Ne-Yo on new COUNTRY album, Beyoncé collabs, Michael Jackson & Prince stories

Summary

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Joe and Jada Podcast: Ne-Yo on New Country Album, Beyoncé Collabs, and Michael Jackson & Prince Stories

Hosts: Fat Joe ("Joe Crack the Dawn") and Jadakiss ("Jada")
Guest: Ne-Yo (Singer/Songwriter/Producer)
Release Date: September 30, 2025
Episode Theme:
A wide-ranging, lively, and candid conversation with Ne-Yo about his new country-inspired album, iconic songwriting moments (including working with Beyoncé), personal tales from encounters with music legends Michael Jackson and Prince, navigating the music industry, and the dynamics of his polyamorous family life.

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Main Theme and Purpose

This episode centers on Ne-Yo's genre-bending journey into "country-inspired" music, his prolific songwriting for artists like Beyoncé and Rihanna, and inside stories from his encounters with Michael Jackson and Prince. The hosts and Ne-Yo discuss industry challenges, creative processes, authenticity, family, and living outside the box personally and musically.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Ne-Yo’s “Country-Inspired” Album

[03:32–05:07, 57:15–57:22]

• Ne-Yo clarifies he's inspired by country but won't call himself a country artist out of respect:

  "Country inspired. I feel like it’s disrespectful for me to call it a country album...it’s inspired by all the things I love about country music." (Ne-Yo, 03:38)

• Connection to earlier songwriting, including Beyoncé’s "Irreplaceable" which was "kind of written like a country song."
• Plans for a tour and a Las Vegas residency accompanying the album:

  “It's everything I love about country music mixed with what I normally do. Coming soon.” (Ne-Yo, 57:19)

2. Songwriting Iconics: Beyoncé, Rihanna, and More

[04:13–05:07, 33:06–34:10, 36:07–36:50]

• On writing "Irreplaceable" for Beyoncé:

  "She ain’t need me for nothing...She knocked that song out in about an hour by herself...I wasn’t needed, but I was mad at it." (Ne-Yo, 04:29)

• The process of tracks meant for one artist ending up with another (e.g., songs for Britney Spears going to Beyoncé and Rihanna):

  “Every song I wrote for her, Tata was there. Two weeks later, he’s like ‘Yo, we gave that to Rihanna. We gave that to Beyoncé.’” (Ne-Yo, 33:33)

• The role of A&R Tata in redirecting songs to bigger placements.

3. Music Industry Realities: Labels, A&R, and Hit-Making

[27:37–38:10]

• Ne-Yo and the hosts share real talk about how record labels champion artists when things go well and shift blame when things go bad.
• Fat Joe and Ne-Yo discuss their albums that flopped commercially and how industry figures react (or abandon artists):

  "When the shit flopped...the man who insisted got up, looked at me, and ran away from me like I had AIDS or HIV. And I realized...these people don’t give a f***." (Joe, 28:23)

• Insights into the sometimes dubious practice of labels getting paid on shipping albums, regardless of sales.
• The role authentic (and sometimes brutally honest) people in the business play, like Tata:

  "Tata was a nigga that told me, 'Listen...ain't nobody really, you ain't got too many people in your corner. Just letting you know that.'" (Ne-Yo, 30:16)

4. Iconic Encounters: Michael Jackson & Prince

Michael Jackson: [16:44–20:18]

• The first phone call from MJ:

  "This is Michael Jackson." [Ne-Yo hung up, thinking it was a prank] (Ne-Yo, 16:47–17:10)

• Meeting MJ in person:

  "He walked in and he said, 'You know what my favorite song of yours is?' I’m like, favorite song of mine? Michael Jackson singing my song?" (Ne-Yo, 18:27) "He sang it and I turned into a twelve-year-old girl instantly. I kept it G though." (Ne-Yo, 18:58)

• They planned to work together before MJ’s passing after the This Is It tour.

Prince: [20:36–22:53]

• A chance encounter at Prince’s Grammy party uplifted Ne-Yo after album disappointment:

  "He sees me, puts his guitar down, beelines through the crowd...he comes up and says, 'Libra Scale is a good album. Don’t let nobody tell you different.' And walked on. From that moment...Prince said it’s good, it’s good. I’m good." (Ne-Yo, 22:23)

• Restored his creative confidence after the commercial failure of "Libra Scale".

5. Viral Moments and Memorable Quotes

• On working with Beyoncé:

  “I'm still eating off that. I still ain't spent all that.” (Ne-Yo, 04:29)

• On inspiration from country music:

  “Always appreciated country music—it's storytelling. You gotta be clever with lyric in country music.” (Ne-Yo, 05:07)

• On his music creation vs. marketing:

  “Realize my job ain’t to sell records. My job is to make music.” (Ne-Yo, 42:10)

• On authenticity for new-gen fans:

  “These young kids, they don’t want the fake shit… They want to see if it’s real or not.” (Joe, 46:30)

6. Living Polyamorous: The Realities of Family Life

[51:05–56:17]

• Ne-Yo on living with four wives (polyamory/polygamy):

  "There's a mindset the woman has to have...Everybody’s supposed to kind of pitch in together...It's like a village." (Ne-Yo, 51:41) “After my very public, ugly divorce, I decided I’m going to just keep it a buck with everybody. Be it good, bad, ugly—just keep it a buck.” (Ne-Yo, 52:36)

• The hosts’ fascinated questions on logistics, mentality, and how traditional “gifts” and roles change in his household.

7. Naming the Greatest: Songwriters & Groups

[58:24–60:45]

• On being asked to name top 5 songwriters, Ne-Yo lists: Babyface, Smokey Robinson, Johntá Austin, The-Dream, Lionel Richie.
• On Lionel Richie’s pop and country crossover and industry “gatekeeping.”

8. Personal Growth, Identity & Artistic Versatility

• Ne-Yo talks about the pressures he faced early in his career to fit an image dictated by labels, his realization about industry “budget depletion” tactics, and his current commitment to authenticity.

9. Golf, Entrepreneurship, and New Ventures

[62:29–63:16]

• Ne-Yo’s latest entrepreneurial venture: a new golf line with manager Tango, inspired by his own introduction to the game through star-studded tournaments.

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Notable Quotes & Moments by Timestamp

• On Irreplaceable’s Recording Experience:

  "I ain't never felt so useless in my damn life working with Beyoncé. She ain't need me for nothing...she did it in about an hour." (Ne-Yo, 04:29)

• On Michael Jackson singing his own song:

  "He sang it and I turned into a twelve-year-old girl instantly. I kept it in though. I kept it G." (Ne-Yo, 18:58)

• On Prince’s encouragement:

  "Prince said it's good, it's good. I'm good. And it, like, restored my desire to be in music, man." (Ne-Yo, 22:23)

• On finding joy in his polyamorous household:

  "Between my kids and my women, I don’t need no gifts. Every day is a gift in my crib, you know?" (Ne-Yo, 08:05)

• On the real function of labels:

  "They there for all the celebration when things go well, and when things go bad, it's your fault. Let me tell you something—you know how that goes." (Ne-Yo, 27:44)

• On creative philosophy:

  "My job is to make the music and then give it to the person whose job it is to sell it." (Ne-Yo, 42:19)

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Major Segments with Timestamps

• Defining the "country-inspired" album ([03:32–05:07])
• The making of “Irreplaceable” & songwriting for Beyoncé ([04:13–05:07])
• Song placements and role of A&R Tata ([33:06–34:10])
• Early label experiences, A&R woes ([34:10–36:07])
• Prince’s pep talk post–Libra Scale ([20:36–22:53])
• Michael Jackson stories ([16:44–20:18])
• Life with four wives & polyamory wisdom ([51:05–56:17])
• Hit-making formula & industry survival ([38:10–41:48])
• Launching a golf fashion line ([62:29–63:16])
• Top 5 songwriters and music debates ([58:24–60:28])
• Live performance debut: “Simple Things” (from new album) ([65:34–66:56])

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Podcast Tone and Vibe

Candid, humorous, honest, with family-like chemistry between all parties. Deep industry insight, but laced with streetwise humor and practical advice. Frequent friendly interruptions, banter, and a palpable sense of mutual respect, especially toward Ne-Yo’s accomplishments and growth.

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Conclusion

This episode delivers a rich conversation spanning Ne-Yo's evolution as an artist, behind-the-scenes music industry drama, personal stories with legends, and the real-life complexity of his family structure. With memorable anecdotes and wisdom on artistry, hustle, and living authentically, listeners are given an unfiltered look at what it means to forge a unique path in music and in life.

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End of Summary

Transcript

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[Neo (R&B Singer)]

He sees me, puts his guitar down, beelines through the crowd, straight to me. And he comes on to me and says, labor scale is a good album. Don't let nobody tell you different and walked on. And from that moment I was like, you know what? I don't give a damn what the critics say. I don't care what nobody say. Prince said is good, it's good, I'm good.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

Foreign yo, what up y'?

