153 - A Tribe Called Quest - The Low End Theory - Colton Dunn

Summary

Podcast Summary: The 500 with Josh Adam Meyers – Episode 153: A Tribe Called Quest - The Low End Theory with Colton Dunn

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Introduction

In Episode 153 of The 500 with Josh Adam Meyers, hosted by Josh Adam Meyers of Next Chapter Podcasts, comedian and actor Colton Dunn joins to delve deep into A Tribe Called Quest's seminal album, The Low End Theory. This episode, released on July 2, 2025, offers an engaging exploration of the album's impact on hip hop, personal anecdotes from the guests, and insightful discussions on the album's enduring legacy.

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Discovering The Low End Theory

Colton Dunn shares his journey into discovering The Low End Theory, recounting how the album became a pivotal purchase during his adolescence. He explains:

"[07:03] Josh Adam Meyers: It [Scenario] was the first album I ever bought with my own money... that was it. I loved it."
— Colton Dunn [07:03]

Dunn emphasizes how the album's unique blend of jazz and hip hop resonated with him, setting it apart from the mainstream music of the early '90s.

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The Album's Influence and Legacy

Both Josh and Colton discuss the groundbreaking nature of The Low End Theory, highlighting its role in shaping the future of hip hop. Colton remarks:

"[33:27] Colton Dunn: I think the first year, three to four, you know, Midnight Marauders, I feel like is... their highest point of creation... it's like the Sergeant Pepper of hip hop."
— Colton Dunn [33:27]

Josh adds to this sentiment by comparing the album's opening track, "Excursions," to Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon:

"[47:16] Josh Adam Meyers: ... the beginning of that album had the same effect of, like, I felt like I was going into a different world."
— Josh Adam Meyers [47:16]

The duo underscores how the album's innovative sampling and cohesive production set a new standard within the genre.

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Personal Anecdotes and Experiences

Colton shares a memorable experience attending an A Tribe Called Quest concert, which left a lasting impression on him:

"[20:07] Colton Dunn: ... it was like getting Q and then having the whole group come out. It was one of the top five concerts of my life."
— Colton Dunn [20:07]

Josh recounts his first encounter with the album in high school, emphasizing its personal significance:

"[12:16] Josh Adam Meyers: This was the first album I ever bought with my own money... I loved this album... it was the best album of my life."
— Josh Adam Meyers [12:16]

These stories highlight the profound personal connections listeners have with The Low End Theory.

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Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction

The conversation shifts to A Tribe Called Quest's induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2024. Colton mentions:

"[37:11] Colton Dunn: Dave Chappelle gave the speech and explained the Low End Theory album title... the low end refers to the bass and the drums, but also a black man's status in America."
— Colton Dunn [37:11]

This dual meaning of the album title reflects the group's ability to infuse deep social commentary within their music.

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Discussion on Key Tracks

The hosts delve into specific tracks from the album, starting with "Scenario." They analyze its energetic beats and Busta Rhymes' standout verse:

"[95:00] Josh Adam Meyers: ... Scenario is without a doubt a timeless hip hop anthem... It just amps you up."
— Josh Adam Meyers [95:00]

Colton concurs, praising the song's ability to energize listeners and its lasting appeal:

"[96:53] Colton Dunn: Scenario is just one that it's like, it... it's a timeless hip hop anthem... it's gonna be awesome."
— Colton Dunn [96:53]

They also touch upon other tracks like "Bugging Out" and "Check the Rhyme," discussing their lyrical prowess and musical composition.

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Challenges in the Music Industry

The conversation transitions to the challenges artists face within the music industry, drawing parallels between the themes in The Low End Theory and contemporary issues. Colton shares his own experiences with the pitfalls of the entertainment sector:

"[60:22] Colton Dunn: I've been taken advantage of by the establishment... lost control over my ideas on Comedy Jam TV."
— Colton Dunn [60:22]

Josh echoes these sentiments, highlighting systemic issues:

"[62:14] Josh Adam Meyers: ... there's always somebody above you that's cutting the cake first."
— Josh Adam Meyers [62:14]

These discussions underscore the album's relevance in addressing both personal and systemic struggles within the industry.

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Advice for Aspiring Comedians

Towards the end of the episode, Josh and Colton offer valuable advice to individuals pursuing careers in comedy. Colton emphasizes the importance of community:

"[79:55] Josh Adam Meyers: ... just find that community, that stage niche, that you fit in."
— Josh Adam Meyers [79:55]

Colton adds:

"[80:00] Colton Dunn: ... dive in if you're gonna do it... be as you as possible."
— Colton Dunn [80:00]

Their guidance highlights the significance of authenticity and collaboration in creative industries.

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Final Thoughts and Album Ranking

Concluding the episode, Josh and Colton reflect on the timelessness of The Low End Theory and its rightful place in Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time:

"[97:17] Colton Dunn: ... it's the best song on this, but I would say it's the one that is... probably talked about the most from this record."
— Colton Dunn [97:17]

They reaffirm the album's enduring legacy and its influence on both listeners and future artists.

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Conclusion

Episode 153 of The 500 with Josh Adam Meyers offers a comprehensive and heartfelt exploration of A Tribe Called Quest's The Low End Theory. Through engaging dialogue and personal stories, Josh and Colton Dunn illuminate the album's profound impact on hip hop and its lasting relevance in today's music landscape. Notable quotes and timestamps provide depth to their insights, making this summary a valuable resource for both longtime fans and newcomers seeking to understand the album's significance.

Transcript

[Josh Adam Meyers]

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[Colton Dunn]

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[Josh Adam Meyers]

On all your home improvement projects. If you find a qualifying lower price somewhere else on the same item, we'll match it. Lowes we help you save price match.

[Colton Dunn]

Applies the same item current price at qualifying retailers.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Exclusions and terms apply.

[Colton Dunn]

Learn how we'll match [e-mail] lowest price guarantee. This show is brought to you by Distrokid. Bring your music to the masses. The 500.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

The 500.

[Colton Dunn]

JM been walking us down through that 2012 edition so it ain't nothing to you hundreds want to go in need of a friend the king of peace for angelo Talking the 500 until the end Talking the 500 until the end with my man JL on the 500 Talking the 500 until the end who's that Brown Some mate I say call me Charlie the word is the herb and I'm deep like Bob Marley Lay back on the payback evolve rotate the gate contact can I get a hit Boom bit with a brother named Tip and we're ready to flip east coast stomping, ripping and romping New York, North Kakalika and Compton Check it, check it, check it out the loops for the troops More mounts till the outs and wow how wow how now brown cow? Well, till the Skill gets down that is scenario. It's by A Tribe Called Quest from their 1991 incredible record the Low End Theory. It's also number 153 out of 500 on the 500 with Josh out of my yes. Thank you for tuning in to the only podcast where comedians going through Rolling Stone magazines list of the 500 greatest albums from 500 down to one we're chipping away. May 31, 2028 is going to be the last episode and then I don't know what we're doing after that. I see a lot of you guys at my shows. I love the Fleece army. Keep supporting. Join the Patreon patreon.com backslash the 500 podcast. $5 a month supports the show. 25amonth gets you Merchant and it gets you Master Fleece Theater with me, Wayne Federman, DJ Morty Coyle and jt when he's not on some ayahuasca journey, subscribe to the YouTube YouTube.com backslash the 500 podcast. Also I have one YouTube.com Josh Adam 79 get the podcast. Enjoy it. I am in town until the end of August and then I'm back on the road. Plano, Texas. I'll be at Mic Drop. I'm going to be in Vegas, New Orleans, Jacksonville, Naples, Louisiana. I've got a bunch of dates. Go to Josh AdamMeyers.com the fall is filling up, but I'm going to go to Europe for a little bit most of August. So we're going to stack some episodes at Josh Adamierz on all social media. Support the show. Support me. We love you guys. All right. A Tribe Called Quest. Arguably one of my favorite hip hop groups, if not groups and I talk about it. Here is how hard I fought every year. I mean, acting like I really fought. But I pushed through to get A Tribe Called Quest into the Rock and Roll hall of Fame and we made it happen. And I was super excited when Emily gave us Colton Dunn from Superstore from Key and Peele. One of the coolest dudes you could have on from the Comedy Jam on Comedy Central. He's a hilarious comedian and comedic actor. Improv or sketch guy. He is real cool dude. So this was super fun. Rate, review and most Importantly, subscribe to the 500 listen free on all platforms or anywhere you get your pods. Follow me at Josh Adam Myers on all social media. Follow the podcast at the 500 podcast and email the [e-mail] follow the Facebook group run by Crazy Evan. And for all things 500, go to the website the500podcast.com that'll take you to the music all the people support. All right, y' all, here we go with 153 out of 500 with a tribe called Quest, the Low and Tharai everything. That's a pretty good impersonation of it.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Did somebody specifically tell you to talk.

[Colton Dunn]

To me about this Album and funny thing Jeremiah is that you don't know that me, Me and Colton. Colton was on the comedy jam TV show on comedy. Oh. Now defunct. Eight people watched it.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

We know that it was always defunct, baby. It was always.

[Colton Dunn]

Oh, Gary. Gary and Jonas comedy said you guys ruined it. Okay, baby, up on the backhand side little. But this is what's funny about this cult is that. Is that you sang Sister Christian.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Yeah.

[Colton Dunn]

And yet you are here. Which, you know, to be more shocked. Actually, I'm more shocked that you sang Sister Christian. You know what I mean? Probably the whitest song of all time. Is it. Is it the whitest song of all time?

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Pretty white. I mean, it's got pretty white.

[Colton Dunn]

Paul Thomas Anderson also then just showed you that you can, you know, light off firecrackers with an Asian dude and playing Russian roulette while you're high on coke, which I think isn't. I think it takes away the whiteness of it and just makes it just this incredible song. So, so, so one. So let's. Before we even get into the tribe, what. Why did you sing Sister Christian? You know that song?

[Josh Adam Meyers]

It just had become a karaoke song for me. You know, I. I heard it first in the movie and. And then one night, you know, like at karaoke, you know, when you're like going deep, nothing else. And I saw it in the book once and I was like, oh, I remember that song was hilarious. I gotta do that. And I put it in and.

[Colton Dunn]

Rocked.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

It out the gate. And then I was like, man, I love that. And I went. And then that's. I actually think I got the song after that. And then, you know, it just was always on heavy rotation.

[Colton Dunn]

It's a great song. It really is a great song.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Good. And it just gets everybody excited, you know, like, it's just one of those songs that it's just got that energy.

[Colton Dunn]

So if I always like to say, and I know we're going to get a tribe, everybody I know there's people like, get a tribe. We will. Don't worry.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

But if we're going to get to it.

[Colton Dunn]

If, If I always like to say if, if. If Journey is white Earth, Wind and fire, what would be the black equivalent of Sister Christian? What's the. What is what? You never know. What is the song that you're like. This is. This is black people's sister Christian Night Ranger.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

It's probably like an R. Kelly song, you know.

[Colton Dunn]

Oh, God.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Funny enough, something that just gets everybody like a really, like in it. Feeling it.

