The Breakfast Club BEST OF -  Kehlani , John Leguizamo And French Montana & Max B interview

Summary

The Breakfast Club BEST OF – Kehlani, John Leguizamo, French Montana & Max B (April 6, 2026)

Hosts: DJ Envy, Jess Hilarious, Charlamagne Tha God
Guests: Kehlani, John Leguizamo, French Montana, Max B

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Episode Overview

This "Best Of" episode spotlights three prominent guests—singer Kehlani, actor and activist John Leguizamo, and rappers French Montana & Max B—delivering candid, in-depth conversations about artistry, personal growth, social issues, and the ever-evolving landscape of entertainment. As always, The Breakfast Club brings humor, vulnerability, and real talk, offering listeners memorable quotes, life lessons, and exclusive peeks behind the scenes.

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Key Segments & Discussions

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1. Listener "Get It Off Your Chest" Calls

[02:47–09:20]

• Caller 1 shares drama about discovering infidelity in her relationship, leading to a humorous and supportive exchange with the hosts and Kehlani.

  • Memorable moment: Charlamagne cracks jokes about "stronger vibrators" and the "lemon" sex toy, bringing levity to caller's heartbreak.
  • Quote: "That's what every lesbian needs to understand. They didn't stop making roses when they made yours. Okay, now they got that lemon out there." - Charlamagne ([05:48])

• Caller 2 talks about feeling mature for his age, surviving cancer, and frustration with how adults treat serious matters as jokes.

  • The conversation reflects the importance of positivity and context in humor, especially when dealing with illness and trauma.

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2. John Leguizamo Interview

[12:22–28:36]

About "Dear Killer Nannies" and Playing Pablo Escobar

• John discusses preparing for his new Netflix show about Pablo Escobar, focusing on the kingpin as a father as much as a criminal.
  • Quote: "I studied my ass off... I talked to his son, gave me tips about how to play him. His son was a consultant... you're seeing the inside of what really happened at home." ([14:15])
  • Emphasis on the family experience, the emotional toll on Escobar’s children, and revelations from the son (who is now a psychologist).

The Ethics of Humanizing Notorious Figures

• The show doesn’t shy from Escobar’s crimes, but presents a complicated parental figure.
  • Quote: "We were trying not to humanize him and normalize him... but we do show the parent side." ([16:23])

On ICE, Activism & Backlash

• John outlines his principled stance against ICE and the treatment of immigrants, voicing his refusal to engage audiences who support those policies.
  • Quote: "If you follow ICE, don’t come to my shows. Don’t watch my movies." ([21:05])
• He talks about seeing ICE presence in airports, concerns about image rehabilitation, and the nuanced reality that many ICE agents are Black and Latino.

Early Life, Comedy Roots & Stand-Up Struggles

• John recounts his New York City comedy beginnings, the importance of school lunchroom humor, and mentorship from teachers.
• Shares why he tests material outside the city and the evolution to private Zoom sessions with trusted friends.

Emotional Super Bowl Moment

• John tears up over Bad Bunny’s historic Spanish-language Super Bowl performance, recognizing the cultural significance for the Latin community.
  • Quote: "To see us celebrated instead of demonized... it was just overwhelming." ([27:00])

Artistry vs. Activism

• Final reflection on legacy:
  • Quote: "Should I be a great entertainer that's culturally disruptive? I believe artists are political... I like to create stuff that changes the world." ([28:17])

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3. Kehlani Interview

[32:26–58:50]

Name Pronunciation & Self-Assertion

• Kehlani addresses the correct pronunciation of her name (“Kay-lani”), emphasizing self-respect and reclaiming identity.
  • Quote: "I'm 30 now. I'm feeling a little like, let's just get—it's been 10 years you've said my name wrong." ([33:10])

Chart-Topping Success & Accidental Hits

• Talks about the unexpected creation of "Folded," how pressure for a “club banger” led to something much more personal.
  • Quote: "It was the most accidental thing in the world... this feels like an introduction to where I'm at mentally." ([34:07])

Emotional Maturity, Vulnerability, & Mental Health

• Kehlani reflects on turning 30, growth through struggles, and learning to process emotions after her bipolar diagnosis.
  • Quote: "Something happens when you...turn 30. I’ve really spent, you know, making the changes I needed to make... I have so much option for process now." ([36:38], [37:50])

Speaking Out for Social Issues & Facing Backlash

• Candid about her outspoken advocacy for Palestine and the cultural, professional, and personal consequences—including bans, threats, and isolation.
  • Quote: "I wish it wasn't so sinister... I wish it wasn't something to be afraid of. If we all spoke in numbers... you can't just come after one person." ([42:27])

AI in Music & Creativity

• Strongly critiques the rise of AI-generated music, emphasizing the irreplaceability of human creativity and the spiritual roots of authentic artistry.
  • Quote: "Music is such a God-given thing... For it to be generated in that way... just feels wrong." ([47:35])
• Suggests separating AI music from human music on the charts.

Parenting in a Digital Age

• Shares her approach to raising her daughter with openness, community focus, and guidance rather than strict prohibitions.
  • Quote: "At home, we're very, like, human focused... She’s not sitting in the corner on her iPad alone all day." ([56:29])

Mount Rushmore of Vocalists

• Kehlani’s top four vocalists: Brandy, Beyoncé, Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey.
  • Quote: "Brandy, Beyoncé, Whitney Houston, Mariah. We're talking about, like, freaky level, like, channel talent." ([58:15])

On Growth & Evolving Perspectives

• Reflects on growing up in public, feeling timestamped by fans, and outgrowing earlier versions of herself.
  • Quote: "Artists get timestamped in whatever version...that stuck out to the fan. But 10 years later, you're like, oh my God." ([39:24])

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4. Donkey of the Day

[58:55–66:02]

• Charlamagne delivers “Donkey of the Day” to William Bushy, a man who murdered family members over internet/gaming issues—a parable about addiction, trauma, and technological dependency.
  • Quote: "You are not responsible for your trauma, but you are responsible for your healing. William was 61 years old. This was a fully grown ass man..." ([61:04])
• The discussion evolves into a broader conversation about mental health, family, and societal reliance on tech.

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5. French Montana & Max B Interview

[66:03–82:34]

Brotherhood, Loyalty & Surviving a Bid

• French Montana emphasizes his consistent support for Max B during Max’s incarceration.
  • Quote: "Happiness for my brother... seeing everything... kept me tapped in on all levels." ([66:48])
• Max B describes the difficulties and survival mechanisms inside, including falling into trouble and creative productivity.
• Explains the legal process that led to Max’s release, and why his sentence was drastically reduced.

Return to Music: Coke Wave and Creative Process

• The duo discuss the rejuvenation of their signature "Coke Wave" sound, the creative differences and camaraderie now that Max is home.
  • Quote: "When we link up, we Coke Wave. But at the end of the day, we both could go and do our own thing." ([70:55])
• Shares about the overwhelming love received from fans and the wider hip-hop community post-release.

Accountability, Sobriety & Health

• Both share stories about sobriety, health scares, and the discipline new-found from hard lessons.
  • French on giving up drinking: "The doctor told me if I drink again, I'ma die." ([74:33])
  • Max B recounts being in the ICU and recognizing patterns of excess.

Addressing Rumors, Industry Beef & Moving Forward

• Lightheartedly dodge questions about Diddy, and share their perspective on beef and reconciliation within hip-hop.
  • Quote: "If it happen, it happen... If not, everybody gonna be fine anyway." ([78:10])

Institutionalization & Reintegration After Prison

• Max B shares lingering prison habits but insists he’s not institutionalized.
  • Quote: "I got some institutionalized ways about me. I still wear my slippers in the shower." ([80:29])

Album Naming: "3.5"

• Story behind latest project title—skipping a volume due to the chaos of their earlier lifestyle.
  • Quote: "Three for the one we missed and five for the number that come after four." ([82:21])

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6. Positive Note (Charlamagne)

[82:49]

"Empathy has no script. There is no right way or wrong way to do it. It's simply listening, holding space, withholding judgment, emotionally connecting and communicating that incredibly healing message that you're not alone."
— Brené Brown (as cited by Charlamagne)

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• “Artists are political. I believe art is political. Entertaining is a different thing. But I’m an artist, man... I like to create stuff that changes the world.”
  — John Leguizamo ([28:17])

• “Music is such a God-given thing... For it to be generated in that way and also be what it’s using to be generated is a combination of real people's stories and real people's voices and real people's feelings and emotion.”
  — Kehlani ([47:35])

• “If we all spoke in numbers and there was so many of us, it wouldn't be so easy to just come after one person.”
  — Kehlani ([42:27])

• “Empathy has no script... It's simply listening, holding space, withholding judgment, emotionally connecting...”
  — Brené Brown, cited by Charlamagne ([82:49])

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Final Thoughts

This episode brims with candid conversations, life lessons, and intimate moments. Whether addressing Internet-era dilemmas, artistic legacy, or the journey of redemption and growth, the best-of guests keep it real—and The Breakfast Club crew ensures depth, wit, and heart at every turn. For fans new and old, it’s not just celeb interviews: it’s a masterclass in culture, humanity, and the ongoing work of staying honest with yourself and your community.

Transcript

[Podcast Host]

This is an I Heart podcast. Guaranteed human this April.

[Commercial Announcer]

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[Podcast Host]

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[Charlamagne Tha God]

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[Podcast Host]

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[Charlamagne Tha God]

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[Podcast Host]

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[Charlamagne Tha God]

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[Charlamagne Tha God]

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build their empires and maybe even start yours.

[DJ Envy]

You ever show up late to the game and your friends already saved your seat, your drink, even a plate that's looking out, that's having your back? And that's exactly what ATT does with the AT&T guarantee. They know staying connected matters, so they actually guarantee a network that comes through when it counts. AT&T has connectivity you can depend on or they'll proactively make it right. Just like that friend who takes care of things before you even ask. AT&T connecting Change is everything. Terms and conditions apply. Visit att.com guaranty for details on ebay. Every find has a story. Like if you're looking for a vintage band tee. Not just a tee, the band tee you wore everywhere until your ex girl stole it. Now you're on ebay and there it is. Same tee from the same tour. The things you love have a way of finding their way back to you. Especially on ebay. Where else can you find that mint signed baseball card you've been searching everywhere for? Or your first car, the one you wish you never sold? Shop ebay for millions of fines each with a story. EBay. Things people love.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Wake you up.

[DJ Envy]

Wake that ass up.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Program your Alarm to power 105.1 on iHeartRadio. It's a new day. This is your time to get it off your chest. Wake.

[DJ Envy]

Wake up.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Whether you're mad or blessed, it's time to get up and get something.

[DJ Envy]

Call up now. 800-585-1051. We want to hear from you on the Breakfast Club. Hello? Who's this?

[Caller]

What's up? What's up? This is Char.

[DJ Envy]

Char, what's up? Good morning. Get it off your chest, Shaw.

[Caller]

What's up? Good morning. I gotta get it off my chest, but it's a little bit of a donkey of the day. All right.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Okay.

[Caller]

Y' all tell me if I'm bugging. All right, So I have a girlfriend that I've been with for a year and a half.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Like a real girlfriend? Like, lesbian.

[Caller]

Lesbian type? Yeah, it's my girlfriend, right? So we live together. We got a cat, you know, real lesbian.

[DJ Envy]

We got a cat.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Three cats in the house. Talk to us.