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

All?

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

This is Joe Crack the Dawn.

[Jada (Co-host with Joe)]

It's your boy Jada. You know what it is. The Joe and Jada show. Every show legendary, Every show iconic and so forth and so on. Ladies and gentlemen, today, we want you to give it up for our brother, Triple Threat artists. Great human being. I can keep going on for hours of the good characteristics of this brother here. Make some noise for my man, Neo.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

Love and respect. Love and respect. What's going on, y'?

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

All? So you're our first country artist on the couch. Because it's obvious.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

Country inspired. Country inspired. I, I. I do that. I feel like it's. It's disrespectful for me to call it a country album.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

Find a country sombrero on right now. What talking about.

[Jada (Co-host with Joe)]

Everything's connected.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

So that's why I'm trying to like.

[Jada (Co-host with Joe)]

But you know, he ain't. You know what they know what he do. Got a platinum pin.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

Yo, let's rush ball. It's like, I didn't even want to look up the stats right, because it's just too much. But if I looked into the. The Neo bag, it would definitely end up at Beyonce.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

Yeah.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

You know, what's that like working with the queen and penning something up for her? Not only that, Something iconic.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

Yeah, man. That's one of the ones. I'll say this, though. The session itself.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

Let's tell them what the song is talking about.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

Beyonce is irreplaceable. Yeah, that's. Yeah. I'm still eating off that. I still ain't spent all that. Still ain't touched that. It's different. But I'm used to going in the studio and having to kind of. Kind of hold artist's hand, so to speak. You know what I'm saying? Like, all right, here's the next note. All right, here's the next part. Do this part, do that part. Man, I ain't never felt so useless in my damn life working with Beyonce. She ain't need me for nothing. I'm like, all right, I'm gonna go get some coffee. You got it. She got it. She did it. She knocked that song out in about an hour by herself. Like, I wasn't needed. I wasn't needed. But I was mad at it.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

It got country vibes to it.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

It do. I kind of wrote it like a country song. Because when I first wrote it, it was no drums on. It was just the guitar part. So I kind of wrote it like. Kind of like a country song. Cause I've always appreciated country music. Cause it's like. It's storytelling. You know what I'm saying? It's like, you gotta be clever with the lyric and country music. So I always, always had an appreciation for that. That's kind of why I'm doing the album that I'm doing country again. Country inspired. I don't feel like I can call it a country album in that I'm not a full fledged country artists. Like, I feel like that's disrespectful. The cast has been doing that for years. And then here I come on some. Yeah, I'm doing a country album. Like, nah, N. It's inspired by all the things that I love about country music. Yeah. Coming soon. Coming soon. Real quick. Real quick. I don't walk to nobody house without a gift.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

Damn. We ain't got nothing.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

Don't do that. Ah, no, no, no, no, no. Me being here, Me being here, y' all having me here is the gift. I appreciate that. Shouts to my man Vaughn Smith. The name of the headline is Circa. We just forgot.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

So we got sombreros. You got no. No caps.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

Oh, that's hard. Yeah, man. Yeah. Circa is the name of the line. It's my man. My man Vaughn and his partner, they put that thing together. So, yeah, just appreciation for having me on. I appreciate y'. All.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

Oh, you see the mixed wave, that colorway. That's for fans who think we really gonna win. If you think the Knicks gonna win this shit like, yo, it's a little wavy.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

We don't know, man.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

I appreciate it, man.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

Out of five. Appreciate y'.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

All. We don't get nothing.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

Really.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

And we don't get nothing. Nothing for Father's Day. We don't get shit for the. Not even a pair of socks. What does a guy who has four wives, four girls, do you receive a gift on Father's Day or birthday?

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

You know what? I get gifts from my kids on Father's Day, and that's enough. I don't necessarily.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

We just. We. But see, I don't.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

I don't need nothing.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

We get Birkin bags, all type of shit. We get socks.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

I don't even get that. And. But I don't. But see, I'm also. I don't need. I don't need a gift.

[Jada (Co-host with Joe)]

Not even a good tube socket.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

My father, man.

[Jada (Co-host with Joe)]

Slide across the floor.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

My father lasted 89 years. He had the same complaint every year. He was like, yo, I don't get. I gotta buy flowers, chocolates. This. My father like, yo, I ain't get shit. Why we can't get shit. What?

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

But see, in my household, I don't have to lift A finger. I don't gotta cook. I don't gotta clean. I don't gotta do much or nothing in my house. Because between my kids and my women.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

I don't backed up.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

I don't need no gifts. I don't need gas.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

They like, they should throw like ice cream on the floor. You can eat that shit off the floor.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

Four spotless.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

That shit is like a drive through. Drive through. That shit like the shit, you know, the shit that they be marbleizing the. The offices. And that got to be crystal clear now.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

Absolutely, absolutely. No, I'm good. I don't need. I don't need gifts. Every day is a gift in my crib.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

I get it now me, I'm not gonna lie to you. Like these hats. I swear to you, I'm gonna wear it. And I truly appreciate it. Because I don't get shit. I'm being honest with you. I don't get shit. I don't. Fat Joe don't give shit. I'm being that. You gotta get one of these. Yeah, yeah, yeah. What?

[Jada (Co-host with Joe)]

I'm just chilling, man. We having. Having a nice conversation here, man.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

It's my guy.

[Jada (Co-host with Joe)]

He's. He's a. The bag. When you're talking about the bag. He's a very giving person. I shot a video on before, he had these Louis on him. Like, yo, I like them. He sent somebody and bought them to.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

The old Lou I like them trick, huh?

[Jada (Co-host with Joe)]

No, I wasn't.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

He did.

[Jada (Co-host with Joe)]

This is before.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

I like them trick, huh?

[Jada (Co-host with Joe)]

I didn't even know him really.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

He did the all I like him trick.

[Jada (Co-host with Joe)]

He was.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

He was really flexing with this guy, right? I had dinner with this guy, man. He's a gambling expert. What the.

[Jada (Co-host with Joe)]

And you hit him with the.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

Oh, I like Regis, didn't I? He hit me with the Oopti wapdi. I had these Louis glass them shit was like 5,000 some fly shit. Every bite of the dinner he was like, man, them glasses really nice every bite. And it just kept. And I'm from the thing. Like, if you compliment too much now, it's almost like the mirror's gonna crack. Like, I'm like, yo, give it to him or it's gonna be bad blood. I said, these glasses, like 10 fucking tons. I said, yo, here you go, brother. Take em, man. Enjoy the glasses. It's not a problem. This. I never found them glasses again. Vegas Dave hustled me for my shit.

[Jada (Co-host with Joe)]

Yo, Vegas Dave send the glasses back. Vegas Dave might send them back.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

It works sometimes. Thank you for being the generous Guy.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

I'm always be that. I'm always be that. I feel like you gotta be a blessing to receive a blessing.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

By the way, Catalyst spun me when we did the Khaled joint. And I kept saying, can I get a loan that never asked.

[Jada (Co-host with Joe)]

We eat.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

James Brown, he the king of the spin. I just watched that episode. I said this, said a whole lot of nothing. That. Like the dragon from Game of Thrones without the fire coming out his mind. I'm like, huh? I'm looking at that shit. Cause I got drunk. I fucked up. I got drunk with him, and I don't drink. And so it took me to see the shit, to notice that I got spun like. I'm fucking. I'm like one of them Lulu dolls. What's up? The Loop Bello Shit.

[Jada (Co-host with Joe)]

I was a little.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

I'm fucking at it.

[Jada (Co-host with Joe)]

I was feeling a little nice. But when you asked him that, he took us all the way around Broward. He took us around.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

I was trying to get the man on record to say, yo, Joe, I don't need a loan. I just tried to get him on record. He ain't go for it. He spun me to death. But, yo, Neo, man, you got a country album. You know, everything you do is incredible. You know everything. Last show I had with you, we was in, what, the Cayman Islands?

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

Yeah.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

And I felt like. You know what I'm saying? I was watching you perform. I was like. And you're also my wife's favorite singer.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

Love and respect, right?

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

You know, my moms and pops had just passed away around the time we were supposed to do our birthday. You said you would do it. Jeezy's her favorite rapper. He was coming, too, but. And she just went to see Jeezy. But he ain't do the song with Neo. She was pissed. The joint y' all got together, she was like, yo, he ain't do my song, man.

[Jada (Co-host with Joe)]

He said, yeah.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

Yes, sir.

[Jada (Co-host with Joe)]

That shit right there.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

How many times you do a show and they say you ain't do they song?

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

Oh, man.

[Jada (Co-host with Joe)]

Everybody's always. Every kid, every time, somebody like, why you didn't do this song that you never do?

