Joe and Jada - Ralph McDaniels on Tupac in Juice, Video Music Box, directing Nas & Wu-Tang

Summary

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The Herd with Colin Cowherd – Joe and Jada: Ralph McDaniels on Tupac in Juice, Video Music Box, Directing Nas & Wu-Tang

Date: August 21, 2025
Guests: Ralph “Uncle Ralph” McDaniels, Fat Joe, Jadakiss
Main Theme:
A celebration of hip hop's visual and community history through the lens of pioneering VJ/director Ralph McDaniels, who shaped generations with "Video Music Box," worked with icons from Queens to Yonkers, and helped bridge the gap between the streets and stardom. From foundational stories of rap to shooting classics with Nas, Wu-Tang, and Big Daddy Kane, the conversation dives into the influence, preservation, and behind-the-scenes memories of hip hop’s rise.

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1. Episode Overview

The episode centers on the cultural significance of Ralph McDaniels—creator of Video Music Box, iconic video director, and “uncle” to hip hop. Fat Joe and Jadakiss honor McDaniels’ massive contributions, discuss the journey from local culture to commercial success, and explore the preservation of hip hop’s archival footage. Rich with personal stories and classic moments, Ralph recounts tales of Tupac in "Juice," the early days with Nas and Wu-Tang, the evolution of hip hop videos, and the scene’s unsung heroes.

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2. Key Discussion Points & Insights

Ralph McDaniels' Legacy & the Birth of Video Music Box

• Fat Joe introduces Ralph as the "dawn of this whole shit" and the one who brought hip hop to mass audiences via music videos. (04:15)
• Ralph discusses the longevity and importance of Video Music Box, running 42 years and still "rocking and rolling" (05:39).
  • "If you see rap videos, right, the only place to see it on earth was Video Music Box." – Fat Joe [04:35]
• The streets recognized Ralph for being the bridge between artists and their communities, giving the "real" street artists visibility often missing in industry award shows. (05:08)
• Ralph’s surprise at cross-generational fans still stopping him for thanks and selfies (06:31).

The Organic Rise & Impact of Hip Hop

• Ralph admits he never set out to change the world but knew his passion would connect music lovers. He recalls riding the train, unsure if he’d get love or trouble—only to find even the toughest Brooklyn heads were fans. (07:45–08:38)
• The influence of Video Music Box's “shout out” concept is debated—how it shifted participation from passive watching to active community. (08:38)
  • "You created shout out." – Fat Joe [08:38]
• Fat Joe and Jada credit Ralph with giving them early opportunities, legitimizing their presence in hip hop circles. Joe recounts hosting Video Music Box as a pivotal moment in his career. (10:32)
  • "You let me host Video Music Box... People started taking me serious." – Fat Joe [10:32]

New York's Unique Multicultural Hip Hop Fabric

• The trio discuss NY's distinct racial unity—Latinos and Black folks growing up “side by side” vs. segregated scenes elsewhere. (21:21)
  • "They don't get how New York Latinos and blacks just grew up together, family integrated.” – Fat Joe [21:21]
• Ralph comments on America’s need to learn from NY's integration, linking it to broader social and economic issues. (21:54)

Preserving Hip Hop’s History & The Need for Archival Work

• Fat Joe playfully accuses Ralph of “hoarding the film” and pushes him to digitize and release old tapes, calling for help from figures like Jay Z and Roc Nation. (18:09–19:04)
  • Ralph shares the archival project's status: Over 20,000 hours now digitized, but preservation is a massive, resource-intensive effort. (27:32)
    • "It's like real librarian archivist work... But we need help, absolutely." – Ralph McDaniels [27:33]
• The conversation spotlights the urgency: hip hop’s story needs proper archiving before it’s lost to commercial or generational amnesia.

Behind the Scenes – Directing and Shaping Hip Hop Visuals

• Ralph recounts how in the early hip hop days, music videos weren’t guaranteed even for hits. He and partner Lionel “Vid Kid” Martin began filming them out of necessity, starting with Roxanne Shanté. (37:05)
  • "The first video I did was for Roxanne Shanté... Now people are going to still watch the show more because they're going to see the Roxanne Roxanne video.” – Ralph McDaniels [37:34]
• McDaniels shares stories of shooting early videos for Biz Markie, Big Daddy Kane, Wu-Tang, and more, often with minimal budgets and maximum resourcefulness. (38:49)
• Career breakthroughs for on-screen participants: Fat Joe mentions how even hairstylists featured in his video got "catapulted to private planes and Birkin bags" (41:10).
• The impact of music videos as stepping stones for actors – eg., Kevin Hart’s early cameo in "Lean Back" (42:10).

Making Hip Hop’s Cult Classics: Tupac, Juice, and Beyond

• Ralph on producing/directing the movie Juice and helping cast a then-unknown Tupac. His involvement brought legitimacy and connections, pulling Queen Latifah, Treach, and others onto the project. (42:53, 43:58)

  • "The only person we'd casted was this guy named Tupac… I validated, and I said, it's legit. And that was it.” – Ralph McDaniels [43:58]

• They discuss Tupac’s fashion icon status, long before “crossing over” was a mainstream concept. (44:17)

• Fat Joe shares his personal memories witnessing a moment when Tupac, with Biggie, walked Big Daddy Kane’s Budweiser Superfest crowd into a frenzy—history confirmed by Kane himself years later. (45:41–47:09)

Unsung Heroes, Commercialization and Lyrical Legacy

• Ralph underscores his love for “blue collar” hip hop – the Locks, Mobb Deep, MCs whose hard work resonates in every song, often more than radio-friendly hits. (60:04)
• Fat Joe, Jada, and Ralph volley “unsung hero” names, recall stories of reggae/rap crossovers (Jamalski, Chill Rob G/Snap), and highlight the strange paths of licensing and recognition in hip hop’s business. (61:18–62:59)
• There’s a tribute to fallen legends (eg. Howie T), and acknowledgment of the scene’s connectedness—even into fashion, with tales of FUBU’s origins and hip hop’s infiltration of the runway (56:33–58:44).

The Unifying Power of Hip Hop and Ralph's Influence

• McDaniels views hip hop as a “religion”—open to anyone who loves and lives it, not bounded by color or status. (31:50, 32:37)
  • "If you're part of the culture and you love this culture, then you validate and you part of our family.” – Fat Joe [32:18]
• Jadakiss dubs Ralph “one of hip hop’s uncles” (Snoop, Luke, Red Alert, and Ralph), recognizing his multi-generational mentorship. (72:28–73:25)
  • "There’s three uncles in hip hop: Uncle Luke, Uncle Snoop, and Uncle Ralph. You been uncle before he was uncle." – Jadakiss [72:28]
• Ralph’s philosophy: Always pass on information, never gatekeeping. "We all want to win, as long as it's not going to get you in no trouble.” (72:51)

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3. Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "You are the dawn of this whole shit… This is the man who basically created the whole video concept of the culture.” – Fat Joe [04:35]
• "We had to digitize it because I had to have it in digital form… That's the only way we can pass it around." – Ralph McDaniels [27:33]
• "I was just trying to get the videos out… Back then, we just wanted to get the videos out." – Ralph McDaniels [37:59]
• "Hip hop is almost like a religion, right? If you're true to it and you love it, love it… you're part of the culture." – Fat Joe [31:50]
• "Shout outs could change your life. I invented shout out." – Fat Joe to Ralph [74:58]
• "If you weren't there, how can you say that? Matter of fact, when you come rapping Duke..." – Fat Joe [20:21–20:26]
• "That's why the country's in the situation that it's in. It has got to change… New York has done that. We don't have no problem with that.” – Ralph McDaniels on segregation [21:54]
• "Do you ever look at the success of hip hop and think there should have been… a Ralph McDaniels fund?" – Fat Joe [29:36]

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4. Important Timestamps

• [04:35] – Fat Joe crowns Ralph as the “dawn” of music video in hip hop.
• [10:32] – Joe describes how Ralph gave him his earliest break.
• [13:45] – Stories of street scenes in Yonkers and the Bronx with Fat Joe and Big Pun.
• [18:09, 27:32] – Archival footage “hoarding” and digitization efforts.
• [37:05, 38:49] – Ralph details his start in directing, first hip hop videos, and working with legends.
• [42:53, 43:58] – Juice film origin, Tupac’s casting, and star power.
• [47:09] – Fat Joe recounts being onstage with Biggie, Tupac, and Big Daddy Kane at MSG.
• [56:33–58:44] – The role of hip hop in shaping fashion (Carcani, FUBU).
• [60:04] – Ralph talks about “blue collar” hip hop heroes.
• [72:28] – Jadakiss on the “hip hop uncle” role.
• [73:44] – Ralph plugs the Video Music Box documentary (directed by Nas) and opens the floor for donations to the archive.

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5. Conclusion: Tone & Impact

The episode is a celebration and living archive in itself—raw, affectionate, filled with inside jokes, community memories, and honest reverence. Ralph McDaniels comes across as a humble pillar of hip hop, passing on wisdom without ego, always lifting others. Fat Joe and Jadakiss bring honest gratitude, humor, and stories, making this episode an invaluable listen for anyone who wants to understand not just hip hop history, but hip hop’s living spirit.

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6. Support the Culture

To support the preservation and archiving of hip hop’s visual history:

• Donate to: videomusicboxcollection.org
• "Even if you got $5 or $10, videomusicboxcollection.org is preserving the culture… making it available so the next Jadakiss and Joe and Ralph McDaniels can go out and see it." – Ralph McDaniels [77:01]

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Listen if you care about hip hop, and share so its future doesn’t get lost!

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Host info: The Joe & Jada Show (Fat Joe & Jadakiss), special guest Ralph McDaniels
Original air date: August 21, 2025

For more legendary hip hop stories, check out the full episode or support the Video Music Box collection!

Transcript

[Fat Joe]

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[Ralph McDaniels]

Here'S Heather with the weather.

[Podcast Narrator / Host]

Well, it's beautiful out there, sunny and 75, almost a little chilly in the shade. Now let's get a read on the inside of your car. It is hot. You've only been parked a short time and it's already 99 degrees in there. Let's not leave children in the backseat while running errands. It only takes a few minutes for their body temperatures to rise and that could be fatal.

[Fat Joe]

Cars get hot fast and can be deadly. Never leave a child in a car. A message from NHTSA and the Ad Council.

[Podcast Advertiser / Narrator]

Tune in to all the Smoke podcast.

[Ralph McDaniels]

Where Matt and Stack sit down with.

