Club Shay Shay - Bow Wow Part 1

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Damn, I just knew you didn't know about this.

You went public and you

posted it.

You good.

You posted it.

I would have known that you not posted it.

That's why I was insinuating. I'm trying to keep it low key.

I'm also the proprietor of Club Shay Shay. Stopping by for conversation and a drink today is one of the originators of Aura, one of the most influential people in hip hop, of hip-hop's biggest names and most recognizable voices.
He's earned a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records as the youngest solo rapper to have a number one hit on the U.S. R&B and rap chart.
He sold out Madison Square Garden three times before the age of 16. He has a career spanning over 25 years.
He sold 10 million albums, and he's only 38 years of age. A certified child prodigy, a former teenage sensation.
An era-defining artist. A gifted performer and well-rounded entertainer.
He has multi-platinum selling songs and chart-topping tours. A Hollywood blockbuster actor and a global star.
A TV personality and a host. A one-of-a-kind creative and an outsized personality.
A business-savage entrepreneur, a significant figure in the early 2000s. He's an influence on the culture, and he's undeniable.
Here he is, ladies and gentlemen. Bow-wow.
How was that intro, bro? I love that intro. I was caught up in, that was dope.
You're like, yeah, I did all that? I did all that? That was fire. So when, you you know what i don't know if you drink anything bro

but i got you gotta just you gotta just sip i was always told like if you walk somebody's house

you drink you gotta have it so to the success bros 25 years 25. oh oh it's that brown too yeah oh

god damn bro it's smooth though yeah i'm supposed a sip on yeah we gonna see up like a shot thanks for coming thanks for stopping by i really appreciate i know you're busy and you took time out of your busy schedule to give us a few moments of your time so i greatly greatly appreciate that likewise let's go back to where it all started columbus ohio what's your um best memories of growing up in columbus ohio best memories growing up in columbus ohio just being a kid you know i mean just being a kid and doing what young boys like to do right um playing football of course that went kind of fast once i got hit for the first time i remember telling my stepdad at the time like yo i'm going to I'm going to defense. I think I'm about to move to DB.
I think I want to do the hitting. I don't want to get hit no more.
So just things like that, just, you know, places that I used to hang out. You know, United East Skate Rink was like the thing growing up.
Me and my boys used to go to the Skate Rink, get dropped off all the time. And, you know, that's where all the little girls would be at.
And we'll think we doing something up there.

But just, it's just a peaceful place for me when I think about Columbus and growing up there, being raised there for the time that I was there before I came to Atlanta.

Right.

But Columbus is my heart.

It's my soul.

It's my everything.

You get back much?

Do I go back?

Yeah, do you get back much?

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Like, we just, I just left.

We was just in Cleveland, which was crazy.

Right.

And how everything is aligned because it was my birthday.

Wow. So it was kind of emotional.
Returned home. Sold out crowd.
Birthday. Brought out some legends.
I brought out Bone Thugs. You know, of course, they're from Cleveland.
Right. Had a chance to bring them out.
And Jermaine came out. Jermaine Dupri and JD came out.
Yeah. Surprised me.
Did a little speech live on stage. I got kind of teary-eyed and started, you know, crying.
So the people of Ohio, they know how much, you know, Ohio means to me. Not just Columbus in particular, but just the whole entire state period.
But when you were growing up in Columbus, Ohio, what did you want to be? A football player? An athlete? I wanted to go to Duke. So you wanted to be a hooper? I wanted to hoop.
Like, I didn't know that, like, basketball players was as tall as they are. Like, now, because I've been around them, I shot the movie and all that.
But growing up, like, I didn't have no access to players. So on TV, everybody to me, they're, like, normal height.
Right. Right.
And then I remember one day, somebody was like, you're too short to play. I'm like, what you mean? And I finally, like, I'm like, oh, damn.
Yeah. Yeah, this ain't going to work.
Everybody's six feet and everybody's six feet up like it ain't gonna work but that was my first thing was to go to duke and then i said if that wasn't gonna work out jerry mcguire is like one of my favorite movies i said if i can't play the game then i'd rather have some type of you know arm in it which would be a sports agent so once i saw jerry mcguire i was like wow this is a thing that i could do i could still be around sports but i don't necessarily have to get hit I don't have to worry about breaking a limb or nothing like that but I could still be in the game then that would be it right so what was the the dynamic of your family so you have siblings you mentioned your stepdad your mom so was your your real dad did you know who he was was he around yeah pops definitely know my pops um me and my father we had kind of like a i wouldn't even say a weird relationship my father you know indulged in the alcohol lane you know i mean um was an alcohol like i said i'm proud to say was too because he changed his life wow that's awesome over like completely a whole different person where now we're able to catch up you know go have lunch um he's able to reach out to me now. So I always wanted the best for my father.

And I think growing up without him,

you always want that father figure,

that person to be there.

I mean, I've had him,

but it's nothing like your own blood.

And I wanted that with him.

But yeah, growing up,

really, it was just me and moms.

You know, my moms,

they'd get married at one point.

That was cool.

And, you know, but even before that,

it's always been me and moms.

And now it's me and moms. So it's me and mom do so the wheels fall off right you know what let's talk about this and i and i always want to move past this you're from columbus ohio there's another famous person from columbus ohio who's an all-pro football player played with the pittsburgh steelers went to the jets i think he finished his career with kansas city yep and i don't know know really know how it started by.
Well, maybe you can add some context to this. I think

you said, like, okay, I'm the most famous person

or I'm the biggest. I said I'm the biggest.
You're the biggest

from Columbus. Biggest.
That's how I feel.

I mean, I'm supposed to feel like that.

I think anybody with some type of success, especially

coming from a small city like that. I mean, we got

a lot of legends. James Buster Douglas, God rest his soul.

He's from Columbus, myself.

It's a list of others. Even Lotto.

A lot of people don't know Lotto.

Atlanta, but Lotto from Columbus.

That's where she was born, let me say that.

But yeah, man, I mean, it's just...

Did you expect to get any

kind of backlash? Yeah, I knew it.

Oh, you knew he was going to say something?

I didn't know that Le'Veon was going to say something.

I knew somebody was going to say something just because of the energy.

Look, it all stemmed from the National Championship game.

Okay, the Buckeyes.

The Buckeyes is in Atlanta.

It's rare that I get Columbus and Atlanta together.

It is in Atlanta.

We go to the Dome.

I go to the suite.

My boys, all my boys from Columbus, they got the box.

And so I'm looking.

They're like, you got to have a drink.

I'm like, I ain't got nothing over there without a drink. They're like, we got te like bro i don't drink patrol that's patrol right happened to take a couple shots we won and i got on live and it just i just i thought i won yeah and i was trying to make it the people don't know this i was trying to get to the field my security said about you just kept trying to get to the field and i did get to the field it was celebrating i'm like yo you gotta let let me out there right they're like I mean we will but we can't like I'm like you gotta let me out there like I'm the biggest thing from the and riding off of emotions right I went on my live and I said what I said but I didn't know that he was going to come back and I will say this I reached out to him um as soon as I saw the video I'm not like most cash in I'm not like the back and forth on it try to keep it going you try to settle i'm gonna call you so i hit him on a dm like yo call me i don't do the internet right yeah the number okay thing okay we spoke like men okay passed it up um i told him where i was coming from with it he apologized like man you know i jumped out there not knowing blah blah blah i like that and i like that people spoke for me i don say much.
Right. But I got love for Le'Veon.
It's all good. Okay.
I appreciate it. Did you know he was from Columbus? Yeah, I knew.
Okay. I knew he was from Columbus.
Okay. Yeah, nice little thing.
So let me ask you this. So before you, because, okay, you're in Columbus, Ohio.
You say, I want to go to Duke, but you really come to the realization. It ain't working.
It ain't going to happen. Yeah, it ain't.
And so now you shift your focus. Now you realize they're coming to the realization.
Basketball ain't happening it ain't gonna happen yeah and so now you shift your focus now you realize they're coming to the realization basketball ain't happening now what is the focus the focus was just being a kid okay and letting it just happen okay so i remember um at the time i want to say uh i was on the football field okay and my mother walked up to the fence and she was like come here And I was like, all right, what's up? She said, we're going to Atlanta tomorrow. I'm like, for what? And she's like, I know you said you just want to live a normal life.
You want to be a kid. You don't want to do the thing.
Because after the whole death row thing fell out, I was over the music business. I was like, I'm done with it.
She said, but there's this guy by the name of Jermaine Dupri. I want you to meet.
I'm like, who? He found Criss Cross. And growing up, I was so envious of Criss Cross.
Yeah. Because when Snoop had me, I felt like that was my time, even though it wasn't.
And I was like, I don't want to meet him. I don't want to go nowhere.
I'm in full pads and gear. I'm like, I don't want to go.
Yeah. I want to be right here.
I'm about to get your pick. Mama, take it to the house.
I want to be a kid. I don't want to do that.
Man, my mama like, I don't want to hear. Nothing you got to say.
We going. And sure enough, I never looked back.
Right you're playing sports and being a kid so obviously your mom realized that you have a talent so you're doing talent shows so are you in a group is you solo rapping doing R&B so what is your spiel what are you doing believe it or not it was comedy my mom brought me that red white and yellow blue uh fisher price microphone yeah i used to always mimic people it's always mimic stuff so it went from that to my mom playing rap music okay we got a young mom so from that then it went to okay he want to be an entertainer. Okay.
There's something in him.