[Caller]

So, three cats in the house. So she's a nurse. She's telling me a few months ago, she started getting close with some girl at work. The girl is her work wife. I tell her to nip it in the bud. She don't do it. Then I go through her phone on Christmas Day. I see her texting with the girl, and the girl talking like, what you wearing? I can't wait to see you type. My girl wasn't talking back, but she wasn't deflecting it. Fast forward. When we just come back from vacation, right? Today, we had a big fight. She turned her location off and she left the crib. I dragged her through her ear pods. My dude.

[Kehlani]

Wow.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

And what did you hear?

[Caller]

Where he had the shorty's house.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Yo. Damn crazy.

[Caller]

I pulled up to the crib.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Why? Damn. No, what you do?

[Caller]

What you do? Yo, I pulled up. I was gonna. I'm not gonna front. I was gonna bust the windows out the car, but I didn't.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Good.

[Caller]

I said, come outside. She said, you in the wrong place. I'm not here. I knock on the front door.

[Kehlani]

I'm not here.

[Caller]

They told me they gonna call the cops. And I'm like, nah, y', all. You know dtb.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

What's dtb? Disturbing the peace. Don't trust.

[Kehlani]

My bad.

[DJ Envy]

Damn dtb.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

So what's the problem? You mad that she had a stronger vibrator than you?

[DJ Envy]

Oh, damn. Shut up.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

You mad? Cause her clitoral massager was stronger than yours was better.

[DJ Envy]

That's what you should have said.

[Caller]

That's not the grimiest.

[John Leguizamo]

Yeah.

[Kehlani]

Yeah, that is grimy.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

And you've been getting cheated on.

[Podcast Host]

And that's the thing.

[Caller]

You know what she said to me? No. You don't have to tell me. She's just hanging out with her friends.

[DJ Envy]

She called her Stephanie. I don't open doors for these.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

What you gonna do now? What you gonna do now?

[Caller]

Yo, you know what it is? DTB money. That's all you can do.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Plenty other fish in the sea, man. Surely, surely.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[DJ Envy]

I'm sorry.

[Kehlani]

Y. I'm sorry about that, man.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

They didn't start making rooms.

[Caller]

Believe y' all picked up. So. Y' all made my day. Thank you.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

That's right.

[DJ Envy]

I don't know, but you have a good one.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Yeah. That's what every lesbian needs to understand. They didn't stop making roses when they made yours. Okay, now they got that lemon out there. Y' all know about that lemon?

[Podcast Host]

No.

[Kehlani]

What is that?

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Yeah, they got that lemon. That Nancy's limb, it's shaped like a lemon. You go look at her ass. A lemon. Crazy. Y' all still playing with that rose? People out here with that lemon.

[John Leguizamo]

Yo, he's on the noobus.

[DJ Envy]

This is crazy, but get it off your chest. 800-585-1051. If you need the vent, hit us up now. It's the Breakfast Club. Good morning.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

It's a new day. This is your time to get it off your chest. Wait.

[DJ Envy]

Wake up.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Whether you're mad or blessed, it's time to get up and get something.

[DJ Envy]

Call up now. 800-585-1051. We want to hear from you on the Breakfast Club. Hello?

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Who's this?

[Caller]

This is Raymond.

[DJ Envy]

Hey, Raymond.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

He's Raymond.

[John Leguizamo]

Good morning.

[DJ Envy]

Get it off your chest, man.

[Caller]

I'm just sick and tired of adults acting like children, man.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Explain.

[Caller]

It's very crazy. I mean, I don't got to get into details, but I'm only 23 years old, and I feel like I'm pretty mature for myself, but, like, with some situations you go through in life and some people's opinions on it, it really blows my mind. It really does.

[Kehlani]

I get you.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

I feel you.

[Caller]

I mean. I mean, I don't mean to get into detail and all, but like I said, I'm 23 years old. And then I went through cancer and chemo last year, and thank God I'm in remission.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

God bless you.

[Podcast Host]

Absolutely.

[Caller]

Thank you. And people just think it's a Joke, you know, I mean, and it's really, it's really sad what the world's come to.

[DJ Envy]

I don't know anybody, I don't know anybody that think that's a joke, bro.

[Kehlani]

Yeah, what kind of friends you got to think that's the day?

[Charlamagne Tha God]

What do you mean? What do you mean a joke? Are they trying to make jokes to lighten the mood? Are they just like, I don't know, like.

[Caller]

No, no, no, no, no, no, not even that. It's more like, it's more family than anything. Like family friends, like older people, like my friends. I, I, my click down to two people, man. And I'm cool with it.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Same.

[Caller]

Yeah, but it's, it's just crazy, like how some people take some as a joke when they've never been through something like that. You know what I mean?

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Nah, you're right. I still need to hear more context though, because I had a friend yesterday who for the last two days has just been finding it very funny that I got a ball head and all of this cold. And I had to remind her that you was ball headed a couple years ago because you had cancer. So let's look. So I had to, I had to remind her. No, that's not foul. Because I had to remind her because she was clowning me about being a ball head and I was like, do you remember when you was bald headed?

[John Leguizamo]

But that's.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

What the hell are you calling up here about?

[DJ Envy]

It was different than your.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

No, no, she shouldn't be clowning me about mine. So that's different. So I'm just trying to figure out what's the context.

[Caller]

100. I was bald too, man. No, 100%. Trust me, I got the joke to that too. But like, like some things is cool, you know? I mean, like the joke about. Yeah, it keeps you positive. You know what I mean? Because being negative ain't cool. But like when you start being negative or like. Yeah, throughout my whole process, you weren't there. And then you want to make jokes like, that's not, that's not cool.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

I get what he's saying. Can you give us an example of this one? Oh, yeah.

[DJ Envy]

Come on, man.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

You hung up on Damn, man. And Red. That's what he talking about. For real. Red just hung up on the man for no reason, man.

[DJ Envy]

Get it off your chest. 800-585-1051. But Charlamagne's that friend. You could be going to something crazy. He's the one that's gonna crack a joke. Charlamagne is that guy.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

First of all, I was minding my business yesterday and she started texting me, clowning me about my bald head, sending me videos of like growth serum. Some growth serum that grows your head back. So I'm like, oh, okay. Do you not remember I literally said that? Don't you remember being bald headed just two years ago? That is so my husband's cancer. Cancer.

[DJ Envy]

Damn.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Oh, jeez.

[DJ Envy]

Yours is genetics, all right. Get it off your chest. 800-585-1051 is the Breakfast Club.

[Commercial Announcer]

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[Kehlani]

Hey there folks. Amy Robach and TJ Holmes here and

[Charlamagne Tha God]

we know there is a lot of news coming at you these days. From the war with Iran to the ongoing Epstein fallout, government shutdowns, high profile trials, and what the hell is that Blake Lively thing about anyway?

[Kehlani]

We are on it every day, all day.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Follow us, Amy and TJ for news updates throughout the day.

[Kehlani]

Listen to Amy and TJ on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts.

[Podcast Host]

I feel like it was a little bit unbelievable until I really started making money. It's financial literacy month and the podcast Eating While Broke is bringing real conversations about money, growth and building. Your this month hear from top streamer Zoe Spencer and venture capitalist lakeisha Landrum Pierre as they share their journeys from starting out to leveling up. If I'm outside with my parents and they're seeing all these people come up to me for pictures, it's like, what today? Now, Obviously it's like 100%. They believe everything. But at first it was just like, you gotta go get a real job. There's an economic component to community striving. If there's not enough money and entrepreneurship happening in communities, they fail. And what I mean by fail is they don't have money to pay for food. They cannot feed their kids. They do not have homes Communities don't work unless there's money flowing through them. Listen to Eating While Broke from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Notice how some homes sell faster in your neighborhood. It's not luck. It's local. Know how RE Max agents know their streets, schools, and communities inside and out. And with RE Max, those local pros are everywhere. Which means when you're ready to buy or sell, you'll get trusted neighborhood insight that puts you a step ahead. Reach out Today, RE Max, the experts close to home. Each office independently owned and operated.

[DJ Envy]

Morning. Morning, everybody. It's DJ Envy. Just hilarious. Charlemagne the guy. We are the breakfast club. Lauren LaRouse is here with us as well. We got a special guest in the building.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Indeed.

[DJ Envy]

John Lego. Zamo. How are you doing? Did I say your name right?

[John Leguizamo]

Lego. That's how I pronounce it. That's not how you're supposed to say it.

[DJ Envy]

How you supposed to say it?

[John Leguizamo]

Okay, but you know when teachers would get to that My name, and they go like. Like, gubano legismo. I was like, you know, I'm going just do it phonetically and shut them up. Be laughing at me.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

I was like, that was my first name. My first name is Leonard. But the teachers would always say Leonard, right? And so I would get tired of correcting them. So I was just like, man, just call me my middle name. My daddy's name, which is Larry.

[John Leguizamo]

Like, Larry, Larry.

[Podcast Host]

That.

[John Leguizamo]

That'll just stop the nonsense, people. Your first day of school, everybody starts laughing at you. Is not the way you want to start the year, you know?

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Exactly.

[Podcast Host]

How are you?

[John Leguizamo]

I'm great. I'm great. Great to be here. This excited to be here, man.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Happy to have you.

[DJ Envy]

That's right.

[John Leguizamo]

And you on Netflix now. God damn.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Yes.

[John Leguizamo]

That's a big deal.

[Kehlani]

Yes.

[John Leguizamo]

Ching.

[Kehlani]

How much?

[John Leguizamo]

How much? How much?

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Come on, tell us how much you made for Dear nanny.

[Kehlani]

Brag, man.

[John Leguizamo]

I don't like to brag.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

It's not cool.

[John Leguizamo]

It's not cool to brag, you know? No, I mean, Disney pays well. It pays well. I'm not gonna lie. Yeah, Apple, Disney, Netflix doesn't pay well for actors anymore. I don't know about your show. It's a totally different thing.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Licensing is.

[John Leguizamo]

We do all licenses is different.

[DJ Envy]

Right.

[John Leguizamo]

I like the way you just do it. Licenses is a little different.

[DJ Envy]

Let's talk about Dear Killer Nannies.

[Caller]

Oh, yeah.

[DJ Envy]

It premieres on the first.

[John Leguizamo]

Yeah, yeah.

[DJ Envy]

And it's about Pablo Escobar. But in a different light.

[John Leguizamo]

Absolutely. Cuz, you know, everybody's done Pablo Escobar.

[DJ Envy]

Correct.

[John Leguizamo]

You know, and I, I guess, you know, like white actors have to do, like Hamlet and they all do it. Latin actors all have to do Pascal to show who's the best. Because Javier Badem did it. Benicio Toro did it. Wagner Moore, who just got nominated for an Oscar, did it. So now it's my turn to do it. So everybody did good. Some didn't get the accent quite right.

[DJ Envy]

Right.

[John Leguizamo]

A couple I'm not gonna name who and something get the gestures, the behavior. So I tried to do it all, man. I studied my ass off. I watched every tape, every recording he ever had. I read everything about him. I talked to his son, gave me a lot of tips about how to play him nice and things that happened because the son was a consultant on this one for the first time ever.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Wow.

