Episode 5 w/ Lenny S

Summary

Podcast Summary: ROC Solid - Episode 5 with Lenny S

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Introduction

In Episode 5 of ROC Solid, hosted by Memphis Bleek, listeners are treated to an intimate and unfiltered conversation with Lenny S, a pivotal figure in the Roc-A-Fella Records legacy. Released on July 8, 2025, this episode delves deep into the foundational years of Roc-A-Fella, the dynamic between Memphis and Lenny, and the intricate workings behind the scenes of one of hip-hop's most legendary labels.

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Early Days at Roc-A-Fella

Memphis Bleek kicks off the episode by reminiscing about the early days of Roc-A-Fella, highlighting Lenny S's integral role within the team.

Memphis Bleek [04:07]: "Rock wouldn't be built without guys like this, you know what I'm saying?"

Lenny shares his journey from an intern handling street team promotions to ascending into the role of A&R (Artists and Repertoire), expressing his ambition to work closely with artists and producers.

Lenny S [04:24]: "I started that Roc as an intern doing street team promotion... My most ambitious dream was to work on albums with artists."

The duo reflects on their collaboration with Damon "Dame" Dash, which was instrumental in elevating their roles and contributing to Roc-A-Fella's burgeoning success.

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Role as A&R and Managerial Duties

As the conversation progresses, Lenny delves into his multifaceted responsibilities beyond the traditional A&R duties. He reveals how his role organically expanded to encompass managerial tasks, often stepping into areas that traditionally fall under a manager's purview.

Lenny S [09:26]: "I did a lot of situations that were like, yo, that's basically everything that a manager does."

Memphis concurs, emphasizing the collective hustle and versatility required to sustain Roc-A-Fella during its formative years.

Memphis Bleek [33:14]: "None of us went to school for this. There's no course that could teach you this. It's just hard work and dedication to the team."

This section underscores the informal yet highly effective structure of Roc-A-Fella, where roles were fluid, and team members wore multiple hats to ensure the label's success.

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Touring Stories and Anecdotes

One of the episode's highlights is the collection of vivid tales from their extensive touring experiences. Memphis and Lenny recount memorable moments, including interactions with top-tier artists like DMX and Ja Rule, navigating through various tours, and the camaraderie that defined their journeys.

Lenny S [25:18]: "DMX slammed the door so hard because the cop told us we were gonna get out the car. It was like a movie."

They also touch upon the challenges of managing logistics on the road, such as managing group dynamics, handling unexpected situations like car accidents, and the relentless grind of maintaining Roc-A-Fella's presence in the hip-hop arena.

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Challenges and the Breakup of Roc-A-Fella

A poignant part of the discussion revolves around the eventual dissolution of Roc-A-Fella Records. Both Memphis and Lenny provide candid insights into the internal and external factors that led to the label's breakup, including shifting business dynamics, personal aspirations, and the immense pressures of sustaining a leading hip-hop label.

Memphis Bleek [41:02]: "One of the hardest and darkest times of our career... But that's what I always wanted to say."

Lenny explains his proactive approach during this tumultuous period, personally reaching out to artists to inform them of the situation, underscoring the familial bond within Roc-A-Fella.

Lenny S [43:35]: "I went to Philly to go alone... to let them know there was no longer Rockefeller. No Rockefeller."

This segment sheds light on the emotional and professional toll the breakup had on the team, while also highlighting their unwavering commitment to their artists and the legacy they built together.

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Legacy and Current Reflections

In the latter part of the episode, Memphis and Lenny reflect on Roc-A-Fella's enduring impact on the music industry. They discuss how the label's ethos and work ethic have influenced contemporary artists and the broader hip-hop culture.

Memphis Bleek [52:44]: "It's a fingerprint of Roc-A-Fella. Everywhere, every part, everywhere. This music business... Rockefeller made a fingerprint from Rockefeller."

They celebrate the successes achieved despite the challenges and express hope for the continued relevance of Roc-A-Fella's philosophy in today's evolving music landscape.

Lenny S [52:10]: "I think it also made everybody stronger, made everybody more independent, myself included."

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Conclusion

Episode 5 of ROC Solid offers a comprehensive and heartfelt exploration of Roc-A-Fella Records through the eyes of two of its key players, Memphis Bleek and Lenny S. Their shared memories, challenges, and triumphs provide listeners with a nuanced understanding of what it took to build and sustain a legendary hip-hop label. The episode not only honors the legacy of Roc-A-Fella but also serves as an inspiration for aspiring artists and industry professionals striving to make their mark.

Notable Quotes:

• Memphis Bleek [04:07]: "Rock wouldn't be built without guys like this, you know what I'm saying?"
• Lenny S [04:24]: "I started that Roc as an intern doing street team promotion... My most ambitious dream was to work on albums with artists."
• Lenny S [09:26]: "I did a lot of situations that were like, yo, that's basically everything that a manager does."
• Memphis Bleek [33:14]: "None of us went to school for this. There's no course that could teach you this. It's just hard work and dedication to the team."
• Memphis Bleek [41:02]: "One of the hardest and darkest times of our career... But that's what I always wanted to say."
• Lenny S [43:35]: "I went to Philly to go alone... to let them know there was no longer Rockefeller. No Rockefeller."

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Stay Connected:

To stay updated with more episodes of ROC Solid, follow Memphis Bleek on social media under the name Memphis Bleek and subscribe through the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or your preferred podcast platform.

Transcript

[Memphis Bleak]

This is an iHeart podcast.

[Lenny Dress]

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[Joseph Reeves]

Show me how good it can get today, God, and show the rest of the world what we already know it can't get. No better than being hella black, hella queer, and hella Christian. My name is Joseph Reeves. I am the creator and host of Hella Black, Hella Queer, Hella Christian. A fully black, fully queer, fully human, fully divine podcast. From iHeartMedia to Hella Black, Hella Queer, a Christian on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast.

[Lenny Dress]

Adventures should never come with a pause button.

[Bridget Todd]

Remember MoviePass? All the movies you wanted for just nine bucks. I'm Bridget Todd, host of There Are no Girls on the Internet. And this season I'm digging into the tech stories we weren't told, starting with Stacey Spikes, the Black founder of MoviePass who got pushed out of the company he built.

[Lenny Dress]

Everybody's trying to knock you down and it's not going to work and no one's going to like it. And then, boom, it's everywhere. And that was that moment.

[Bridget Todd]

Listen to There are no Girls on the Internet, on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Stay informed, empowered and ahead of the curve with a bi N News this Hour podcast updated hourly to bring you the latest stories shaping the black community. From breaking headlines to cultural milestones, the Black Information Network delivers the facts, the voices and the perspectives that matter 247 because our stories deserve to be heard. Listen to the BI News this Hour podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Memphis Bleak]

What up, y'? All? This your main man, Memphis Bleak, right here. Welcome to Rock Solid, a production of iHeartRadio in the black Effect Network in partnership with my guys over at Drink Champs. Big whipping. Yeah, Memphis, I'm back at it. Notice the difference. Just more grown. Prezi, no stones, yo. This is a new episode. Rock solid podcast. Yours truly, Myth Bleak in the building. We got one of the original pebbles of the rock. You know what I'm saying, you know what I'm saying? Rock wouldn't be built without guys like this, you know what I mean? We got Lenny ass in the building, but y' all might not know. I call him Lenny Dress. Is this been fly since 91? Here we are. 95, 95, 91. What up, my guy? How you doing?

[Lenny Dress]

Thank you. This is not gonna be easy. We find some. We have the same sense of humor, yo.

[Memphis Bleak]

But yeah, yo, people don't know, you know what I'm saying? Just for those who know, I hit home the other day and I'm like, yo, Lenny coming on the podcast about the interviewer. I think, say what y' all gonna do, laugh one day, you know what I'm saying? So I'm like, nah, nah, mad, cuz we funny. Yeah. I said, nah, we gonna do our thing. He was like, yo, but where can I watch the podcast? Is it only on your phone or is it. I was like, nah, I like. We dropping this year. Top of the year. I told him, Lenny Dress is the episode coming out. Like I told you, this the episode gonna get us paid, y'. All. We going from rags to riches, this one.

[Lenny Dress]

I appreciate you having me on, though.

[Memphis Bleak]

Seriously. No, my guy, yo, my guy, seriously. Let's bring them back. Don't know where you started. They know you fab. You know the Cali days. They don't know you from the really original M E M P H I as Bleak Days. That.

[Lenny Dress]

That is. That is very true, you know what I'm saying?

[Memphis Bleak]

Because my man Lindy Dress was walking around, his name was Kodak getting shot, you know what I'm saying? Had the plugs to all the magazines just used to pop up with pictures. Then one day, everything changed. Lenny dressed.

[Lenny Dress]

Yo, stop. All right? So, I mean, I guess from the beginning, obviously started that rock as an intern doing street team promotion, as you know. And we're obviously speaking for the people that don't know this, but started out doing street promotion from there, was able to elevate into a R, which was my actual. You know, that was my Whatever dream. That was my. That was what I was most ambitious for, right? To be able to work on albums with artists.

[Memphis Bleak]

Who gave you that alleyu.

[Lenny Dress]

Honestly, Damon Jake. Like I told him. I first told Dame Damon J.

[Memphis Bleak]

Off the backboard way the br.

[Lenny Dress]

No, we'll get into our situation, but I'm talking about, like, as far as just from Street Team into. Into a R, they noticed that I was kind of hitting my head on the ceiling, and they asked me What I wanted to do after that. And I told him, obviously, A R. And then Dame has suggested that I do the Streets is Watching soundtrack.

[Memphis Bleak]

Oh, that was your first project First.

[Lenny Dress]

Yeah. But just like. Yeah, just like, working on that.

[Memphis Bleak]

I'm taking too much credit there.

[Lenny Dress]

No, no, no. Well, what you and I did, which we'll talk about, is what really launched and catapulted, because, you know.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yeah.

[Lenny Dress]

That was like some nobody.

[Memphis Bleak]

That's what I'm about to say. Yo, it's. It's weird how it happened, because I always knew Lynn moving around, like I said, being fly. This always was the coolest. Taking the pictures, all the events, all the parties, always. Nothing changed. And then it changed in Rockefeller when Beans came, because the shift. Remember, I was the only artist at first.

[Lenny Dress]

Correct.

[Memphis Bleak]

And then the shift went to Beans. Beans here. Everything was beans. And Lynn was the only one who came to me and was like, yo, yo, I'm an A R, bro. Let's get in the studio. Yeah. We could put some work together. We get in the studio, we do our thing. And I'm looking, I'm like, but don't you do that? He like, nah, I know producers. I know everything. So I'm like, all right, let's go.

[Lenny Dress]

That's funny. You remember that? So.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yes.

[Lenny Dress]

Damn, that's good.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yeah, bro. You kidding me?

[Lenny Dress]

So basically, just for the people listening, right? I use that as. I used every opportunity within the music business to catapult to the next. Yeah, whatever that is. Right. The next level, the next Whatever. Whatever else I was trying to achieve. So I would just look at situations that had a void or look at something that wasn't being paid attention to or whatever the case may be, right. And I made sure that I filled that void. So the same with taking photos, the same with, you know, whatever the case may be, you know, I would do everything for Dame, Jay, and Biggs. In the beginning, when I was an intern, I parked cars, I went to Wendy's. You know what I'm saying?

[Memphis Bleak]

That's a fact. It was grinding.

[Lenny Dress]

So, yeah, retail stores. I helped, you know, Al Br. I helped wherever, you know, that was. Helped, needed. But anyway, seeing the whole Bean situation, which was great, right? He was a new artist. He was really, really, really good. Yeah, it's like almost like a shiny new toy. You know what I mean? So a lot of the attention, as it should anywhere with something that's, you know, new and that you want to put a lot of effort into, a lot of that went there, and I noticed a void with you where it's like you had already been there. You were an original, you know, they were kind of not in a bad way, but the attention wasn't checking for. It just was more urgent, you know what I'm saying? And you hadn't done like a project project yet. So I took that opportunity to be like, look, bro, check this out. Like, you know what I'm saying? Like, we could do this. And I don't see anybody doing it, to my knowledge or not doing it yet, you know what I'm saying?