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

Mind you, it wasn't a single. The fourth album cut like this.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

My favorite joint.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

Why you ain't. Man, listen, did you enjoy the show? All right, Leave me alone. Damn. Come on, now. It's a lot. It's a whole lot.

[Jada (Co-host with Joe)]

My last show with him, we was in Jamaica. Remember? If something happened, I had to save the day for you. You was my dj. We was out there for some, it was one of them festers with a bunch of Jamaican artists. And had me, you. And Buster was supposed to be there. Remember?

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

He canceled. We was in Chicago Bay or somewhere.

[Jada (Co-host with Joe)]

The Kinks, we were somewhere, and they like, yo, Neo is banned. Something happened. Could he say, yeah, you can rock with me.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

And then that's how we rock.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

Technician.

[Jada (Co-host with Joe)]

Yeah, we use tech.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

Yeah.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

You know, when I. Yeah, you double tipped him up. Cause tech, he want his feet. He said, hey, you know, making. When you went to pay him, he said, two artists.

[Jada (Co-host with Joe)]

Listen, Tex Jamaican. So he was living a life out there. He had the chefs, the maids. He was eating seven meals in the motherland. Yeah, he was chilling.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

I just went. I just came back from Puerto Rico. I went to the Bad Bunny concert.

[Jada (Co-host with Joe)]

Did you feel like counting?

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

Like, what? No, no, no. It was. It was female. You know what I'm saying?

[Jada (Co-host with Joe)]

I don't see. I need you. I need the same energy.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

No, it was. What do you want me to say? I'm not going to do what Gallis say. It was an incredible show. Super talented. The fucking esthetics was crazy. The vibe and put it. When we landed on the plane, the shit. No, the pilot was like, welcome to bad, buddy. And the whole plane went crazy. Like, I never like that whole island. I heard he generated, like, 700 million for the island. And the whole theme of the show is based on, like, gentrification of Puerto Rico, that grandmothers are selling their cribs and, you know, and so he brought all that money back to the economy. It was really incredible. You know, I've been drinking a lot lately. I drink in that motherfucker, too. I was saucy. I technically was saucy.

[Jada (Co-host with Joe)]

It was a good time. It's nice. All right.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

Yeah. You know, I gotta drink a lot.

[Jada (Co-host with Joe)]

Y' all get him that water, baby.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

You already know. You gotta but incredible, phenomenal show. One of the greatest shows I've ever seen in my life. And then the next day, I snuck into that Brian McKnight show. When's the last time you seen Brian.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

McKnight before you seen that man In a while.

[Jada (Co-host with Joe)]

He was in Puerto Rico?

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

Nah, he was in Jersey. You see, I snuck in the Englewood Theater on the low.

[Jada (Co-host with Joe)]

Were you shot back right after.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

Bam. Right back. Seen Brian McKnight. He was like, anytime soon. Reaching out for me.

[Jada (Co-host with Joe)]

I would have loved to see yo.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

This guy, like, where he been at?

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

He been at high school.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

I don't know. But the only artist I seen, the only artist I seen vocally sing like that in years was like, Luther Vandross. Like, this guy, really scary. Like, he sneak in next time you hear he's in the city, you would just sneak in, sit in the back. You gonna be like, yo, this guy's fucking. He caught a body on Broadway, this guy. Brian McKnight.

[Jada (Co-host with Joe)]

I love Brian McKnight.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

I grew up on Brian McKnight. Brian McKnight, Boys to Men. That was. That was kind of the era of music that I really started taking music serious. I wanted to be, yay, Morris.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

Want to be in the group. You know what's crazy? I'm watching Brian McKnight the whole time, and I'm saying, yo, this guy could have been in fucking Boyz II Men. The whole show I'm watching, I'm thinking, you know, my music or whatever. You know how we. It's tapping my brain. I'm like, yo, this guy could have been a fucking fourth member of Boyce and Men easily. Like.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

When it was he a little.

[Jada (Co-host with Joe)]

Bit older than boys?

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

Yeah, but what I'm saying is, vocally, vocally and aesthetically, this guy could have been in Boys to Men.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

They did one joint together. It was a Christmas joint. Let it Snow, whatever.

[Jada (Co-host with Joe)]

Let it Snow.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

Boys to Menace. Yeah, I think that's the only joint they ever did together, but that was a joint.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

That's ill. That's crazy. Who do you think you line up with? Like, if I just went to Neor Radio, who. What other artists would they play on Neor Radio?

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

That's a good question. Well, I don't know. I don't know. Not saying that I'm on some level that's above anybody else, but they gonna.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

Play some Michael Jackson on there.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

I mean, definitely. So definitely play my inspirations. Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. Mike Prince. You know what I'm saying? I grew up in Vegas, so the Rat Pack was a major, major thing for me. So you might hear some old Sammy Davis Jr. On that thing. Something like that. But, yeah, the era where I, like, really started taking music serious was Boyz ii man. Brian McKnight, Jodeci Beforehand, you know, Drew Hill and all that was like that whole. I really started, like, really started looking at, like, I could do this for a living type shit.

[Jada (Co-host with Joe)]

You was able to meet mj, right?

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

Yeah.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

Yeah. How was that? I met Mike. It was weird. It was cool, but it was weird. Cause it's like, so mind you, when I first. When I first. When they first set up the meeting, my assistant was supposed to call me before Mike called me to let me know that Mike that he. That somebody had gave Mike my number and he was gonna call me, but Mike actually called me first. So when I picked up the phone, Danis Kara said, hey, what are you doing? This is Michael Jackson. I hung up immediately. Cause I thought somebody.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

It happened to me four times today. The bank kept calling from 8:5 5. I'm like, yo, bip bip, bip, bip. I'm next to my wife. The bitch keeps saying, hi, this is Johnna. I'm like, yo, bitch, don't be calling this fucking phone right now. I don't need no mishaps. It's me from TD Bank. I'm like, well, why you ain't say that? You calling from my 855.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

Lead it with your first name. Hold on. No, no, no. Not doing that.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

Who's that? Don't know.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

Well, yeah, so what happened? So I hung up, and then my assistant called me like, yo, are you sitting down? Yeah, I'm So now Michael Jackson about to call you in 10 minutes. I'm like, Michael Jackson called me 10 minutes ago, and I hung up in his face. You almost fired. You almost fired.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

You wanted to die.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

Did you hung up on Michael Jackson?

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

Oh, my God, that's.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

That's. So anyway, so we got back on the phone.

[Jada (Co-host with Joe)]

Did you apologize?

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

No, I lied right away. I lied. I'm like, yeah, it was. It was a bad reception, bro. I'm dropping under bridge and the joint just dropped.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

He sounded like Michael Jackson.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

He sounded like, hey, how you doing? I'm good. Who is this? It's Michael. Michael who? Michael Jackson. Ah, cool.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

Click.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

Nah.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

And then when you spoke to him, I had Michael Jackson.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

Got my son.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

Michael Jackson. Yeah.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

Yeah. So first I didn't know Mike was tall. Mike was like 6, 2, 6, 3.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

I didn't know that either.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

Or maybe. Maybe he was tall in my head. I don't know. When he walked in the room, the nigga was 10ft tall. When he walked in the room, he had on a black suit. He had on aviator sunglasses that was mirrored that he didn't take off the whole time. We was there for like an hour. He did not take the glasses off the whole time. And we sat, we talked about music. When he first walked in the room, he said, oh, my God, you know my favorite song of yours is. And I'm like, favorite song of mine. Do you know that's favorite song of mine?

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

That's nuts, right?

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

It was nuts. It was nuts.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

But what was his favorite song of yours?

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

Go on, girl, please don't worry about me.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

I'm fine.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

That joint and he sang it and I turned it to a 12 year old girl instantly. I kept it in though. I, I, I kept it G. I'm like, that's, that's dope. No, no, no.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

I cried. You know, Michael Jackson up, I probably. He's one of those from the Bronx. If Michael Jackson walked in there, I was gonna ask him, did he drop his flag? You know, they say, they say Michael was an M. Was a gang member. I don't know if he dropped his flag before he met you or not. Was he kept it, right? No, some people say some I've heard things.

[Jada (Co-host with Joe)]

Michael Jackson was.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

No, they say Michael from the 60s, right? Y' all didn't say he was a gang member. Not another flag.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

I need proof it's a picture floating around him doing something. Yes, I seen it. I seen it.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

Yo, let me tell you something. I would have cried if I would have met Michael Jackson. He's the one guy I would have cried. Like, I just, I, I ain't gonna lie to you. It's like he was from out of another world.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

Yeah, man, like he was other, like, never be another.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

He was just my favorite rapper, Fat Joe Muffler. It's different. You see Michael Jackson, man, listen, you fucking want to die. You sit and crying in front of.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

Michael Jackson and can't nobody even make fun of you. Cause it's like it's Michael Jackson. How you don't like, I kept, I.