[Podcast Advertiser / Narrator]

Former first lady Michelle Obama.

[Podcast Narrator / Host]

Folks find it hard to hate up close.

[Fat Joe]

And when you get to know people.

[Podcast Narrator / Host]

And you're sitting in their kitchen tables and they're talking like we're talking, you know, you hear our story, how we.

[Fat Joe]

Grew up, how Barack grew up and.

[Podcast Narrator / Host]

You get a chance for people to unpack and get beyond Race all the.

[Ralph McDaniels]

Smoke, featuring Michelle Obama.

[Podcast Advertiser / Narrator]

To hear this podcast and more, open.

[Ralph McDaniels]

Your free iHeartRadio app.

[Podcast Advertiser / Narrator]

Search all the Smoke and listen now.

[Jadakiss]

Ain't hard to tell. Rayquan is incarcerated. Scarfies. Public Enemy featuring Ice Cube. Big Daddy Can't Burn Hollywood.

[Ralph McDaniels]

Burn. Yes. What the.

[Fat Joe]

Yeah, yeah. What up, y'? All? It's the Dawn Cartagena.

[Jadakiss]

Your boy, Jadakiss. You know what? It is? The Joe and Jada show. Every one of our shows is legendary and iconic and all of that. So we don't even. We neither here nor there. But once again, today, ladies and gentlemen, animals of all kind, make some noise for our big brother, uncle slash, mentor, slash, everything to the culture, Ralph McDaniels.

[Ralph McDaniels]

Salute. Salute. Salute. Joe and Jada. The street's been talking. They said, I need to be on this show. I'm here.

[Jadakiss]

We give you flowers every time. Almost every show or every other show, we make sure we present you with some flowers.

[Ralph McDaniels]

Uncle Ralph, I hear. I hear. That's what I said. I said, okay. I mean, those are my peoples.

[Fat Joe]

Why not?

[Ralph McDaniels]

I need to be there, you know.

[Fat Joe]

Ralph, I'm the don't.

[Ralph McDaniels]

Yes, of course.

[Fat Joe]

Yo, well, hold up.

[Ralph McDaniels]

No cap today.

[Fat Joe]

You my friend. You my friend. Listen, you're Rob. You ain't let me do it, though. You ain't let me.

[Ralph McDaniels]

All right, all right, alright. All right, all right, all right.

[Fat Joe]

I'm the Don.

[Ralph McDaniels]

Yes, sir.

[Fat Joe]

So wherever I go, I run shit. I don't care who I deal with. It is what it is. I'm a boss. I'm a Don. I was coming and I said to myself, there's only one possibly one man on earth I could call my big homie.

[Ralph McDaniels]

Yes, sir.

[Fat Joe]

And that would be Daniel.

[Ralph McDaniels]

Thank you.

[Fat Joe]

You are the dawn of this whole shit. And if, even though your documentary went super platinum, if they not in tune, what we do here is we do it for the love of the culture. This is the man who basically created the whole video concept of the culture. If you see rap videos, right, the only place to see it on earth was Video Music Box.

[Ralph McDaniels]

They should have had me on the BET Awards and they would have canceled it.

[Fat Joe]

If you ever try to work something out with them, I'm sure my name.

[Ralph McDaniels]

Has come up many times, but I would love to do. To work with, work with them, because, you know, you can have the stars, but you got to have the street there, too. Got to balance it out. You can have big, big names and nobody comes and they. But we need to have the locks on that show. We need to have. We need to have the real, real street streets, and we gotta balance it out, man. And hip hop sometimes be a little bit over the top. And so you gotta. You gotta balance it out. And I think we did a good job of that. 42 years of video Music Box still rocking and rolling.

[Jadakiss]

The longest running show in the world is.

[Fat Joe]

Yo. My.

[Ralph McDaniels]

My.

[Fat Joe]

My mom just passed away a couple of months ago. My mom's watch. Video Music Box. She would tell me everything.

[Ralph McDaniels]

Yes.

[Fat Joe]

She was like, ralph is still going, Joe, he had this one up there. He had that one up there. It's like your aunt, her scene at City island, she know everything about hip hop. She's a big fan of video music.

[Ralph McDaniels]

I was at City Island Friday. I go once, once a summer just for the vibe. Cause it's a vibe. When you go to City at the end, not at the little fancy spot.

[Jadakiss]

You go to the end, to the end. That's the first. That's one of the first places ever put me at. You really get cities like Johnny's.

[Ralph McDaniels]

Tony's, right?

[Fat Joe]

That's the real.

[Ralph McDaniels]

That's the real shit.

[Fat Joe]

Shout out to Lobster House. I go there too.

[Ralph McDaniels]

I sit down in there and people come from all over, from. From 50 to 60 to 20. Yo, thank you, Ralph. Thank you. You still doing it. And I'm like, oh, this is what. I just go for the vibe. You know, you see the young people coming out and they. They still know who. I'm like, oh, I didn't even know y' all knew who I was. I'm watching now. I watched Saturday Night. I'm like, oh, all right. I gotta play some. Some young stuff.

[Jadakiss]

Did you think it was. It was gonna have that effect or do you think it. Did you think you was gonna change the world? Cause you changed the world.

[Ralph McDaniels]

Yeah. No, I didn't know it was gonna be like that. Just like hip hop. I didn't know it was gonna be like what it is today. Look here we got all this going on. But I knew it was going to be important for the people who loved music. I loved music. If you love music like I love music, you're going to like this because I'm putting my heart into it. And I think that you're going to dig what I like. And that was the beginning of it. And then one day I tell it in my documentary. I'm on the train. And like the thug, you know, on the train, back in the 80s, you could get.

[Fat Joe]

They still throwing people in front of. They threw somebody in front of the train last night, right? Still very violent.

[Ralph McDaniels]

Yeah. You gotta be. Keep your eyes. Be aware.

[Fat Joe]

We on the trip, but this is. All right, well, you can get Rob Stack. He's telling you the same shit.

[Ralph McDaniels]

So I'm sitting there and these dudes is like, boom. I'm in Brooklyn, deep in Flatbush. I lived in Flatbush, Brooklyn. First train, I'm like this. They looking at me like, mean mugging. I'm like this, like, oh, okay. So either I get off at the next stop and punk it out, or I just see what happens. Let's just see what happens. So they're talking, but every once in a while, the energy keeps coming my way. So I think they waiting for the moment to get me. So nothing happens. I get like 10, 12 stops. I get ready to get off to go to video. I was going to the office and they said, yo, you the dude that be doing a video show. And I said, yeah, we like that shit. Why y' all niggas ain't say this shit, like 12 stops ago? I'm like this. But that's New York, you know, you never know because they're going to look at you a certain way, you know, and the streets is going to be, you know, you can either go left or right. You don't know. You have no idea.

[Fat Joe]

No. But you controlled the streets. Yeah. And you said what was hot? No, no. You always. Thank God you always kept it calm, but you always set the tone. If you went to a spot, the shit was sold out, everybody want to shout out, Right? You, you know, you created Shout Out.

[Ralph McDaniels]

That was. That was a life back in the days that was like, you know, you was involved in the show, Right. And I played it.

[Jadakiss]

That was.

[Fat Joe]

Trump might be out of Shout out, everybody.

[Ralph McDaniels]

Yeah. Nobody was saying them through the.

[Fat Joe]

The joint skis off the white. You know, Donald Trump Jr. Posted the joints. You know, what's going on? WNBA, they throwing green dildos on. Did that Trump Jr. Dude, that. He had a video of Trump throwing a joint ski off the white. Yo, this shit is crazy, man.

[Jadakiss]

Trump Jr. Threw a joint ski off the white.

[Fat Joe]

No, he showed Trump throwing the fucking. Some. Some joint ski and like, the shit. Nah, it's out of control. I'm sorry about that. But he definitely. Donald Trump definitely said, yo, let me get a shout out.

[Ralph McDaniels]

Oh, yeah, no, absolutely. He might have been on one of.

[Jadakiss]

His shows for a shout out with Joinski.

[Fat Joe]

That was the most hilarious shit. Jada, man, thank God you my partner and you witty and you funny. Nah, that was. Yo, but You. You envision shit like this for me? You gave me an opportunity when I was a kid, and you let me host Video Music Box.

[Ralph McDaniels]

So Kiss. Let me tell you the story about this guy right here, right? He comes to my office, my office on 31st floor. It's a city building.

[Fat Joe]

The elevator never worked. And I just. Fat Fat Joe.

[Ralph McDaniels]

He was real Fat Joe.

[Fat Joe]

That's how much I wanted it list all the time. I was walking up, there was a.

[Ralph McDaniels]

Puerto Rican lady who was the security guard. So I figured it out. They started talking Spanish, and he's going, getting in.

[Fat Joe]

I was on a mummy. But you put me to host and changed my life. People started taking me serious. It was like, all right, he's really gonna rap. He's really gonna do something. And how'd you need to do that?

[Ralph McDaniels]

When he got up, I told I. I never heard Joe get up there.

[Fat Joe]

Yo, I remember. If you could ever remember the scene in Carlito's Way when the fat dude was in Carlito, I would. Used to. By the time I got up there, my shit was like, hey, Ralph.

[Ralph McDaniels]

Hey. He'd be like, where you going today? I'm like, I don't know. He said, I want to go wherever you're going. And that's what we did. And we took him to wherever. You know, I'm hosting something. We doing whatever. Video music box somewhere. We took a member in New Jersey. They booed you.

[Fat Joe]

Zan is a bull.

[Ralph McDaniels]

Didn't have a Rex. You remember, right? Oh, they. If you wasn't from Jersey, they hated you. I don't care who came there. And Joe got on, and before he could get two words out, that happened.

[Fat Joe]

To me in LA too.

[Ralph McDaniels]

Two weeks later, Flo Jo comes out. Everybody's happier. And I told him that. I said, wait till your record drops. It's going to be different.

[Fat Joe]

Once that Flo Jo hit that. That Rick to scale.

[Ralph McDaniels]

Yeah.

[Fat Joe]

You know, the fix was it. You know, Ralph ran this. He ran all of it. You know that Flo Jo was on every day.

[Ralph McDaniels]

Yeah.

[Fat Joe]

You know, I'm a worker of video music. Imagine your worker puts out a heat rock. He had that ringing the all this is Flo Joe by Fat Joe on Video Music. And.

[Ralph McDaniels]

And I hear him tell the cap stories. He. He exaggerates a little bit. A little bit. A little bit, a little bit.