[Colton Dunn]

Dude, we Did. We did a jam in Hollywood, and. And we. I had Bobby Lee, because Bobby doesn't really sing like that. He's like, just pick a song for me, and they'll sing it with me. And so I was like, let's do it. I Believe I Can Fly by R. Kelly. And as soon as it started, like, the audience. But. But halfway in, once you got to the chorus, it was like. I mean, just everybody singing that chorus as loud as you can. Yeah, it was great.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

I mean, it's a great song. Someone needs to just try to cover it or something. I don't know what happens, but we can't just let that song go away. It's so great.

[Colton Dunn]

It really is. It really is. Remove the art from the artist and. And please remove. Could somebody have please removed the fruit punch and snickers from Fife Dog's hands? And he might still be here with us. I literally just. Dude, I just watched the documentary again. I just watched the documentary again.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

And.

[Colton Dunn]

And big, big shout out to Michael Rapaport, a buddy, and really, I think, took a band and really did a phenomenal job showing everybody about the history, about the. The arguments, everything that you had to do. And I remember I saw it in the theater when it came out at Arclight in Hollywood. Me, Angelo Bowers, Gerard Carmichael, Willie Hunter. And when we got out, we said. I think the moral of that, the whole thing was it's like they're just dealing with Fife Dog and his diabetes and food addiction, which basically, it's crazy. Like, you know, and I don't know if that was supposed to be the main focus of it, but the thing is, as someone who got into A Tribe Called Quest so early on in my life, as one of my favorite, you know, not just hip hop groups, groups of all time, because I do. Colton. I've been voting on the Rock and Roll hall of fame since 2021. And every year until we got him in, I was voting for A Tribe Called Quest. Regardless if there were bigger names on there, we got him in last year. This year, I got in Soundgarden. It's just so funny is that the whole time you're watching all these videos and. And. And listening to all these albums, whether it's Midnight Marauders or, you know, the Love Movement or whatever, it's like I had no idea that that Fife Dog was literally dying the entire time and really.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Yeah.

[Colton Dunn]

Very difficult. Right? It's crazy. Yeah.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Yeah. Well, yeah, because you, you know.

[Colton Dunn]

Yeah.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

You'd think there would be even more you, you know, that's such a bummer. I feel like there would have been more. More product made.

[Colton Dunn]

Do you think? No, but hold on. Not to cut you off. That's a good. That's a good starting point. I mean, I kind of look at their career as, like, they have no misses. Every one of their albums are good. They const. I think. I'm not gonna sit there and say they. They keep getting better and better and better. But I think the first year, three to four, you know, Midnight Marauders, I feel like is. Is their. Their highest point of. Of creation with this being like, you know, what some call the Sergeant Pepper of hip hop, which we just did. We just did Paul's Boutique, which they call that as well. And then the last two records, including the one that they put out after he died. I mean, they're all great records, but they do have. If you put that. That. Those five, six records just in. In Irwin with four.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Yeah.

[Colton Dunn]

Six, six, seven. I think, like, it's. It's almost. There's not one miss. Every song is good. When did you find him? Because, like, I. I mean, I. I probably 13, 14, I think. I think I got Midnight Marauders before I got anything, but Scenario is what got me into them. So when did you get into tr? Definitely Scenario.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

This was the first album I ever bought with my own money. I had worked over the summer and I had money going into the school year and I went out to Rosedale shopping mall and I was gonna probably get. Wanted to get, like, shoes and some other stuff, but we ended up in the music store and I was kind of walking around and I just saw the. The front label art, and I was like, I hadn't. I hadn't heard their other stuff, and I was just like, I'll grab this. And that was it. I loved it. I like listening to it. It was like Scenario hadn't even cut the video hadn't come out. Yeah, man, I loved this album. This was like the best album of my life. It was the first.

[Colton Dunn]

Yeah, this is. I mean, like JT said, like, Scenario is definitely, I think, what brought me into this. I remember being at camp, this little white boy, you know, at summer camp that had listened to straight heavy metal for years. I was Guns N Roses, I was Motley Crue, and. And then I got. I had this turn where it was like Public Enemy, Tribe Called Quest. And I've said it before on the podcast, much like you. You know where you're getting this with the first record you bought with your own money. Did you. Wait, did you end up getting shoes?

[Josh Adam Meyers]

I probably. Yeah, I definitely. I definitely got yelled. I probably got some Reeboks or something.

[Colton Dunn]

Though, you know, trying to bring back Reebok right now. There's like a whole documentary about Allen Iverson and Shaq trying to bring back the brand of Reebok. Reebok store shut down in Union Square. I was like, you're not doing a good job because that was like your. That was like prime location of sales and that shit's gone. So.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Wow.

[Colton Dunn]

Yeah, BK's RIP BKS. But.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

But these are great too. Why don't they bring that back?

[Colton Dunn]

I mean, somebody is paying top dollar for that at a vintage store right now. Most likely me in a few months. The. I had a. I had a moment much like you where it was like my parents were like, okay, so you get. We were very middle class at this point in my life. And it was like, all right, you get one. We got you a boombox. We're going to get you one CD to get with that. And I remember the choice was between A Tribe Called Quest, Midnight Marauders and us3 cantaloupe.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

I had that too many. I bought the single of that.

[Colton Dunn]

Oh, yeah. Which. Which is what I did as well, because I got Midnight Marauders. Thank God. Because, I mean these, these three records are. Are probably. I mean, I. I know people are going to argue with me when I say this, and I bet you're going to agree is this. That I don't think there's many bands that have a three record run that is as. As changing, dude. Because you always have to keep in mind what was going on in hip hop when the first record came out. I mean, were you an early hip hop fan?

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Out of the. It was out of the blue, man. And you know, I didn't. I'll be honest, I didn't like. When I first listened to the album, Scenario was not my favorite song off that album.

[Colton Dunn]

Really.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

You know, to me that was like, whoa, you know, I was there. Like the. All the other stuff is what got me. You know, check the rhyme. Like all that, like real slow chill stuff. All the. That the J, all the jazz. Like, because that, that was. That was very different from everything else.

[Colton Dunn]

Yeah.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

You know, you know, Scenario. Scenario. I mean, I like the song, you know, I got it. But it was like, you know, you back then too. It's like a lot of times you're just walking around, you're not like working out or doing stuff like that. So for me, it was like the song I'd listen to when I get on the bus, you know, I like that chill stuff. You know, I'm not gonna get all amped up on the bus. You know, the bus drive. So. Yeah, I remember it coming out. It was, it was. It was. You know, it was. Yeah, it was just one of those. It just cut through everything else and was its own thing. But still, you know, still this thing that was also like. Was like. I felt like was my thing.

[Colton Dunn]

Yeah.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Is it hip hop?

[Colton Dunn]

Like Busta just like, was the gateway drug for me for a scenario.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

I feel like that song was like.

[Colton Dunn]

But then I settled. Like, I stayed for the jazz. Like, they just were so in the pocket.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

The whole album is so consistent. I mean, it's great now. I mean, I'll get amped up, listen to that song, you know? You know, so it's, you know, it's all. It's all built up. But when I. You first get it and you kind of just like listen through it, you know, and it just kind of comes in at the end. And I was like, oh, okay. You know, this just feels like they're kind of jumpy song. You know, I'm gonna rewind a little bit, go back to something.

[Colton Dunn]

I mean, this. This scenario. And we're gonna. We're really burying the lead right now by going right to scenario, the final song on the record. Let's jump the brakes. There's a lot of music and to talk about before we get to scenario. But I will say this. If there was ever a song to do that, like me dance at, like exactly that. There is something about that as a opp.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

It came out same time, same thing.

[Colton Dunn]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So wait. So take me, Take me to. So take me to September 24, 1991, when this record comes out, which just so happens to be the exact day that Nirvana Nevermind comes out and even crazier. And when Midnight Marauders. When Midnight Marauders came out is the exact day that entered the 36 chambers by Wu Tang came out.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Oh.

[Colton Dunn]

Which is one of the questions I want, you know, we're gonna eventually ask and I want you to think about now is that like, not rappers, but who's the Mount Rushmore of hip hop collectives or groups?

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Oh, that's. That's not an unfair question to ask.

[Colton Dunn]

Well, that's why I'm gonna give you time. That's why I'm gonna give you time. I'm gonna give you time on that. Because you have to. You have, dude. Because it's like, dude, I'm telling you, it's like I fought with my writer Morty when I voted for A Tribe Called Quest. He goes, this is. It's the Rock and Roll hall of Fame. Did they do this? And you've got Warren Zevon and you got these guys that need to be in. And I'm like, I'm not voting on who I think deserves. I'm voting on who my favorite are. Yeah, these. And this record and this band is important. I am me. Dude, I'll give you. I'll give you a story. I'll give you a story before we get in. In 1991, I was lucky enough and I said this on the Patreon. Colton and jt, you might remember it. This is back when I drank and I did blow. I was. I was living in Baltimore and they had this thing called Artscape, which was in the summer, and it was basically a. An art and music festival in downtown Baltimore around Micah, which is the Art Institute, where David Byrne went. And. And on the, on the main stage they had outside was. Was just labeled Q Tip. Right? So me and my buddy Bind Fest, we go there. We're all up on the whole. We're having a great day of drinking. That's all you do in Baltimore is. Is sex, drugs, and occasionally go to history of jazz class at Towson University and finish your senior thesis film project. 10Q tip comes out and does a couple songs, does like, you know, vibrant thing or whatever. And then he goes, yo, something don't feel right. Something don't feel right. I need my dj. And next thing you know, Alicia, he Muhammad come out. And then he goes, it still don't feel right. It still don't feel right. He goes, I feel like I'm missing something. I'm missing something. Next thing you know, Fife Dog comes out.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Wow.

[Colton Dunn]

And then they just do a full Tribe Called Quest set for an hour and 20 minutes. Not expecting it completely. I mean, I said this. It was like. It might have been one of the best concert experiences of my life. And I go to shows all the time, but to just think you're getting Q and then have the whole fucking group come out. I mean, it was. This is 2005, 2006. So just. I mean, they're all. They're mature, they're. They know how they've been performing for years, so their stage presence is amazing. Still to this day, I'd say top five concerts of my life. But. But yeah, I mean, it's. We're talking about probably you know, one of, if not the, you know, most influential in the game of, of sampling of. Of using jazz, using the music that came before it to really create something new. Both MCs. Totally different.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Yeah.

[Colton Dunn]

Just insane. Insane that these guys knew each other since they were little kids. They went to church together, elementary school together, grew up in the same area. Yeah, it's. It's just, it's just amazing. Who would be. If you're Q tip, who would be your fife dog?

[Josh Adam Meyers]

If I was Q tip?

[Colton Dunn]

Yeah. If you're. Or if you're a five dog and you have diabetes. I don't know if you got the sugar.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Probably more like five dog. Damn. If I was Q tip. Well, that's impossible. Guy's amazing. Yeah, I don't know. That's a. I mean, I guess I've had friends who have passed away.

[Colton Dunn]

No, no, no, no, no, no, no.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

How about the death.