We just don't know what it is.

Is it the comedian stuff?

Is it the music?

But the way I would hold a cone or a remote control resembling a microphone in my movements,

I just knew how to imitate what I saw.

And then, you know, that one special night when Snoop and Drainum came to Columbus,

that was my chance and that was my night to really flex what I've been not really working on, but that I just possessed.

It was just second nature to entertain and just have fun with it.

And then I think when mom saw that and saw me up on that stage in front of all them people and then Snoop and Dre wanted to meet me, that's when they clicked for mama.

Like, okay, this boy about to be a rapper.

I don't want you to focus on nothing else. Rap, rap, rap.
When they're gonna take care of the school and all that right this is who you are right and i never look back but you had originally before you became by while you was kid gangster oh how you get how did you did you give yourself that name but somebody gave you oh somebody gave me that name because i love gangster rap right you know i. You know what I mean? My mom, like I said.
Even with that heavy cursing, your mom would let you? Man, let me hear all that. Let me hear all that.
That was me. That's me on Doggy Sound on Snoop.
All the kids cursing and all that. It just fit me and then I remember getting with Snoop and he was like, what's your name? I was like, Kid Gangsta.
He was like this. That ain't gonna work.
Then he looking like... But he little me though.
He loves snoop right and then he said little snoop i'm i'm the big dog i'm the big bow wow you you're a little bow right so snoop gave you that snoop gave me the name and it stuck stuck you you liked it though it was weird at first because i was so used to kick gangsta and i'm like like little bow wow i'm like it didn't really didn't really ring. And I remember him telling me, I want you to repeat it.
Like, I want you to get comfortable saying that name. That's who you are.
That's your name. Your name is Lil Bow Wow.
And I was like, that's dope. And basically it's like, no matter where you go in life, no matter who you sign with, no matter what you do, you're going to always have a piece of Snoop with you because you are the little me and i gave you that name so you know that name

mean everything to me so in other words you were the first little there are a lot of little there

are a lot of lils but you were the first i was one of the first uh kim was out before i was a

little kim right kim was out before okay am i one of the biggest littles absolutely

so in the talent when you did talent shows in columbus you were rapping correct you win them

you win all your shows killing them you're killing them jack the rapper um that's one like the talent when you did talent shows in Columbus you were rapping correct you win them you win all your show killing them you kill a little Jack the rapper Um, that's one like the biggest hip-hop. Yeah, that's right was here in the left.
Yep. Yep So you came with Jack the rapper did Jack the rapper did all that Okay, everything like opened up for Tupac and yo-yo back in the day.
Yeah, man I want to find that picture so bad That picture is so tough. Um, yeah opening up for people.
I mean, I was doing everything. I mean, you name it, man.
I was, I remember doing Valium City commercials. So you were traveling.
Oh, yeah. It was up.
It wasn't just no, okay, in Columbus, and then I go to Cleveland, and I go to Canton, and I go to East Ohio. You was going state to state.
You didn't really have to move much because Columbus, you know, that's the capital. And then for me, columbus isn't like a big city like in atlanta or new york if you're ringing bells in in anything sports music like you can seriously own the town like they will get behind you and rally to let you know like you're here so it's almost like i really have to go nowhere like a lot of the competitions that we were doing um in columbus i was winning them performing at east high school was man i did it like i've done it and everybody in columbus that they know like this boy it didn't happen overnight right remember about coming to here sneaking in here you know his mom and them would i mean we i i did it all i did it all how did you learn that stage present were you ever nervous because it strikes me like you're just a natural performer and nerves was never an issue with you or did you have to develop that i love that stage i love the stage it's because your mom probably had you performing in front of family and friends at a very young age so they come over hey baby hey, baby, do that.
Yeah, my mom would be like, don't hold, stop covering the damn mic. You can't cover the mic.
You muffled. All y'all rappers want to cover the mic.
You got to hold the mic right there underneath. I'm like, man, it's just, it's what I'm hosting.
Right. But when I'm rapping, I got to get in my bag.
Right. LL Cool J.
Yes. LL did it for me.
Watching him perform me um watching him perform so many similarities that i see when i look at l pertaining to myself heavy female records the the women fan base um but when you watch him perform to me that's my idol that's my go-to that's my goat that's the film that i watch we watch film and we study. I watch old L.
Cool J performances and you will see the moves that I've stole from this man. I'm happy to say this.
He knows this. OG, that's my, he knows he's my goat.
And when I watched him, I was like, yo, this dude rocks, like he rocks a crowd. That's what I want to do.
I got to, it's cool to have a hit. It's cool to sound good on the record.
It's cool. But when people come see you live in concert, I pay their money and the music matches.
But what they see live live is different. Right.
You got you got it. So for me, I took I take the stage very soon.
And I come from that cloth. I come from that era where performing is everything right.
Rocking a crowd, rocking the house. So LL is the the only person that i watch for that and you'll see it like little subtle things the leg thing i do is all air when i'm in that when i'm rapping fresh i miss i feel like i'm performing bad i'm bad every night when i do fresh i really feel like i'm doing bad so he means so much to me just performance wise and everything that he's done did you ever get nervous and forget a lyric or forget a step or something while you was on stage?

I did one time.

One time, I was in Chicago.

That's when I first came out.

Jermaine was on stage first.

He brought me out to do Bounce With Me.

I come out there, I kid you not,

I rapped the second verse on the first verse,

and it completely threw it off, everything.

I'm hearing my ad-lib saying different things,

I'm sorry. there i kid you not i rapped the second verse on the first verse and it completely threw it off everything i'm hearing my ad-lib saying different things and i'm looking i promise you i remember like it was yesterday the face that jermaine had on all right it was that it was are you serious right now like that's what it was right and i'm looking at him like he can see it in my eyes but i I'm just going to keep rapping.
Like, he see it. I'm going to just keep it going.
Right. But I knew I must have.
Did the crowd know? Oh, they most definitely knew. Okay.
But the thing is, keep going. But I've had my mishaps.
I done fell through holes on stage. Damn.
Yeah, like, we know this, right? I have these things on stage sometimes where I get launched out of it. Right.
Yes, yes. And you got to be careful because if somebody else is coming up if i have a surprise guest it'll be down right so you know this wasn't this tour this was the our first run with the millennium well my second my first run for it with the millennium and i had soldier boy in the hole and i forgot that the night before we did ms, I didn't have him because we couldn't bring our stage.

So it's down.

Soldier's in it waiting and I kid you not, and I was a little

hungover. It was my birthday the night before.

I literally went

missing. Bam.
Fell on top of Soldier. He in the hole like

what the hell is going on? I don't fell

on him and I said bro, oh my god.