[John Leguizamo]

So we're seeing the inside of what happened and what was said at home. And that's what's exciting about this show because you, you didn't know what was going on. Like the kind of fear that they lived under. Even though he was, I guess, the wealthiest gangster that ever lived, he was worth 30 billion when he died. I guess that's 70 billion in today's 2026 money, that. So he's the wealthiest. But he still had to move homes sometimes, stay away from the family, so he would. So he could be like a decoy away from them. The son tried to go to school, but the DA was after them. Assassination attempts. The kids were afraid of him. So he had to be schooled at home by these trained assassin nannies. And they became his friends, his family. And, you know, you can't totally trust them because they're not really family. And some of them became informants. So Pablo had to off some of them. And then that was confusing to the son that his dad was taking out some of the nannies that he loved. And so that's all in the series. It's really wild.

[DJ Envy]

It's not about the drug part of it. It's more about the son growing up and how his father was a father.

[John Leguizamo]

Exactly. Trying to be a father, you know. And, you know, back then it was a tough love kind of love, but Pablo was the first guy in Colombia, maybe in all of Latin America in the 80s, because it was a tough love kind of. You raised your son like being tough. You want to make him prepare for the world. He would say, I love you, kiss him, hug him in public, at home, everywhere. And Colombian dads weren't doing that. Obviously, Pablo knew that he might die, so that's why he was more affectionate. But he. But, you know, because I hug and kiss my son and say, I love you, but that's not how my dad treated me. My dad was like, every day I see you, you get more stupider than the last day. That's how my dad, you know, there is you back then.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Did playing him in this series humanize him for you?

[John Leguizamo]

We were trying not to humanize him and normalize him. You know, we do show all the killings and the assassination that he did, but. But we do show the parent side. That was complicated because the son did call him out a lot of times. You know, he's. You know, what kind of life are we living? You're killing the nannies. You're killing some of my friends. Are you gonna kill my. My mom if she says the wrong thing to you? So you. The. The son does call him out in the show, which is that. That's the only part that you might feel kind of humanizing him a little bit.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

I wonder why. Why did he. Why was he so willing to just kill people and let people know that he was killing them? You would think that that would be something he would keep to himself.

[John Leguizamo]

Well, I mean, because he was. He was. He owned Colombia. You know, he owned the whole country. He owned the government. He was bribing everybody. His thing was plata oblomo. So either you take the bribe or you get a bullet. So that was your choice that he put to everybody and he took. You know, he bombed a lot of journalists. He bombed a lot of politicians. He control the country, basically. He, He, He. He told him that he would pay their debt if they let him take over completely.

[DJ Envy]

Were you nervous or scared playing this part at all?

[John Leguizamo]

You know, it's been years now. No, no, I'm not. I'm not scared anymore. I was just like, what do you mean anymore?

[Charlamagne Tha God]

You was.

[John Leguizamo]

At first, you know, back in the day, you couldn't do that because, you know, who knows? Somebody might come after you. But now, I mean, it's years later.

[Kehlani]

You know, what drew you to the role initially?

[John Leguizamo]

To show up everybody, that I could do it better than everybody else I've done. And I think I did a. A crazy good job, man. I really. There's one actor that might have beat me, the Colombian actor who did a TV series about Pablo. He looked just exactly like him. His accent was perfection. The gestures. I'm second, I think.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

But you.

[John Leguizamo]

You judge for Yourself.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

What is a role like this demand from you emotionally that. That other roles.

[John Leguizamo]

Well, this one, you know, it was a lot of research that. That more than other roles where I could be myself or tap different parts of myself here, I had to, like, reach to the level that you could play Paulo Escobar tape next to me and me and see that there's not that much difference. You know, that's what I was after.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah, I saw that. His son told the LA Times that doing a movie like this is like, his way to tell the truth and to kind of push back against the way that other movies has made the violence a spectacle. But how do you not make it a spectacle? Because he's so notorious and, like, you got to include all of that stuff so, like, in the writing. How did they try and figure that out?

[John Leguizamo]

Yeah, yeah, because we did still show all his violence. You know, all the assassination attempts that he put on people and, And. And. And the kind of life of paranoia that he lived, we kept that. But I think the difference in this is that you see what the family life was like at home with the wife and with the kids and how he was trying to be a loving dad, but his morality said the opposite message. You know, he just couldn't help it. I mean. I mean, we all mess up his parents, but our kids are gonna hate us for something. But, I mean, he had extra. You know, he had all that having to move the kids from place to place, having to stay away from them so that he wouldn't bring violence to the house. And eventually, you know, that kind of lifestyle always ends the way it always ends. You know, he got shot up.

[Kehlani]

You were talking to the son, right? And I imagine the son had to

[Podcast Host]

relive all this and go down memory lane a lot.

[Kehlani]

Was it ever emotional for him, do you think?

[John Leguizamo]

Yeah, he got emotional, you know, because he did love his dad. You know, I guess he had a lot of words and some beef towards the end, but I guess you have to make up for that after your dad passes. You know, he changed his whole life. He moved to Argentina, changed his name, became a psychologist. I guess you would have to become a psychologist. Lifestyle and. And he goes around the world doing, you know, speeches about, you know, giving good, putting out good.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

That's amazing.

[John Leguizamo]

So that. That's how he. He escaped the sins of the father.

[Podcast Host]

But even though he's done all of that does. Is there, like, traumas that he still deals with daily, even all these years later?

[John Leguizamo]

You know, he definitely has to deal with. I mean, the way they grew up and. And all that money that he didn't get, because, you know, a lot of it was disappeared. It was never really discovered where a lot of that money went. But I think a lot of people robbed it and took it, and especially law enforcement.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

I'm sure they got.

[John Leguizamo]

Of course they got a huge chunk of that. And all his other comrades must have taken a piece.

[DJ Envy]

You had a strong message for ICE and the followers of ICE that you didn't want to match the show. I want to read it because it says, if you follow ice, don't come to my shows. Don't watch my movies.

[John Leguizamo]

Yeah. Why was that important? Follow me.

[DJ Envy]

I'm folly. Why was that so important for you?

[John Leguizamo]

It was important to me because the way I see Latin bodies being treated, you know, moms, grandmothers, children, pregnant women. I mean, why are you arresting children? I mean, how do you do that? How can you. How can you wrap your mind around that? It's so inhuman and cruel and. And the way they're treating people. You see that?

[Charlamagne Tha God]

And, yeah.

[John Leguizamo]

So, yeah, I can't. I can't be. For these. These kind of like domestic terrorists going around covering their faces, not giving badges, not reading you your rights, not treating people with respect. That's not what they set out to do. What didn't they set out to grab? Criminals? These aren't criminals, obviously. They're just innocent people. I mean, they're not reading them their rights and not treating them with due process. That's not America. That's not the America that I believe in.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Have you seen them at the airport?

[John Leguizamo]

Yeah, I saw them at the airport.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

I don't think that the one. I think the ones at the airport are not the same ones that are in the street.

[John Leguizamo]

Right.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

I think it's. I think it's a totally different bunch of people because they're so nice and they're so helpful, and Trump said that it was image rehab for them.

[John Leguizamo]

Oh, that's absolutely what it looks like.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

What I think he wants to do is, you know, you go to the airport and you realize, oh, that's so nice. And then. So when he says, and we're gonna have them at the. The voting booths during the midterms, you're not gonna think nothing of it.

[John Leguizamo]

Right, right. You know, that's. That private military.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

That's right.

[John Leguizamo]

Send him wherever they. Wherever he wants.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

That's right.

[John Leguizamo]

Yeah. I mean, that's what it looked like. The optics to me was the other day I was in the airport, it was like, oh, you're trying to normalize these guys and make them look like they. Okay. Because they're not wearing the masks. They're not grabbing anybody. They're just standing around. Yeah.

[DJ Envy]

Have you got backlash at all for that? For that statement? I pulled over. F'd weird at all?

[John Leguizamo]

Not yet, but I'm taking lots of precautions. Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[John Leguizamo]

And, you know, my family's afraid. You know, when you speak out, there are consequences.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Of course.

[John Leguizamo]

So. Yeah. Yeah. I take much more precautions than I used to. You know, I make sure my phone's on lockdown mode and whatnot.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Did they see you at the airport? How did they treat you at the airport?

[John Leguizamo]

They looked at me. I balled me, and I balled them back.

[Max B]

Yeah.

[John Leguizamo]

I wasn't friendly, and I'm not going to be friendly to people who are treating my people the way they are.

[Kehlani]

Absolutely.

[John Leguizamo]

And the problem is the majority of these ICE guys are Latino and black. That's problematic for me. That the hell out of me. I mean, how do you deal with that? I mean, the majority of people I know, they're going for a check, most of them. But still, how do you treat these.

[DJ Envy]

Your people?

[John Leguizamo]

Yeah. How do you treat your own people?

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Your own people like that. I'm telling you, the ones in the airport are not the same ones that are on the street. I truly believe.

[Caller]

Yeah.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Now, but when the midterms come, the ones that's gonna be at the voting booths are the ones that were in the street.

[John Leguizamo]

Yeah, right, right. Doing all that thuggery.

[DJ Envy]

I want to go back a little bit, if you didn't mind. How did you get into acting?

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Right.

[DJ Envy]

Growing up in New York City, we would see your name all over the place. Right. Whether it's Caroline's or you performing here. And I knew you at first as a comedian, of course, and then you got into acting. What got you into comedy and how did you transition into.

[John Leguizamo]

Well, I started. I was a class clown and a troublemaker and a troubled teen and all that stuff.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

And.

[John Leguizamo]

And the school made me go to therapy because they wouldn't let me back, and. But I was a class clown, you know, at Bertram, and it was a competitive school for class clowns. Man, you couldn't have sit at the table.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Yeah.

[John Leguizamo]

You couldn't sit at this one lunchroom table unless you crack the best jokes the day before.

[Kehlani]

Damn.

[John Leguizamo]

So I used to have to write my jokes the day before and all that stuff.

[DJ Envy]

And this was at what age this.

[John Leguizamo]

Me, 16, 17, you know, and Damon Wayans went there, and Q Tip and Jungle Brothers. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Y' all knew each other.

[John Leguizamo]

I knew Damon. I didn't know Q Tip. Q Tip was like two years younger than me.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Damon was always funny.

[Kehlani]

He, he.

[John Leguizamo]

I don't know about funny. He was. He was an odd man. He was a handsome dude, but he was just always to himself. Always kind of smiling and had jokes in his head. I just didn't hear them out loud.

[DJ Envy]

So back to the story. So he was writing ahead and at the lunch table.

[John Leguizamo]

Yeah, yeah. So, you know, and then my math teacher, Mrs. Zufa was like, you know, Mr. Leguizamo Squeezer Mo, he used to call me because he couldn't say my name correctly. And he go, if they can make penicillin out of moldy bread, it must be something we can do with you. And he suggested I use my comedy for something good instead of disrupting. And I started taking acting classes. And boom, that started my, my career. Started taking these acting classes. NYU students came to see these shows and they offered me student films. And boom, boom, I got an agent. I got Miami Vice, because that's the only place Latin people could work in those days was his villains on Miami Vice. But, hey, they were funding our careers, you know.

[Kehlani]

Damn, that's dope.

[Podcast Host]

And then I just had shows at

[Kehlani]

the New Brunswick in New Brunswick, New

[Podcast Host]

Jersey, at the Stress Factory.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

And you're on the wall up there. I don't know if you. Do you remember going there?

[John Leguizamo]

Yeah, I do.

[Kehlani]

Okay.

[DJ Envy]

Because Benny always talks about you.