[Jada (Co-host with Joe)]

Kept changing your life. You cry in front of Mike.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

The only reason I didn't cry is because I felt like, all right, he probably get this all the time. Let me try to shift my composure. But it was cool. We sat. Talked about music. We actually started working on some stuff that he was supposed to record after the this Is it tour was over. But you know, he passed before we got a chance to do it. So.

[Jada (Co-host with Joe)]

How about Prince?

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

Prince, man. So Prince saved my life and he don't realize.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

Wow.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

But so after Year of the Gentleman was like my best seller album. Won Grammys for that album. And then right after that we did Libra scale, right? Libra scale. I just got off. I did like two movies. So I kind of had the movie bug. So I went to the label like, yo, so I want to do like a 30 minute mini movie and like let the album be the soundtrack to the movie. They was like, oh, yeah, that's dope. That's dope. Who's gonna write the script?

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

I got it.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

I'll take care of it. Mind you, I don't know about writing scripts. I know how to write a song. I know how to write a script. So they like, all right, 30 minutes. All right, cool. So I bring them the script. So in the world of writing scripts, a page equates to a minute. So 30 pages is 30 minutes. My script had 145 pages in them.

[Jada (Co-host with Joe)]

Yes.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

And they was like, it ain't nothing many about this. Nah, this ain't gonna work. So I had to bust it down to 30.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

Right.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

Basically. Long story short, the album came out. It was kind of all over the place. The story was weird. Like, people didn't get it. The album didn't do well at all. Right? So I was kind of down. Cause, like, we had just came off the high of Year of the Gentleman. And then it was like. Like the shit. We went double glass. Anyway, so that year, we got invited to Prince's Grammy party. He used to throw a Grammy party every year. So we go to the party, and mind you, I'm in there and I'm excited. Cause we had Prince's joint. But at the same time, I'm, like, bummed out. Cause, like, man, the album not doing well.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

It recently had just dropped the album.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

We had just dropped the album. The album came out. Didn't do. Didn't do the numbers. You know what I'm saying? The singles was kind of moving, but not really. Like, it was a bad way. It was a bad way. So we go to the party and we standing there and, like, I'm there, but I'm not there.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

Prince.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

It's in a pool house at Prince's house. So, like, everybody's standing on top of the pool. It's like a plexiglass shit on top of the pool. And everybody's partying on the pool. He's in the corner with his band. He's jamming, right? They just playing whatever. He sees me, puts his guitar down, beelines through the crowd, straight to me. And he comes on to me, says, Labor Scale is a good album. Don't let nobody tell you different. And walked on. And from that moment, I was like, you know what? I don't give a damn what the critics say. I don't care what nobody say Prince said is good. It's good. I'm good. And I. And it, like. It restored my desire to be music, man. I was messed up behind it.

[Jada (Co-host with Joe)]

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[Joe Crack the Dawn]

All right.

[Jada (Co-host with Joe)]

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[Joe Crack the Dawn]

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[Joe Crack the Dawn]

That's a lot brother.

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[Joe Crack the Dawn]

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[Health Discovered Host]

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[Neo (R&B Singer)]

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[Health Discovered Host]

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[Joe Crack the Dawn]

Now. I say I cut people off, so I'll let you get the Prince story off, but how did the label act with you when it went double glass?

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

Ah, you know how that I'm asking though. They there for all the celebration when things go well and when things go bad, it's your fault. Let me tell you something, you know how that goes.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

I had an album, went double platinum.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

Jealous one still went.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

They had a fucking picture of me six stories high in Atlantic Records. The fucking picture was six stories high. I'm doing. They swapped it out for ti. I'm not going there. What I'm going is they gassed me to put out an album in Christmas time with Mariah Carey, Jay Z, Missy.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

Elliott, this, this or they threw you.

[Jada (Co-host with Joe)]

In the traffic with all Lamborghini super.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

Gassed me and I'm over here, I'm over here telling them, yo, this is a bad idea. This is a diss. I don't think you think we're gonna sell like Missy, we gonna sell like Jay. You're the big guy. Fourth quarter, this, that. I didn't Know that back then they were getting paid on the shipping. So if your Last album sold 2 million, they shipped 2 million, they get paid already. So whether you sell 10 records or 20, like that album that went double glass, they made their money. Yeah, they shipped that a million dollars.

[Jada (Co-host with Joe)]

They always make they money.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

They always make their money. So my point is, when the shit flopped, maybe like a month later, the guy who insisted and gassed me, I'll say it. Craig Calman, gas me. Drop that album. I said, gas, Drop that album. I saw him at like the MTV Music Awards and I was like, yo, hey, Craig. And the man in real life got up, looked at me, and ran away from me like I had AIDS or hiv. I was like, yo, Craig. He was like, motherfucker got up out like. And I realized at that point, I said, yo, these people don't give a fuck about this is the same guy. I'm sitting on his couch telling them, yo, let's not drop. Let's not this. You know, as soon as that album flopped, TI Poster went up. Shit crazy, man. So that's why I'm asking you.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

That's how I go. That's how I go. No, you know what, though?

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

I had shit crazy. Then it started telling me, you know, this guy, this is the biggest guy.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

I'm like, Cause like, so Jay, this is right when Jay had became president over there. So it was Jay and Tata that was pretty much there through the whole recording of pretty much all my shit. And like, Tata is one of them niggas that just, he can't not keep it real. So like, he like, Tata was a nigga that told me, he was like, yo, I need you to understand. Nobody in the building believes that you're going to do anything. I just need you to know that. I need you to understand that.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

With that album.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

No, with my first album, before the first album came out, like, they, they, they signed me and I, I want to believe they signed me as a tax write off. Because they didn't. They didn't think it was going. Because he came to me, he was like, listen, I'm gonna let you know now, you know, sitting around with all The A&Rs, ain't nobody really. You ain't got too many people in your corner. I'm just letting you know that. And I'm like, I couldn't do nothing but appreciate the fact that he kept it that real.

[Jada (Co-host with Joe)]

Shout out to top.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

Well, who are the A and rs? So my thing, I got a different type of like, like, will you let him Finish. He just finished. No, he didn't. He was just starting.

[Jada (Co-host with Joe)]

That was.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

Nah. You finished, though?

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

Yeah, I did.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

I did. I did.

[Jada (Co-host with Joe)]

How can he finish that right there?

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

I've been very patient, yo.

[Jada (Co-host with Joe)]

Patiently.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

I've been very patient.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

No, what I was saying was I have. I had one or two folks in the building that was actually riding for me whether we won or lost. Like, no, like Ty and Jay, they was good to me. You know what I'm saying? If it was a win or a lose, even through the deliever scale situation, they was like, it's all right. We'll get them next time. They was.

[Jada (Co-host with Joe)]

They was hell of a tune.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

Damn shy. Damn straight.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

Exactly.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

It was good.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

My thing is, who the fuck is the a R guys, right?

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

Like, you know them.

[Jada (Co-host with Joe)]

Who?

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

I don't know them. So you come in there, you create, you tell your life story, you make hit records and they get credit. I never liked that, man. I mean, I never liked that. Every time a artist comes out, say a Lizzo or somebody, a cardi b or whoever's a sensation, some guy comes stand next to them and takes the credit with them at the grammys that they don't even fucking know or they never even talked to. They never even saw them. They never. Nothing, no recommendation, Nothing standing up there like they did some. I never like that ever. Somebody else taking credit.

[Jada (Co-host with Joe)]

Beat up a knowledge.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

No, I don't want to beat up nobody. I don't want to beat up nobody. But what I'm trying to tell you is I really want to know an a and R, baby Bob Reef Tulo's beats.

[Jada (Co-host with Joe)]

See how you going to start finding.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

No, no, no, no.

[Jada (Co-host with Joe)]

A lot of A and r, a lot of good for the game. A lot of them is fucked up. But it's some good ones.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

I never had the help. It's some good ones.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

I don't know if you had the help. Pop.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

Ty was my A and R, My first four albums.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

So somebody came and said she was a model for the year. They brought that beat.

[Jada (Co-host with Joe)]

No, I mean, Pick did bring me to Virginia, to Pharrell Street. He didn't write the. That's my fucking words. But he took me to meet Pharrell. So that's the. You get the wrong.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

He introduced you to him.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

I'll tell you like this. The Beyonce record might not have happened. If not for tata, it might not have happened. Cause I didn't write that record originally for Beyonce. There's a bunch of records that went on Rihanna's album that I didn't write for Rihanna, but because Tata was always there. Like, every time I was in the studio, he was it. I remember they set up, like, four days for Britney Spears with me, right? It was like, yeah, she gonna come in and whatever. Whatever. She never showed. Four days, she never showed. But every song that I wrote for her, Tata was there. He was like, yo, let me get a copy of that. And then two weeks later, he's like, oh, yeah, we gave that to Rihanna. Yeah, we gave that to Beyonce. Yeah, we gave that to this one or that one. So, like, he was.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

I'm not talking about. He was Tata specifically. I'm talking about the world of a Rs. A lot of these guys don't do shit, and they got too much to say about what the single is, how they know this. You know, how many times we seen the artist come out, Pure talent blow up, and then all of a sudden, the A and R try to start telling them what to do or what should they shoot or how they should look or this and throw away this shit.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

My first deal is when I had my experience with kind of crappy A. Rs. Like, so I got signed to Columbia. That was my first. My first record deal.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

A guy like you, right? You're so fucking talented. Imagine. Now we know the story now. 20 years in, your fucking super producer, super mega start this, this, that you start in the game. You got all this fucking talent. You know, God gave you all this talent and somebody trying to direct you and tell you what it is. And you sitting here looking at him like, is this shit crazy?