And then he looks at me

and he goes, man you ain't gonna do what I think you did bro I said bro I fell through the hole all these people I said we're gonna stand up straight and we're gonna come up together and when we came up together we came up laughing and it was it was a moment but my manager was like yo so I got so I got the stage and said you got to post it before anybody else posted so but things happen. Things happen.
So as a kid, were your mom allowing you to go to concerts as a kid and see some of this gangster rap and see some of these rappers? Do you remember the first concert you went to? First concert I went to was the Chronic Tour. Wow.
Snoop, Dre, Boss, and Onyx. Right.
Yep, that was a tour. Six years old.
Yep, I was there. I was there.
And from that point on, you was hooked? Gone. So they brought, so did you know they were going to bring you out? Not at all.
So, AJ Johnson, God rest his soul, who plays Ezell on Friday. Yeah.
He was the MC, he was the host of the tour and during the intermission, he said, you know, anybody want to come over here and dig dig out with the tape? And, he picked me out the crowd like man bring a little man up oh i'm talking about in front of like 16 000 i just started rapping rapping you know a little rap somebody might have wrote for me crowd going crazy they throwing money on the stage you know me i stopped rapping i'm grabbing the money i'm like man this right here i'm like forget damn. You know what I mean? And then the crowd was going crazy.
And Daz, actually, Daz was like, he was the one who saw me. And he said, I'm about to take you to the back and let you meet Snoop Dogg and Dr.
Dre. I'm about to bring you back here.
Little homie, Cole. Right.
Brought me back there, met them. And that's when I met Dre and Snoop for the first time.
We got this epic photo right at six years old um in the middle

of dre and snoop and then that's when they was like you know what we're gonna do this every night

we're gonna bring him on the road put him in the crowd and we're gonna yell like who want to come

up we're gonna pick him every night and we're gonna let a little man get off oh so that's how

that worked yeah okay so now i'll be knowing because they'll be like oh and they'll be bringing

this person up and that person already be playing it might might already been playing it but that's that's what they stood with like yo now we're gonna bring little man with us and i never look back so when they told you okay we're gonna do this so when you go out there and they say oh dad takes you back you meet snoop you meet dre and they say they're gonna bring you out do you remember the song that you performed out there i definitely don't i definitely don't and it was towards like the end of stretch of the tour right so what i what I do remember was as soon as the tour was over They went in production for Snoop album. Okay, I was around when he made right I was in studio sessions Wow, they were making it and creating it like I'm watching You're in the booth like I'm sitting out here just watching them work on this album Right, and that's how I got on out You know I mean from being there then i did a couple records at leak they on the they on youtube they out it's bad it's bad the language that i was using is crazy yeah they had me on something yeah if cps would have found out back then it came and got you i mean it was crazy what i was on they were really molding me to be lil snoop like for real i had corrupt writing my rhymes and you know at that time it was just stuff that you know a seven six year old shouldn't really be rapping about and snoop knew that and then you know that's how that whole thing kind of played out did you feel like everything because it happened so quick you're six years old you're on stage you're at a concert you see them you go back you start doing this did you feel like everything was coming easy not that it was coming easy uh i feel like it wasn't coming fast enough okay actually you know um because once i got to la a lot of artists well i don't know about now but i know back then a lot of artists had to sit on the label we call that basically when they sign you but you're gonna wait your turn right artist development we gotta get you right and and and and all this type of stuff so i just felt like i was ready you felt you was already right it wasn't no sense in waiting man i was ready i I want it you know what I mean but obviously it wasn't my time right right right right right right right right right right right right right right

right

right

right

right and all this type of stuff. So I just felt like I was ready.
You felt you was already right. It wasn't no sense in waiting.
Man, I was ready. I wanted, you know what I mean? But obviously it wasn't my time.
Crisscross was on fire. ABC was out.
I probably would have drowned. Like they had the market sold up.
You know what I mean? So it was perfect timing for Snoop to be like, you know what? I know the person I'm going to put him with. I know exactly where he need to go because this death row thing is just not it for him.
It's not safe. And I don't want him growing up, being influenced by the gang culture.
Now he banging and he doing this. I know exactly what to do with him.
I'm going to place him right with Jermaine Dupri. And I know he's going to take him exactly where I know he need to go.
But before that happened, you signed a death row and you moved to cali and your mom didn't go with you mom's ain't mom moms end up coming out there later right but off the rip i was staying with uh nancy fletcher that's that's one of uh snoop's background singers at the time um how old you remember how old you were probably like six going on seven and your mom didn't say hey go ahead yeah that's a lot of trust a lot of trust but trusted nancy with everything she was such a sweet person sweetheart took care of me took me in i lived with her and um i really wasn't around the guys much like it was a home environment even later my mom ended up coming out there later um and we ended up getting an apartment right i believe out in sherman was. And then, uh, from there, uh, my mom went back and then I went back after her back to Columbus.

And that's when I wanted to play football and just be a kid. Right.
Then we got that call. Right.

Time to come today. Wow.
I mean, things are happening so fast. So, okay.

Now you're rapping on a dog style album. You're like, but Snoop, Snoop, not only he did you a favor twice, he brought you out there because he saw the talent in you, but he also saw that, you know what, what I'm rapping about and what this culture is about, he doesn't need to be a part of this.
Right. And he moves you along.
Well, because did you know that's what he was doing it for? Or you thought like, maybe I'm not good enough and they don't believe in me. It never was a moment where I felt like I wasn't good enough I understood because it was so hard did he explain that to you no he never did okay but it was so self-expenditure he didn't have it didn't it didn't have to the right was on the wall I seen it okay um just being around right witnessing the things that was going on and seeing what my seeing what Snoop was going through right I knew he didn't have time to focus on the artist he had to focus solely on himself and he felt like that was so selfish.
It would be selfish of him to worry about him but still have it. Me near.
I'm getting older. I'm getting older and it's like, man, this dude, I know this kid can go.
Right. I just got to put him with somebody.
I don't want to be the reason he doesn't make it. He has to make it.
Right. And we moved him out here.
The next thing for him is boom jd and it was almost like like almost like a it's like dropping off your kid and come back to get him it was like here you go jd but look nephew i'm gonna swerve around the block a little later on we gonna meet all right and once i got hot it was up and and first album second single snoop me and dog number it was like, he was right. I'm going to place you there, and I'm going to come back around and come get you.
Yeah. I'm going to come get you.
And he got me. When he was on Dogfather, you heard Gin and Juice.
Did you know what Gin and Juice was? Nope. I just remember seeing this green bottle all the time at Larrabee Studios.
Yeah. With the little red circle on it.
I'm like, man, why y'all be having that around? And there was always some orange around right i'm like what is that like that's tang around my own it eric that was the thing back then right yes you don't hear like you don't hear nobody talking about nobody talking about hey bring me 20 bottles of gin right like you don't hear that like that's not the thing but yeah i had no clue i just knew this is green bottle with this red sticker on it yeah and it's always in the studio or it's around and it's always next to some damn orange juice i don't i don't get it but around that time tupac was around yeah and i read that you tried to sneak in the studio oh absolutely when pop was absolutely i just one thing about me i always remain like being a kid right no matter how big i got no matter what i was doing being a child and everything to me right you know and yeah that's true pop was working and i'm like i gotta see this i want to see it right i want to see right i don't even know he even remembers me because i open up for him years years back but i don't even think you know it's the same kid you know what i mean so definitely try to sneak in most definitely i wanted to see that approach but i'm glad i got the chance to watch snoop though right because to be there to witness watching him create one of the greatest hip-hop albums of all time and say he was in the same room and watched it i was and back then how the tracks were you know they used to have to get the razors and cut the cut the tape like it was amazing watching how it all came together yep i was there for it like i hear

these if i play doggy style now it's like it's weird for me because every song i just remember where i was like i love i i'm glad that i was able to have that moment was shoo around that during that time oh most definitely shit was around right 100 most definitely so you left so snoop drops you off at jermaine dupree yep what. What was your first interaction? What was your first conversation with JD like? Why you late? Damn.
Why you late? That was it. And he couldn't believe it.
Because you got to think, I despise, like, I didn't really rock with JD at first. Right.
Because of the crisscross stuff. So I'm like, man, I'm about to go work with the person who put them in them in motion and i don't know man what if he tried to sabotage i don't know man i don't know i want to be with my um man i want dog man i want to be with snoop and um i remember he picked me up in buckhead me and my mom from the higher hotel okay and all jd correct me if i'm wrong i don't know if it was the black one or the white one he had two billies right big boy billies right billies, right? And he picked me up and one never seen a billion in my life So I'm walking to the hotel.
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We were getting where we couldn't pay the bill. PG&E asked customers about their biggest concerns so we could address them one by one.
That's terrifying. That's fair.
Joe, Regional Vice President, PG&E. We have to run the business in a way that keeps people safe, but it starts driving costs down.
I would love to see that. We're on our way.
I hope so.