[Kehlani]

You and, you know, coming to his club and I, I love seeing you on the wall.

[Podcast Host]

I mean, I. I'm a stand up comedian myself, so.

[French Montana]

Oh, cool.

[Kehlani]

Like, I see you on a lot of the walls, but it's so funny

[Podcast Host]

that I saw you there and then I. And they were talking about Vinnie.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Yeah.

[John Leguizamo]

You know, because you got to test out your material, you know, and you gotta go somewhere, right?

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Yeah.

[John Leguizamo]

So I, I try to stay out of New York because then I'll get reviewed and they'll, you know, they'll rush some new stuff. That's not right, not right for the public eye. So I go to Jersey. I go, you know, wherever I can as far away and test my stuff out. And, you know, I love that.

[Podcast Host]

That got to be hard for you now, right? You testing out anything anywhere. I feel like your face is so known, like everybody knows you.

[John Leguizamo]

Yeah. So I have to do different things. Obviously now I just, I kind of do zoom testings of my material.

[Podcast Host]

I can't even imagine, like, what's the

[John Leguizamo]

impact on the people no, no, no, not audience. I just get, like, my trusted friends and trusted. So, yeah, so I have to, like. I make it smaller and smaller and more protected, obviously.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Yeah.

[DJ Envy]

That might be worse, though. You tell a joke in front of five friends and they just look at you like, that's not it.

[John Leguizamo]

Confident in yourself. And then when they do crack it, you know, and they do laugh, you're like, oh, I got it right. That one really kills. I'll work on the other ones.

[DJ Envy]

I see you, you tearing at the Super Bowl. Tears of joy.

[John Leguizamo]

Oh, yeah, man.

[Caller]

Why.

[DJ Envy]

Why did that performance mean so much to you? Because there's been other Latin people that performed at the Super Bowl. Why was that one so emotional for you?

[John Leguizamo]

Oh, dude, because I. I think because of the situation that we're living through, you know, to see Bad Bunny there in Spanish because, you know, there's Jose Feliciano tried to sing in Spanish back in the 60s and they arrested him after in Yankee Stadium, and. And then some. Some Mexican kid and wore mariachi outfit and tried to sing this American, this Star Spangled Banner, and. And they've mistreated him and. And through things. So for him to speak so Spanish at Super bowl was such a powerful statement and. And such a brave statement that it was moving, man, to see all these Latin kids performing on that stage being their authentic selves. And I knew. I knew all the signals that he was sending, like the old Puerto Rican flag that was banned, the electric plants that, that, that, you know, that FEMA's money was robbed in Puerto Rico so they didn't have electric, proper electricity. I saw all the little Easter eggs that he planted, the little, little boy and the real marriage. It was all just so touching, man. To see us celebrated instead of demonized instead of being attacked. It was just overwhelming for me. No, you make me cry now.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

I know you gotta leave, man. So my last question to you is, when it's all said and done, what matters to you more? Being remembered as a great entertainer or a cultural disruptor?

[John Leguizamo]

Oh, wow.

[French Montana]

Wow.

[John Leguizamo]

Can it be both? Should I be a great entertainer? That's culturally disruptive? Because I believe. I believe artists are political. I believe art is political. Entertaining is a different thing. But I'm an artist, man. I like to create stuff that changes the world, that makes the world a better place. And I think that's the place for art.

[DJ Envy]

There you have it, ladies and gentlemen. Definitely check out Dear Killer Nannies out today. Make sure you watch it. Thank you for joining us, John Leguizamo. John Leguizamo.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Why you ain't gonna say his name?

[DJ Envy]

I had to write it out right there.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

So I said leguizamo.

[DJ Envy]

I knew I was saying I practiced this.

[Commercial Announcer]

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[Podcast Host]

I feel like it was a little bit unbelievable until I really started making money. It's Financial Literacy Month and the podcast Eating While Broke is bringing real conversations about money, growth and building your future. This month hear from top streamer Zoe Spencer and venture capitalist lakeisha Landrum Pierre as they share their journeys from starting out to leveling up. If I'm outside with my parents and they see all these people come up to me for pictures, it's like, what today? Now, Obviously it's like 100%. They believe everything, but at first it was just like, you got to go get a real job. There's an economic component to communities thriving. If there's not enough money and entrepreneurship happening in communities, they fail. And what I mean by fail is the they don't have money to pay for food. They cannot feed their kids. They do not have homes. Communities don't work unless there's money flowing through them. Listen to Eating While Brooke from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast.

[Kehlani]

Hey there folks. Amy Robach and T.J. holmes here and

[Charlamagne Tha God]

we know there is a lot of news coming at you these days. From the war with Iran to the ongoing Epstein fallout, government shutdowns, high profile trials, and what the hell is that Blake Lively thing about?

[Kehlani]

Anyway, we are on it every day, all day.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Follow us, Amy and TJ for news updates throughout the day.

[Kehlani]

Listen to Amy and TJ on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Hi, I'm Bob Pittman, chairman and CEO of iHeartMedia and I'm kicking off a brand new season of my podcast Math and Magic Stories from The frontiers of Marketing. Math and Magic takes you behind the scenes of the biggest businesses and industries while sharing insights from the smartest minds in marketing. I'm talking to leaders from the entertainment industry to finance and everywhere in between. This season of Math and Magic. I'm talking to CEO of Liquid Death, Mike Cesario, financier and public health advocate Mike Milken. Take Two Interactive CEO Straus Zelnick.

[Kehlani]

If you're unable to take meaningful creative risk and therefore run the risk of

[DJ Envy]

making horrible creative mistakes, then you can't

[Kehlani]

play in this business.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Sesame Street CEO Sherry Weston and our own Chief Business Officer, Lisa Coffey.

[Podcast Host]

Making consumers see the value of the

[Kehlani]

human voice and to have that guaranteed human promise behind it really makes it

[Podcast Host]

rise to the top.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Listen to Math and Magic stories from the frontiers of Marketing on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you could your podcast.

[DJ Envy]

Good morning. Morning, everybody. It's DJ Envy. Just hilarious. Charlemagne the guy. We are the Breakfast Club. Lola Rose is here as well. We got a special guest in the building.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Yes, indeed.

[DJ Envy]

Number one record. The record is flying on the charts. We play it, what, every hour on the hour.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Damn near one of my wife's favorite records right now. Fold it.

[DJ Envy]

Ladies and gentlemen, Kalani.

[French Montana]

Welcome.

[Kehlani]

Hey.

[DJ Envy]

Hey, guys.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

How are you, Kalani?

[Kehlani]

I'm really good. How are you?

[Charlamagne Tha God]

I am blessed. Black and Holly. How's your energy?

[Kehlani]

It's good. Can I. Can. Can I tell you guys something before we start?

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Yeah, of course.

[Kehlani]

It's very important that during this era of my life, I let everyone know that my name is pronounced Kehlani.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Who said otherwise?

[Kehlani]

You guys say Kehlani.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

I always say Kehlani.

[Kehlani]

No, you just said,

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Good morning, Kehlani. Good morning.

[Kehlani]

I'm really good. How are you guys?

[Podcast Host]

This might be, like, a stupid question, but, like, why this right? Right now? Why haven't you been correcting people?

[Kehlani]

You know what? I feel like I have here and there.

[Podcast Host]

Okay.

[Kehlani]

But then, like, it just blows under, like, nobody cares. Everybody just says how they want to say. It's not that big of a deal. I have family members who say, kalani got you. Okay. But, you know, I'm like, I'm 30 now. I'm feeling a little like, let's just get. You know, it's been 10 years. Because you say my name wrong for 10 years.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Yeah. You know, we all like to create safe spaces for ourselves.

[Kehlani]

Yeah.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

I don't think you can create a safe space with people calling you out your wrong name. Because I think if I was doing an interview and somebody said, kalani. And the whole interview probably thinking, I should have corrected him. I should have corrected him. I should have corrected him.

[Kehlani]

But no one wants to be that person. As, like, sour is the moment. It's like, by the way, scratch that. Yeah. Well, here we are now. Now you guys know.

[DJ Envy]

How does it feel? Folded number one. How is that feeling?

[Kehlani]

It feels really good. It's been a long time coming. I've been getting told for the last eight years of my life, you know, you're always one song away. You're one song away. You're one song away. We see it for you. And so to have the song and everything be changing in this way, it's really nice.

[DJ Envy]

Did you know that was the record when y' all did it? Would you. Did you know that was gonna be it?

[Kehlani]

No. It was the most accidental thing in the world. Like, even making it was accidental. Came about accidentally. I'm in la, I get a call to come finish this feature, but the guy's like, I'm about to go on this massive tour. Like, but so you have to come finish it with me in person. Bring the producers. Come to Miami. Bring the producers. We go to Miami, and for two days, we just can't figure out this song that we're supposed to finish. And we didn't want. We didn't want to waste the time, so we went to a studio house with Don Mills, who actually plays the guitar on the song. Andre Harris came, and the first B he played was the Folded beat from his boy dk, the Punisher. And I bring it in the other room, and I just keep singing this hook. And everybody's like, that's really cool. Like, let's build on it. And we stayed there for a week, but every single day after, you know, we made that song, it'd be the one song from the, like, the camp that we just kept replaying. And I hit my label, and I was like, I don't know. Like, I know you guys are looking for. What is it? It's like, as a June or July at this time, I'm not sure. I know you guys are looking for, like, the club single, the Banger. This is not that, like, this isn't really Song of the Summer. I don't. But this feels like an introduction to, like, where I'm at mentally, musically, my, you know, maturation in my, like, my sonic journey. And let me just tease it. Like, let me put it out. You guys don't have to, you know, don't freak out, but it feels good. And it just kind of, like, took its own life. And there we are.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Takes a lot of emotional intelligence to fold a man's clothes and tell them, come get him, instead of just throwing

[Kehlani]

them all over the line. Well, I mean, I'm definitely not voting a man's clothes.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Oh, well, yeah.

[Kehlani]

Anyone's clothes. Yeah. But I think it's a very nuanced perspective, and I'm watching a lot of people be on this, you know, really extreme side of it. Either, like, Kehlani is way better than me. Your clothes would be in a trash can or blue fire.

[DJ Envy]

I'm not taking time for that.

[Kehlani]

Right. Or they're like, yeah, I'm folding instantly. I'm folding the clothes and acid. Who cares if they did wrong in the song? I verbatim say, like, I probably should have asked for space, but I kind of told you to walk away, which means I probably jumped the gun and I overreacted. And I need to express to you that you did hurt me, but also maybe come over so we can talk about it. So it's more of, like, a nuanced, mature conversation existing. That's kind of like both, you did hurt me, but we also need to speak. And I also might have not, you know, handled this the right way, and let's just get in the same place and get in each other's face and come talk about it. And I'm gonna use your clothes as bait.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

I like that accountability. Oh, go ahead.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah, no, go ahead.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

You're choosing vulnerability over wearing emotional armor.

[Kehlani]

Yeah, exactly.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

So what shifted in your real life that allowed that change?

[Kehlani]

I think something happens when you, you know, you're turning 30. I mean, astrologically, something major happens. You go through a Saturn return. And outside of that, I just. I've been through a lot in the last couple years. I've really spent, you know, making the changes I needed to make. I know I saw you guys last time. We talked about mental health and all those. You know, it's been a year since then. I think when I came to you guys last time, I was a week into being diagnosed. I had just started medication. I'm now a year into, like, that journey. Very settled in, very in my routine, very, very healthy, and being able to assess myself and assess my situations and, you know, just be on top of my stuff. Honestly, that allowed me to be able to come to a place to write from the perspective I'm able to write from now.

