Rory & Mal Don't Know Ball | Chris Gotti & Safaree

Summary

Podcast Summary: Rory & Mal Don't Know Ball | Chris Gotti & Safaree

Podcast Information:

• Title: New Rory & MAL
• Hosts: Rory & Mal
• Guests: Chris Gotti & Safaree
• Episode: Rory & Mal Don't Know Ball | Chris Gotti & Safaree
• Release Date: June 26, 2025
• Description: New stories, new laughs, new random hot takes that no one asked for...

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1. Introduction to "Ballin'" and Its Release on Tubi

The episode kicks off with Rory and Mal introducing their special segment, "Don't Know Ball," featuring guests Chris Gotti and Safaree. They delve into their latest venture, the independent film "Ballin'", now available on Tubi. Rory expresses gratitude for being part of the first number one movie on Tubi for new Black films, highlighting its significant achievement with over 3 million streams in less than two weeks.

Rory [05:00]: "Here we have a first number one movie on Tubi right now for new Black films. 'Ballin''—you know, shout out Rich Walker, he's the one who wrote the script and he's my partner as well."

2. Casting Choices and Influencers in the Movie

Rory emphasizes the importance of casting authentic talent, opting for influencers and individuals with genuine acting capabilities rather than established stars. He praises Lance for his charisma and commitment, noting his evolution from being nervous on set to delivering standout performances within just 17 days of shooting.

Rory [06:10]: "Baron Davis, shout out Baron. He's another freestylist. Like, if he took it serious, he could really rap. He went in there with all ideas. He's singing. I called him the Black Drake."

3. Screenwriting and Adaptation Process

The film's script, penned by Rich Walker, draws inspiration from Alfred Hitchcock's "Dial M for Murder," adapting its plot twist to resonate with contemporary Black culture. Rory credits Rich for persevering with the project and securing the necessary budget promptly.

Rory [08:09]: "I give all the credit to Rich. Rich Walker kept pitching it to me, even when I was busy. Eventually, it was the right time, and I greenlit it right away."

4. Experience During Filming: Handling Sensitive Scenes

A significant portion of the discussion centers around filming sensitive scenes, particularly sex scenes. Rory outlines the respectful and professional approach taken to ensure the comfort and safety of all participants. Lance shares anecdotes about his initial discomfort and how continuous support and clear communication helped him grow more confident in his roles.

Rory [15:03]: "I protected all the girls. I can't have you in the shower with a bra that's not real. In any sex scenes we did, very tasteful. Classy."

5. Distribution Challenges and Tubi's Role

Rory discusses the complexities of distributing independent films, highlighting the reliance on aggregators who often take a significant equity share without substantial returns. He critiques Tubi’s model, pointing out that they retain 55% of every dollar, leaving creators with only 45%. Despite these challenges, Rory acknowledges Tubi as the leading platform for maximizing revenue from Black independent films.

Rory [19:17]: "They take 55% off every dollar. You're getting 45 cents off of every dollar. Through the aggregator, it's typically 80-20 your way, another 20 cents coming out for the aggregator."

6. Future Projects and AI in Filmmaking

The conversation shifts to future endeavors, with mentions of upcoming projects like "Cuzzo 2" and "Night Shift." Additionally, Rory and the guests explore the impact of AI on the filmmaking and music industries. They discuss both the potential enhancements AI can bring to creative processes and the ethical considerations surrounding its use.

Rory [38:09]: "AI could help producers enhance what they're doing to find new sounds, new music. It's all about creativity and ideas."

7. Tribute to Irv Gotti and Hot 97 Mismanagement

A heartfelt segment addresses the improper handling of a tribute to Irv Gotti on Hot 97. Rory expresses frustration over the network’s mismanagement, leading to an incomplete and rushed tribute. This mishandling underscores broader issues within media networks when honoring influential figures.

Rory [40:55]: "They released our movie without telling us, which was obscene. They took 55% off every dollar, and they didn't fund anything. It's rape and pillage, that's just the facts."

8. Leverage of Influencer Platforms and Community Building

Throughout the episode, Rory and his guests emphasize the importance of leveraging influencer platforms and building strong communities. They argue that platforms like Tubi, despite their drawbacks, offer unparalleled access to dedicated audiences that larger networks fail to reach effectively.

Chris Gotti [21:37]: "Community is better than perception. If we went on Netflix, it'd have a cooler press release, but is that the best move based on the community we're trying to build?"

9. Reflections on the Content Era and Industry Shifts

In the latter part of the episode, the hosts reflect on the rapid content turnover in today's digital age. They discuss the pressure to constantly produce new material and how this environment affects both the music and film industries. Safaree, in particular, laments the short-lived nature of success today compared to the past.

Lance [44:23]: "Nothing lasts anymore. You could put something up, it's gone. How long are we talking about it? Three days, four days?"

10. Closing Remarks and Future Collaborations

The episode wraps up with acknowledgments of their guests' new projects and upcoming announcements. They express enthusiasm for future collaborations and the continued growth of their independent ventures.

Chris Gotti [54:15]: "We have some more projects coming out. For example, 'Vendetta' starring Keani Marley, and 'Cuzzo 2.' Excited for what's next."

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Notable Quotes with Timestamps:

• Rory [05:00]: "Here we have a first number one movie on Tubi right now for new Black films. 'Ballin''—you know, shout out Rich Walker, he's the one who wrote the script and he's my partner as well."

• Rory [15:03]: "I protected all the girls. I can't have you in the shower with a bra that's not real. In any sex scenes we did, very tasteful. Classy."

• Rory [19:17]: "They take 55% off every dollar. You're getting 45 cents off of every dollar. Through the aggregator, it's typically 80-20 your way, another 20 cents coming out for the aggregator."

• Chris Gotti [21:37]: "Community is better than perception. If we went on Netflix, it'd have a cooler press release, but is that the best move based on the community we're trying to build?"

• Lance [44:23]: "Nothing lasts anymore. You could put something up, it's gone. How long are we talking about it? Three days, four days?"

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Conclusion:

This episode of "New Rory & MAL" provides an in-depth look into the making and distribution of the independent film "Ballin'," shedding light on the challenges and triumphs of creating Black-centric content in today's digital landscape. Through candid discussions, Rory, Mal, and their guests offer valuable insights into the evolving media industry, the importance of authentic storytelling, and the strategic navigation required to succeed as independent creators.

Transcript

[Rory]

This is an iHeart podcast.

[Mal]

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[Chris Gotti]

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[Safaree]

You need it. You need to be able to send money anywhere in the world, anytime.

[Chris Gotti]

And I love when I go out to dinner and the bill comes and they're like, yo, get this now. I'll get you back later. No, no, no. We could do it right now.

[Safaree]

Yeah, don't tell me you got me later.

[Chris Gotti]

Yeah, cash at me now. Oh, you don't have Cash App. It takes two seconds to download. Put your bank right there. Send me the money. Right, let's make this awkward for dessert. So Cash App makes everything easier and Damaris taught me this amazing trick. With Cash app, if a random number texts you, all you do is request a dollar. And if they have Cash app, you can find out exactly who was texting you.

[Safaree]

Oh yeah.

[Chris Gotti]

Which was the greatest woman trick I have ever heard in my entire life.

[Safaree]

Absolutely.

[Chris Gotti]

I don't even know if Cash App knows how ill they are for that. If for whatever insane reason, you don't already have Cash App, just download it from your phone's app store sign up. Enter our code rorymal10 in your profile. Send $5 to a friend, mainly me, and you'll get $10 just for getting started.

[Safaree]

For a limited time, only new Cash App users can use our exclusive code to earn some additional cash. For real, there's no catch. Just download Cash App and sign up. Use our exclusive referral code Rorymal10 in your profile. Send $5 to a friend within 14 days and you'll get $10 right into your account. Terms apply. That's money. That's Cash App.

[Trey Farrow]

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[Rory]

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[Safaree]

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[Trey Farrow]

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[Rory]

Today only on TikTok.

[Trey Farrow]

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[Chris Gotti]

The volume.