PG&E electricity rates are now lower than they were last year.

Hear what other customers have to say and what PG&E is your children in the back seat. It happens to anyone.

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So check the back seat.

A message from NetSight and the Ad Console. and short.
I'm taller than him now, but I just... But y'all was closer to height back then, though.
He was closer to height back then. And I'm just like, that was it.
I was like, you late? And then the first question I asked him, I said, yo, why this car ain't got no logo on it? It's just a B on here. Like, what did...
I've never seen it. Coming from Columbia, I've never seen no car with just a B on it.
Right. It's a Bentley.
I'm like, I don't know what that is, but all I know, Shannon, he had the thick rabbit fur. You know what I'm talking about? Yeah.
I mean, I was like, nah, this is different. This is something.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. We ain't got these.
Right. And then from there, he knew exactly what to do.
He said, I went to the crib, went to his house, flexed it on me. Eleven cars in the driveway.
Never seen nothing like it. Ooh.
Boy, I had two Benleys, Porsches, Rovers, the 745s when they was out back then. I mean, Ferraris.
Man, JD was wilding. And when I saw that, I was like, mama, I'm kind of glad Uncle passed me up here to JD.
I ain't see this. This is different.
You saw six foes out there, huh? Man, listen. I'm like, man, JD, he, I will say this.
The first man that I seen, I'm on two eyes, that I seen myself, and I said, dang, I want him to be, like, he's what I, I look up to him as as a father figure Jermaine filled that void that my father left you know I'm saying like when I saw him I knew man I want to I want to make I want to make him happy I want to I want to make him the most money so we can keep buying cars I want he he showed me the blueprint I want everything he got plus more right and you know that's like being a kid on the block and you see the dude come around in the S550,

you're like, damn, that's going to be me.

I just got to know how to get to it.

When I saw that, I'm like, all right.

How old were you at that time?

I'm probably like 11 now.

JD had me like 11.

When I saw it, I was like,

when we get in that studio,

that's what I want to do. He made me sit for a minute.
We did a song on the Wild Wild West soundtrack for Will Smith. It ain't do nothing.
The song ain't do nothing. But it made it to the soundtrack.
Right. It ain't do nothing.
It wasn't. He was just making sure I was ready.
But I was so happy to do that record. And I remember playing that song all the time.
Like, all right, we got some chemistry. We going to make some magic here.
This is up. This is me and you for life, for sure.
You understood. You said he had Chris Cross, Brad, Usher.
So you knew he had made big stars. And you're like, well, hell, he did it for them.
He can do it for me. Yeah.
Was that your thought your thought process you think that and there's sometimes where it could be a top producer and it don't happen for you like that like i've seen cats come to social death and it might not work out for them right and i see them leave social death and they blossom so every situation ain't different it's totally different you know what i mean yeah um but jermaine just he he it i told said, listen, if I'm not the biggest artist you ever had on your label, then I failed. Like I want to be the biggest artist you ever had stand next to you.
That's what I want to be. Why do you think you and JD had the chemistry that you guys, that you guys possess? You had it, you felt it right off the bat.
Why do you think there was such great chemistry between you two? I because germaine is the only child and i am too oh okay and also being at germaine was that too and um i just think that he might have always wanted a little brother right and i always wanted a big brother or father and i never had it right he never had it until we met each other right so at first it started like that's big bro that's big bro that's a little bro then it's like nah that's really like your son bro like that man me look up to you y'all talk alike y'all walk out everything and it was true right and i think that's what made it so perfect i was looking for something and he was probably looking for something and then boom like to this day he's like i ain't got no son i got he is my son bow is my son that's what made it so perfect. I was looking for something, and he was probably looking for something.
And then, boom. Like, to this day, he's like, I ain't got no son.
He is my son. Val is my son.
That's my son. He'll say it proudly, too.
Working with Usher, did you feel like he was going to be able to do that? Because you say a lot of times you see guys that be with these great producers, and they don't find success over there. They go somewhere else that the producer that's not as known right but he had usher and usher was just fire exploded i was there for that i was there look man i had the confessor's album before anybody had it on a burnt disc like coming like from the studio though right jermaine used to ride around to it before it even came out we was i knew i knew what that was gonna be and and just yeah and not only not just my projects that jermaine has worked on but being there for the confessions album and watching him and brian michael cox how they did it and you know it only inspired me more and i remember jermaine like he sent me to an usher concert one time like i need you to go get inspired i think you just getting a little bit too relaxed so he sent me off to usher's concert and I believe it's a confession store I went and I was just mind blown I was like man I gotta I gotta I gotta get I gotta turn it back up so Jermaine is just a wizard of he just knows right he just knows how to put you in certain situations he knows that each artist is different but he knows how to tap into each one of his artists but i definitely told him if i sign with you if i'm a roll with you i want to be the biggest artist you ever had it did that did that when you started to blow up bounce with me you had that's my name puppy love ghetto girls how did that change your life now you're in a different stratosphere now did you did you act differently or were you still the same i was bad as hell i was bad as hell i was bad as hell i would go listen this okay so around this time this triple platinum battle this first album right man i'm pulling up to the social deaf offices going out hitting the power surges boom boom boom lights go off in the office everybody computers meetings going onings going on.
They're like, what the hell? Jermaine banned me from the studio. Jermaine banned me from the office.
Damn, you cutting up like that? I was a bad kid. Like, I knew.
And that's why I believe when people ask me, like, how do you think you still have your head on your shoulders? I'm like, because I had my childhood. Right.
You know, nobody took that away from me. Like I said, I played football.
But even when I was famous, I remained a kid. I was pulling pranks on people.
Like I said turn off the power at the office. I just had no care and now not only Being a superstar a young superstar, but I'm still a kid so I got that Ha ha is really you can say right now, right? Because I'm paying your bills.
I'm paying your bills I'm keeping the lights on so I can turn these lights off whenever I feel like it.

And I'm a kid.

So there's only so much you're going to do but call my mama.

That's all you can do is tell Jermaine and Jermaine are going to be like, stop.

I ain't stopping.

I ain't stopping.

So, yeah, I remained a kid, bro.

And if Jermaine was here, he'll tell you.

That's one thing that boy did.

We could be anywhere.

He just always, at that time, he was a kid. And he remained it what was your favorite what's your favorite memory from that time favorite memory from that time it'd be sound i'm at square garden wow yeah msg for sure the garden and it's so many moments.
Like I'm just sitting there thinking it's so many me and Madonna. So many, so many memories.
But that one right there was different for me. Because I'm like, all the history that happens in this band, 13, a little boy from Ohio, really?

Wow.

16,000 kids in here?

This is crazy.