[DJ Envy]

Were you ever on the other side? Meaning, were you ever the person to throw the clothes in the bag and then throw the clothes out the window.

[Kehlani]

Oh, for sure. Oh, yeah, for sure.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Of course. So it was a growth.

[DJ Envy]

It was a growth evolution.

[Kehlani]

Yeah, I've been like a 25 year old girl before. Yeah, for sure.

[Podcast Host]

What has your journey been like since you said last time they saw you? It was like first week of. Yeah, you know, what has your personal journey been like, you know, using your medicines now and kind of understanding, you know, your body and your mental that what does that up and down or consistency been like? It has been different for you.

[Kehlani]

Yeah, I mean, bipolar disorder is a really layered thing that also, because it's so stigmatized in the world and there's so many jokes about it that I think people get really confused. You know, they think, okay, I woke up with an attitude and then later on I felt better, then I had an attitude again. So I'm bipolar. It's a way bigger, deeper thing than that. And I think medicine and my therapy journey gave me the opportunity to have thought applied to my mood and thought applied to situations when, you know, they're like in other ways. I wouldn't have had the thought, I would have just felt it and it would have just left. And next thing you know, there's episodical things happening and next thing you know, I'm just gone with the wind. But this, I wouldn't say it stops it completely, but it really allows you to have a process. And I think that that's been the biggest difference is I have so much, like, so much option for process now and I can go through these things and take them slowly and think about them and like, have a second where I'm like, you know, I have the tools now. I have a tool belt of things I can apply. Like, do I go this way? Do I take a walk? Do I. Like, this is not the reaction that I want to. This is not the version of myself that I want to show up in this situation. So things like that.

[DJ Envy]

I think I would say it's difficult being vulnerable.

[Kehlani]

Right.

[DJ Envy]

For an artist, how difficult is that? Because you're showing a side of yourself that I'm sure you think that maybe people alive. And then on the other side, I'm sure as a side it says there's so many people dealing with it. And I love the fact artists are doing them all. We've seen it with Gucci, the same thing. So when did you realize I could be that vulnerable? And was it a hard line to draw? To be like, do I want to be this vulnerable? Do I want to share this experience.

[Kehlani]

I think I've always been messily vulnerable, but I grew up in front of the world. You know, everybody's been seeing me do interviews like this since I was 19 years old. And I think when you're viewing it on the outside, it. You kind of timestamp people, like artists get timestamped in whatever version of themselves stuck out to the fan. So there's people who still view me as something I went through when I was 24, and, like, that's who they'll see me as forever. And when you're 24 at that time, you're also confidently speaking in these interviews because you're like, this is who I am right now. And I get it. Then 10 years later, you're like, oh, my God.

[DJ Envy]

I don't know who that person.

[Kehlani]

I mean, it's not. Hasn't been 10 years for me, but I'm 30 now, and I'm looking back at things I said when I was 24, 25, even 27, and I'm like, yikes. Even a year ago, I'm like, okay, like, growth. I'm different now.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

That's good, though. Yeah. You have the self awareness to.

[Kehlani]

That's how it's supposed to go. Yeah.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

You know, this. This has to feel good to you too. The success of Folded, because vocally, you were one of the first artists I saw publicly showing support for Palestine. And, I mean, you spoke out when a lot of people weren't. I know you lost shows because of it. You were barred from things. How does it feel having this success? And you have it, but being on the right side of history?

[Kehlani]

Yeah. I think if we have the courage to do things and then we see people have success after doing the things that we deem scary, we might be more courageous to do them. And I think it's important that other artists see that I've been able to thrive after all those things happen. I mean, there's still things that I will never be allowed to do or things that are not getting picked up or even now. Oh, yeah, for sure. Probably forever. I don't think people realize how deep it goes. I didn't even at the time realize how deep it goes. Also, to be really frank, I was incredibly manic. So a lot of the routes that I went, the yelling and the you f. All you guys. If you guys don't understand. And da, da, da. And you know what? Half my team could go, if y' all don't speak. Just these different routes versus, like, hey, let me calm down and Be strategic about this, because in every single movement, in every single political. Yeah. Movement across the board, there's more strategy involved in the way that you communicate it, the way that you choose to organize the things that you engage with. And at the time, I didn't really have those resources to think in that way. So, yeah, there's still things that I'm experiencing that I probably will experience for a really long time. But I think this other side of it is speaking to the fact that when there's great music, there's great music, and when people love the music and they love the art, then you can't really be taken out in that way.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

I'm a stern believer that you should always move off strategy over emotion. But you can understand the emotion when you're watching kids.

[Kehlani]

Yes. It's so understandable. I have so much grace for how I handled it, because I was really just passionate and upset. I was angry. We should have all been angry. It was. It was really terrible to watch and treacherous to feel some kind of, like, a part of, because, like, our country is such a big part of it. But I definitely wish that I was able to calm myself, to be smarter about the way that I went about it for. For my own sake and for being a leader in front of a camera for other people.

[DJ Envy]

And how do you feel when other artists don't speak about it when they have the opportunity? Do you look. How does that feel to you? Because you jumped out the window and.

[Kehlani]

Yeah.

[DJ Envy]

Banned from things.

[Kehlani]

And I think it's really easy to say, like, I want to be very clear with my words. Like, it is really easy to say that I hate them for it or I'm. I really blame them. But after experiencing everything I went through, which went way deeper than just being banned from things, you know, got into my safety, my family dynamics, my friendships, I had to move. It put me into a really bad paranoia. Every time I left the house of. Was everybody out to get me? And did I need security to sit in front of my house? And was anybody plotting on me? And the death threats I got at my show was, like, highly organized, typed out detailed death threats. It's easy to say, like, that shouldn't matter because we should all be, you know, up in arms and. And part of me is like, yeah, we should. But also, I wish there was. It wasn't so sinister, like, the lashings behind the scene. I wish it wasn't so sinister, and I wish it wasn't something to be afraid of. I think if we all spoke in numbers and there was so many of us. It wouldn't be so easy to just come after one person. I think when you leave it to be one or two people, it's easy to just get them out of here. Yeah, we've seen it historically, but if it's a lot of people, who can they get? There's a bunch of us.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Did it make you speak out even more? Because you did at the red carpet on the AMAs, you voiced support for Palestine. So when you were getting backlash behind the scenes, you were like, nah, I'm gonna go out there even more.

[Kehlani]

I just. Like, I was like, I'm already here. Like, I'm already experiencing everything I'm experiencing. And it hasn't stopped. Like, it hasn't stopped. Like, it. It still, you know, ceasefire and all still hasn't stopped. And if, even if, you know, the genocide itself does stop, there's a much larger thing at. At hand there, which is, you know, ending the apartheid. So I don't know. I don't think it was ever like an intentional. I'm gonna choose to speak. I was asked a question on the carpet and I answered it, and my stance remains the same. So.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Yeah, it's just interesting that you would still be getting back like this. Even the UN chief said there are strong reasons to believe that war crimes have been committed.

[Kehlani]

Yeah, we're dealing. We're dealing with a very delusional other side. It's a very delusional side where you keep shown videos and you've shown facts and they've seen things, and the response is literally, that's not even real. Like, y' all made this up, you know, like, you kind of at some point have to be like, okay, there's a game here, and I'm not going to play this game with you guys because you know what you're doing. I'm not going to. I'm not going to play it.

[Podcast Host]

I saw the comments about, you know, you speaking out on ice, and I'm going into schools and things and energy. I know you're a mom. Yeah. As well. But, like, has there. Have you experienced any similar pushback from the other side or whatever because of those comments?

[Kehlani]

No. Yeah, yeah. Zionism is a much. A larger, deeper, darker, sinister thing than good old regular American racism, even though they're very intertwined and they walk hand in hand with each other a little bit. But, yeah, no, I haven't experienced any pushback from that. I think we're all more comfortable talking about that in general than, you know, anything else.

[DJ Envy]

So I was gonna ask you. We also see you speak out about AI in the industry.

[Kehlani]

Yeah.

[DJ Envy]

And the crazy part about it is. I agree with you, but I think it's crazy for an artist. We had Tank and Jay Valentine appear, and they were talking about. They were talking about they think it's a good thing and that artists and the industry needs to adapt to it. I think it kind of hurts the fact of the creativity, but they say

[Charlamagne Tha God]

it's not better than Kehlani.

[DJ Envy]

You are executive, right?

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Yes.

[DJ Envy]

Would you rather sign an artist that you gotta deal with? Makeup, hair managers, security, all that, or AI person that you ain't gotta deal with nothing. You cut a check and just let the money come in.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Well, if you tell me that person you just said is Kehlani, I'm taking Kehlani. It's worth it. They're gonna see her drive. They're gonna see how hard she goes, and you're gonna.

[Kehlani]

Oh, amen. Amen.

[DJ Envy]

So what's your thoughts on it?

[Kehlani]

I think there's so many layers to it. One we're gonna put out there that, you know, it's not good for the environment. It's affecting communities everywhere, but especially disparaged black communities in America. It's messing with the waters, messing with the air. Like, it's gonna make people sick. In the long run, we move on from that and get into all these aspects of music that are being. And jobs. Let's forget music, right? I'm speaking to music because I'm being asked about music, you know, but I'm not. I think there's a much larger thing of, like, all these little jobs that people are employed to do that is keeping their families going, that is literally feeding everyone around them are just gone. And we don't realize we're training, you know, these systems to do those things. There's things that I understand. I think I was told about how it is working for surgeries. Like, these robots are helping in surgery.

[DJ Envy]

More precision, they're saying.

[Kehlani]

More precise, you know, more precise surgeries. And then there's, you know, like, the disabled community and being able to get things done in that way. And I've experienced producers and writers be stuck on something and use it to help or, like, finish something and then get it replayed or get it remade. And, like, those aren't exactly things that I'm super mad about. Like, I'm not gonna bark at them the same way. But overall, as a whole.

[DJ Envy]

But a fake person, a fake artist,

[Kehlani]

a fake singer, it's just unfortunate because I think music is such a God given thing. It's, it's, it's the highest gift, you know, God gave to Earth. It's used in every single religion across the board to connect with God. It's, it's a very powerful thing. And for it to be generated in that way and also be what it's, what it's using to be generated is a combination of real people's stories and real people's voices and real people's feelings and emotion. And for all that to happen even deeper than, oh, it's going to take our jobs. Because there's this sensationalized sentence of mine that's like, why do I have to compete with a computer? But it's not about competing. It's more like this is a disruption of something that God gave us. You know what I mean? And that feels wrong to me. Like it's, music is such a, it comes from here, it's given here. And to have that generated through a computer just feels like it's, it's, it just feels wrong.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

I like this argument, Kalani. I like this because I feel the same way. It is a download from God downloaded from a computer. And. But you know, now they have, you know, they have Jesus AI. Yeah, you can log on and have meaningful conversations with Jesus and Jesus a message and then.

[DJ Envy]

Yeah, they'll send you back a biblical verse.