[Colton Dunn]

Let's forget about the death. Forget about the death part.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Yeah. Who would be my five by my. Well, I don't know. I think I am the fife dog because, you know, he's the one who's like, hey, guys, let's party it out. You know, Q tips. One who comes in is like, hey, guys, this is what it's all about. You know, I don't know. I don't really do that. So I don't know who my Q tip would be. I've had a couple Q tips. I guess my buddy Phil, Augusta Jackson, Jordan Peele would be a Q tip. Yeah.

[Colton Dunn]

There you go.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Let's see. Oh, you know what? I'd say this. I, I, my five dog could be Ben Schwartz.

[Colton Dunn]

Really?

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Sure. I'll be Q tip to Ben Schwartz.

[Colton Dunn]

You guys just. You guys just. He gets the party going.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Yeah. We perform together a lot, and a lot of times he's like the bit. Yeah, hey, everybody. And I'm just kind of this guy who's like, go back. Like, what the hell's that guy doing?

[Colton Dunn]

I love it. I love it. So where, so where were you when this record came out? You. I'm. I saw you grew up in Illinois and then eventually moved to New York. Which one?

[Josh Adam Meyers]

I actually grew up in St. Paul, Minnesota.

[Colton Dunn]

So that's. Okay. So. Yes. Okay. That. I was wondering why you were wearing that. Because I, Because I saw in your bio, it said, it said Illinois, but.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

I was born in Normal, Illinois.

[Colton Dunn]

Okay.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Where they build Rivians now. But we, we, we moved when I was 2 up to 2 or 3. When I up to St. Paul, probably maybe 4 or 5, I guess. But yeah, so I was in. I was in St. Paul, 1991. I just started high school, so I was a freshman in High School, St. Paul Central High School. And, you know, I was, like, shoplifting Super Soakers and. Yeah, well, you know, kind of still very much into, like, Michael Jordan, but, you know, had, like a. I think I probably had, like, seven. Seven different Michael Jordan T shirts. So I could wear one every day of the week if I wanted to. Really liked. Loved basketball, but also, like, love Super Soakers and, uh. And Ninja Turtles. I remember, uh, I was into the Ninja Turtles probably a little bit too long. Still had, like, action figures. Uh, this is just before I started getting into, like. And we'll talk about, you know, Wu Tang, is that. Then it brought me into kind of watching, like, you know, those, you know, old Golden Harvest, you know, martial arts films. Yeah, that got me that. That's what kind of got me into movie, like, thinking about movies in a different way and, like, oh, cool. How do you make movies? And what's that all about? But, yeah, that's where I was. 1991, shoplifting Super Soakers, Michael Jordan and Super Soaker. Watching Ninja Turtles cartoons.

[Colton Dunn]

You would just take one of your Ninja Turtle action figures and just throw it over there like somebody's throwing Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. They all look over there and you just stick, like, two Super Soakers. Giant Super Soaker.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Well, we had, like, a whole thing. You know, it's like. You know, when you're young and you get, like. You just come up with, like, the dumbest plan, right? And so it was my friends and I all just wanted to, like, build the coolest arsenal of Super Soakers. And one person is like, dude, I just took one. And in Minnesota, you would wear these really big jackets. And so we would cut the lining of our jacket, and then we'd, like, walk in. This is not advice, kids. But we'd, like, go into the toy store and walk around and, like, just grab, you know, little ones. And then it was kind of like, whoever could get, like, the big one is, like, that would be so cool. Yeah, man. So you went, my apologies to Children's palace, which is.

[Colton Dunn]

Super Sucker. So did KB Toy. So did Toys R Us. They all went under. And that. It's not. Not because of you. That's Jeff Bezos. We know that. Yeah. Ruined everything.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

That guy's got the biggest in lining of a jacket.

[Colton Dunn]

I didn't realize. I didn't realize.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Yeah, dude.

[Colton Dunn]

I didn't realize. You Went. You went Trench coat mafia to get out. To get that out. So wait, so. So. All right, so like so then biting off. But I bought this album good as you should. This is. This is a buying record. So, you know, I think. I think you mentioned. You mentioned Wu Tang. So Wu Tang. This didn't change you as much as wu Tang entered the 36 changed you. Which, by the way, Colton, this probably.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Affected me more than. Than that one. That one just introduced me to Kung Fu. Kung Fu and those. Those films really. I mean, you know, I. I love the Wu Tang, but I was never. I never felt like I'm one of who today. You know, like I said, scenario is a little bit too much for me. So. Wu Tang. I enjoyed it. I was. And I. I loved watching it, but I was never like, what's my. My Wu Tang name gonna be? I was always still more like, hey, I listen to that stand up bass. Let's.

[Colton Dunn]

I always. I always identified with Old Dirty Bastard for some reason. And I. Yeah, you are a show at the Comedy Store called Shimmy Shim. I. I have. I was very lucky. I did. I. I really. You know, we were talking about. I forget who was the guest that was like I was calling Forrest Gump or was David Wayne the guy from we number came on a few episodes ago. But it's like I got dump life too. And it's like even thinking about it as we were talking, I completely forgot. Is that like one. I'm one of the few people that got to see Old Dirty Bastard live. Just Old Dirty Bastard in the Brooklyn zoo at the 9:30 club. Jer, were you there for that?

[Josh Adam Meyers]

No.

[Colton Dunn]

Are you there? You weren't? No. It was like Paul, just.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Just him.

[Colton Dunn]

Just Old Dirty Bastard in the Brooklyn zoo at the 9:30 Club, which is arguably the greatest rock venue in the world. It's. It's. Rolling Stone has voted it as such. We sold it out June 27, 2022. I look at my talent pass of that every day because it's the club that I went to the most. And he. He showed up about an hour or so late and then got on stage, opened up a bottle of vodka, chugged the whole bottle, and then went right into Brooklyn Zoo and it was the great. And then fights broke out everywhere. I was all the way in the back, and by the time they were halfway into the set, there was so many people that had been removed from the fighting that I was all the way up front now. Another Forest Gump moment. Jer, you. I don't Remember this? My senior year of college, while I was at Towson, shortly after the. So, so basically the fall after the. The summer that I saw Tribe Called Quest, I worked on a movie with Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig called the Invasion. It was Invasion of the Body Snatchers.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Yeah.

[Colton Dunn]

Didn't really do much, but his part was cut out. But Q Tip and I'll find the picture on my phone and. And post it. It might be on my social somewhere, too.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Yeah, Definitely post that this week.

[Colton Dunn]

But Q Tip was in the movie, and I'm one of the PAs and I get in line with him and we're in the Shao line, and I start talking to him, and I'm just like, I'm a fan and blah, blah, blah, and I saw you there, and I play this and that, and he's just the coolest guy. And I sat down and got to eat with him. But the. The moment I remember more than anything was as he was like the woman that was like, kind of giving us the food was being very, like, small portions. And he goes, hey, yo, ladies, stop being stingy with the mashed potatoes. It's like, that is the coolest ever. So, yeah, it's like somehow in some way, it's like, you know, whether it's. It's. It's this record or Midnight Marauders is this. Tribe has always kind of been in there in my life and still continuously. Like, when this record came up on the podcast and I saw it coming up, it's like, oh, I don't even know. You need to really listen to this again. I know this record so well. And then listening to it was just really. Just putting you. It took me so back to all those moments. Yeah. I mean, and I think to talk about this record, Colton, we have to talk about the record before. We already talked about how they all grew up together, but you have them coming out with their first record, their debut, People's instinctive travels in the past of rhythm. And I think that came out. Let me just double check this math. That came out in 1990s. This is only a year later. And this couldn't be a more diverse record. You also, like I seen earlier is like, have to think about what was going on in hip hop. I mean, in the documentary, Moani Love says it perfectly. It's like, it doesn't all have to be the police. You know what I mean? It can be listening to music with a positive message. And I mean, like, who I mean. And maybe I'm just. I'm really Just. It's not on the top of my mind that what other. What other hip hop acts at that time are being so socially conscious, other than Public Enemy, but they're more of, like, a militia. They're more like, we. We need to take this back. We're getting. And we need to do this, like, it takes a million or a movement, whatever was out. Yeah.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

De La Soul then, you know, like, kind of just doing. Basically. It's not even like they weren't, like, militant or anything, but I don't really see, like, that album being like that, really. I mean, it was just that it was. It was different than what was going on at the time because it was. It was just a. More like, hey, guys, remember, we also just like to enjoy making music too. Right. Like, that's kind of how it always felt. Like, it's just people really trying to enjoy it. They'll infuse some stuff into it. But it wasn't about presenting, you know, I think there's. There's just sort of, like, different tones that hip hop hits really well at, different emotions and sort of, you know, sort of, you know, anger and, you know, adversity. They play well, but I feel like there. There's very little of that in these first two albums. You know, there's. You know, it's. They're still expressing some social commentary in all of this stuff, but, you know, they're doing it in a way that is. You know, it plays more of the sort of, like, love and the joy of creating music.

[Colton Dunn]

Yeah.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

And, you know, how even if, you know this thing's messed up, but they take this and they're gonna make this beautiful jam to it that, you know, by the end of it, it's gonna take all the stuff that's. That's rough right now and. And it feels a little bit lighter. You walk. You walk away from stuff having your problems feel manageable as opposed to, like, you have to confront them immediately.

[Colton Dunn]

Yeah. Yeah. So. So the first record, even though I.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Didn'T hear it until after I heard this one.

[Colton Dunn]

Well, but, I mean, you know, you've got, you know, Left My Wallet and El Segundo, which, you know, is he, you know, Q Tip bit off of, you know, from Sanford and Son. He was talking about Elsa Gundo in that, you know, Bonita Applebaum is a song that the ladies fell in love with. Q Tip because, you know, not just his vocal style, but his charisma. And he's also the guy that basically, you know, coined the term for, you know, a Girl with a fat ass. And, and, and so they said when they're going into this record, by this point, like you said, they're dealing with the Jungle Brothers, they're dealing with De La Soul, they're dealing with Money Love, they're dealing with Queen Latifah, Beat Nuts. All these groups, whether they're from Queens, which is where I think I them and said they were from Brooklyn, but tribes from Queens, New York, but everybody is just a collective native tongues and they realize that they're like we have this thing. We don't have to be this gangster style. We be these. You know, I don't want to like, like what would you call that? I mean because it's like the exact opposite and I don't want to give it the wrong name. It's.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

It's like just call it hip hop, I guess. You know, it's just. But you know, I mean, do you remember Native Tongues, all that dude.

[Colton Dunn]

Colton, do you remember there was a, a comedy show with Baron Vaughn and who's Baron Vaughn and Open Mic Eagle and it was called the New Negroes and it was like a show basically of like.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

So this was in that.

