Joe and Jada - Aries Spears on Ice Cube & 50 Cent beef, T.I.'s comedy, Jay-Z & DMX impressions

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Herd with Colin Cowherd Episode Title: Joe and Jada - Aries Spears on Ice Cube & 50 Cent Beef, T.I.'s Comedy, Jay-Z & DMX Impressions
Release Date: August 13, 2025
Host/Author: iHeartPodcasts and The Volume

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Introduction

In this engaging episode of The Herd with Colin Cowherd, hosts Joe Crack and Jada Kiss welcome their special guest, the talented comedian and actor Aries Spears. The conversation delves deep into notable topics within the hip-hop community, including longstanding beefs, cross-genre ventures of prominent artists, and the art of impersonations in comedy.

Guest Introduction: Aries Spears

Joe Crack opens the segment with excitement, introducing Aries Spears as a "golden individual" and one of the greatest MCs of all time. Aries shares his enthusiasm about being introduced to Joe and Jada, highlighting their mutual respect in the hip-hop and comedy scenes.

[02:28] Joe Crack: "Like you in my top five, dog. And every time I do Vlad or any kind of show where I talk hip hop, I go my top five."

Ice Cube & 50 Cent Beef

A significant portion of the discussion centers around the infamous beef between Ice Cube and 50 Cent. Aries clarifies his stance, emphasizing that his critiques are rooted in personal artistic preferences rather than personal animosity.

[07:03] Joe Crack: "I never attacked Ice Cube the man. I never attacked his character... I'm just not a fan of his artistry."

The hosts explore the nuances of public feuds in the music industry, discussing how misunderstandings and comedy can sometimes escalate tensions. Aries reflects on how stereotypes and perceptions influence these beefs.

[07:59] Joe Crack: "Good communication is key. Sometimes, it's all about opinion and delivery."

T.I.'s Foray into Comedy

Jada Kiss brings up T.I.'s attempts at comedy, sparking a debate on the challenges artists face when crossing into different genres. Aries shares his perspective on the importance of humility and innate talent in comedy compared to rap.

[08:36] Jada Kiss: "I saw TI do some comedy. He was actually pretty good." [08:48] Joe Crack: "It's your opinion. The comedy community will tell you otherwise."

The conversation highlights the delicate balance artists must maintain to respect each genre while exploring new creative avenues.

Jay-Z & DMX Impressions

Aries Spears showcases his impressive range of impressions, including icons like Jay-Z and DMX. The hosts commend his ability to capture distinct voices and mannerisms, leading to humorous exchanges and memorable quotes.

[28:09] Jada Kiss: "What do people ask you to do? What's your most successful impersonation?" [28:12] Joe Crack: "I know they all are, but you gotta be one that people always ask you. They like the Tony Soprano. Oh, yeah."

Aries discusses the technical aspects of mastering impressions and the respect required to portray legendary figures authentically.

[29:07] Jada Kiss: "He got that." [29:08] Joe Crack: "He got the crown. It's cold with that."

The Art of Comedy and Rap

The dialogue shifts to the intersection of comedy and rap, with both hosts and Aries exploring how these genres influence each other. They debate the evolving nature of hip-hop and the pressures artists face to stay relevant while maintaining artistic integrity.

[34:09] Joe Crack: "I think the passion for excellence won't allow me to sound like garbage." [34:32] Jada Kiss: "But you gotta know."

Notable Quotes

Throughout the episode, several standout moments encapsulate the hosts' and guest's viewpoints:

• Joe Crack: "Most people are fucking idiots because people will say shit online. Like, man, all he do is crowd work. Do we ever tell a joke?"

  [20:07]

• Jada Kiss: "I believe comedy is the one sweet spot in life, whether white, black, Asian, whatever."

  [14:39]

• Joe Crack: "Three of the greatest quotes ever. Dave Chappelle. You don't know where the line is in comedy until you cross it. George Carlin... Patrice o' Neill..."

  [14:52]

Insights and Conclusions

The episode offers profound insights into the complexities of public personas in music and comedy. Aries Spears eloquently discusses the importance of authenticity, the pitfalls of public feuds, and the delicate art of impersonation. Both Joe Crack and Jada Kiss contribute their experiences and perspectives, enriching the conversation with real-world examples and personal anecdotes.

The hosts conclude by emphasizing the value of mutual respect and understanding across different creative fields. They acknowledge the challenges artists face when venturing outside their comfort zones but also celebrate the potential for growth and innovation.

Closing Remarks

As the episode wraps up, listeners are left with a deeper appreciation for the intricate dynamics of hip-hop and comedy. The candid discussions, combined with Aries Spears' comedic talents, make this episode a must-listen for fans interested in the intersections of these vibrant cultural phenomena.

Notable Quote with Timestamp:

[85:22] Jada Kiss: "What's everybody so mad at? Southfall, Switch up your style. Switch to southpaw."

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Stay Connected:
For more insightful discussions and episodes, subscribe to The Herd with Colin Cowherd on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or your preferred podcast platform.

Transcript

[Dr. Lea Tritate]

If you're looking for another heavy podcast about trauma, this ain't it. This is for the ones who had to survive and still show up as brilliant, loud, soft and whole. The Unwanted Sorority is where black women, femmes, and gender expansive survivors of sexual violence rewrite the rules on healing, support, and what happens after. And I'm your host and co president of this organization, Dr. Lea Tritate. Listen to the Unwanted Sorority. New episodes every Thursday on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Joe Crack]

Let's start with a quick puzzle.

[Jada Kiss]

The answer is Ken Jennings appearance on the puzzler with A.J. jacobs. The question is, what is the most entertaining listening experience in podcast land Jeopardy truthers believe in? I guess they would be conspiracy theorists. That's right. They gave you the answers and you still blew it.

[Joe Crack]

The Puzzler.

[Jada Kiss]

Listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Joe Crack]

What would you do if one bad decision forced you to choose between a maximum security prison or the most brutal boot camp designed to be hell on earth? Unfortunately for Mark Lombardo, this was the choice he faced. He said, you are a number, a New York state number, and we own you. Listen to shock incarceration on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Jeff Perelman. And I'm Rick Jervis. We're journalists and hosts of the podcast Finding Sexy Sweat. At an internship in 1993, we roomed with Reggie Payne, aspiring reporter and rapper who went by Sexy Sweat a couple of years ago. We set out to find him, but in 2020, Reggie fell into a coma after police pinned him down and he never woke up.

[Jada Kiss]

But then I see my son's not moving.

[Joe Crack]

So we started digging and uncovered city officials bent on protecting their own. Listen to finding Sexy SW on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Congratulations, homie. 1.1 million in a short week. So I'm working on it. I'm working on it.

[Jada Kiss]

Yo, what up, y'? All? This is Joe Crack the Dawn.

[Joe Crack]

Your boy, Jada. You know what? It is the Joe and Jada show, and we have a very special guest. You know, we like to. We bring variety of guests, but they all golden individuals. And today we have a very golden individual. Ladies and gentlemen, make some noise for our brothers. With his phone ringing and all that Erie Spears. Make some noise. Yo, what up, what up, what up? What's up, my brother? You gotta let me have a second to geek out. For a minute. Cause, you know, like my best friend over there, you know, we came up on y', all, man. You know, in the hip hop thing. And, you know, I ain't know until I found out Joe hit me up, was like, yo, I need you to do me a solid and do the intro for my upcoming album. I was more than happy to do it. One of my favorite rappers. But I never met you until today. And I'm telling you, I'm fucked up because I'm literally sitting next to, hands down, one of the greatest MCs of all time. Like you in my top five, dog. And every time I do Vlad or any kind of show where I talk hip hop, I go my top five. No particular order.

[Jada Kiss]

This guy ain't shit, man.

[Joe Crack]

I always say, show me love, though, this guy. I say Jada, Hov, Nas, Biggie and Rakim.

[Jada Kiss]

Nah, nah, nah, we ain't going for that now.

[Joe Crack]

You wanna shoot me down?

[Jada Kiss]

Let me tell you the reason I love Jada the most. Because it locks his unity. They there for each of this guy is diabolical. He was sitting next to me in this show. I start watching old clips of the show and I said, holy. He goes flaming me.

[Joe Crack]

There he goes.

[Jada Kiss]

Euro Step.

[Joe Crack]

Which was hilarious. Yeah, but listen.

[Jada Kiss]

No, that is die off.

[Joe Crack]

No, it went viral. But if I listen to the. The way I scripted it.

[Jada Kiss]

Oh, you.

[Joe Crack]

I told them.

[Jada Kiss]

Can you listen?

[Joe Crack]

You're a legendary coach in the ruck. Legendary coach in New York City. You won plenty of tournaments. You got a listers out there wazoo on your roster. Now, if you was to happen to play. I'm just saying the way it golden the legs that been to the eighth Wonders of the World and all of this. If you was to hit him with the year, you know, the Euros 3 movements, boom, boom, boom. But if you was to hit him with the.

[Jada Kiss]

When you saw that, what you in the layup.

[Joe Crack]

If you be unstoppable, like, it fucked me up. Cause for a dude that is a rapper and I don't be shooting that shit. It was comedically 100 million. What you talking. It was comedically on point.

[Jada Kiss]

What?

[Joe Crack]

Cause I didn't even know you had the Kenny Smiths. You ain't even moving. And I saw a picture one day and I saw the knees.

[Jada Kiss]

He was moving like.

[Joe Crack]

Yeah. And I was like, oh, I didn't. Joe was built like he was in there. You know what it is me sends me doing business with him and being with him. He got a few different walks. Like, I don't Know if it's depending on his mood. I don't know. Depending on. I mean, he might got a good call this day. Nice super bags coming in, right? Might have been, you know, Might be one of the days. Yeah. Some days he got.

[Jada Kiss]

He got different walks.

[Joe Crack]

Can you agree with me, man? You got different boxes.

[Jada Kiss]

In the house. I got the Shelman Helmsley.

[Joe Crack]

Oh, oh, you do the.

[Jada Kiss]

The W. No, no, for real, though. Like, in the house, I'm walking to go eat some or go see the movie. I got the Shelman Hemsley. That's. That's in the crib.

[Joe Crack]

Shelman Hemsley.

[Jada Kiss]

The Sherman Helmsley.

[Joe Crack]

How you gonna do George Jefferson like that man called Shelman. He was calling me ahrii.

[Jada Kiss]

Yeah, I'm fried, man. I'm fucked up from the language to the legs. Listen, listen, Let me tell you something. Let me tell you. Aries. Let me tell you, Aries.

[Joe Crack]

Yes.

[Jada Kiss]

Me and Spain, son to you, you're one of the funniest guys in the world. I appreciate all your contributions. Everything you do, I believe is hip hop, right? You always represent hip hop culture.

[Joe Crack]

That's a feast coast culture.

[Jada Kiss]

You gotta fix the Ice Cube borderline violation, right? Because Ice Cube here in this show, this is the love of the culture. This is the preservation. This is like the national preservation forest of hip hop and whatever that means. And you know, Ice Cube, living legend. Do you ever. Is it just jokes with you or do you ever feel like.