[Memphis Bleak]

And.

[Lenny Dress]

And I had a hookup at a studio.

[Memphis Bleak]

Was in the basement.

[Lenny Dress]

I found somebody.

[Memphis Bleak]

Street.

[Lenny Dress]

Yeah, I found some. And that's what I did, right? Use relationships for everything. So I found somebody was like, hey, if you. You're a Rockefeller, right? If you come to my studio, everybody charges. Whatever. I'm making this up, you know, $2,000 for a session. I'll give you a session for 400 if you work here.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yeah.

[Lenny Dress]

So that's when I went to Bleak and was like, yo, I got the studio. It ain't like. It ain't Sony, it ain't Hit Factory. We're not gonna run into Mariah and dmx. But we could get our album done if I could get producers here and just give me a shot. And I honestly, I asked Bleak for the shot because he could have been like, you know, I don't want a new A R. I don't want a new person on my project. And hip hop at the time was one of the best ars in hip.

[Memphis Bleak]

None of my project.

[Lenny Dress]

No, no, but I'm saying. But being that he is one of the best A in the world and was on rock, you would think that you might be like, you know, like. Like N. I'm utilizing the best. Like, I don't know what you could do. And Bleak took a chance on me and we took a chance on each other, man.

[Memphis Bleak]

Definitely, bro. Cuz I didn't even know I was capable of making Coming to Age. No one thought we were going to make that album. I remember the day when we went to the office to play it for J. Damon Biggs. Remember? They was surprised. Like, what the. Yeah, y' all did this. Remember hov was like, what song I can put a verse on? Remember?

[Lenny Dress]

Yeah, we just got to it.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yeah.

[Lenny Dress]

And that was another thing that I always just personally, I like to. I like to put in the work and then, you know, show. Show the work.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yes.

[Lenny Dress]

I think that's when people step up and they see that you take initiative and that you are capable of pulling something off without using the powers that. Because we could have used their favors. We could have asked Dame or Ax Jay to make a call. This producer or that person or who.

[Memphis Bleak]

We went straight grinding. That's when we had what was my man. B. Stanley was our engineer, man. Yeah, yeah, B. Stanley. I just seen B2 not too long ago. Shout out my guy. B. Stanley, original engineer. Like and that. And. And I'm glad I'm here to speak with you because you were my A R in every studio session. Because you know the word on the street. People think hov wrote everything. Because, you know, I tell people. Yeah. Coming to age, I was too young to think, oh, yeah. No, he ripped that sheet of paper out of his book and was like, bleak. As fast as you remember this, you'll be on.

[Lenny Dress]

Yeah.

[Memphis Bleak]

No, no, I could say it now. That was a little bit, Cap. Because if we went to Dig coming in, I'd have been back on that project.

[Lenny Dress]

What section of Marshall is that?

[Memphis Bleak]

That's just awesome. Flushing Avenue right there on that. They gonna pop me right back. Like, listen, I bought them all, but he ain't catch on.

[Lenny Dress]

I can. I can account every studio session, every verse.

[Memphis Bleak]

Hope didn't even know we was in the studio. Putting it yellow.

[Lenny Dress]

You had the yellow pad going hard, my G. Like, there was always a bunch of oregano or something all over. I don't know what that was.

[Memphis Bleak]

No, we had the weed. We were smoking Chimney back then. We was definitely smoking garbage.

[Lenny Dress]

Brooklyn dirt.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yeah, back there was bad, bro. But we definitely pulled that album off.

[Lenny Dress]

Yeah.

[Memphis Bleak]

Then we went into the Understanding album. That's when. That's when the. They paid us attention. Like, yeah, these is putting in some work over here.

[Lenny Dress]

We always elevated.

[Memphis Bleak]

That's a fact. Yo, so. But after a while, like, I always wanted to know. The people don't know, but me, as your friend, as your bro, I always wanted to know what happened at the Rock at that time when you left. Cuz it was a point of time when you left. Rockefeller don't even know. L used to pull up, it was outside. It was like, yo, man, what happened? You just was my plug.

[Lenny Dress]

Like, you talking about the time I quit?

[Memphis Bleak]

Yeah, you left, you went. I think it was Electra, right?

[Lenny Dress]

Oh, no, no, no. Virgin. Talking about virgins. Yes, yes, yes. No, that was with. That was the understanding. That was.

[Memphis Bleak]

That's right after understanding.

[Lenny Dress]

Yeah, yeah, but no, but I'm saying that was with J. Jay's blessing. Yeah.

[Memphis Bleak]

Okay. I never knew because I'm just like he always wanted.

[Lenny Dress]

Well, he always did. And I love Jay for this. He always kept me on even when he, like, retired. Remember? He retired. He wasn't doing nothing.

[Memphis Bleak]

Retiring every album.

[Lenny Dress]

No, no, no. But the time after Blackham, he really, like, stopped, and he really retired. I was getting job offers, and I was like, yo, you know, and I've said this before, I think somebody's thing, but I was getting job offers, and I wanted to take the job just because we weren't. We weren't a functioning company. You know, it was. It had dispersed, and he had retired or whatever, and. And he was like, no, no, we good. I'm gonna keep you. You know, keep you good. And he really kept me on.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yeah.

[Lenny Dress]

Payroll. I mean, and it wasn't until Big John, which, you know, is, you know, one of my mentors and close friends with Jay and. And so instrumental and. And, you know, Jay's. You know, getting Jay's songs and stuff like that from the publishing side, Big John had taken a job at Virgin. So John asked Jay, like, yo, could I. You. You know, Lenny Wild, you know, whatever, until something else happens over there. And Jay was like, all right, that's. That's family.

[Memphis Bleak]

So. Yeah.

[Lenny Dress]

And I went to Virgin Records.

[Memphis Bleak]

That's when you transition from A R to CEO. You had your artist, too. What was my man. Yeah, yeah, you was CEO. Used to pull up like Suge Knight. Yo, let my man get a verse on this shot. Y. BK Shout out my shots.

[Lenny Dress]

Shout out that nice.

[Memphis Bleak]

Don't. I was never. I would never say he wasn't.

[Lenny Dress]

I'm not saying, like.

[Memphis Bleak]

Like was super nice. He was ahead of his time. Because if you think about it how J. Cole and them is spitting that lane. He was in that lane 10 years before.

[Lenny Dress]

Like, it's funny. He know. He knew Cole from back then.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yeah. Like, that's crazy. Shot was that guy, man. He was putting in that work. I was. I was surprised that Jay didn't sign him.

[Lenny Dress]

Yeah. I don't know, man. We. You know, we tried and we did, you know, I got a Medella Virgin, and then when I. When that whole situation kind of, like, dispersed, you know, he left Virgin and then, you know, started doing his own thing. And I tried to do it over there, but it didn't work out for whatever reason, but. But he was. He's dead. Dead dead nice. And right ahead of his time. And it was frustrating not, you know, whenever you can't get somebody off the ground that.

[Memphis Bleak]

Bro.

[Lenny Dress]

That. You know, and I believe that other people that. That have Gone. So I'm like, I know this is that. Yes. You know, you can't win them all, but.

[Memphis Bleak]

And. And that's the thing about the rap game. People think just because you nice.

[Lenny Dress]

Yeah.

[Memphis Bleak]

You make it.

[Lenny Dress]

Sure.

[Memphis Bleak]

No, it's who ain't nice, who make it. You'll be like, how the this did it.

[Lenny Dress]

There's singers out there to sound like, you know. No, I'm saying, like, good. Like that are great.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yeah.

[Lenny Dress]

Ariana or Mariah. And they can't get on, you know, I mean, like, you know, it's not easy, man.

[Memphis Bleak]

Definitely getting people to check for you. You. It's not easy. But one thing I want to bring up, because my man been making fun of my name forever. I've been repping Memphis Bleak since the beginning.

[Lenny Dress]

Does everybody know what Memphis stands for?

[Memphis Bleak]

They know it stand for making easy money, pimping hoes and style. They know I was pimping. I'm a little bit too old for that now, but saying that now sounds nuts.

[Lenny Dress]

Memphis League nothing. Easy money, pimping hoes in style is absurd. I knew what it always meant, but I never stood behind it. Yes, they're behind you as an artist, but I never stood behind that acronym.

[Memphis Bleak]

We wasn't pimping back then. Yo, producers, you was J. DJ For a minute.

[Lenny Dress]

I was, yes.

[Memphis Bleak]

See, don't man. The mini hats, man. Y' all don't notice. Ly was the dj.

[Lenny Dress]

I was the DJ for ir. No, no, no, no, no.

[Memphis Bleak]

Gotti was first.

[Lenny Dress]

No, no, no. I was a substitute. Like a substitute teacher. I was.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yeah. Yo, you and B. Dj.

[Lenny Dress]

Come on, man. We gotta have a real. No, but some of stuff is funny to us. But they may not know. But yes, I did play DJ for Jay for whatever, two years or something like that. Again, just because it was a situation that was. It was needed. Yeah. You know, we didn't have a DJ at the time, and it was something. Something that had happened abruptly and. And Jay was like, all right, you're gonna do it. And I'm like, no, I'm not gonna do it. I'm not a fucking DJ. By the way. We're in North Carolina. 20,000 people outside in the crowd and. But because I had programmed the playback machine that we used to use, remember, as being an A R? Yeah. Being an A R for the team. I did all the programming. I held all the music. So I always held the playback machine. And I actually would load it and program it for whoever. DJ for Jay. So even when we had shows, I would take it with me, I'm saying. And I went over every show with Jay. We would go over everything. So I knew the ins and outs. I knew. So that's why he was like, yeah. But that's why he was like, you're gonna do it. And I was like, listen. Knowing the information is way different than performing.

[Memphis Bleak]

No people looking at you.

[Lenny Dress]

Yeah.

[Memphis Bleak]

And he like, lit. Drop that. You like.

[Lenny Dress]

Yeah. So day one, North Carolina, 20, 000 people.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yeah.

[Lenny Dress]

I'm supposed to play big pimping. I hit the jigga. No, ain't no jigga. But in terrible. He turns around, he says, everybody clap for my man. Lindy has up right now.

[Memphis Bleak]

That was your last show.

[Lenny Dress]

No, no, no, no. And then, remember Ja was on tour with us?

[Memphis Bleak]

Oh, yeah.

[Lenny Dress]

Oh. Doing shows with us. And I got jazz DJ to teach me, like, smoothly. So I studied the whole day with him. And because we had two shows back to back, and the next night I went and I got.

[Memphis Bleak]

When it studied, they gave way. Use the cheat code. Yo, let's. Let's back up a little bit, because a lot of people don't know. The Understanding album is when Young Boy Guru came on board.

[Lenny Dress]

Yeah. You know.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yeah. Shout out. L' Oreal making that call. Remember that day we called B Stan? I think he was sick out or something, right?

[Lenny Dress]

Brian was sick.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yeah.

[Lenny Dress]

And we needed a new engineer. And l' Oreal was a woman that we all. She. And she managed all of the engineers, the good ones.

[Memphis Bleak]

And I remember she said, yo, I got this new kid from D.C. and I was like. Like, I don't know. I'm like, man, do we smoke weed?

[Lenny Dress]

Remember?

[Memphis Bleak]

And she like, yeah. I'm like, all right, then sit him down.

[Lenny Dress]

I was. I was. I was being cautious because, you know, working with the artist, you know. You know me. I always want everything to be top notch, top level, premium. And I hadn't met him. I didn't know how he worked. I need to flow with people. So even before I would put a engineer with an artist.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yeah.

[Lenny Dress]

I would do a session with them on my own. Maybe something else, something that was. Had nothing to do with you. So that I could be like, yo.