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

But I was green, though. I ain't know no better. I was just happy to have a deal. So, like, whatever they was telling me to do, I did it like, nah, don't write with these cats. Write with these cats. Nah, don't wear that. Wear this type shit. So, like, we finished the album for Columbia, and I'm looking at the shit, and I'm like, I don't recognize a nigga on the COVID I don't recognize the music. Like, this ain't me. This is who they want to, like. They try to turn me into, like, Baby, Tyrese or somebody, right? So I went back into the label like, yo, is it cool if maybe I go in and, you know, cut one or two more records to kind of. Kind of fit who I am? And they was like, well, I mean, we would let you, but your budget is depleted now. I'm like, at the moment, at that time, that was the most money I ever had in life. So I Knew where the money was going. I'm like, nah, this much studio time cost this. This cost that. We should have at least this left, right? That's when I learned that every time them cats would fly us to New York and take us to Mr. Child's and throw that credit card down.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

Yeah, how about you flying them?

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

Yeah, yeah.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

How you flying them?

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

Whenever they swipe that card? That was my budget, and I didn't know. And of course they're not gonna tell you. So. Yeah, yeah. That was my first experience with A and R. That just was on the take, basically.

[Jada (Co-host with Joe)]

Now, listen. When you. From listening to you, he ain't listening for me. Listening to you. It sound like a lot of the songs you wrote for people you didn't write for people it happened to. You know what I mean?

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

Yeah, yeah. It happened like that a lot. Honestly, like, you know, it's. It's. You give somebody first right of refusal, and if they don't. If they don't see it, they don't see it. All right? But that don't mean the song is whack. That don't mean you can't use it, so it'll go somewhere else.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

See, the other day, fucking JLo wrote that. Well, at least half. That's what Faith said on the interview. I love you. It was J. Lo's song. She passed on it, and Faith kept it. And that shit turned into a fucking.

[Jada (Co-host with Joe)]

That's one of my favorite biggest hit in the world.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

I mean, that's. That's how that shit goes. Especially for songwriting, you know, you don't know. But the good thing that Tata did, he had your best interest. Because you need somebody in there casting it off.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

Yo, check this out somewhere. Yeah, yeah.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

You know I did that, right? Yo, yo, yo, yo. You already said I did that. The album that Usher. I'm gonna give you two. The album that Usher did with Rico Love. A lot of Enrico, super producer. A lot of them songs I was in the studio with. And Usher wasn't sure. He was like, yo, I don't know this, this and that. And I'm like, yo, bro, this guy's the hottest guy in the game. I did the same thing with Kelly Rowland with the joint that Rico wrote for. Cause at the time, she had like, an EDM song that was. She was about to go all the way over there. She was like, I'm going edm. Like. And I'm like, yo, you know. You know you Destiny's Child. Like, you know, the hit was what. It was so much of a Hit that. I was like, yo, this you crazy. If you're not cutting this. It's a smash hit, you know, and sometimes people want to get a little outside voice to say, all right, man, maybe I should fuck with it.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

Yeah, yeah.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

And they fuck with it. You know, they. You know, it's certain hits that I did that I ain't like, because to me, they were like sellout hits. Like, I just knew it was going to be a hit. Like, you know, when you manufacture a hit, there's a way to manufacture a hit.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

Yeah. To be like, there's a formula.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

This is the sound. This is the formula. Get the homie on the hook. Get this. And it's a hit. And I never liked it because I felt like I was cheating the system. Label way. I never forget, they came to see me. They was like, yo, you need to.

[Jada (Co-host with Joe)]

American Standard instructions of the door.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

Pretty much step one, step two.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

But you feel. You feel like you cheated the game. I mean, me, I mean, thank God I still make money to this day off of it. But I felt like I cheated the game when. When. When I did. When I did something like, shit went number one, too.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

So you have an ear.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

Billboard.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

You can hear when something is going to be like the one.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

Now let's go back to Craig Kaplan. The only real shit he ever said to me was. He said, you're not Beyonce. He said, if you put out, that's.

[Jada (Co-host with Joe)]

The only real shit.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

It's the only real shit he ever said to me was, you not Beyonce. If your song doesn't do good, there isn't the next song. And it's crazy because you got that hat on. I remember I walked in Atlanta, I told Atlantic, I'm up the whole office. I walked in there, all 5,000 employees was out the building. That was like.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

Tumbleweeds.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

I said, I'm going in there because they didn't want to shoot that video. And then I got up to that Terror squad, Fat job beating everybody up in the office. Five o', clock, I'm walking in. That was a ghost out. Only one guy stood there, man. Rest in peace. Rodney Johnson, man. He's tried to explain it to me. Say, joe, we told you that if the record don't do good, you can't do enough. So basically they were like, yo, look, you got one shot. If it hits, you get another one. So I had to almost train my ears, like I was a program director, to know what they would play on a Sunday in South Carolina. I knew I would play these songs and be like, yo, they'll play this shit in South Carolina or Arizona. So I had to train myself. And I knew if I didn't, if it wasn't a hit, I'm fucked.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

So, see, that's a skill in itself. Like, I don't have that. Like, I be so close to the music that I can't hear the one shout outs to my man Tango. Tango is my manager. Been my manager for 20 years. When I first met this nigga, he ain't have a radio in his car talking about, I'm a manager, music career, nigga. He don't even listen to music. He's like, no, no, no, no. I don't know music. I don't know products, and I know people. And I'm like, all right. And to this day, every single that I've had that went Tango was like, it's this one. And mind you, it'll be shit. Like, n. I spent five days on this record. This one I did in, like, 20 minutes. He was like, bruh, it's that one. And sure, Closer. I did not believe in Closer. I didn't think that Closer was for me. I literally wrote it to sell it. It was Tango and Jay Z that was like, yo, keep that shit.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

Trust me, keep it.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

We put the joint out for the first three months, nothing. Nobody gave a fuck. They didn't get it to the point where we went to the label, we went to the lab where Lary called us in on some. Yo, I think it's time to switch singles. Before I walked into LA office, Jay was like, yo, la, about to tell you, get off that record. Do not get off that record. But even I was like, bruh, this. It ain't working, man. Why would we, like, yo, trust me, Stay on that record.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

All right?

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

So we stayed on the record. We did the BET Awards that year after that performance, man, we never looked back.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

Those was the day.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

Yeah, I don't. But I don't have everybody. What's the recipe for a hit? I couldn't tell you. I'm gonna get in the studio and do it feel good to me, and then hand it off to the folks that had that ear like that. Cause I don't got that. Like, don't let me pick the single.

[Jada (Co-host with Joe)]

That's crazy.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

You crazy hits, and you can't.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

You got.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

I don't know, bro.

[Jada (Co-host with Joe)]

I can't pick this.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

It's what feel. I go off of what feels good to me. You know what I'm saying? That's. That's as far as I could Take it. I, I don't know this audience is going to do this and that, that's, that's a whole other skill set that I just, I don't do that part. I don't do that part. I'm gonna go in, I'm gonna cut the record and then I'm gonna pass it off to the person that goes, ah yeah, this is for this market. That's for that market. Like realize my job ain't to sell records. My job is to make music. So I'm gonna make the music and then give it to the person whose.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

Job it is harmless.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

That's how it worked.

[Jada (Co-host with Joe)]

Fifteen Grammy nominations.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

Yeah, man.

[Jada (Co-host with Joe)]

Three Grammy wins. How does that feel?

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

It feels good. But at the same time, Stevie Wonder got double digit Grammys, you know what I mean? So it's like I got more work.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

But it's also, you know, Stevie you.

[Jada (Co-host with Joe)]

Brought up got no Grammys.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

Stevie Wonder. Stevie Wonder's the last American.

[Jada (Co-host with Joe)]

It got no Grammys, dude.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

Huh?

[Jada (Co-host with Joe)]

There's a lot of people with no Grammys.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

I ain't got no Grammys. Why you trying to. That's a shit. Yo, your man's your man. Be pow like on the. Yeah, I ain't got shit. What? But I didn't say you. What you trying to say?

[Jada (Co-host with Joe)]

He said he's mad at three. I said people.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

No, no, I ain't mad at.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

I got mixed feelings about that guy.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

For work to do is what I'm saying.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

I got mixed feelings about the Grammys. Yeah, it would be great to have a Grammy. I don't like that when someone dies, they immediately Grammy nominated a Grammy award. What makes Grammy holier than thou? Like what makes that word Grammy? Like any artist dies from any genre, they go Grammy winner, Grammy. What is it? Who are they? Because they get it wrong all the time. Like you think what song you had. I could tell you mines what song you had that, that, that you lost, that you lost a Grammy that you knew for a fact you should have won.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

Oh, come on. Me and Pitbull, Time of our Lives? No, no, no, not Time of my lives. Give Me everything. Give Me Everything was the song of six summers and because we didn't turn it in on time we didn't get, we wasn't eligible for the Grammy.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

How crazy is that? I just did a song show with Pitt two days ago and they had people with bald heads in the fucking crowd. I thought it was attacking the aliens. That's like his merchandise. Oh, it's. Yeah, yeah, you buy some shit, right? They look like fucking aliens. I say, yo, I'm too far from home for the aliens to attack Fresno, California. I gotta be in the Bronx shooting shit up. I can't be out there. They gonna turn me into the Vato Loco shit. I was like, yo, I'm too far from home for all these alien motherfuckers in the crowd. Like that shit, Buzz Merch is bald heads.

[Jada (Co-host with Joe)]

Bald heads that you put over your head?

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

Yes.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

Like the skull. Like the skull.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

You look like the sleeve stacks and shit like that. Your all the way. Like, it's weird.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

That's when you all.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

You made.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

Yo, when you become a Halloween costume, that's when you know you made it.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

Man, I'm all epic every Halloween. I'm most epic. I don't know, but the crowd ain't Halloween every Halloween.

[Jada (Co-host with Joe)]

Oh, you put the box, you cut the thing, you got the epic. Yeah.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

Every year. I'm Joe Zeppetin. I'm battling fucking. You talk about country. I'm battling your jelly roll. Skinny like a motherfucker, man.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

Look.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

You seen jelly Roll lately?

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

Not lately, no.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

Fucking sex symbol. He up there. He taking my slot right now. Pause, pause.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

This is impossible. Oh, shit.

[Jada (Co-host with Joe)]

He was just recently on Casa Knott's Mafia, though.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

Yeah, man.

[Jada (Co-host with Joe)]

What was that experience like? The young. Jeez.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

I mean, I. I felt like the old nigga in the room. I really did just. It was. It was castanetted that literally did not know who I was. I had a. I had a T shirt on with. With Neo on the T shirt. Not me, but Neo from the movie the Matrix. And the. Didn't know who that was. I'm like, yo, how old are you?

[Jada (Co-host with Joe)]

What was in there?

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

He was like. He was like 15, 16. I'm like, God.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

All right.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

But no, it was cool. It was cool. Cause Kai is like. Like, you could tell. He got like. Dude got a marketing and business mind for real. Like, he's serious with that. But it was a cool situation. Like, I've done, you know, the sit down on the couch in the studio audience and all of that. And, you know, it's all organized and shit, but in there, it's like, whatever. He think he gonna say it. Whatever. The little niggas behind him think they gonna just say it. And that's just. And he's gotta rock with it.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

That's what people are not understanding. People from my era are not understanding Now. These young kids don't give a fuck about you on IG with your filter, with your dis. They don't want the fake shit. They want to fuck up in front of them on a stream. They want to see if it's real or not. If you diss and this and that, all that fake shit that you could stage shit and shit like that. There's no longer. The motherfucker took homeboy, the world's fastest man. That nigga had. He had movies with him chasing gorillas and fucking said that your man was speed. Blew his fucking ankles off in front of everybody. They don't want the face shit no more. They are not going for the fake shit. These young kids, they want to know, all right, you could do it. You could do it. Yeah. Hey, if you didn't do it, nice try. But we know the real shit. That's what the stream shit is all about. But I'll tell you one thing about Kasana. They all young, but they all know to book. Leo, Kim, Kardashian. Yeah, all the people of our age group is on there. Kevin Hart, Snoop. They're not fucking dumb. They know who got the real fans that tune in so they could play all that young shit. But they all tapping into that culture, too. You know what I mean? So don't think we ain't the.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

Straight up.

[Jada (Co-host with Joe)]

No, it is your boy Kiss. Check it out. We got a Patreon. You can get exclusive clips. You can get early access to the episodes. A lot of surprises over there. Subscribe Things coming from Joe and J. You know, they're there right now because it's free. He giving you the first one for free. That is going to be a little difficult over there right now. Join Jay the Patreon. Let's get it.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

Wild, Wild west. Let's get it. You can make a difference in someone's.

[Health Discovered Host]

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[Health Discovered Host]

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They also provide paid time off and opportunities for overtime. Visit oregonhomecarejobs.com to learn more and apply.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

That's oregonhomecarejobs.com.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Hey, it's Ryan Seacrest for Albertsons and Safeway. Spooky season is quickly approaching, so time to stock up on all your favorite treats now through October 7th. You can get early savings on your Halloween candy favorites when you shop in store and online. Save on items like Hershey's, Reese's Pumpkins, Snickers Miniatures, Tootsie Rolls, Raw sugar, milk chocolate, caramel, Jack O Lanterns, Brock's Candy Corn Charms, Mini Pops, and more. Offer ends October 7th. Restrictions apply. Offers may vary. Visit albertsons or safeway.com for more details.

[Health Discovered Host]

This week on a very special episode of Health Discovered, we're taking a closer look at a condition that affects hundreds of thousands of men each year. Prostate cancer.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

I first found out about my cancer at the age of 45. Anything with cancer, you just think death sentence.

[Health Discovered Host]

In this episode, we'll explore the science behind detection along with the practical steps men can take to protect their health. Listen to health discovered on America's number one podcast network, iHeart. Open your free iHeart app, search health Discovered and start listening.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

Ugh.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

Come on.

[Health Discovered Host]

Why is this taking so long? This thing is ancient.

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[Health Discovered Host]

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[Joe Crack the Dawn]

Yo, Neo, I gotta keep it real with you, right? Because lately being that we're podcasters now is crazy because all the artists, not you, but all the artists seem to come in here and don't want to talk about what everybody want to hear them talk about out there. You got four wives.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

Yes, indeed.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

What kind of pressure do you buy? Is it like Muslim, do you gotta buy the same bag for the same girl?

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

Like, you know what? Mine is my.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

You definitely gotta have a bag to have four wives you have.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

I mean, okay, there's a mindset that the woman has to have in order to be able to share men, you know what I'm saying? Like, it's literally gotta, she literally gotta think a different way. If you got four women that want Birkin bags, you got the wrong four, like straight.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

So they got a different mentality.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

It's community, it's family. It's like everybody doing something. It's like a village where everybody do something. Everybody got a job. You know what I mean? If you the only person taking care of everything you're doing, that's not how it's supposed to go. Everybody's supposed to kind of pitch in together. Like I have seven kids on my own, you know, one of them got, got a daughter of em, got two kids and it's like, okay, so I don't have seven kids, I got nine kids. And that's fine because we all come together. Like this one's washing dishes. This one's changing diapers if it need be. This one's doing that. Everybody does.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

You did it the traditional way?

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

Yeah.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

Right.

[Jada (Co-host with Joe)]

Now, I gotta ask. Did you have to do. How'd you. How'd you. Did you have to do an interview? How the hell did you know? How did you do this?

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

Was you on tour? Just like, all right, she could be part of the family.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

She could be like, how did you do it?

[Jada (Co-host with Joe)]

And how did you do it four times?

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

So, okay, so after my. After my divorce, my very public, very ugly divorce, I realized that just through being dishonest, I hurt a lot of people. I hurt a lot of people. And I decided at that moment, I don't ever want to be the reason nobody feel like. So from that moment, I was like, I'm gonna just keep it a buck with everybody about everything. Be it good, bad, ugly, whatever. I'm gonna keep it a buck. All right? Don't ask me if the dress make you look fat if you don't really wanna hear the answer. Cause I'm gonna tell you straight up, right? So one of the ones that I'm with been around a little longer than the other ones. So I basically just sat her down like, listen, you know I rock with you. We've been rocking for forever. Do this, do that. We've been rocking. I love you. I do. But it ain't just you. I'm also rocking with this one and this one.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

So Nan could love more than one woman?

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

Absolutely. Absolutely.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

I just want him to say, yo, Jay, I'm throwing you out this motherfucker. Let him answer the fucking question. I didn't say that. Four wives. You ain't got four wives. Let the man answer the question.

[Jada (Co-host with Joe)]

You ever seen somebody interrupt and then tell you to be quiet?

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

Cause you, like, you can love more than. You can love more than one woman.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

You cannot.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

This is the shit men won't say. Married men will not say that. This is this shit Men won't say they can't because. But you got more. So that's how it goes. What do we call that in America?