[Kehlani]

Yeah, I think it's gonna go so far. I think it's gonna go so far. I don't think people are thinking about the negative implications like being able to be framed for things. Being able to have images created of your children that are inappropriate, that lives on people's computers and they can do whatever they want to it. When you're, when you wake up one day and somebody has a sex tape of you that never happened. Yeah, if they can make.

[Podcast Host]

That's happening now.

[Kehlani]

Oh, it is. That's what. Have you heard about the people getting the phone calls?

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Oh, yeah, that was three years ago. Yeah, yeah. They call you and you hear your kids or somebody screaming, oh, I need

[Kehlani]

X amount of money because my kid got kid. Like I don't think people are. It's just cute and fun and games now and you want to make videos of Malcolm X eating a seafood boil with Martin Luther King and Michael Jackson and Prince, have an argument about whose funeral was more lit. Like I've seen them all, you know. But there comes a point when you have to realize that where there's always light and fun, there's always gonna be the extreme of that existing somewhere that we can't access it. And I also think something is real sinister about the White House using so

[Charlamagne Tha God]

much I oh, this election year is going to be crazy.

[Kehlani]

Yeah, it's going to be nice. How are they going to be able to say anything was real or false?

[Podcast Host]

What do you say to the people? Because I know one of the conversations that you were having was specifically about the $3 million deal. The reported $3 million that Zina the thing I don't even know how to compute. Yeah. The artist that I Monet got right. There are people that'll say all of that is true, but there's good and bad with everything. But on the other hand, you have this black woman who is using her poetry to write lyrics that now is $3 million wealthier and able to do for her family and stuff like that.

[Kehlani]

I mean, I said even in the times I've spoken about her, I'm not, I'm not mad at her ability to have done that for herself. I think it's dishonest the way we're speaking about it, because I think it's a very interesting thing to be responding to particular comments and saying certain things, but not telling the truth. Tell the truth. You wrote a couple lines, you said a couple words, then you framed. I might want it to sound like this and go like this and take from this and make it sound like this and make it appeal in this way and make me look like this and da, da, da. And it did all of that. You're doing 15 of the job. Let's just be honest about what the 15 of the job is. If you write poetry. I would love to write with a poet. I've written with poets before. They come in, we write together. I turn their words into a song. I use my songwriter brain to apply to their poetry brain, and we make a really beautiful product. But I'm watching her answer these questions and I'm watching the lies accumulate and, like, tick together in her head to try to figure out what to say. And I'm like, we could just tell the truth and say what the tool is being used for. And then maybe it can have its separate charts or it can, because you're right, there is no stopping it. I I, I could get, you know, for being said, it should have its own charts. But at this point, something has to be done.

[DJ Envy]

AI separate chart with AI all this. Yes.

[Kehlani]

Let them duke it out.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

I mean, I heart had created something called guaranteed human.

[Kehlani]

I saw that.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

So at least we're going to be human. Like the personalities in music. But if one day they do decide to play AI music, it'll still. You'll know this is AI music.

[Kehlani]

Yeah. So I'm. Yeah, it's less about. I. I want everybody to feed their families and be successful. At the end of the day, that, like, that's my wish. If I had one wish in the world, it would be for everybody to have their needs met. So I'm never mad at that.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

I like what you said though, because I was gonna ask you, what does authentic music have that AI generated music could never have? God. Word. Yeah, that's the answer.

[Kehlani]

That's it. I don't, I don't. I don't play with things like that. You know, it's. It's. It's such a deep thing. And I feel like not us being able to. I watched the a artists even talk about God is. It is insane. The AI gospel. That is insane. I'm looking in Zana Monet's. Yeah, I'm looking in Zana Monet's comments, and they're saying, sis, you're anointed. No, that's kind of crazy.

[Podcast Host]

I mean, I'm gonna go look at the comments right now. But I will say, when I first heard the song, whenever I was up in arms, I had to listen to the music. And I went and listened, I was like, oh, this is actually like, it's good music.

[Kehlani]

Because you know what it's doing, though? It's analyzing the community that she's trying to appeal to. Which means it's studying black women, saying, what do black women want to hear? What perspectives, what type of voices, what kind of stories, what kind of emotions? And then accumulating all of that and going, I'm about to give you a package feel of exactly what you want, even down to what I look like.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

So it's an artificial anointing. Could it be artificial?

[Kehlani]

Artificial. I don't know if that goes in. I don't know if that goes in the same sentence. But, you know, hey, are you against

[DJ Envy]

the Chat GPT stuff as well?

[Kehlani]

I'm against people putting it in place of very human things. Look, we are entering.

[DJ Envy]

Makes life easier for a lot of people.

[Kehlani]

It does. And that's the argument. It does.

[DJ Envy]

Because kids go to school. You could type in a page. I have to do a report on this. Type it in. Chat GPT, right? A 10 page report.

[Kehlani]

Does that mean that's the argument of, like, people who can't afford. Afford English classes that moved here. I need English classes. Is teaching them English like there are. There's always gonna be this thing that's like, there are things that it is good for and there are things that it is bad for outside of, you know, what's it doing, what it's doing to the environment. But we become gluttonous with it, and it's there. It's not regulated, guys. That's really the problem is that it's not regulated. Did you not see the moments where people were telling their GP or chad GBT to. To cancel itself, and then it hopped servers to avoid getting deleted?

[Podcast Host]

Like iRobot.

[Kehlani]

Yes, it hot. I promise you can look this up right now. It jumped servers because it didn't want to get.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

If.

[Kehlani]

If it can observe all of our emotions, why couldn't it be able to think of something as sinister as we could think of and not want to get canceled or not want to get deleted or not want to be gone or want to. It's studying us 24 7.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Yeah, there's something. I mean, I. I totally agree with you with the God thing, because there's something to being a spiritual being living a human existence. Distance.

[French Montana]

Right.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Like, we're supposed to make mistakes. We're supposed to try to figure things out. Like us. Like.

[Kehlani]

Yeah.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Through prayer and meditation and just.

[Kehlani]

And therapy.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Therapy, yeah.

[Kehlani]

Community.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Yes.

[Kehlani]

Being a community member is really important. Talking to people, having other people talk to you back, sharing experience, messing up together, being held accountable, being called in, growing, getting applause from other humans, getting love from other humans. If we're all just gonna be alone, getting all those things from a robot, like we're gonna stunt ourselves as a

[Charlamagne Tha God]

world, like, as a species. I agree.

[Kehlani]

Where then what happens to love and what happens to art and what happens to music? I just had. I've been having this conversation for weeks. Like, you know, that paired with how the Internet's obsessed with destroying each other and calling and completely ruining people's lives and doing all these kind of things, we're entering a very individualistic, let's kill community for people kind of world. Like, we're isolating everyone from every side. Technology and each other is becoming this huge isolation, isolation party. And it's really sad.

[DJ Envy]

How does that make you as a mom now because you have a daughter? So how are you raising your child in this type of world that you just named? You know what I mean? Because these other kids, when they go to these colleges and schools, they're gonna be using ChatGPT.

[Kehlani]

Yeah.

[DJ Envy]

You know, these other kids are gonna be using things that necessarily. You don't agree with, you know, so how do you raise that daughter in this crazy world?

[Kehlani]

With information. I think I give her all the information possible. I don't. I don't lie to my kid. I don't. You know, obviously, you don't just outright tell her terrible things, but, like, you give her all the information so she knows what's out there. And I tell her why this. I don't agree with this. Why I think this is bad. Why, you know, you. I'm not gonna say no to this, but I'm gonna give you another option and explain why that option is probably the better option to do and let her decide. Ultimately, I can't protect her from what she learns at school and what her friends share and things like that. But at home, we're very, like, human focused, and I'm very communal. Like, she's a big extended family. She has a million aunties and uncles and cousins, and she lives a very I have community and people around me kind of life. She's not sitting in the corner on her iPad alone all day. That's just not her life.

[DJ Envy]

Does she see the. How does she feel about the evolved version of Kehlani?

[French Montana]

Right?

[DJ Envy]

Because you said you've changed.

[Kehlani]

She's six.

[DJ Envy]

I don't know, between three and six and four and six. Like, man, mommy's cooler now. You know?

[John Leguizamo]

Mommy.

[Kehlani]

I mean, I've been her mom the whole time. I've just been my daughter's mom the whole time. How everyone else gets to see me is never gonna be how she sees me, because I'm just her mommy. I always have been, I always will be. I don't fall apart in front of her. I don't put. I don't put her in any adult situation. She doesn't have a clue if anything's going on with me. I've just been her happy mom this whole time, and I take pride in that.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

You switching gears, you said Brandi was on your Mount Rushmore?

[Kehlani]

Yes.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Who else?

[Kehlani]

Stevie Wonder is the head of the Mount Rushmore.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Is this vocals or just artists in general?

[Kehlani]

I think artistry.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Okay, okay, okay.

[Podcast Host]

And it's for everybody. Or you said every artist or every singer should have this Mount Rushmore.

[Kehlani]

I think every singer should have different kinds of Mount Rushmores. Like, I said, she should be on the vocal Mount Rushmore, but also artistry, like, in general, but she should be on everyone's vocal. Mount Rushmore 100.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

I want to know your vocal.

[Kehlani]

My vocal Mount Rushmore. Okay, Brandy, I. Beyonce

[DJ Envy]

can't put them Next to each other.

[Kehlani]

Let them have a beautiful tour. They're having a beautiful tour. Please let them. I am.

[Podcast Host]

I'm sorry.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Please.

[Kehlani]

Yeah. Beyonce, Whitney Houston, obviously.

[DJ Envy]

Of course.

[Kehlani]

Yes.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

That's the one I wanted to make sure was on.

[John Leguizamo]

Oh, yeah.

[Kehlani]

Well, yeah. I mean, that's a lineage, right? There's no Brandy without Whitney Houston.

[Podcast Host]

Stop playing with you.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Who's your last one? Brandy? Beyonce. Whitney.

[Kehlani]

I'm gonna say Mariah.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Gotta be Mariah. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah.

[Kehlani]

We're talking about like freaky level, like, channel talent of like. Okay, well, when it. Will anybody be able to ever do that again?

[Podcast Host]

No.

[Kehlani]

Type people.

[DJ Envy]

But if you want to see Kehlani, she's gonna be performing at our jingle ball in Miami and our jingle ball in Atlanta. And we appreciate you for joining us.

[Kehlani]

Thank you. We always get real deep in here.

[DJ Envy]

One time, Kehlani didn't want to come up here. She's like, I ain't with the breakfast.

[Kehlani]

I was scared of you guys.

[DJ Envy]

She was scared as a mother, Bo. But we got through it.

[Kehlani]

We were having different conversations then.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Yes, we were.

[Kehlani]

I was little. Look at us growth.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

We've all evolved.

[Kehlani]

Yeah.

[DJ Envy]

It's the Breakfast Club. Good morning.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Some donkey days just saw himself.

[French Montana]

I've been watching Charlamagne. I was ready for that.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

I never heard old donkey of the day.

[John Leguizamo]

What is it? Donkey.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Say it again.

[French Montana]

Charlemagne.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Yes, you are.

[John Leguizamo]

I don't.