[Colton Dunn]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I think I, I don't want to say that that's what they're doing, but it's like you don't just have to be one way. It's like we're all. You're getting. You're getting one. The, the. The news and the media and sports, whether it's boxing or basketball or baseball is just getting. Getting fed One Direction and you have these guys coming out, guys and girls coming out and being like no, no, no, no. We don't have to be like that. We can. We're like this and we are doing our own thing and there is love in it, like you said and there's friendship and there's respect. But we're also going to call out. The business is with us. The world is with us. All this. I think, you know, that's why I keep saying is like they're so ahead of their time, you know, with that first record to then go into this. You're seeing that now even more like the sampling got better. The, the. The. His use. I mean I gotta give the shout out to this. The. The baselines on this record are some of the best bass lines. Just starting, just starting with the first tracks. Let's get. Let's start digging into this record. So this record to say it's low Enthusiast debuted at number 45 in the Billboard 200. It was doubted by music critics on the commercial potential, but the executives at Jive did believe in this. It ends up being certified gold, achieved platinum status in 95, peak to number 45, like I said, but number 13 on the R B hip hop record charts. When Tribe is inducted into the Rock and Roll hall of fame in 2024. Dave Chappelle gave the speech and explained the Low End Theory album title, which I think is so cool, I never even thought about it this way. The album title had one of the illest double entendres ever. The low end refers to the bass, which I just mentioned in the drums, but it also refers to a black man's status in America. Do you agree with that or like, you know, what are your thoughts when you hear someone like Chappelle say that? Do.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Do I agree?

[Colton Dunn]

What?

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Do you agree?

[Colton Dunn]

Oh, I don't. Do you agree? When you hear, when you, When, When I read that, that Chappelle saying that about the title, it's like one. Did you realize that or when you first saw it or did you. Is it just like.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

I mean, I'd heard, I'd heard the. I had heard that before. I didn't, When I, When I got it, I didn't pick up on that. I was, you know, as a kid.

[Colton Dunn]

You're 11. Yeah.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Yeah. But of course, I mean, you know, I mean, the, Both the definitions of it work, so I can't really disagree.

[Colton Dunn]

What is that like being. What is that like being a. Being a black kid in the 90s in St. Paul, Minnesota? Is it. You know, it's like Minnesota is. No, I. The only black guy I know from Minnesota right now is Prince, and I've been to his house three times.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Well, I mean, I, I think it was probably the same anywhere in the, in the Midwest, you know, not that much different. There were a lot more white people than brown people there, but there was. There was plenty of black people we, you know, in. Especially in St. Paul, in Minneapolis. So in. When you're there, you know, it doesn't feel like there's much of a difference until you go other places, you know, and you see stronger, you know, you know, out to the coasts and stuff like that. But I thought, you know, Minnesota kind of gets the label. But I traveled all around the Midwest. It was all pretty white. I mean, sure.

[Colton Dunn]

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

You can say that about a lot of the.

[Colton Dunn]

It should be called the Midwest, called the Midwife. Yeah, you mean the mid. White. I mean Midwest. Mid Midwest.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

So. But we had, you Know, Yeah, obviously, Prince Kirby Puckett. I was gonna say Kirby when they would say, oh, the UN Prince and Kirby Bucket. Go ahead.

[Colton Dunn]

So a month after the release of this re of the debut is when Fife Dog learned that he was diabetic and considered leaving the group. After a discussion with Q Tip, they agreed to increase his participation on the second record, Step it up in general as a group. Yeah, I saw that in the documentary that he really captured it, which was when, you know, they all would do different things, like Fife Dog would watch sports and, and hang out with his family. But Q Tip would live at the record stores. Like, he really saw the turntable as his instrument. And really, by the time that they're doing this record, his record collection is so extensive. It's like he, he just is a genius at hearing something and pulling out that one little thing. Whether it's the high note from Loving you, where it's just like, and keeping that on top of that guitar thing. It's like, there's so many great things. But he literally says the Fife Dog, he's like, even if you're not on the song, like, come into the studio, I want you to help me, like, really build this record. And I feel like, like, you know, there's, there's a reason why this is the record that's on the list where, where the other, you know, five aren't. I mean, this is probably, you know, like, we, it's so funny, dude. We just did Paul's Boutique. And the whole thing was that it's the hip hop sergeant Pepper. I, I, I think there is a, I think there is just as strong an argument to have with this record. I mean, and it starts right from the first song, Excursions, which I think is the best song to open the record. And, and I think the reason I love it so much is how long it goes before the, before the drums drop in with just Q Tip rhyming. You know, back in the day, when I was a teenager, before I had status and before I had a pager, I mean, it, it's such a great song. He put a reverse 808 drum machine behind it before the beat actually kicks in. I mean, it's, it's really just this, this incredible last poet sample. I wanted to ask you, talking about Excursions. I want to talk about you moving to New York City and working for Conan. What was that like? Is that your first job?

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Well, I mean, and you know, I, I, it was my first job on, on tv. Yeah. That was the first time I was on tv. And it was, you know, I did, you know, so basically, Conan o' Brien used to have those little skits and stuff. I never worked on there as, like, a writer or anything. You know, I just did these, like, skits where they would pull usually actors from the UCB theater, the comedy scene in New York at the time. And they brought me in, and I got called by Andy Blitz, who was the writer there, and he was like, hey, I. I wrote this sketch. Do you. Do you. Can you. Do you know how to sing and dance? And I was like, I could sing a dance, sure. And so I went in and auditioned for the casting person there, and they. They're like, yeah, can you sing and dance? And I kind of, you know, like some singing and dancing of, you know, some popular song or something. She's like, it'll work okay. And what the bit was is that Kona was putting together a boy band. So he was. It was kind of that making the band time. And so I was a member of this boy band. Now, all the other guys who they had were, like, actual, like, Broadway singers and dancing guys, like, guys who did that. And I was not. So it was. It was very, very fun and watching them all pick up the choreography really quickly and me not be able to do it. But that was part of a. You know, that was maybe.

[Colton Dunn]

A year. Two.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Maybe two years after I had been in New York. I think at the time, I'd have to. I'd have to look.

[Colton Dunn]

Was it a scary move?

[Josh Adam Meyers]

The real. Yeah, the real excursion would have been that time getting out to New York and.

[Colton Dunn]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Then when I had this. This. This, you know, now CD.

[Colton Dunn]

That I.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Had got now gotten with in heavy rotation with, like, the Root and, you know, Digable Planets, and I had, like, built, you know, this album kind of birthed a whole catalog of music that was my excursion music out to.

[Colton Dunn]

That's what you were listening to the whole time you moved out there. Yeah. And what a great city for listening to music. I mean, living out here in New York for the last four years, I just think everything hits a little bit differently walking around Manhattan or whether it's.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

And these songs were about New York.

[Colton Dunn]

Like, you know, they're.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

They're talking about places, you know, that I had listened to, you know, and. And fantasized about since I was a freshman in high school. And now I can go to these neighborhoods and, you know, see these places and these clubs that they're talking about.

[Colton Dunn]

Did you know you wanted to do comedy? Like, when you Were when you first get this record, like, you knew it from an early age, and it was just.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Oh, yeah, well, you know, when I got the record. No, when I got the record, I wanted to be. I was gonna be a badass basketball player. That was my plan. And so that's really what I was focused on. I. I did like, I had already done some, you know, acting, and I. And I like that. I didn't really. I saw that more as like, you know, a very unlikely thing to do. And it really wasn't until I saw you had him on recently, Nick Swartz, where we were both in high school at the same time.

[Colton Dunn]

And we.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

In high school, we started doing this thing called comedy sports, which is like an improv comedy thing. And that was. That was when I was like, oh, no, this is what I want to do. And I quit my basketball team and I. And I did this comedy sports thing was probably when I was. Might have been sophomores or juniors somewhere there right in the middle. And. And yeah, he.

[Colton Dunn]

And he got. He got.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Got me into the Beastie Boys.

[Colton Dunn]

I love that. So. So that's you and Swarty. You and Swarty are. Are old school homes.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

We're old friends. Oh, yeah, yeah. We started doing comedy together, went through high school together. After high school, he. He moved out here. He went to New York for a little bit and then moved out to Los Angeles. And I. And I moved out to New York, Mark. And he did, you know, he's got the bark stroop beer thing and kind of, you know, Reno 911 and just sort of blew up.

[Colton Dunn]

One of the funniest people I know.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

And he's the funniest guy he's always been. He's, you know, he's as funny now, like, oh, yeah, the same guy. Like, it was. He was. He was always that funny.

[Colton Dunn]

And even when he. Even when he, like, if he burps, he's just like, fart says a word.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

It doesn't matter. You know, he's one of those kind of guys who, like, sometimes he'll, like, say something serious to me. Yeah. You know, but I won't realize. I'll be like, aha, you got me again. And he's like, no, no, I'm actually, actually.

[Colton Dunn]

I love that. I love that. I didn't. I didn't realize that connection, but it actually makes perfect sense both you guys around the same area. Any thoughts on excursions you want to add to the opening track that we didn't go over or your thoughts? I mean, it's such a great song. Great opener.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Nobody sparks off right away, you know, I guess, you know. You know, I would say Pink Floyd, Dark side of the Moon, like that, like the beginning of that album. And this beginning for me had the same effect of, like, I, I, honestly, when this starts, I was like, I felt like I was going into a different, like a different world.

[Colton Dunn]

Yeah.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

You know, and, and, and then, like I said, it, it kind of this whole from, from this album, this whole sort of, I think the way I think about comedy, the way I perform, the way, you know, like everything, you know, kind of comes this, this album in the, especially Excursions. This way it started out had, you know, was, no, I had not dropped a needle, I thought. I mean, I pressed play on a tape, but it was like, you know, that kind of like. Yeah, everything else blurred out.

[Colton Dunn]

It's. I don't know if, if it's the same song, if that drums kick in that soon. You know what I mean? If it's like to let it, to let his lyrics breathe and let that bass line breathe at the beginning really just draws you in even more. And you're almost like, when is it gonna kick? And then when it kicks, it's just like, Jesus Christ, it's so good. And then to go right from that into Bugging, out, which, you know, I, I, I know I said Excursions got the baseline, but I mean, Bugging out, probably one of the best baselines on the record and best opening verse. It's, it's, in my opinion, in my opinion, I think you've got, you've got both of them trying to outdo one another. You know, whether it's, you know, you'll. Microphone check. One, two. What is this, the five foot assassinism with the roughneck business?

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Yeah, but also, he never had a cavity.

[Colton Dunn]

Yeah, that's not true. That loves sugar. So, you know he's got a cavity. I, I think the, I think though I, I, My favorite verse is the Q tip verse where he's like, I'm not an envelope. And though I used to smoke the weed out to say I had to be, I just, I love. It's like they're both trying to one up Fife. Dodd said this is one of his favorite songs to perform as well. When the album was fresh and new, we were on tour with it on the Public Enemy tour. Matter of fact, that bass line used to come in crazy, so Bugging out is definitely on that list. We used to start the show with either that or Steve Biko. And we used to win. I. I don't, I don't see like. I mean, there's so many songs that they could open the the record with. I think the music video for this is actually really cool too. Directed by Hype Williams. Where Life Dog's got the big eyes. Yep. Hey everybody. So you guys have probably heard me talk about how I've been in bands my whole life. I love writing songs and performing in front of crowds. Just like with comedy. As a musician, it can be kind of hard to cut through the noise and really stand out as an artist. I feel like half the music projects I've been in have ended just because we couldn't figure out the answer to that eternal question of how do we get people to hear us. But then again, that was before there was Distrokid. Distrokid is a digital music distribution service that brings your sound to the masses. It's a one stop shop for getting your songs on itunes, Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music, Amazon, Deezer, Tidal, and many more. What's Deezer? I never even heard of Deezer. How many of them are there? I know all that. That's like the holy grail of streaming services though. And getting paid. They want to. We want to get you paid for your music. That's huge because a lot of bands go broke before they get big. But Distrokid collects earnings and payments and sends 100% of these earnings to artists minus banking fees and applicable taxes. And that's just one of the tons of benefits of using Distrokid. You can send big files to anyone with their instant Share feature. You can use the Hyper Follow feature to promote your release and get pre saves on your song. You can even create personal landing pages for yourself, your band, your brand, and whatever you like. It has a free Spotify Canvas generator too. To generate. Generate your own Spotify Canvas for your songs and the Mixia feature instantly masters your tracks for higher quality audio. So if you're ready to bring your band to the next level, it's time to check out Distrokid. The Distrokid app is now available on iOS and Android. Go to the app or Play Store to download it. Listeners of this show can get 30% off their first year by going to distrokid.com VIP the 500. That's distrokid.com VIP the500 for 30 off your first year. Dig it. Close your eyes, Exhale, feel your body.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Relax and let go of whatever you're carrying today.

[Colton Dunn]

Well, I'm letting go of the worry that I wouldn't get my new contacts in time for this class. I got them delivered free from 1-800-contacts. Oh, my gosh, they're so fast. And breathe. Oh, sorry. I almost couldn't breathe when I saw the discount they gave me on my first order.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Oh, sorry.

[Colton Dunn]

Namaste. Visit 1-800-contacts.com today to save on your first order. 1-800-contacts. Talk about it. Talk about a director that had so much. I mean, even his name says hype. And then to not do after he had such a run and then Belly killed his career.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

It really did. It was. I mean, yeah, you know, he's had a great career, you know, but it was definitely did not perform as expected. Oh, yeah, there it is.

[Colton Dunn]

Yeah. I just love the idea of putting those eyes on, you know, they. The one. They look so young. I want to talk about. I want to talk about bugging out. What is. What is a project that you worked on that had you bugging out? Whether it was from stress or the other way, which is like, I can't believe I'm working with these people.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Oh, man. Bugging out. Trying to think. I mean, you know, obviously I would, you know, I would say that I didn't really bug out at Key Appeal, but at Mad tv I was bugging out because that was crazy. When I first got the job there as a writer and going through that first experience of being a writer on television and especially sketch where, you know, you'd be writing. You'd write sketches and, you know, yeah, you'd. You'd make an alien and it would look like that video, right? You'd be like, oh, we're just going to cut some bottle tops and put them on our eyes. And that's the alien in your sketch. You're really bare bones in it. But then, you know, I remember I wrote a sketch this be kind of. This will be kind of prominent now, but I wrote a sketch called the LAPD Pinatas for MAD tv. And it was a commercial for a store. I should bring it out too, because Ike's really big now and he'd love it if I re release this. I'm pretty sure it's on YouTube and it's. And it's Ike Barinholtz and he's playing an LAPD police officer and he's like, hey, you know, come on down to la LAPD pinatas. We've got all kinds of different pinatas. We've got the suspect and it's just like a. It's a It's a black guy running.

[Colton Dunn]

Yeah.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

And then it's like we've got, you know, the, you know, we've got a. We've got a Mexican. And it's just a guy in a sombrero with his hands up. And yeah, we've got more Mexicans. And it was just like up more littler things like that. But it was all these pinatas of have people that, you know, sometimes are the police over enforce on. And so making them pinatas was the joke of this sketch. Whatever. I write this crazy sketch. It's two. Two pages long. It's just a list of, you know, up things that the pinatas can be. And that's about it, you know, and in, you know, you know, who knows if I was going to do that in real life, what, you know, how crappy it would look. But then one day some guy comes to my office and goes, hey, are you, you know, you Colton? Did you write the LAPD pinata sketch? And I'm like, oh, yeah. And he's like, can you come down and clear the pinatas? And I'm like, what? He's like, I need you to come down and just make sure that these pinatas look the way that you want them to look. And so I'm like, okay. And like I walk down and just walk through this line. And he's like, we had to make two of each one, you know, because we're obviously we're going to be breaking them. And that's probably a moment in my career where I bugged out and I was just like, I can't believe I wrote this down on a piece of paper. You know, the runner, a black guy. The Mexican, it's a guy with sombrero, his arms hold in the air. Wrote that down. It's just like complete jokes of what these pinatas could be. And now I'm seeing it existing and somebody had made the actual pinatas, multiples of them, and then it was going to be produced and put on television. That's probably a moment in this business where I bugged out in.

[Colton Dunn]

Sure.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Like, holy. My imagination just became reality. There it is. You found it.

[Colton Dunn]

From Pete's Party Supplies Incorporated. Does your kids have birthdays? Do you know people whose kids have birthdays? If you answered yes to either questions, then you should know nothing brings birthday fun like a pinata. The lap. They come in all kinds. The runner, the wise ass resisting arrest. The hippie college boy who gets smart with you. The guilty Mexican. Guilty Mexican.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Oh, yeah, you get out the uniform for the cop.

[Colton Dunn]

Oh, yeah, it's crazy.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

It ends with a. A bunch of kids in cop uniforms beating up people, falling out.

[Colton Dunn]

Yeah, it's brilliant. That's great. All right, let's move on to. Because I like the next one. Rap Promoter. And this one's a pointed jab at the monetization of rap music in. In the music industry. Q Tip and Fife Dog both warned that this is a. A warning to up and coming rappers about venue promoters and the shady tactics of scamming money out of them. He Q Tip injects Peter, Paul and Mary's leaving on a jet plane with Sugar Hill Gang's eighth Wonder. I mean, it's. This is basically the same. This is kind of like a. The similar track to Show Business. Yeah, they're very, very similar. This is about their learning experiences. Uh, thoughts on rap promoter or.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

I mean, it's, you know, it's another good groove. It's another them to, you know, telling us, you know, about what it's like in the business. And, you know, in a lot of ways, it's, you know, again, in, like, sort of from an emotional level, it's an anger. Angry about the rap promoter.

[Colton Dunn]

Yeah.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

But they're still like, bringing this, you know, this energy and fun to it. You know, I think these kind of songs, it's. It's like a. It's like the studio, right, where it's like you feel like you're behind the curtain. And that's what I feel like, you know, they. They do well in this and that. I feel like a lot of people did after these. Where they, like, would do, you know, I'm gonna do a song about the industry, you know, and really show them what's up. But, you know, everybody. A lot of musicians have done that, but these are almost like anthems for that, you know, like, anytime you have any documentary about an artist being taken advantage of. Rap Promoter, Show Business, The. The lyric from Check the Rhyme, you know, industry rule 4080 record company people are shady. You know, you're gonna. You're gonna hear those. You're gonna hear these songs. You know, they're sort of like these anthems of, you know, people being taken advantage of by the establishment.

[Colton Dunn]

Yeah. When have you been taken advantage of by the establishment? All the time.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Every day, man. Do you pay taxes.

[Colton Dunn]

In specifically the industry? Specifically the industry. Have you gotten. Has there been like. I'll say it. When we did the Comedy Jam, the Comedy Central basically took my idea. Let me shoot it the way that we did and then basically cut me out of it. And I'm the show. I'm the reason it was successful. Now, look, look, I got paid and, you know, it changed my life and I got the dog and the Dyson and I haven't had to work a job since 2016. But, you know, it's. That's, that's really like one of those things where it's like, you know, was there something that you wish you would have stood your ground for or that you kind of got screwed on?

[Josh Adam Meyers]

I mean, not yet.

[Colton Dunn]

Good for you, dude.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

You know, I don't think so. There hasn't been. I'm trying to think. I mean, you know, obviously when I'm, you know, you're younger, you're doing, you know, but I. And you know, it's one of those things like, you know, Funny or Die. Way back in the day, you're doing like Funny or Die sketches that, you know, at the time where these, you know, ad campaigns would be like, for big companies and stuff. And you'd go in and you do it and they're paying you, you know, whatever.

[Colton Dunn]

Peanuts 25. Yeah.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

For the day or something. Ridiculous thing back in the day. But that was at the beginning. I like Internet videos. So nobody really knew what the, you know, monetization would even be. I mean, here, here you go. When I got hired at Mad tv, I was hired as what was called a diversity hire. So which meant for the first half of. While I worked there, the network, which was Fox, who had the diversity higher program, would pay part of my salary and the show would pay another part. And I don't know if the agreement was from. And then I think what the union did to make it advantageous is that I, I did not get paid as much as everybody else for the first half of my, my contract at Mad tv. So it was sort of one of those. It was like a program that the incentive was that they could pay me less to do the same amount of work. You know, that's great. I'm glad I got that job. And you know, they, you know, they probably would have hired me if the diversity hire thing wasn't there. But because it was there, that's how they were able to use it. It. And yeah, that was a complete, you know, rap promoter. Show business brought up funny.

[Colton Dunn]

That's so funny. I haven't thought about Funny or Die in so long. But I remember how important that was as a young comic in 080910 or whatever. You know, like, it was like if you gotta, if you got a good sketch on or something on Funny or Die, I mean, it could be life changing.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Yeah. 100, you know, and it's like, yeah, you weren't getting paid. But you know what? Look, I used to do, I, I did, I did stand up in, back in the day in New York and I would. You'd have to stand outside and fly her for the show to get people to go in and get a certain number of people to go in or you had to pay, you know, And I remember at the time being like, all right, whatever, this is part of the hustle. So, you know, you know, there's. Yeah, that's it, it always exists. There's always somebody above you that's cutting the, the cake first. So.

[Colton Dunn]

Yep.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

You know, in five years, I don't know, they'll be talking about some other thing that right now we all think of as sort of ingrained in it. And we'll be like, oh, wow, I can't believe people agreed to do that.

[Colton Dunn]

I know, but looks like it feels like there's getting, there's payment plans for young creators. YouTube seems to be pretty fair as long as you don't cuss or say anything. You know, I've seen videos with like millions of views. But then he says the F word in it and so they demonetize it and it's like, dude, just if you're getting the views, give us the money. You know what I mean? We're submitting all this also. We're submitting to your net, to your apps, like let people see it, you know what I mean? Christ, it's like I'm spending so much money on these goddamn stand up clips and it's like, get more than 6, 000 people. It's a good video.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Instagram. And they change it, you know, like it'll just change. They'll be like, that was the while it was wild with like YouTube and all those things. They're like, oh, this is how we monetize. And then they'll be like, we changed it. And I remember back when, like there's all these people on YouTube and it was like their lives were ruined, you know, for months until they could figure out what the new rules were. So, you know, it's still out there even, even in the, in the creator, the creator economy. You know, there's, there's still somebody cutting the pie before it gets to them.