[Rory]

No worrying now.

[Safaree]

All right, Rory. We are back with a new episode of Don't Know Ball. This is actually a special. Yes, special episode of Don't Know Ball. Today we are joined by two guys who are doing some really, really dope things in the independent movie space. One of them being the legendary OG Absolutely out of New York City. And one of them being the wildest niggas ever out of New York City.

[Lance]

I thought I was the legendary OG.

[Rory]

Out of New York City. That's crazy.

[Chris Gotti]

You a legend you own, right?

[Safaree]

No, no, Safaree's definitely a legend, but you know what I'm saying.

[Chris Gotti]

We'll get to his legacy in a minute.

[Safaree]

We joined by Chris Gotti and Saf to talk about the new movie Ballin, available now on Tubi. How y' all feeling, gentlemen?

[Rory]

Man, thank you for having us. Number one.

[Safaree]

Listen, I came in today, I wasn't expecting. I knew God he was coming out. I didn't know Safaree was coming in until I got downstairs.

[Chris Gotti]

That was the best surprise. The elevator open Safari.

[Safaree]

I was like, I want. Before I could say Safaree who Open the door. See my guy Safari.

[Rory]

So he was trying to surprise y' all with Lance too? Yeah, but he's Working out three. You know, he's over there with Beasley after that. One on one. It's crazy there.

[Chris Gotti]

Fresh off a fight.

[Safaree]

Yeah, fresh off a fight. He's a little fisticuffs between him and Dwight, but that's part of the game game though.

[Rory]

But he. He's busy working. But shout out to Lynch.

[Safaree]

We'll have him sometime soon though. How y' all feeling though, man? What's going on, man?

[Rory]

Everything's great, man. I've, you know, first times for, you know, there's first for everything. And here we have a first number one movie in on Tubi right now for new black films. Ballin' you know, Shout Out. Rich. Rich Walker, he's the one who wrote the script and he's my partner as well. But Rich Black. Rich Black. I said Rich Walker who?

[Lance]

Rich Walker.

[Rory]

Screen credit. Yeah, Gotta give him that. Listen, man, that should have said dw.

[Safaree]

Business now. Business now.

[Mal]

Yeah.

[Rory]

You know what I mean?

[Chris Gotti]

We talk so much music on this pod. I think our fan base is probably more music driven than they are film driven.

[Rory]

You know, we have a soundtrack for this and I'm gonna talk about it because the soundtrack came from the spirit of the essence of us filming.

[Chris Gotti]

Okay.

[Rory]

And the energy that was on the set with all the people in Lance, I took him into the big studio for the first time. He's never been in a big studio till I brought him in and we went to Circle House out in Miami because we filmed out. And Lance is a real bonafide artist. I don't know if people understand that the dude is real. Like I was going to see what he's about, you know, just to see his chops inside of the studio.

[Chris Gotti]

What'd you think going in?

[Rory]

I had no opinion.

[Chris Gotti]

Okay.

[Rory]

I deal with a lot of rappers that are basketball players or basketball players that want to rap. Whatever way you want to do that. I mean, Baron Davis, Shout Out Baron. I did hundreds of records with Baron. He's another freestylist. Like, if he took it serious, he could really rap. Like I know the difference from someone that's fake or not. Like these dudes have real rapping capability. And he went in there with all ideas. He's singing. I called him the Black Drake. He's singing and rapping.

[Safaree]

But Drake is.

[Rory]

Yeah, no, black Drake. Come on.

[Chris Gotti]

He's a light skin Drake.

[Rory]

He's the Coney Island. He's going. He's the Coney Island Drake. But at the end of the day, he really had those. That capability coming up with hooks and Rhythms and melodies. That part is the hardest part to. Anyone could just rap, but to come up to make songs, he could make songs. To me, there's a difference. And I felt if people really listened to what he's saying in the songs itself, it would have real legs, nigga.

[Lance]

Like, yeah, all right.

[Safaree]

No, no, no, go ahead. I'm trying to catch.

[Chris Gotti]

Listen.

[Rory]

I challenged it. See what you just said. Cool. Pick a rapper and put his songs up and you understand that's how strong I stand on it. Like, I'm cool with that. Like, he's really could rap.

[Chris Gotti]

Well, our segment. Don't know Ball for our pod, we usually talk to athletes that are rappers. Like, we had Pac man on to talk about his music.

[Rory]

Yes.

[Chris Gotti]

Like, you know, that's kind of been a lot of the theme, so.

[Safaree]

But it's always went hand in hand. Athletes, rap, hip hop, it's all from. We all from the same neighborhoods. It's all.

[Lance]

I ain't gonna lie, though. His is. His is fire.

[Rory]

The soundtrack is.

[Lance]

Yeah, like the song. Like, when I was hearing him, I was like. I was like, damn, these shits is. Niggas was telling me to come to the studio.

[Safaree]

Yeah.

[Lance]

I never went. One night.

[Rory]

We invite him. Come on, come on.

[Chris Gotti]

He was at the Vibes Cartel show. He good to go.

[Rory]

Yeah.

[Safaree]

So talk to us about Ballin' how did it come. Like, how did it come to fruition? How did it start? I know I obviously started an idea. Who sat down, who thought about it, who came again?

[Rory]

I give all the credit to Rich.

[Lance]

Rich Walker.

[Rory]

Rich Black Walker, my partner. He had the script for a minute. He had different casts. And he kept pitching it to me, telling me, let's do this movie. I'm like, I'm busy. Give me, you know, timing for any business is the number one reason you. You're successful.

[Safaree]

Absolutely.

[Rory]

The right time. And it was the right time. And I said, let's. I called him up, I said, let's do it. I got the budget. Let's put it together. He sent me what he thought the budget was gonna be. I greenlit it right away. Thanks for the money.

[Lance]

Thanks for the money.

[Rory]

I said, right away. The cast is wrong, though, if I'm gonna do it. He had all. No names. Again, not saying, like, we have all these big stars, but I used influencer based to make the movie. He had just people that don't even. They have some acting chops or prior, like tubi type movies that they're in, but no one knows them right. What good is that?

[Chris Gotti]

So what came first? Was it the script and the idea or you had a deal in place already, you thought it could fit with.

[Rory]

What you were doing? The idea was absolutely first. I read the script, said, let's do it. I liked it. It's a twist. I don't know if you know Alfred Hitchcoc. I'm going back. I'm dating myself. There's a movie he made called Dial M for Murder with that plot twist. All we did was take that same concept of the movie and put it to urban, to put it to black, to our culture.

[Chris Gotti]

Okay.

[Rory]

That's what we did. So it was really a dial in for murder. Ballin is dial in for murder. But with our plot twist for culture. Our culture today.

[Chris Gotti]

Okay, when you wanted to switch up the cast, did you have people like Safaree and Lance already in mind or.

[Rory]

Yes, right away.

[Chris Gotti]

Okay.

[Rory]

Why is that right away? First and foremost, I'm not gonna say Safaree. He's gonna speak in a second. But Lance right away is ballin' I need a basketball player.

[Chris Gotti]

Yeah.

[Rory]

I was running through a bunch of names. You know, Lance is like my nephew. Like, you know, right away I was like, do you wanna act? I was with him. We're doing Coney Island. The park in Coney Island. You wanna act? He said, hell yeah. And that's. I have a formula, like for these newbies, actors, if they don't have that passion and commitment, I don't want them. I don't care who they are, how many followers they got. I don't care. It's not going to be believable on the screen.

[Chris Gotti]

He got. He has so much charisma too, though.

[Rory]

Like, I feel like Lance, you know, you really. Everyone at the cast, I know Lance, Like, I know him not as the basketball player. I know Lance, the person. Like, if you don't get a chance to be around him, I'm sure Safaree never knew he was like the way he is. Just being regular.

[Lance]

Total opposite of what you mean.