[French Montana]

Everything that Charlamagne is saying is true.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Dog here today goes to a 61 year old man named William Bushy. Okay? Now, William is described as an isolated man who spent an inordinate amount of time alone playing computer games in his room. Okay? I don't know if you all realize it, but there's a whole plethora of people who don't need to do anything in life except for this, okay? In fact, this is their life. Their called gamers. And it's levels of being a gamer. They have specific terms like hardcore gamer, which describes individuals who dedicate a significant amount of time to playing games. Other terms include gaming addict and gaming enthusiast, which highlights their passion and enjoyment of video games, respectively. Well, we need to add a new descriptor to this list because what do you call a person who's willing to kill you if you get between them and their gaming time? We'll discuss in a second. But first, let's go to CBSA for the report, please. This is the shotgun that he loaded. A shotgun that nobody knew that he had.

[Kehlani]

San Diego Deputy District Attorney Scott Perello showed jurors a weapon William Bushy used in the August 2024 shooting deaths of his sister, 61 year old Lori Robinson, and nephew, 33 year old Brett Robinson. Bushy's 86 year old mother, June Bushy was also injured. June testified she and her daughter were talking outside on the patio of her Point Loma home when Bushy emerged with a gun and started shooting without saying a word. But Bushy's defense attorney argued he kept to himself and had never been violent. He says Bushy moved in with his mom after being diagnosed with hiv, leaving him so sick he couldn't work, saying Bushy snapped believing his sister was trying to get him kicked out.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Listen, man, society really has a flawed dependency on technology. We saw that yesterday when Verizon went down for 10 hours. Folks was losing their minds. Have you ever seen the movie Leave the World Behind? We discussed it a little bit earlier. The Obamas were producers on it and they have this whole three part disaster theory which is isolation, synchronized chaos, and then civil war. It shows how cyber terrorism can destabilize a powerful country. People always ask, could this happen in real life? And the answer is yes. Okay? You shut down all forms of communication. You know, get rid of Internet, tv, phone, satellites, video games. Shut all that down. People will lose their minds because we are a technology, technologically dependent society, okay? When you shut down our technology, people fall into a state of hopelessness and confusion. And that's exactly what happened to this dude, William Bushy, on top of everything else he was dealing with, okay? He heard that he was diagnosed with HIV. He was 61 years old, had to live back home with his mom for the last 15 years. So that means from the age of 46, he was living with his mom, okay? He clearly has never heard no Scrubs by tlc because if he did, that would have set him off a long time ago ago. Now, he had a history of acting hostile towards family members, all right? So he clearly never liked any of them. And if you read the actual police report, it says his sister moved back in. His sister moved back in. And that set him off, too, and led him to start acting out even more. Sidebar. And I want y' all to remember this, man, when you pray for negativity to be removed from your life, don't be surprised when God starts removing family members. And furthermore, you don't have to have have any loyalty to your family if you know they aren't going to do anything but cause you problems, okay? Did you hear the great Ayan Lavon's not Last hour when she said she avoided her daughter's funeral because she didn't want to trigger her daughter's son because she knows she's a trigger for him and she's not going to put herself in an emotionally unsafe situation where some harm could happen to her. She knew that and distanced herself because oftentimes. All right, our greatest challenges don't come from the outside. Hell no. They come from the inside, internally, in your own head, okay? Folks are dealing with all types of mental and emotional issues. And inside our relationships, inside our families, okay? If you don't feel safe around your family members, you better listen to your heart three sacks, because that awareness can and will save your life. All right, the prosecutor in this case. All right, well, I think. I don't know if it's prosecutor, but I was reading the report and it said the family took several safety measures out of fear, okay? They removed knives from the home, they changed locks, and they got a restraining order, okay? And they were taking steps to evict him. Police were even called to the house twice because of angry outbursts from William. And officers determined no crimes were committed, so they didn't arrest him on either occasion. And now look, all these people dead mama shot because the Internet was shut down and you couldn't play your video games, okay? And all they was trying to do was relocate the WI FI router from his room, his bedroom, to his mama's room. Look, man, you are not responsible for your trauma, but you are responsible for your healing. William was 61 years old. This was a fully grown ass, man. Okay? Big age. Is 61. The same commitment he had to video games, he should have had to his own mental. Mental well being. Because if you can tell law enforcement you felt inadequate and isolated, then you could have also told that to a therapist. And William is currently on trial and he's gonna get sentenced to forever. He's gonna get sentenced to forever at least three times, all right? Not to mention, William, your dumb ass ain't even gonna get to enjoy GTA 6, okay? You gonna be in prison with an anus full of skin flutes while the rest of the world is experiencing the greatness of Grand Theft Auto 6. You didn't take this. You didn't think this thing through, okay? You went in William Bushy, but you're gonna die. William Bussy. Please give William Bussy the biggest he haw. I just want to say what.

[John Leguizamo]

His is very protected, should be.

[Kehlani]

I. I don't think anybody will be

[Charlamagne Tha God]

going up in there if you already got a life Sentence?

[John Leguizamo]

No, he the one with the life sentence.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

But if you already got a life sentence in prison, you don't even.

[Kehlani]

No, no.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

If you already got a life sentence, you don't really care.

[DJ Envy]

Ah, nah, you.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

You care about that. All right.

[DJ Envy]

You know, I don't know how many

[Kehlani]

skin fleets may be flying.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

You already got a life sentence.

[Kehlani]

Damn. It's levels the life sentences, though, yo.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

It's a very long time.

[DJ Envy]

Nobody won't play.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Caucasian William Bushy.

[DJ Envy]

Yes. Like, what?

[Charlamagne Tha God]

No, he's white.

[DJ Envy]

GTA 6 ain't come out yet, right? No, no, that's what he said. Damn.

[Kehlani]

Okay.

[DJ Envy]

All right. Well, thank you for that donkey today, sir. Morning, everybody. It's DJ Envy. Just hilarious. Charlemagne, the guy. We are the Breakfast Club. Lonna Rose is here as well. We got some special guests in the building.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Yes, indeed.

[DJ Envy]

French Montana and Max B.

[John Leguizamo]

Welcome.

[DJ Envy]

The first thing Mac B said is, why is my picture not on the wall?

[Charlamagne Tha God]

These are all moments that happened here. Max. Yes, Max.

[DJ Envy]

Then he said, you got Cardi B up here three times. No, that's Cardi B. Jlo and Angie Martinez,

[Charlamagne Tha God]

you back? You wasn't here, man.

[French Montana]

I want my picture up.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

How are you? How are you, French?

[French Montana]

I'm good.

[Max B]

Good, bro.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Man, I love to see this, man. You know? I mean, you know, Max did a bit. Everybody knows that. French, you always held him down. How did this bond stay the same through all that? Through all that time?

[French Montana]

Communication, I'm saying. Happiness for my brother. Yeah, I did. Doing this thing kept me. Kept me tapped in on all levels through the whole joint, seeing everything, Videos, the tv, the music. That was it. We just was just riding out, waiting. He was just doing brotherly.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

It's like, French, you always believed Max was coming home?

[Max B]

Yeah, always.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Why did you always believe that?

[DJ Envy]

French always said, a date that didn't exist.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

January,

[Max B]

it'd be him telling me that

[French Montana]

was getting in trouble. I was getting in trouble. The last one he did was like, what? Like two years ago, I was supposed to go to halfway house and all that. I done screwed my little joint up inside, messed everything up, got put.

[Max B]

It kind of worked for him, though. I be like, yo, he coming home next month. Everybody start calling me, how much you need for this? How much you need for this? How much you need for this? He rack up all the money. He be like, all right, tell him, I'm not coming home this year. I'm coming home this year again.

[DJ Envy]

So what were you doing so you couldn't get home? Like, what.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

What was going on?

[DJ Envy]

Were you on the phone or that

[French Montana]

too, but I beat the phone. Joints I got caught with like drugs, weed back, old dirty omens.

[Caller]

In there?

[French Montana]

Yeah, in there.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Oh, okay.

[French Montana]

Like a convict.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

You ain't saying maybe, maybe I don't

[DJ Envy]

do this so I can go home. He was like, nah, I got to survive.

[French Montana]

I got two years left. I'm like, man, I'm. I'm just going to do this how I do it. I. I go home in two years anyway, so. And I've been down this long, they going to wait a little longer for me. It all worked out cuz I came home on my. On my dude birthday.

[DJ Envy]

So that was a. That was a special moment.

[French Montana]

A BD mom. You hit me with presents all, Every year. Gold plaques, all types of said, yo, you got a Max B. On your birthday, you got to pick a valve. Congratulations.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

How many people didn't do. Do the bid with you? You French is somebody who did. How many people did.

[French Montana]

Listen, I ain't gonna say no names. I think that's inappropriate. All right, I'm gonna tell you this. Those who didn't do it, they didn't do it. It's all right. The people that surround me, God got them right where they want. Where he want them to be.

[Max B]

Word.

[French Montana]

That's how we gonna do that.

[DJ Envy]

Now, your sentence was cut by a lot. Drastically cut. Why was it cut so much? Because at one time we was like, damn, Max being never coming home. But then we seen hopes it was. It was Simmons and glistens of hopes.

[French Montana]

Number one, I wasn't supposed to be in there first place. I was in a whole nother state when the crime happened. And I got out because my lawyer was a grease ball. It had nothing to do with my crime. I was found. I copped out 20 years of my crime. I got back on PCR, which is post conviction relief. So my lawyer was ineffective. I got back on it, and thanks to my good defense team, I had on the field. That's another story.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

I have no idea what you're talking about right now.

[French Montana]

My defense team on appeal.

[DJ Envy]

Defense team on appeal.

[Podcast Host]

When he appealed. When he appealed, his defense team.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

I don't.

[DJ Envy]

I'm cool.

[French Montana]

You're too smart not to know too many books.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

How did it feel creatively to revisit the Coke Wave series after so many years?

[French Montana]

If it was rejuvenating to be able to work with him again, that was like the, hey, you know, I wanted to go do my own thing. But just getting in the lab with French was like, it brought back a lot of old energy. It just felt good. I'm saying, my boy on point, he had to get me on point. I get my voice used to the. Back to the mic back. Me in the studio. Felt good working with my brother.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Bro, why didn't you wait to make this the first musical offering? And I french. I noticed you probably wanted that. You like, yo, you know what? Let this be the first thing you put up.

[Max B]

No, he put up.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

I'm saying, why didn't he. Why didn't you wait to make this the first?

[French Montana]

I was making both of them at the same time.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Got you.

[French Montana]

So whenever I wasn't in the studio with him, I was doing my own thing. I'm always in the studio. You know that. Well, the Fed, my.

[Max B]

My.

[French Montana]

My com. My. My committed fans, my cult, they needed. They needed something. They needed a domain. So that was just like, yo, look, this is what I was going through. This was on my mind. Here you go. I'm saying, when I come out with me and bro, it's like. It's like the Beatles, they. They could go solo, but when they link up, they the Beatles. When we link up, we coke wave. But at the end of the day, we both could go and do our own. Do our own thing.

[DJ Envy]

Were you surprised by the warm welcoming you got? Cause a lot of people came out in the last couple of years, and everybody always says, I feel like this person should have got the Max B welcoming. I feel like that person should have got the. Like. I feel like everybody's arms opened up for Max B.

[French Montana]

It's love. I'm humble. There's love. Cause, yo, man, look, it wasn't supposed to take me away anyway, but y' all got me back. It's good. I wanted to just get y'. All. I didn't want to wait around. I didn't want to complain. I just wanted to go on the stool, get after it, show y' all what when a real New York G post look like coming up out the slums.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

You definitely showed us.

[Kehlani]

We was at the Brandi and Monica concert. You came out, man. You was, like, on these stages.