[Joe Crack]

Listen, let me be clear. Did I miss something? Let me. Yes, we skipped the whole thing.

[Jada Kiss]

No, but we trying to. I'm doing the J to Kiss right now to fix this.

[Joe Crack]

Let me be clear here. First and foremost, I never attacked Ice Cube the man. I never attacked his character. And first of all, my whole point was this word hate is being so overly abused and thrown around now that unless you have an opinion that's favorable, you a hater. No, I'm opinionated and I'm. And then sometimes in my delivery, comedically, I can be a little bit brutal. But at the end of the day, I never question his man, his character. I never questioned him as a man. And listen, I even gave him his flowers and said, yes, he is a pioneer, a trailblazer, an icon in hip hop, especially with the West Coast. I'm just not a fan of his artistry. And by that, I'm just simply meaning, listen, man, for me, my musical palette, my hip hop palette, I'm an East coast dude, man.

[Jada Kiss]

But I like.

[Joe Crack]

I like Stoop. I like Pac, who technically is from the East. But nonetheless, just cause I'm not a fan of that does not mean that I'm a hater. And if I'm being really specific, what I was really speaking to was comedically acting wise. Because I just feel like. And listen, I know it's all about getting the bag and the money. And I just feel like with sometimes artistry, a rapper can't do comedically what a comedian can. Because that's a muscle. That's an instinct. That's in our blood. We eat, sleep, shit, breathe comedy. No more than I can go in the booth and do what you can. Better than you.

[Jada Kiss]

You know, I saw TI do some comedy. He was actually pretty good. Okay, don't go there. Your opinion.

[Joe Crack]

It's your opinion.

[Jada Kiss]

My opinion.

[Joe Crack]

But the comedy community will tell you otherwise. Because here's the problem. Here's the problem. If you gonna step into another genre, you gotta humble yourself.

[Jada Kiss]

And T.I.

[Joe Crack]

Approaches comedy with the same bravado. He approaches rap. That's a different aesthetic. Yeah, humble yourself.

[Jada Kiss]

I agree with you. I thought TI Was funny, right? And I'm. And I. I may die one day. One day. No, no. But I may die one day of laughter. I don't know if nobody.

[Joe Crack]

Well, then I'm gonna be the one.

[Jada Kiss]

To take of laughing because I'm the guy they do. They threw me out the movie theater. Eddie Murphy, raw. I went over there with the whole project. Out of the whole projects. The security came, was like, you're an asshole. You're the one that gotta go. I'm the one making the most noise in the movie theater. They threw me out the movie. I am a sucker for a laugh. Like a sucker for a laugh. So I thought CI was funny, but.

[Joe Crack]

There'S levels to this shit.

[Jada Kiss]

Well, I, I even. I'm gonna admit something here too, that, that I've been noticing, I've been looking to insert, you know, you know, in hip hop, it's all about competition, right? So you gotta convince yourself you're better than every other rapper, whatever the case may be. And so there's a bit of delusion or whatever. And so we start the podcast and the first thing I do is start shooting. You know, like I want to smoke with all the podcasters. And I realized I gotta humble myself a little because we just started this even though we the rookies of the year. But I could see where people could look at it and be like, yo, this guy, you know? But this just my heart, I've always been like a warrior, a gladiator to come out there for the smoke. But I realized the park has a different space. It's like everybody's smiling at each other. Nobody got smoke with each other. So I'm thinking, top five, dead or alive, who want to jump out? Where's the smoke? Who we got? But that ain't what it's about. It's about having an opinion and bringing something to the people. So I get what you saying with. With the. Well ti. Yeah.

[Joe Crack]

I mean, you right and wrong. It's different kind of. It's different kind of smoke. It's like behind the scenes. It's behind the scenes hate and smoke with. With this.

[Jada Kiss]

But I don't.

[Joe Crack]

For one, this ain't even. It just. We ball in this space. Well, at least I am. I mean, if you tell me podcasting or rapping, ladies and gentlemen, this is our last show. I like it, but you know what I mean. As long as you could do both. You know, people start thinking you taking their jobs. I don't.

[Jada Kiss]

So you've been feeling a little hate behind the scenes.

[Joe Crack]

You don't. You just being boisterous. I'm just watching them from the side.

[Jada Kiss]

Have you ever dealt with this? Because you're one of the most liked MCs of all time. Have you ever dealt with this?

[Joe Crack]

I am, but I ain't. When it's time to go 300 Spartan, then I'm not that liked as I am when it's. And just so you know, outside of the. It wasn't just Cube that jumped on me. 50 jumped on me too. Cause of that. Because the joke I made about 50. I mean, see, but 50 in them.

[Jada Kiss]

They'll beat you up. Aries. I'm just keeping it real. Maybe Ice Cube is regular. I'm. You know, what's wrong with you? No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. I'm keeping it a buck. You run into them guys in the airport, they might do something to you. I had beef with them.

[Joe Crack]

Well, that's cool.

[Jada Kiss]

So I know what the beat. I know what the beef is. Is it one thing for us to just like certain guys you don't play with? Because they're gonna come up.

[Joe Crack]

Listen, I love the comedians.

[Jada Kiss]

I'm like, it's no thing with Joe.

[Joe Crack]

Joe, Joe. I don't ever pretend to be something I'm not. You know, I ain't an Evans, I'm a Huxtable. But best believe I keep some dudes with me too.

[Jada Kiss]

They gonna have to jump. I'm telling you, a team of Jews.

[Joe Crack]

And I'll sue a In A minute.

[Jada Kiss]

Yo, Fendi. Fendi. We got royalty in the building. I ain't no Fendi. Snuck in there. You got his trumpet.

[Joe Crack]

We got a studio audience.

[Jada Kiss]

We have a studio. But Aries, I'm just trying to. I gotta be honest with you. Cause you're my guy. You're on my album. I fuck with you.

[Joe Crack]

Yeah.

[Jada Kiss]

You know, I advocate for you every time I can because I think you're hilarious. But I do know where that could go wrong.

[Joe Crack]

Well, of course.

[Jada Kiss]

That one, the Ice Cube, you know, it is everybody. That one could go wrong. I'm promising you.

[Joe Crack]

You put hands and feet on people, too. Why you just acting like he don't do that? That's the story, but it's not about that comedian. Listen, let me tell you the joke. It was almost harmless. I was talking about how, you know, anytime they make a brother playing a movie where he's a scientist or a computer tech, like 50 did in the movie with Stallone, I was called, but they was in some prisons and glass cubes. And I said, you know what the difference between 50 the rapper from 50 the computer tech? I'm a computer tick. I work with computers. I do computers. I'm a computer tick. Glasses. Clark Kent. Superman. If you're a great actor, don't need the glasses. Just do the performance. So that was the joke.

[Jada Kiss]

Yo, but let me tell you something, right? I've been such a fan of comedy, where I believe comics should never and could never be canceled. So, like, the moment they fake canceled Dave Chappelle, which I don't think is. I started going in his shows to perform at his show. Yo, Dave, you in town? I want to come out, do a couple. Because I believe comedy is the one sweet spot in life, whether white, black, Asian, whatever.

[Joe Crack]

Yeah.

[Jada Kiss]

It should be where they could talk about whatever the fuck they want to talk about. Like, you know, that's how I feel about comedy. And so that's how you must feel about it, too, huh?

[Joe Crack]

Listen, three of the greatest quotes ever. Dave Chappelle. You don't know where the line is in comedy until you cross it. George Carlin. You should know where the line is in comedy and deliberately cross it. Patrice o'. Neill. God rest his soul. Great comedy leaves half the audience laughing, the other half horrified. Wow. So that's the credo. That's the Creto I live by. Yeah, man.

[Jada Kiss]

And you, from the clothes, man, who you. Who would you say ushered you into the game? Who was like a mentor?

[Joe Crack]

This guy came in the game at 14. That's his I think that's the. He made history. There's nobody else who ever did. Def Jam 16. Showtime at Apollo 17.

[Jada Kiss]

So what I'm saying is who.

[Joe Crack]

I was an 80s, baby. So in that era, you know, prior to the explosion of Def Jam, Hollywood only allowed one nigga per decade. So it was like, you know what I mean? It was like, definitely Rich, Red and what's my man name? Dick Gregory. Really? In the 60s, prior in the 70s, Eddie in the 80s. And then by the 90s, Def Jam hit. And now black comics was everywhere. But Eddie was my dude, was my, like, my inspiration. Cause I know he started at 14. So I was like, if he did.

[Jada Kiss]

It, I'm like, how does it go with comedy? Is it like rap or whatever? Like, how do they determine who's gonna get the bag? Right? Because there's so many funny comedians. Like, I did Hollywood. What did I do? Hollywood Squares, Not Hollywood Squares. What's your man? Family Feud.

[Joe Crack]

Oh, I wanna go on Family Feud.

[Jada Kiss]

You should take your Family man on there. Or D Block.

[Joe Crack]

Let's go.

[Jada Kiss]

You should. We should set that up. So we go on there. They got Fluffy, right? Oh, Gabriel and Spanish Guy.

[Joe Crack]

Yeah.

[Jada Kiss]

I didn't know much about him. And then they turned around and said, you know, this guy sold out Dodger Stadium.

[Joe Crack]

Yeah.

[Jada Kiss]

So who determines who's going to be a big boy? Who's going to be the underground? Who's going to be, you know, in rap music, some guys choose to be underground when they're like, yo, I don't want to hit. I just want to be the purest. And then some people like me, you know, commercialize. Some people might call that sellout. When I have a record, like, what's love? Who determines?

[Joe Crack]

Well, in terms of. If you talking about just straight movies and tv, the gatekeepers to those is, you know, white folks, they run that. You know what I mean? If you talking about more like, stand up in the grind, that's on you, you know? And a lot of people always go, man, you should be bigger. You should this. Listen, my mouth is my biggest attribute, but it's also my biggest detriment. You know what I mean? So it's like, I say a lot of shit that sparks controversy. I'm a hater. I'm this, I'm that. So, you know, but it works for you. It's working for me, but it ain't.

[Jada Kiss]

Who took off that you was like.

[Joe Crack]

You know, listen, I don't know who.

[Jada Kiss]

Took off that you was like, why.

[Joe Crack]

Are you lying in the movie?

[Jada Kiss]

No, I'm not lining them up. I'm just. Who took off.

[Joe Crack]

There's some dudes where you just go, you know, I just don't understand, like. Like, there's no sense in this game, you know what I mean? There's no, there's no logic to none of this shit. You know, the people that are where they are deserve to be there. Kevin Hart deserves to be there. You know, Mike Epps deserves to be there. But, you know, at the end of the day, you just gotta play this bullshit game, man. You know, I feel like if I put it in boxing terms, you know. Oh, let me put it like this. I got Michael Jordan dreams, but Dennis Rodman habits, you know what I'm saying? I'm saying I should be Madison Avenue, bop, bop, bop, bop. But I like porn stars and liquor. So, you know, I got a list talent, but my behavior and some of the things I do and say might be, you know, like I said, my biggest detriment.