[Rory]

Totally opposite. Like, such a good dude. Fun loving, laughing, joking, making everyone laugh and joke. Generous with everybody. I mean, takes care of like everything. If he could do it, he does it. He's just a person that off camera, it was just a pleasure to be around. And his commitment to being as good as he can be, that's part of why he made it to the league.

[Chris Gotti]

Yeah.

[Rory]

You know that work ethic that he had, he put it right in the music and he put it right in. In the acting. It was amazing to watch.

[Safaree]

Now we're shooting the movie and, you know, putting it to Tubi versus other platforms. What are some of the pros and cons of it? What are some of the experiences that, you know, independent filmmakers can kind of expect when they're writing and producing and directing these films and then taking them to Tubi?

[Rory]

Again, you have to go through an aggregator that is a very hard process. That means you're giving up equity to your film to this aggregating company for nothing. Just because they could get it onto.

[Lance]

Ah, I didn't know that.

[Rory]

Yeah, that's a problem. It's business. I'm a business dude.

[Lance]

I was like, that's one of the management. It's like a management. It's like a management broker for a movie.

[Rory]

Basically. Like, let's use music.

[Chris Gotti]

Okay.

[Rory]

Distrokid, United Masters. They all have a fee you have to pay to get your own all the DSPs.

[Lance]

Okay.

[Rory]

I have a distribution company called Adventure Music. I take a percentage to get you on all the DSPs. And including what's, you know, all those platforms, I'm on every platform. So at the end of the day, it's part of the cost of doing business. I get it. For now. Unless you could do it directly yourself. And they don't accept it from them companies directly. Now, if you wait directly, that means they bought it from you.

[Safaree]

Okay.

[Rory]

And it'll be. You could basically license it to them for X amount of time, two years, three years, and that's how much money they'll pay you. Gotcha. It's business. It's simple. It's not hard. It's very simple. If you're inside of this, you would understand it clearly. But we had to go through an aggregator. They didn't take us. I tried to shop it directly. So the pros and cons, or the cons, let's say we found out very quickly that Tubi has a tendency of releasing your movie without letting you know. Your movie has to go through quality control. Right. So you gotta follow the system. Quality control, meaning they gotta see what kind of sex is in it. You know what I'm saying? Shit like that.

[Chris Gotti]

They have to vet Safari specifically.

[Rory]

Yeah. You know what I mean? Because that changes the. Our rating was a mature audience, so it's a good rating. I didn't want to make it a R, and I didn't want to go further than that because I own it. And if I. Well, we own it. Me and my partners, we own it. And I don't want to go. I want to still have the Opportunity to put it on the bigger platforms.

[Chris Gotti]

Okay.

[Rory]

Yo, not just.

[Lance]

You need to let them see, like, one of the shit I could show after this.

[Rory]

You want to see it now?

[Lance]

I could have pulled crazy scenes where we was like, yo, bro, it was.

[Rory]

Day one for me. It was my first day. Imagine that first day. This is what I walk into and I tell you, it's. It's porn. Like, there's no way. I thought it was really going on.

[Chris Gotti]

When I was scene or something. We're just gonna get porn out the way.

[Rory]

I'm like, I told Rich, what the fuck? This isn't in the script.

[Lance]

This is Lance's first day acting. First date. Like, imagine you sitting there and it's your first time. Like, in the first scene of the movie, because, you know we're not shooting it in order.

[Chris Gotti]

Yeah.

[Rory]

And he's like, I gotta do this.

[Lance]

And there's cameras and everybody in the lights, and then it's like, action.

[Safaree]

So Lance gotta get right to it. Like, that's.

[Rory]

Well, it wasn't Lance. It was another scene.

[Safaree]

Okay.

[Rory]

It was Rebecca, other star. She's the detective on. You know, if I said the stars. You have Lance Safaree. Trey. Trey Chaney. Shout out. Trey. You know, his son just had that whole. Him and his son was in a tornado in their house, and he's in ICU and getting better. So God bless you. And Rebecca. That's the five leads in our movie. And Rebecca, big following. Two million plus followers on the gram and everything. And that's the first scene. She has a sex scene with her boyfriend in the movie.

[Safaree]

Okay.

[Chris Gotti]

How sensitive is that on set? Like, just that.

[Rory]

Well, you know, we try to protect every. Especially the females. Whatever they're comfortable with.

[Chris Gotti]

Yeah.

[Rory]

But we have cameras or screens watching everything. So even though they're not in the room, they're seeing everything. That video.

[Lance]

The setup, though.

[Rory]

Amen.

[Lance]

It's like when you watch it, though, and then, like, you're there and it's happening. The setup makes it be like, all right, this is not real.

[Rory]

Yeah.

[Lance]

It doesn't feel like, yo, this is awkward. It's like, if you was really doing it and, like, people's trying to. You're gonna feel like, yeah, it's a little awe.

[Rory]

But when you do it, I'm gonna definitely show you guys. Since we're talking about, remember, day one, it's on my WhatsApp, but it's day one. But at the end of the day, you know, we tried to be. I was not. I didn't try. I Was very compliant with each female. That had to do.

[Lance]

If you didn't step in, it would have been ugly. It would have been.

[Rory]

I protected all the girls. Yeah. I got five sisters, I got a daughter. I'm not playing with women. Yeah. And again. But if you want to do it, you're an adult. I get it. You know what I'm saying? And that's what we did. I made sure, you know, our lead. She's a newbie. She's Brenda Paulino. You know, shout out Brenda. She just had another baby too. But her scenes she pulled. She was so nervous. And I said, brenda, you get in the shower. I can't have you in the shower with a bra that's not real. Right. And in any sex scenes we did, very tasteful. Like, again, classy. Very clean and classy. Like, this movie opens with you and her.

[Chris Gotti]

Safaree wrote it himself. It wasn't even in the script.

[Safaree]

Classic guy here. Classic.

[Rory]

Got safari at the end of the day. Very clean, classy, you know, and we made her relax and she was able to pull it off. But it was very big deal because if you ever go on Tubi, most of these Tubi movies is softball pawn.

[Safaree]

Oh, yeah, yeah. I've seen the ones I've seen. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It is soft, you know, I see people.

[Rory]

You don't see full penetration. So that's soft porn.

[Safaree]

Yeah.

[Rory]

You know, that's.

[Chris Gotti]

What would you be more uncomfortable with on a set? Being vulnerable on camera or having sex on camera?

[Safaree]

Having sex on camera.

[Chris Gotti]

Oh, I'm thinking you're never vulnerable, though.

[Safaree]

I'm always vulnerable.

[Lance]

Got like crying.

[Safaree]

Having sex on camera.

[Rory]

Sharing with Lance. Cuz he was, like, looking.

[Safaree]

Yeah.

[Lance]

He said, you sharing your looks would be terrifying.

[Safaree]

Yeah. Having sex on camera is wild. Like, you look up and it's just everybody like this. Like he was just sitting, wrestling.

[Chris Gotti]

That would be the most awkward.

[Safaree]

That's what I'm saying.

[Rory]

Like what the cut. You got to do it again.

[Safaree]

Do it again. Yeah. Your stroke.

[Rory]

Wait a minute.

[Chris Gotti]

That stroke wasn't face.

[Rory]

Your expression wasn't thin.

[Safaree]

You don't look like you're enjoying it.

[Lance]

That really did happen.

[Rory]

Yeah, it happened multiple times.

[Lance]

Like, yeah, was. He was like, yo, I'm good.

[Chris Gotti]

Turn it over to the director. That was cool.

[Lance]

He's like, yo, am I done?

[Rory]

You know what's crazy? When Lance started shooting, he pulled me to the side and I told him something. I said, lance, I'll never let you do a wax scene if you don't deliver. I'm gonna make sure, you know, to get it right. So every shot he's like. And I'm filming it like on my phone and pull him to the side and say, look, you good. Like he was, you know, that was the apprehension in the beginning. As the movie went on, he was way more comfortable. He understood what acting's really about. The little nuances that you have to have to keep the scenes. And if we was to watch the movie right now, I could show you. This is day one. Like, you could see the difference. It's visible how much he progressed in 17 days of shooting.