[Memphis Bleak]

Okay, this guy's good.

[Lenny Dress]

So whatever. She was like, no, trust me. And we took a chance, and it was Young Guru. And from there, that's when I hit Jay. And I was like, jay. I had hip hop, and Jay. And I was like, yo, I got a guy who is unbelievable.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yeah.

[Lenny Dress]

And that's when we had. Jay had another engineer that was, yo.

[Memphis Bleak]

That'S What I'm about to say, it was engineer drama. I forgot the guy Jay had. But something happened at Sony where he. Some of the music, I guess, got leaked.

[Lenny Dress]

Yes.

[Memphis Bleak]

And Jay was looking for an engineer at this time.

[Lenny Dress]

So it's perfect.

[Memphis Bleak]

I find an engineer. That's my guy smoking. We cool, dad. Me on my engine. You get dated on your engineer. Yo, what type of Marcy Brooklyn is that? That was. Yeah, that's mine.

[Lenny Dress]

That definitely happened.

[Memphis Bleak]

You with me?

[Lenny Dress]

I. And I'm sorry.

[Memphis Bleak]

He even got room at the crib.

[Lenny Dress]

But you know what? Guru was ahead of his time. Guru was intelligent, he was smart, he was knowledgeable.

[Memphis Bleak]

He was the oracle, man.

[Lenny Dress]

He's Yoda, man. He was the first one that we know using pro tools.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yeah.

[Lenny Dress]

So I told Jay, I said, this guy uses a computer. Jay. He don't even use a reel. Yeah. What I'm like, listen to me. We've been doing these bleak sessions. We're getting things done five hours faster. And then Jay tried him out, and it was.

[Memphis Bleak]

They stole him. Never single again.

[Lenny Dress]

Still here.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yeah. I gotta call Cool and wait for HOV. Now, Hov had to weigh. Yo. Even you stole. You like HOV still all my. He like, oh, Cool. He D me on all my. With his cuz. That's the big homie he deserves. Cool. But let me know, though. Give me a call. Steal a lot of my. You. There's one you don't even know they stole from me. Oh, yeah, and I met that. Me and Goo met this in the store in Newark. And he like, yo, I make beats. And I'm like, all right, cool. Word. He came to the stool. He ended up making the joint on 534.

[Lenny Dress]

Oh, wow.

[Memphis Bleak]

It's Tata producer now. Even call. Say what? Nothing no more. At least you. You a goo. Y' all the most loyal that I got dead. We still. We still loyal to you. Y' all still tap in with me, man. You know what I'm saying?

[Lenny Dress]

And then we've got graduated to the A, A party, B party.

[Memphis Bleak]

Don't know X. Rest in peace. Really told the lady, she like, yo, I got food in the fridge. You got something for the dogs? Dogs is hungry, man. Gotta feed the dog.

[Radhi Devlukia]

From iheart podcasts and Rococo Punch. This is the turning river road.

[Vivian Tu]

I knew I wanted to obey and submit, but I didn't fully grasp for the rest of my life what that meant.

[Radhi Devlukia]

In the woods of Minnesota, a cult leader married himself to 10 girls and forced them into a secret life of abuse.

[Vivian Tu]

Why did I think that way. Why did I allow myself to get so sucked in by this man and thinking to the point that if I died for him, that would be the greatest honor?

[Radhi Devlukia]

But in 2014, the youngest of the girls escaped and sparked an international manhunt.

[Vivian Tu]

For all those years, you know, he was the predator and I was the prey. And then he became the prey.

[Radhi Devlukia]

Listen to the Turning river road on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Danielle Robaix]

Just like great shoes, great books take you places through unforgettable love stories and into conversations with characters you'll never for.

[Memphis Bleak]

I think any good romance, it gives.

[Bridget Todd]

Me this feeling of like butterflies.

[Danielle Robaix]

I'm Danielle Roubais and this is bookmarked by Reese's Book Club, the new podcast from hello Sunshine and I Heart Podcasts. Every week I sit down with your favorite book lovers, authors, celebrities, booktokers and more to explore the stories that shape us on the page and off. I've been reading every Reese's Book Club pick, deep diving book talk theories and obsessions, obsessing over book to screen casts for years and now I get to talk to the people making the magic. So if you've ever fallen in love with a fictional character or cried at the last chapter or passed a book to a friend saying you have to read this, this podcast is for you. Listen to Bookmarked by Reese's Book Club on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast.

[Joseph Reeves]

Show me how good it can get today, God, and show the rest of the world what we already know it can't get. No better than being hella black, Hella Queer and hella Christian. My name is Joseph Reeves. I am the creator and host of Hella Black, Hella Queer, Hella Christian, a fully black, fully queer, fully human, fully divine podcast that explores society, culture and the intersections of faith and identity. Listen to any hello Black, Hella Queer, hello Christian to hear conversations about what it means to sound the way you look.

[Memphis Bleak]

I think what I've had to make peace with is that every iteration of my voice is given to me by God and I love it.

[Joseph Reeves]

Books that validated our identity.

[Memphis Bleak]

The library now for me is a safe space as someone who is writing books that they're trying to take off.

[Joseph Reeves]

Of shelves and how we as black queer folks relate to our Christianity. Listen to Hella Black hello Queer, hello Christian on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast.

[Chelsea Clinton]

Hey, I'm Radhi Devlukia and I'm the Host of a really Good Cry podcast. And I have the opportunity to talk to Vivian, too. She is someone who is definitely changing the way we talk about money. She is a former Wall street trader turned personal finance educator, content creator, and now the author of a New York Times best selling book, Rich af. Whether you're trying to get out of debt, build wealth, negotiate like a boss, or just finally understand how to do money right, Vivian is the person to ask.

[Bridget Todd]

I think that is terrifying because not understanding your own money and not understanding finances is one of the easiest ways to get in a situation where you don't have options and there is risk for financial abuse. Yeah, you don't have the money to leave. You cannot make choices that take money out of the equation because you don't have it. And that is why every single woman needs to be good with money.

[Chelsea Clinton]

Listen to a really Good cry on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

[Memphis Bleak]

We in Miami.

[Lenny Dress]

Fort Lauderdale.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yeah, we was in Fort Lauderdale.

[Lenny Dress]

The show's in Miami.

[Memphis Bleak]

Mike Kaiser. Pull up to the hotel.

[Lenny Dress]

Mike Kaiser is a Def Jam executive.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yes. And Mike had a rental. DMX just signed him and Ja Rule. I wasn't. I ain't even have an album out yet. Yeah, yeah, yeah, right? And.

[Lenny Dress]

And DMX wants to go on, like, a joyride.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yeah. He just like, driving a car. Yeah. So he took the car from Kaiser. We just so happened to be there. And he like, yo, take a ride with me. We jump in the car with him.

[Lenny Dress]

Us four, three artists and one nobody.

[Memphis Bleak]

We speed and not we. He's doing a hundred.

[Lenny Dress]

He's doing a hundred down 95 or whatever that is in traffic from Fort Lauderdale to Miami. I'm talking about like a video game swerving.

[Memphis Bleak]

So.

[Lenny Dress]

State trooper, pull us over. Pull us over.

[Memphis Bleak]

X is pissed that you. Of course it's a rental. These are the days if your name ain't on a rental. We towing the car, taking it.

[Lenny Dress]

Right.

[Memphis Bleak]

Y' all gotta get out of here. So the police telling us y' all.

[Lenny Dress]

Gotta walk the Marshall.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yes. Slammed the car door so hard, the glass.

[Lenny Dress]

The glass shattered. You think I'm making this up? DMX star, rest his soul. One of the greatest artists ever.

[Memphis Bleak]

Ever.

[Lenny Dress]

He slammed the car door so hard because the cop told us we were gonna get out the car. And the cop was like, get in the car. DMX slammed the door so hard, the glass shattered. Like a movie. No, I never saw nothing like that in my life.

[Memphis Bleak]

Not an accident.

[Lenny Dress]

It wasn't. A car hit us and the glass.

[Memphis Bleak]

No.

[Lenny Dress]

DMX just closed the door. And it was like.

[Memphis Bleak]

Word. Now the cop like, y' all get out the car.

[Lenny Dress]

I'm sitting behind X. Yep. You hear?

[Memphis Bleak]

I'm right behind Ja. Because it was BMX and John in the front.

[Lenny Dress]

Yep. You butt next to me and I'm telling. I'm like, x, chill, bro.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yo, chill.

[Lenny Dress]

He's yelling at them.

[Memphis Bleak]

He's yelling at this.

[Lenny Dress]

You mark us.

[Memphis Bleak]

I don't know what. Trooper, whatever.

[Lenny Dress]

And we're just like, ex. Chill, bro.

[Memphis Bleak]

Now he smashed the car. They ready. They like, that's it. We only hear y'. All. Y' all get the out of here.

[Lenny Dress]

Because at first, he was gonna let us keep the car. And then when we. When X was arguing with him. You know what? Now I'm taking the car. However you go.

[Memphis Bleak]

So we walking on the highway. Remember X started walking first? No, we didn't hitchhike at first. Remember, we wasn't at an exit. We had to walk up the dirt to the exit to the regular street. And just so happened, Ja Rule and DMX being famous.

[Lenny Dress]

Yeah.

[Memphis Bleak]

Some girls swerve coming off the exit, seized them and stopped. Oh, my God.

[Lenny Dress]

Wait a minute. Before that, when we walking on the highway, remember, cars are going so fast. People were seeing it, but they're seeing it. It's too late. That wasn't DMX and Jaru and Bleak on like, there's no way. So when we went on the ramp so that we can get cars going on slower.

[Memphis Bleak]

That's when they.

[Lenny Dress]

The girl put girl with her sister or something.

[Memphis Bleak]

Somebody in the car. We scre. I said, you got a ride for the dogs?

[Lenny Dress]

And we was like, yo, we need to get to the American Airlines arena, whatever it was at the time to do a show. But she had got to go home first. Just to get to do something.

[Memphis Bleak]

She had to drop something off at home.

[Lenny Dress]

We went to this girl's house, first of all. We pull up in the neighborhood.

[Memphis Bleak]

The neighborhood.

[Lenny Dress]

Everybody's outside. People are like, what?

[Memphis Bleak]

Ja Rule?

[Lenny Dress]

So, yeah, that was.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yeah. And then we get to a crib. He made a feed us. Remember she fried chicken.

[Lenny Dress]

Grandmother was making fish.

[Memphis Bleak]

And then they took us to the arena and let us do the show. But, yo, X was the illest ever. You even remember the album release party in the tunnel? He came through by himself with a bottle of Hennessy all red. Talking about, huh? It's for the dog. Your first album. Give you that bottle of blood for my dog.

[Lenny Dress]

It was a real one, yo.

[Memphis Bleak]

A real one. No, it's no artist. We would never see another artist like X man. X moved Dolo. No security, nothing. That Hard Knock Life tour. He was in these streets.

[Lenny Dress]

By the way, do you remember Dolo? He made us. X made us distract the security so that we could leave the car ride.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yes, yes. Remember he used to have the dog to make the dog scare everybody in the lobby. Y' all won't be around. Make a bite. She don't stop, she gonna bite. Yo, I'm telling you, that was the illest times, bro. But then you went from just super extraordinaire, photographer, then to super extraordinary A and R to hov stealing. You, you and guru from me. My crew, I was building the all star team. Next you know, I'm on the bench by myself, like where my team go. Then they gets popping out with dream chasers. Chains. We the best Chains for the family. Chains like, yo, I got a lot of friends. No, you got a lot of plaques. You've been putting in a lot of work, boy. Cause a lot of. Gotta thank you for, you know, putting the hand and. And, oh, you. You give a lot of swag. You don't know, man. You. You invented this. You wanted the pioneers of this, man.

[Lenny Dress]

The drip guard, man. I like to take. I like to pay my small contribution to the bigger picture of what, you.

[Memphis Bleak]

Know, whoever we work with, everybody definitely with you, cuz. We ain't have no money to give you a Get Low chain. We ain't get. Never popped off, so we couldn't get. We couldn't get no Get Low piece for you, but we got you. I make sure you get a Rock solid. You want a rock solid joint, Shout out BG the Jeweler, you know what I'm saying? Got Rock Sally looking. I see enough on them.

[Lenny Dress]

Yeah, that's a good logo.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yeah. Hov better not say nothing about the chisels.

[Lenny Dress]

He didn't approve that chain.

[Memphis Bleak]

He don't gotta approve my chain. I am your choice. Why you gonna do that, man? Yo, they can send that message, yo. Nah, we ain't gotta do that now. Send. See, we gonna leave that alone. Yo, but you left. You got me off track. Super extraordinaire for the family. We the. How the. Did you end up on everybody? Management team put me on. I need some new industry.

[Lenny Dress]

No, no, no, no, no. What happened was. You know what it was? As an anr, I was doing things that were managerial, but I didn't know it, you know? I mean, like, I was even too. I don't want to say ignorant or just unaware. I was unaware of. Of the things I was doing because you know me, right. I think I'm gonna utilize any relationship I have to help my artists or the artists that I'm working with get to the highest level.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yeah.

[Lenny Dress]

They can get to. Right. So I didn't look at it as like, oh, I'm A and R. If you're an A R, you're supposed to work on an album with an artist. You're not supposed to get a magazine cover or get them floor seats of the game or put them in a movie or put them in a. You know what I'm saying?

[Memphis Bleak]

Yeah.

[Lenny Dress]

So with me, that's what I. That's how me and Fab connected. I was Fab's A and R, who's my friend. At first then, because we came to Def Jam. Yeah. And we were at Def Jam, I started being his A R, but then from there again, Right. I'm helping, you know, working with his management team, but I'm helping. I got him on a J tour. I got him, you know, like I said, on magazine covers, you know, cameos and things. You know, just a lot of the things that brand deals. Yes. I did a lot of situations that were like, yo, that's basically everything that a manager does. You know what I'm saying? I just never acknowledged management because I didn't. I wasn't, like, professionally, you know, schooled or trained to be a manager. So I thought I couldn't be one.

[Memphis Bleak]

That's what I love about everybody at the Rock. None of us was.

[Lenny Dress]

Yes.

[Memphis Bleak]

You know what I mean? From Al Branch, hip hop, G rolling, traditional schooling. Like, everybody just manifests their positions just by hard work and grinding. That's what I love about the whole team from Big. Nobody went to school for this.

[Lenny Dress]

Nothing that we did.

[Memphis Bleak]

You look at war, you look at dads, nobody is no school. There's no course that could teach you this. It's just, sure, hard work and dedication to the team.

[Lenny Dress]

And that goes. That goes back, you know, like you said, right. To bring the story full circle. Like, that goes back to the DJing or, you know, doing A R or doing retail or. Or doing radio. It goes back to that way. It's like whatever's needed, we're gonna do. You know what I mean? Yeah. We had probably one job that was our main responsibility.

[Memphis Bleak]

But I'm do what it says.

[Lenny Dress]

I would give a haircut if I have to. You know what I'm saying?

[Memphis Bleak]

I remember. L was bacon on top, you brought the cake through. I'm like, this cooked the best. Yo, I ain't gonna front any end. I want to battle and cooking. I put the house on Lenny Jerry.

[Lenny Dress]

Oh, man.

[Memphis Bleak]

Y' all don't to want no smoke with Lindy. Yes. In the kitchen. Nobody wants smoke with in the kitchen. That's a fact.

[Lenny Dress]

I just wanted to do whatever it had to, man.

[Memphis Bleak]

You did, man. And I'm glad we got this episode the way we get to talk about, because a lot of people think, yo, just get the artist, you get the look you want. They don't know that you got to wear many hats to even get y' all to the finish line. And everybody wore many hats. I remember the days of carrying records to the. With Jay. I remember the days of making baskets. Remember? Yeah. By a case of crystal. We buy everything and make a basket, send it to the DJs. Like.

[Lenny Dress]

Yeah, yeah.

[Memphis Bleak]

I remember them days. People just, you know, they like. I always say, when it comes down to a person's story, people like to skip to the end.

[Lenny Dress]

Yeah.

[Memphis Bleak]

They don't like to start at the beginning, because at the beginning, that's the hard road where you didn't know.

[Lenny Dress]

One of the things that attracted me to Rockefeller Records was because I was enamored by them, the crew, you know, before I was with them. This is when In My Lifetime came out. In My Lifetime was like an independent single that Jay had put out right before. Like, you know, the albums and all that stuff. And in New York, we used to have this thing called the Car show at Jacob Javits Center. And at the Car show again, I'm trying to get in the music business. I'm going to everything that's popping outside. There was somebody with coolers with the In My Lifetime single with the little baby Moet bottle.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yeah.

[Lenny Dress]

Giving out as promo.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yeah.

[Lenny Dress]

And I was like, somebody's giving out champagne. Like. And I saw. And I like Jay. So I knew the record. I mean, I was like, they're doing in my life.

[Memphis Bleak]

Like, this is insane. Next level, bro.

[Lenny Dress]

And that to me was just like forward thinking, you know? I mean, and the. Even the marketing of their promo for independent label was. Was premium.

[Memphis Bleak]

It was always at a high level.

[Lenny Dress]

Next level different. I've never seen nothing like that before. Anything else was like a van with guys with flyers. You know what I'm saying?

[Memphis Bleak]

These guys are giving out and think champagne got our van. What? It was the buggy. I been.

[Lenny Dress]

Yes. Yeah. Team promotional vehicle was a Mercedes Benz.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yeah.

[Lenny Dress]

Which actually, you know, I got that.

[Memphis Bleak]

You lied. You still got the car.

[Lenny Dress]

Real it made me cry. Biggs gave it to me for my 50th. You lying hicks gave me that car from a 50th? Yeah, man.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yo, that's crazy. That's crazy.

[Lenny Dress]

It's obviously a sentimental value because that's how I started. I started on the street team, remember.

[Memphis Bleak]

Accident to drive me around. I remember being hyped. You didn't even know when. You used to be like, yo, we got a session in Brielle. And I'd be like, all right, we taking the cab. You be like, nah, I got the car. This time I'm gonna take you. Like, all right, come on. Jumping in that, I was like, yeah, I'm that big.

[Lenny Dress]

I'mma be on a rock logo. And we held that logo, as we still do to this day, with that much pride. And that's what it really. That's what it was really about. By the way, the Benz, cool Benz was premium and was amazing. It wasn't even about the Benz. It was that rock logo on the front and the back of that Benz that was like, yo, we. This is us. Yeah.

[Memphis Bleak]

Remember our first office, my G? Yeah, word, my G. We had mice. And I remember the girls running out like, ah, what the.

[Lenny Dress]

John street, right?

[Memphis Bleak]

Yeah, John street, bro.

[Lenny Dress]

By the way, we had an office right by Wall Street. Yeah, like where all the money was.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yo, it was crazy, bro. How. Started to see where everything is at now. But one thing I always wanted to say, and I need you to. I'm glad we here for you to answer this question. Yo, why I never got an invite to the Halloween. Oh, my God. I can wear a Halloween costume. You know how to put on some makeup? I know. I come through like, you a costume. I come through like, what's my man's war? The warriors. Okay. For the. You know what I'm saying? I gotta make it back home, cuz.

[Lenny Dress]

You gonna wear a vest? A leather vest with no shirt? Nah, no, they wore 11.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yeah, that was the one. Dude. It was like six of them.

[Lenny Dress]

All the Brooklyn guys were like the.

[Memphis Bleak]

No, they did. That's the most. But word. Your Halloween parties be lit. And Liz never get an invite.

[Lenny Dress]

Me and Lala, man.

[Memphis Bleak]

Hey, Lala. Wait, wait. I a know she was down. I see her every year, but I was down. That's.

[Lenny Dress]

Yeah, no, but I mean, like, you don't live in la. We do it mostly.

[Memphis Bleak]

What? That means fly.

[Lenny Dress]

You live in a mansion in Florida somewhere. I know, but I just. You know what it is. I don't assume people are gonna fly somewhere for A party. You know what I mean?

[Memphis Bleak]

I flew. I ain't fly here. I drove here.

[Lenny Dress]

Oh, yeah.

[Memphis Bleak]

But, you know, parties, we party.

[Lenny Dress]

And that's. That's. With respect. I'm not. I'm just like. I don't want to even put somebody in a position to be like, well, no, doing that.

[Memphis Bleak]

You ain't going to do that.

[Lenny Dress]

Now, you good. But you set me up for.

[Memphis Bleak]

I get this to this day.

[Lenny Dress]

About what?

[Memphis Bleak]

That goddamn shampoo commercial. But you go invite me to that.

[Lenny Dress]

By the way, that's me trying to be on my Steve Stout early. No, for real.

[Memphis Bleak]

But, yo, now everybody doing endorsements like this. We went a first crucified for doing a shampoo. A shampoo commercial. And I have no. I got to do this. Like, why are y' all mad at me? They like, I was born. The shampoo on my hand in the shower. Like, I have no hair. They gave us a nice bag for it. Why would I turn that down?

[Lenny Dress]

I remember I hit Jay, and I was like, jay, I was hyped. I was like, yo, I got Bleek up endorsement deal. He was like, word.

[Memphis Bleak]

I was like, yeah. He was like, sorry. Sorry.

[Lenny Dress]

I told him. He was like, what?

[Memphis Bleak]

Yeah.

[Lenny Dress]

What are you talking about? And I was like, yeah. He was like, you think that's a good look? And I was like, this is how much it is.

[Memphis Bleak]

Like, that's a great look.

[Lenny Dress]

And he was like, but he don't have no hair.

[Memphis Bleak]

Exactly. I was like, yo, if they not worried about it, why yet? Yo, yo, to this day, every, like, couple years on Twitter be like, yo, Bleak. I'm like, yo, my God, that brick off the backboard. I can't come to the Halloween party.

[Lenny Dress]

I take responsibility and accountability.

[Memphis Bleak]

That should be forever parties advice.

[Lenny Dress]

That was me. I made Bleak do a shampoo commercial, and he had no hair.

[Memphis Bleak]

What? But he don't have no. Yeah, like, why they want to pay him to endorse some shampoo?

[Lenny Dress]

And he didn't want to. He wanted to support us so much, even if he didn't agree. He was like, you know, do what y' all want to do.

[Memphis Bleak]

But it was a time when state property, everything, you know, we was booming rap, and then that just came crashing down. Like, one thing I don't like that people think is that we all wanted this rock to split up, and, like, we enjoyed it. Or, like, Jay made this decision to become who he is. Like, he wouldn't have been who he is anyway. Like. And they don't understand from the top.

[Lenny Dress]

Down, none of us Wanted your family to break up.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yeah, like that. She was the. One of the hardest and darkest times of our career. And, Lenny, I always said to myself. And you cleared it up recently, but I want you to tell people. I remember saying back in the day, I'm like, damn, HOV is on some. I think I said, lenny, that told lady, go down to Philly and tell them to their face, hey, cut a rock. We dead.

[Lenny Dress]

No, no, no, no, no.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yo, and then when I asked you, you was like, joy, tell me do that. I was crazy. I volunteered. What?

[Lenny Dress]

Jay. Absolutely. And by the way, in a good way, in a respectful way.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yes.

[Lenny Dress]

Jay didn't suggest that at all. I. So basically, like you said, when the. When the label dissolved.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yes.

[Lenny Dress]

And we had to let go or, you know, all the artists had to.

[Memphis Bleak]

Throw their own way. I even got my papers. They just think I ain't get a paper.