And then to do it again, then to come back and do it again, and then to be 38 and we still doing it, it's a blessing. I never imagined.
Did you think, I mean, because, I mean, I don't know. I'm trying to think if there are a child star that's as big as you were, that now is as big as you were back then because you had to, I yeah teenage girls follow you small girls follow you faint and just like wanted to take a picture wanted to get a glimpse of you wanted to see just wanted to see bow wow i mean one person come to mind oh the closest thing to little bow will probably be beaver okay i'll give it i'll give it a jb that's my man um that i only because he started young was 13, though.
So I was the youngest. I'm not sure.
I think Bieber might be 13, 14, whatever. But the closest that I've seen, because Chris started at 15, 16.
He was already getting to it. Where, you know, me and Bieber was probably like 13 years old.
Right. Because when Michael blew up, he was in the group.
He wasn't solo like you and Beeb, like you were, like Beeb, where he was with the Jackson 5. And then once he went on his own.
Good night. Good night.
So what was the craziest fan interaction? Now this, this is good. I'm in Chicago.
I had three sold out shows in one day.. That's how they used to do them.
Theater shows. We'll do the 1 o'clock and the matinee and then we'll do the 7 p.m.
one. Three sold-out shows in one day.
It's crazy. So during, I want to say after the second show, after the second show, I go out to my tour bus and it's a loading loading dock and you just look up and you see all the fans waving their posters and screaming and i just see legs feet and bottom of tennis shoes in there girl jumped off the loading dock off the bridge like the tunnel and lands on the top of my tour bus and she was i've never seen nothing like that and i was like what the hell he was he wasn't hurt nope and she i'm not getting down to you sign this please you gotta sign this we had to call the fire department at it come out put the ladder up to the bus get her down safely i signed it for her and the rest was history the funny thing is i've met her and i know she's watching this i've met her again since and she always reminds me you know I am I'm like I jumped off your bus I'll be like oh my gosh and she's grown now and every time I see her is it's funny just she always bringing it up all the time but yeah that was wild but during that time also there was another little came out little Romeo was that a healthy competition between you two guys? I really didn't feel no competition, honestly, because I never really looked at him or nobody.
Anybody else in your space. Yeah, and it's not even from like an arrogant or thing.
It's more of I was just focused on doing me. I didn't really have time to, you know what I mean? I feel big.
I'm in three million records. I'm touring arenas.
Like, it's really no really no right i'm not trying to compete with nobody i'm just doing my thing and i'm winning i think during that time with him and me when he came out it was a lot of it was easy to compare right because you're both young he's a little romeo you look wow wow he got the i got the mickey mouse he got the bugs bunny we both have two iconic hip-hop gurus behind us. I got JD.
He got P. It was just so easy to pin us together.
And me and Rome never wanted the fans to pick and choose and do all that. There's enough space for both of them.
There's enough space to eat. And we always had a cool relationship.
You know what I mean? And I remember as we got older, he told me, like, bro, you know why I did all that, bro? I did that because I looked up to you, bro. Right.
Like, you know, I mean, like I was no different than every other little boy with braids, bro. It was you.
Why do you think I'm Harlem shaking in my videos? I know that's yours. Why do you think I'm doing the Seawalking? Right.
I know that. But I looked up to you, bro.
And I never told you that. And I want to say that.
And he gave my roses when me and Soulja Boy did verses. He came on the stage and gave another speech like, bow you you to Jordan, I'm to Kobe, and, you know, Soulja LeBron, however you put it.
But, yeah, I never in life had a problem with Romeo. Never in life.
I think it was more of, and if he was here to say the same thing, it was more of the people. The fans doing it.
Trying to stir up something to give the media and everybody something to talk about, but we ain't let it happen, though. Have you ever beenruck hell yeah on two occasions okay uh one of them i was bow like i'm like me i'm here now right barack obama got me really man to the day i still feel like it was fake i feel like it was a cutout like was it really him right bro i went to the white house like that's a big flex for me because i remember yeah i remember like they used to have to save up our money and ask our mamas for field trip they used to take the bus up to dc yeah just so you can go 13 hour trip or eight hour drive on the yellow bus they're gonna stand outside the gate yeah yeah to see the white house to see it not going inside not going inside it not i mean nothing i'm like, man, this the flex I'm in here I'm looking I'm walking around And immediately they called our group Time to go downstairs and take pictures I'm like, alright I ain't know what to expect I'm like, man, it's crazy You see it on my face I'm like, man, this is damn.
It's crazy. I'm in the man.
You see it on my face. I'm like, man, this is wild.
Like I never thought, man, I hit that corner. Miss Michelle was right there.
Obama right there. First thing he said, roll bounce.
It's like roll bounce. You already know.
Let go. I'm like, did all that dope.
You saw it. That's hard.
I appreciate that. That's hard.
And if we took the photo, bro, if we post a picture of myself, bro, I had the biggest

smile.

That's probably the biggest smile you'll ever see on my face because I just couldn't believe

it.

And I sent the picture right to my mom.

And that was a moment right there.

That definitely was a moment.

And then the first time I met MJ, I called him Mr. Jordan, but Michael.
But Mr. Jordan.
I i call him mr jordan it's like he levitating in there he don't seem real does he i be trying to tell my boys that it's different y'all here it's different it's different i don't know i know i know who your goat is we're gonna get to that later but it's different he don't seem real i'm trying to tell people it's differentitate. It's different.
It's different. And how we met for the first time is crazy because Marcus is one of my close friends.
We pretty much grew up together. Every Scream tour, I stayed at the house.
Right. The house that they just sold, I would always stay there.
Right. And how we met was, we didn't even meet during Mike.
Right. So just imagine.
So I'm over at Marcus's house. I told you, I'm big Duke fan that's a North Carolina that's a Tar Heel house I wore Reeboks to the house I wore some Iversons that was my guy after Marcus' dad retired AI was my man attacked the break I just saw me so I'm in the house of the Iversons I wake up me and Marcus in his room we wake up in the morning I just see that door crack open like a father like a real dad.
Hey Who bullshits these? And Marcus looking like I don't know even you already know it don't even look at me. It's jump man forever great I'm on the floor asleep.
I'm like, huh? He like DJ was bow. I'm like Yeah She's going to the trash john michael man get get get get get uh get a little man some some kicks man after i never saw my officers ever market through your shoes in the trash through my offices away gone gone that was my introduction and ever since then anytime he see me it's short when you're gonna grow when you're gonna grow some mention short you're still to grow, when you're going to grow some inches short shit.
You're still short as shit. Look at you.
Ain't going to grow in, grow in. Look, like he always going to pop it.
Yes. He going to pop.
Yes. And, you know, that was probably wasn't even probably the only two times I was like, oh, wow.
Okay. Okay.
These photos. Oh, that's crazy.
I mean, people don't know this,

but you do realize, like, LeBron is only

two years older than you. I know.

Do you see how, like, tall he is?

Yo, I got one of the coldest

pictures. That's crazy.

Beyonce's five years older than you.

So how old do you think you are in this picture?

I'm probably like 13.

No, 13 probably. 13 going on 14.
I might be 14. that's it i think no look at this that picture is incredible how is this when you're like you're like six how old are you here because that's whole jd i'm like i'm like 13 right there hold on that's probably all in the same time yeah yeah yeah because was my album out then i want to say no i don't think beware of dark we were probably working on my

album at the time because i got the iced out mickey my chain so i got the chain already but i don't think bounce from me came out it was about to come out right yep this is around money ain't a thing era because i came out and performed with jay-z and jd in atlanta here at the atrium so yeah yeah that's around that time when you see those pictures what goes through your? Is that kid 78 years old now? Or yet? Legacy. Legacy.
Do you remember how old are you in this picture? 13? 16. 16 in that picture.
Yep. Brown was about to go to the league.
Brown at 18. I was 16.
And I was at a TRL when we did that. I got a cold picture of LeBron after that when he got to the league that I've never shared with nobody.
Right. And I told myself, my boy know this.
The day he retired, I'm going to post it. I got a fire picture.
In Atlanta, too. Wow.
LeBron. Fire.
Can't wait. I can't wait to post it.
You did the remix, Jumping, Jumping, well, Destiny's Child's remix. Mm-hmm.
What was your interaction with them? I mean, because to meet Beyonce, because at the time, they're Destiny's Child. Beyonce hadn't gone on for her own yet.
Correct. But they're still there, the hottest women's group out.
Absolutely. Absolutely.
And so you meet them. So what's going through your mind? I go to Houston for the first time.
Okay. With JD and Brian Michael Cox.
Okay. We go down there.
They work on the record.

I'm in the studio with them.

Beyonce was younger back then, was a thrill to work with.

And the thing is, we were label mates.

So Destiny Child was on Columbia.

I was on Columbia.

So we always intertwined.

Like always was moving through each other.

If I'm at the awards, they're there.

If I'm in the office having a meeting and I'm in New York, the girls are there too.

So I will always see them.