[Colton Dunn]

Yeah.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

No matter what any, any, any platform.

[Colton Dunn]

You'Re on or I would say to nice segue, spreading the butter which is the next song. Love the sax, Love the chorus. I. I think this is a five dog semi autobiographical lyrical showcase that addresses girl problems. He contrasts his personal experience with the girls in high school. I mean, when you're five foot, dude, you know, it's tough. It is tough. I'm five eight, and it is tough. And I've got eight inches on five dog and I can eat sugar at the root of five.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

And you're, you know, you're funny and you got lots to say, you know, he did really well, you know, like, and. And you know that the ladies fell in love with that little guy because he was, you know, just this hilarious, funny little dude.

[Colton Dunn]

Yeah. And he insisted that this be his own solo track on the record. Due to the shortage of features of the group's debut, the original version did include a Q Tip verse. But Fife Dog did want this to be and. And Q Tip was on board. He said it's always been a five song and he wanted it to be one of his songs. They argued, but he says no. But in the end, it's like, Fife Dog new, great song. Great, great use of the sacks and the sampling. I wanted to ask you, what is the. You can pick your pick or choose. What is the best or worst attempt at picking up a lady you've ever used? You can go either direction. Wow. Don't worry, we're good. Not every song's gonna be a question, but we got a couple good ones, though.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Oh, no, no, no. Let's do it. I like it. I like, I like, I love them. I love this question. What's the best or worst attempt? I mean, I mean, the. The worst attempt has just got to be like, hey, what's up?

[Colton Dunn]

It's so good. Can I use it?

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Hey. Hey, how you doing? You know what? I wouldn't have a line or anything. I never really got into using lines, thank God. Because I don't think, you know, they're really things anymore. You know, I don't even know how people pick up girls anymore.

[Colton Dunn]

I don't know either. Please tell me.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Because, you know, like, that's why I was a performer.

[Colton Dunn]

Right?

[Josh Adam Meyers]

I mean, that's the pickup. You do that on stage. And then I got more.

[Colton Dunn]

I feel like we got more from performing and just being ourselves and doing what we do than when you're like. Even on the apps, you're like, it's just so hard. I. I'll give you my worst. I'll give you mine. Before the apps, my best and my worst were the same Thing where I. I used to be a private party dj, and I. There was. I was doing a private school in North Potomac, which is the richest area, actually. Potomac. It's. Holy Cross Jeremiah, you remember? That's, like, where. Oh, yeah, the congress kids go to. Like, it's millions lived there. Who. I waited on him. Alonzo Morning, and Patrick Ewing at. That's a Mori in Rockville.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Flores. Gump.

[Colton Dunn]

Dude, I. I really do. But. And I have. I have a Dick Matumbo jersey in my. Once he died, I. I went on that Chinese website. This is all from China. I was looking for a Gilbert Arenas jersey for years. This is a 30 Chinese. That damn Chinese people, man. No wonder they're beating us and everything. They're giving away $30 jerseys.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

If I could order a starter jacket from these guys.

[Colton Dunn]

You can. You can.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Yeah.

[Colton Dunn]

Oh, I'll send you a link. I'll link you which variation you want. The ones with the pocket in the front, or you want the ones that you put the beads on the sides, like. Well, I'll get you.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Oh, yeah. Pockets in front, Bulls starter jacket.

[Colton Dunn]

Okay. All right. I got a link to that. I got. I got. I got a plug. You mean Wong Kwong from. From the Shaiu land of. Of middle. I don't even know where the. My shit's coming from. The.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

The best in the world.

[Colton Dunn]

I. I DJed this party for Holy Cross, and there was one of the most beautiful girls I'd ever seen in my life, this beautiful blonde. And like a week later, I was at the house where Greg Chait, our friend, used to work. I was under 8. No, I think I was of age at that point. I was 21. She definitely was probably using a fake ID. Probably 19, I think it was like, the summer after they graduated. And I remember, I sit down, she's at the bar, and I started talking to her, but I used a fake Louisiana accent for some reason, and she was a dude. I had her in my hand. But I'm sitting here.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Yeah.

[Colton Dunn]

I grew up on the bayou, and it's like, how long can I keep this going? I. Up. If I just would have spoken my shitty Maryland accent, I would have been knee deep in puss.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

But.

[Colton Dunn]

But I. Oh, let me tell y' all, well, you know, you went for a. This is my best and my worst. You got. You have. You have one.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Oh, geez.

[Colton Dunn]

Like that.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

I mean, it doesn't have to be an accent. I mean. Yeah, I never did an accent. I mean, as far as, like. I mean, I think the. I. I Think the best would have to be because I was not 21 when I moved to New York. I was under 21, but I would still go out. And I think, I think that, you know, I didn't like, you know, I didn't lie to this person or anything, but that was probably the, the coolest woman I think that I had ever seduced when I was. It was just an older woman. When I was under 21, I was like 19 years old and it was like a 27 year old British lady. And I remember being like, oh man, I. I really wooed this lady and I'm only 19. That was my coolest moment.

[Colton Dunn]

Woman. Hey, man, I felt like it. Older British women, you can get that. You're doing pretty good.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Dude, she was great.

[Colton Dunn]

Oh, hello, cauldron. Okay, let's talk about verses from the abstract. Great chorus. I love it.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

I can't ever show my wife this podcast. No, no.

[Colton Dunn]

God, no.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

God no.

[Colton Dunn]

Don't worry. This is the promo, right? Is this not. She must subscribe to our Patreon though. So just saying that. Versus from the abstract. Great chorus. I love the girl's voice in it. I love the shout outs that they give of all the rappers. But. And I was also thinking about that of all the shout outs, there's one thing about Tribe Called Quest that I really respect and they do it the most on, throughout this album, but also into Min Marauders with the album cover is that they shout out the community. They love hip hop. And I mean, how would you feel like, you know, Prince Paul I think was the one like in the, in the documentary that's mad that he didn't make it on the album cover for mid night Marauders. Like, if you didn't get that call, how much that must have like upset you to see every major hip hop. Like I say, not every major hip hop, but I'd say like, you know, every like in that, in that world of hip hop, conscious hip hop, I think you, you know, to not be involved in that album cover. Yeah, but it's just, you know, such a great song. Thoughts on verses from the abstract. Anything you want to add?

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Well, you were talking about the, the bass on this album, right?

[Colton Dunn]

Yeah, yeah.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

This is live. This is a live bass. He, you know, give give shouts to my man Ron Carter.

[Colton Dunn]

Ron Carter.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Thanks a lot. Ron Carter. He's on the bass. And that's what I loved about this song. I just love that this was another one of those songs where I was like, you know, this is just not what not what else is on the radio. This is like a different tempo to everything else. You know, it was different than what if other. I felt like the other kids at school were listening to and it felt, it made me feel like an individual.

[Colton Dunn]

Yeah. Talking about verses from the abstract, I, I want to bring up you work for Key and Peel because it's like the abstract of what I think comedy was at that time. Like, how did you, how did you get involved with, with George Jordan? And like, how did that, how did that come about?

[Josh Adam Meyers]

I met Jordan in Amsterdam. We were really boom Chicago. And so it's a, it was like at the time it was an American style improv comedy theater in Amsterdam. Now it's just a, an improv comedy theater. Amsterdam, they have performers from all over the world who perform with them now. And so I went out there in 2001 and Jordan had already been out there for I think a year or two. And that's where we met.

[Colton Dunn]

He.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

He left and got on Mad tv and then I, you know, after he was, I stayed in Amsterdam for a little bit and went back to New York and then I made my way out to Los Angeles and I basically stayed on his couch and try to get a job writing on Mad tv. So I would submit and I didn't get in the first time that I submitted, but the second time is what that, when I got hired. So that's the first time that we got to work together on, on television, which was on, on Mad tv. And that's where also Keegan Michael Key already was. That's where I met him. And then after Mad TV was done and they were both done with Mad TV year a couple years later, they were, you know, they, they did the, the Key and Peele pilot and they were looking, that got picked up and so they were going to staff, you know, staff that show. And you know, I submit, I submitted a packet with everybody else and you know, they got, got hired with, you know, the, the first round of writers and then did the rest of the rest of the seasons with the, with them.

[Colton Dunn]

What was the sketch that you're probably most proud of working on on Key and Peele?

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Oh, damn. My favorite sketch on Key. I mean, it's, it's tough because there's a lot of, a lot of fun ones. But I think, you know, kind of back to, you know, sort of like, you know, an idea becoming a reality, especially like a silly idea was just that I was a big fan of Liam Neeson movies and I would get really excited about Liam Neeson. And. And then I. So I was like, oh, it'd be funny just to write a sketch about two guys who are really stoked about Liam Neeson. And so I wrote this valet sketch where that's. If you were to look it up, it would be Key appeal valets, and it's them talking about how much they love Liam Neeson.

[Colton Dunn]

So this is pre. Taken in that whole. Right. Sequel.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

ET no, no, this is. No, no, this is. I've taken. Had. Come out. This is. Oh, this is after take.

[Colton Dunn]

Okay.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

But this is because of Taken for show. Okay, okay.

[Colton Dunn]

And makes more sense.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

And it's just these two valets talking about Liam Neesons. And. And I. And I would call him Liam Neeson with an S. I remember this. And. And so I had both of these guys, you know, referred as Liam Neesons. And it's. Yeah, that's one of my favorite sketches. And then they. They ended up doing a number of different ones where we're like, all right, how about they be excited about this?

[Colton Dunn]

Like, they love this. You were also in Amsterdam with. Wasn't it. Seth Meyers was a big part of that. Who else was in that, like, group.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Of people for that when I was out there? Well, yeah, it was so. So Ike Barinholtz and Josh Meyers. The other Josh Myers who.

[Colton Dunn]

I get tagged in. I get tagged in so much. Dude. Podcast. According to Apple, me and him. Yeah, me and him ran into each other at Tail Waggers in Hollywood, and.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

That'S right by his house.

[Colton Dunn]

My dog. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I was by my house, too, and. And we just hugged. We were like, dude, it's like, finally we're meeting one another. I know. I'm not. I. He's the reason Bobby Lee was the. Was the one that told me, you can't be Josh Meers. You have to change your name because there already is Josh Myers.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Yeah.

[Colton Dunn]

So big ups. Big ups.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

So my. I think my first day was like, their last day in Amsterdam. And so they. Those guys were leaving, and when I was out, there was Jordan Brendan Hunt, who's beard on Ted Lasso. That guy's. If you. You're ever looking for somebody to talk about a song, he's.

[Colton Dunn]

He's a.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

He's amazing.

[Colton Dunn]

He. He would love.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

He's a guy. He's a music guy for sure. And. Oh, yeah, he does. He does a show called Elvis Prestello. If. But, uh, the, uh. See who else. Becky Drysdale, Nicole Parker, Danny Shear. And then. And. Oh, Jim. Jim Woods, Heather Campbell. And Susie Barrett kind of came towards the end of my time out there. Amber Ruffin. So those are the people who are out there. But I was. By the time I got there, Seth Meyers had already left and he made have. I don't know if he was already the head writer at SNL or he may have just been writing there. I'm not quite sure. I think he might have started writing there and became head writer. I'm not quite sure how that happened, but.

[Colton Dunn]

Wow, what a. What a group of people, though. That's insane. In Amsterdam. Just getting cheap prostitutes and smoking weed at the Rory at the Roker.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Mostly doing a lot of ecstasy. That's.

[Colton Dunn]

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. It was. The first place was in Amsterdam. Yeah, Ecstasy. Not mdma, ecstasy.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

You know what I'm saying?

[Colton Dunn]

Way different. All right. Show business. Despite probably my lamest, I think this is the. This is the song I skip over the most. I don't like this chorus. The business. It's not terrible, but it's just compared to the rest of this record. I mean, it's not my favorite. They say this is likely written in protested jive records. Yeah. Their label censoring the track's original version. They had a very tumultuous relationship with them throughout their contract and blamed them for their split in 98. I. I wanted to everyone to add before I asked the question, because I Just a very quick question about this, but any thoughts about.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

I mean, I mean, I agree with you. It's. It's, you know, it kind of. It's the same. You know, they're. They're upset with the. With the industry. Yeah, it's. It's a little bit inside baseball. I love the. I love the lyrics of this. You know, I in it. And I feel like, you know, it's. It's fun to hear Lord Jamar and Sadat X.

[Colton Dunn]

But.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Yeah, I mean, it's. It's not the. It's not the most memorable one. It. It's not the one that makes it onto my playlists now. For sure.

[Colton Dunn]

Yeah. So my question to you real quick is, uh, what's the best advice you give to someone thinking about getting into comedy?

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Make friends, take classes.

[Colton Dunn]

Who told you that?

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Who told me that? Yeah, nobody really told me that. You know. You know, I guess the only advice I would. That's similar to that is just try to do as many shows as possible. Yeah, but that was more, you know, in the standup world when I first started, and I didn't really like it because it was so A little isolating of stand up. So it just wasn't. Wasn't what I enjoyed doing the most. And so when I got, you know, found I like doing like sketches and so finding some more improv and UCB theater and then taking classes and then kind of building like friendships and creating stuff with the, with your friends, you know, is, is fulfilling along the way and fills the time while you're trying to make it.

[Colton Dunn]

Totally. Oh, everything you're saying is 100, right? It's like, just dive in if you're gonna do it. I always say, just be as you as possible. And, and then some people may not.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Like, you know, may not want to work with a group or feel more comfortable in that. And then in that case, it's just like, do the shows, man. Just get out there, sign up, do some open mics, get up. You're still gonna, you know, make your, your, you know, friends. You don't have to work with them all the time, but, you know, find that, find that community, that stage niche, you know, that, that you fit in.

[Colton Dunn]

Yeah, it's out there. Not to skip over some stuff, but I mean, vibes and stuff, you know, late is one. Is this one of your favorites? I mean, it's definitely.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

I mean, this is another one. This is another one of those. I'm a. You know, you could just imagine all these on me taking a bus from St. Paul to Minneapolis on like, you know, a cold Minneapolis day, you know, taking the 94 bus and just, just, just kick it in the back. I love, I love all these.

[Colton Dunn]

What project gave you the best vibes?

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Oh, the best vibes.

[Colton Dunn]

Wow.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

I mean, Superstore is probably the one that was the best vibes. I mean, it was great. Everybody was great to work with it. It just kept going. It was like the job that just kept going and yeah, I just loved it. I loved going to work every day. You know, hanging out with everybody was always fun.

[Colton Dunn]

What fun cast too, man. Like, yeah, just like such.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Such a fun cast. Such funny people. And all the guests, every time we had guests on, they were always super fun people. There was no bad apples. It was great.

[Colton Dunn]

Yeah. No, no, no. God damn my wife. For some reason, I can't think of that quarterback's name. Oh, my God, he's a locker room cancer. Well, I'll say Christian Leitner is the best. No, not Aaron Rodgers. He played, he played for the Colts and then he played for the Redskins back when they were the Redskins for a season or two. It starts with a J. Oh, I always Say it. I can't think of it right now, but yeah. No.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

He's a poison pill.

[Colton Dunn]

He was a poison pill. I'll find it by the end of it. All right. The infamous date rape. I mean, just the fact that they have a song about that, you know.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Well, and also that it's like, it's, you know, you're like, oh, he's gonna, like, maybe he's gonna be telling people on, you know, how, you know, consent should work and like, be careful. Don't do it this way. But he's actually. It's actually a song being like, you do don't want to be. You're gonna be accused of date rape.

[Colton Dunn]

Yeah. Yeah. My question is, have you ever date rape? No. I'm kidding. Moving on. Check the rhyme. I mean, quintessential, probably one of the most celebrated hip hop song for call and response Rhyme cipher. Definitely. Q and Fif are at the top of their. Of their, you know, other game, celebrating their middle class roots from Queens with Fife, I think, winning a little bit in the, uh. I would say that if you want to call it the battle, but. But it's just so cool. And then also like, you know, not saying this is the reason, but the music video was shot on Linden Boulevard and 192nd street in Queens.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Yeah.

[Colton Dunn]

Which in 2016 was renamed Malik Fife Dog Taylor Way in honor of Fife who died at 45 for suffering from kidney problems. Great song. Love. Love everything that Five says in this. But I. I want to move on to the. The final tracks to get through these. Everything is fair. It's. It'll. It'll always. Always for me, be remembered as one of the intro slash outros on In Living Color. They. They did that. And I'll never forget it. We got Rosie Parks and that. That one white chick that used to dance with Janet Jackson I thought was so cute. Cute. She was a choreographer. She did the beating up while I did the main thing that check. She was in that. She was in that dance thing. Oh. And so is Jennifer Lopez. I forgot.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Yeah.

[Colton Dunn]

JLo. But this song. Yeah, but this song is a social commentary about crime and survival in New York City in the early 90s. And what's so funny is because it's like despite everything between the east coast and west coast, it's like, like, you know, where it's like in. In all of the west coast rap, it's like they're talking about that all the time. Excuse me. This is one of the first few tracks where it's like Tribe is Really going into it. Yeah, very, you know, not as bass heavy as the other songs too. Oh, by the way, we gotta give a shout out who's just as important. I think the guy's name is Bob. Is it Bob Ward? Did I. Jeremiah. He's the. He was the engineer on this. On this record. And I mean is equally as important as Q Tip because he was like in a very, very experimental phase. I. Where is his name? I don't want to. I want to make sure I don't this up.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Are you talking about Skeff Anselm?

[Colton Dunn]

No, that's the producer. It's not him. It's the guy that was engineering it. God damn it. I just saw it on the floor. While you're looking that up, I do have what you were just referencing from In Living Color.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

This. This Jennifer Lopez moment here. Oh, yeah.

[Colton Dunn]

But this isn't. No, this is what I was referencing. This is not. They performed on it. No, I'm talking about.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

You're talking about the. The actual music they used on the show is.

[Colton Dunn]

Man, when you living in the city. And then they would do those dances in between. So. Not that I'm not. That's. Yes, they performed on it. I'm talking.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

This is their performance on there. But you just mean like the. The Fly Girls would actually. Yes, yes. They kind of put on music, you know, sort of like what, you know, the kind of Dave Chappelle tried to do on his show, you know. Yes, they would, you know, put bands music on and play it.

[Colton Dunn]

There it is here I found it is. The guy's name is Bob Power. He was the engineer and he was the guy that he. He basically was the one that really like cleaned up a lot of the samples, got rid of the surface noise of crackles and pops. But also like, he was very, very like. Like I said from watching the documentary, super like in an experimental phase. So really, really just as important as anybody else that's on this record. I gotta give him a shout out. So everything is fair. Have you ever been mugged? You ever been robbed?

[Josh Adam Meyers]

No, no. I had a guy. I had a guy try once and I was. I was drunk and so I just. I read he kind of came up with the, you know, with like the hand in the jacket kind of thing. Give me your money. And you know, it was either just, you know, maybe I definitely read this guy so well, or probably just being drunk and stupid. I just ran. I just bull rushed him.

[Colton Dunn]

I was like, you.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

You like ran at him and he just ran. He ran Away.

[Colton Dunn]

Nice.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

But that was. That was the only time that somebody tried to mug me.

[Colton Dunn]

Nice.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

I was too drunk to be intimidated by them.

[Colton Dunn]

Good for you, dude. Yeah. Well, how big are you? What are you, like, are you six foot at least? What are you? How big are you?

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Oh, yeah. No, I mean, yeah. I mean, I'm 6ft tall, you know, between 200 and 240, you know, on different days, but. But yeah, I don't look like somebody that you'd want to mug if I was just kind of walking down the street.

[Colton Dunn]

Oh, yeah. I was about to say. I was like, that's. That's all you got to do.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

There's probably other targets out there.

[Colton Dunn]

Sure. All right. Not. I want to. I want to get. Because we're getting close to the hour and a half. I don't want to skip over, like, jazz sky, pager and what. But because I think they're all equally important, you know?

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Did you have a pager?

[Colton Dunn]

I did. I got. I got my. My pager from. There's a little shopping center, and I had one for a few weeks, and then I didn't realize you have to pay monthly, and so I had to return it, but yeah. Did you. When did you get your first pager? Yeah, I got shut off or. I think I sold it. I returned it or something.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Man, I was so excited. That was, you know, it's probably like in. You know, maybe. Maybe when I was like a junior, I think I got a pager. It was just mostly for. It's just obviously just my mom page. I had no reason for it, but it was like one of those things, you know, before cell phones, it was like, oh, you had, you know, know, everybody has. You have to have a pager. My sister, it became a tech. I don't know what you'd call it, but it was like technological status symbol, you know, like, you know, just to have it.

[Colton Dunn]

My sister, who is a doctor, still has one, so. They. Dr.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Still.

[Colton Dunn]

They still.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Yeah, they still use them. Yeah. Because, you know, it's just a very simple messaging system. It doesn't fail usually, you know, and you keep it on and on your body and, you know, it doesn't get mixed up with the other stuff.

[Colton Dunn]

But it was like drug dealers and doctors, right? Yeah, drug dealers and doctors back in the.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Or.

[Colton Dunn]

Yeah. Hip hop stars.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Yeah. Or if you were just really cool. If you were just really cool. Just cool. Yeah. A lot of people needed to get in touch with you, so you had to be like, oh, who's kind of calling me? Oh, I gotta go check that out.

[Colton Dunn]

It was the. It was. You said it perfectly. It was a status. Like, you just felt so cool with it, you know? And same thing with cell phones. When we first all got cell phones, I remember it was like. Like, I remember getting arrested.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

I had.

[Colton Dunn]

I had a. I got a cell phone very early on in, like, 2001 or. You're late. No, early 2002. And I remember I got arrested that summer for DUI, and it was Nokia. And I remember being at the Baltimore county check in at the. At the jail or whatever you want to call it, the holding cells. And the guy was like, look at your cute cell phone. And I'm like. I was like, yeah, you can play Snake on it. Yeah. And then when I moved to LA.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

In 2004, my cell phone was a little flip. Like, a little silver flip phone that I got from Virgin, and it was a Virgin prepaid cell phone. And so I would have to go to the Virgin Mega Store and buy a card and, like, scratch it off and enter the code in, and that would give me more minutes on my. On my little flip phone.

[Colton Dunn]

You had a burner.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Oh, yeah. Well, back then, it was just a cell phone. It was just a poor guy's cell phone. Let's.

[Colton Dunn]

Let's dig into. Let's dig into Scenario, because I think, you know, like, what goes into Scenario, and I love that. That he. You know, the ending of that song kind of builds it up to it. But I don't think. And I mean, correct me if I'm wrong, I don't know if there's a song that launched a career more than Scenario did for Busta Rhymes. It's like, I was thinking about that, and the only other one that I was. That I could think about is a girl that basically ripped off Busta Rhymes, which was Nicki Minaj when she did Monster. You're gonna say that on. On Kanye or Yay, whatever you want to call them, or Heinrich Himmler or whatever you want to call Kanye now. But. But, you know, she basically does the RA Dungeon Dragon type thing. I mean, dude, talk about a moment of somebody being like, oh, you want me to do a verse on it? And I'm just gonna steal. Speaking of which, I just saw a few years ago, Nas and Wu Tang went on tour, and Busta Rhymes came out in between. Like, they were kind of like splitting it. It would go, like half and half. And so Nas do a few songs. Wu Tang would come out, and then Nas would come back out, and then Wu Tang would come back out and, and Busta Rhymes came out with just a dude and I mean just stole the entire show. But I mean, scenario for me is. I mean it's just, it really is. It's. It's probably. I'm gonna say it's the best song on this, but I would say it's the one that is. Is probably talked about the most from this record. And I think a lot of it has to do with what Busta did. And, and they did a live performance on, on City O Hall that helped with the popularity with everybody. You know, I think it says Buster was wearing a doctor Seuss had in it. And they said the song wasn't planned out. They just invited their friends to the studio and everybody came up and you got the leaders of the new school, you know, which is so funny because Busta is the only one that you talk. I couldn't name you the other two guys now. Now do we do what we do scenarios ready? I don't know any of those names.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

I mean, he just, he. Yeah, I mean he stole the show on this song. I mean there's no, there's no question that's a Busta Rhyme song.

[Colton Dunn]

I mean, I think Q, I think Q Tip has some. Before you start playing that Jeremiah.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Hold on.

[Colton Dunn]

I think Q Tip has some really, you know, great, great lines in that, you know, uh, you know, like, turn up the base, lay low on the treble. I mean there's so many. Oh God damn.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

I mean there's so many great.

[Colton Dunn]

But, but Busa just steals it. You know, the levels of the boom inside there, you know, why did hit settle violate. And it's just. They both just playing off one another.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Bo knows this. Bo knows that Bono.

[Colton Dunn]

No, Jack.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Yeah, I mean, I mean that was like when you know, Bo knows was so good a commercial on tv.

[Colton Dunn]

Bust a nut inside your eye to show you where I come from. He loves Fight Dog loves coming. You know, the Siemens furniture in electric relaxation. You know, you know, I bust a knot on your couch. So now you call it Siemens Fern.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

He's just right, you know, I forgot about all of this. Just amazing early Internet, you know, they're doing pop up windows so great. You see red man there, little pop up windows that come up and like.

[Colton Dunn]

This is a perfect way to end the song, man. And that record, I mean it's, it's. It's really just, just.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

I mean like I said, like I said when the, when the video came out for Scenario, I was sold on the, on the song that's what I loved about it, you know, and it just brought that energy and it brought that, you know, it was like, again, it was like this, you know, it's a party song. Right. You know, and it just, like, gets you. It gets the party going, and you could put that on at any time, and, And. And it's gonna be awesome. And it's like, that's, you know, this at least the, you know, the stuff that I've worked on and when I do. When I do, you know, I think when you did, you know, the comedy jam and, you know, like, you what, Just want it to be like this. This awesome, fun experience that when people walk out there elated and they feel great and, you know, and positive and happy and impressed and. And that's what I feel like this song just checks all those boxes.

[Colton Dunn]

Yeah.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

You know, and like you said, even though when I got it and first heard it, the song to me was just kind of like, whoa, all right. Okay, this is at the end. Let me go back to that more chill stuff. Because I'm a. A teenager trying to figure out high school, you know, this was the song that, you know, went on to just become like that, you know, empowering song that, you know, you put it on. You know, I'll put that song on when I work out. That's on any workout mix I have. Has Scenario on it.

[Colton Dunn]

Yeah.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Yeah. It just amps you up. It just amps you up. I get a job, you know, I get hired for something, get cast in something. Is scenario. All I do is win. You know, it's like these songs that you just put on, and they just get you amped up and, you know, it leaves you better off than you were before.

[Colton Dunn]

I mean, I, I. You know, listening to this record, you always talk about, does the album hold up? I think there's probably. I'd say it's about 70 of the tracks on this record still feel like they came out today. And I think if they did come out today, it would just be just as popular, and I think we'd just be like, wow, this is so groundbreaking because it would just be a resurgence of what they were doing back then. But Scenario is just one that it's like, it. It's without a doubt a timeless hip hop anthem. And if you put it on anywhere, I think everybody will go nuts for it.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Worldwide.

[Colton Dunn]

Great, great record, man. I'm so glad that you came on for this one. By the way, on the. On the 2020 re rank, this album jumped 110 spots. To number 43, just ahead of Naziomatic.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Keep going. Let's keep right behind.

[Colton Dunn]

Okay. Computer. And Midnight Marauders actually joins the ranks at 201, just ahead of Bjork and Sade. So I asked you at the beginning to think about what would be on your hip hop group. Mount Rushmore. Okay, gotta pick five. Is it five or four? It's not Rushmore.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

I think it's four faces on Mount Rushmore.

[Colton Dunn]

Is it do four?

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Okay, well, we'll put Tribe Called Quest on there, right? This is. So we're gonna go with mine. Tribe Called Quest, Wu Tang Clan. Now are we going with just groups?

[Colton Dunn]

Yeah, it's gotta be groups. Can't be rappers. It's got to be a group. I would say a duo is fine as well.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

The Roots.

[Colton Dunn]

Oh, there we go. Go.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Best rap, Bruce. Okay, this is a tough one. Now I've got two in my head. I gotta make a choice.

[Colton Dunn]

Who are the two, though?

[Josh Adam Meyers]

The two in my head right now are Gangstar and Digable Planets.

[Colton Dunn]

Oh, Gangstar, dude, come on and. Come on.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Well, you're right. I gotta go again. I agree with Josh, but the Digable.

[Colton Dunn]

Plans came up right after on Spotify when I was done listening to this album. Planets basically is like an even pussier version of a tribe. Like they're more like, you know, they're fine, they're fine.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

I already told you why I like the album.

[Colton Dunn]

So funny. I've noticed the whole time my hair has been a certain way. I have like 90s gummy hair. You know what? Like I'm like, everything is bad. But you're living in this. Why is it look at my hairs like that? It's hot as out here. Cole, this is so much fun. Dude, please come back. I'm so glad that you came on for this record because obviously not only you're just a fan, but it's like just the questions are like perfect. So I ask everybody these questions. So first one is, what is your favorite song on this record?

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Dude, check the rhyme.

[Colton Dunn]

Oh, least favorite.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Probably the date rape song.

[Colton Dunn]

Classic example. Can you to this record a hundred percent. Have you.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Oh, like a champ.

[Colton Dunn]

27 year old British woman.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

I'm sure, I'm sure sure of it. I'm sure of it.

[Colton Dunn]

This is not. I don't think I've ever put on A Tribe Called Quest to. But I mean there might have been a. I might have made out to it, but I don't know if I've ever.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

I don't think I've ever I don't think I've definitely never been like, let's. I'm gonna put on try. But I'm just saying that in my life, I'm sure it was plain at some point.

[Colton Dunn]

And then what would be your elevator pitch to get someone to listen to this record? Wow.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

Okay. The 90s vibe is back. Everybody's into 90s. Everybody's kind of digging some of that vibe in the style in a lot of ways. If you want to know what was a real taste of the 90s, especially in hip hop. That is an example of one hip hop that transcends the time period. Kid, you gotta listen to low end theory. Low end theory is, you know, one of many that were already kind of in the style of doing this jazz fusion to hip hop. But the way that they did it and presented it created a whole new wave of groups. The Roots. You know, a lot of groups I think don't exist if you don't have Tribe first.

[Colton Dunn]

Totally, totally, totally. Please promote away. Anything you want to promote, we'll do it at the beginning, in the end anyway as well.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

But, man, I got. I'm on nothing now. You know, I am. You know, if you got kids, Big City Greens on Disney, I do a number of voices on there. It's a great show. If you get a chance, check out Superstore on Netflix. Uh, or on, uh, on Peacock and the Recruit on Netflix. Those are all fun shows that. That I got to work on. And like I said, whenever I work, my whole goal is to try to have, you know, people really enjoy it and leave feeling better than they felt when they got there. So enjoy any of my work, whether it's the writing on Key and Peel or anything like that. Or you could just follow me on Blue sky or Threads. I'm around.

[Colton Dunn]

Do it, Colt. You're coming back. Don't worry, brother. This was so much fun.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

I'd love to be. Take it easy, Josh.

[Colton Dunn]

Bye. What did I tell you? What I tell you? The one and only Colton Don. Follow him on Instagram at Captain Dope on Tick Tock. Colton Dash Dunn on Facebook, Backslash. Colton done support this dude. He is incredible. All right, so for new music, since we just listened to A Tribe Called Quest brought to you by distro kid is333 by Ishtar. And you can find links to the music on our website, the500podcast.com and if you were in a band or directly invisible on these albums or. So you want your music featured on the 500 website, send your song to 500podcasts gmail.com. we're not getting enough submissions, so please, please send them. Next week is the B52s Morty's gonna school me. It's the debut record from 79. All right everybody do your homework. It's the B52. Here we go everyone. Dave Fleecy 08:28 now slate but I'm smarter for the pain not a slave I can wait not enthused by they face hips nose Na BAE I like to smoke marijuana Esther MF plays motherfucker mob life mob writes my stage born leader born free to A and R yes my rifle right under my speaker I will make things up too if I wasn't equal in Atlanta wannabes and I'm a wasp ghost scheming that would cheat flow ether yes victory meaning these raps are now notes Lord knows they gonna need them I'm an angel from above my tell me when I eat her having music conversations Jimi Hendrix or Beatles 1000 blues a month check the schedule for the cleanest 1.2 and 12 and that's just breaking even and yeah that's on my mom so youngest son going genius I think it's there season again.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

It'S called the wedding time the.

[Colton Dunn]

500 keeping it fleecy.

[Josh Adam Meyers]

For the fleece nation on the 500 the 500 next chapter podcasts.