[Lenny Dress]

Which was like a normal thing in the company if the company released or the company no longer exists. You know, nothing around it there. Right. So anyway, we had to let go of the artists, obviously, because the company was dissolving. And I thought, you know me, as personal as I am, I thought it would be inappropriate for lawyers to reach out to artists and say, hey, label doesn't exist no more, and you no longer have a contract. You know what I mean? I thought. I thought that would be nuts. So I went. I went to. Jay was with Shaka. Shaka Pilgrim.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yeah.

[Lenny Dress]

Who's one of the pillars and most amazing women ever. That was part of our team. But I went to Jen. I was like, hey, I think we should. Because it wasn't even a J thing. Def Jam was gonna do that. It wasn't even a rock or a J thing or whatever. And I was like, I think that that's. It's inappropriate. And I think I should just go down there and tell them myself, you know, I mean, like, from. From. From us. From family. I looked at them as family.

[Memphis Bleak]

I remember thinking like, that's.

[Lenny Dress]

And people were like, what?

[Memphis Bleak]

What? You went where?

[Lenny Dress]

Tripping.

[Memphis Bleak]

And you called me while you was on your way back, was like, yo, bleak. You know, I just went to Philly to get it. He's like, man, I'm bugging. That's. I'm like, yes, you are bugging. Why would you do that? I had them come to New York.

[Lenny Dress]

I went to Philly to go alone, to go these 12 real ones in the studio. And I. I called a meeting. For all they knew, it was gonna be a good meeting, good meeting.

[Memphis Bleak]

We Doing our thing.

[Lenny Dress]

And I was there to let them know there were no longer no Rockefeller. No Rockefeller.

[Memphis Bleak]

And I just seen a clip with Chris, right, where he was saying that at the B Sides concert, the first concert, that HOV gave them an opportunity. State property was like, yo, I'm ready to try to put this back together. Let's do our thing. Let's go to the studio. I' ma meet y' all there. And Chris said, nobody went to the studio. Everybody wanted to go to the party with Rihanna and all of that.

[Lenny Dress]

Oh, yeah, that party was a good party, though.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yeah. Said, yeah, nobody went to the studio.

[Lenny Dress]

You gotta think, man. I mean, I'm not speaking for any of that. Them, but I'm just saying I'm speaking in terms of the business and the industry at those times. You know, you don't want to miss anything that's going on, and you're not. You're not thinking and focused on, you know, the business aspect or the contractual aspect or you're living in the moment. You know, you're getting good money. You think the money's always going to come. And for some of us does, some of us doesn't. But they. They were just, you know, they were reacting as we all were.

[Memphis Bleak]

By the way, everybody went to that Rihanna party. Everybody went to the Riyadha party. But I know about.

[Lenny Dress]

I didn't know that.

[Memphis Bleak]

I didn't know about the studio session. That's why when I seen it, and he called Freeway on the show to verify that it happened.

[Lenny Dress]

Oh, wow.

[Memphis Bleak]

So that's how I know it's validity to it. And I'm like, damn, that's insane. I didn't know that.

[Lenny Dress]

I didn't know that.

[Memphis Bleak]

Like, I'd have read.

[Lenny Dress]

I'll be honest with you. Bleak Rock is, as you know, is real family to me, more than some of my own family.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yes.

[Lenny Dress]

And you know what I'm saying? Like, I always held it with a high regard and with respect. And, like, I wasn't about to let that. Anything with y'. All. Anything that. For any artist that I dealt with personally to be handled in any way that wasn't, you know, respectful or even if, you know, you may not have liked the decision or the. The news I had or them or. And, yeah, I was hanging out in the studio. It didn't hit me until I said it. And then some of the faces were like, what? And Beans. Beans was like. We took a while. Beans looked at me and was like, you came out here to tell us that? And I'm like, yeah, my brother. Like, you know, I'm still.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yeah.

[Lenny Dress]

You know, not.

[Memphis Bleak]

Not knowing you wasn't.

[Lenny Dress]

Yeah. And he's like, how. You know, we just don't. You up. And I was like, I mean, if that's what it's gonna be.

[Memphis Bleak]

You know what I mean?

[Lenny Dress]

And then Beans bust out laughing. It was like, if it had to be anybody, we glad it was you. You know what I mean? And we all hugged, and we all. I was like, yo, we'll figure. We'll figure things out. You know? I mean, it was just. But that's what I hope for.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yeah.

[Lenny Dress]

And that's what I got. You know what I'm saying?

[Memphis Bleak]

And to this day, everybody is still family. Like, yeah. The breakup hit everybody. I always tell. I was like, you know when you start. See the magic trick where they take the tablecloth and the dishes are still standing there? That's how it was for me. Everything was still the same. But it wasn't.

[Lenny Dress]

But it wasn't. Yeah.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yeah. It was like, it was still normal. It didn't feel like anything changed. But then you knew. You noticed everything did change. And here we are today.

[Lenny Dress]

Listen, you know, things went different for everybody.

[Memphis Bleak]

Everybody.

[Lenny Dress]

Some. Okay. Some. It don't matter. We were a part of one of the most historic and legendary labels and families in the entertainment business.

[Memphis Bleak]

And that's it.

[Lenny Dress]

You know what I'm saying?

[Memphis Bleak]

And that's why I think a lot of it went left, at least for us. And I was not. Not speaking for J. Dame or none of the executives or none of the employees. But as far as the artists was too young, seeing too much money.

[Lenny Dress]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Memphis Bleak]

We were seeing too much money. And it. And what's so ill. It was never nowhere near the money these artists make today.

[Lenny Dress]

Yeah.

[Memphis Bleak]

But for that time to do what? Doing fresh out the project, Fresh off the block, whatever. Was chewing, like, and just thought it was gonna last forever, bro. Like, never seeing the ending. And then that came crashing down like, it's over, captain. Find a new hustle now, captain. I remember sitting there like, yo, it's over. I remember hov telling me. I remember still making music and telling Jay, yo, my. I'm ready to put this album out. Like. Like, I'm ready. I got some. And he's sitting there looking at me like, bro, yo, my. Like, you don't hear the violet. My. Like, you need me to blow it up for you? It's like it's not cracking right now. You ice cold. My, what's colder than cold? Go. All right. All Right. All right.

[Lenny Dress]

That'S all.

[Radhi Devlukia]

From iheart podcasts and Rococo Punch. This is the Turning River Road.

[Vivian Tu]

I knew I wanted to obey and submit, but I didn't fully grasp for the rest of my life what that meant.

[Radhi Devlukia]

In the woods of Minnesota, a cult leader married himself to 10 girls and forced them into a secret life of abuse.

[Vivian Tu]

Why did I think that way? Why did I allow myself to get so sucked in by this man and thinking to the point that if I died for him, that would be the greatest honor?

[Radhi Devlukia]

But in 2014, the youngest of the girls escaped and sparked an international manhunt.

[Vivian Tu]

For all those years, you know, he was the predator and I was the prey. And then he became the prey.

[Radhi Devlukia]

Listen to the Turning river road on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Danielle Robaix]

Just like great shoes, great books take you places through unforgettable love stories and into conversations with characters you you'll never forget.

[Bridget Todd]

I think any good romance, it gives.

[Memphis Bleak]

Me this feeling of like butterflies.

[Danielle Robaix]

I'm Danielle Roubais and this is bookmarked by Reese's Book Club, the new podcast from hello Sunshine and I Heart Podcasts. Every week I sit down with your favorite book lovers, authors, celebrities, book talkers and more to explore the stories that shape us on the page and off. I've been reading every Reese's Book Club pick, deep diving book talk theories and and obsessing over book to screen casts for years. And now I get to talk to the people making the magic. So if you've ever fallen in love with a fictional character or cried at the last chapter or passed a book to a friend saying, you have to read this, this podcast is for you. Listen to Bookmarked by Reese's Book Club on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast.

[Joseph Reeves]

Show me how good it can get today, God. And show the rest of the world what we already know it can't get. No better than being hella black, hella queer and hella Christian. My name is Joseph Reeves. I am the creator and host of Hella Black, Hella Queer. Hello Christian. A fully black, fully queer, fully human, fully divine podcast that explores society, culture and the intersections of faith and identity. Listen to hello Black, hello Queer, hello Christian. To hear conversations about what it means to sound the way you look.

[Memphis Bleak]

I think what I've had to make peace with is that every iteration of my voice is given to me by God and I love it.

[Joseph Reeves]

Books that validated our identity.

[Memphis Bleak]

The library now for me is A safe space. As someone who is writing books that they're trying to take off of shelves.

[Joseph Reeves]

And how we as black queer folks relate to our Christianity, Listen to help Hella black hello queer, Hella Christian on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast.

[Chelsea Clinton]

Hey, I'm Radhi devlukia and I'm the host of a really good cry podcast. And I have the opportunity to talk to Vivian too. She is someone who is definitely changing the way we talk about money. She is a former Wall street trader turned personal finance educator, content creator, and now the author of a New York Times best selling book, Rich af. Whether you're trying to get out of debt, build wealth, negotiate like a boss, or just finally understand how to do money right, Vivian is the person to ask.

[Bridget Todd]

I think that is terrifying because not understanding your own money and not understanding finances is one of the easiest ways to get in a situation where you don't have options and there is risk for financial abuse. Yeah, you don't have the money to leave. You cannot make choices that take money out of the equation because you don't have it. And that is why every single woman needs to be good with money.

[Chelsea Clinton]

Listen to a really good cry on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

[Memphis Bleak]

So shit just went for everybody.

[Lenny Dress]

I think it also made everybody stronger, made everybody more independent, myself included.

[Memphis Bleak]

One thing I love to see though, a lot of people took over the industry.

[Lenny Dress]

Yeah.

[Memphis Bleak]

It's a fingerprint of Rockefeller. Everywhere, every part, everywhere. This music business that you look, whether it's from the touring to the labels, anything you think about fashion. Rockefeller made a fingerprint from Rockefeller.

[Lenny Dress]

And I'm not talking about artists, star.

[Memphis Bleak]

Employees, everything, man, like you, really.

[Lenny Dress]

Hip hop, Shaka, Latrice.

[Memphis Bleak]

That's what I'm just about to say.

[Lenny Dress]

Look at Latrice, bro.

[Memphis Bleak]

Look at Shar. Legends like. You kidding me, bro? From the bottom. Look at Chaka. Yeah, from the bottom. Chaka don't know me and her. Gotta have a sit down. Cha. Okay. Chaka. Oh, I don't think she remembers.

[Lenny Dress]

She. Oh, what happened? What?

[Memphis Bleak]

When I got in my car accident in Miami. Oh, you don't remember? Yeah, I gave her the bag of drip.

[Lenny Dress]

Oh, yeah.

[Memphis Bleak]

She lost the bag of drip.

[Lenny Dress]

She lost it.

[Memphis Bleak]

She lost it.

[Lenny Dress]

She lost it.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yo, the bag of drip was gone.

[Lenny Dress]

Lost Jay's. Jay.

[Memphis Bleak]

Jay launched the car. Yeah. Bag of drip gone. Came out the hospital cast. Yeah, no drip.

[Lenny Dress]

I remember that.

[Memphis Bleak]

She probably don't even remember that. Yeah, that's Pete. People's out. My family. What? All my videos. Look at Emmanuel.

[Lenny Dress]

Yeah.

[Memphis Bleak]

Everybody, bro. Literally. Literally doing anything like.

[Lenny Dress]

Yeah.

[Memphis Bleak]

You know what I mean? And I know. I know from. From Biggs hove. I know it. I know they don't like to see the homie. I'm not even gonna say his name, but I'm so happy. I know they happy. That reasonable doubt percentage is dead.

[Lenny Dress]

Oh, I barely even understand what that situation.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yo, you was hitting me like, bleak. Why, Joe, they send you in the auction? Like, all in all, Imma go big. You think I'm a whole assigned up.

[Lenny Dress]

But either way, man, those three guys.

