[TK Kirkland]

That's so true.

[Shannon Sharpe]

It is so different now.

[TK Kirkland]

Totally agree.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Than what it was then. What do you like now about this new. The new comedians? What is it? Because, I mean, I get different results. I mean, some like, yeah, it's easy to do a skit, and it's easy to be good for a year, but can you be good in year five?

[TK Kirkland]

That's true.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Can you be Year. Good.

[TK Kirkland]

That's true, too. I can see that. 20, 30, I look at from an entrepreneur thing, I believe that things change. Right. Jake Paul in boxing.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah.

[TK Kirkland]

Right.

[Shannon Sharpe]

What he and his brother doing.

[TK Kirkland]

Same in comedy. Right. You created a gimmick and you won. At the end of the day, I always tell people, when you're in line at the bank, the teller doesn't care how you got your money. You could be a hoe, you could be a thief.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah. It all looked the same. It's green.

[TK Kirkland]

All look the same. So everybody gets their money a different way. Correct.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Right.

[TK Kirkland]

I respect what happened for him. Wish him the best. I'm on the other side of the mountain, so I'm not really. I don't care about certain things. Right. I just live life. I see things change. I just know that I took care of me. I look amazing from my age. Right. I'm healthy. I go to the doctor.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah.

[TK Kirkland]

Every. I don't go to the doctor once a year. I go to the doctor every four months.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah.

[TK Kirkland]

Cuz I don't want nothing catching me slipping. Like, I'm that kind of man.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Right?

[TK Kirkland]

Right. So it's good to see it. And I wished all the comics, you.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Like me, TK anything start to feel bad. Man, ain't nothing wrong with you. I want the doctor to tell me, ain't nothing wrong with you. Not you.

[TK Kirkland]

That's right.

[Shannon Sharpe]

You ain't got no medical life, I.

[TK Kirkland]

Ain'T got no game. I love life, Shannon, so much that I don't play with it.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Right?

[TK Kirkland]

Right. I beat the odds. Like I told you, off air, I really love this. Yo. I love life. I'm not gonna let nobody take it away from me. I'm not gonna let nobody pull me down to their level of disrespect because I've been in jail, I've been. My life almost taken away. I told the story years ago. One time I got locked up in LA and didn't care about it now. But it's interesting today. The Menendez brothers in my chamber.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Damn.

[TK Kirkland]

Who's in protective custody?

[Shannon Sharpe]

Okay.

[TK Kirkland]

See, most people think you're a punk if you're in protective custody. But what LA does is if you're famous, you go there because they don't want to deal with general population. So it's the Menendez brothers, Rick James, Tupac and me, all in the same cell that week. So you could still hear other people talk. And what they said to me, this is hilarious, y' all. It's kind of sad at the same time, they Said, TK tell us a joke. Cause you know, Rick James really loved me, right? And I said, I ain't telling no joke. I'm fighting the case, right?

[Shannon Sharpe]

It tried to be funny.

[TK Kirkland]

Listen to me. Do you know them motherfuckers booed me in LA County? I'll never forget it. I'm talking about. It had to be 200 something people boo me, yo. It was like the Garden. It was that loud. Boo. I'll never forget. And I wound up telling some joke and they loved it. And I'll never forget that.

[Shannon Sharpe]

You gotta be the only ninja that got booed in jail.

[TK Kirkland]

Got booed, dog booed. And I mean that. Got booed. Wow.

[Shannon Sharpe]

How did you meet Mike Epps?

[TK Kirkland]

Mike Gabson, I love that gentleman. When I was touring, I used to go into clubs and right before I would go on, I always sat in the back and watched comics. Now my blueprint was Eazy E and those guys, because Eazy was an entrepreneur and I knew that I had a different style of comedy and I needed comics that was gonna. I was gonna bring on to get him in TV and film to help pave the way. And I was gonna be the slingshot, come right behind him. Right, right. That was my goal. So I watched Mike Epps for a year and I felt like he wasn't ready. When I came back the following year, I saw him again. It was him and a gentleman named Nard. They both were good. No, I was from. Now he's deceased now. And I had a choice. I wanted to see which person I was going to pick. And I talked to Mike Epps. I said, yo, come meet me in New York. He believed him. I got him New York, stayed at my business manager's apartment and boom, the rest is history. And he went on to be very, very, very successful. And I, you know, I've known Mike for so long and just to see his achievements is just a blessing. So that's pretty much how I met Mike. I was at the Atlanta Comedy theater in Atlanta, Georgia, way back in the day. Woo. Like 1990, 1991.