[Podcast Host]

Yup.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

You was ready.

[Podcast Host]

Have you taken a. Have you taken a second, like, for yourself? Cause you've been on GO since we've seen you at the game, at the concerts. Like, have you taken a peaceful moment for Max B away from everybody?

[French Montana]

Not yet. Me and white people about to go on the cruise, though. We about to get that right.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Love that.

[Max B]

But he been standing down for 18 years. He took that. He took longer than a minute he took 18 years. If I was him, I'd be moving just like that, too.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

I would think, though, it's a little bit different out here, though, being able to, like, be with family or just, I guess just not work.

[Max B]

Not with him.

[French Montana]

Listen, man, I can create. I love to create. I love to make money. I love to have a good time. And, you know, that's what I like to do. So I'm always working and just stay consistent.

[DJ Envy]

I was. I was surprised with the influence, right? Not. Not New York, because we've seen you in New York and we've seen the coke, boy. But when I seen a lot of the artists out of town showing so much love, posting, I think some of them even sent you something. And I'm like, damn, I would have never thought. Did you ever think that when you were locked up that all those artists, Rod Wave, Thug and all those artists have so much love for you?

[Max B]

I don't know.

[French Montana]

I would have never. I would have never guessed in the million years I was. I was on the road last, like, my last few road trips. Like, you have, like, people who draw me portraits, all type of stuff. Like, so it was just. It was. It's beautiful, man. I ain't gonna lie. I'm still.

[Max B]

It was rappers that drew your portrait.

[French Montana]

Somebody stole one of my portraits. A big one, too. Yeah. Some heaving blood clot.

[Podcast Host]

Where was it at?

[Kehlani]

Where they stealing from?

[French Montana]

We was in Rhode Island, Massachusetts. A nice portrait. I'm looking for it. I got a reward for it. Even $500 for that $1,000.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Where was y' all at last night, man? Both of y' all look like y'.

[Kehlani]

All.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Prince is barely over there with his eyes open.

[DJ Envy]

Prince don't drink.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

No.

[DJ Envy]

No more.

[Podcast Host]

Nah, nothing like no alcohol.

[Max B]

I'm still high and drunk from when I stop. I'm still trying to sober up from when I stop.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

How has taken account accountability changed both of y' all trajectory? You know, like French, you stopped drinking. You know, Max, you just coming home. You trying to make what you went through a teachable moment. So how is it. How has taking accountability, like, change the trajectory of not even just your career, but just as you, as me?

[Max B]

I already told her, I'm still drunk. I'm still high and drunk. For real. I still feel off. But with me, it was different because the doctor told me if I drink again, I'm a doctor, so it's like I had. Yeah, I had no choice.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Hold on, what was that though? Like, what you mean? You drink again, you die. What Was it like, your liver or something?

[Max B]

Yeah, like, my liver, like, had holes in my liver and like. Yeah, it was crazy because I was mixing liquor with pills and. Yeah, yeah, and oxies and all type of.

[Podcast Host]

You, like, passed out.

[DJ Envy]

What was.

[Max B]

Yeah, I was in icu. I was. I was in ICU for, like, a couple weeks.

[Kehlani]

Were you running away from something or were you like.

[Max B]

No, I was just happening. I was just. I was like, if you. If you don't end up in the hospital, you ain't have a good birthday.

[DJ Envy]

French was the life. No, French was the life of the party.

[Max B]

Everybody. Birthdays would turn into my birthday.

[DJ Envy]

He didn't. I didn't been to many a birthday parties. My birthday, he performing. He called it on stage. We drinking. I don't know how.

[Max B]

I'd be like, my birthday is over. I'd be like, no, it's not.

[French Montana]

Yeah.

[Kehlani]

So how do you even remember the night? But how would you remember the night before being on all that stuff?

[Max B]

I'd be around. I'd be around. Great company.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Yeah, okay.

[Max B]

I'll be around. Great company and just. Just having fun. I was. I was always productive.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Yeah.

[Max B]

I remember when you do it for so long, you might. You might act the wrong way if you're sober. You know what I'm saying?

[Kehlani]

Because I literally never even knew you had.

[Podcast Host]

Well, I wasn't able to tell.

[Kehlani]

I just knew.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Yeah.

[Max B]

Because I was productive.

[DJ Envy]

Yeah, that was productive issue.

[Kehlani]

That deep.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Max B]

It wasn't. It wasn't even even an issue. I just overdid it. I remember it was just like. It was like a. A weak stretch. I had this, like, my first show on Saturday. I got paid all this money. I flew to Egypt to perform for, like, one of the kings over there. Then I went to Morocco. My mother brought her there for the first time, like, 25 years. We were shooting a documentary. Then I remember, just when I got back to la, I just collapsed.

[Podcast Host]

What year was that?

[Max B]

Yeah, all this drinking from the. Huh?

[Podcast Host]

I said, what year was it?

[Max B]

2019.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

That happened to me once. I passed out of here crazy. Dehydrated from just being out all the time. Drinking.

[DJ Envy]

Dumb in his mouth. He was on the under the Thunder.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Me, I had to go to the er. Crazy. I had to go to the er. I had to get that and be dehydrated.

[Max B]

All that IVs.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah, I was supposed to shoot. I was working at TMZ at the time. We was doing a show with Worldstar and you. We were supposed to shoot a pilot. You were the Guest for the pilot for my show and we found out you were in the hospital. It was that year.

[Max B]

Wow. 2019.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Yeah. What's.

[DJ Envy]

When's the last time you spoke to Diddy?

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Have y' all spoke at all? That was a nasty seg. Literally.

[Max B]

Yeah. No, let's talk. Talk about people while they down.

[DJ Envy]

No, no, no, I'm not joking.

[French Montana]

I spoke to Diddy, but I ain't going to tell y' all about it.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

You talk.

[French Montana]

We spoke on the cell phone. That's y' all want to hear? Nope.

[Max B]

3.5 is out right now.

[Podcast Host]

Well, I have another question since we're in after the question moment.

[French Montana]

Told him, use that. Don't get the honey, not the lotion.

[Max B]

Coke. The mixtape is out right now.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Fighting for the life. This

[John Leguizamo]

music video.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Oh, man. Go ahead.

[Podcast Host]

I know you far past removed this, but Jim Jones and you. Are we going to see a conversation with y'? All? Reconciliation with y'?

[Charlamagne Tha God]

All?

[French Montana]

Listen, if it happened, it happened, man. I'm over here doing my thing, bro. Doing this thing. We both got algorithms going on. If it happened. If it makes sense, it makes sense. If not, everybody gonna be fine. Anyway, that's how I see it.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

What record on this project challenged you the most?

[French Montana]

What I said yesterday, Mawa.

[Max B]

Yeah. I think the first record we recorded

[Charlamagne Tha God]

seemed like it would be easy for y'.

[Max B]

All.

[French Montana]

It wasn't.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Why?

[French Montana]

I don't know. Mawa was weird. Like, we. The bars felt weird. Everything was just. That's that first one.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Make America Wavy again.

[French Montana]

Yeah. Until we had. We had to come back, play with it. And I'm saying. And that was like. After we did that, the rest of

[DJ Envy]

that rank of COVID What was weird about it?

[Kehlani]

Like, did you have to rewrite anything? Did you just feel like you want to modernize?

[French Montana]

I like picking all my.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Yeah.

[French Montana]

You know what I'm saying? But I. Bro. So I'm so comfortable with him. He like the only I ever let, like, yo, here right on that. If he not doing that, nobody's doing it. I'm like, well, egotistical when it comes to writing music, but it just was. It was a funny record. Just for me. It just. Out of all the records, like, that was the one that was probably a little more difficult to write.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

You think people gave you enough time just to come home and be a person first before they wanted you to be Max, be the artist?

[French Montana]

Hell, no.

[John Leguizamo]

No.

[French Montana]

I don't care about that.

[Max B]

I think it was him. I think. I think. I think it's the other way around. I think people Was telling him, you should do this with the family. He was like, no, no, take me to the studio now. Everybody was telling him, why did you want to wait?

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Just.

[French Montana]

Cuz, man, we. We in New York, man. It's expensive. I got kids. I got a wife. She my hot wife over there. She like nice things. Yeah, I like to work. I like to provide. I like to buy her stuff, like to buy the kids.

[DJ Envy]

And I'm sure this years. I'm sure you got years of stuff written down ready to go, too, man, I'm just prepared.

[French Montana]

I work all the time when I ain't working, when I'm on the toilet taking. I'm writing music, listening to music, crafting music, thinking about music.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Just.

[French Montana]

Just. Just all the time.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

You don't seem institutionalized as a person.

[Podcast Host]

Right?

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Like, that's what's interesting. You did 18, but you don't seem institutionalized.

[Podcast Host]

You haven't missed a beat.

[French Montana]

Listen, let me tell you something. I got some institutionalized ways about me. I still wear my. My slippers in the shower. Hey, that did. I walk in with my drawers on the shower.

[John Leguizamo]

I got some jail habits.

[French Montana]

Washing my jaw. My wife like, babe, what the you doing? You institutionalized. Jesus Christ. You ain't in jail no more.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

That is up, though. How they don't give brothers that did them long bids like, they should give y' all some, like. Like six months of therapy to adjust.

[French Montana]

Yeah, they don't give a about us. You got to figure this out in your. On your own.

[DJ Envy]

Are we glad you home, brother.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

It's good to see you.

[DJ Envy]

Glad to see y together.

[Podcast Host]

Hold on.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Why y' all call this project 3.5 in the narcos thing?

[Max B]

Like, why not Just cuz we were so lit back in the days that we skipped the whole volume. We went straight from three. We went straight from two to four.

[Podcast Host]

Damn.

[Max B]

We didn't realize. We didn't realize we skipped it.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Just.

[Max B]

We were just drunk. We were just living rock star lit.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Just being lit.

[Max B]

Rock star might not make it just three to two, to two, to four. And I just remember the fans like, where's three? Where's three? So he was just. He just hit me one day like, I got an idea. We're going to call it 3.5. Three for the one we missed and five for the number that come after four.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

I was like, genius aing genius.

[French Montana]

I love it.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Yeah, I love it.

[French Montana]

I love it. Jesus Christ. All right. Great minds think alike.

[DJ Envy]

Well, we appreciate you brothers, for joining us today. The album is out right now.

[Max B]

Yeah.

[DJ Envy]

Max B. French Montana. We appreciate you brothers, for joining us.

[Max B]

Let's go.

[DJ Envy]

I'm sure Max French and Max be calling me all the time to play the record. I'm just hearing your voices, man.

[French Montana]

It's the Breakfast Club.

[Max B]

We still gonna call you to play the record, man.

[DJ Envy]

Period. Yeah.

[Caller]

All right.

[DJ Envy]

Sholom, man. You got a positive note?

[Charlamagne Tha God]

I do, man. The positive note is simply this. Empathy has no script. There is no right way or wrong way to do it. It's simply listening, holding space, withholding judgment, emotionally connecting and communic and communicating that incredibly healing message that you're not alone. That came from Renee Brown, man. Renee Brown is amazing, but sometimes that's all people need to hear. Have a blessed day. Breakfast Club bitches.

[Max B]

Woke up.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Wake you up. Wake you up.

[DJ Envy]

Wake that ass up.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Program your Alarm to Power 105.1 on iHeartradio.

[Podcast Host]

This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.