[Memphis Bleak]

You know, made history, bro. Like, created something special. Even to this day, Biggs is still creating history when I be finding out some of the things that he involved, and I'll be just sitting there still in the maze like, yeah, yo, chill. Hoffa is still destroying the game. Yeah.

[Lenny Dress]

I looked up to all three of them, man.

[Memphis Bleak]

And still to this day, bro, look, I'm telling you, hold to this day, like, I hit him for certain things, certain advice. I'm telling you. All the years of me doing music, I was the clay pigeon. Pull straight. I said that wrecking. That was like, yo, pull. It wasn't until I sent them durag bleak and he was like, that's it. We dropping. Drop some. What we doing? My.

[Lenny Dress]

That's right.

[Memphis Bleak]

But I ain't got my A R. What's up?

[Lenny Dress]

Are we allowed to drink these or.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yeah, these ain't props. What you want to drink, man?

[Lenny Dress]

Oh, is anybody else drinking with us? No, I don't want to open it if I'm gonna be the only one drinking.

[Memphis Bleak]

Me and you gonna drink. We gonna drink. Can we get some glasses, please? Me and you gonna drink.

[Lenny Dress]

Here we go.

[Memphis Bleak]

You know how to open these? You used to. This said, can we drink these like they fit? Like it was empty. Yo, I don't think you've been doing this.

[Lenny Dress]

Come on, man.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yeah, y' all on that Rich. Yo, you know, I just had caviar for the first time with you and Tim the other day.

[Lenny Dress]

You know what I'm saying? Which is surprising, man.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yeah.

[Lenny Dress]

Tim was coming, but he had to go to another event.

[Memphis Bleak]

Caviar, man. Look at me.

[Lenny Dress]

Is amazing.

[Memphis Bleak]

I remember. You remember we went to Japan the first time?

[Lenny Dress]

Japan. I. We try to get him the best sushi in the world. Him and my man Murder. Yo, this where that MC like my bro. We in Japan. You want what? Yo, this bougie, Yo, I need a quarter Pounder.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yo, I never Forget the first time we went the Jack Japan, bro. Y' all took us to some. Some restaurant, and these bought the shrimp out a lot. And they put those shrimp on the.

[Lenny Dress]

Grill and everything was still moving.

[Memphis Bleak]

Them just started screaming. Y' all never heard a shrimp scream or go to Japan that's just gonna eat Y. I'm not eating that. Y is bugging, yo. Sorry.

[Lenny Dress]

You a murder right out of there so fast, yo.

[Memphis Bleak]

So fast. Like, I'm not.

[Lenny Dress]

I'm like, yo, bleak. You got to.

[Memphis Bleak]

Come on.

[Lenny Dress]

We got to evolve, bro. You got to. Nah, a double pounder.

[Memphis Bleak]

It wasn't until I ain't going front. I'm a late bloomer with seafood. It wasn't until my 30th birthday.

[Lenny Dress]

Damn.

[Memphis Bleak]

And damn. Yo, I was in Cork with. At Cork, Ireland, with whole for my birthday, doing the show with him. And he like, yo, let's go eat for your birthday. What we gonna go eat? I'm like, I don't know, Whatever. You pick some. I like. But don't pick seafood. I think you're like, what? Yeah, you don't like seafood? So I'm like, nah, I don't like it. He said, you don't like it because the way it tastes or the way it smells. I said, the way it smell, I never tasted nothing. So word. We went to some restaurant in Ireland, and Jay ordered literally every seafood dish on the menu. It had them bringing it out like, yo, try this. Yeah, and send it back. And that's how I got my love for what seafood was. Thanks, though.

[Lenny Dress]

And that's what makes me a little upset about with you is, no, seriously, like, having Jay. I'm not being funny, and I'm not. I'm trying to make this up to a whole Jay Z Appreciation Day.

[Memphis Bleak]

No, but it is.

[Lenny Dress]

But I'm just saying, Jay bigs having those guys in our lives, and they were living on such a premium level. I love that about them. You know what I'm saying? So I was able. I was always able to learn faster or get to certain levels that I maybe would not have gotten there prior to. And that's what I used to try to get you to open up to is like, yo, trust me. We at the this hotel.

[Memphis Bleak]

I ain't see the vision back there, but. But yes.

[Lenny Dress]

And Jay has immaculate taste.

[Memphis Bleak]

My wife opened up my eyes to the country because now I travel a lot. Oh, yeah. We go everywhere now. Like, we do everything. We eat everything. And she love it. Like, I tell her, you better thank Hov, girl. You'd have met me, 10 years prior, your ass would be eating a bacon cheeseburger right now.

[Lenny Dress]

Jesus Christ. Shake Shack every other day.

[Memphis Bleak]

That's a fact. I don't eat none of that now, man. So thank God to the big homie for that. Traveling the world. Like, one thing I used to love, too. Used to collect all the postcards and send them every. Every country. Tata used to be like, yo, all y' all gonna do is go to this country and sit in the room and smoke weed. They used to look at Tata like, yeah, we don't want to do nothing else.

[Lenny Dress]

We used to be so mad at them. They never want to leave the hotel. Imagine being in Austria or Rome and Paris, and they wouldn't leave the hotel room. They wanted to order burgers and smoke weed. Smoke weed all day.

[Memphis Bleak]

Hood. It wasn't nothing to walk around for. Listen, listen. When you're a project, I got lost, and none of y' all couldn't help me in Germany. I got lost in Germany. Let me tell y' all this story. You probably don't even know. You remember this?

[Lenny Dress]

No.

[Memphis Bleak]

He had a show in Germany. So of course I had this when they had the app around me. You remember that app? You would put it on the phone, your phone, and show you everything around you. So when you overseas, only place that sold backwoods was an export cigar shop. So I put the around me. She said it was just a mile away. Like, okay, I could walk there. I get to the destination, it's a train station.

[Lenny Dress]

Cool.

[Memphis Bleak]

It's like 10 escalators going down. Cool. Go down, walk to the smoke shop, get the backwoods, come out the smoke shop. Now everything thing in Kazuva stash. And it's like, yo, what escalator did I just come down? Oh, like kazoo. And now. So now hamburger. All this crazy. So, yo, I got the hotel room key, but when I put it in the phone, remember, I don't have no WI fi. There's no service. You overseas, you need a WI fi. There's no WI fi. I wasn't whole with the global phone. No, my only worked in US Got over there clip, yo. So the Blueberry ain't connect? Nah, I didn't connect. So I'm bitching, Lynn. Like, I go back in the cigar shop. Like, boom. Yo, I show him the hotel key. You know how to get here? He. He talking Cuba stash down like, what? So, yo, anybody know how to get a taxi? Nothing. Now I'm sweating. We got a show. I'm by myself. I'm like, damn, we gotta get back. I gotta get back. We gotta show yo. Some dude walking with his girl on God walked by. He looked. He said, memphis bleak. I said, yo, fam, you know me. Like, literally, you know me that. Like, hell, yeah. I got your albums, all of that. I'm like, fam, I pull out the hotel can. You know where this hotel? Tell her. He like, yes, right here. I'm like, yo, take me to the hotel, fan.

[Lenny Dress]

I get you tickets to the ticket.

[Memphis Bleak]

Hell yeah. Him and his girl right there on the spot. Took them to the show with me. Homie got a picture with Jay and all of that.

[Lenny Dress]

Oh, dope.

[Memphis Bleak]

I tell them to the yo. I'm like, yo, you saved my life. Like, you kidding me?

[Lenny Dress]

I got caught up with the wrong yo.

[Memphis Bleak]

It was times we used to. I remember we was in Poland, right? Cuz? Remember this? When MySpace was the Lynn. So we didn't have Instagram. DM me, it was MySpace. I used to put out the. The MySpace post on my wall. I'm in town with the Jay Z show. Anybody got that butt, holla at me. I get you tickets to the show. So used to hit me everywhere. That's how I met all my plugs. Sniper. Rob Kelly.

[Lenny Dress]

Dime bag.

[Memphis Bleak]

No, a zip. You bugging. They had to bring a zip. So listen, we chilling. So some dude come through with the weed, and he like, yo, my mom's on the soul food spot. We in Poland. So I go to Colleen. I went to you. You the only one who wanted something you like. Yo, bring me something back. So I go to Jay, all of them. Jay, like, where this restaurant at? I'm like, I don't know. I'm going with the homie. His. His mom's owning. So he said, you just go jump in the car with some that you don't know from Poland. I looked at hov. I said, hov, we survived them. Brooklyn Street. If a Polish get me, I'm supposed to be got. Don't even look for me. Okay, word. We came back with that food. I was like, yo, you toy took car. Look this fire. I'm like, yeah, we moving this how we used to do it. But y' all used to go see all the museums back there. I wasn't into that. I didn't care. I'm project. I don't want to see no museums. I wanted to see before this, yo. Before this, all I wanted to see was tits and ass.

[Lenny Dress]

Oh, that came.

[Memphis Bleak]

We. We was getting that. That was no problem. We was overseas looking. We was duck hunting without the Nintendo system.

[Lenny Dress]

Jesus Christ. Great travels, yo.

[Memphis Bleak]

The best. Where was your first favorite you done been. I do that.

[Lenny Dress]

Oh.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yo, why you gotta put me on your restaurant list in Paris? Because I tell people all the time, only spot I like in Paris is our spot. I'm not gonna say the name because I don't want to blow it up, but, you know, took me there.

[Lenny Dress]

Yeah, yeah.

[Memphis Bleak]

Best. My daughter even love it.

[Lenny Dress]

Yeah.

[Memphis Bleak]

But outside of that, now it's good spots.

[Lenny Dress]

My man.

[Memphis Bleak]

I seen you.

[Lenny Dress]

My man Biggie.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yeah.

[Lenny Dress]

He puts me on to a lot of spots. And just going there over the years, years and going with Jay and Jay Brown, they put me on to a lot of good spots.

[Memphis Bleak]

What's your favorite spot to travel?

[Lenny Dress]

Probably France and. Oh, it is. But the whole France, cuz I like. I love Paris. I love Versailles, I love the South.

[Memphis Bleak]

We a talk about your brother, daughter.

[Lenny Dress]

And as of recently, Saudi. I took a trip to Saudi last year with kids. Yeah, yeah.

[Memphis Bleak]

Last year it's Khalid.

[Lenny Dress]

We went to Riyadh and Jeddah and Alula. No, seriously, it was.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yeah, no out there. Racing candles.

[Lenny Dress]

Swiss is the one that got us out there.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yo, chill.

[Lenny Dress]

The one that hooked it up.

[Memphis Bleak]

Like, Swiss got a lot of plugs. I gotta call.

[Lenny Dress]

No, no, no. By the way, I love Swiss Beach.

[Memphis Bleak]

No, that's. My God. Swiss gave me some of my best Swiss beat story. What?

[Lenny Dress]

But we almost died.

[Memphis Bleak]

Oh, my Jesus. How did I forget that? Lynny. How would I ever leave that story out? Yo, listen, just so y' all know, this is how you know the industry is TR is whack. Because we were gonna use what you think of. That was the first single.

[Lenny Dress]

Correct.

[Memphis Bleak]

That was supposed to be the single we go to clear the sample. Produced by Buck. Wow. By the way, Shout out, my brother. Right? Supposed to be the first single. Banging. We all ready to go. Good. The people who own the. The sample clearance was like, no, we're not clearing the sample. Who is this Memphis bleak guy? Yeah, we don't know him. So now we on the Hard Knock Life tour. We in Buffalo.

[Lenny Dress]

Correct.

[Memphis Bleak]

It's a blizzard, freezing, snowing, ice everywhere. So now hov like is me, Lenny, as in Swiss, both like, y' all gotta go back to New York and.

[Lenny Dress]

Wait back a little bit on the Hard Knock Life tour.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yes.

[Lenny Dress]

Swiss beats. Obviously, this is early on, but he's still one of the biggest things.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yes.