[Safaree]

So before we got on camera, we was talking about the mishaps on the business end of the movie being released. You didn't know it was out yet.

[Rory]

Yeah, they released our movie without telling us, which was obscene because I'm like, if you're our partner, they again, Tubi takes 55% of every dollar off the muscle. That's for real rape and pillage. You talk about music business.

[Lance]

Come on, think about it.

[Rory]

No 55%, bro. Every move you see, they're taking 55% now. So 55% off and they're funding the full production fund. They didn't fund nothing.

[Lance]

Fund. Hell no.

[Chris Gotti]

What if they funded worse than the music?

[Rory]

This is what I'm trying to tell you.

[Lance]

They don't pay for nothing.

[Rory]

They're not. No one speaks about it. That's why I wanted to speak about it.

[Chris Gotti]

So that's a distribution licensing fee is I take 55% off every dollar.

[Rory]

Yes, off the muscle and you make film.

[Chris Gotti]

Oh, that's insane.

[Rory]

You're getting 45 cents off of every dollar. So now when you go through the aggregator that they force you to go through, typically it's 80, 20 your way. So it another 20 cents. That's coming out for the aggregator now, mind you, I have the friends, so we got a better deal. But still they're getting a piece of that 45 cents for being able to allowing me to put the movie out. Yeah, and we'll be on other networks. We're going to be on Peacock. We're going to be on Amazon prime, so. But the reality is to be still is the number one place to make the money for black film. That's just the facts. So even though I go on these other bigger platforms, Amazon prime, my audience is not over there watching it. They want to be watching it. That's the reality now. I'm gonna take every penny I get from every place. You know, Dame, I'm coming. America knew. Take it. Oh, man. My fault. Take it.

[Lance]

Take it easy.

[Rory]

You understand? All good. You know, Nikki, I'm coming. You know, Vicky, she has a platform called ngtv, which is next generation. She owns it all. Dame and her are the absolute places we should be. Yeah, but we have to build their audience. They don't have enough people on their platform.

[Safaree]

Yeah.

[Rory]

You know, to get a lot of eyeballs. But that's what we should be pushing because then we could get the right deals when Dame sits there and goes on his rants. I get it. I understand. I overstand it.

[Safaree]

Yeah.

[Rory]

The rape and pillage is real. And that's just the facts.

[Chris Gotti]

Yeah. Actually that's actually more comparable to the podcast world, I feel like, because we talk a lot with other podcast creators about YouTube.

[Rory]

YouTube?

[Chris Gotti]

Listen, YouTube is not a secret. Isn't the most fair splits.

[Rory]

No.

[Lance]

What is it? What is it on YouTube?

[Chris Gotti]

It. It depends.

[Safaree]

It's.

[Chris Gotti]

There's not like one strict formula no matter what.

[Rory]

It depends who you are.

[Chris Gotti]

Yeah. Things. Things shift a bit. But no matter what. It's not the fairest thing of all. But it's where the community is. So it's like people like, why don't you take your off YouTube? Because for shitty pay. I'm like, no, we're making more money based off the community that YouTube has for what we can leverage.

[Rory]

And that's why they do it.

[Chris Gotti]

So. Yeah. And that's why. Yeah, I get why YouTube is like, like, nah, you're only getting this much though. We have the community. You wanna upload your video that easily? We're gonna take most of the fucking profit.

[Rory]

And that's Tubi. So that's really the downside for Tubi, man. They don't pay. If they do pay like you was asking, they'll pay. They'll put up money for movies. But then it go. They own controlling for X amount of time it does not for life. You just cut the length of time you want of that's based on how much they'll give you. And then there'll be what they call to be original and they'll market and promote it through their platform. Incredible. So that's why I said for independent black film, we are number one right now for the first two weeks. Because I'm not talking about to be originals.

[Safaree]

Right.

[Rory]

I'm talking about guys that just get their movies. You understand? That's the difference. And we are number one for that. And we're over 3 million streams and counting in less than two weeks.

[Chris Gotti]

So you mentioned CPMs as well off Mike. How does that work within. Okay, I know how it works in our world.

[Rory]

But see, and again, this is the con. They don't have a formula to tell you when you move up to the next tier of cpm. Yeah, they start you on their low form. Basically a million dollars. A million views is about 7,000 bucks, basically.

[Safaree]

Okay.

[Chris Gotti]

And for those that don't, CPM is downloads per thousand clicks.

[Safaree]

Yeah.

[Rory]

I'm just giving you the map because we have about six commercials inside of our hour and 20 minute film. Okay, definitely.

[Lance]

Definitely more than six commercials.

[Rory]

No, six. If they add more, that's because we're doing well, brother.

[Lance]

Oh, yeah. All right. I'm. Because, yeah, I'm watching it. That is not six commercials.

[Rory]

The more commercials that we put in there, the better at this moment. But should raise us up our cpm. And they didn't give me the formula when that happens. So that's to me a negative. I like transparency just to put me in a fight, let me know what I'm fighting and that's it. Whoever I'm fighting, let's go. And that's it. I know what I'm dealing with. I tell independent artists the same thing. Contract's not forever. I have no contract with them. So I could take my movie and put it anywhere. But the reality is my audience is there. That's where I'm gonna get the biggest bang for our buck. Even with the rape and pillage. How about that?

[Safaree]

Yeah, I feel it.

[Rory]

How about that?

[Chris Gotti]

Community is better than perception. As far as if this went on Netflix, it'd probably be a cooler press release, like, look, we're on Netflix type shit. But is that really the best move based off the community you're trying to sell me?

[Rory]

We Netflix came to our premiere. Amazon prime was at a premiere.

[Lance]

They.

[Rory]

Netflix was talking to me about taking on the film. They said this is exactly what we're doing. Why? They just started a black division for Netflix. Why are they doing that? Because they see what to be doing. Right. And the money they were generating. So they said we need to start a black division for these films.

[Lance]

And they said this would be perfect.

[Rory]

So, you know, we're in the ghost and if they take it, guess what? It'll have to come down on everywhere else and be live only on thing. But I already made my money.

[Safaree]

Right?

[Rory]

Right. It's no longer I gotta see how much streams I get. I would have made money where I'm a profitable movie for X amount of years. And when it comes down, I could take it and then put it back out on every platform.

[Chris Gotti]

Why do we think hip hop hasn't been leaning in to the to be model the way, you know, your brother did with Rockefeller Films? I. If this system existed then we'd be on paper soldiers 13 by now. Like what? I think that because they're being made for cheap and they're profitable.

[Lance]

Absolutely.

[Chris Gotti]

And anyone can act in it the same way. Paper Soldiers. Like, we didn't think Beans was the greatest actor ever. It was just great to watch Beans act like it was ready.

[Rory]

I have his teeth queued up. Oh, my day. One day, one day, one day, one.

[Chris Gotti]

Weekend on the big screen.

[Rory]

It's not in the movie week. Just so you know. When I seen. When I seen this, I stopped production. I pulled my director over. I pulled my director over and said, no, this is not what I'm doing here. Yo, you don't understand.

[Safaree]

This is not production.

[Rory]

Yeah, everybody stop production.

[Safaree]

Yeah.

[Lance]

I wasn't filming that day. I showed up. But when he showed me this, I.

[Rory]

Said, let me see if I can.

[Safaree]

Oh, yeah, that's.

[Rory]

And this was just the beginning. They had more scenes to go and she.

[Chris Gotti]

What song? What was the Chloe Bailey movie?

[Safaree]

Swarm.

[Chris Gotti]

Swarm, which they marketed the whole entire movie off Chloe Bailey back shots.

[Rory]

Yes.

[Chris Gotti]

I feel like that with the right camera angle would still be tasteful. Like that wasn't as crazy as I thought she was.

[Rory]

Okay.

[Safaree]

Yeah.

[Rory]

Only thing you don't see in this is penetration. But that's what I. That's what I walked in. And when you first walked in.

[Safaree]

Okay, I get it.

[Rory]

Looks like I'm like, wait a minute. This is real magic. This is real movie magic going on here. If he's not.