[Shannon Sharpe]

It seems to be a lot of natural, the progression as a comedian starts on stage and then he goes into the movies.

[TK Kirkland]

Yes.

[Shannon Sharpe]

You know Richard Pryor, you saw Eddie Murphy. I mean, there have been so many. Who is it? Bernie Mac.

[TK Kirkland]

Bernie Mac. Kevin Hart.

[Shannon Sharpe]

You see Kevin Hart, we see said the entertainer. You know, even Cat with Cat Williams. I mean, there, there have been so many. DL had a. Had a. Had a tv.

[TK Kirkland]

Yeah, sure did.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Is that, is. Is that what the was that Something that is that a natural progression is that you see guy because you're used to performing. You can perform in. In. In front of a. But you know, a thousand, two thousand, five thousand people. You definitely can perform in front of a camera in front of an audience.

[TK Kirkland]

200 people easy. Two things. One, I never cared. I had this philosophy. I pretty much taught those guys the game. And I had a choice. When you go for an audition, somebody's about to make a choice on your life. They have to like you. Out of all these people that you're everybody's audition for the same spot. I never wanted to be a part of that competition. Really, Never. My thing was what's real. What's real was doing a show and the money was in my hand. This was a maybe I gotta get somebody to like me, right? It's levels to entertainment, right? Then let's say you get the gig. You have to do a pilot. Now, the executives of the company have to like you to give you a green light. Then if you get on air, you have to hope that the midwestern and the rest of the country. Because it's all about ratings, correct? Do the rest of the country like you? I couldn't put my life in those people's hands.

[Shannon Sharpe]

You love. You want instant money. I get on the stage, hand me my check. Hand me my cash to check. However, I'm gonna pay.

[TK Kirkland]

And I'm more successful than the people who have done TV and film. Wow.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Ugh.

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[TK Kirkland]

See, the illusion is that everybody thought because we saw such in a movie or such as a TV show that they was rich. But I play. I bet it on me, right? Every day. I may not have done what Kevin Hart and most comics have done and most comedians who don't. Most people in this country and world who don't have a high comedy iq. That's how they base success. You have to be on tv. I went for the bread. I knew how to do stocks, I knew how to save, and it paid off. So when I talk to certain people, I say, yo, you're A millionaire? What do you mean? I said, dog, I know you a millionaire. Nah, I'm not gonna say what I got, but I know I got a M behind my name.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Wow.

[TK Kirkland]

I know I got an M. Right? I know I got an M. And it's not. And one thing I've learned in life is not how much you make, is how much you keep.

[Shannon Sharpe]

You keep? Yeah.

[TK Kirkland]

See, I floss a little bit and, you know, I got a little stuff I put. I mean, just enough.

[Shannon Sharpe]

I mean, because here's the thing. I mean, you work hard. I mean, look, we didn't come to stay.

[TK Kirkland]

That's so true.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Everybody gonna leave. My grandma said, boy, we ain't come to stay.

[TK Kirkland]

Now, that's right.

[Shannon Sharpe]

I'm not gonna be frivolous.

[TK Kirkland]

Yes.

[Shannon Sharpe]

But I think I should enjoy myself.

[TK Kirkland]

Gotta enjoy yourself.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Because guess what? You know what? You noticed. And once I got into position, TK And I wanna know what you think about this, okay. Is that I started to notice people. People enjoy your money more than you.

[TK Kirkland]

They damn sure do.

[Shannon Sharpe]

So while I'm sitting here saving, I can't buy this. And I can't do that. I promise you, when you go from here and you leave it to somebody else, they gonna enjoy it.

[TK Kirkland]

They gonna enjoy it. And that's why I teach my kids, respect money.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yes.

[TK Kirkland]

And my business partner, David Clamon, used to always say, TK don't you get old and be broke. Oh, yes, BA he said, don't you get old and be broken. I want people to listen to what I'm saying. It's not a good look. You play. You play with your life all you want, all you can with people. All your listening people that's going to be watching. And it's worse now.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah. Cuz it ain't going to be no Medicaid, ain't no Medicare.