[Fat Joe]

Just a little exaggerate.

[Ralph McDaniels]

But I was there for some of those things when it happened. So I know some of it is true. I know a majority of it is true.

[Fat Joe]

Most of it is true. If I tell you, 100 guys, it might have been 25, I'mma keep it a buck. But that's about the only thing I can see with Cat. Cause all my shit is backed up. That receipts I got. There is a lot of guys who took smacks to the face out there that y' all call the biggest legends in the world. That they wearing it well. And they're looking at this show and they're like, that boy is not lying. I'm telling you the truth. There's a guy. Somebody had to get punished. If I'm telling you these stories. I robbed the gym. I punished this one. This. Somebody's father was punished out there and knows it.

[Jadakiss]

Knows it, knows it.

[Fat Joe]

You know, I had to go to Yonkers one time.

[Ralph McDaniels]

You.

[Jadakiss]

I heard you. You heard.

[Fat Joe]

I threw the whole block on the floor. The whole. The whole block from the floor. The whole block. I didn't hear the floor.

[Jadakiss]

You know, they gonna cuss me.

[Fat Joe]

No, no, I'm not going. It's the truth, though. I lied a whole block on the floor. Cause when I turned around, Raul and them boys had some things out. And the whole block was on the floor. While we was in sick, I took a guy and punishing him, right, though. Don't know. True story. But the guy's smart. He's trying to. He's trying to get away, right?

[Ralph McDaniels]

So he's trying to climb the wall, right, right, right.

[Fat Joe]

And get up. A car pulls up, the door opens, notice. Let me tell you about this, right? Because I gotta listen.

[Ralph McDaniels]

I got a lot of friends in Yonkers.

[Fat Joe]

Listen, I love yonkers. I'm not 30 some years.

[Jadakiss]

I know he's who he's talking about. I noticed. So I don't know all of it to this.

[Fat Joe]

I'm gonna tell you. I'm gonna tell you. If they ain't paint the picture for you, I'm gonna tell you. So we go out there, I get busy immediately. I'm like, who? They like him. It's on. There's nothing to talk about.

[Ralph McDaniels]

Let me see.

[Fat Joe]

Hold on, hold on. Guy.

[Jadakiss]

It's half his size, though.

[Fat Joe]

7Ft tall. I didn't know what he looked like. You gotta let the people know what I'm talking about. It's a whole block. Look like a big drug block in Hart.

[Jadakiss]

Elliot, you know the block.

[Fat Joe]

All right. This ain't a cat, okay? But the paint. The picture I'm trying to paint to you is I'm on this guy. A guy trying to get away, right? He fast, boom. When I Turn around, the whole block is on the floor. Raul and my man, Recipes. Well, both of them passed away. They got them things out, them extra busy out in the middle. Everybody on the street going, yo, this up, man. This fucked up. Then the car come and the door open, and the car so low when the guy got out. Because I'm trying to. I'm trying to get him, right? The guy's trying to climb over the gate. I don't even notice her, right? I turned around, the shadow, this Big Pun with a fucking bat in his hand. And he's a bat looking like a toothpick. That's how fucking Big Pun was. And the shit, he twirling the fucking bat and he going like this. And the whole block said, oh, shit, he wasn't rapping yet. Like, he wasn't rapping.

[Jadakiss]

Oh, they just saw a big ass.

[Fat Joe]

What if this was like Muggsy butting your lip like this was some movie shit? He jump out the car, he £500 with a bat. They was already on the floor when they seen Pun. The whole fucking block said, oh, shit. And the kid is trying to get away from the. On the gate. And Pun hits him. He goes. Pun hits him on the other side. But anyway, that's not that, guys, by.

[Ralph McDaniels]

The way, we'll find out soon.

[Jadakiss]

We're gonna get a lot of calls.

[Fat Joe]

They know the truth. They know the truth. Like that. This just one of 10,000. You threw a lot of parties, man. That could have got really, really violent.

[Ralph McDaniels]

I was right in the middle of it as soon as I seen you, and I could tell the energy was getting ready to happen. Bong. I turned that light on. We're gonna do a shout out right now. We're gonna do an interview. Joe's like, what?

[Fat Joe]

Revert the energy.

[Ralph McDaniels]

Let's kill it.

[Fat Joe]

You know what's crazy is this industry basically commercialized in front of your eyes?

[Ralph McDaniels]

Yes, sir.

[Fat Joe]

So, like, when you got footage in your documentary of Mary, right? 17, bro. Where was that show in Yonkers?

[Ralph McDaniels]

I was in Brooklyn.

[Jadakiss]

Yonkers. Because we was never on there, you know, as much as we went home and watched it.

[Fat Joe]

I saw your video. I saw you. No, I saw your video. See me.

[Jadakiss]

I never gave a shout out on video music.

[Fat Joe]

No, no, no. I seen your video.

[Jadakiss]

Yeah, but I wanted to see myself. Kiss, I'm gonna pull it out.

[Ralph McDaniels]

I'm going into the archives. Kiss, I'm going to prove you wrong. Kiss, you wrong.

[Jadakiss]

It better not be in the ancient.

[Fat Joe]

Times where you got to be in this.

[Ralph McDaniels]

Everything is Ancient from back then.

[Jadakiss]

It can't. Yeah. So it got to be this. Don't pull out.

[Ralph McDaniels]

Three months ago, I bet you was, like, at a basketball game or something. You going to. You going to be going.

[Fat Joe]

I have no beef ever in my Life with Ralph McDaniels. I love him. I love his family. One beef.

[Ralph McDaniels]

My wife. My wife says just before you start, she loves you before I came to see you today. And my daughter Kim. So they love.

[Fat Joe]

I love them.

[Jadakiss]

And, Kim, I got your tickets for the show that got postponed. Uncle Kiss got you with even better VIP seats for the cash money talk that got postponed.

[Fat Joe]

I got you.

[Ralph McDaniels]

She had already done her nails. She was ready to go.

[Fat Joe]

But let me. But let me ask you, right?

[Ralph McDaniels]

What's so beef?

[Fat Joe]

The beef is, I feel like I don't know if it's a financial thing.

[Ralph McDaniels]

Yes.

[Fat Joe]

But I don't know if you hoarder the film like, you're like the original Johnny Nunez. You know how we never see the pictures? He got footage of Biggie and Nas rapping this and that, that, that, that. What are you gonna do with it?

[Ralph McDaniels]

We should do something with Roc Nation being that we, you know, we, we, we moving like that. Let's do it. Let's do it the big way.

[Jadakiss]

Do something with us.

[Fat Joe]

I'll get it done. I'll walk up right after this.

[Ralph McDaniels]

Let's do that.

[Fat Joe]

I'll walk right up. You and kiss, oh, 1 million percent. I want. You see kiss and got you in the mix. You know what I'm saying?

[Ralph McDaniels]

But you got to do that.

[Fat Joe]

You got to do. You got to do that. Yo, even Ralph be taking. Cause of me. I watch Ralph on interviews. They be asking, I'll be like, oh, man, why they had to go there with Ralph? Yo, Tell me about Fat Joe. You shit real or not?

[Ralph McDaniels]

Oh, yeah.

[Fat Joe]

He be like, you know it's real. You know, this, this Kiss. I would hate to be him with Fat Joe. He's my business. But what kind of shit you hearing on the streets while Fat Joe, they.

[Jadakiss]

Go, they love you, man. They love you.

[Ralph McDaniels]

Joe. Look, you know, you.

[Jadakiss]

Matter of fact, shout out to my man Babyface Ray from the D. He hit me like a week ago. Yo, Fat Joe's the best human being in the world.

[Fat Joe]

Oh, shit. Baby Face was good, baby.

[Ralph McDaniels]

Real deal, the real deal. For those who want to say, oh, this about Joe, or this about whoever, if you wasn't there.

[Fat Joe]

How can you say that? Yeah, how can you say that?

[Jadakiss]

That's his point, my partner's point. That's his. He stands on that. He got no right to say none of that. You was. I was dead.

[Fat Joe]

You wasn't there. And my thing is, if you were.

[Jadakiss]

There, then, you know.

[Fat Joe]

So. Recipes. Ray Ray, Dijon.

[Ralph McDaniels]

Thank you. Thank you.

[Fat Joe]

We went out to the funeral.

[Ralph McDaniels]

Yes.

[Fat Joe]

Right. Everybody there, I knew.

[Ralph McDaniels]

Right, right.

[Fat Joe]

And everybody playing the point of hip hop, whether they danced or it was beasts, or it was this or this. So if you play the game in hip hop coming up. I know you. I knew DNY when they introduced me to you. Anybody who played any type of. It could be X Clan, it could be this.

[Ralph McDaniels]

Yeah.

[Fat Joe]

Fat Joe was everywhere. I knew them all.

[Jadakiss]

So when you come rapping Duke.

[Fat Joe]

No, no. He was before my time. But if the man is. So if you talking about hip hop, the birthplace, the this, the debt, and you live in Seattle. My. My man, you not valid in this shit. You was not there.

[Jadakiss]

He just gonna throw a shot at Seattle.

[Fat Joe]

No, I don't mean. We love Seattle. What I'm trying to tell you is that the people, the people who lead these claims, these false claims, they from me here. KISS is what I'm trying to tell you.

[Ralph McDaniels]

It's like me saying something about Atlanta, and I don't really be there. I don't know. And I'm sure there's some things about Atlanta that are unique to Atlanta, and that's it. New York has. New York got its own thing, you know, it's. And. And every city got their own thing, you know? And you.

[Fat Joe]

When y' all go there, y' all know that.

[Jadakiss]

No, but we gonna. They always hold a grudge against us, though, for some. Me, I don't know what that.

[Fat Joe]

What is.

[Jadakiss]

I don't know what we did. I don't know what happened before our times.

[Fat Joe]

What happened here that didn't happen in everywhere else was Latinos and blacks grew up side by side. Facts next door, 5E. I go to Ms. Laverne's apartment to go get the butter, the salt, the this. So when you got racism and segregation around this country where they just don't get how New York Latinos and blacks just grew up together, family integrated, all that. So they looking for somewhere else from a different lens.

[Jadakiss]

And they're like, that's why they don't understand.

[Fat Joe]

That's.

[Ralph McDaniels]

That's why this country is in the state that it's in right now because of the putting people over here. You're putting immigrants over here, you're putting white folks over here, you put in Asian people over here. What are you talking about? We all live in the same spot. What are you talking about? That's why the country's in. The situation that it's in has got to change because we're going to continue to see bad things happen to an economy in New York, in la, in Arizona, wherever it's going to be. We have to come together because. And New York has done that. We don't have no problem with that. But it's got to change.