[Jada Kiss]

Like, me and you, we gotta talk maybe in the next podcast about Will I am and what he said with Jay Z and Black. Like who?

[Joe Crack]

I mean, I'm staying out of that.

[Jada Kiss]

Yeah, but you gotta.

[Joe Crack]

I mean, gotta stay outta that area. You can't enter the.

[Jada Kiss]

No, I'm gonna. Definitely got something to say about that.

[Joe Crack]

I don't.

[Jada Kiss]

You ain't got nothing to say about that. But my point is, them guys became huge, right? They beat me for the Grammy, all black. They beat me for what's Love. What's Love was like number one in the country. They beat me for the Grammy. This is before Fergie, right? Once they get Fergie, they start making world music and all this shit and they take everything right. But those are guys that went out there that surprised me when they were selling 10 million, 20 million this, that. Not saying the music ain't good, but that's what I mean. Like, you seen somebody leak through and you was like, whoa. But to just give you some gems or some knowledge right now, because we talking, even though this is funny, but we talking about some serious shit. I think you figured out everything. You just answered it. I think if you analyze this video, you can make certain changes to catapult you to the next level. Just look at the words you said and just make some adjustments, you know.

[Joe Crack]

I think part of what puts me or what's going to put me on this path is doing stuff like this. You know what I'm saying? Like, for once upon a time ago, I was against the whole social media putting stand up Clips out. I was against that. But then I was like, you know what, man? I took a page out of Matt Rife book, was like, let me hire a videographer and let me, you know, pay to play. And because I did that, I went from. I mean, within the course of three months, I went from 300,000 Instagram followers to 1.4. You know, my. My Facebook jumped from 300,000 to 1.8. So, you know, and people, it's funny, like I always say, people are. Most people are fucking idiots because people will say shit online. Like, man, all he do is crowd work. Do we ever tell a joke? And I said, listen, man, you don't give the key of cocaine away for free. I'm giving you a sample of the product. Once you like the sample, now come to the show and pay for the key. I gotta tell you this. I gotta cut up your food for you to eat like your mother did when you were a toddler so you don't choke. Certain things is common knowledge. But I gotta tell you this, that's crazy, man. He funny. All he does is impressions. So I'm 36 years in this game and all I know how to do is dunk, man.

[Jada Kiss]

I sit. I sit down in the studio sometimes, like, I heard some shit. Somebody said, you definitely don't want no part of this. What I'm about to say, he's not responsible for the next line. But somebody said, they not like us. I forget who it was. Said that it wasn't mixed right. Somebody said, yo, that that wasn't mixed right. Right. I forget who. James, look that up right now, because that's important. Somebody said, yo, it wasn't. The music wasn't mixed right. Right? And then some people agreed with the person, Rodney Jenkins, Jerkins, Somebody agreed with him and said, yeah, you know, it could have been mixed better, right? But all we know is that they not like us is a smoker. That shit tilted the whole hemisphere, right? And so when I get in the studio with producers and they start to talk about a smash hit record, they be like, the snare wasn't right. The 808 could have kept. I'm like, yo, bro, no one gives a fuck about what it should have been or how professional it is. The record's number one, it's a hit. And I've been in there in the studio with producers. This guy didn't use the Tinkerbell, right? He didn't. You're my man. Who gives a. This is number one. And so who was that? DJ Vlad said, what well, listen, Vlad. But the engineers agreed with him. They said Kendrick sent that shit in and said, I want it out in a half an hour. So the engineer was like, yo, I.

[Joe Crack]

Couldn'T even mix it.

[Jada Kiss]

It was just. It was a good. It was a smash hit. He did the best he could, and that shit went out there. So he actually was right. I didn't hear it like that. When I hear that shit going crazy in the club, in the stadium and everything going crazy, I'm like, yo, Za.

[Joe Crack]

Yeah. I didn't know how we was supposed to.

[Jada Kiss]

Impersonation? No. Because why did I come up with that scenario? You know, I'm fried. I keep telling you, showing me. No, no, no. I'm fried.

[Dr. Lea Tritate]

Welcome to Pretty Private with ebony, the podcast where silence is broken and stories are set free. I'm ebony, and every Tuesday, I'll be sharing all new anonymous stories that would challenge your perceptions and give you new information, insight on the people around you. On Pretty Private, we'll explore the untold experiences of women of color who faced it all. Childhood trauma, addiction, abuse, incarceration, grief, mental health struggles, and more. And found the strength to make it to the other side. My dad was shot and killed in his house. Yes, he was a drug dealer. Yes, he was a confidential informant. But he wasn't shot on Streetcar Corner. He wasn't shot in the middle of a drug deal. He was shot in his house, unarmed. Pretty Private isn't just a podcast. It's your personal guide for turning storylines into lifelines. Every Tuesday, make sure you listen to Pretty Private from the Black Effect podcast network. Tune in on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.

[Joe Crack]

The summer of 1993 was one of the best of my life. I'm journalist Jeff Pearlman, and this is Rick Jervis. We were interns at the Nashville Tennesse Inn. But the most unforgettable part, our roommate, Reggie Payne from Oakland, sports editor and aspiring rapper and his stage name, Sexy Sweat.

[Jada Kiss]

In 2020, I had a simple idea.

[Joe Crack]

Let's find Reggie. We searched everywhere, but Reggie was gone. In February 2020, Reggie was having a diabetic episode. His mom called 911. Police cuffed him face down. He slipped into a coma and died. I'm like thanking you, but then I.

[Jada Kiss]

See my son's not moving.

[Joe Crack]

No headlines, no outrage, just silence. So we started digging and uncovered city officials bent on protecting their own. Listen to finding Sexy Sweat on the.

[Jada Kiss]

Iheartradio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A foot washed up, a shoe with.

[Joe Crack]

Some bones in it.

[Jada Kiss]

They had no idea who it was.

[Joe Crack]

Most everything was burned up pretty good from the fire that not a whole lot was salvageable.

[Dr. Lea Tritate]

These are the coldest of cold cases. But everything is about to change. Every case that is a cold case that has DNA right now in a backlog will be identified in our lifetime. A small lab in Texas is cracking the code on DNA using new scientific tools. They're finding clues in evidence so tiny you might just miss it.

[Jada Kiss]

He never thought he was going to get caught.

[Joe Crack]

And I just looked at my computer screen, I was just like, ah, gotcha.

[Dr. Lea Tritate]

On America's Crime Lab, we'll learn about victims and survivors, and you'll meet the team behind the scenes at othram, the Houston lab that takes on the most hopeless cases to finally solve the unsolvable. Listen to America's crime Lab on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Joe Crack]

What would you do if one bad decision forced you to choose between a maximum security prison or the most brutal boot camp designed to be hell on earth? Unfortunately for Mark Lombardo, this was the choice he faced. He said, you are a number, a New York state number, and we own you. Shock incarceration, also known as boot camps, are short term, highly regimented correctional programs that mimic military basic training. These programs aim to provide a shock a prison life emphasizing strict discipline, physical training, hard labor, and rehabilitation programs. Mark had one chance to complete this program and had no idea of the hell awaiting him the next day. Six months. The first night was overwhelming and you don't know who's next to you and we didn't know what to expect in the morning. Nobody tells you anything. Listen to shock incarceration on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What do people ask you to do? What's your most successful impersonation? Oh, would you say? I know they all. They all are, but you gotta be one that people always ask you. They like the Tony Soprano. Oh, yeah. You'd be killing metal and aj. It's going down to the arties. Got the metal gap with the gravy. All my kids love it. Meadow and Asia and my sister Janice and Johnny. Shaq.

[Jada Kiss]

Yo, that is crazy to me. That is.

[Joe Crack]

I don't know. My voice might be in the Italian.

[Jada Kiss]

Spot of all Italian joint and you start talking like that, the whole place to look at you, right? They be like, yo, what the.

[Joe Crack]

They love it. And when I do it at the show, it's like the Italians go, fucking niggas good.

[Jada Kiss]

You know that one guy, he does a good Denzel.

[Joe Crack]

Oh, C. King. Yeah. Let me tell you something. Of all the dudes that did Denzel, me, Godfrey, my man Reggie Reg out of Chicago, C. King and Dean Edwards. And again, this plays to people going, man, you a hater. You don't give it up to other people. I said, listen, C. King was. Is so cold with it. I stopped doing it because I felt foolish. He's dead the fuck on. And every chance I get to promote him, I tell people. People still hit me up and go, yo, you're Denzel C. King. He got the crown, man.

[Jada Kiss]

He got that.

[Joe Crack]

He got the crown. It's cold with that.

[Jada Kiss]

It's like that sometimes, you know, you gotta big some. Sometimes somebody does something so good, you don't wanna fuck with it.

[Joe Crack]

Well, you know, everybody. Like, there's certain impressions that everybody owns. Like, you go, Frank Caliendo owns Madden. C. King owns Denzel. Jay Farrell owns Will Smith. So for me, it's like Tony Soprano, Shaq, you know, as long as I score 28 10, I'm gonna dominate. If you don't score 28 10, you ain't gonna dominate. I get a ball on the inside. Inside, outside game. You gotta get a big dog the ball, man.

[Jada Kiss]

That's why you gotta put the eyes.

[Joe Crack]

That's the comedic. That's the whole comedic.

[Jada Kiss]

Why you making it look like he in the back of the bus, man?

[Joe Crack]

Just like that.

[Jada Kiss]

Yo, he sound just like. But you ain't see the eyes. He was doing the real.

[Joe Crack]

Shaq loves it.

[Jada Kiss]

In the yellow bus.

[Joe Crack]

Shaq loves it, but Shaq loves it. He loves it. He was on drink.

[Jada Kiss]

Hey, I love Jadakiss, but he really me up with this Euro step.

[Joe Crack]

I might. This is like.

[Jada Kiss]

Now, listen. No, no, no. You being a comedian, you seen that shit. You. You thought somebody helped. Did anybody threw the battery in his.

[Joe Crack]

Back for him to hit me with that?

[Jada Kiss]

Listen, that was too good, yo. That shit was too good.

[Joe Crack]

I can't keep fighting you for verbal rebound position. Listen, rappers and comedians have a little bit. A little bit of. Cause it's wordplay, it's jokes, it's metaphors, it's punchlines. So that's not a spot. Listen, I can rap, but I'm not a rapper. But I can. I can some lyrics. Facts. Let me. I don't want to embarrass myself, but. Because I tried to do a Biggie impression and it was awful. But I wrote the Lyrics where I said something about the Biggie baby delivers cold like the shivers Talk slick shit spit game is vicious malicious How I roll through you like a cancer doc Speak bleep talk about your chances Seem to work slow the chemo flesh to the bone marrow fife went on that road Fuck sorrow, fuck beef make peace with your priesthood Least nigga think about tomorrow Papa Spotcha, Biggie B then dropped you Chris Keep it real, keep it frank Like Sinatra, something like that. So I'm not a rapper, but I. You know what I mean? And I'm better than this new generation. These N is got. It was using the bi voice a little, but I don't really have it like that.