And that's how me and Salon was able to have our own friendship and our own thing and you even see her play a little part of my career um and we did a movie together johnson fan vacation and then uh she was in my one of my videos and that's how that whole thing kind of stemmed and then yvette who works very close to beyonce was also overseeing some of my projects too so we were label mates so it was just so easy to have that blend but yeah man it was it was a pleasure working with them and even to the day when i see b she's always the same kelly as well they're all michelle they're always the same i can i can say that like never changed never switched up and i was happy that i had i got a chance to work with destiny child the group like that's something i i hold dearly your song uh bounce with me um it was in the soundtrack big mama house how did that how did that how does uh if you get a song on a soundtrack and it's obviously the movie how does that help a song does it help or does it really take it to the next level if it's a hit yeah if it's a hit yeah but also i mean like Soundtracks were so big back there were some of men in black soundtrack soundtrack doing double triple platinum, right? And yes, there were the first single off of a soundtrack Usually nine times out of ten was a smash record, right? And I guess that's what happened with Big Mama's house of bouncing because it became because it became a number one record. Right.
And it definitely jumpstarted everything, having placement in the movie, hearing it, and then bringing it to life with the video and how Jermaine presented me. Because the first single off of that Big Mama's House soundtrack was him and Monica.
Right. And Nas.
And he ushered me in at the end of that video. It was like, he's the future.
Who is bust through the door it's the beat to the oh they like whoa like who is this little kid and it was the perfect setup and jermaine teased him and i remember the screen blowing up off of it and then that's how we segway into to bounce with him he let me do a little bit of bouncing at the end of the video right and we went and shot the real thing right now okay you're blown up you're doing your rap thing you're singing how does this transition takes the little right and now you're doing movies and did you always want to do that did you see that natural i had no idea i had no idea i wasn't even in the plan okay um by me playing so much basketball and incorporating sports into my videos, once Beware of Dog came out and we went triple platinum, it's like all eyes is on this kid. He's the biggest thing in music right now.
And then 20th Century Fox is working on this movie about a kid who can play basketball pretty good. We got to get a little bow out.
There's only one kid. And it was because of how hot I was over here, brought the attention and they came and got me.
So John Schultz, the director of Light Mike, he came to Columbus, Ohio. Right.
Now I'm 14. I did Light Mike at 14.
I'm 14 now. Yeah.
We're in the gym. They're not there, try out for the movie, casting me, I was cast before they came down.

Right.

We're just in the gym,

shooting,

talking,

it's not how we are.

Right.

And you know you got the part

of some cooking

when they're like,

okay, cool,

so we got to get the schedule right

and get you out here to LA

and da-da-da.

Think about this,

I'm not taking none of this stuff

he's saying serious.

Like,

nothing he's telling me.

Because I'm so ghetto in my mind

that when you say movie,

I'm thinking, baller block, and I'm thinking, we about to go shoot a DVD, like straight ghetto in my mind that when you say movie I'm thinking baller block and I'm thinking we about to go shoot a DVD Like straight to DVD like when you say movie to me like at the age I'm at that's how far off from Hollywood I was I'm thinking like the movies that I like to watch right cuz movies I like to watch it don't look like you know how to make them type movies So it's just don't so We get to LA. I'm I still don't know how big this thing is.
I reported to set. And I was like, what is going on? I am lost.
Like, I knew nothing. I never had an acting coach.
I thought I had to memorize my whole script, Shannon. Like, I didn't know we break it up in days and we shoot three scenes no no i thought we were going to shoot the whole movie in one day and i thought i had to memorize this whole script right i was thrown off but i've always been the type of person throw me the water let me let me figure it out i'll learn how to swim right man you look at all these movies uh all about the benjamins like mike johnson's family Family Vacation, Roll Bounce, The Fast and the Furious, Tokyo Drift, Lottery Ticket, Medea's Big Happy Family, Scary Movie 5, F9.
You've been in TV shows with Steve Harvey, Medecia, Entourage, CSI, Cyber. Now, you're having to like, okay, I got this music career and I got this acting career.
Were you, were you ever torn, like, I feel like I'm cheating on one or the other? Earlier I was. Earlier in my career I was because, you know, the sustain that hotness in music, you got to stay with it.
But then as I got older and I started figuring the music business out and the ups, the downs, the stress, I was like, this Hollywood thing is Hawaii. Yeah.
This is a mess. Once I got to that point, I could let go of that feeling.
Because then acting and being on the set brought me so much happiness because of the stability. Right.
Rapping, I'm moving, I'm on the road, I'm touring, I'm in a different city every night, the sleep pattern's off. Hey, so we all make mistakes, but owning up is the right thing to do.
You know, Degree Cool Rush deodorant. Well, last year they changed the formula and it did not go well with their fans.
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Head to your local Walmart or Target to try the OG degree cool rush for yourself. We were getting where we couldn't pay the bill.
PG&E asked customers about their biggest concerns so we could address them one by one. That's terrifying.
That's fair. Joe, Regional Vice President, PG&E.
We have to run the business in a way that keeps people safe, but it starts driving costs down. I would love to see that.
We're on our way. I hope so.
PG&E electricity rates are now lower than they were last year. Hear what other customers have to say and what PG&E is doing about it at pge.com slash open dash lines.
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With the acting side of things, you know what you're shooting. Monday through Friday, schedule.
You know what time to wake up. It's the same thing.
It's like a nine to five that just pay like a nine to five. You know what I'm saying? That's all it is.
Right. And that's what made me love acting more than the music at that particular time.
I can't say, I can't, it's same not the same now the first movie you were if i'm not mistaken was all about the benjamins with mike elps and q correct and if that's not correct then it's carmen with beyonce and most death okay i did carmen uh robert townsend directed that movie so you do the mike elps and and and q how How did that come about? Being Bow Wow, being the hottest kid in the world and Cube wanted a badass boy to play that part and similar like Mike, go get Lil Bow Wow. I remember being in Miami, that was the first time I went.
It was hot as hell. And I was sitting all day and we played this interview back people might hey seven labels set on just yeah definitely was but it was um it was cool it was fun it was fun i remember like it was yesterday working with mike epps and working with cube and then to fast forward time and now look it's like damn you mentioned lottery ticket and now they in my movie cube and mike kept like full circle i went from having three lines with mike to him starring in my movie with me so wow god is good and then you do like mike and you have nba players you have ai benz carter tracen t-mac steve francis dirt gary pateman gary paten what's your favorite what's your favorite moment about being on the set and now all of a sudden these NBA players?

Because at once upon a time, you wanted to be a basketball player.

And so now you got your own movie and you're on the set

and you got NBA players.

These are some of the best NBA players.

I was doing to them what cats do to me.

If I go to a URL battle or if I go somewhere, let me rap for you. Let me get that.
What? Man, I was challenging them left and right. I need that.
I need that one-on-one. I got to see it.
I'm real. No cap.
Jason Kidd played me. Gary Payton played me one-on-one.
I beat Lonzo even though he wasn't. You just talking about NBA players in general.
Beat him. That's recorded.

That's documented.

Lonzo Ball.

You beat Lonzo Ball?

Did I?

With no shoes on.

You cooked him?

With no shoes.

You got the footage?

It's everywhere.

You cooked him?

Wow.

You cooked him?

They were talking about this on ESPN.

I didn't know about that.

Oh, man.

What?