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[Jadakiss]

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[Ralph McDaniels]

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[Ralph McDaniels]

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[Fat Joe]

He never thought he was going to get caught.

[Ralph McDaniels]

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[Jadakiss]

Let's talk.

[Fat Joe]

Where's Ola? I never got an answer. Never got a straight answer. All you said, let's put it on a roll.

[Ralph McDaniels]

We're gonna put the right. No.

[Jadakiss]

Lori heard this.

[Fat Joe]

That's Lori.

[Ralph McDaniels]

Let's make it happen. I'm telling you, it's the bible of hip hop.

[Jadakiss]

Don't cut me out, Lori.

[Fat Joe]

It can't get no better than, you know, this guy don't even talk. If he said, definitely the Bible, you know what it is? It got to go down.

[Ralph McDaniels]

20,000 hours of video.

[Jadakiss]

I was in 20,000 hours.

[Fat Joe]

Yeah, but they would say, I'm capped. I was in events where he filmed it clean. And everybody be like, yo, you cap, you cap. And I'm like, no biggie grabbed the mic and Nas grabbed the mic, and I'm in the crowd, a fan. I'm like, but we never get to see these things.

[Jadakiss]

He got it.

[Ralph McDaniels]

So I wanted to digitize Everything from analog to digital. We digitized everything. Now it's part of the video music box collection. I look at it as the Rockefeller Collection, because this is the history of hip hop, you know. It's not everything, of course, because it was just from my lens, but it's 1983. From 1983 to present. You know, I was in Staten island last night with Rakim doing a party still. Still taping stuff. And so we had to digitize it because I had to have it in digital phone because that's the only way we can pass it around. And so now it's archiving it. It's a lot of work. It's like a real librarian archivist work. But we're doing it, and it's. And it's happening. But do we need help? Absolutely. Absolutely. We need help.

[Jadakiss]

So we're running it up, Lori, right after this. Lori, we need in. We need help.

[Fat Joe]

I'm walking ain't Ralph. I don't do that for nothing. I lost friends. I lost. I lost friends telling me, yo, I gotta sit down with Jay Z. I said, fuck, you gonna sit down with Jay Z? I ain't bringing you to Jay Z for shit. I'm telling you, I'm going up there.

[Ralph McDaniels]

I'll tell you like this. When. When. When I did my documentary, I said, I have to have Jay Z in the. In the. In the documentary. And the people that I was working with at Showtime were like, well, you know Jay Z, you know, if he's not involved in it, he probably won't do it. I said, I know him. I actually know.

[Fat Joe]

So they were like, all right.

[Ralph McDaniels]

Well, you know. So then the day I booked it, they were like, you're interviewing Jay? They called me while I was sitting down with Jay here. And so I was like, yeah, well, why didn't you tell us you guys didn't want to have anything to do? You said he wouldn't do it. And I said, if I didn't tell Jay that I was doing this, he'd have been pissed off at me, like, why you didn't ask me to be. I'd like to been part of it. It's been disrespectful. He's part of this story, you know, from day one. So this is. These are the interviews. These are the relationships that I have that, you know, people come and say, like, you guys always love. I called Jada Locks, yo, I got a show. What can you do? All right, Ralph, we got you, Joe. Always. Anytime.

[Fat Joe]

Just a fat Joe. Weird, you know, crazy Question to his. Do you ever look at the success of hip hop? And you know, you paved the way for so many people. And you see everybody. Millionaires, billionaires. Did you ever think there should have been not a GoFundMe, but a Ralph McDaniel fund?

[Ralph McDaniels]

So last night, I was thinking about when I was gonna see you guys. Maybe they're gonna give me, like, a million dollars when I get.

[Fat Joe]

They like that. You know, like, hey, we getting you a deal?

[Ralph McDaniels]

If I went everywhere I went and.

[Fat Joe]

I got a million dollars, oh, no, you'd be out of control. You be a billionaire.

[Jadakiss]

We gotta put this thing. We gotta help him do this thing.

[Fat Joe]

Lori.

[Ralph McDaniels]

You do.

[Fat Joe]

We're doing it.

[Jadakiss]

Going upstairs.

[Fat Joe]

The moments you can't replace.

[Ralph McDaniels]

But it's. It's history. And I didn't get into it for the money at first. I got into it because I just loved music. I realized that you could make money out of this thing later, but the history is super important to me because currently right now, this administration is cutting off a lot of the stuff that is our story. And we can't. Like, it's for everybody. It's not just for us. We didn't make. You don't make music just for black people.

[Jadakiss]

Not at all.

[Ralph McDaniels]

No, you don't make music just for Latinos. And we make it for whoever loves it. Whoever loves hip hop. That was the thing. When I first went to the Fresh Fest in 1985, I walked in the Nassau Coliseum, and it was everybody. It was blacks, Asians, Latinos, everybody singing along to Houdini, singing along to run DMC, Grandmaster Flash, Furious 5, Fat Boys. And I was like, everybody loves this. Everybody loves this. This is a big thing. You didn't have to tell me nothing after that.

[Fat Joe]

You want to know what's crazy? I go. When I don't have no time or whatever. I got to cut today. I love these guys on YouTube that go to Peru, go to China, go to Cuba, go to just regular guys. And they go into the dangerous neighborhoods. They go into everything. And today I was looking at Thailand, and he showed all that shit. Then he went to the club, and it was Thailand People Singing Day. Not like every word of. They not like us in fucking Thailand.

[Ralph McDaniels]

Yes. Yes, sir.

[Fat Joe]

And they knew every fucking word. And that's how I was taught from the. From the ancestors of hip hop, meaning the Africa Bambadas, the Grandmaster Flashes, the Melee. These guys taught me that hip hop is almost like a religion, right? It's almost like a religion. And if you're true to It. And you love it, love it, love it. Whether you dance or you just dance.

[Jadakiss]

You can be any clan or anything.

[Fat Joe]

You're part of the culture.

[Ralph McDaniels]

Yeah. You're stuck. You ain't going nowhere.

[Fat Joe]

Yeah, but that's how I was taught.

[Ralph McDaniels]

Yeah.

[Fat Joe]

And so now with segregation and all type of shit, they try. They try to break shit up into that. The way I was taught was, if you're part of the culture and you love this culture, then you validate and you part of our family.

[Ralph McDaniels]

Yeah. It has no color on. Has no, no, no status on. You. The richest people in the world love it. Come on.

[Fat Joe]

Yo, it's crazy, right? I'll tell you something, and I'm gonna let you talk, Jada, because at this point, I think I'm talking too much. But I had a friend of mine who was a rapper, and he was struggling, and I. I used to try to get him shows, and they wouldn't book him. I'm talking about a legend, right? I would be like, yo, could you book such and such with me? You know, they booked me.

[Jadakiss]

Who is.

[Fat Joe]

No, no, no, we can't do that. But he was at a moment where he was struggling, and somebody invited me to meet somebody, have business or whatever with this billionaire dude in Malibu. So the house, it take like five minutes to even get up there. It's on the top of the shit, over the. This shit was like a hundred million dollar house, right? I get in there, the man won't turn my guy's songs off.

[Ralph McDaniels]

Wow.

[Fat Joe]

Yo, I know this is your guy, my favorite in the world. This is the greatest guy. This is the best guy. No one's better than him. Oh, my God. When I was in college, and he just kept playing this dude's. And meanwhile, I'm sitting there and I'm like, yo, I can't get this guy five grand, right? And it's a billionaire ringing his every album. He wouldn't turn the asset. Man, I wish I could tell him, this guy's up. Maybe you throw him a check or some. But that's how him. Nah, I can't. You know, I ain't gonna tell nobody business like that.

[Jadakiss]

You plat them. Why you didn't tell the guy about him? He needed it.

[Fat Joe]

He needed that. Keep that in mind. You my partner now. You might go to some fly shit with. They keep playing Fat Joe, you be like, yo, maybe you want to throw.

[Jadakiss]

You right there. I'm booking like this.

[Fat Joe]

You want one of these paintings like that? All they got to do is give me a painting I don't get gifts, right? Not even on my birthday.

[Jadakiss]

Boxes, screwdrivers.

[Fat Joe]

You know. What's the wackest shit, yo? A guy got everything. What could I give you? You got.

[Jadakiss]

That's the skus. That's the excuse they hit.

[Ralph McDaniels]

Yeah, but that's just. That's. That's not you in person. That's old men.

[Fat Joe]

That's all men. They do that too, right?

[Ralph McDaniels]

It's like Father's Day.

[Fat Joe]

It was Father's Day. He was like, yo, all I got is a pair of boxers, right?

[Jadakiss]

I got two turkey bacon.

[Fat Joe]

You got two turkey bacons?

[Jadakiss]

Yeah, two.

[Fat Joe]

You know, I had to talk with my family about chilling. Like, stop spending. I had to go back with my daughter first thing this morning. I said, yo, the boxes is coming back up. Like, I keep seeing the boxes every day. Like, I thought we had this conversation. Like, the shit just bing bong, three new boxes, FedEx. This is like, yo, this can't be the same conversation we had last month because shit's starting to ring off, you know? I mean, that's where it's at. Let me. So you shot videos. You went from putting the videos on, and then you started shooting all the videos.

[Jadakiss]

Hold on, ladies and gentlemen. How did he. How does he do this? How did this go from it? We went from cutting my next question off.

[Fat Joe]

You got it. Ask him the question, Jada.

[Jadakiss]

No, it's amazing how you do it.

[Fat Joe]

I'm in these stages the way. I'm Joey McDaniels. I'm in the McDaniels family. Okay? I'm in the family.

[Jadakiss]

Amazing.

[Ralph McDaniels]

I see the meme already.

[Fat Joe]

I know everything.

[Jadakiss]

I didn't have to put them on.

[Fat Joe]

I didn't.

[Jadakiss]

They're gonna switch for this interview. You're gonna see you and him in one thing on the Instagram label.

[Fat Joe]

I didn't prepare for this interview.

[Jadakiss]

I just got music and video direction, career.

[Ralph McDaniels]

Yes, sir.

[Jadakiss]

In some incredible historic video. Rayquan is Incarcerated. Scarfies. Public Enemy featuring Ice Cube, Big Daddy Cane. Burn, Hollywood Burn.

[Ralph McDaniels]

Yes.

[Fat Joe]

What the hell?

[Jadakiss]

Just tell us it. Let's start with. Let's start with Wu Tang.

[Ralph McDaniels]

So for folks, this is the learning moment.

[Fat Joe]

Williams was your intern.

[Ralph McDaniels]

That was my. My Internet. So.

[Fat Joe]

Boom.

[Ralph McDaniels]

So in the beginning of hip hop, you didn't necessarily get a video. You didn't guarantee videos in the beginning, right? There were songs that were hit records. No video, because nobody believed that it was going to go any further. Video was like an added thing at all, right? So we used to sit around and be like, how Come. There's no video for this. We were like, we need to do a video for it. We got cameras and stuff. Let's just do a video. So the first video I did was for Roxanne Shantae.

[Fat Joe]

Wow.

[Ralph McDaniels]

Roxanne. Roxanne.

[Fat Joe]

Roxanne.

[Jadakiss]

Roxanne. Roxanne.

[Ralph McDaniels]

Right?

[Jadakiss]

Holy shit.

[Ralph McDaniels]

And I said, this is an opportunity for us to have an advantage. Now people are going to still watch the show more because they're going to see the Roxanne Roxanne video doesn't exist. It's a record. Mr. Magic Molly Ma. They playing it every week.

[Jadakiss]

Playing the words or.

[Ralph McDaniels]

So got a video now. Boom. So a video comes out. So little moments like that. From that, I meet Bismarckie. We do Bismarcky videos. From that I meet Big Daddy Kane. We do Big Daddy Kane videos. So now it's starting to grow. Then we do Coogee rap. Then we do all these different artists and culture. We did almost all the Coach chilling videos. X Clan. Then we did. You know, it just grew. But the reason why we did it is because these videos didn't exist. And I would do it with my equipment. So it helped the artist, who was a little bit lower in price at that time. Remember, videos used to be 100, $200,000 to do. Now you could have an iPhone and do it for $10. So back then, we just wanted to get the videos out. And our company is called Classic Concept. My partner Lionel Vid, Kid on Vid. We did all those video. We did over 400 videos. We did all of the Boys II Men, first album that.

[Fat Joe]

You fucked me up, man. Cause that was my next question.

[Ralph McDaniels]

I get Bel Biv devoe. Poison.

[Fat Joe]

Oh, my God, he did Poison. But you know the one I like, the one y' all did the new edition. Poison was the best, but thought it was me. Yeah, I thought it was me. I remember they had a party in the mansion and.

[Ralph McDaniels]

Oh.

[Fat Joe]

Oh, y' all shot.

[Ralph McDaniels]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Fat Joe]

Oh, that was the shit, bro. Oh, shit. All of this.

[Ralph McDaniels]

So I'm meeting all of these guys, meeting actors. Neil Long was in one of the bbd. I never saw me along. Nothing before that. She's in the. In that. In that BBD video. She's a friend of my Divs. And we just were the people that were making the videos. And I was also doing. I did the same Isaac Wu Tang commercial I was in. I was in Staten island last night, and I was like, young guys with me, take us to Park Hill. I was like, bro, Saturday night.

[Fat Joe]

You might not go there you might not want.

[Ralph McDaniels]

I said, we'll ride through there real quick. So I got to the block, it was dark and it was Y N's on one on each side. I said, no, we're not doing that. But I took them over to where the Wu Tang district is. They got like a little area called the Wu Tang district.

[Fat Joe]

Damn.

[Jadakiss]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Ralph McDaniels]

It's like a designated, you know, place for tourists. And I took them over there and right across the street is where we shot the video, the commercial for.

[Fat Joe]

You know, it's crazy. I just pulled up today. The reason why I was a little late is I went to Fat Man Scoops block.

[Ralph McDaniels]

Yes.

[Fat Joe]

Shout out to Fat Man School. Somebody I really, really loved.

[Ralph McDaniels]

Yes.

[Fat Joe]

They gave him a city block.

[Ralph McDaniels]

And Mr. C. Mr. C was yesterday. Yes.

[Fat Joe]

You know, so they, you know, they both. But I pulled up to that fat man, I didn't even feel right. I was in Vegas, I had a show. I was really upset. I couldn't.

[Ralph McDaniels]

He loves you. I know. I used to listen to him. Overnights on Hot Night. Remember we was overnights on Hot night?

[Fat Joe]

Overnights on Hot 96. Yo, I used to love Fat Man. I do love Fat Man School, you know, and whatever times I could share with him. So Nia Long became a superstar. You know, it was a lot of girls that was, like, featured in my video. I had one girl featured in my video. No, I'm telling you a true story. One girl featured in my video, One of my last videos. Right. I don't want to tell her business like this, but you got to start.

[Jadakiss]

Saying some names, though.

[Fat Joe]

No, no, she's beautiful, right? Beyond beautiful. But she was a hairstylist. She does the Fat Joe video when I tell you, not a week later. Stop.

[Ralph McDaniels]

Oh, really?

[Fat Joe]

She ain't stopped. Being on private planes with Birkins, with Egypt with Africa, with Dubai. Like, that video changed this girl's life. Like I've never seen beautiful. My mother gave her that, right. She went from hairstylist to shot the Fat Joe video.

[Ralph McDaniels]

Yeah.

[Fat Joe]

And she won't stop the jury. The bags, the flowers, the roses, the privates that this. I don't even think she flies commercial.

[Ralph McDaniels]

Videos were the place before a movie, before God, before you got a movie. You could be in the video.

[Fat Joe]

Sure.

[Ralph McDaniels]

He's plenty of videos that the locks did. Somebody could be in the video, an actor or somebody. And next thing you know, boom, they're in the movie.

[Fat Joe]

Kevin Hart leaned back.

[Ralph McDaniels]

Yeah. Really?

[Fat Joe]

I told you this. He shot a two dollar movie somewhere in Philly before that. Okay, prior to that, I met him, thought he was funny. I put him in Lean Back. He's the guy at the front door. Little John and them. Y' all can't get in this, this, that. After that. I'm not taking credit for his shit, but that was the first Lean back.

[Jadakiss]

After that was soul playing.

[Fat Joe]

No, after that, he got popping. It was. It's his first big look. There's no way around it. There's nothing he could say about it. There's nothing anybody could say about it.

[Ralph McDaniels]

Music videos are like a movie.

[Jadakiss]

Since we're talking about that, you co produced the cult classic Juice Associate. How did you do that?

[Ralph McDaniels]

So Juice was the first movie I worked on. So I worked with. I never worked with Ernest Dickinson. He directed Bless you. And. But the producer, Moretz, the guy's last name, he also went on to do, like, amazing movies. He came to me and he said, look, nobody's responding. This is early 90s. Nobody's responded to me because hip hop movies was kind of whack in the early 90s. Calling people nobody's called might have called you. We good. So he goes, we got. We got this movie. Can you come help it? Can you rewrite it? I go to the office. It's called Juice. I'm helping him rewrite it. The only person we've casted is this guy named Tupac. Tupac's not out yet. He's in part of Digital Underground, but he's not. Like, people don't know him. Kind of know his name, but I don't know him. Like, oh, my God. Go in there. I said, all right, I'll help you rewrite it. Called Queen Latifah on the phone. Look, they're trying to get in contact with you. This is legit. She said, you working with him? I said, yeah. He said, all right, we'll see what's going on. Boom, she shows up. Next thing you know, Trek shows up. Next thing you know, all these different people start showing up just because of you.

[Fat Joe]

Validated.

[Ralph McDaniels]

I validated. And I said, it's legit. And that was it. And it became, you know, a cult classic. We didn't know when we're shooting it. You don't know. But it became a cult classic. All of the guys in it. I got interviews behind the scenes. We haven't put that out yet of Juice. Wow.

[Fat Joe]

Torero Brothers is there. You know what?

[Ralph McDaniels]

Guerrero brothers was there.

[Jadakiss]

They was with Rodimus.

[Ralph McDaniels]

Yeah.

[Fat Joe]

And it was with Rodimus. You know, we kind of, like, hate social Media. Even though, you know. Cause we came up at a time where there was no social media. But through social media, I learned a lot of things. I never knew Tupac walked all the shit. We bigging up asap, Rocky and all these guys for right now. Tupac was in the Versace show, walking the Runway.

[Ralph McDaniels]

Oh, right.

[Fat Joe]

And. And Versace.

[Ralph McDaniels]

That's not the one where he had a shirt off. It's not that.

[Fat Joe]

Nah. He walked up in the show. Yeah. You know, of course, Quincy Jones daughter, Kadata, which was his fiance, she must have plugged them in. But he was there earlier than anybody. And Tupac, when he was. Tupac was walking the Runway. He was out there in France, and they said people couldn't get enough of it.

[Ralph McDaniels]

Yeah, he was. He was a serious guy. And. And when we shot the Juice, you know, you have the. The Winnebago, the thing girls are lined up outside doing. It's crazy. I'm like this. You see women that, you know, you like. Really? That's what you're doing? Mom. Word.

[Fat Joe]

That's crazy. You know, I went to a concert, and Big Daddy Kane was performing. How about this one? You want a cap? One? You want a Yo, yo, yo. Um, but this. This story been verified by Big Daddy Kane. So I'm just in the crowd as a fan. It was one of them Budweiser superfests.

[Ralph McDaniels]

Oh, wow.

[Fat Joe]

And the crowd start going crazy. And through the crowd, it's Tupac Shakur from Juice. The Juice is out already. Tupac walk in with the test.

[Ralph McDaniels]

You was there. Wow.

[Fat Joe]

Oh, I'm there then.

[Ralph McDaniels]

I know what you're talking about.

[Jadakiss]

Oh, I'm there.

[Fat Joe]

So I go. He walking through, and he's walking with Biggie Smalls. How about that one? The fucking Garden is losing they fucking mind. I'm just in the crowd watching Big Daddy Kane perform. He stops. Yo, Crack.

[Ralph McDaniels]

Come on.

[Fat Joe]

All I got out is Flo Jo. Flo Jo, number one at the time, by the way, too. This partying bullshit. Biggie, right? We go on stage. This was Eric Mac 11, seven Mac 11s. I'm standing on stage next to them.

[Ralph McDaniels]

That's crazy.

[Fat Joe]

Okay? I'm on stage in Madison Square Garden with them. I remember Tupac pulling me up on the stage. Biggie, I got seven Mac 11's about eight. Tupac even said, yo, Fat Joe passing the mic. Big Daddy came. Was like, not enough time, guys. Not enough time. He shut Joe Crack down. Not enough times. This, this, that, this, this. It's cool. Cause I. I knew for a fact I wasn't as good as Tupac or Big, so I. I'm cool. They gave me a thing, but Big Daddy Kane shut it down.