[Lance]

Because there's so many scenes in the.

[Rory]

In the script and there's a lot of scenes. And I told Rich we had to re edit the scenes because I said, yo, you, you horny bastard. I said, you got to tone it down. I ain't going to lie.

[Lance]

When I got the script, I said, bro, I want 10 sex scenes.

[Rory]

He just wanted to OD a 90 minute film.

[Safaree]

This conversation balling is starting to take on a whole different meaning now.

[Chris Gotti]

I've not heard a basketball.

[Rory]

Hey, Catino. Mo is my coach. Shout out Katino.

[Safaree]

Yeah, shout out to Cat.

[Rory]

Cat came in and killed it. He's Lance's coach in the movie.

[Safaree]

Okay.

[Rory]

Yeah, shout out Cat.

[Chris Gotti]

This is an ad by Better help. June is men's mental health month. And my guy, it's time to talk. Men today face immense pressure to perform, to provide, to keep everything together. So it's no wonder that 6 million men in the US suffer from depression every year. Men are also less likely to seek therapy than a woman, which means depression among men often goes under diagnosed if you're a man and you're feeling the weight of the world, the strongest thing you can do is ask for help. Talk to someone. Anyone. A therapist, a friend, a loved one. Because real strength comes from being honest about what you're carrying and doing something about it.

[Mal]

About it.

[Chris Gotti]

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[Mal]

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[Rory]

Get this Adults with financial literacy skills have 82% more wealth than those who don't. From swimming lessons to piano classes, us parents invest in so many things to enrich our kids lives, but are we investing in their future financial success? With Greenlight you can teach your kids financial literacy skills like earning, saving and investing. And this investment costs less than that. After school treat start prioritizing their financial education and future today with a risk free [e-mail] iheart greenlight.com iheart are you.

[Trey Farrow]

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[Safaree]

Safari you thought about. Because obviously you're a writer, you thought about getting into that world writing scripts and film.

[Lance]

Yeah, I thought about it. I just didn't do it. But I feel like that's. That would be so easy for me.

[Safaree]

Why? Why is that?

[Lance]

Because, like, the shit that I think of is just pretty, just weird, funny, psychotic. And it just would be ill to just say, all right, cool, write this down. And I did it with something and I just ain't. I just ain't like, make it a movie. But I was with this guy and this girl and I just was talking and I was like, yo, just write down everything I'm talking about. And they did it and then they made like a script out of it and it's something called Snatched. And it's like a kind of kidnapping ransom kind of movie with like a crazy twist. And it just was all based off of me talking. So if I could talk and somebody else write down what I'm talking about, then it could happen. Because me, myself, I can't sit there and like, I can't.

[Chris Gotti]

Hey, brother, I'm about to say Chat gbt your friend.

[Lance]

Yo, I just found out about Chat GBT a month ago. When did it come out?

[Safaree]

How did you just find out about Chat GPT?

[Lance]

I've heard about it, but I never knew what it was. Okay, so then my gym trainer was talking about, he's like, man, this Chat GPT got us all losing our jobs. I was like, how? And then he explained it to me. I said, word. Then I started using it for the training. I'm like, oh, I ain't paying this no more. Now I see.

[Chris Gotti]

Yo, no, one of our co host Damaris had a trainer before she did a Chat GBT shit. Lost 8 pounds in like a week, yo.

[Rory]

Wow.

[Lance]

I just found out. I'm mad. I just found out about it, though.

[Safaree]

Yeah.

[Lance]

Like, it tell you how to, like, like, like clear up a lie and, and. And make sound believable.

[Safaree]

How to get out of this. Live.

[Rory]

How to get out of this.

[Chris Gotti]

Don't get too deep in that. Like, I. I'll use it for, like, admin work stuff, but I know people that, like, got rid of their therapists and now I'm like, yo, is that. Is that your, like, significant other now? Like, they talk to them on a whole.

[Rory]

No, that's how it's set up. It's set up to be a therapist.

[Chris Gotti]

That's.

[Lance]

I just need to put a job.

[Rory]

My partner Dinero told me years ago that everyone is going to get assigned a avatar. And I believe it. Now once I seen Chat GPT, you're going to get an avatar that you talk to. It's going to control everything you do and take care of everything you're doing. So anything you want to do, if you have psychology problems and issues, just talk to it.

[Chris Gotti]

Just create more. Create more and control us into some other ones.

[Lance]

If Chad GPT could do something to like. Like where we say, hey, where can I, like, find or have a throat goat? And it really happened on the spot.

[Safaree]

Safari.

[Chris Gotti]

That's where he needs to step in on day one and be like, yo, this is not how things need to be run.

[Lance]

That's what is out of here, bro. Like, that's what ch.

[Rory]

You know, you can do that now on Instagram. But I go, you know our, like, again, my grandkids. I'll say they said, we'll have a robot as a wife.

[Safaree]

I can see it as a wife.

[Rory]

As a wife, significant other, no arguing. You could still have a human being stabbing. But you're gonna have that robot that. That's you fucking. That's what they're basically saying. That's gonna be your companion in any walk, shape, form of life.

[Safaree]

Listen, Rocky IV is one of my favorite movies. Uncle Paulie had a robot in Rocky iv. I thought that was the greatest shit ever. But I didn't think Uncle Paulie was really.

[Rory]

It's on the way.

[Chris Gotti]

They said, listen, we weren't about talking, arguing on whatever episode it was. I was trying to tell everyone that the younger kids are having less sex. I could totally see they just sit in their basement and beat off.

[Rory]

Yes, you give them a robot. You know when people, when first they said that to me, they said, no one's gonna be with robot I said is blow up dolls. What are you talking about?

[Safaree]

What the.

[Rory]

Are you saying they gonna. This robot. They're gonna make it real? They're gonna fuck that robot. I was in Vegas and seen strippers that were robots for C. What's that? C? Yes. The technology thing that they have out there. Convention. They had strippers that was robots. What's next? They gonna have them sucking and just coming?

[Lance]

How much are they? How much were they? How much were they?

[Rory]

No issues. You have no problems, bro. You gonna be fine.

[Chris Gotti]

In my 20s, there was plenty of women. I shouldn't have. If I knew that. Let me just go home and this robot, man. I may have been a safer 20s.

[Rory]

May have been a safer 20s.

[Safaree]

Yeah. I just don't know if I'm going down that road, fellas.

[Chris Gotti]

I'm not. But I'm not judging the kids that grow up in that.

[Rory]

What it feel like one time. You got to close your eyes.

[Lance]

What if it looks real as hell?

[Safaree]

Nah, man. I just.

[Rory]

As I said, this is the new Subie movie.

[Chris Gotti]

It's going to be more than a robot. No romantic rom com. We're brainstorming right now.

[Rory]

Yes.

[Lance]

That's a fire.

[Safaree]

I can't look. He better go. Chad G.B.

[Lance]

He'S doing that. Have a guy who falls in love with a. He leaves his girl and falls in love with a robot.

[Rory]

Yes.

[Safaree]

I feel like I've seen her.

[Chris Gotti]

The movie Her.

[Rory]

Her.

[Chris Gotti]

But it's not a real robot. He's just talking to like a woman, like over the speakers.

[Rory]

But that's what's happening now with what will happen. I'm just saying I understand it. I understand it.

[Lance]

When they told me I'm talking about.

[Rory]

Real tech guys that I was talking to.

[Lance]

I'm really excited.

[Rory]

It's coming.

[Chris Gotti]

Within five minutes.

[Lance]

I'm excited and inspired.

[Rory]

Are you excited about the movie?

[Lance]

Yeah, of course. Ballin out now on Tubi.

[Rory]

That's right.

[Lance]

Wait, is this thing on?

[Safaree]

This is definitely.

[Lance]

Is this recording us? It was not me.

[Chris Gotti]

I thought he was already flirting with the machines. Speaking of AI.

[Rory]

Yeah.

[Chris Gotti]

When you guys were dominating the music business.