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

Like, it's polygamy.

[Jada (Co-host with Joe)]

Real shit.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

It's polyamory if you're not married. It's polygamy if you're married. And polygamy is illegal in a lot of America.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

So it's poly.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

Poly, Yeah.

[Jada (Co-host with Joe)]

A lot of bark and a lot of pink horsepower in the cabinet over there.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

Listen, first of all, me, I'm abused. I'm abused. Like, I'm lyrically abused. Some of My friends come to the house. They fucking. They go and light candles for me. Like, I'm sitting there like Al Bundy, like, ah. And I'm like, watch the tv. It's very hard to get me upset, but for them doing that shit at the same time.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

But see, it don't happen like that. It don't happen like that because I'm very, very, very adamant about drawing a line in the sand. It's like, listen, I'm gonna hear you out. I'm gonna let you say what it is you need to say. But once we start going here, you lost me anyway, so you might as well not.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

When I was thinking about asking you this question, I'm thinking, so what you got, like a giant bed? Like a big fucking jack and a beanstalk.

[Jada (Co-host with Joe)]

Alaskan king.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

King. That's. I need that shit, yo.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

Alaska king is like, yo, Grizz, book.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

Me an Alaskan king.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

Only two double kings together.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

Like promoters. Double king, promoters get in the basket.

[Jada (Co-host with Joe)]

I only think I heard of California is something else. I heard it. I never heard of Alaska.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

I never heard of no shit. Fat Joe deserve an Alaskan king. No, Fat Joe deserves an Alaskan king.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

I can shoot you a number because, mind, you can't buy an Alaskan king. You got to get it made. You got to. You got to get somebody to make.

[Jada (Co-host with Joe)]

They got to come in and build it. They got to build it. They got to build it.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

It's like a giant bed.

[Jada (Co-host with Joe)]

Yes.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

Yo, what it's about, comfortable with this guy. You're an inspiration, Neil.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

I like it.

[Jada (Co-host with Joe)]

I like it.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

Willing to live vicariously through you.

[Jada (Co-host with Joe)]

That's it.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

And hopes it works out.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

Everything is good, man. Everything is good. Again, we have problems, just like monogamous relationships. All that shit is real. You gonna argue over stuff. But again, at the end of the day, as long as you are head of household and everybody understands that, then arguments don't last long. Like, you know, I'm. Again, I'm gonna let you get it out. I'm gonna let you say what you gotta say. I'm gonna hear you. But once it's done, it's done. And we not good. We're not good.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

You think a broke man can have four women in the lasting if he.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

Do it the right way? Cause again, it's not game. So listen, all women ain't gonna. It's not gonna work.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

They're not rocking with that.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

It has to be a certain kind of woman. She gotta have a certain mindset if she gonna do it. Because if she's the kind of woman again that she need birthdays and all this.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

What's the question?

[Jada (Co-host with Joe)]

I got two question. How far apart? Because you know how you said you had one that was with you for a while? How.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

What was the age difference or.

[Jada (Co-host with Joe)]

No, no, no. How quick did it take to get the other three on board?

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

It wasn't long. It didn't take a long time. It was set up in grass. I kind of set up a dinner. I told her one that I want you to meet. I want you to meet the other ones. Initially, it was just three, so I told her one that I wanted her to meet. The other two I set up the.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

Where the last one come from?

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

She's one of my dancers. She's the newest. Yeah, yeah. She's one of my dancers.

[Jada (Co-host with Joe)]

So country inspired.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

Yes, sir.

[Jada (Co-host with Joe)]

It's gonna have some country, but it's still gonna have some of that.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

Yeah, yeah. I can't not be me, but it's like everything that I love about country music mixed with what it is that I normally do. Speak lash right there. Yeah.

[Jada (Co-host with Joe)]

And you got the tour and the Vegas residency come.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

Yeah, yeah, man. I'm proud of that. Sure.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

Flying out to Vegas.

[Jada (Co-host with Joe)]

Definitely flying in for that.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

Went to high school in Vegas, the whole nine. So to be able to go back and do something like that, that's.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

I could live in Vegas.

[Jada (Co-host with Joe)]

You know, we got songs together. So when after it gets, you know, Usher gave me a call, I figured you could give me a call. Say less m over here.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

No, come on, yo. I come with him. What do you want me to do? I come with. I'm attached. They think I bring Jadakiss with me. I walk into Wawa 7 11. Yo, where's Jada? Like, yo, bro, you got me, like, not gonna rest.

[Jada (Co-host with Joe)]

Like I'm in the pot.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

Like, what the y' all think? He comes here?

[Jada (Co-host with Joe)]

It's included still.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

Package deal.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

Pull up.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

Yo, Neo, man. Five of your favorite artists of all time. And I'm gonna make it even easier for you. I'm gonna say songwriters. No, no, Group groups.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

Five groups, that's hard.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

R B.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

Let's go, songwriter. Five, five, six.

[Jada (Co-host with Joe)]

Elevate what you did.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

You want songs?

[Jada (Co-host with Joe)]

Let me get your best. Five songwriters or just at least, you know, this is a hard question.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

So Babyface, Smokey Robinson.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

Smokey was right and all that.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

Jonte Austin. My God, Shantae is a monster. The dream.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

And the fifth gotta go with Lana Richie. Yo, niggas don't understand well, niggas don't.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

Say he's a nigga, nigga.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

Nah, nah, nah, nah, nah.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

Like, before you go in with that. Cause I love Lionel Richie. But. But I've had this argument with some real street R and B singers that they don't rate him because they feel like he was lollipop or something.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

Nah.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

What do you think?

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

Nah, nah. Okay, so Lionel started the Commodores and then went over into the. Like. Lionel Richie took Publisher of the Year two years in a row. Not publishing company. Lionel Richie by himself. That's an award that goes to publishing companies. Publisher. Look it up. Publisher of the Year. Lionel Rich. Twice. Twice.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

I love. I love that.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

Mean, that man was putting numbers on the.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

But I've had this argument with, like, people. You would.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

That's because. That's because he didn't keep it R and B. Like, he. He went R and B, then he went pop, then he went country. He like, hello, if you got that, you're supposed to do that.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

You're looking for. No, no, no, no, no, no. I love Lionel Rich.

[Jada (Co-host with Joe)]

They just can't do that part right there. Hello. Let me see.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

You know how this shit go. Hip hop, R and B. It's always a debate.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

Of course.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

So I'm sitting down with some of the most respected R and B singers of all time, and I'm surprised when Lionel come up. They like, yeah, he ain't like. You know, he. I'm like, huh?

[Jada (Co-host with Joe)]

They mad.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

Lionel fucking Richie.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

They mad cats. Feel like. Cause you do one thing well, you're supposed to stay there. And it's like, nah. What if you do six things? Well, like, how am I not? If I'm given the gift, I'm gonna use it. Like, Lionel Richie could write R and B, but he could also write pop. He could also write country. He could do all that. So why would he not do it?

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

No, no, no.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

You can't front online.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

Lionel Richie's for not at all. You name some serious ones. Smokey Robinson did might be my favorite songwriter. You know, that's the weirdest one, right? We cool with a lot of people, but, you know, I'm actually cool with Babyface. That. That's. That's. No, don't throw the shit. He come to my birthday party and sing at my birthday. Don't do that. You're gonna lie. Don't throw that. Don't throw that. Don't throw that. You're gonna look crazy out here. You look crazy with Joey Badass. Now you say baby face. I go to dinner with Babyface all The time. He's my friend. This is what I'm trying to tell you. He's one of the weirdest relationships I have. Am I lying? Did he yet? Oh, there you go, Cap. On the cat. You was there. Did he? Yo, that's my guy. Like, what do you. He's the one.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

Oh, yeah.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

That Joe Crack. Cannot believe I'm cool through this whole journey. It's like I sit down and have dinner with Babyface, and Babyface want to hear the stories. Cap or not, Babyface be like, yo, Joe, tell me some shit. Yo, this, this. They all do. You know what I'm saying? They want that shit, that sauce, man. You know what I mean? Nah, I'm telling you the truth. What do you want me to do? I said, you seen Lil Boosie the other day on the interview?

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

Nah. What do you say?

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

Oh, he said he a big fan of our show. He said, I know Joe about to say some shit.

[Jada (Co-host with Joe)]

We need him on here, man.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

We need Boosie.

[Jada (Co-host with Joe)]

Badass. Call us up, man. Come on.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

Atlanta, right? Atlanta. If we looking from the outside in, right?

[Jada (Co-host with Joe)]

We need to go to Atlanta.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

Atlanta's what I want to go to Atlanta. Can we go to Atlanta? Got some new ventures. I love Atlanta.

[Jada (Co-host with Joe)]

You got some new ventures? You started a golf line?