[Ralph McDaniels]

Right, right, right, right.

[Fat Joe]

And that's the infamous. I got seven. Me and all my n in the pen. Here we go, Mr. C. Freestyle ain't nothing. So now, years later, I tell that story right, and they start that. That might have started Cap Heaven for Fat Joe. Oh, full of shit. What this guy? Not him again. But Big Daddy K went up to drink champs, and Nori asked him, he said, yeah, it's true. Joe was there. You know, I was running out of time. I was headlining, so I had to get to the hits. I said, big Daddy Kane ain't no Fat Joe was gonna be that lean Back Fat Joe.

[Ralph McDaniels]

No, he probably knew. He knew. He knew who he was. Nah, he didn't know I was gonna.

[Fat Joe]

Be the lean back Fat Joe or the Joey. Crack, crack, crack, crack, crack.

[Ralph McDaniels]

So Biggie was a fan of. Of Big Daddy Kane. I have footage of Kane, of Kane performing deep in Brooklyn in Fulton street in the hood. And Biggie's like a kid watching, like, studying everything that he did.

[Fat Joe]

You know, he was everybody's. He was a Big Pun's favorite, too.

[Ralph McDaniels]

Yes, Big.

[Fat Joe]

Big Pun loved Coogee rap and Big Daddy Kane. They was his favorite. Like, I broke down to tears when he was at the funeral, and Coogee rap walked up, I was just like. Cause I knew how much he honored G Rap and Big Daddy Kane. And then, you know, it goes on to Eminem. That whole cadence, that whole flow. You know what I'm saying?

[Ralph McDaniels]

Great ones.

[Fat Joe]

The greatest ones.

[Ralph McDaniels]

Yes.

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[Ralph McDaniels]

Foot washed up, a shoe with some bones in it. They had no idea who it was. Most everything was burned up pretty good from the fire that not a whole lot was salvageable.

[Podcast Narrator / Host]

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 lives. 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.

[Fat Joe]

He never thought he was going to get caught.

[Ralph McDaniels]

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

[Podcast Narrator / Host]

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.

[Podcast Advertiser / Narrator]

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[Jadakiss]

He said, you are a number, a New York state number, and we own you.

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[Ralph McDaniels]

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.

[Podcast Advertiser / Narrator]

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

[Podcast Narrator / Host]

I'm Dr. Joy Hardin Bradford and in session 421 of Therapy for Black Girls, I sit down with Dr. Afia and Billy Shaka to explore how our hair connects to our identity, mental health and the ways we heal. Because I think hair is a complex language system, right, in terms of it can tell how old you are, your marital status, where you're from, your spiritual belief. But I think with social media there's like a hyper fixation and observation of our hair, right? That this is sometimes the first thing.

[Fat Joe]

Someone sees when we make a Post.

[Ralph McDaniels]

Or a reel is how our hair is styled.

[Podcast Narrator / Host]

We talk about the important role hairstylists play in our community, the pressure to always look put together, and how breaking up with perfection can actually free us. Plus, if you're someone who gets anxious about flying, don't miss session 418 with Dr. Angela Neal Barnett, where we dive into managing flight anxiety. Listen to therapy for black Girls on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

[Fat Joe]

And what you think's the best era in hip hop.

[Ralph McDaniels]

I'm 90s, early 90s, so from 90 to 95 is when I really was loving it.

[Fat Joe]

So Nas, Jay Z, all that I felt.

[Ralph McDaniels]

Yeah.

[Fat Joe]

So you're not Go. You not LL Salt and Pepper Latte? No, I'm LL Salt and Pepper Latte.

[Ralph McDaniels]

I know you love LL I have the footage at the Fever when you had them on stage. Joe is a promoter.

[Fat Joe]

You can really help me out with this Cap Centennial they got going on with me. Because you got the proof, Ralph. That's why we got to make the documentary. You saw him come up in the Fever?

[Ralph McDaniels]

Yeah. And that was it. He stood there and Diddy was his manager.

[Fat Joe]

You got that story. You said the same thing. You invited Biggie to your birthday and he showed up, and it was the last thing you thought was going to happen, and he came and hung out all night. Correct?

[Ralph McDaniels]

Correct. Oh, no.

[Fat Joe]

Same thing happened to me with LL Cool J. Was like, he hates when you say this, but he was like Justin Bieber, you know. No, it's the truth. We never saw LL Cool J in the hood. He got his stories. We never saw him. So when I met him for the first time and told him he was my idol, I shot my shot. And I said, you know, by the way, you know, I'm having my birthday party Saturday at the Fever. And he was like, that place still open? I said, yeah, it's open. He was like, Saturday, Distance. We. Yo, listen, bro. I woke up that Saturday and I was like. The last thing I thought was going to happen was LL show up. But I was praying for him to show up.

[Ralph McDaniels]

There was some real MCs on that stage. L waited. He waited.

[Fat Joe]

KRS1.

[Ralph McDaniels]

He waited. He was like this. Go ahead.

[Fat Joe]

KRS1 was tearing the paint off that motherfucker. KRS1, we had rage. We had Lord Tariq Beat the Guns. We had the Gangstar. We had Finesse. We had. The whole rap world was at the Fever. And then all of a sudden, I hear girls screaming like. Like, two, three in the Morning. You see the red baseball cap and a man walked up on that stage. I was like, yo, this is impossible to man Cade in my shit. Nah. That was a night. You got it on film, huh?

[Ralph McDaniels]

I got it on film. Got it on film.

[Fat Joe]

IPhone. Let it go.

[Ralph McDaniels]

No, no, no. Your guidance. We'll make it happen.

[Fat Joe]

Oh, no. We.

[Jadakiss]

Hip Hop hall of Fame award recipient, 1991. One of the earliest formal recognitions of hip hop pioneers.

[Ralph McDaniels]

Could have been. I don't. I don't even remember 19. That. Oh, you know what?

[Fat Joe]

Yes.

[Ralph McDaniels]

Okay. So that was me, Molly, Ma, and Red Alert. We got the award. That's the same night that Nas performs live at the barbecue with Main Source. So if you've ever seen that footage. That footage. That was that night. That was that night.

[Fat Joe]

It's like that y', all. That y'.

[Ralph McDaniels]

All.

[Fat Joe]

That y'.

[Ralph McDaniels]

All. That large main source comes out. We got the rapper NAS fatal McAnelli.

[Fat Joe]

No, that. That energy right there, you know that energy. That's legendary energy.

[Ralph McDaniels]

Yeah.

[Fat Joe]

You know that set it off when. When I was 12, I went to hell for snuffing Jesus. That was. That was like the quarter in your ass. Cause you played yourself. There's certain boss.

[Ralph McDaniels]

That was it.

[Fat Joe]

That will live forever, right?

[Ralph McDaniels]

Yes.

[Fat Joe]

I'm thinking right now, while I'm looking at you, you a treasure chest of. Of moments. But tell us about that moment where Carl Kanai had his shit going on. They had Deshaun John did this. I knew. I used to go to all these events, other fashion shows.

[Ralph McDaniels]

So people used to say, what are y' all doing doing fashion shows? I'm like, yo, this is before this hip hop. You know, we was just going to the store and buying some sneakers and some jeans, and that was hip hop. Okay, we good. Custom Air Force ones, some Adidas, Whatever it is. Bong, you got an outfit. Now they starting to bring stylists into the game. Somebody to dress you, bringing you clothes. Carcani shows up. He lays out his clothes for you. What you want? Take them all, Car. Kanai was the best. He gave everybody stuff.

[Fat Joe]

He was feeding every.

[Ralph McDaniels]

Yeah. Still to this day. And then came fubu. FUBU comes to me, Damon John, and my man Keith. That there's four guys in fubu. He comes to my. My office with this shirt. It says FUB you on it. I'm like, what does that mean for us? By us? What? It's the best thing I ever heard in my.

[Fat Joe]

To this. They reincarnated that every president. Yeah, everybody.

[Ralph McDaniels]

I said, yo, man, how many Y'.

[Fat Joe]

All got mad clothes.

[Ralph McDaniels]

He's like, this is it. We got. We got 10 shirts.

[Fat Joe]

This is it right here.

[Ralph McDaniels]

I said, y' all better get some more, because when y' all be on video Music box, it's gonna be off the hook. And so Damon goes, all right. Next day, they were like, we gotta get a distribution company. We need more people. And so that's how that company moved forward.

[Fat Joe]

You know, I was the first person to sell FUBO in the Bronx.

[Ralph McDaniels]

Really?

[Fat Joe]

In my. In my clothing store.

[Ralph McDaniels]

What was the name of the store?

[Fat Joe]

Eventually.

[Ralph McDaniels]

What was the name of the store?

[Fat Joe]

Halftime.

[Ralph McDaniels]

Halftime. Right, right.

[Fat Joe]

Damon John pulled up in the hoopty. It was missing two fucking tires. It was in the fucking big. It had two donuts and shit. He had the donuts. He tells this story.

[Ralph McDaniels]

Yes, sir.

[Fat Joe]

And he pulls up, yo, we got a clothing line. I was the first to sell FUBU in the Bronx. And Clue tapes, brother. DJ Clue tapes, mixtapes.

[Ralph McDaniels]

Oh, yeah.

[Fat Joe]

Cause that was all in the Bronx, both of them. I mean, it's the first ever. And I made him take me to a baseball game. I had a softball game. And they would be like, yo, you just jumped in the hoopty. You Fat Joe already? And you just. I was like, man, fuck that. He said, you were saying, what's up to everybody out the hoopty with the donuts. Yo, yo, yo, yo. But shout out to fubu. I've been around a long time.

[Ralph McDaniels]

Yes. So that was the thing, you know? So now you got. I'm sorry.

[Fat Joe]

I remember I saw one fashion show with. With Tyson Bedford. Shout out Tyson Beckford. He got the rewind. The time, you know, Tyson Bedford was.

[Ralph McDaniels]

Was the first one. 3.

[Fat Joe]

Why you could be 42. Why look 42 when you could be 31?

[Ralph McDaniels]

He was me, Mr. Rashad, Mr. Ralph Lauren. He was the only black person in the Ralph Lauren ads.

[Fat Joe]

You want to know what's crazy is I went to one of them shows. I don't know which it was. I think of Jacob Javis, and the man came out in the, like, a potato sack and was, like, hopping on the run. This shit was an exciting time, bro. This. No, I'm telling you, it was an exciting time when they had the clothing brands and all that. Well, you had April Walker.