[Lenny Dress]

He's producing for the Rough Riders. He's producing the Jay, Nori Cameron, everybody. Producer for everybody.

[Memphis Bleak]

We're bet.

[Lenny Dress]

In a good way. In a positive Way we're begging him for like a single for me because Swizz is DJing the tour, so. So we're like, swiss, please.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yeah, we need a single.

[Lenny Dress]

You know what I mean? He's like, nah, I got y. I got y. I got ya, I got y'. All. We beating him up. And he's like, yo, I got one day off. Yeah. And it was the only day we had off on the tour.

[Memphis Bleak]

Buffalo.

[Lenny Dress]

And he was like, but we gotta go to New York. And we was like, what? Nothing. So go.

[Memphis Bleak]

We get on that propeller plane.

[Lenny Dress]

Got on the propeller plane, yo, us three, right?

[Memphis Bleak]

Yeah. It was nobody else on the plane. It was just easy. The. The camera lady.

[Lenny Dress]

Easy.

[Memphis Bleak]

Shout out easy. Because that's how they got the footage. Me, you and Swiss. That's it. No one else on this planet in a blizzard. And this was taken off like this. And I'm on there. We gotta put the footage out. If y' all look at the Hard Knock Life dvd, I say, you see this? You gotta go through to make records. Trying to kill me out here.

[Lenny Dress]

No. We almost went down there.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yeah. That was one of my worst friends flights ever. I would never fly from or to Buffalo. I'm just driving, hands down. So Benny, you hit me and need me to do something in Buffalo. I'm driving my. You and Swiss thought it was over straight up. But then we landed. A lot of people don't know. I never. I didn't like menth Bleak is to. After it came out, I remember I was scared to death to drop that record. Cuz what you think of that was the. The joint. And I had it beat in my head. Just the single. So when we did Myth, Bleak is. It was like, nobody's gonna say my name. Why? Why we meth Bleak is it hov like, yo, you doing this at Summer Jam? I'm looking at that like, no, I ain't you. We doing. Ain't. No, we ain't doing that. Word up. So when that came on and I saw the response s, that's when I'm like, oh, oh, wait, we got something with this.

[Lenny Dress]

That was another one of those trust me situations.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yes.

[Lenny Dress]

And between an A R and the artist. Yes, trust me.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yo, remember. I remember y' all used to be like, stop giving Bleak copies of the music. Cuz I do a song, go home, listen to it for two days, call them, I don't like it no more. Like, don't give bleak no more music, no more copies. Word up. Yo, but damn, man. Damn. Those was the days ass man, my brother. Yo, Hard knock Life Tower included, have no lights on his bus. Yo, you know, that's how I got my dj demarco. Yeah, yeah. Demarco was his helper.

[Lenny Dress]

Yes.

[Memphis Bleak]

And demarco, like they was carrying his crazy. He was his helper. He was helping DeMarco. Yo, you though he on me, right? Not on me, like personally. That's my guy. I love this guy. But he was my DJ forever. I saved him off the Viking bus, cuz that's what Clue bus was called, the Viking bus. They never had no food, no lights, nothing. They was like Vikings on that.

[Lenny Dress]

Terrible.

[Memphis Bleak]

Saved them off the Viking bus. Used to bring up cereal, everything. Gave him a job. I get my first show. He like, Yo, I'm a DJ. All right, you my DJ.

[Lenny Dress]

Yeah.

[Memphis Bleak]

Toward the World with DeMarco. Took him all over the world one day. Now this after 15 years of you being my DJ. I call him Yo, DeMarco. I got the show. I need you that like, yo, I can't make it, bro. Yo, why? What happened? Yo, I got this show with Ja Rule. Oh, yeah? I never told you. That's my cousin. We not been around on tour with this. Now this your cousin?

[Lenny Dress]

Yeah, I didn't know that either.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yeah, he's still DJing for him. So I hit Ja. I go to a show in Vegas with J Shoti and them because my wife wanted to go who DJ tomorrow. I'm like, I should go up there and pour water on your. Like, this your cousin now get the just say he paying more than me.

[Lenny Dress]

Oh, man.

[Radhi Devlukia]

For my heart Podcasts and Rococo punch. This is the turning river road.

[Vivian Tu]

I knew I wanted to obey and submit, but I didn't fully grasp for the rest of my life what that meant.

[Radhi Devlukia]

In the woods of Minnesota, a cult leader married himself to 10 girls and forced them into a secret life of abuse.

[Vivian Tu]

Why did I think that way? Why did I allow myself to get so sucked in by this man and thinking to the point that if I died for him, that would be the greatest honor.

[Radhi Devlukia]

But in 2014, the youngest of the girls escaped and sparked an international manhunt.

[Vivian Tu]

For all those years, you know, he was the predator and I was the prey. And then he became the prey.

[Radhi Devlukia]

Listen to the Turning river road on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Danielle Robaix]

Just like great shoes, great books take you places through unforgettable love stories and into conversations with characters you'll never forget.

[Memphis Bleak]

I think any good romance, it gives me this feeling of like butterflies.

[Danielle Robaix]

I'm Danielle Robaix and this is bookmarked by Reese's Book Club, the new podcast from hello Sunshine and I Heart Podcasts. Every week I sit down with your favorite book lovers, authors, celebrities, book talkers and more to explore the stories that shape us on the page and off. I've been reading every Reese's Book Club pick, deep diving booktok theories and obsessing over book to screen casts for years and now I get to talk to the people making the magic. So if you've ever fallen in love with a fictional character or cried at the last chapter or passed a book to a friend saying you have to read this, this podcast is for you. Listen to Bookmarked by Reese's Book Club on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Joseph Reeves]

Show me how good it can get today, God, and show the rest of the world what we already know it can't get. No better than being hella black, Hella queer and Hella Crazy Christian. My name is Joseph Reeves. I am the creator and host of Hella Black, Hella Queer, Hella Christian, a fully black, fully queer, fully human, fully divine podcast that explores society, culture and the intersections of faith and identity. Listen to hello Black, hello Queer, hello Christian to hear conversations about what it means to sound the way you look.

[Memphis Bleak]

I think what I've had to make peace with is that every iteration of my voice is given to me by God and I love it.

[Joseph Reeves]

Books that validated our identity.

[Memphis Bleak]

The library now for me is a safe space. As someone who is writing books that they're trying to take off of shelves.

[Joseph Reeves]

And how we as black queer folks relate to our Christianity. Listen to Hella Black, Hella Queer, Hella Christian on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

[Bridget Todd]

We are telling our scientists today we have disdain for your expertise. And then you have China as an exception saying, actually, we're going to invest a trillion dollars in new science. Yeah, you heard that right. While the US Is cutting billions from science and public health, China is making historic investments. That means here in the U.S. fewer breakthroughs, slower medical advances, and a serious risk of falling behind globally. I don't think anything about that is efficient. I think that it is actually profoundly inefficient. As she would know, Chelsea Clinton is using her expertise in public health to break down what these cuts really mean and why Protecting science isn't just smart policy, it's a necessity. This week on Dope Labs, we're putting it all under the microscope with Chelsea Clinton. Diving into what's at stake for science, medicine, and our future. Listen to dope labs on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or. Or wherever you get your podcast.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yo, but we used to wow out, man, them tour days as.

[Lenny Dress]

I was so mad on that. So there's that clip. So remember the clip that went viral where Dame is Talking to Ralph McDaniels?

[Memphis Bleak]

Oh, no.

[Lenny Dress]

Talking to Clue. And them on the bus you were standing with. Let's not get crazy.

[Memphis Bleak]

He made it like you was down.

[Lenny Dress]

This pissed me off. Let me tell you something. I try to. In the movie, right? Some people have seen it. There's a clip of Dame getting on Clue because he wasn't producing the records he was supposed to be producing while on tour. I was his A R. So obviously I'm responsible as well. And then Skein$, which was his manager. Yes, we were the ones trying to push Clue, but, you know, Clue was playing games sometimes and whatever, whatever. So Dame, myself, and SK had to talk about it, and we were just like, yo, we trying.

[Memphis Bleak]

We.

[Lenny Dress]

We explain it, you know, and then he's like, you know what? Let's just go talk to him. So me, Dame and SK Went to go talk to Clue.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yes.

[Lenny Dress]

Like, as a united front.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yeah. But on the video and on the.

[Lenny Dress]

Camera, it looks like I'm getting yelled at. Four Clues, you know, lack of.

[Memphis Bleak]

That hard doc.

[Lenny Dress]

Like, I'm not trying to fight for that to get edited. And they were like, what? This is great tv. You're tripping. I was like, I look like I'm getting y.

[Memphis Bleak]

Like, yo, but that DVD Hard knock started some, cuz everybody to this day like, yo, Bleak, you got Kevin L.

[Lenny Dress]

You want to walk around, look at.

[Memphis Bleak]

My Death Jam jacket, Yo, but nah, you can't front Death Jam. Was that back then, by the way.

[Lenny Dress]

I was happy to get it.

[Memphis Bleak]

Like, yo, Def Jam was.

[Lenny Dress]

I didn't. It had nothing to do with, you know, anything over the rock thing. It was more. So Jeff Jam was a state like, yes, definitely is. Will always be one of the most, you know, legendary, important labels and music. So for us, as being Rockefeller on sign to Def Jam, that was like a dream for us. So to get a Def Jam jacket, you gotta understand that was. That was.

[Memphis Bleak]

That was a dream. And that's why I was just naturally like. But I. I should have never said, the rock ain't never give me this.

[Lenny Dress]

He said, the rock ain't never give me.

[Memphis Bleak]

With the war, he went to war. That's why that's why no matter what Dame say about me, no matter how many times he cuz he be crucifying me. I just tried to show him some love and he went on and just shot at me.

[Lenny Dress]

Dame had your back.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yo, he was game. Roll for me. Yo, I just found out something too. Like I used to always tell Clue, yo, you don't never show me no love. You are the team. You don't play no Bleak Records nothing. You know I ain't no dang back clue that I have a bigger debut than Fat. That's why cl.

[Lenny Dress]

Oh, my God. No way.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yeah. D put that money on Blizzle though, so I gotta with D always had your back. Always. My like, Dane was a fighter for the squad and I would never ever shoot nobody down. I respect all the OGs and. And love them for the contribution and what they did for us, man. Cause I wouldn't be the man I am today without them. Especially Beehive.

[Lenny Dress]

For real.

[Memphis Bleak]

I always tell be high saved my life.

[Lenny Dress]

Behind tata. Saved my life.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yo, listen. Three words I hated as a kid that I use today when I got a party. I hated them as a kid when Beehi used to be like, we got a party, we going in. He'll be in the van. He'd be like, listen, we hitting them and saying, splitting like, hitting them and splitting them. Like, yeah, last show van is last song. The van is running.

[Lenny Dress]

Yeah.

[Memphis Bleak]

Whoever ain't in the van, we leaving them. So I used to be like, be high. We want to chill. We want to get some girls, mingle. Do I think like, you better get them while you on stand up. How am I gonna do that? I'm singing the song.

[Lenny Dress]

I'm talking about the most thorough man in that organization. It's far as security wise.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yes.

[Lenny Dress]

This man could have been a trooper.

[Memphis Bleak]

Head of the nation. You in. I'm telling you, be running you in like we hitting them. It's splendor. Yo, I remember we left Bobby Dash and Murder at Waffle House because we went to. I'm on my promo tour and I got the food. So I'm in the van, be coming to van. He like, you got your food? I'm like, yeah, I got my food. Then what we waiting for?

[Danielle Robaix]

Come on.

[Memphis Bleak]

Oh, yeah, yeah. Yo, grandma, wait. Straight up, like, you the artist. They want to interview you.

[Lenny Dress]

You're the artist.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yo, the biggest call, he like, y' all better take a taxi. Remember, was no Uber back. There was no just call an Uber. You in the middle of nowhere that just left like 100.

[Lenny Dress]

But that's how they survived. Yes, that's the beehive the best. I'm so glad that they embraced me early on in that.

[Memphis Bleak]

I wish I could get tata on here. I know it's a hard fetch, it'll never happen. But I just need people to understand. I want them to know how the OGs really on me though. It gets me thinking, cuz, you know, you know, know I grew up with them, but they think we equal like pants. They don't understand I'm talking about the B group. Oh, they know I'm in the B group. I've been in the B group so long that I own the B group group. Even on the hangar tour, Jay put me in the B group. And it was like, jay, why am I in the B group still? I've been down since the beginning.

[Lenny Dress]

Anytime we travel, we had an A.

[Memphis Bleak]

Group and a B group. And I'm the leader of the B group.

[Lenny Dress]

A group was J.

[Memphis Bleak]

You got promoted to the A group because you started in the B group. You did see nobody the B group.

[Lenny Dress]

But I got quick.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yes, I got quick.

[Lenny Dress]

And I got to the A group and never looked back. He always used to be looking at me, cuz everything was A and B hotel. A group hotel, Ritz Carlton, Four Seasons. B group.

[Memphis Bleak]

B group. So all my life, the way I had to tell HOV yo my on the hanger tour. Remember we had two jets.

[Lenny Dress]

We had two jets on the hanger.

[Memphis Bleak]

Two jets.

[Lenny Dress]

And it was a A jet.

[Memphis Bleak]

And it was A, A jet and a B J. So when we get the manifest, cuz that's the jet talk manifest. You know what I'm saying? That's not regular AI, you know what I'm saying? Group three, you get the manifest was like.

[Lenny Dress]

Like you never graduated. Imagine going to high school for your whole life, like for your entire life and you never.

[Memphis Bleak]

I look at hov like, yo, why do I gotta ride with the bed? He's like, nah. Cause they need structure. You're the only nigga. Go hold it down.

[Lenny Dress]

And it was sad because, yo, I used to work with Bleak and I was Bleak's A and R and we worked together. But I was in the A group, so I couldn't like, I couldn't even travel with him. Yeah, they used to sit back in.

[Memphis Bleak]

The 37B, yo had a fight on the jet. B the Bad.

[Lenny Dress]

For real.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. The was fighting on the jet. So when we landed, I'm telling hov, yeah, I can't fly with these guys, man. I never seen a band, like, from band members. Yo, just. Why would you fight on the jet? You order like.

[Lenny Dress]

Wait a minute. Wait a minute. You almost fought me on a jet. No, we was traveling in South Africa or Asia, and me and somebody was beating you and Ronnie and spades.

[Memphis Bleak]

No, no. You thought nearly. It was McNeely was my partner. It was you and Ho and McNeely kept reneging. And I'm like, killing y'. All. Yes, y'. All. Yo, McNeely. My. This. Look at me. He my partner, and he reneged, right? So I'm like, yo, immediately, what you doing? Like, you don't know how to play spaces. Like, it's a strategy. That's it. A strategy to what? I'm like, homie gonna fire you. Remember I kept telling. I'm like, hobie gonna fire you. You my partner. What the. He could lose, bro. That would not. I don't give a. He like Robocop program to not shoot the ball. He will not. He will sacrifice the W for hov to get the W. He's a team player. And I just found out Manili down with Jelly Roll.

[Lenny Dress]

No, he manages him.

[Memphis Bleak]

He better give me some tickets.

[Lenny Dress]

Doing great.

[Memphis Bleak]

I know. He always.

[Lenny Dress]

I mean, he always has done great, but always he has great clients.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yes, but nearly the old og. You kidding me?

[Lenny Dress]

Yeah. He wanted to fight me on. On over spades.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yeah.

[Lenny Dress]

It's crazy.

[Memphis Bleak]

N. I don't remember that. I don't remember wanting to fight you. I remember Hov calling his moms on me, though, for the stage when we started spanking them. He put Mama Love in. And I can't talk no more. I sit there, obedient, sp game now. I'm like, I've been caught up. Hov is a bastard when it come down.

[Lenny Dress]

Oh, my God.

[Memphis Bleak]

Don't even know ho. I was just telling somebody this the other day that Hov is a gamer. Like, they don't think hov play like, Fight night. Yes. Remember when we was in the van Turtle top days before G4 Bentley. Hov he was Turtle Top. Hov and I never front or Blizzard. Had a little TV up there. Turtle Top.

[Lenny Dress]

Hov is crazy.

[Memphis Bleak]

They were. But Hova never getting the Turtle Top. Now you bugging here. Look at you.

[Lenny Dress]

They have a different name now. They're called Sprinters.

[Memphis Bleak]

No, they still have Turtle Tops.

[Lenny Dress]

Different.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yeah. Y' all just have money for.

[Lenny Dress]

Oh, yeah, yeah, you're right. You're right.

[Memphis Bleak]

You know, I mean, the Sprinters have money for us. It's just levels to this. You Know what I'm saying?

[Lenny Dress]

You're right.

[Memphis Bleak]

But definitely next time you, you know, you gotta tell Hoe Bleak, at this point, I definitely got to be out the B group. There's no more B group.

[Lenny Dress]

I don't know.

[Memphis Bleak]

I'm the only member left in the B group.

[Lenny Dress]

You rather be.

[Memphis Bleak]

It's just me and Guru. That's it. It's just me. It's no more band Big. It's no band. So who would be in the B group? If we traveled and they book hole for sure. And he like, yo, I' ma bring the crew. It's just me and Goo gonna be on the bus by ourselves.

[Lenny Dress]

Yeah, Controller.

[Memphis Bleak]

Then we'll be the A group by ourselves.

[Lenny Dress]

Me and Goo running or like a minus.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yo, but I always said, why hov never gave us the keys for the music? Me, you, and Goo.

[Lenny Dress]

Wait, what do you mean, the keys for the music to the label?

[Memphis Bleak]

Oh, we don't run it because I like, go to Oracle. I ain't gonna lie. If you. It's not an artist in the world, sign or unsigned, that if you tell right now, for you to get a deal with Roc Nation, you gotta sit down with Guru. Like, okay, when I get to go. When. When I get to go.

[Lenny Dress]

Yep.

[Memphis Bleak]

My brother, like, so that's why I always felt like I know music. I'm good with music. I do my thing, of course. But there's nobody in music more important that I feel like that they respect his words.

[Lenny Dress]

I think where he's. Where he should be. Which is the most utilizing, which is in the. The. The Rock Nation school.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yeah, he running the school.

[Lenny Dress]

Guru's a genius.

[Memphis Bleak]

I know, man.

[Lenny Dress]

I mean, you know what I'm saying?

[Memphis Bleak]

But he could do. That's what I mean. Yoda did everything.

[Lenny Dress]

Him giving that to all of those kids in that program is, you know, is ill. It's something they could never. You can't buy that.

[Memphis Bleak]

But go. I'm telling you, Goo is a. He's a musical genius, too. What him and Knife Wonder doing over there with their jam thing? Don't even know. Goop got his hand over there.

[Lenny Dress]

I signed that. I signed it. I know me and my man Randy.

[Memphis Bleak]

I know y' all do a lot of signing. Just don't give Bleak no signage. You know what I'm saying? Bleak don't get no type of signage. Just be on Blizz. And I started this gangster, and this the thanks I get. Y' all see this? I'm glad that all of this is on tape. My people get to really understand that my, my, my. My crew and the big Hunter homies, they just be. I'm just a punching bag. Only one really show me love is who? Emory, yo. No, I'm little bro. Everybody show me love. Let's clear that up. Everybody show me love. Tata. Hov Daz. But they little bro. Me.

[Lenny Dress]

Yeah.

[Memphis Bleak]

Not one. One and Emory the only two that when I see them.

[Lenny Dress]

Juan Emery and me. You mean?

[Memphis Bleak]

Nah, he trying to low grow me, too. Yeah, you seen that? The Khaled event you gave me the green band. You ain't getting. Oh, my God. Niggas ain't giving me a purple band.

[Lenny Dress]

I gave you my purple band.

[Memphis Bleak]

But no, you didn't.

[Lenny Dress]

Now, Emery gives you a kind of love that's really endearing.

[Memphis Bleak]

And like, yeah, Emory make me feel like.

[Lenny Dress]

Yeah, he does.

[Memphis Bleak]

I put in some work with him.

[Lenny Dress]

He does, he does.

[Memphis Bleak]

He does award, too. Hoving Tata.

[Lenny Dress]

I don't give a fuck.

[Memphis Bleak]

You a little nigga. And I'mma remind you, you a little.

[Lenny Dress]

N. They'll call you and be like, what do you say?

[Memphis Bleak]

Like you're still busy doing nothing, getting no money. Yeah, that. Yo, I'm telling you, I just hit him the other day.

[Lenny Dress]

He said, you still busy not making money.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yeah, you still out there busy not making money. I'm telling you. When I told him I was, I had you coming on the podcast. The said, for what? Just to watch it on your phone. He said, I've been looking for it for months. When are you gonna drop it? I'm telling you, it ain't like, yo, that's dope. Yo, Lenny, that y' all gonna have a good interview. Say we just doing this. So I go out. That's why he ever. Oh, man, come sit down and kick it with me.

[Lenny Dress]

When you gonna get him to do the podcast?

[Memphis Bleak]

Talk to him for me.

[Lenny Dress]

I did my.

[Memphis Bleak]

I know you tried.

[Lenny Dress]

I tried.

[Memphis Bleak]

It's gonna take a minute, but I tried. He gave b. DY Elliott grabbed my arm.

[Lenny Dress]

I was like, yo, why don't you. You want me like J to do the pie? And I was like, yo, Jay.

[Memphis Bleak]

He was like, yo, chill, chill, chill. Yeah, not right now. Not right now. We don't need. We even got the production after you help us get the money with this episode, we can afford the setting for home sweating on our set. You know what I'm saying? If we was on the Drink Champ set, this would never happen. Mr. Lee, we done. That's it, man. Yo, man, man, I appreciate you for coming. I love you. This is the best Episode this the one that's gonna change this rock solid. BG the Jeweler. We going super size after this episode thanks to Lenny Dress. You know what I'm saying? We get money. Rock solid. My right, yeah. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows at. And you can follow me on any social media platform under the name Memphis Bleak. You see anybody frauding Flag?

[Joseph Reeves]

Show me how good it can get today, God, and show the rest of the world what we already know it can't get. No better than being hella black, hella queer, and hella Christian. My name is Joseph Reeves. I am the creator and host of Hella Black, Hella Queer, Hella Christian. A fully black, fully queer, fully human, fully divine podcast. From iHeartMedia to Hella Black, Hella Queer, Hella Christian on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

[Lenny Dress]

Adventure should never come with a pause button.

[Bridget Todd]

Remember MoviePass? All the movies you wanted for just nine bucks? I'm Bridget Todd, host of There Are no Girls on the Internet. And this season I'm digging into the tech stories we weren't told, starting with Stacey Spikes, the Black founder of MoviePass who got pushed out of the company he built.

[Lenny Dress]

Everybody's trying to knock you down and it's not gonna work and no one's gonna like it. And then, boom, it's everywhere. And that was that moment.

[Bridget Todd]

Listen to There are no girls on the Internet, on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Stay informed, empowered, and ahead of the curve with a BI N News this hour podcast updated hourly to bring you the latest stories shaping the black community. From breaking headlines to cultural milestones, the Black Information Network delivers the facts, the voices and the perspective. Perspectives that matter 24 7, because our stories deserve to be heard. Listen to the BI N News this Hour podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Memphis Bleak]

Do you remember Vine? It changed the Internet forever and it vanished in its prime. I'm Benedict Townsend, and this is Vine. Six seconds that changed the world. The untold story of genius, betrayal, and the app that died so that TikTok could thrive. From overnight stars to the fall that no one saw coming, we're breaking down what made vine iconic. Listen to vine on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

[Bridget Todd]

This is an iHeart podcast.