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

Yeah, man. Yeah. Olago Sport. So my manager, Tango, talking about earlier, he's been playing golf forever. Been trying to get me out there, and I never. I just. Like, I'm young. I don't play golf. Like, the pants is weird. I'm not doing it. But he actually got me out there one time. We went to. Who was it? Reggie Jackson's tournament, right? And mind you, Reggie Jackson's golf tournament is not a regular golf tournament. Like, every hole, they're giving away Jordans. Fucking. Like, every hole is something different. So, like, I'm like, is this what he's like, this ain't how golf normally is. But, yeah. So I fell in love with the game. So I'm like, all right, listen, if I'm gonna do this, I'm not wearing that shit, bruh. Like, these nicks look nuts. Sorry. They look nuts. I'm not doing it.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

So you gotta make your own goal. So we.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

He's all right. He was like, all right, we'll start a line. So we got bags. We got, you know, clothes and shoes, the whole nine. It's coming together next. I'm gonna send y' all some stuff.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

Martinez, did you know that? Who Hell is that Reggie Jackson?

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

Mr. October.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

Reggie Jackson. Really? Spanish. Changed his name to Reggie Jackson by Hernaldo Martinez. Google that shit.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

I ain't lying to you.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

At the time, it wasn't cool to.

[Jada (Co-host with Joe)]

Be Spanish as long as I was alive. His name was Reggie Jackson.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

Well, you better go ask Denzel Washington who told me. That's for the Renaldo Maltinez. Okay. And we got love, Reggie. I'm from the Bronx. That's Mr. Jackson. Reggie Jackson did all that work in the Bronx. One day, I see him and I go, oh, my God, Reggie Jackson. I try to go. I get held back by Denzel Washington. You see, you're Joe. Denzel Washington is like, I don't think you should be running up to that guy. I said, what do you mean? He said, that's where her Naldo. Maldives. He denounced the Latinos when he was winning. He didn't want to save the Spanish.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

Wow. Oh, wow.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

I don't fucking know. I don't know.

[Jada (Co-host with Joe)]

So is Reggie Jackson. The other nigga's dead.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

I also think. I also think to Reggie Jackson's credit, I also think I was in Houston at the 50 Cent weekend. That basketball shit I was coaching. He confronted me somehow. You heard the story. This ain't the first time I say it. Somebody came in front of me, yo, Joe, what's up? And I was like, yo, what's up, Reggie Jackson. I think he wanted to get into the conversation of, we might need Reggie Jackson on this bitch right here so he could explain to us that the other nigga's dead. Yeah.

[Jada (Co-host with Joe)]

That Martinez ain't in the hall of Fame. Reggie Jackson.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

Reggie Jackson's in the hall of Fame. Fact, Hernando ain't in the game right now. That crazy, man. It really is. Yo, Neo, my brother, man. We thank you, man, for coming, man.

[Jada (Co-host with Joe)]

Smack. The album. Oh, we got a little snippet or something.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

I think that country taste, it's always beautiful. Let's play the song. What's it called?

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

It's called Simple Things. Oh.

[J]

You put on that makeup, spend an hour on your hair, high heels and that red dress with a slit right up to there. And I don't mind, but sweats, a ponytail and smile suit me just fine.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

I could do this country right here.

[J]

You'll get in the kitchen and make a meal fit for a king. Burn your hands and cut your fingers just to feed me, girl. And I appreciate. But I'd equally praise a sandwich that you made. You could search your whole life never to find what's standing right in front of you. It's always the simple things, the way you Laugh is the way you cry Right to your favorite song Life is all the in betweens the flowers you find on the uphill climb that keep you moving on and after you stop chasing it's when you find out all that really made sense It's a simple.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

Things.

[Jada (Co-host with Joe)]

It'S always a simple thing Crazy.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

Holy.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

Thank you.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

You have made me a country music fan. Neo. You have made me a country music fan. Love, brother, that was amazing. Any genre right there. That was crazy.

[Jada (Co-host with Joe)]

Appreciate that, Appreciate that, appreciate the love. Crazy.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

We're coming soon. I thought. I think we're dropping this. Are we dropping this year? Are we waiting till next year?

[Jada (Co-host with Joe)]

Single this year, album next year, Runaway.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

To Sombrero for the rest of the year. That's a fact.

[Jada (Co-host with Joe)]

And when is the tour supposed to start Next year?

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

I think the tour is top of 20, 26. Yeah, I think me and Akon moving fine.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

Oh, with Akon?

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

Yeah, man.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

That's that shit right there. You know, I toured Africa with Akon. Africa was Akon. All right, when we get Acorn, we're gonna get him here. Kiss.

[Jada (Co-host with Joe)]

I didn't say nothing.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

Matter of fact, I'm gonna play it over there. Nah, nah, I'm telling you, I went on tour in Africa with Akon. That shit was the illest shit I ever seen in my life. No flags. Oh, congratulations on Dallas. I had the whole stadium cursing them out in the fucking hurrah. Nah, we was in la. Me, Pitbull, Little John and the Yin Yang twins. And he had a Dallas shit. I had him shitting on him. I was like, this Dallas, he was a good sport about. I was surprised Rich wasn't cursing the whole crowd out. Yo, Neo, man, you always with Baby Tata over there?

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

Yes.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

Cool.

[Jada (Co-host with Joe)]

V, man.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

Yo, my brother, man. Yo, what. What's it feel like being Tata's little brother, right?

[Jada (Co-host with Joe)]

Yo.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

No, no. Ladies and gentlemen, hold up, hold up, hold up, hold up.

[Jada (Co-host with Joe)]

Leave my man alone.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

So many years. I thought he was Tata.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

Yeah, he get that a lot.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

You know what I'm saying? I got. Yo, listen. So many years. I see. Then he realized, nah, I'm not. I'm not Tata.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

Yo, all of them look exactly alike. They all look exactly alike.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

But you're not twins.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

No, you just look the same.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

Well, anyway, brother, over there, you got the right one with you, brother.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

Yeah, man.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

Neo, thank you for blessing the couch. Like Kiss says, there's always legends, but there's different legends, I'm noticing. And everybody's a legend, but you definitely what you've brought to the world in terms of happiness Cause I gotta that I'm a move man by myself yes sir but I'm a force when we're together mommy I'm good all by myself but maybe you you make me better.

[Jada (Co-host with Joe)]

You make me better.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

That oh.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

Love brother that's love this ain't that that.

[Jada (Co-host with Joe)]

Ain'T this is cracking Kiss Give it up for Neo. Thank our guest for the day. Joe and Jayla.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

We love you.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Hey, it's Ryan Seacrest for Albertsons and Safeway Cough and cold season is coming so make sure you're prepared and stock up on your family's favorite personal well products now through October 7th. Shop in store and online for savings on products like Mucinex Kickstart Combo, Zyrtec Allergy Relief Tablets or Liquid Gels, Halls Cough Drops and Mucinex Fast day and night so you and your family are armed and ready for the season ahead. Offerings October 7th. Restrictions apply. Offers may vary. Visit albertsons or safeway.com for more details.

[Belvita Breakfast Announcer]

Every day has a to do list, but adding Enjoy Belvita to yours can help you knock out the rest of it. Belvita Breakfast Biscuits are a tasty and convenient breakfast option when paired with low fat yogurt and fruit that provide steady energy all morning while Belvita Energy Snack Bites give you the perfect mid morning refuel. Best part? They both taste great so make the most out of your morning with a bite of Velveeta. Pick up a pack of Belvita at your local store today.

[Neo (R&B Singer)]

Ugh.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

Come on.

[Health Discovered Host]

Why is this taking so long? This thing is ancient.

[Lenovo Tech Announcer]

Still using yesterday's tech upgrade to the ThinkPad X1 carbon ultralight. Ultra powerful and built for serious productivity with Intel Core Ultra processors, blazing speed and AI powered performance that keeps up with your business, not the other way around.

[Joe Crack the Dawn]

Whoa.

[Belvita Breakfast Announcer]

This thing moves.

[Lenovo Tech Announcer]

Stop hitting snooze on new tech. Win the tech [e-mail] Lenovo Lenovo unlock AI experiences with the ThinkPad X1 carbon powered by Intel Core Ultra processors so you can can work, create and boost productivity all on one device.

[Home Care Job Announcer]

This is Rob Gronkowski from Dudes on Dudes. Applebee's just cooked up the ultimate option play with their new Ultimate Trio deal. You can choose from three of their delicious appetizers and pair them up with three sauces for just 14.99. Craft your perfect trio from over 80,000 different combinations in this flavor pack plate. Built for one or to share? If you're generous, you can stick with the classic pairings like boneless wings and buffalo sauce or you can spice things up and try some unexpected pairings, like dipping chicken wonton tacos in our honey Dijon mustard. It's time to head to your neighborhood, Applebee's. Or order online today. Now that's eating good in the neighborhood.