[Ralph McDaniels]

Yeah.

[Fat Joe]

Naughty by Nature.

[Ralph McDaniels]

Everybody had a line. Everybody had a line. And it was. And it was working.

[Jadakiss]

Walk away. Woo wear.

[Ralph McDaniels]

Yeah, all of that. When the Woo did it, they had a store. Naughty by Nature had a store all Naughty Out. Woo was on. Wooed out. It's crazy, man.

[Fat Joe]

That's a crazy. Who do you think? Who would you say? Our couple. I'm not going to put you on the spot like I do. Jada of Unsung Heroes. Like. Like rappers that should have got more recognition than they did.

[Ralph McDaniels]

Wow. I think he gets it now. I think that Nori played a good role in for the ground for the underground with cnn. You know, I mean, clearly I'm a Queens guy, but I love, you know, Mobb Deep, you know, just. Just the body of work is just, you know, the consistency. Like, to me, it's like the locks. Mobb Deep, you know, like blue collar hip hop to me. And I'm not trying to say that that's less than. I'm just saying that's like work. And every time you hear it, you can feel the work and you can hear the work. You can hear the work in KISS voice, you know, you can hear the work in styles. You can hear the work in styles. You know, it just goes on forever. And I think I'm always been stuck in that lane of that type of music. Like, I can tell when it's commercial. Like, I feel like, you know, okay, they going for the radio with this one. But I'm good with the third or fourth cut on the album. I'm good with that right there.

[Fat Joe]

You know, I thought you was gonna say somebody. I. I saw you. You used to play. What was that man's name? What was the guy's name? The Red. You played a lot of. You put me on a reggae music. What was my man? Chabowski. Oh, Jamalski.

[Ralph McDaniels]

Yeah. Jamosky.

[Fat Joe]

I thought you gonna say lock him. Shabazz.

[Ralph McDaniels]

Oh, la Kim. Shabazz. Yeah, yeah.

[Fat Joe]

I chest like.

[Ralph McDaniels]

Yeah, there's a lot of.

[Fat Joe]

I was talking all these guys you said is rich. All the guys you said is rich. By the way, they underground, but rich. I was waiting for you to say some unsung super.

[Ralph McDaniels]

So many. I just. I just can't. There's so many of them that over the years we've worked with, I had.

[Fat Joe]

So maybe you know the story. We had an episode on when we was talking about Jersey.

[Ralph McDaniels]

Yes.

[Fat Joe]

Right. So chill. Rob G and Snap. Remember you played them both? Yeah, they had the same. I was mad at the same time. How does it happen?

[Ralph McDaniels]

I don't know. And I asked you, right?

[Fat Joe]

That happened.

[Ralph McDaniels]

I think that, you know, like back in the days, you would get lice. They would license your music over to UK or to Germany or to Japan or wherever. So it's a new version here. But they license it and put a whole nother artist on the record. And Snap comes out with this same fucking record.

[Fat Joe]

I never understood. So they both was hits. Yeah.

[Ralph McDaniels]

Three years ago, I meet the guy Turbo. That was the guy who was the rapper on the Snap record. And I met him in. In the. In. In yo. It was a B boy contest or something. He was in, yo. Yeah. And I went to the thing and they were like, Turbos from Snap is here. And I was like, I like that beef. He's looking at me like. Like, you know, don't have no beef with me. I don't know. That was a long time ago. I don't care. So we started talking and he was like, yeah, you know, he's. He's like a big dude too.

[Fat Joe]

Oh, no. He was big then too? Yeah, he was a big dude.

[Ralph McDaniels]

Then I played Chill Rob G. Because that was the first one I had. I couldn't do that, you know, like. And that. That happens in the music business.

[Fat Joe]

But you played the Snap too.

[Ralph McDaniels]

Not as much. Not as much. I might have.

[Fat Joe]

You wasn't feeling it like that.

[Ralph McDaniels]

I just felt like the principal, you.

[Fat Joe]

Know, like Howie T just passed away. What kind of fucking legend.

[Ralph McDaniels]

First video. One of the first. People ask me what was the first hip hop video he played on video music. And I always say, CD3 get tough. And Howie T was in that group. I didn't know that. No.

[Fat Joe]

The world is rough to get tough, Howie. The world that is rough to get tough.

[Ralph McDaniels]

I didn't know he was aim as a coming up.

[Fat Joe]

I ain't got a problem with it. I look beautiful. I'm rewinding up.

[Jadakiss]

That leg is getting stronger.

[Fat Joe]

If I want to get drunk, I drink the sorissa. My leg is getting stronger. You know what I decided I'm going into the gym. I'm going to start working on my legs. You know what I'm saying? Get them cocked, Diesel. Get in strong, get it stronger. You hear this guy? My God. But yeah, that was a time where all that money talks. Money talks, right?

[Ralph McDaniels]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Fat Joe]

And you would play shit.

[Ralph McDaniels]

I play a little freestyle, you know, because that was New York, you know. I'm going to play, you know, Sweet Sensation and the COVID Girls and that kind of vibe. Because I was going to those spots. 1018, the Roxies, they was playing that, you know, you had to play, you know, certain records. Like that record, Soho Hot, that record, right? That's the same dude who's producing for KRS1 produced that record.

[Fat Joe]

Like that dude was like, there wasn't no, no. There was no label underground. You know what? I was with Spike in Brooklyn.

[Ralph McDaniels]

Yeah, Spike Lee. Yes. Right.

[Fat Joe]

Let me not say that lightly. Um, but I'm with Spike Lee and he throws a party in Brooklyn. I go in there, and homeboy was in there. The guy who made Set It Off.

[Ralph McDaniels]

Oh, straight.

[Fat Joe]

He performed Set it off on the left. Y' all set it off. I was like, what the fuck?

[Ralph McDaniels]

Hold on, hold on, hold on, Joe. So this. He's part of my Video Music Box Experience. And I bought you guys something, so I think it's a good time to bring it. Bring it out. The Video Music Box Experience is. There's a party that we do with all different types of artists. So Strafe is one of the main.

[Jadakiss]

People on the left.

[Fat Joe]

Star Vonderay. You got the suit in there. You're looking over like a fat rat. Live in my hood over like a fat rat for you.

[Jadakiss]

I o.

[Fat Joe]

Now I got the question.

[Ralph McDaniels]

It's called the Video Music Box Experience. It's a party from all different generations. So we'll have. Last time we had group home.

[Fat Joe]

Oh, I love them. They was at his birthday party, right? Oh, they was at Styles. It was at Styles.

[Ralph McDaniels]

Nobody's seen group home in years.

[Fat Joe]

I love those guys. Malachi, they came through.

[Ralph McDaniels]

Little Dap is Diddy bopping it.

[Fat Joe]

No, it ain't.

[Jadakiss]

That's real hip hop.

[Fat Joe]

That was the real hip hop right there. Malachi and D. Yeah, I love those guys. A big suge. And anything that Primo has something to do with, shout out to Panji, everybody. Everything Primo asked to do with it was like.

[Ralph McDaniels]

Primo said that was one of his. His favorite albums because he did most of the album, and he felt like that was one of his best works. That Group Home album. It is them beats on his timeless, though times.

[Fat Joe]

Disgusting.

[Ralph McDaniels]

Yeah, yeah. Anytime you hear about video music boxing, it's a vibe, it's fun. It's for all ages. People sing along, they rap along, they dancing.

[Fat Joe]

And I've been seeing them sold out. All the parties you've been throwing is sold out.

[Ralph McDaniels]

Crazy. Big Up Late development, my partner, you.

[Fat Joe]

Know, I work a lot, man. Every time I try to sneak up in there to give you a little Fat Joe, I'm watching from, like, Vegas or LA or some shit like that.

[Ralph McDaniels]

I'm like, damn, you always been there, though.

[Fat Joe]

That gotta be fun. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'mma always be there.

[Ralph McDaniels]

Yes, sir. Yes, sir.

[Fat Joe]

You know what I'm saying? You know, I pulled up Brooklyn. You know what I'm saying, right?

[Ralph McDaniels]

Coney Island.

[Fat Joe]

Remember ab? Yeah. Coney island was sick, crazy. I liked that last week in Brooklyn, to the funeral. And I just. I felt like I had to be there. Like, I felt like, you know, everybody.

[Ralph McDaniels]

So my brother, Ray Dijon. Ray was. You know, you deal with somebody for almost 35 years, me and him doing stuff. Ray's the kind of person you code. You gotta get Jadakiss today. He's gotta be on the show. And I'm like. And then he was standing in front of me. So you waiting for me to call him right now? Like, do I have to do that right now? You know, like, he'd be pressuring me because he just. Jada loves you, Ralph. And I'm like, yeah, but Jada has a life, though, bro. I just can't ask Jada come do something. I can't ask Joe. But he's that kind of. He's that guy, you know.

[Fat Joe]

Without that energy, there never would have been a DJ Khaled.

[Ralph McDaniels]

Wow.

[Fat Joe]

There's stories of Khaled climbing over gates for certain artists to get on the songs. He made me get Eminem on the Leanback remix. He was like, you could get the white boy. You could get him. I said, bro, that man is now thinking about me, bro. He was like, get him. Get the white boy. Get the white. He put the battery in my back so much that I threw out the kite. Yo, you think you want to get on this song, right? And he said, yes. I ain't never going to forget Eminem. He broke his promise. Because when he got on that song, he said, you got one favor, Joe. I said, all right. Getting on the remix, on the Lean Back remix. Then he got back on my album a couple of years later. So he did two for me.

[Ralph McDaniels]

Good.

[Fat Joe]

But it's guys like that, so when you got Nas, you got Jay Z on your documentary, you knew this was my one favor I gotta ask for.

[Ralph McDaniels]

Harvard. Yeah, this is it.

[Jadakiss]

Oh, yeah. Aces, man.

[Fat Joe]

I pulled.

[Ralph McDaniels]

I went to him. I went and got him in Miami.

[Fat Joe]

I pulled up.

[Ralph McDaniels]

I was there.

[Fat Joe]

Then what? Khaled caught Covid. Caught Covid.

[Ralph McDaniels]

Nobody wanted to say what it was.

[Fat Joe]

No, no, he caught Covid.

[Ralph McDaniels]

He was the only person.

[Fat Joe]

That shit was like, the answer. Can't tell nobody.

[Ralph McDaniels]

We got Covid. He said, this guy Khaled is in the house all the time. How the hell did he get Covid?