[Jada Kiss]

How you feel when you go into. Enough people have jacked Biggie's voice that he don't have to be that accurate, like, you know.

[Joe Crack]

But when I did, every fat dude.

[Jada Kiss]

Came up to me with Biggie voice. Yeah, I personally. No disrespect, guys. Let me. If you want to learn something right now in hip hop, I think I've been in it for a long time. As a fan, as a rapper. Don't jack nobody. Their style, their voice, their swag. You're wasting your time. Do you know how many guys I met that were fucking dead nice that all they had to be was them. And they might have been a superstar, but when they come on and they doing the voice, I don't like nobody sounding like nobody.

[Joe Crack]

That's why when I get called an old head for going, yo, why don't you like this new generation? All you niggas sound the same. The same melodies, the same cadence, the same flow. There's all you. All you niggas sound the same.

[Jada Kiss]

But it was always like that, right? No, no, you have.

[Joe Crack]

Listen, if you tretch in the 90s.

[Jada Kiss]

Trex was rhyming like this dude, y'.

[Joe Crack]

All.

[Jada Kiss]

It's crazy. If you look at every video at that time, every rapper from anywhere was doing whoever's been popping, they've been jacking these people. If DMX stretch had that move. If DMX was. You know how many guys I seen come in the studio with a dog.

[Joe Crack]

Thinking they and those guys and those guys didn't last?

[Jada Kiss]

No at all.

[Joe Crack]

So originality was a thing back then?

[Jada Kiss]

Oh, no. Very, very.

[Joe Crack]

But now it's commonplace to be the same.

[Jada Kiss]

It's crazy, but I do believe that this new generation is a lot different from my. And I'm not trying to hate on them or talk them down. I just say that they're looking more for the bag or the lit. It ain't so much culture, it ain't so much yo, legacy. This was the legend they like. Yo, for some reason, everybody. I don't know if it's like that in comedy, but everybody think they could be a rapper. They think this is the easiest job in the world. Everybody. The guy at the Target. Target. The guy who works the front desk in this building, the guy at the deli, the dudes on the corner. Everybody think that rap is just the easiest shit in the world. And it could become successful.

[Joe Crack]

But a lot of people feel like today it is because it's garbage. This shit is just not as potent as it used to be. It's garbage. So the dude at Target can be a rapper, is stepped on, baking soda, naked. I'm telling you, if I really wanted to, I could do this shit. But my passion for excellence won't allow me to sound like garbage.

[Jada Kiss]

I try to tell, like, guys similar. I try to. We're not so offensive. But I try to tell, like, my nephews or whoever try to rap and all that. I'd be like, yo, it's so much easier for you. We had to guard. Rock him, you know, Even Fat Joe. I discovered Big Pun, but I went to the school of Big Pun. Meaning we double platinum and the party's outside and we the hottest and he be like, fuck that. We biting bombs today and it's 90 degrees and everybody coming in the Benzes in the truck. Yo, we going to Orchard Beach. We like, fuck all that crack we writing. And so I went to the school of Big Pump with he will bust your bubble like the way we used to rhyme when Big Pun was alive. It's not even healthy for your brain. Like, you find a way to put 50 words in one loose leaf.

[Joe Crack]

That thing, one of the most classics ever. That diddly diddly diddly.

[Jada Kiss]

This is exactly what I'm thinking of while I'm explaining it to you, right? It's like, when we did that song, it was, like, so much pressure to put every word together, everything together. And now you gotta have some swag, some melodies, something. It's definitely easier now.

[Joe Crack]

Listen, man, I sent out a post one time where I said, biggie's Niggas Bleed should be a tutorial for anybody trying to rap. Because with that. With that picture he painted with the melody and the pace of the song, you thought you was looking at a scene in a Martin Scorsese film. I mean, it was vivid. And I'm like, that should be. If you want to be A rapper, you have to. You should have bothered.

[Jada Kiss]

In real life, I can't say much. In real life, I can't say as much as him because they was actually part of the team. But, you know, Biggie was my man. And I seen the Scorsese picture in real life, you know, I was in his house hanging out with him in Brooklyn and this. He just got lit. But I mean, like, just got lit. He was like, yo, Joe, come to my show. I think it was Roseland at a Palladium. I got a show tonight, this and that. And Biggie was like, us hockey shirt, shorts, whatever. This, this, this. And man, when I seen the pictures of that party where he had the salmon suit on with the gators with the. I seen him transform into that character. Not saying he ain't the real deal, but I seen it with my own eyes. It shocked me. I knew him and I couldn't believe it. Like, he did so much for the culture of, you know, taking. You know, if you think about Biggie, everything was underground before that. Like, so a song like Mass Appeal, that was straight hardcore beats primo and lyrics from Guru Rest in Peace, that was a hit and that was playing on every radio station. And it was like hardcore shit was the hit. And then Biggie turned it into, like taking those samples and making it a super hit, right? So his vision to rap on those beats and to take it to another level, everything about him, it still pause blows my mind every time I listen to Biggie because I just can't believe he was that good. Like, and his cadence and his flow, it's funny.

[Joe Crack]

Cause again, when people go, yo, what's your top five? And I say it and I seen this online where people go, I don't know how people put big in they top five. He only released two albums. And I'm going, listen, how much evidence do you need to see to tell that somebody is special? So what do you think? That if he. If he was alive, he would have just fell off? It was gonna get better. I don't need eight albums to know what you worth. You showed me the first time. So come on, man. That's why I'm telling you, man. I. People are fucking stupid. Most people are fucking stupid. Like, you really don't see it. You don't understand it. And because I'll say that, oh, this here what you want me to staying true to your.

[Jada Kiss]

To your opinion and you voicing your opinion. I don't disagree with you. I've had young kids tell me that Biggie sounds Like to the hip hop to them right now with the way they rap, yo, you know, the youth is crazy.

[Joe Crack]

Look, our heroes, well, my heroes, like I said, I grew up on y'. All. Rakim, KRS1, you know what I mean? Biggie, they heroes is Lil Uzi. Satchels and purses.

[Jada Kiss]

I can't disrespect Lil Uzi on here. That's your opinion.

[Joe Crack]

I'm just.

[Jada Kiss]

He's my guy and I love him.

[Joe Crack]

What was your experience like on MAD tv? Cause when I saw you on there, it was like you was fucking lit beyond. It was like one of the first black people on MAD tv for me. Yeah. Yeah. Were you? No, actually, before that was Orlando Jones, Phil Lamar and Deborah Wilson. I came in season three. He was one of the Livingston man. You know, again, if I could have had it my way, I would have loved to have taken the path of Eddie Murphy. You know, a couple years on SNL and then to the stratosphere. But I didn't get a chance to play in the NBA. I played in CBA or the aba. You know what I mean? Mad TV just wasn't snl.

[Jada Kiss]

Let me tell you something. But they always got that little white affiliation. But no disrespect to my white brothers and sisters, but they always got like, JB Smooth. He's pretty much a black Jew. Like, they look. He with that Larry David. He must be performing at every bar mitzvah. JB Smooth is Jewish. Don't get that up. You know, they got that. Once you get that little baby Eminem co sign. I'm telling you, that's my man. They love him. The Jews love him. He's down with Larry David. That's his crew. Like Tracy Morgan. Tracy Morgan, keep it all the way. Hip hop, big gold chase. Like I be worried. No, I'll be bumping into Tracy Morgan's. One guy. I bump into the hood in a million dollar Lamborghini. Any other day with the top off, I don't know what the fuck he doing there. He driving by himself. No security. He's all the way hood. But for some reason, the white people really love Tracy Morgan.

[Joe Crack]

I mean, he hit all the right notes, you know what I mean? Saturday Live, 30 Rock, you know what I mean? So he hit all the right notes. And listen, I've worked, so there is.

[Jada Kiss]

A truth to that.

[Joe Crack]

Oh, absolutely. And listen, Tracy, man, you know I love you. We comedians always go, Tracy Morgan sounds like a New York City drag queen. Oh, shit. Yeah.

[Jada Kiss]

Tracy, how you doing?

[Joe Crack]

That's comic Banter, man.

[Jada Kiss]

It's got none on all my items.

[Joe Crack]

Huh? But that's what comics do, man. If he. If he was here, he'd hit me back. Yeah, I'm Tracy. Tracy caught that bag, too.

[Jada Kiss]

That got too much money. Every time I see him, yo, can I invest? He don't even know what he want to invest in. Every time I see. Want some money? Can I invest? Like, yo, Tracy, I don't need no money. Now that got the super bag, you know, he told me, he said if he dropped because we live in the same neighborhood, his is bigger than mine, don't get it up his house.

[Joe Crack]

That 30 Rock money, I think it.

[Jada Kiss]

Was that Walmart money.

[Joe Crack]

I'm sure that made the bag heavier. But NBC, Tina Fey, Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock, prime time.

[Jada Kiss]

I'm sure he had the bag, but the bag, you know, when you lawsuit, it's like, you don't get no taxes on that or not. You get the whole. Whatever you get. But he said he called the cops on his. If he sees his brother and sisters in that neighborhood, because they don't belong there, he'll call the cops like, yo, they outside.

[Joe Crack]

That's hilarious. That's hilarious. Yo, how does you. How does it work when you try some material and they don't land? How you expect it would just throw it out or. No, you just go back in the lab and rework it and. You know, I always say a joke is never done because you don't know at what point. At any point at night, you on the stage and you say one word that takes it from here to hear. So a joke is never done.

[Jada Kiss]

You know, Big Pun was real funny. And I grew up with some funny guys.

[Joe Crack]

Yeah.

[Jada Kiss]

And I had this one friend, and maybe you. This what you talking about. If he gets you laughing, he will double, triple, quadruple, five times, double down. Like, he'll just keep on with the shit where you can't. You know, when you got cramps and shit, like, you just can't take it no more. He's like a real assassin, you know, he's like the movie Killer or some shit like that. He really trying to kill you with the shits.

[Joe Crack]

That's my approach on stage, man.

[Jada Kiss]

Like, if you got him, you like, oh, no, I'm gonna finish this guy.

[Joe Crack]

This guy. My approach is, I'm Mike Tyson in the 80s. We ain't going two rounds. I'm trying to tear your head off. That's why I'm glad I came up when I did, man. I got these T shirts I'm gonna drop that says built 80s, tough. Cause the shit we did back then, kids don't do now. And I think it's kind of made them a little soft.

[Jada Kiss]

When you went to the show. What show? Well, one of the shows you went to where you was on the lineup, and it was some other people on the lineup say, like, for us, it's a summer jam or something like that. And you like, yo, I'm gonna smoke this. And you walk outta there, you know, Top Dog, you know, that night. What. Who else was on the lineup?