[TK Kirkland]

Yeah. It's worse now. It's about to. We about to see something. I mean, you older men.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah.

[TK Kirkland]

We about to see something we've never seen before. And it's coming. And if you didn't respect money, Right. If you didn't respect your health, you done. I don't know. I'll say it. I read a lot. And over 80% of this country don't even have $5,000 in their bank account.

[Shannon Sharpe]

I read that. I saw that.

[TK Kirkland]

You saw that, right?

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah. What was like if. If you have like 10,000 and no debt, you're like the top 80%, 85% of the country.

[TK Kirkland]

10,000.

[Shannon Sharpe]

10,000 with no debt.

[TK Kirkland]

It's insane. And we can't save the world. Right. Hurts me sometimes. I'm being honest. Right. Sometimes I wish I could do something for everybody. Right. I wish I had Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos money, and I would give everybody a check. But that's not the world.

[Shannon Sharpe]

You wouldn't have Elon Musk and Jace Bezos. Yeah, but I do. But you like me. I'm like that, TK Because I got a heart. And I hate to see people struggling.

[TK Kirkland]

Like, but I can't save all of you. And we live in a world of social media. Everybody lies. People get on my social media. Some women, like, I got three kids. I need, blah, blah, blah. And you don't know whether to believe them because so many people lie. And you don't want to. Like, I don't want to get played. Right. And then if I take it deep, I'm like, yo, you had sex to three men. And you struggling your choices.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Likelihood you probably would struggle with the first one.

[TK Kirkland]

Exactly.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Put yourself back in that situation for the second.

[TK Kirkland]

So men of our caliber, we don't like to make decisions like that. Like, I don't want to be in that situation. All I could do is just pray for some men. Reach out to me. Hating, you know, who are you? And all this. And I'm at the movies, and I got a text. Dude, out of nowhere was F you. And because of. Why you mad at you. Exactly. I said, how is it? How was it in that small apartment? I said, how you doing in that small apartment? Like, I had to mess with him. I don't know you. I don't know you. And to the people listening, he's mad.

[Shannon Sharpe]

At you for a situation.

[TK Kirkland]

Yeah. Don't be mad at me. Cause I worked through my thing. One dude talk about you. We don't care about you. You don't represent the struggle. I don't want to have nothing to do with the struggle.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah, but I struggled.

[TK Kirkland]

I struggled.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah.

[TK Kirkland]

I'm in my. I'm like. I said, I'm close to 70. I want all of you people to work hard and make it. I promise you. Because it's a beautiful thing when you overcome.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah.

[TK Kirkland]

And achieve. Like, I told some gentlemen that you don't become a man until you're 42 years old. And one dude said, I'm a man now at 29. And when I said, you got to be in your 50s and 60s to look back. You got to have that much mileage in life.

[Shannon Sharpe]

You got to have some different distance.

[TK Kirkland]

To see when you became a man. You ain't a man at 29, you might be responsible. You might have kids, you might have bought a home.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Haven't lived long enough.

[TK Kirkland]

Haven't lived long enough. You gotta be in our age rack bracket to look back to know when that happened.

[Shannon Sharpe]

But you know, a lot of times people see where we are and not where we came from.

[TK Kirkland]

That's so true.

[Shannon Sharpe]

And I said something. I was on Nightcap with Ocho and I said, you never judge a man by where he's standing because you don't know how far he's come.

[TK Kirkland]

That's so true.

[Shannon Sharpe]

So you look at somebody that's laying on the street, but yesterday he was under the bridge.

[TK Kirkland]

So true.

[Shannon Sharpe]

So while you judge me from where I am, do you know where I've come from? You look at my. You say, well, he's a failure. No, there's just delayed success.

[TK Kirkland]

Yes. Right.

[Shannon Sharpe]

I'm on a success story.

[TK Kirkland]

Yes.

[Shannon Sharpe]

And so I think the thing is, when people get upset, oh, you got this, you got that. But do you see from 1968 to 1988, when I didn't have that.