[Fat Joe]

Yo, bro.

[Jadakiss]

In the house.

[Fat Joe]

The man Khaled one time. And this is all love. But when it's the COVID right? I'm One of the only guys. They test everybody. When you to walk in his house, you got to get tested. The barber was wearing, like, one of them space suits.

[Ralph McDaniels]

Wow.

[Fat Joe]

Like. Like this one day, he almost fainted. The barber. Nelson. The barber did like this. We had to grab him. I was like, yo, this was like. It was in Miami, a thousand degrees, and he was cutting his outside because he couldn't go in the house. He had a space suit, right? I'm like, yo, Cali, man, getting. Get a mess of water. So when he caught bro, Khaled was one of the most paranoid guys with COVID in the world. And so I remember when he caught Covid, I'm looking at. And you know what else Khaled did? Khaled. You know, we all got brothers that we love, but some of them is pretty weird, right? Not only did Khaled catch COVID but he made everybody take a COVID test. Not because they could have co. He wanted to know where he got Covid from. He wanted to know if I gave him Covid, if this one gave him Covid. The barber, he made all of us.

[Jadakiss]

Get it out of here.

[Fat Joe]

No, no, but he made us go to the real doctor, Urgent care, and get Covid tests because he wanted to know who gave it to him.

[Jadakiss]

Did you ever find out?

[Fat Joe]

No, but I was talking to him out the window. He was like. He had doctors 24 hours. Like, you know, you got. He's.

[Ralph McDaniels]

They always like, look, Khaled's pretty obsessed. You gotta get with Ralph Nick.

[Fat Joe]

I tell him, you gotta get with him. And he was like, yo, I got Covid. I went to his house, man. They had him. Like. Like, when Trump caught Covid, you know how they took him to the special doctor. That man had doctors in there. Like, it was like, he was a. I. Like, you could tell he was gonna be all right.

[Jadakiss]

It's only Covid, huh?

[Fat Joe]

No, no, no, no. At that time, it was like, you caught Covid.

[Ralph McDaniels]

You didn't know people were dying.

[Fat Joe]

It was a very. He caught it, like, at the serious time where everybody was dying. This, this, that. It wasn't Covid. Later.

[Ralph McDaniels]

Yeah.

[Fat Joe]

You know what I'm saying?

[Jadakiss]

It's only serious if something's already wrong with you.

[Fat Joe]

I knew a guy that worked for Nike, man. Such a beautiful guy. And he was one of the first guys that caught Covid was a beautiful guy. And when he went to the hospital, I think he went in there by himself. You know, your family can't go in there, and they had everybody dead in, like, the hallways and all that. And I think he died scared to death. He had Covid.

[Ralph McDaniels]

Facts.

[Fat Joe]

No, I was a very serious. Yeah, I'm not being funny. I'm just saying, you know, if they take you in the hospital, if it's funny, I'm. I'm gonna erase. I don't want to be. I don't want this to be funny. I'm just saying, if they take you in there, you sick, and everybody's dead in the hallways, and we seen. He had Covid go somewhere else.

[Ralph McDaniels]

No, no. You couldn't leave once you went in there.

[Jadakiss]

I can't.

[Fat Joe]

I going somewhere. It's mad.

[Jadakiss]

That body.

[Ralph McDaniels]

That's you.

[Fat Joe]

But people like.

[Ralph McDaniels]

Like especially the older people dropped me.

[Fat Joe]

Off the block and all.

[Ralph McDaniels]

But the older people thought, you know, they believe in whatever the doctor says.

[Jadakiss]

Going somewhere? I don't care if you can walk and talk and slide. Drag your foot and you see mad dead body, Drag your ass back out the door.

[Ralph McDaniels]

Get in the listen to Kiss.

[Jadakiss]

It's three uncles in hip hop. Uncle Luke, his Uncle Snoop, and his Uncle Ralph. You the you they uncle.

[Ralph McDaniels]

Uncle Red. So you can't forget about Red. Red.

[Jadakiss]

Uncle Red. Matter of fact, yeah, we can't. Le popo. We can't leave you out. You everybody's uncle. You been uncle before he was uncle.

[Ralph McDaniels]

Yeah.

[Jadakiss]

How you feel about that?

[Ralph McDaniels]

I mean, you. Look, Red is the one who made me Uncle Ralph. He called me Uncle Ralph. So he said. He said, look, go see Ralph because he's going to tell you and give you the plug to the next move that you got to make. So that's what your uncle's supposed to do, Hook you up. All right, I got you. Go over here. Go see Joe, go see Jada, go see whoever, and they're going to tell you what to do next. I don't know. Go see them. And they're all right when they come. Jada goes, yeah, I got you. Boom. And that was what the uncle thing was. Just to pass it on, the information. No, no, no blocking. No, you know, no. No gate holding. You know, just. Come on, man. We all want to win, you know, as long as it's not going to get you in no trouble, you know. That's awesome. Yeah.

[Fat Joe]

Listen, man, this is the legendary. I don't know how to explain it to you. If you from outside of New York City and you don't quite understand, I say, what's the name of the documentary.

[Ralph McDaniels]

Ralph, you're watching Video Music Box. It's directed by Nas and it's On Showtime. You can watch it still now.

[Fat Joe]

You can't get a guy like Nas to go direct shit.

[Ralph McDaniels]

Nas wanted to do it.

[Fat Joe]

I know he did. Jay wanted to do it, I wanted it. Everybody wanted to do it.

[Jadakiss]

Yeah. When you call, you get this. You probably wanted to. People that can call anybody that get a yes when you get a first ring answer and you get a yes when you ask for whatever you ask for. How does that feel?

[Ralph McDaniels]

Yes. Thank you.

[Jadakiss]

Calling some of the most prestigious people in the culture.

[Ralph McDaniels]

Look, you know I was on stage with. With DJ technician last night, right? And I said. And I said. And I said, I said you a.

[Fat Joe]

Line from the, from the top.

[Ralph McDaniels]

And he just kicked in like that. I was like, oh, good.

[Fat Joe]

No rock. You know these guys, man, people don't realize you give them a shout out in the run. Like, like, like I tell Rich player all the time, whether good or bad, when you get that perfect shout out, like, you know, to me, you know what Jay Z said? Yo, og, I made you hot on New York. This took over Frank Sinatra.

[Ralph McDaniels]

Exactly.

[Fat Joe]

Like on that big song, your og, I made you hot. Yeah, I'm up in there anyway, like, I mean, like, that's a fucking shout out. Like, you know, shout outs could change your life.

[Ralph McDaniels]

Hey, look, I'm on a. Jay mentioned my name on the album. I'm like this, like, what? I know he didn't just say my name. So look, I appreciate it and I get it. Shout outs are important.

[Fat Joe]

No, they make you feel good. You invented shout Out. What else you invented?

[Ralph McDaniels]

Hey, look, I think that for me, it's just appealing to the street. The blue collar guy who goes to work every day loves this coach. He loves hip hop. He loves to get fly on the weekends. He pops some bottles and does whatever he does. He works, he does his thing. I love them, I love them. The sisters that love it too. So that's. That's what.

[Fat Joe]

Listen, the hip hop game would not be what it is if it wasn't for Ralph McDaniels, living legend, icon. They gotta, they, they gotta think of other words. You know, the other day, with no disrespect, we did a little trivia and the guy asked us, guys call up and ask a question. They say, yo, Rap City or mtv.

[Jadakiss]

No. Yeah, what was it? Rap City or Yo, mtv. The basement. We said neither.

[Fat Joe]

Video music.

[Ralph McDaniels]

Yeah, that's what the streets. The streets told me that.

[Jadakiss]

Yeah.

[Ralph McDaniels]

The Streets. They told you or the Streets tapped in immediately. Yo, Joe and Jada just bigged you up. I said, word, Legend said yes. You know, look, we were. It had to start somewhere. Like Diddy said in my documentary, there was Moses first. So I'm Moses now.

[Fat Joe]

You are, brother. We love you, man. Thank you. Shout out to the wife, your daughter, your whole entire family. I love you guys. Like I said, I am Joey McDaniels for life. You stuck with me. Yo, Ralph. You stuck with me. I'm Joey McDaniels.

[Ralph McDaniels]

Big up to your family, bro. This is this.

[Fat Joe]

This is the Joe and Jada. That ain't this and this ain't that.

[Jadakiss]

Oh, you got a not for profit that we got to shout out.

[Ralph McDaniels]

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, the video music box collection.org supported videocollection.org all the people that love hip hop, the rich people that love hip hop. Even if you got $5 or $10, videomusicboxcollection.org is preserving the culture, archiving it, and making it available so that the next Jadakiss and Joe and Ralph McDaniels can go out and see it.

[Jadakiss]

So now, with that being said, that ain't this, this ain't that. It's kissing crack. Make some noise for our Uncle Ralph.

[Podcast Advertiser / Narrator]

Tune in to all the Smoke podcast.

[Ralph McDaniels]

Where Matt and Stack sit down with.

[Podcast Advertiser / Narrator]

Former first lady Michelle Obama.

[Podcast Narrator / Host]

Folks find it hard to hate up close.

[Fat Joe]

And when you get to know people.

[Podcast Narrator / Host]

And you're sitting in their kitchen tables and they're talking like we're talking, you know, you hear our story, how we.

[Fat Joe]

Grew up, how Barack grew up, and.

[Podcast Narrator / Host]

You get a chance for people to unpack and get beyond Race all the.

[Ralph McDaniels]

Smoke featuring Michelle Obama.

[Podcast Advertiser / Narrator]

To hear this podcast and more, open.

[Ralph McDaniels]

Your free iHeartRadio app.

[Podcast Advertiser / Narrator]

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[Ralph McDaniels]

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[Podcast Narrator / Host]

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[Podcast Narrator / Host]

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[Fat Joe]

I was diagnosed with cancer on Friday and cancer free the next Friday. No chemo, no radiation, none of that.

[Jadakiss]

On a recent episode of Culture Raises.

[Ralph McDaniels]

Us podcast, I sat down with Warren Campbell, Grammy winning producer, pastor and music.

[Jadakiss]

Executive to talk about the beats, the business and the legacy behind some of the biggest names in gospel, R and B and hip hop.

[Fat Joe]

Professionally, I started at Death Row Records.

[Jadakiss]

From Mary Mary to Jennifer Hudson, we.

[Ralph McDaniels]

Get into the soul of the music and the purpose that drives it. Listen to Culture Raises us on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.