[Joe Crack]

It was the. After Def Jam exploded. It was the first DEF Jam tour, and it was Adele Givens, Reggie McFadden, knee, Bill Bellamy, and Bernie Mac and Bernie. Step your game up he let that bitch up Step your game up Every.

[Jada Kiss]

Time I got a concert, Fabulous wants to perform after me. I don't know why we gotta ask Fab when he come here, because I've watched him sit in the car, like the lineup says Fabulous and Fat Joe and Nelly or something like this. The man find a way all the time to perform after me. Fendi here. Yo, Fendi. Why does Fabulous want to perform after Fat Joe in every show? Like, did you ever see out of Washington? I'm going to ask him when he comes on the couch, but I'm just trying to say, is there anybody like that that you just like? Oh, he trying to like. Because Fab is particularly the one that he wanted. I mean, you're up anywhere. I don't care if I got the number one song in the world. He gonna find a way to come late to perform after.

[Joe Crack]

But why is that, you think? Is it because. Is it.

[Jada Kiss]

We gotta ask him? Because I'm confused. Because he's my friend, he's my buddy.

[Joe Crack]

Do you. I'm asking you, do you think it's a thing where it's like he doesn't want to follow you or he wants to.

[Jada Kiss]

I'm confused. I keep telling you, I'm confused. We done did everything from stadiums to little low budget. You know, every last minute, you know, it's a nice winter day, they call you and they be like, yo, somebody's having his birthday party. We got Lil Bag pull up and it's me and Fab. And I watch him in the car like this, waiting for me to go on perform. The minute I'm on stage, I see Fab come in. He grabbed the mic after me, you know, I don't know what it is. I don't know if he does that to everybody. He does it to me. Who does that to you?

[Joe Crack]

Nobody. Really? Cause, you know, whenever I would do, you know, theaters with four or five other comics, your placement was your placement. I want to go before rap. I want to go early anyway and rip the Gizatrons off and leave you with no Gizatron. I don't want to go after. I want to make it pause hard. I don't want to go after. It's a super pause.

[Jada Kiss]

But let me. Let me tell you something. I feel the same way. I got no problem at certain places where I go, if they'll be like, yo, Joe, you got a half an hour. That's even easier for me. That's hit mania. I just keep bang, bang, bang. Today dizzy, and I'm mad at it. You made a mistake. If you wanna perform after me, especially if they say, yo, Joe, just a half an hour, 45. I'm just coming with straight hits.

[Joe Crack]

Let me. You know, you said earlier that, you know, you're a fan of.

[Jada Kiss]

They did something to me last week. They didn't do nothing to me. But I'm out in la, I got a concert, and I knew it was a mistake. So I, like, they put me before somebody, and I was like, oh, this is a mistake. I said, cause I'm about to tear the pain off this bitch so bad that this next person will perform after me. And they're legends. And I was like, this is a mistake. Like. But I ain't saying nothing, you know.

[Joe Crack]

You know what? Talking to him is like playing double Dutch. Facts. You gotta try to jump in. Because even when I started to say.

[Jada Kiss]

Something, he went back to nah. You said verbal. You said verbal.

[Joe Crack]

Rebound position. Either or.

[Jada Kiss]

Yo, me and Nori, if we go.

[Joe Crack]

On vacation, you feel what I'm dealing with over here. Cause I clearly was off the Runway. And that said. And then here's the thing. So let me. You earlier said you love to laugh and you take a joke and all.

[Jada Kiss]

That all the time.

[Joe Crack]

Does anybody ever. Comedians do. You like, don't like, you know what I'm saying? If somebody tried to with you, would that bother you? No. Okay. That's the job. I wouldn't, because I wanted to say, man, you got the blackest fingers I've ever seen. You got trick daddy fingers. They similar to the paint under your eyes. Okay, There you go. We might be cousins.

[Jada Kiss]

Stereotype. I can't walk with the Euro. He got the diabolical. I know when it's premeditated.

[Joe Crack]

That was. That was. That was. That's what we do.

[Jada Kiss]

That's all we in the back of mail. That's homie in the back of me. He said, you know, whenever you want to use the euro or Joe, it's over. Like, yo, y' all plant that one. That was too crazy.

[Joe Crack]

Anybody ever no disagree with the euro?

[Jada Kiss]

Like, no, I agree with you. I yo, that was crazy.

[Joe Crack]

My we might got to set up a celebrity game. Let me just see if you can hit somebody.

[Dr. Lea Tritate]

Welcome to Pretty Private with ebony, the podcast where silence is broken and stories are set free. I'm Ebonae, and every Tuesday, I'll be sharing all new anonymous stories that would challenge your perceptions and give you new insight on the people around you. On Pretty Private, we'll explore the untold experiences of women of color who faced it all. Childhood trauma, addiction, abuse, incarceration, grief, mental health struggles, and more. And found the short to make it to the other side. My dad was shot and killed in his house. Yes, he was a drug dealer. Yes, he was a confidential informant, but he wasn't shot on street corner. He wasn't shot in the middle of a drug deal. He was shot in his house, unarmed. Pretty Private isn't just a podcast. It's your personal guide for turning storylines into lifelines. Every Tuesday, make sure you listen to Pretty Private from the the Black Effect podcast network. Tune in on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.

[Jada Kiss]

A foot washed up, a shoe with.

[Joe Crack]

Some bones in it.

[Jada Kiss]

They had no idea who it was.

[Joe Crack]

Most everything was burned up pretty good from the fire that not a whole lot was salvageable.

[Dr. Lea Tritate]

These are the coldest of cold cases. But everything is about to change. Every case that is a cold case that has DNA right now in a backlog will be identified in our lifetime. A small lab in Texas is cracking the code on DNA using new scientific tools. They're finding clues in evidence so tiny you might just miss it.

[Jada Kiss]

He never thought he was going to get caught.

[Joe Crack]

And I just looked at my computer screen, I was just like, ah, gotcha.

[Dr. Lea Tritate]

On America's Crime Lab, we'll learn about victims and survivors, and you'll meet the team behind the scenes at othram, the Houston lab that takes on the most hopeless cases to finally solve the unsolvable. Listen to America's Crime Lab on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Jada Kiss]

American history is full of wise people.

[Joe Crack]

Walt Whitman said something like, you know, 99.99% of war is diarrhea and 1%.

[Jada Kiss]

Is those founding fathers were gossipy AF and they love to cut each other down. I'm Bob Crawford, host of American History Hotline, the show where you send us your questions about American history. And I find the answers, including the nuggets of wisdom our history has to offer. Hamilton pauses and then he says, the greatest man that ever lived was Julius Caesar. And Jefferson writes in his diary, this.

[Joe Crack]

Proves that Hamilton is for a dictator based on corruption. My favorite line was what Neil Armstrong said. It would have been harder to fake it than to do it.

[Jada Kiss]

Listen to American History Hotline on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Joe Crack]

What would you do if one bad decision forced you to choose between a maximum security prison and or the most brutal boot camp designed to be hell on earth? Unfortunately for Mark Lombardo, this was the choice he faced. He said, you are a number, a New York state number, and we own you. Shock incarceration, also known as boot camps, are short term, highly regimented correctional programs that mimic military basic training. These programs aim to provide a shock a prison life, emphasizing strict discipline, physical training, hard labor and rehabilitation programs. Mark had one chance to complete this program and had no idea of the hell awaiting him the next six months. The first night was overwhelming and you don't know who's next to you and we didn't know what to expect in the morning. Nobody tells you anything. Listen to shock incarceration on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Jada Kiss]

Eri All I Care about besides God and family and health. So even if I gotta laugh my way at myself to the bank, I laugh it. And to answer you, I went to the Beacon Theater. I'm sure you've been there before, right? And it was, I think it's Joe Tory. But I was late. And the worst thing you could ever do is walk in a comedy show late. And the man caught me and he wouldn't let go. He was like the pit bull.

[Joe Crack]

He was like, yo, fuck, that's one of my worst fans, though. Like, the beat put the spotlight on you. Like Reggie and Nutty Professor.

[Jada Kiss]

Oh, yo, this guy tore me up in real life.

[Joe Crack]

You talking about Joe Tory?

[Jada Kiss]

Yes. The back of my neck has got franks.

[Joe Crack]

Joe Tory is one of those.

[Jada Kiss]

He got a good 10 to 20 on me and I'm still sitting down trying to play it off, laughing. And the whole fucking beakman is laughing at me. He kept going.

[Joe Crack]

Joe's one of the dudes. Him and D.L. hughley, who I studied in terms of going, all right, Telling jokes is one thing, but there's certain aspects to the game. Crowd work. And Joe is vicious. Joe once told a dude, he said something about his mother, and the guy goes, hey, man, don't talk about my mother. She dead. And Joe said, I don't give a fuck. I'll dig the bitch up, prop up against a tree so I can talk about it some more.

[Jada Kiss]

Oh, my God.

[Joe Crack]

Whoa. It was in his hometown. Yeah. To me, in his trip to say.

[Jada Kiss]

Some shit like that, that's a little bit too much.

[Joe Crack]

Listen, when a heckler. When a motherfucker is drunk and heckling you, there's no such thing as too much, because drunk people turn into suicide bombers. They not afraid to die. So it's going to be you and me. I mean, man, that's.

[Jada Kiss]

That's a lot of humor right there to handle, bro. But he fucked me up. He said he could squeeze the donut out my forehead. He was going crazy. Front of the whole.

[Joe Crack]

You just stayed there for that?

[Jada Kiss]

I had to, man. I got to be a good sport if I walk out. That's. That's like the guy, you know, the guy, the CEO guy who's with the side piece up at the cold plate. If he don't run away and he stands up.

[Joe Crack]

They call him like that in the cooking. Just finish the concert off like, no, no, no.

[Jada Kiss]

He's supposed to just sit.

[Joe Crack]

Obvious. Exactly. He did. Like, he was having a work meeting Sunday. He should have stayed there.

[Jada Kiss]

He would have been a normal white guy with a normal white girl would have stayed there.

[Joe Crack]

It would have been better than him trying to duck in the.

[Jada Kiss]

He. His own up.

[Joe Crack]

He panicked.

[Jada Kiss]

That's what I'm trying to say, Joe. Tory got me.

[Joe Crack]

Oh, you saying.

[Jada Kiss]

You gotta handle this. Sit down, you know. Yeah, you fat brother.

[Joe Crack]

This.

[Jada Kiss]

You run.

[Joe Crack]

Yeah.

[Jada Kiss]

Yo, Jada, you run out of that.