[TK Kirkland]

That's right. And this is all the old game, right? Remember we was coming up and we saw the, the older men and women successful and they worked hard. You saw Mr. Williams and he's opened the door for his wife, but they. We just went to church. He got the nice coat on and the nice slacks and you could tell he's walking with success. He earned it, right? See, when hip hop came around, nothing wrong with hip hop. It changed the mindset of the world. Everybody thought, you can get successful overnight. But in the old day, most millionaires are created in their 60s, 50s, and 60s. If you can get money in your 20s and 30s, I'm happy for you. But it's the curse.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Make sure you keep it in the 40s and 50s.

[TK Kirkland]

Here's the curse. When I saw the R. Kellys, the Puffy Combs, most young, con, young, most young singers and rappers who got rich in their 20s, it created ego. And the ego all came back to bite them in their ass when they became a man. When I saw people, success come later because they truly earned it. You see character, respect, honor, Most people don't have that. And that's why we have the issues that we have from Suge to Puffy to R. Kelly, right? Because their ego got in the way and it destroyed them. And I've seen even when you. When people's hustling and they came into money, it messed up their ego and destroyed them. And if you take your time, you may not seem like you could do it now, but one day you will be 60 something years old. And if you take care of yourself, you won't be a fat old slob or old guy, you'll still have some type of health. Right. And you, but at least you hope.

[Shannon Sharpe]

You can be 60.

[TK Kirkland]

You hope, you hope you. That's not promised to you. We know this ain't promised.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah. Because everybody, everybody got an apartment, they can't reschedule.

[TK Kirkland]

That's right.

[Shannon Sharpe]

You just don't know when it is.

[TK Kirkland]

That's right. But all you can do with the universe is extend your contract so you take care of your health. The universe wants to see you win if you do. Right.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah.

[TK Kirkland]

They'll extend you another few weeks, another 365. Right. That's how I see the universe. They want to see you win. You are the person sabotaging your life.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Right. If you could recreate any decade and you're like, you're in 60s, so you've been around for six decades, if you can recreate any decade, what decade would you recreate now? Right now?

[TK Kirkland]

Yes, sir. Because all the things I went through when I was coming up, people think he was a bad person, you think he was on the, on the wrong path of life. Then you get to be my age and you understand the universe. Right. The universe is, sent me here to teach me these lessons. And you can't teach nobody nothing if you ain't been through nothing.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Right?

[TK Kirkland]

So everything I went through made me the man I am today. I'm happy, I'm healthy, I'm independent, kids have graduated from college, I got grandkids. I live to see that.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Right.

[TK Kirkland]

You understand what I mean? I live to see it. People who are watching us, they won't make it to that.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Right.

[TK Kirkland]

Or they have grandchildren already at a young age. But there's nothing like it. The way to me, the way you're really supposed to go, you supposed to get your grandkids in your 50s and 60s, not at 30, not at 40. Right, right. This is being honest, Right. You know, because you want to have so much wisdom and knowledge that you can teach your grandchildren something. If you having grandkids in your 40s, you're going to pretty much. They don't see the nonsense that you still have in your life. And that's just not, you know, I don't agree with that.

[Shannon Sharpe]

You met early in your career, Keenan Richard Pryor Prince. What was it like to meet? I mean, they weren't at the level that they became. So you got them in the early years.

[TK Kirkland]

Yes.

[Shannon Sharpe]

And to see them, to see Keenan, Larry Wayans, and to see what he created within Living Color. And you see him, you know, him and Robert Townsend writing. And you see what he's been able to do with his brothers Marlon and Sean and Damon. You see, Richard Pryor goes without saying. And Prince, the way he could write, could play all the instruments, could entertain. He's one of one. And we might not ever see anything like that.

[TK Kirkland]

I Totally agree. 100%. Totally agree.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Did you understand that you were in the presence of greatness then?

[TK Kirkland]

No. You took it for granted. Because we didn't know.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Right.

[TK Kirkland]

Because we were kids. Right. Prince was a phenomenal guy. Saw his career take off. But Prince used to have a club in Minnesota that he used to do comedy shows because he was a big fan of comedy and loved tk. I'm just so. I get excited when I have these interviews. Cause I stop thinking about what I've accomplished. Shit is amazing.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Did he have the club before Glam Slam or first half?

[TK Kirkland]

After. Okay, after. And he was just amazing. I remember being in the studio and he had, like, 20 pieces of equipment. He'd go to each one and set it up. Yeah, you know, that's impressive. Now, back then, you just think, that's what you're supposed to do.

[Shannon Sharpe]

That's what you're supposed.

[TK Kirkland]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's insane when you talk about Richard Pryor. I was getting my master's degree at Cal State Northridge in California. I lived on Parthenia Avenue. I lived two doors from Richard Pryor. Didn't even know it at the time. He lived two doors down from me. I was on a track scholarship. So they had me this beautiful home on Parthenia and got to meet Richard Pryor down the line. And me being crazy, I always say I wish I could have saw him running down Parthenia on fire. Because I would tell him, I need a certain amount of money. I'd throw this water on him, you know, that was almost my inside joke. You know, I wish I saw him on fire so I could bargain with him to get a few dollars. Crazy story. And Keenan to this day, is the Kennedy's comedy. Comedy. I'll say. The Kennedys and the Jackson 5.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah.

[TK Kirkland]

He understood the game, right? He took care of his family.

[Shannon Sharpe]

He put all of them on Damon.

[TK Kirkland]

Every last one.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Excuse me, Kim.

[TK Kirkland]

Yes, every last one. Which was phenomenal. And when you grow up in the family, you see brothers and sisters arguing. You think that might be the way the world's supposed to be. And then it's the Wayans. And they show you how family is supposed to take care of each other. Absolutely. Because of Keenan, mostly all of them are millionaires because of Keenan. Most of them have a job. And I've seen it all right. And I haven't seen Keenan in years, but he put me in Imma get you, sucker. Yeah, he put me in I'm Gonna get yout Sucker. And I wasn't really, really doing stand up at that time, but he. He liked me as a person. Robert Townsend put me in the black, the bold, the beautiful. He loved me as a comedian. I played the butler in the black, the bold, the beautiful. And sit here talking to you, Shannon. I'm just so thankful about what I've.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Accomplished because I think the thing is, like, when you're an athlete or you're anytime, any, anything, and you have success, I don't know if you really get an opportunity to enjoy it while you're in it.

[TK Kirkland]

I totally agree.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Because you don't want it to go away. So I got to stay focused on this. And then when you're done and as you get older, you get into your 40s and. And the career is starting to dwindle down and you're not doing it as much. You get into your 50s or 60s, you're still doing comedy, and hopefully you can continue for as long as you want. But sometimes, like, when you're in stuff. I really never appreciated my career when I was in it because I was too caught up in it and I was so afraid that it might go away. So I didn't get an opportunity to enjoy, like, man, I won a Super bowl, or I did this or I did that. Now I get an opportunity to look back, you know, 20 plus years after my career, and I was like, damn. I guess. I guess I was okay.

[TK Kirkland]

I guess I did okay. That's so true. It's a beautiful feeling, man. I love it.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah.

[TK Kirkland]

Beautiful feeling. And people always want to know when I'm getting married. That's been this big thing.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah.

[TK Kirkland]

When you get married, I'm gonna say it on your show. I've been married now for over 30 years.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Oh, you married to the game of comedy, huh?

[TK Kirkland]

I'm married to the almighty man. God. Oh, okay. That's who I'm married to. Right. You know, so I still have my fun.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah.

[TK Kirkland]

You know, I got somebody who I love.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Right.

[TK Kirkland]

That I give a PDD to, you know? You know, PDD is a proper Dig down. Because when people on social media, they're like, oh, you gonna die alone and all that, right?

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah. Yeah.

[TK Kirkland]

And I tell people, I got news for you. You gonna die by yourself anyway, right?

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah.

[TK Kirkland]

You know, ain't no nobody jumping in there with you. Yeah. Like, dog, people are crazy.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Take me.

[TK Kirkland]

Yeah, yeah. Yo. People is insane with that. Yo. So I'm. All right. Shannon.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah.

[TK Kirkland]

I'm on Shannon's shop. Yo, listen. Listen to me. I predicted I was gonna be on your show three years ago.

[Shannon Sharpe]

I appreciate you taking time to come on it.

[TK Kirkland]

Three years ago. I tell them, my team, they said, TK we need you to do Shannon Shan. I said, calm down. That's how I always move. Calm down. It's gonna happen.

[Shannon Sharpe]

It's gonna happen.

[TK Kirkland]

It's in the universe already. And it has to come natural, because if we go after it, we ain't gonna get it.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Right?

[TK Kirkland]

Y' all called me.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yes.

[TK Kirkland]

Which is beautiful. And when a team calls you, you know you want it.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yes.

[TK Kirkland]

And I always tell people, go. Where you celebrate it not tolerated.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Correct.

[TK Kirkland]

And you're celebrating me, and that's. It's a difference.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Right? Eddie and Charlie, you met them. You. You.

[TK Kirkland]

Yes. It's a. It's. And I knew it was coming, but let me share it with you. All I could say with the Charlie Murphy sister, because everybody thought it was Eddie Murphy, right? But it's really Charlie Murphy. All I. All I can say, I never got a chance to apologize to Charlie because he had died.

[Shannon Sharpe]

So you were a klepto back then?

[TK Kirkland]

No, I wasn't a klepther. I was just doing stupid shit.

[Shannon Sharpe]

You just was thief, huh?

[TK Kirkland]

Nah, I was just doing stupid shit.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah. Why you take the man Rolex, TK.

[TK Kirkland]

I was just doing stupid shit. It was a bad thing. I was young. I was 19 years old, 20 years old.

[Shannon Sharpe]

So how long had you known him? Charlie?

[TK Kirkland]

I didn't know him that long at all. Damn, TK Yeah. It was a bad situation, and you made it.

[Shannon Sharpe]

I mean, you went to jail for a couple of things, but I'm saying. And you made it to be 66. You really blessed. I see why you turned your life over to the man.

[TK Kirkland]

That's right. Right.

[Shannon Sharpe]

God, you like, hold on. I'm living foul out here.

[TK Kirkland]

No, no, no.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Did you think about it at the time, like. Cause, like, when you doing stuff, T.K. you don't really think bad stuff gonna happen, like.

[TK Kirkland]

No, I agree.

[Shannon Sharpe]

You don't really think about it, and then you get back and look back.

[TK Kirkland]

Like, damn, But I was crazy when I was young. Really? Yeah, man.

[Shannon Sharpe]

You was in the street.

[TK Kirkland]

Streets, yeah. People don't know that. People. I've given so many people a pass over the last 10 years that things have happened. They have no idea the kind of man I used to be.

[Shannon Sharpe]

But that grew out of you or you. I mean, the man that you are now. So is it like you're, like, you know what, you're at peace now with who you are?

[TK Kirkland]

Yes.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Obviously, you say you're a man of God and, you know, talking a little bit. I can see that in you. So you think that's what it is?

[TK Kirkland]

I think you grow up.

[Shannon Sharpe]

And everything gotta be solved with violence, huh?

[TK Kirkland]

Yeah. Everything has to be solved with violence. And what you learn in life is they got a place for you.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah.

[TK Kirkland]

You can be tough all you want.

[Shannon Sharpe]

They can break you.

[TK Kirkland]

They got a place. And they broke me.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Really?

[TK Kirkland]

Yeah. They broke me. Cause I was on probation for, like, 20 years.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Damn.

[TK Kirkland]

Yeah. So you understand. But not in one state. I would get in trouble in one state. They give me five years.

[Shannon Sharpe]

It moved to another one.

[TK Kirkland]

Then I get in trouble in another state. They gave me five years.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Damn.

[TK Kirkland]

So by after 20 years, I had submitted, I understood, because they wasn't playing. They wasn't playing. And I got in trouble with Puffy. In 1998, what happened with that situation? I had robbed Puffy.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Really? T.K.

[TK Kirkland]

Yeah, Doug, I told you I was crazy. And the judge, Margaret, at that time, she wasn't playing. And Margaret was like, she didn't care about Puffy. What she cared about was how did he get away with all the other shit that was so concerned she wasn't playing. Cause, you know, when you look at somebody's record, she's seeing like, I should have been locked up years ago.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Right.

[TK Kirkland]

How did he get to me? Me. That means somebody wasn't doing their job.

[Shannon Sharpe]

She gonna make sure she do her job.

[TK Kirkland]

She gonna do her job. She. And I could tell she was not playing, so I out finessed her. Right. I told you I'm smart. I out finessed her.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Would you say, you know, you fell on the mercy of the court, say.