[Rory]

Sure.

[Chris Gotti]

Do you think you would have incorporated some of the AI stuff?

[Rory]

Irv would have never. Irv would have never. He's not a tech guy in the sense of trying to change. So I don't believe he would have ever incorporated it Would have had to show him something phenomenal, not just recreating a voice. So I will say this. He was, you know, early. I mean, people don't know the thing. He was trying to do that Bob Marley movie.

[Chris Gotti]

Okay, Redemption, right?

[Rory]

We talked to. His name is Blackwell, the guy who owns all the rights to the Marley music. We sat with him, spoke to him, and he said, I will never let this happen. That's what he said. And we was like, but we're not telling you we're gonna have an actor playing Bob Marley. Cause that's why he said he would never do it. We was gonna use the hologram. Remember, they have the hologram for all of the concerts. And we would have, like, an image of Bob for the movie. But when it's concerts, it's really Bob Marley, but it's the hologram of Bob Marley from the actual concerts, from real footage. And he was intrigued with that. Irv was like, I wouldn't put an actor. It's the great Bob Marley. We wouldn't want to never miss things, but we'll use the actual footage. And he was very intrigued with that, but he still said no. And then he allowed an actor to play Bob Marley in the movie. So it was something. When I say technologies, Irv was on that for the greats that are no longer here to use that technology for that purpose. Like a biggie, a Tupac. Irv loved Tupac. You know, in Bob Marley, it was those three artists that he was definitely like, we should do something with the hologram, that they have that technology to use it. So when you think of AI is technology. But in what capacity are you talking for AI? Because. Are you talking a mixing of record, maybe? Are you talking about making a record?

[Chris Gotti]

Making a record?

[Rory]

Never. Yes.

[Chris Gotti]

I mean, it's interesting, because I'm anti AI all the way. But if I was born 20 years after now, I feel like some of the greatest new producers now are more tech people than they are music people.

[Rory]

Yes.

[Chris Gotti]

It may have just happened like that. Just maybe the only way, you know.

[Rory]

At that point, you know, AI, you could. I could become a producer tomorrow. I could go to AI and tweak each beat to get it to what.

[Chris Gotti]

I like, exactly how I like to beat it to. Oh, you can still have taste with AI for sure.

[Rory]

Yes. So to me, I've told my producers that are real producers to you, start using AI to enhance what they're doing to find new sounds, new music. You know, it's all creative. It's all about an idea. Like we just said with the movie. That's all it takes, that idea. And it could spawn into that movie. Right? Just like that. Same with music. That idea, that sound, and it spawns Into a record with the right artists and that can, you know, that creativeness. I watch it all the time. I watched it all the time with my brother. Like, he was amazing with that. So that kind of replaces him and his input in certain aspects. And I don't know if he would do it, but, you know, I feel if he was smart, like to do that, it wouldn't be the bad thing. It's only gonna make him better.

[Safaree]

Speaking of your brother Irv, the great Irv, rest in peace.

[Rory]

Yes.

[Safaree]

Summer Jam is coming up.

[Rory]

Yes.

[Safaree]

And there's a tribute for Irv this year.

[Rory]

Can I talk about the pros and cons?

[Chris Gotti]

For sure.

[Safaree]

I mean, I want to hear about it, man. I want to hear what the family has planned or obviously bring bringing this.

[Rory]

Up at a really crazy time because they literally just got approved today.

[Safaree]

Really?

[Rory]

While I was in the car sitting, waiting out front.

[Safaree]

Oh, okay.

[Rory]

Literally, my sister called me.

[Lance]

Yeah, it's on.

[Rory]

Cause we was pulling out. Because the way they handled it, Hot 97 was doing a shitty fucking job.

[Safaree]

Really.

[Rory]

You can't have. I have no tickets, no passes. And it's a tribute to my brother. They told. Hold on. They told Ja Rule the artist performance he can't have, but only this many people, which is like his. And they're counting artists. They're not counting, like his entourage, let's say even security is like, we have security. I never heard this before. I never even thought about it. So there's only one reason I felt it could be being handled like this. I don't want to talk about it on air. But there's only one thing that it could be, in my opinion, that they're doing this to him and they're attributing. Then they cut it down from a 45 minute show to 25 minutes. The I'm doing with 25 minutes with.

[Chris Gotti]

The amount of things Irv did out of here.

[Rory]

So Rule yesterday said, I'm not doing it. Yeah, we literally was off yesterday. Cleared it up literally at about 12, 11 o' clock today. Crazy how you do a tribute to.

[Chris Gotti]

Somebody without their family being there.

[Rory]

Exactly. I said even.

[Chris Gotti]

Makes sense.

[Lance]

But why would.

[Safaree]

How would Hot 97 even come close to fumbling that? Like, they know. Whatever.

[Rory]

Nah, that is corny, man. It doesn't even matter. It's the fact. It's so corny. I, I, I, me personally, I don't even want to show up because then it's like I condone and agree with what's going on and I don't. And that's just the realness. But Ru wants me to be there, but I'm like, fuck, nigga. Fuck them. I don't care no more. Radio is irrelevant to me. It's nothing. It's like. And then you're not doing nothing. And then the treat they offered that show up, they wanted us to do it right. And then to do that to me is like, what is that? There's got to be a subplot that we don't know. And that's why I said this might be one thing that might be going in. I just don't feel like talking about on this show. Right.

[Lance]

Respect.

[Chris Gotti]

Yeah, I get that. How do you feel about the current state of Def Jam and just Universal in general after spending so many.

[Rory]

You know, music is in trouble, in my opinion. The. The business of it. This. They just, you know, they cut a deal with AI to give your likeness, right? So if they signed you, you know, the reality is it's very hard to tell an artist, especially a new artist, not to take the money. It's just hard, man. We come from nothing. Nigga puts a check in front of.

[Safaree]

You, you gonna take it.

[Rory]

Dance, nigga. You know, it's up to you to dance or not. But it's very hard. I tell everyone, if you are in that position, you did something right to get them to offer you that. That doesn't happen to everybody. Second part is nothing's forever. Just make sure you have an exit plan.

[Lance]

Plan, right?

[Rory]

Take the money, figure out what you're going to do. I honor your deal. Honor your deal. That's what men do. Honor that. Yo, don't come in and start crying if you get bigger and better. Change your deal, right? Negotiate. It's business. Don't sit back and like, I want my masters. And that's. It's so to me. Because when you signed that deal, you didn't say that. That right, because you would have never signed it. Don't sign that. Take the money and then just flip flop. And you have to have a reason why you want it all back. You should see your trajectory that way. Not here. Don't expect much if you just maintained right? You know, and they didn't drop you, you was good enough not to be dropped. You know, it's business with an independent artist. Like I said, I got a platform for it. I got thousands of artists, you know. You know, even, you know, United Mass. I'm for all independent artists. People say, you had a label. I said, I understand. The game is different. Yeah, all my artists you didn't hear? Not one of them complaining. Cause we took care of them. We gave them the best deals they could get under what we had. Right? As simple as that. It's just business. It's like, take it. I don't care. Let's keep going.

[Chris Gotti]

I hear that.

[Safaree]

Safaree, what's up with you, man? No more writing, man.

[Lance]

Man, you know, honestly, there's a lot of like.

[Safaree]

Cuz you were early on the writing.

[Lance]

When music was fun.

[Safaree]

When music was fun, okay. But now there's been a boom of female MCs, female artists. Your pen obviously is legendary with female artists. We won't, you know, get into that.

[Lance]

But I don't even know how to read or write.

[Safaree]

But now with the wave of. Yeah, now, now you got chat gbt. So now with the wave favor, female artists coming in, you don't get the urge to be like, yo, I'm. I'mma get behind one of these. These female MCs and. And. And get some hits. Because once you're a writer, you're always a writer. You never lose that.

[Lance]

Yeah, it's, you know, the music for me right now, it's just. It's just such a circus. It's just so much. It's just such a facade. And I don't even.