[Joe Crack]

That is even worse. You right. What happened? They said you had an encounterment with the Dog backstage in la. Bmx. Oh, shit. Oh, man. Yeah. This was back when, you know, comedy albums was a thing. So I went to the Jay Z concert at the Staples center, and everybody in the back, you know, Bust the Rhymes and Snoop. And I was trying to get people to hold up the album, be like, yo, support my man da da, da da. So I saw X and I was like, yo, X, a dog. Let me holler at you. And so I go into the living, into the locker room, and there's one entrance in, one entrance out. About 15 niggas came in there behind him. And then the security comes in slams the door and stands in front of the door. And I'm like, hey, I was just wondering if you could do some joint, dog. My voice, I don't know, I heard, you know what I mean? So my mom's voice, honey, let me hear it. If it's good, yeah. If it's not, let me tell you something, man. I've been black my whole life. I grew up, you know, I didn't grow up in the projects, but I grew up poor. And this how I knew where my level of blackness ended up. This nigga was talking to me, and at one point, he pulls the razor blade out from under his tongue. And that's the first time I saw that. And I'm like, how is this nigga talking and not cutting himself? And I went, yeah, my nigga, them ends there. Yo, my nigga, I'm black up to a point. That was it.

[Jada Kiss]

Let me tell you something. Your man dmx, the stories I got about dmx, he probably got more. He was down with him. But yo, dmx, man, he was the trip. He was the real, real trip.

[Joe Crack]

He did mad tv.

[Jada Kiss]

He was the real deal. Dmxv.

[Joe Crack]

Yeah, I played his mother. We did a skit where he came off the road. And I'm in the granny outfit with the gray hair and the glasses with the chain with Timbs on. And so he's like, yo, Ma, these bitches, you know what I mean? They don't love me for me, Earl. You know what I mean? And I was like, yo, son, relax. We gonna talk about these hoes. So it's just me and him going back and forth.

[Jada Kiss]

Like, yeah, I thought of this crazy story, right? It's gonna lead to a question for you, right? This is crazy. It's insane. This is an insane one, right? But it's the truth. It's uncappable, right? So I got a friend, right? He passed away. We used to call him Joe Bentley. Cause he owns so many Bentleys.

[Joe Crack]

When we go to Miami, we used.

[Jada Kiss]

To have all these drop top Bentleys. This guy had too many Bentleys. Like a Italian dude. Too much, right? He died, right? But I'm just telling you this story. Cause I thought about it on the way here. I was like, who it be? But anyway, so this guy must have been the original capper. Cause you know, everything I say is true. These people just ain't have an incredible life like this. So they can't. They can't comprehend the shit I be saying, right? So this man was the bigger Kappa than me. So Every time he was so rich. But every time he would tell me stories, I'd be like, he's full of shit. Told me he used to fuck Cher. One day, he picks me up in my house in Miami, pulls up to Star Island. Cher opens the door on the bustier, and this. He pulls her ass, walks in. Shit you can't believe, right? So the man tells me that when O.J. simpson was in the Bronco, he was in the airport with the private. That O.J. simpson is his man, right? He was the one waiting for him, for him and AC Green to come on a private breakout. This guy did. He tell me, I'll count. But the point is, the man telling me all this shit the whole time. I know, yo Fendi, I know he's. I know he's my man. He filthy witch. But the shit he was telling me, I could not believe, right? So one day, it's his wife's birthday, and he says, yo, we throwing. His wife is named Nicole. Joe Bentley, his wife is named Nicole. So he says, yo, we throwing her birthday party in my other house, up in, like, where Trump lives, Palm beach or some shit. We pull up, this shit got white horses. The guy had too much money, right? I go with the Terror Squad. It's me, Remy, Pistol Pete. This is why I got witnesses with this one. We go in there, O.J. simpson is in the house. So Remy and Pistol start smoking blunts with him. They having the best time with O.J. simpson.

[Joe Crack]

They were smoking.

[Jada Kiss]

Smoking blunts with Remy and Pistol, right? Remy said she even got a picture of that, right? So I go like this.

[Joe Crack]

If you can murder two people, smoking blunts is easy. Yeah, you right. You.

[Jada Kiss]

Actually, the moral to the story is when it came down to cut the cake, Happy birthday, Nicole. Joe Bentley puts the machete in OJ's in OJ s hand. He said, you did it, nigga, you did it. And OJ Start chasing him around the house with the fucking knife somebody got.

[Joe Crack]

Y' all gotta get an animator and turn these stories.

[Jada Kiss]

Shout out to Mr. Commodore. Mr. Commodore just already start. You seen the shit he did? He did like when I robbed the gym. He played it over. He's white face with blonde hair, fat belly out. He's doing the Charlie Murphy. But listen what I'm saying. OJ Starts chasing him around the house with the knife. You say, you did it, man. You did it. The who would be the O.J. simpson of 2025 if somebody killed their wife or something like that?

[Joe Crack]

Who are you the.

[Jada Kiss]

Talking about? Who would stop tv. If they was in the white Bronco chasing them, they might have allegedly killed their wife in 2025. Who's the celebrity?

[Joe Crack]

Any celebrity.

[Jada Kiss]

Any. No. Yeah. No, That's.

[Joe Crack]

That's murder and fame.

[Jada Kiss]

So you think any celebrity would. Would have the TV going crazy?

[Joe Crack]

Yeah.

[Jada Kiss]

So you ain't got one pick.

[Joe Crack]

OJ Wasn't even a big celebrity when that shit happened.

[Jada Kiss]

He just was OJ My pick is Tiger Woods. Tiger. Because you got a white girl. It gotta be a white girl, right? To make this go crazy. And white people.

[Joe Crack]

Where did this come from? I thought he had a question for you.

[Jada Kiss]

I do. Here's the question. The question is, I was setting them up.

[Joe Crack]

Who's the OJ of who's 2025?

[Jada Kiss]

If a celebrity did some. Allegedly did some shit like that, who would every channel turn on to.

[Joe Crack]

Kill, too. But when you said. When you say that element now you talking about the white girl, does it have to be that element?

[Jada Kiss]

No, I'm just thinking about how crazy it can get.

[Joe Crack]

Will Smith from Slap to Murder.

[Jada Kiss]

Will Smith running this crazy.

[Joe Crack]

Are you kidding?

[Jada Kiss]

Oh, no. You might be driving. Jazzy Jeff is.

[Joe Crack]

And he got the aux cord.

[Jada Kiss]

He's DJing while he's driving.

[Joe Crack]

And as he's driving, it's in West Philadelphia, Born and raised.

[Jada Kiss]

Oh. Cause I'm thinking Tiger Boy's got the white wife. He's golf. The white people watch golfing. Cause the white people love O.J. that's what made it so crazy, right?

[Joe Crack]

Yeah, but it's 2025. Black men murdering white women don't have the same cachet. Yeah. Yo, yo, yo.

[Jada Kiss]

The views of this ain't. Yo, this is out of control.

[Joe Crack]

Let me tell you one of the funniest stories I ever heard. Nigga, when you did the Mike Tyson Eve at the awards, and you was like, yo, you gotta take the bass out the boys.

[Jada Kiss]

Chill, Mike.

[Joe Crack]

Chad. Dad, I told him that story. What's that story?

[Jada Kiss]

I don't know that story.

[Joe Crack]

No. One day, Mike was talking crazy to Eve.

[Jada Kiss]

Like what?

[Joe Crack]

Crazy out of this world. Great. Like, picture Al. Eat your kids and I'll fuck you in your ass.

[Jada Kiss]

Not like that.

[Joe Crack]

Not like that. But yeah. No, he was saying crazy to him. He must have looked like a steak instead of. You know, when you see.

[Jada Kiss]

He thought he was gonna. You up.

[Joe Crack]

Listen. Listen to the story. Know when it's. You see something and you say something in your mind, he was doing that, but it wasn't in his mind. He was just. Whatever he was thinking, he was saying it. And me Styles and Luch is like, somebody gotta. Somebody gotta be the crash dummy. Then we gotta hawk. Somebody gotta get their hawks, and then we gonna hawk them. After that. We did 21st fingers about 20 million times. Nobody wanted to take the first finger. Yeah, but Mike was telling her that crazy shit. I want to tell you. I want to. He was saying that crazy shit to her. And we, like, you know, he did.

[Jada Kiss]

That to Remy, but we was in his house.

[Joe Crack]

That's after she shot the girl before.

[Jada Kiss]

That's. That's after she. That's before she allegedly shot the girl. I turned the time he went to his house, he opened the door, asked.

[Joe Crack]

Naked Jerry, she can't do.

[Jada Kiss]

He opened the door ass naked.

[Joe Crack]

And I was like, yo, Mike, I'm hearing that.

[Jada Kiss]

No, no.

[Joe Crack]

I said, yo, Mike is doing that.

[Jada Kiss]

Yo, you gotta have heart to tell Mike Tyson, like, yo, my man, throw the towel on, man. Like, And I'm with some. Allegedly.

[Joe Crack]

You had his house, though.

[Jada Kiss]

Yeah, I'm with some alleged. He was like, yo, Joe, you know, this is the boxes. We let. Yo, my man, you got stop. Then we go inside. And the type of things he was telling Remy, ma, I felt pussy if I didn't, like, like, address it. Like, I had to be like, yo.

[Joe Crack]

Mike, oh, that might have to be around the same time. Some horny days.

[Jada Kiss]

He was losing his fucking mind, just barking out, yo, I. Mike is crazy. He was like, yo, Joe, you know, he showed me a brand new Benz. It was like a 500, some brand new shit never drove. He was like, yo, you just leave her here. You got the bends, you know, the shit was crazy. Like, I was like, yo, my man.

[Joe Crack]

Just leave her here.

[Jada Kiss]

Remy was looking at me. Remy's eyes looked at me. Her eyes opened so big. She was like, nigga, you better not leave me in this fucking place. I think her brother was with us, too. Everybody was looking like, yo, like, we. We gonna have to, like, pound Mike Tyson out. We did. We have no pause, no choice. We gonna have to. Like, it's nothing we can do. Like, he was like, yo showed us the brand new Benz. Shit was like 150, 200. Nobody even had that shit right then. They still had the sticker. We was like, nah, we. She gotta go with us, Mike.

[Joe Crack]

Banners.

[Jada Kiss]

No, that shit was crazy, man. Oh, it takes a lot of courage. It's almost like a guy at the movies with his girl and they rap it to his girl and they disrespect his girlfriend of him is. They tend deep. You know, you're gonna get Your ass whipped. A lot of these guys are cowards. They won't defend their wife or they girl or shit like that. But the guy that does, he gets the beats.

[Joe Crack]

Well, sometimes the girls are the reason why they get in the situations. Cause she get mouthy and start doing a whole bunch of extra shit. Ooh, did you beat that?

[Jada Kiss]

Let me tell you something. My wife used to force me. This is when we used to have 100 guys.

[Joe Crack]

You're a real nigga.

[Jada Kiss]

Take me to the club tonight. By yourself. You don't need the crew.

[Joe Crack]

This, this, that.

[Jada Kiss]

I go to the club, I see the guys we beat up the night before 100d, and I'm like, there you go. You got it. This the shit you wanted. Remember I told you about the happened yesterday? That stone 100D, you want it?

[Joe Crack]

You did.

[Jada Kiss]

Your man's the realest.

[Joe Crack]

There you go. You got it, mama.