Lakers came down here to Atlanta when he was playing with the Lakers. All of them.
Brandon Ingram, everybody was at the studio. We got a gym inside, full court basketball court.
Playing around. Okay.
I need that. I need that.
Pow. No shoes on.
Pow. Pow.
I beat him in the first round. The second round, he came back.
He did his thing. He might have took it seriously.
Yeah, he took it real seriously. He wasn't playing.
Because we was filming, so I knew. He was like this.
They about to put that out. Of course.
Of course. Of course.
Don't put that out there. Being at your height, in the movie, you dunked.
Yeah. What's that feeling like? Because have to like be in a back like i want to know

what it feels like i was nervous really i was nervous because we had to test it like i was on this harness on this rig right so as i'm running i remember they pulled it too hard yeah and it's like whoa and i got to the rim too fast and it was like yo you know all right we got to slow down a little bit but once we got it i really had to run and then they would do it and then i would go up I loved it

it was fun

you're doing all

kind of crazy

don't you

oh my god

suck to slow down a little bit but once we got it i really had to run and then they would do it and i would go up right it was i love it was fun you're doing all kind of crazy don't oh my god i was ready for the league then i was ready what about you know lebron did uh did a remake of space jam would you like lebron to do a remake is there somebody out there that could do a remake of uh like mike would you like to see a remake of like mike or is it too soon i don't think it's too soon i think it should have happened already right um and they try to do a part two they try to take it to the streetball aspect that's when and one came into the mix it didn't do good right um to this day we still i don't and the fans don't consider that a part two to nothing i don't even like talking about it you know what i'm saying but i definitely feel that there is something um there's been ideas that we've been playing around with right um just talking nothing locked in um even if it's you know my daughter or you know does calvin have a son now right there's you know okay i like that am i am i now is is is is is uh more chestnut now the head coach or he's the owner? Am I still playing? And I'm now the, yeah, like what's the dynamic? And we definitely can do it now. I feel because even women's basketball is dominating too.
Yeah. But I just see it.
I see the Steph Curry. I see Bron, I see KD, D-Book.
I just see that cover of with the new guys. And I think that would be dope to do it if done right right um and i think that is highly possible what if nike released a light mic shoe i would with my me and nike spoke about this and then we did it i'm gonna be happy as hell what to come up because a lot of people don't know the light mic shoe was the converse the dr j converse yes you have no idea like they had we had the blazer which is the shoe i actually wore in the movie yes and then we had the converse right tar heel with the star with the the dr j joint yes and it it was a it was it was we was torn between the two right 20s rock they could not pick fox could not pick they were like yo i you got to go with the Nike.
Like, what are we talking about here? So, and they dropped the Blazers. People still rock the Blazers.
They come in different flavors. But I definitely felt like being that that movie was so iconic and so monumental.
Right. The Blazers should have came out immediately.
Can you imagine how much money Nike would have made if they would have sold a light mic shoe? Yeah. Like, right in time of the movie release and put that shoe out? Right.
That would have been crazy. Another guy that you played one-on-one was Kobe, rest his soul.
I knew he was gonna bring this one up. You got it? Hell nah.
See, Kobe don't take it easy. He going for the gusto.
Yo, let me tell you, man. Yo, I thought I was going to have a cool moment for the internet.
Like, I'm about to go play Kobe. I'm about to, you know, do my little thing, make a little couple buckets, and, you know, it's going to be what it's going to be.
Right. I went.
The only reason why we played was because Jermaine's assistant at the time played Kobe.

Okay.

And got smoked.

Yeah.

I mean, bad.

So I'm like, man, hold up, hold up, hold up, hold up, hold up.

I ain't, no, no, no, hold up.

And at that time, I'm big on Bron.

Like, I think Bron is like.

Right.

And I wore my Cleveland Indian hat to Kobe camp all that.

I'm like, man, you ain't about to do anything like that.

I'm like, it's team heat.

I'm like, you're like, what, you want? I'm like, man, yeah, you still playing. I still playing i want to play so jermaine like all right hold up hold up hold up hold up and i'm gonna tell you something all that he bow out and he nah he took it for real i left yo i left that gym and i said i will never play in the NBA, nor do I want to.

I was so sore.

Then I went to Orlando.

That's right.

I went to Orlando to go hang out with Chris.

We go to a Magic's game.

Big baby lands on me.

Now, this is the next day after I play college.

I'm sore as hell.

His big ass lands on me.

I'm like this.

I just couldn't do it.

How many points did you get on Kobe? None.

He scunked you? None.

He smothered me.

He pat his thumb in my waist.

He was doing like... He was playing you like you a real hooper.
He was hand checking and

doing all the stuff. If Kobe, I promise

God rest his soul, if he was alive right now,

if he was allowed to play defense like he played defense on me in the league or the league could play defense like that nowadays, it'd be a problem. Like, he literally had his thumb, like, in my side.
He was telling me, you're going to go wherever the fuck I tell you to go. You're going to go wherever the fuck I tell you to go.
I'm like, I'm doing this. He's like, yeah, slap me.
Push me. Push me.
I like that shit. Push me.
And then what was so dope about the one-on-one is people got a chance to see kobe in a light that they never got a chance to see kobe yeah you hear about the mama mentality but it's hard to hear when you're watching tv right but when we did the youtube we play one-on-one you hear him my condolences man man we can't play like that i don't give a who said you can make rules you can't make no rules and he talking to me talking He talking to me like I'm not bad. He talking to me crazy.
Like, motherfucker, you in my office. Yeah, and the bet was $1,000 or if I make one shot, he was going to pay for two floor seats for the entire year for me.
He was going to eat that. Damn! You know them Lego tickets cost to it.
That's why he ain't that's why he went so hard. You know, you be courtside and game.

We know how much they up there.

So to pay for two for the whole year, what?

I was trying my best to.

You tried to get one basket.

Look, it's a clip.

All you had to get was one basket.

Listen, man, there was a clip.

If we watch it, we play it back.

Where he misses the ball.

The ball go over here.

I go get the ball.

I swear to God.

I grab the ball.

You going to hear Jermaine saying, let go bow shoot it shoot it I wanted to but by the time I raised up it was no time like even though it was probably space the way he closed out that's 6'6 that man it turned into like 7'1 I'm like oh hell nah I put no. I said, I ain't shooting it.
Then he just slapped the ball in my hand. He pushed me around.
He's throwing me. I'm like, man, I can't do it.
Then he dunked on me. Damn.
But all you had to do was get one basket and you get floor seats to the Lakers game for the whole year. I tried my hardest.
He wouldn't let me do it. He wouldn't let me dribble.
He wouldn't let me dribble i'm having the ball man he reaching over me grabbing me like god rest his soul and um yeah man that that meant something to me that's something i can look back at my life that right there is like a bucket list like every kid would love to play Kobe Bryant one-on-one. Play Kobe.
Right. And then for that to tragically happen, yeah, that's something I'm always holding dearly to my heart.
Yeah. For sure.
You do Johnson Family Vacation. Steve, Sid, Solange.
You knew Solange before you did Johnson. Correct.
Yep, yep. So that's what made it easy.
So what was it like on the set? Because you got two great comedians, Sid and Steve. They probably kept it like the entire time.
They did. They did.
They was always joking around. And especially when you work with comedians, the best part is they go off script.
That's when they had their best. They don't pay attention.
You'll be watching them and miss your turn. Like, oh, damn, it's me.
It's my line. My fault.
They went off script. And that's when that's when comedians at their best um no no story really sticks out really crazy because steve came and shot all of his parts in one day if i'm not mistaken really yep he was in out yeah steve was in and out but i spent a lot of time with said learning from him talking to him and said knows how to turn it on and off right like said is a real cool st louis cat like he's just laid back super cool and you know he'll say things and it'd be funny like man you know that dude over there that she he'll say like something but he was always super cool and i remember just being in school all the time that's all i was doing working on movies and it was school i spent more time in the classroom than i did on set that's how i go right roll bounce you got nick cannon Megan Gooden Mike Elps Charlie Murphy what what was about that how was that set roll bounce set was I'm trying to find the words to describe it to me it would work it was work I was at a different i was in a different place in my life i was 16 going to 17 living in chicago on my own um becoming a young man now smelling myself a little a little too big i was in a weird space in life that's why i was able to to do that role and and and do it because i wasn't acting right you know i mean i was just getting paid to show my real raw emotions and that's that's how i was feeling the scene with the car me breaking it crying and it was intense like that movie brought that movie turned me into an actor working with shaw mcbride right i remember before we um the day before we shot that scene the garage scene with the car he told me look tomorrow i'm not gonna talk to you i was like what he's like i'm not gonna i'm not gonna say a word anymore i need you locked in i'm gonna need you i need you tomorrow i didn't understand what that meant came to set next morning when the trailer good morning everybody what's up what's up shy they're gonna no good morning back okay cool he's in character so i'm i'm going off your energy then i'm on what you want so i did the same thing too i locked in i didn't want to talk and when we got to that set he drove himself down he drove his car and sat in the car and said don't call me out here until y'all call rolling and he told me right before they called action i'm about to bring it out your ass today i'm bringing out you today i know what he meant it's like you about to see a different you today action bam right into it looking at him my mom i just started crying i just i don't know it was just he and he just gave me the biggest hug after he was done doing it and said i'm so proud of you Then he, there his real tears then right he really cried with me like i'm so proud you are an actor boy and that day was the day i said oh yeah and i never had an acting coach nothing but that was the day that was the day that you said okay i'm an actor i can finally say i'm an actor i'm not a rapper who acts i'm an actor yeah yeah i'm not getting these roles because of the rap stuff no more.
I'm getting them because I can do it. And I'm going on tape and I'm killing it.
And I took it very serious. Very serious.
You did Fast and the Furious. Mm-hmm.
But like Vin Diesel, Luda, none of those guys. I worked with them.
You did? On the last one. Yeah, yeah.
I finally got the chance to work with them. Go, go, go.
Yeah, yeah. I was waiting on that.
I was like, okay, we got to meet up at some point because the movies that Luda wasn't in were the ones that I was in. I felt like the Luda of those movies pretty much.
I was the rapper. You know what I'm saying? And for me to get that opportunity to be in the scene with Reese and Luda, I always visioned that to happen.
I always visioned. Twinkie has to meet Luda's character.
Right. It's his only right that they meet.
And that was, the dynamic of that scene was us, it was the first time we've ever seen each other in life. But we've heard of each other, but we never met.
So that was dope. And then to work with Vin Diesel, he's so, I worked with Vin Diesel twice.
Such a good dude, stand-up dude, easy to work with. The whole family easy to work with.
Like with like fast fast and furious sets is they don't feel like work because everyone's been together for 10 plus years right so it's just we get it you don't have to worry about nailing that the way you don't have to worry about coming to set uh that that that scene i can't remember my line man it's normal like it's just so normal it's so easy going and working with justin lynn who i feel is the greatest fast and furious director ever okay i feel that deeply in my heart and i had the chance to work with him on his first one which was tokyo drip right now there's the last one coming up they bring in the rock back you're gonna be in that one if they call we there we're there andy call we there we there right you worked at uh uh uh medea's uh what big happy family uh with tyler because you know i've heard only great things about tyler about you know his set and how professional it is how he pays how he takes care of his whoo put it this way you know how you might play for a team yeah and let's say you about it you get traded you about to go to this team yeah and you get like a let's see a bill belichick you don't went from having a cool fun coach yeah you're doing it your way and then you get traded now bill belichick your coach you like ah damn yeah okay i gotta be on my best behavior yeah i gotta be on my yeah tp like that really mr oh yeah most definitely because his style is he comes from plays so he's used to things moving very very quickly right quick so when i got to set i'm always prepared so i'm never worried right i'm i'm ready for whatever right first scene was the hardest scene of the day he gave us this i'll never forget first scene was the backyard scene with the fellas it was a long scene i said damn he giving us the scene first this is the first scene we should damn like out the gate like he don't want us to crawl into it no and he wants you to move fast you got to know it oh next close next so it's like you got to get it and he's so hands-on and he's a genius he is the person that came in with the byron that was tp he did that because i remember tiana going off of me in the scene and all you hear is mr perry up behind the thing on Patch a weeb you gotta pat it a little harder pat like it pat it like this Tiana Get it again now I mean I was a barry the crew laughing I'm trying not to laugh but he he saw it he's watching the monitor and he's like something's missing in the middle of the scene he'll just throw stuff at

you like and you got to be able to get with it and go and tiana grassman she got it she's like get ghetto even more ghetto with it bye man i want you to annoy people wow and boy didn't she she she did not disappoint she did not disappoint so that was a title thing he's like i said he he knows how to, he mixes that play stuff with the movie. And I love it.
I love working with Tyler because I love to work fast. I love to move on.
And Tyler's the only person I know in the film business who can shoot a movie, a big production movie, in seven days. And it's going to come to the theater.
And you'll think it took three months. He knows.
He changed the game. Man, I'm telling you, that man changed the game i've seen it it's i'm like i'll be on sets i'm like oh my god i wish this was a tyler perry studio production they move fast so yeah how was it working with tt tayama taylor oh fun been doing tt for ever like super cool person talented it.
Now she's directed, which is dope uh and i want to say that was her first movie yeah that was her first movie she did she did really really really really good and um i expect to see her more stuff i think she should have did more right after that right but like i said she's very talented and uh i wish nothing but the. That's my dog.
Bob, do you remember the first time you opened up your bank account and you saw a thousand, a hundred thousand, a million dollars in your account? Nope. But I remember turning 18, had to go back to Columbus and I had to sit in front of that judge.
He's OK, I'm about to turn over your finances. I was like, you know when you it was like the jack so in the beginning you you sort of trust yep can't touch it can't tell it's got like a jackie coogan account or something like that did i say that right so yeah i think that's what they call it correct me if i'm wrong but um yeah you can't touch it like your parents can't nobody the judge oversees it and then when you turn 18 he turns Okay, he turned it over turns it over to you here you go and i i i was so happy because he did the judge never understood why i needed a ferrari at 17 i had to go to him for every major purchase wow he had to approve it i'm like i am a rap star yeah and it's my money yeah i need a chunk yeah i need a ferrari it's not safe he can do something like um a three series bmw would be perfect it's like bro like you are bro you know who i am and you're talking about a three series three series beamer told me that's that's what i can get or get you know i'm like you don't understand the culture dog i can't wait till i turn 18 and get it.
But, yeah, of course, man, you always remember seeing that. Even to this day, I still get excited.
Right. Like, my manager will go over numbers and, you know what I'm saying, we'll handle business and he always shows me stuff.
And I'm like, damn. God is good.
Yeah. That's all I can say.
God is good. When they turned the account over to you, what was your first major purchase? I went car crazy.
Because remember, Jermaine, I had to catch his ass. Yeah.
So I went. My first purchase was a, I wanted, I started out small, but I really wanted this car.
The Nissan 350Z when they first came out. Okay.
I wanted them. It was cool.

Everybody.

That's your favorite Fast and Furious or something like that?

Nah, I did Fast.

After Fast, yep, I wanted that car.

I just thought it was cool.

It was neat.

Got that.

You know how it is.

You start getting more money.

See different things.

I went from there.

I got to go.

I want a Maserati.

Maserati second car.

And I kept calling it Maserati Ferrari because, you know, they sell Maserati at the Ferrari dealership. So I used to tell my boy, I got a Ferrari Maserati.
car and I kept calling it Maserati Ferrari because you know they sell Maserati at the Ferrari dealership So I just tell my boy got a Ferrari Maserati. They like what? I got a Ferrari Maserati black-on-black.
They like you got a Maserati, right? So Ferrari Maserati go and it don't exist. I didn't like them telling me that don't exist So you had to go get took it back Got it got the yellow 360 got a rari so at the time when i had the yellow 360 i had that i had uh the billy rover hummer maybach took the yellow ferroi back got a drop red fo30 spider had that for a minute got rid of that and got an orange lambo murcielago bought that i went car crazy that's all i loved was cars i already had the house i went i went to whips yeah because i uh what that uh uh your reality show you and your mom and you went and got the maybach yep that was my second maybach i bought my mom bought me my very first one for my 21 my 21st birth right and then i didn't really see a point of having one then.
Right. It was a waste of money.
Right. But when I went and bought my Maybach on the show, I bought that one.
But I really now I could enjoy it because the lifestyle is different. I don't want to get caught having a DUI when I'm going out hosting and I'm working.
Or if it's a late night at the studio and I'm trying to make it all the way back to the other side of town, which is, you know, Atlanta traffic. Yeah.
Crazy. 55 minutes.
Yeah. I'm far.
So it's like I never want to be put in them situations. So I've got the Maybach just for comfort reasons.
And it just made sense for me. I live far, filming every day, traveling, just moving and grooving.
And besides, even after this, I used to love just getting in my car, taking my shoes off. And kick back.
You ain't got to worry about driving. Man, you ain't got to worry about nothing.

Right.

Nothing.

So, yep.

This concludes the first half of my conversation.

Part two is also posted and you can access it to whichever podcast platform you just listened

to part one on.

Just simply go back to Club Shea Shea profile and I'll see you there.