[Safaree]

You don't think you have something to do with that? A lot of your. A lot of your. A lot of things you wrote have caused that boom.

[Rory]

You don't take responsibility, brother.

[Lance]

Nah. But I'm saying, like, I feel like this new era, like nothing lasts anymore, no matter how ill and hot something or someone is. You could put something up, it's gone. How long we talking about it if a new hot song come out?

[Safaree]

Yeah, yeah, you right.

[Lance]

What, three days, four days? A week sitting in this like the gratification ain't even there. Like how it used to be. Like, before we do something, that shit is killing the whole year and crushing somebody else while it's happening. And it's like, damn, that shit's kind of dope. We got to saw that happen for an entire year.

[Safaree]

Yeah.

[Lance]

You know what I'm saying?

[Chris Gotti]

I mean, we have to take accountability on that too. We're all in the content game as far as how many movies do we put out a month?

[Rory]

A lot.

[Chris Gotti]

How many apps do we have? How many options of shit can we watch? How many music apps do we have? How many artists can we can just upload to YouTube?

[Lance]

Yeah.

[Chris Gotti]

Doesn't stay because every day when you.

[Lance]

Hit refresh, it's something it's something new.

[Chris Gotti]

You scroll it takes one thumb move and you're on to something else.

[Rory]

In the content era.

[Lance]

Yeah.

[Rory]

So much of it, it's crazy.

[Lance]

That's why now, like, I'm. I'm really, like, in the. More of the investing and dealing with shit that has nothing to do with entertainment.

[Chris Gotti]

Okay.

[Lance]

Like, I'm in the health insurance business, people.

[Rory]

I found that out on the movie.

[Lance]

Nobody knows. You could. You need health insurance, I'll. I got your whole family.

[Chris Gotti]

My daughter's EpiPen. So I gotta talk.

[Lance]

But see, but you in New York, right? Yeah. New York's structure is horrible for health insurance.

[Safaree]

Oh, absolutely. That's what they try to work. That's why he popped homie downtown. That's why he ran down on me.

[Lance]

The United Healthcare joint. Yeah. And I got a contract with United Healthcare. So when that happened, I'm like, damn, I hope that don't affect nothing. But it ain't affect nothing. And it just goes to show that it's like, all right, cool. You were here for the moment. You're gone. Somebody knew. Take your position and say, and that's it. But I really like to make money not doing nothing. I like to sleep as long as I want. I just wanna go to the gym, take care of my kids. I really love the acting shit now. The movie shit. Like, yeah, I really like after seeing how this came out. Cause when we did it, I was enjoying myself. But then seeing it come together, I was like, damn. And then when we did the premiere, that was like my first movie premiere or something. I'm a part of. It was a dope feeling and experience and watching the movie with a theater full of people. And then I was like, kind of like the favorite because I'm like the. I was the escape for the woman who was being treated bad. And I was like, yo, I like that. I like this role.

[Safaree]

Yeah.

[Lance]

You know, so in the comedy. Yeah.

[Rory]

You have people laughing and everything in the movie.

[Lance]

When you gonna watch it? When you gonna watch it?

[Safaree]

I'm gonna watch it tonight.

[Lance]

When you gonna watch it?

[Chris Gotti]

I would have watched it if I would have got the link before you guys didn't even know it was out. How the fuck was I supposed to watch? No, I honestly thought y' all were coming here to plug it. And we were gonna be like, yo, it's out on this specific date in the episode.

[Safaree]

It's gonna come out with the movie.

[Rory]

That's what we wanted to do, to be. Took that from us, bro.

[Lance]

It was 12 o' clock at night, I'm looking at my Instagram and like, the fans, they like posting, and they're like, yo, oh, Safari, good job. I'm like, what? I hit them in the group track. I said, yo, the movie's out. I said, nah, hold on. I have a. Typed it in. I said, oh, it's out. And it was the wrong version.

[Rory]

Yes. Crazy. They got my name spelled wrong in this everything. His name spelled wrong.

[Safaree]

How do you misspell Chris Gotti? Like, how do you not spell that right, man?

[Rory]

I don't even want to tell you what the.

[Safaree]

How do you misspell that?

[Rory]

Crazy. At the end of the day, I.

[Lance]

Was furious, and, man, you heard saying, cut an action.

[Safaree]

No, no, no.

[Lance]

Yes.

[Safaree]

I think to be. Does that on purpose. I think they do like that because they know those.

[Rory]

Those are gonna go viral maybe.

[Safaree]

Yeah, I think they do that type of.

[Rory]

People. The movie that they was watching, someone got shot, laid on the floor, and they like, is it okay yet? They're supposed to be dead and they're talking go viral. That clip would go viral next. Know that movie?

[Safaree]

Yeah, yeah, like that. Yeah, they doing that.

[Chris Gotti]

Love and hip hop. Did that with Ray J's hat.

[Safaree]

Yeah, that show went viral for years.

[Lance]

Yeah, that lasted.

[Chris Gotti]

So the. The right. Right version is on too?

[Rory]

Absolutely. The right version. They corrected it. They did it fast. Color, the quality is everything.

[Safaree]

I'm gonna watch it tonight. I'm mad I didn't watch it before we got here today. I would. I would have watched last night had I known it was out. I'm gonna watch it tonight so we could definitely talk about it some more on the show. I'm looking forward to it. Congrats on part two and part three already.

[Rory]

Yes.

[Safaree]

Thank you, Safari. Congrats on everything you doing. Healthcare is major.

[Lance]

Yeah.

[Safaree]

So I know you going, if I see another dirt bike, I already know what that mean. You ran the bag.

[Lance]

Yeah, bro. I. I don't even touch the bikes no more.

[Chris Gotti]

Lost their co. Oh.

[Safaree]

Since you got into healthcare, you can't. You can't Rich get help.

[Lance]

I feel like dad and like, having the kids. Now it's like.

[Safaree]

Like, let me chill.

[Lance]

Yeah. Now I love my. I really love my kids. You know what I'm saying? Like, at first, I was like, you know. No, I'm just kidding.

[Safaree]

I like, this nigga's crazy.

[Chris Gotti]

I was like, I don't know what edit we're about to make.

[Safaree]

Yeah, Like, I was like. At first I was like, I don't know about these little.

[Rory]

But now they cool.

[Lance]

Even last night in my hotel room, and I was looking at my phone and a picture popped up, and I'm like, damn, yo. I miss my kids right now.

[Rory]

And, you know, that's part of this game. Yeah, you have to deal with that with.

[Chris Gotti]

With acting now. Safaree. I feel like there's not enough films centered around dancehall.

[Safaree]

Okay.

[Lance]

We definitely spoke about that. That was one of the scripts that they was talking about. And I'm like, all right, cool.

[Rory]

I need to reach my partner. He's Jamaican.

[Chris Gotti]

Okay.

[Rory]

He. He understands all.

[Chris Gotti]

I mean, don't remake Shout us, but, like, something new.

[Safaree]

Shoutouts is classic, but what could be cool is someone who tried to get.

[Chris Gotti]

Nick Belly too Game.

[Safaree]

No, tried to make it. They made it.

[Chris Gotti]

Oh, did it came out?

[Rory]

Hold on.

[Safaree]

Belly two did come out.

[Rory]

That's my first film.

[Chris Gotti]

Oh, my bad.

[Safaree]

Chris. Get him.

[Rory]

That's.

[Safaree]

He about to talk.

[Chris Gotti]

When I saw Game on the COVID I was like, wait, so the new.

[Lance]

The shot does too? Is shot. I'm. I'm in it.

[Chris Gotti]

Okay.

[Lance]

Thank God. Big shout out to Keani Marley. So I'm in that. But it's called Vendetta. It didn't come out yet. We shot this movie. Like, I ain't gonna lie. Kimani's been. He's a perfectionist.

[Rory]

Oh, yeah.

[Lance]

And in a big part of. Of Shatas, and just, you know, all the movies is the scoring, which is the music that's playing under certain stuff. And the way he's scoring this movie. Yo, he's been in this. He's been in the studio for, like, a year. Just, like, watching it, getting it right. Just getting it right with the sounds. Watching it in theaters by himself. Like, when this comes out, it's. It's like that movie. I ain't gonna lie. I forgot I did that until you said that. Cause it didn't come out yet. And I shot it so long ago. But I can't wait for that one to come out too. That's gonna be dope.

[Safaree]

Well, I'm definite watching Balling tonight. Shout out to Lance. His. His acting debut.

[Chris Gotti]

Yeah.

[Safaree]

Shout out to Chris Gotti.

[Chris Gotti]

Rest in peace to Irv.

[Safaree]

Rest in peace to the legendary family. I97.

[Rory]

Do better, man.

[Safaree]

Nasty, don't. You can't. You can't. You can't. You can't mess that up. Not Irv's legacy. Don't do that.

[Rory]

Don't do that.

[Chris Gotti]

And you know Irv gonna haunt that stage if.

[Rory]

Yeah.

[Safaree]

Power's going out.

[Lance]

Was it. Was it, like, whose idea Was it who was like, yo, let's Hot 97.

[Rory]

Said they want to honor Irv. Good job performing and do a murder Inc. Honor for Irv Gotti. So they brought it to us, and then they don't handle it right. That doesn't make sense.

[Lance]

I'm not surprised, though.

[Safaree]

But, you know, I was gonna say that. Cause it's Hot 97. You know the history.

[Rory]

We have some more projects that again, we're putting out. That'll be great. That's gonna be great to see too. You know, Prince is right here. Shout Out Prince. You know, Preeminence and the Mundane Truth. A documentary on Preen. That's gonna be crazy.

[Safaree]

I'm looking forward to that.

[Rory]

Yeah, I'm in that. And just.

[Lance]

You from Queens.

[Safaree]

I'm from Uptown Bronx.

[Lance]

Where you from?

[Chris Gotti]

Queens.

[Lance]

Queens. Okay.

[Rory]

And then we have again, Night Shift. We did a horror film in the strip club. That's the next movie that we got coming.

[Chris Gotti]

Strip clubs.

[Safaree]

Which one of these bitches is a vampire?

[Chris Gotti]

Listen, I've been in starlets in the wrong night turns into a horror film.

[Safaree]

Yeah. When the brims walk in starlets and it's only one way out in that.

[Chris Gotti]

Small parking lot, and you can't even back out. Yeah.

[Rory]

And we're in production right now for Cuzzo 2. Cuzzo 1 was the first one. It was about a guy that came home from jail. Barber, I mean, and started cooking. And we got Cuzzo 2 in production right now. So we're shooting right now again, just working, trying to stay busy in the film industry, looking into AI Films coming.

[Safaree]

Okay.

[Rory]

Telling you. You mentioned AI. That's. That's gonna be the next. But, you know, just wanted to keep everything moving and just to keep pushing and.

[Safaree]

Absolutely.

[Rory]

Thank you again for having us on this platform.

[Chris Gotti]

Thank you for coming.

[Safaree]

Thank y' all for coming, man. It was a. It's a pleasure getting to sit here and talk to y' all. We looking forward to it.

[Lance]

Congrats to y' all.

[Chris Gotti]

Appreciate that.

[Safaree]

Thank you, man.

[Lance]

Y' all been doing y' all thing for facts.

[Safaree]

Thank you, man.

[Rory]

Me and Rory, we got together a while ago. We went to dinner.

[Chris Gotti]

It was a fun day.

[Rory]

So many. So.

[Lance]

So it's.

[Rory]

Glad we got to finally do it.

[Chris Gotti]

Yeah, I still. Come October, I want to do the Rule 33625 anniversary podcast episode. We did it with Guru and his brother for Black Album. Like, just the episode dedicated to an anniversary of album. So I would love for you to sit down in October with us.

[Safaree]

I gotta tell Ja about the time I went to his bachelor party.

[Chris Gotti]

Okay.

[Rory]

Oh, man, be careful. That was.

[Safaree]

Yeah, that was.

[Lance]

That.

[Rory]

That was like, everything is out right now.

[Safaree]

No, no, no, no, no, no. It was. It was a great time. But I was. I was like the youngest. I was the youngest one there. I went with Jay Biggs. We all went. I was like 19 or 20 at the time. And I walked in and I was just looking around, like. And then Ja came up to me, gave me about 5,000 singles. He was like, have fun, man.

[Rory]

Yeah.

[Safaree]

And that was the greatest night of my life. I was like, yo, this is what these rapper be doing, right?

[Chris Gotti]

Legendary me at 19. Would have put that 5 right in my pocket.

[Lance]

I thought about it.

[Rory]

I thought at least I was 49.

[Lance]

I've done it. I do it now.

[Chris Gotti]

I'm lying. I'm saying 19, 35 year old might be like, yo, Jon, thanks.

[Lance]

I remember one time I was with the game of the strip club. He had a homie, he was like, yo, hold us down. I'm like, yo, good lord.

[Rory]

That's terrible, man. That is terrible.

[Safaree]

That's Chris Gotti Safaree. Thank y' all fellas for stopping by Ballin. Available now on Tubi. Stream it, support it.

[Rory]

Yes.

[Safaree]

Black independent films.

[Rory]

Not stopping.

[Safaree]

Thank y' all, John.

[Rory]

Gentlemen, thank you.

[Chris Gotti]

Mall in 2025. Hand to Hand is gone when it comes to money. But thank God we have an app, like Cash App. I can finally, in this digital age, just send money whenever I feel like it.

[Rory]

You need it.

[Safaree]

You need to be able to send money anywhere in the world, anytime.

[Chris Gotti]

And I love when I go out to dinner and the bill comes and they're like, yo, get this now. I'll get you back later. No, no, no. We could do it right now.

[Safaree]

Yeah, don't tell me you got me later.

[Chris Gotti]

Yeah, cash at me now. Oh, you don't have Cash App. It takes two seconds to download. Put your bank right there. Send me the money.

[Lance]

Right.

[Chris Gotti]

Let's make this awkward for dessert. So Cash App makes everything easier. And Damaris taught me this amazing trick. With Cash App, if a random number texts you, all you do is request a dollar. And if they have Cash App, you can find out exactly who is texting you, which was the greatest woman trick I have ever heard in my entire life.

[Safaree]

Absolutely.

[Chris Gotti]

I don't even know if Cash App knows how ill they are for that. If for whatever insane reason you don't already have Cash App, just download it from your phone's app store. Sign up, enter our code. Rory Mall 10 in your profile, send $5 to a friend, mainly me, and you'll get $10 just for getting started.

[Safaree]

For a limited time only new Cash App users can use our exclusive code to earn some additional cash. For real? There's no catch. Just download Cash App and sign up. Use our exclusive Referral code, Rory Mall 10 in your profile, send $5 to a friend within 14 days and you'll get $10 dropped right into your account. Terms apply. That's money. That's Cash app.

[Rory]

Okay?

[Lance]

Have you heard about this? Last year, Degree changed the formula for their Cool Rush deodorant.

[Rory]

Their fans rebelled and wanted the old sin back. And ° listen, that doesn't happen often.

[Lance]

They admitted that they effed up and.

[Safaree]

Are bringing the original Cool Rush scent back.

[Lance]

And it's exactly how you remember cool, crisp and fresh.

[Safaree]

There's a reason it's the number one men's antiperspirant.

[Rory]

And it's back in Walmart, Target and.

[Lance]

Other stores for under $4. So try it and see what the fuss is about. Head to your local stores to try the OG Cool Rush for yourself.

[Walton Goggins]

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[Trey Farrow]

Are you still quoting 30 year old movies? Have you said cool beans in the past 90 days? Do you think Discover isn't widely accepted? If this sounds like you, you're stuck in the past. Discover is accepted at 99% of places that take credit cards nationwide. And every time you make a purchase with your card, you automatically earn cash back. Welcome to the now it pays to discover. Learn [e-mail] Credit Card Based on the February 2024 Nielsen report, this is an iHeart podcast.