[Jada Kiss]

No problem. This, this, that. Then we always got away from that. But, you know, she used to test me like that. You know what I'm saying? Like, yo, you got to come up in there by yourself. This, this, that, you know? Yeah, the woman could definitely talk you into some.

[Joe Crack]

What's up with your podcast? It's called Spears and Steinberg. Available on all streaming platforms. There you go.

[Jada Kiss]

You got a Jewish guy.

[Joe Crack]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Playing the game. Money, money. Check out the YouTube channel, Spearsberg Pod, hit like and subscribe. And I always tell people, look, we like 679 episodes in, but start from the beginning, because when you. It's like, you know, you get a chance to hear the jokes, the evolution of the characters. I do. You know, the callbacks, and it's like masturbation and potato chips. Once you start, you won't stop. Binge. Yeah, I mean, just binge, man.

[Jada Kiss]

You know why here? It's making big money with this is the Country. Wayne. They said on Facebook. Yeah, he got a choke hole over there. Remember I called you that time? Dove is here. She does my social media. And I called her, and I was like, yo, I heard that dude is clearing checks over there in Facebook.

[Joe Crack]

Yeah, I mean, you know, if you know how to finagle this shit, there's money in it. So I'm kind of just on the cusp of figuring that out. You know, when you get it, though, that shit is a. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. So. And also slide into my DMs and Instagram, and I'll chop it up with you and send you the links. Spears and Steinberg.

[Jada Kiss]

I like that. And you on tour, right? Now, too, right?

[Joe Crack]

Yeah, all year round. I hardly ever get a break. Me too, man.

[Jada Kiss]

What about you? Work a lot, too. Like, I find myself not being able to truly enjoy my peace because I'm always thinking about, all right, Thursday we out to Vegas, then Saturday we in Canada. Like, how do you do? Is the same way through your week or you don't care, you just don't know.

[Joe Crack]

That shit's on your mind. You gotta. It's constantly thinking about.

[Jada Kiss]

You can't really just chill, huh?

[Joe Crack]

I read some shit today that said you gotta make time for yourself. You gotta make. Gotta make some time. But wherever you go, sometimes is it like. Because for me, it's like, sometimes if I go. If I'm going to Miami, I'm going to Vegas, New York, that's like a vacation. But if I gotta go to Mississippi. Oh, straight word, man. I just like that read.

[Jada Kiss]

Yo, listen, man, I went to North Dakota last week. Oh, you've been to North Dakota? Yes.

[Joe Crack]

Value go down in certain parts of the country. I don't even call Miami Miami. I call it me Mommy.

[Jada Kiss]

But I got that on the counter.

[Joe Crack]

I'm going to me mommy. Florida, baby. Them women out there dress like they don't like their fathers.

[Jada Kiss]

One thing in Miami is they in shape.

[Joe Crack]

Yeah, they in shape.

[Jada Kiss]

And everybody works out over there, like, everybody. So the minute you drive it down the street, it's like no other place. The minute you driving, you know, everybody got their workout clothes on, the dudes is cocked, diesel. They running around like, you know, Miami is definitely all about their appearance and stuff like that. So, you know, My mommy.

[Joe Crack]

My mommy, Mommy, baby.

[Dr. Lea Tritate]

Welcome to Pretty Private with ebony, the podcast where silence is more broken and stories are set free. I'm Ebonae, and every Tuesday, I'll be sharing all new anonymous stories that would challenge your perceptions and give you new insight on the people around you. On Pretty Private, we'll explore the untold experiences of women of color who faced it all. Childhood trauma, addiction, abuse, incarceration, grief, mental health struggles, and more. And found the shrimp to make it to the other side. My dad was shot and killed in his house. Yes, he was a drug dealer. Yes, he was a confidential informant. But he wasn't shot on a street corner. He wasn't shot in the middle of a drug deal. He was shot in his house, unarmed. Pretty Private isn't just a podcast. It's your personal guide for turning storylines into lifelines. Every Tuesday, make sure you lay listen to Pretty Private from the Black Effect podcast network. Tune in on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.

[Joe Crack]

What would you do if one bad decision forced you to choose between a maximum security prison or the most brutal boot camp designed to be hell on earth? Unfortunately for Mark Lombardo, this was the choice he faced. He said, you are a number, a New York state number, and we own you. Shock incarceration, also known as boot camps, are short term, highly regimented correctional programs that mimic military basic training. These programs aim to provide a shock of prison life, emphasizing strict discipline, physical training, hard labor and rehabilitation programs. Mark had one chance to complete this program and had no idea of the hell awaiting him the next six months. The first night was overwhelming and you don't know who's next to you and we didn't know what to expect in the morning. Nobody tells you anything. Listen to shock incarceration on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Jada Kiss]

The summer of 1993 was one of.

[Joe Crack]

The best of my life. I'm journalist Jeff Pearlman and this is Rick Jervis. We were interns at the Nashville, Tennessee Inn. But the most unforgettable part, our roommate, Reggie Payne from Oakland, sports editor and aspiring rapper and his stage name, Sexy Sweat.

[Jada Kiss]

In 2020, I had a simple idea.

[Joe Crack]

Let's find Reggie. We searched everywhere, but Reggie was gone. In February 2020, Reggie was having a diabetic episode. His mom called 911. Police cuffed him face down. He slipped into a coma and died. I'm like thanking you, but then I.

[Jada Kiss]

See my son's not moving.

[Joe Crack]

No headlines, no outrage, just silence. So we started digging and uncovered city officials bent on protecting their own. Listen to finding Sexy Sweat on the.

[Jada Kiss]

Iheartradio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Dr. Lea Tritate]

Sometimes it's hard to remember, but going.

[Joe Crack]

Through something like that is a traumatic experience.

[Jada Kiss]

But it's also not the end of your life.

[Dr. Lea Tritate]

That was my dad reminding me and so many others who need to hear it that our trauma is not our shame to carry and that we have big, bold and beautiful lives to live after what happened to us. I'm your host and co president of this organization, Dr. Lea Tritate. On my new podcast, the Unwanted Sorority, we wage through transformation to peel back healing and reveal what it actually looks like and sounds like in real time. Each week, I sit down with people who've lived through harm, carried silence, and are now reshaping the systems that failed us. We're going to talk about the adultification of black Girls mothering as resistance and the tools we use for healing. The Unwanted Sorority is a safe space, not a quiet space. So let's lock in. We're moving towards liberation together. Listen to the Unwanted sorority. New episodes every Thursday on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Jada Kiss]

I'm gonna ask you one last question. What is the one time you stepped in and you just said holy shit comedically?

[Joe Crack]

Oh, that's easy. We ended the first that deaf comedy jam tour at the Garden. And at that time, before the clip that I did, eventually, that went viral. 14 million. I was at a radio station in San Francisco, and I did.

[Jada Kiss]

So it went viral back then?

[Joe Crack]

No, no, no, no, no, no. I'm talking about later, after this moment. And I did Jay Z, dmx, Snoop rapping, and it went viral. But before this, the Garden. I didn't write it down. I just thought, I'm a wing it, and I'm gonna just go off the head. And this is why you go. You have to have respect for what you do. I bombed so horrifically. And as I'm walking past Kid Capri's table, two dudes are standing over there at the DJ booth. And one of them goes. I don't know if they said it on purpose so I could hear it or just the timing.

[Jada Kiss]

He was like, man, that nigga was gobbled.

[Joe Crack]

And I had to walk back from the Garden to the Hotel Sheridan on 57. I felt like Will Smith and I am legend. There was no cars, people. It was just lonely. It was me by myself. It was the loneliest walk.

[Jada Kiss]

That's like chains gonna come.

[Joe Crack]

So then that's when I went, you know what, dude? You gotta respect this shit. So I smoked the blunt and I. And I wrote. And I just. I wrote the lyrics out. And cut to. That's when I did it at the radio station, and it went viral.

[Jada Kiss]

Yeah, you know what? He just reminded me, this podcast, there's certain guys, you can't really big up like that, right? So there's some people I big up, and they. And they try to diss me. Like, Kid Capri. I call him one of my top five. It wasn't good enough. He's on his Instagram. We gotta discuss this. This, this. I seen him at Ray Dejan's funeral. I said, yo, kid, I can't even beat you up. Like, I can't even beat you up. I call you my. The number one on my top five, and you still got a problem with it. You on your instagram like, yo, we gotta talk about that. I'm like, yo, yeah, I can't be. There's certain guys, I'm realizing on this podcast that you can't even big them up. Cause somehow that turns into how we gonna turn this into some other shit, right? I mean, I gotta ask.

[Joe Crack]

Cause now it just hit me. I gotta ask you a question. So when most people go, there's dudes that do battle rap like Loaded Lux and Murder Mook. For some reason, a lot of battle rappers can't make successful albums. And then I'm going. And they also go, well, a lot of guys that are successful at making albums can't battle rap. And I go, when you think about a guy like Jada, one of the hardest MCs ever, if you had to battle rap, like, you know, I can't do that for real.

[Jada Kiss]

I think you could though.

[Joe Crack]

I could, but I can't. They possess a special thing with that. That's they. And I mean, matter of fact, I might could. And they might be able to make classic albums. It's just once the people start saying, yo, know the battle rap niggas can't make good albums. And you know, the regular thing is can't be battled. I. I maybe can if you push me to the minute or the. The bag was out of. Because they never say who win the. Whoever. You just. The winner or the loser is up to the individual's ears. Like, they never just put a thing up every 50 rounds. Kiss, three rounds. It just. If you was there or you watched the link, you come outside, your band might think you won. Other man might think I won. So if the bag is right, there's no. All you gotta do is win a good round and a half.

[Jada Kiss]

I think that. I think that was the first.

[Joe Crack]

You get a round and a half. You could be. How many rounds is it? 3. 3. But is it is. Is really all of that shit? They can keep starting over in order to come back with the. I don't. That should take a lot of practice. I would have to go to the. I would have to go into camp, see from the outside looking in. And just as a fan, you just go, you know, I could do it. I probably could. But I ain't going to just step out there and say I could. And then my question to you, Joe, is.

[Jada Kiss]

I want to help answer that too.

[Joe Crack]

Okay, but let me ask you this. I would think, like, if there's so much potential money in what if they were to set up like a pay per view and go, we Would love to see Eminem versus Jada. Fabulous verse, another MC like. And that never happens, really. Except with the versus thing that just happened because of COVID The thing I'm.

[Jada Kiss]

Trying to tell you is to be careful with 50 cent in them is crazy. I'm just trying to tell you.

[Joe Crack]

Where did we talking to? Are you here?