[TK Kirkland]

Hey, I out finessed her. I got the best attorneys. But things when I say I finesse, the universe wants to see you win.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Right?

[TK Kirkland]

Right. So tell you the story. I don't think I told it on nobody else's show. When I got arrested for the Puffy situation, they was already looking for me. Right. I was on the news and all that.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Damn.

[TK Kirkland]

It was bad. It was Bad, Yo. It was bad. My mother was embarrassed. You know, once you embarrass your mom.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah, it's pretty bad.

[TK Kirkland]

It's bad. So I was supposed to had a surrender date. Cause I still had money. I was just doing dumb stuff.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Right?

[TK Kirkland]

Right. I was rich, but I was doing stupid stuff. So basically, what I see now, I don't think I wanted success. I think I was sabotaging myself. That's the only way I could look at it. I didn't want that. I was rich, but for some reason, I didn't want to be richer. Yeah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

You know what?

[TK Kirkland]

Does that make sense?

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah, it does, because I had Damon Wayans on the show, and he said Kenan always tells the younger generation of the. Of the Wayans family, nieces and nephews told his younger brothers. He said, you were born on the road to success. Why would you want to take a detour?

[TK Kirkland]

So true.

[Shannon Sharpe]

You had money. Why would you want to detour and do bull jive?

[TK Kirkland]

Yeah, but sometimes you got to go through it. Like I said, the universe. Remember I said, when you get older, the universe wants you to go through these things because you're now a model to teach other people. Don't make the mistake. That's what you learn when you get in your 60s.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yes.

[TK Kirkland]

You don't understand it when you're younger. When you're younger, you just up and some.

[Shannon Sharpe]

You know what, TK I learned sometimes when you're younger, people won't listen to you because they don't feel you've had enough experience. Once you get to your 40s, 50s, 60s, and 70s, people like, you know what? He probably been through some things.

[TK Kirkland]

If I was gray and came in here with a cane, People respect what I'm saying.

[Shannon Sharpe]

They absolutely would.

[TK Kirkland]

But I took care of myself. So, like. Nah, he don't know what he talking about. Right?

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yep, you're right.

[TK Kirkland]

So with the Puffy thing, and this is how I could share with the world on how bad they always wanted Puffy. See, even in 1998, New York didn't like him.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Really?

[TK Kirkland]

Oh, man.

[Shannon Sharpe]

But he OG. I mean, Puffy, he born and raised there.

[TK Kirkland]

Let me tell you, I'm about to Rock youk World. So I catch my case, and I had a surrender date, But I don't turn myself in for three months.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Damn.

[TK Kirkland]

I'm on the road getting my money. I told you I was about my money.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah.

[TK Kirkland]

And. But the FBI coming to all my locations, houses and shit. So I finally come in, I got my attorneys with me, and we walk in, we Surrender ourselves. And they put me in the Tombs. And normally when you get to tunes, it takes like a whole day to get out. I think I had the record, like, I had my attorneys, everything on set. We walked in and we was out of. Out of jail. I bailed out, like less than three hours.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Wow.

[TK Kirkland]

Right? So I'm eating at the Shock Bar in Manhattan.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Shark Bar. Used to be. Used to be bumping back.

[TK Kirkland]

Exactly. You remember the Shock Bar?

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah, yeah.

[TK Kirkland]

The 10 o' clock news. I'm sitting there eating and I see myself on 10 o' clock news. And everybody's looking like they talking about him, but he's right here. Right here. So I got my crew from up in Harlem. We all down there eating. People are mad at me, you know, I gotta admit, they mad at what I've done, you know? So I fight the case for a while, and then I wind up getting ready to take a plea deal because I had a thing called predicate felon on my jacket. Predicate felony. Court of felony. Within a year, another.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Another felon. After they already committed one.

[TK Kirkland]

Mandatory four to six in New York. No negotiation. Four to six. So during that time, I fly to Vegas and I'm gambling, and I'm gambling with some powerful people. And the guy name is Tony Capitello and Frank Nado, you got to Google them from Long Island. Powerful attorneys. And I explained to them what my situation is. And they knew who I was. They said, tk we need you to do us a favor. And I was able to help them out, right? So they came to represent me. And when they came to represent me, I told him, I said, listen, don't come to this court late. I said, because this judge don't play, right? And I said, you gotta be there at nine. So we stayed in touch for three months. He finally came. He gets to court at eleven. Thirty.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Two hours, two and a half.

[TK Kirkland]

He got caught in traffic coming from Long Island. But.

[Shannon Sharpe]

But everybody know that. I mean, it's a long from Long island to the city.

[TK Kirkland]

You already know what's up. Yeah, but Margaret didn't care. Judge Margaret, she sent me to Railway State Prison in Jersey. In railway Railway. Rikers Island.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Okay, Rikers.

[TK Kirkland]

Yeah, sorry. Rikers Island. So I'm there for 30 days because I took my deal off the table. Because I took a deal. I was gonna do four to six. I was gonna turn myself in. But when I came to court, I took the deal off the table during that time. Now, here's how the universe rocks with you. Puffy catches a case For Shine and Jennifer Lopez.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yep. Firearm charge.

[TK Kirkland]

Firearm charge. The same people that wanted to lock Puffy up comes to Rikers to want me to testify against Puffy Combs and lie and say I saw him with the gun. So they said, my attorneys, like, T.K. you want to help out the prosecution? And me being smart, I said, tell them to get me out of here. We can talk about it. So they don't take me out of jail, but they take me from Rikers, bring me back down to the Tombs, Okay? They come down and the cos know me, and they see the FBI and everything. They like, yo, why are all these people here? They got the FBI jackets on. Look crazy.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah.

[TK Kirkland]

So they take me downstairs, I'm in the sedan, and we zooming through Manhattan to go to the club that Puffy had the shooting. So they wanted you. They didn't tell you what to say. They wanted you to read between the lines. Jennifer Lopez was here, Sean was here, Puffy was here, and you were right here. Like I'm putting.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah, yeah, I was right there. Right?

[TK Kirkland]

I was right there. Exactly what the fuck I was saying. I'm right the fuck here. But during the time I'm ordering food, they paying for it. I'm getting lasagna. I'm getting the three days I'm eating the best food. I'm enjoying myself.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah.

[TK Kirkland]

So after three days, my attorneys come see me and they say, hey, they want to know if you're going to help them, because they're giving me go to the grand jury, right? And they want me to testify against the. In the grand jury against Powell. And I looked at my attorneys and I said, no. I tell them I'm okay. I'm all right.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Then with him, you don't got a belly. Ain't the people food got they good, Drake? Some good.

[TK Kirkland]

That was my move. That was my move. So I wind up getting five years probation. That was the last state that I got in trouble with, no California after that. But by the time this last one, I got the last five years probation, you know, very successful. It's in California. It was a domestic violence case with my daughter's mother. Had a little issue. So I'm at work release and. But I'm still living like a king. I'm putting a couple guys that's on working with, putting through college. I put them through the ride. Not a major school.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah.

[TK Kirkland]

But I'm paying their way through the ride. Before Uber Eats was out, right when you were being on the highway and picking trash and all that. I used to. Lunchtime, I will order food and have the people, restaurants bring the food to me and my crew. We eating on the side of the highway, we eating in the park. Living it, you know? But I'm still living like TK I'm still that player. I know that I messed up. I'm gonna get through this. This has taught me a lesson, and I'll never forget. I'm in San Bernardino Park, I'm picking up trash, and I'm still famous, right? People still want to take a picture. So I got the yellow jacket on in the tweezer thing to pick up the trash. Taking pictures with people, right? But it taught me a lesson, Shannon. And when I got through it, I tell people. The thing I wish for people the most is peace of mind. Once you know what peace of mind tastes like and you lose it, you'll fight forever to get it back. For sure, you will fight to get it back. And I fought my whole life to get it because I knew what it tasted like, I knew what it felt like. And I wasn't gonna let nothing else stand in my way of getting that feeling of being your own man.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Being free.

[TK Kirkland]

Being free is one of the greatest emotions any man or woman can have, is that peace of mind. And once I achieved it, I made a promise to myself that I would never give that up for nobody.

[Shannon Sharpe]

This concludes the first half of my conversation. Part two is also posted, and you can access it to whichever podcast platform you just listened to part one on. Just simply go back to Club Shay Shay profile, and I'll see you there.

[TK Kirkland]

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[Shannon Sharpe]

This is an iHeart podcast.