[Jada Kiss]

This hip hop thing, right, is. Well, the guys that get the most respect, they have unscathed resumes. So nobody ever raw Fat Joe. Nobody ever beat Fat Joe up. Nobody. With all the guys I ever beefed with, they never got one up, right. 50 is part of that frame of thought where no one gets one up on him, right? So you gotta understand these guys got these type of like, egos where they not trying to take no type of L. So with the battle rap, ain't no professional rapper like a professor. You might find a Fred Joe star, you might find one of them. You ain't gonna find a top tier rapper trying to battle for any amount of money. Jada against Eminem, this is. They're not doing that shit because nobody wants that blemish on a record, you know? And it's the same way street wise with rappers. Once you catch that L and you on video, look, they. Look, they were terrified at midnight till they seen him get beat up one time and they had him on film after that, they was trying to rush him. Everywhere he went, Arizona, they were. These people were so terrified. So once they see you catch that L somewhere, whether it's battle rap or whatever the case may be, good luck walking around the same way you walk around now. Let me, let me go back to that original question.

[Joe Crack]

The truth is.

[Jada Kiss]

There'S a lot of artists out there that don't know how to make a hit record. Don't ask me why. There's a lot of artists out there that don't know how to make a hit hook. Don't ask me why. There's a lot of artists out there that don't know how to change their flows. There's a lot of artists out there that's considered the greatest lyricist of all time that never could pick a good beat. Don't know why. It's like, when you, you come to comedy, they gotta be like a chamber. Does he rock the crowd? Does he say funny shit on the spot? Does he have premeditated shit? This. There's a. There's a criteria. For some reason, everybody's not born with that chamber. With every single chamber. And I watched it. I mean, the greatest, you know, if you want Me to say a name which is not right. But there's been some of the greatest guys that we consider the greatest rappers of all time that didn't know how to pick a beat or didn't know how to really make a hit. And so some of them hid under the cloth of. I'm underground, you know, I'm underground. I don't really want to make a hit, you know, I. I don't really want that kind of success. I don't. I don't this. But at the end of the day, I think rappers like, I started out underground digging in the crates. I think it shows growth. If you're able to make a song like who shot you? And then do what's love, you know what I mean? And me, I used to tell all my crew digging in the crates, I used to tell them all, yo, I came in here to be a superstar. I did not come in here to just be underground. Not pointing them out in any way, but just saying there's artists that just can't do everything. And there's some artists that haven't had the luck, like you. You beyond talented. Everybody knows you beyond talented. You just ain't have no Adam Sandler in your corner. You just ain't have no like like that, you know, Dust, you ain't have somebody with that type of power to say, this is the guy, you know. So you similar to us. You got to fight your way to where you got your spot. We still fight.

[Joe Crack]

One of the greatest lyrics from you that I loved. It was at that time when you said, what's everybody so mad at? Southfall, Switch up your style. Switch to southpaw.

[Jada Kiss]

I was thinking about that today.

[Joe Crack]

That was me. And he borrowed me. I was Jada. I was listening. That was my original. That's my Google it.

[Jada Kiss]

Yo, Jada.

[Joe Crack]

Jada. We'll be right back after this commercial break.

[Jada Kiss]

Hold on.

[Joe Crack]

Smile on.

[Jada Kiss]

Why is that?

[Joe Crack]

Why so mad at the southpaw? Learn how to switch your style up and go southpaw.

[Jada Kiss]

Let me tell you, say it.

[Joe Crack]

But you open your mouth for better reason. For me to just open your scalp more, man, that's me, man, let's not get this. I mean, we ain't got all time.

[Jada Kiss]

No, no, no, no. But I gave you, gave you that shout out. No.

[Joe Crack]

Yeah.

[Jada Kiss]

On a super smash hit record.

[Joe Crack]

But that's his original, came from Thug it out, then he threw it on.

[Jada Kiss]

Once again, the crossover. Let me explain something to you, right? The point I was making, right, is at that time, everybody borrowed.

[Joe Crack]

No, I Didn't. I'm just making sure he got to know where it came from.

[Jada Kiss]

He might have set me up with that shit.

[Joe Crack]

No, I swear to God. No.

[Jada Kiss]

In this space, I swear to God.

[Joe Crack]

You were the only person that I heard say that.

[Jada Kiss]

Well, his was a little underground.

[Joe Crack]

Yeah. His song was.

[Jada Kiss]

It my was smashed. No, but I still gave him the props. Jada, I was listening.

[Joe Crack]

I don't care.

[Jada Kiss]

All right, but it being a bigger.

[Joe Crack]

Song, I just don't. You're not gonna deprive me of being.

[Jada Kiss]

A part of it.

[Joe Crack]

That's all.

[Jada Kiss]

But I did big. He gave me these.

[Joe Crack]

I love you.

[Jada Kiss]

That's a big record. Make it rain. But let me explain something to you, right? I traveled around the whole country. I did this thing. I think it was for Bud Light. And in every city, the star of the city basketball player would come out, right? So if it was Memphis, it was Zach Randolph at the time. If it was Philly, AI. And we would host every one. What? I noticed that the whole entire country, from the east to the Midwest to the west to the south, were only playing down south music in the club. One time, New York created hip hop. That was no longer. We was not running the game. The west took it. We wasn't running. The south took over the game to the point of I gotta be deaf, dumb and blind to be sitting in the hottest club with the hottest ball playing not to notice. This shit done changed on us. You can't come with the boom back and think you're gonna pop one off. It just wasn't working at that time. The DJ gotta spend with fluid, fluidity the same. That's rocking. So the DJ playing nothing but the down south shit. So I'm in Memphis and the guy goes and says, let's throw it back. He throws on, the rock building's in the building tonight. Oh, the problem with that was that was actually number one at that time. He said, the throwback. The throwback of the day. Rock building in the building tonight is because they're so used to hearing nothing but the dirty south winning all day, that even though that record was the hottest out, they called it the Throwback. Same with New York. New York was really, really cocky. I remember there was a time when New York, you listen to Hot 97, and they'd be like, yo, what's playing outside of the five boroughs? And they'd be like, these are my confessions. They had that in the chokehold to where they wasn't playing that. So according to the line, why you bad at the City. You got to switch the South. You know how many New York rappers.

[Joe Crack]

Was which they could switch? He didn't.

[Jada Kiss]

No. No. Because at first they get mad at you. You figure it out. They get upset. Yo, he getting to the bag. Made it down south here. That's what's ringing right now. So all my New York colleagues, furious. I'm reading the Source magazine. Oh, how could he rhyme on something like this? This next thing I know, Everybody's. Everybody's the 808, rocking like this. But they was dumb mad at me. When I first did Make It Rain, they were like, yo, how you can rap on that? And then everybody is just a new norm. Then New York starts sounding like the dirty south, to be honest with you, if you're gonna keep it a buck. Because they were like, yo, we gotta make one of these.

[Joe Crack]

So in other words, being that he was the originator, it's like you. Elvis Presley did it, but he was Big Mama Thornton, I guess.

[Jada Kiss]

So I bigged him up.

[Joe Crack]

You know who Big Mama Thornton is? No. She wrote Nothing but a hound Dog. Wow. And then Elvis took it and made it, you know, but no, she's the real.

[Jada Kiss]

But he spit a bar. He didn't write my song, brother.

[Joe Crack]

He clear.

[Jada Kiss]

He spit a bar, you know, and that went right. You know, make it Rain. One of them classic codes. Don't get it up. This is crack.

[Joe Crack]

It is the first line of the first verse, though.

[Jada Kiss]

Jadakiss. Jadakiss. I'm gonna hire a comedian. Behind the scenes, I might hire you. Give me some Jadakiss jokes.

[Joe Crack]

Cause this guy.

[Jada Kiss]

Oh, you tried and you lost.

[Joe Crack]

I thought we were partners.

[Jada Kiss]

You tried 48 hours. You was unsuccessful. You tried. You talking about how black and.

[Joe Crack]

No, no, that was it.

[Jada Kiss]

You got the baseball.

[Joe Crack]

That was a draw. That was a.

[Jada Kiss]

That was one and one, but that was off the top.

[Joe Crack]

I would never ask you for directions. I asked you to get to the Bronx. You sent me to Kentucky. The way you all over the place, man.

[Jada Kiss]

No, he said, I'm fried. But let me tell you something. He hit you with that shit, right?

[Joe Crack]

I said, touche, man. He gave me my.

[Jada Kiss]

I thought that was a great one, dude.

[Joe Crack]

Sometimes when you speak in your regular voice, especially if I've been smoking a lot, drinking, I get a little raspy. I've been working on it, but, you know, let's get it, baby. Congratulations on me. 1.1 million in a short week. So I'm working on it. I'm working on it. Let me see if my. Hold up. And I Ain't animated like say a Busta Rhyme the real shit you get when you break down my line. Add that to the Falcon plat a bunch of time Time Zappa my influence on pop culture how supposed to be number one on everybody list. Hope.

[Jada Kiss]

I love you, Tony Soprano. I used you on the the intro to the album.

[Joe Crack]

Of course you did. You know the Dale, all the guys in the Italians.

[Jada Kiss]

You know what it is.

[Joe Crack]

I seen you with the Euro step. You're pretty good.

[Jada Kiss]

Yo, this is Joe Crack, Jada Kiss.

[Joe Crack]

Another episode of the Joe and Jada show. Make some noise for our brother Aries Spears. You heard me.

[Jada Kiss]

That was beautiful.

[Joe Crack]

Appreciate it.

[Jada Kiss]

I'm Bob Crawford, host of American History Hotline, a different type of podcast. You, the listener, ask the questions.

[Joe Crack]

Did George Washington really cut down a cherry tree?

[Dr. Lea Tritate]

Were JFK and Marilyn Monroe having an affair?

[Jada Kiss]

And I find the answers. I'm so glad you asked me this question.

[Dr. Lea Tritate]

This is such a ridiculous story.

[Jada Kiss]

You can listen to American History Hotline on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Joe Crack]

I'm Jeff Perelman. And I'm Rick Jervis. We're journalists and hosts of the podcast Finding Sexy Sweat. At an internship in 1993, we roomed with Reggie Payne, aspiring reporter and rapper who went by Sexy Sweat a couple years ago. We set out to find him, but in 2020, Reggie fell into a coma after police pinned him down and he never woke up.

[Jada Kiss]

But then I see my son's not moving.

[Joe Crack]

So we started digging and uncovered city officials bent on protecting their own. Listen to Finding Sexy Sweat on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Let's start with a quick puzzle.

[Jada Kiss]

The answer is Ken Jennings appearance on the puzzler with A.J. jacobs. The question is, what is the most entertaining listening experience in podcast land Jeopardy truthers believe in? I guess they would be conspiracy theorists. That's right. They gave you the answers and you still blew it.

[Joe Crack]

The Puzzler.

[Jada Kiss]

Listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Dr. Lea Tritate]

Every case that is a cold case.

[Joe Crack]

That has DNA right now in a.

[Dr. Lea Tritate]

Backlog will be identified in our lifetime on the new podcast America's Crime Lab. Every case has a story to tell, and the DNA holds the truth.

[Jada Kiss]

He never thought he was going to get caught. And I just looked at my computer screen.

[Joe Crack]

I was just like, ah, gotcha. This technology's already solving so many cases.

[Dr. Lea Tritate]

Listen to America's Crime Lab on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast.