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[dramatic music]
What's the name of this group on this stage tonight?
all: Black Sheep!
Say what? all: Black Sheep!
Hip-hop definitely gives us the opportunity to blow up.
Our special guest, Black Sheep--
Mista Lawnge and Dres. - [rapping indistinctly]
Like it or not, rap is here to stay.
It has become part of mainstream commerce.
And "The Choice Is Yours"--
the one that knocked the whole country on their hip.
- That was a real record. - You guys are so young.
Teens making these mega hits.
It all stems down to what you want
to do with your life, what you want to do with yourself.
- Say hello. - Hi.
Hi.
Hip-hop also gives us the opportunity to implode.
If you're doing it for the money, stop.
We had vision. We had concept.
They didn't try to understand.
People are people, and people make mistakes.
If you're doing it for the love,
then you're on the right path.
When I make my music, I want people to feel what I feel
because I make it straight from the heart.
He's gone, but his music is still here.
We still talking about him because his beats
got us still talking.
What J Dilla is affording me is
for the world to see exactly what I have to say today.
And that's all I need.
You've been given an idea. You've been given talent.
People would be very unkind to you
if you take a Dilla track
and you don't make the most out of it.
Just because you have something,
it might not just be yours.
It's been 20-plus years.
Dilla is somebody you can't afford to mess up.
Keep J Dilla's memory alive.
Things become way more complicated after you gone.
[train horn blowing]
[upbeat music plays]
The Mario series is going to turn 40 next year.
Wow.
Pac-Man turned 40 this year, and Donkey Kong came
out one year after Pac-Man.
And that was Mario's first game, right?
[doorbell rings]
Yeah, Donkey Kong was Mario's first game.
- Thank you. - Have a good one.
You too.
So this is just a visual of the guy completing the levels?
Yeah, this is a world map.
The more levels you complete, the longer you can go on.
Who knew that Mario would have such an amazing life?
Mario has been doing his thing for a lot of years now.
In life, if you're a chef
for 25 years, you're a master.
You're a master chef.
Who invented Donkey Kong? - Shigeru Miyamoto.
If you played in a rock band for 25 years,
you're a Rolling Stone.
Like, you're revered.
But in hip-hop, if you rhyme for 25 years, you're just old.
[chuckles]
He originally wanted to use characters from Popeye,
but that didn't work out.
Oh, licensing, I'm sure.
I feel literally like one of the luckiest people
in the world to be an artist for 25 years.
And after, you know, being a dad,
after taking care of the household,
after taking care of the wife,
after everything I do to be a person,
you know, 9:00, 10:00 at night,
I'm going to the Bronx from Queens
to start my workday.
"You are blocking this driveway
"and making it incredibly difficult
"to avoid hitting your rear bumper on my way out.
"Please be mindful that I routinely
"have to maneuver around your vehicle to avoid impact.
"You are well over the line.
I would appreciate your consideration."
'Cause they don't have enough fucking room
to get out of their driveway.
Oh, God, like, New York is just New York.
Over my career, I've done a lot of evolving.
I think music has done a lot of evolving as well,
for better and for worse.
And I'm not a fan of the ageism in hip-hop.
Hip-hop is one of the art forms where
the young eats the elders.
You know, you'll often hear, you know, the younger cats--
Yeah, I don't mess with them older dudes
and this, that, and the other.
And, you know, it's kind of hard to hear sometimes.
And, you know, sometimes
reality will break my heart a little bit.
But it's a good reason to get up every day.
I love making music.
The hustle is definitely a grind for me.
You know, like I'll have a session
that starts at 9:00,
and I might be in there till 2:00, 3:00 in the morning
and be on my toes at 7:00, 7:15 to cook for my son
and get him out the house--
just spend as much time as I can during the years
that my son does need me.
Life changes when you have a quick rise and a quick fall
in the music industry.
[elevator bell dings]
That I've had success early--
I always feel like I'm just a record away
from breaking a ceiling.
[cheering] - "A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing."
Here's Dres and Lawnge-- Black Sheep.
Ow. Take it away. - Make some noise!
Make some noise!
My name is Dres.
And I am Mista Lawnge, the 9.5er.
Together we make up this group called what?
Black Sheep.
Real hip-hop-- it inspired us.
- Talking about Black Sheep. - Black sheep.
- Black Sheep in the house. - Black Sheep live.
If you're tuned in to hip-hop history,
you have to know who Black Sheep are.
Did you just ask me who was Black Sheep?
♪ Who's the Black Sheep? ♪
♪ What's the Black Sheep? ♪
♪ Know not who I am or when I'm coming so you sleep ♪
Black Sheep was a duo that came out in '91 comprised
of Dres and Mista Lawnge.
Me and Lawnge, we met in '83 in North Carolina.
We were both from New York,
but our parents relocated for various reasons.
Black Sheep--it was new.
It was fresh--definitely the top of the hip-hop
world for a period of time.
They fit really well within a dominant level
of hip-hop sound.
Black Sheep--
I'd be sitting next to the radio just like this.
♪ Back, middle, to the front, don't front ♪
Damn, Mista Lawnge getting it in--
he was nasty with the beats.
I'm like, ooh.
And Dres-- it's like audible silk.
♪ Styling is creative ♪
♪ Black sheep of the Native ♪
♪ You can't be violated or even "decepticated" ♪
♪ I got brothers in the jungle ♪
They were the perfect continuation
of what Native Tongues had already been doing.
♪ Native Tongue got rhymes galore ♪
The Native Tongues were, like, a conscious hip-hop
collective of various groups.
The Native Tongues--
that's a dope fucking name for a crew.
And their whole vibe was very different,
and their music was banging.
The beats were banging.
- What's your first question? - My first question--
Listen, I did an entire documentary about it,
so I don't want to repeat, but game-changing
production from all of them.
- ♪ Break down ♪ - ♪ Round and round ♪
Jungle Brothers, De La Soul, Tribe Called Quest--
Then you have Black Sheep, Monie Love, Latifah, Chi Ali.
It was very New York, pushing positivity.
Just peace, Blackness, emceeing--
just good-spirited music.
It was considered smart hip-hop.
♪ Brothers in the jungle ♪
Black Sheep came in and lived up to the fact
that they had something dope and unique to say.
♪ Mista Lawnge, Dres, Black Sheep slam now ♪
And presented it in a really creative way.
♪ Then, of course, the choice is yours ♪
"The Choice Is Yours" absolutely
was, like, a mainstream hit.
"You can get with this, or you can"--
Yeah, that was awesome. I was into that.
"The Choice Is Yours"-- gonna knock the whole country
on their hip.
Like, use it as a thing to say.
Like, it just became part of vernacular.
"The Choice"--it's lightning in a fucking bottle
having such a ridiculously popular song.
♪ Where's the black sheep? ♪
♪ Here's the black sheep ♪ - Forget it.
I mean, if you want the party to start jumping,
you just throw that on.
That's it.
Especially in the part where it's like,
"Engine, engine"--
"Number nine."
♪ On the New York transit line ♪
Everybody crouching down.
♪ If my train goes off the track ♪
♪ Pick it up, pick it up, pick it up ♪
Monster single-- all over the radio.
And we saw them as the first hip-hop duo
to do late-night TV.
It was larger than life, and it lasted forever.
♪ Open the door ♪
♪ You best believe we're sliding through it ♪
He's still doing shows because of that record.
Like, I don't really do shows like that.
"The Choice Is Yours," "Similak Child,"
"Flavor of the Month"--
I mean, a lot of people would describe
"A Wolf In Sheep's Clothing" as a classic album.
♪ Do-da-dipity ♪
Let me tell you, man.
All you need is one hit, and that
was the one that guarantees them income forever.
"You can get with this, or you can get with that,"
which was, like, I think, used in commercials.
Better yummy this and better tasting that.
♪ You can get with this, or you can get with that ♪
Upside--using your song in a commercial.
Boom, chickity-check.
Downside--oh, my God.
Have you heard the hamster song?
♪ You can get with this, or you can get with that ♪
I remember being on the radio
and being like, fuck that, no.
You will not refer to "The Choice Is Yours"
as the goddamn hamster song.
But it was a thing.
What the hell is that? [laughs]
And then that song getting placed in the Spidey-Verse.
♪ ♪
Got a seven-year-old who know that record.
You know what I'm saying?
Like, that song is like the gift that keeps on giving.
Also have the youth, the drill artists,
Lola Brooke sampling "The Choice is Yours."
- ♪ Because you ain't getting ♪ - ♪ This or that ♪
[chuckles]
♪ Man, sis, just relax ♪
Incredible track.
You know, what would hip-hop be without it?
♪ The more things change, the more they stay the same ♪
All right, I'm going to keep that one and double it.
There's a lot of cats that got a lot
of things going on in their career
and legacy and whatnot.
But not a lot of people have a "Choice Is Yours."
And, you know, like, I don't really
harp on what me and Lawnge did...
Okay, okay.
As much as I harp on what I still have to do.
And that's why this Dilla project is so important.
So, for me, in my career,
it's just been about staying prepared.
It's about doing the work. It's about spreading love.
It's about, you know, not hoarding because we do shit
despite what's against us.
You know, like, hip-hop exists despite.
It's almost like you were sliding through it.
You know what I'm saying? [hums] All right.
It definitely wasn't in the plans.
Would you call your music hard-core rap?
I wouldn't call it hard-core.
We painted a lot of pictures.
We didn't draw the pictures ourselves.
We just colored it in.
Curse-- a lot of words
that I don't think you're going to ever get played
on television or the radio.
We don't really try to put it all into distinct categories.
It's all music, and what you do with it is personal,
and it's something that you share with people.
You know, people have told me, I'm not really into rap,
but your group is all right with me.
And that's cool, you know, because that's broadening us.
That's broadening them, and that's helping rap.
Beyond a beat, a rhyme, a dance,
hip-hop music has become this life-altering,
positive difference maker.
Like, there's so many different working pieces now,
that a livelihood can be found all around it.
It's the result of imagination,
and so much rests
on the shoulders of our elders.
WIHD, Washington.
In Washington.
I want to say sunny, but you can see, there's--
I'm here for this induction into The Hip-Hop Museum.
You know, like, this is not a me and Mista Lawnge thing.
This is--
I didn't hit him up or anything.
I didn't--
Yeah, like, I'm very grateful to Lawnge.
You know what I'm saying?
Like, you know, without Lawnge, we're not sitting here.
I'm not sitting here without Lawnge.
You know what I'm saying? So I'm always--
I always keep that in perspective.
You know what I'm saying?
And I think it took me a while to get to the place
where I felt like I didn't owe that situation
my loyalty anymore.
We're going to go walk around,
check it out, take a look around the curtain
and see what it looked like in there real quick.
Come on, before we go get a drink.
Black Sheep. [laughter, cheers]
Word up. Service is in the house.
Word up. Service in the house.
[indistinct chatter]
Making hit records can definitely be
a burden on that bad side of,
yeah, this is what you're known for.
When people come up to me, and they do the--
"It's just me, myself, and I."
♪ It's just me, myself, and I ♪
And I just want to smack them in the face.
I mean, yeah, you have to keep playing
that song no matter what.
I have a saying--
You got to dance with the ho that you brought.
This is what got you to the party.
So when you're in the party now, you're in a party now.
You got to dance with her now.
She brought you, you have to dance with her.
[rapping indistinctly]
I don't think you're rubbing someone the wrong way when you
say that Black Sheep was never able to get
back to the heights of "The Choice Is Yours."
I mean, that was basically an impossible task.
When you are associated with something
that is so legendary
and then you come out of that,
you're like, what am I supposed to do now?
We're getting up pretty far on the pop charts, you know,
with that single.
Now that we found something that's
working for us, like "The Choice Is Yours,"
it will be easy to say, damn, let's go, you know, make
"A Choice Is Ours," now or whatever, you know,
and follow it up like everybody else would do.
But I think we'd rather reach somewhere else.
And even if, you know, we fall flat on our face,
at least we was trying to be ourselves.
[indistinct chatter]
They really had, like, a four-single run
off their first album, which is great,
and then took a few years off.
I don't know how many people you're
going to find besides me that will be
able to tell you the name of their first single
off the next album.
You would think that an artist
who had a song that big--
people would at least remember what
they came with after that.
I don't think anyone does.
The next song-- it was "Without A Doubt."
all: ♪ Yeah, without a doubt ♪
It was a cool song, but it just--
the wind was out of the sail.
You have one-hit wonders.
You rarely have one-album wonders.
It's Black Sheep with some new shit.
You know what I'm saying? We going to keep it moving.
I know a lot of people are saying,
yo, where's my man, Mista Lawnge?
I'm very sad to tell you that Mista Lawnge
has decided to leave the group and do his own thing.
But at the end of the day, love is love,
and I wish him the best.
And we going to keep it moving, right?
That's right.
At this point, it's been over 30 years.
I don't spend a lot of time back there.
I have those memories of me and Lawnge,
and we're very congruent onstage.
And we were both able to get where we both were trying
to go in that moment together.
Once we decided to go our own ways,
there was no partner to push you.
It became what burned internally.
Them two--whatever kind of wedged them apart,
I don't even know what it was.
I mean, honestly, I don't.
To this day, I don't know why things
fell off the way they did.
Who knows, man?
You know, I don't know.
To me, getting your flowers means,
like, you're close to dying.
[laughs] You know what I'm saying?
Like, all right.
[phone rings] Hey, Ma.
Hey, baby. How are you?
I'm good. How are you?
I'm good.
- You in your room? - Yes.
Okay. All right, in a minute.
[chuckles]
- Hey, baby. - Hey, Mama.
How are you? - Oh, my baby.
How you doing? - I'm good.
Mmm. I love you.
I love you, too.
Wait a minute. We're on camera now?
We are.
[laughs] That's okay. We built for this.
Come on in, now.
You look good, man.
I wouldn't believe you were in your 70s.
Oh, honey, 70--
Oh, let me tell you.
At the airport, they said, 75, you don't
have to take your shoes off.
I said, I'll be here next year.
[laughter]
I'll be here. And I had on boots, too.
I had on my Timbs because the shoes
I was going to wear tonight-- they come, like, up to here.
I wasn't wearing them in no airport.
Oh, yeah. You're not supposed to, Ma.
Mm, I know. I know.
- They come up to there? - Yeah, but I got a long skirt.
- You are doing a lot, okay? - Yeah, because it's you.
You worthy of it. - I feel that.
That's love. - Yeah.
[electronic music]
♪ ♪
What's going on, man?
Okay. All right.
All right, here we go.
All right, right now I'm here talking
to one of the legends that's getting inducted tonight.
It's quite the honor. You know what I'm saying?
I'm very grateful to come down to DC,
especially to hang out with some heads that
know what hip-hop is all about, represent
the culture to the fullest.
The reason why The National Hip-Hop Museum
exists is because, after holding the torch
for so many years and accomplishing so much, it is
our obligation as Americans to give you guys your flowers.
So right now can we get a big round of applause
for all of our inductees--
[cheers and applause]
Special Ed...
♪ My name is Special Ed, and I'm a super-duper star ♪
CL Smooth...
What's up, y'all? This is the Mecca Don CL Smooth.
Dres.
Oh, look, y'all, it's Dres from Black Sheep.
[applause]
So in the year of hip-hop's birthday,
what do you feel is the most important thing
that hip-hop has contributed to the world
over the last five decades?
Hip-hop is the top-generating music genre
for how long now? - A lot of years.
Every corporate entity, everything, every media,
every medium is all hip-hop.
So why the fuck they don't respect us in the way
that they should?
They don't uphold us like they do
these "rock and roll" legends
and soul and whatever, whatever.
We are them right now.
We are the ones selling millions of records,
streaming millions of records.
We deserve the respect. [applause]
Like it or not, rap is here to stay.
It has become part of mainstream commerce.
Rap in the '90s-- it's creative.
It's candid. It's controversial.
Today on the show, we have rappers
De La Soul to discuss the many ways to keep it real.
With hip-hop, there's always been big business.
But mid '90s, us, Dres, Tribe,
we could see it taking over.
Being in this business, there's
a lot of things you're going to learn,
and they are screwing our love, and our love is hip-hop.
You know, our love is rap. So it's a learning process.
We could see what our label wanted us to do--
that formula and how that single,
that one record needed to be given.
Hip-hop definitely gives us the opportunity to blow up.
Hip-hop also gives us the opportunity to implode.
"The Choice Is Yours"-- you were young,
and did you guys do everything right so that record that
lives today and will live on forever does
benefit your children and your children's children?
Like, the deal wasn't a fair deal...
both: Right. - Whereas monetarily.
We didn't take a number--
Who would know those terms, though?
That's the crazy shit.
These are the things that are kind of common knowledge
that they just don't share with you.
Well, it's not common because it's not being shared at all.
Yeah, yeah.
You know, a lot of these guys got famous--
They're like teen stars.
As a young kid growing up in New York City,
I loved the music.
I was a fan. I would go to the clubs.
And you had access to these people.
And you could see how they got fucked over business-wise.
Of course, if you're 16, and they're like,
we're going to give you whatever
to sign this contract, you're like, fuck it.
You're not thinking Jay-Z, ownership,
you know, publishing.
This isn't even a formed genre of music.
And you're like, fuck. I'm going to make $15,000?
Fuck, yeah.
For as long as I can remember,
I've been around hip-hop,
as the former editor in chief at "The Source" magazine.
The business does get complicated.
You have to understand the industry
that you're making music in.
It's the key to survival as you continue
to grow old in the industry
because you're going to need it.
Dres told me he's seen old-school rapper
hopping a train, actually.
We was like, yo, that shit is crazy.
And Dres was like, yo, I wanted to help him,
but, like, I wasn't really in the situation--
Like, I ain't with him.
Fuck, I don't want to give him no fucking $40.
You know what I mean?
I think it's a concerted effort to try
to take advantage of people.
I'm gonna keep it funky. You know what I'm saying?
Yeah. - You got 8, 9 points.
They don't tell you that that's percentage.
That means there's 90% that exists
that's not yours off of what you did.
- What you made. - Right.
And God forbid you splitting it.
I should be a multimillionaire if they just gave me half.
Black Sheep were an integral part
of early 1990s renaissance hip-hop
coming out of the Five Boroughs.
As part of The Native Tongue collective,
Dres and his DJ, Mista Lawnge, embody the spirit
of that group of musicians.
But they maintained their own style and approach to music.
And in 1997, Dres dropped his first solo project.
As well, he has released independent music and material
as recently as last year.
Give it up for Dres.
[cheers and applause]
♪ Yes, it's me ♪
♪ D-R-E-S ♪
- All right. - Yeah, yeah.
For me, music is all-encompassing.
It's a beautiful reason to wake up every day.
It's a strong reason
to learn to correct yourself
because we're all going to make the mistakes
that we're going to make.
That's what life is.
But be defined by what you correct.
[applause]
I'm working on some really, really, really new dope shit.
This particular project is a DnD project--
Dilla and Dres. [cheers and applause]
All right? Yeah, yeah, yeah.
It's happening. It's going down.
Like, I've been allowed to visit
a sacred land
and pull a project
produced entirely by J Dilla.
And I'm asking all of y'all
to see that star when it shines,
'cause it's going to shine.
You know what I'm saying? That's my word.
I'm just asking you to pay attention a little bit.
You know what I'm saying? Word up.
[cheers and applause]
How y'all feeling? [cheering]
I can't hear y'all.
How y'all feeling, man? [cheering]
Want to take it back? - Way back, back into time.
["The Choice Is Your" playing]
Okay.
Real quick. [cheering]
Yes, we-- Yo!
I only recall meeting Dilla one time
in passing in life,
though he worked with everyone of the Natives--
very close with Tribe.
You know, he did a lot of work with De La.
When I make my music-- you know what I'm saying?--
I want people to feel what I feel.
I want them to feel that energy that I--whatever it was.
Yeah, that's all it is,
because I make it straight from the heart.
♪ Stakes is high ♪
♪ You know them stakes is high ♪
JD from Detroit was definitely one
of the illest producers ever.
J Dilla was truly one of the purest musicians
I've ever met.
Dilla came with his own sound,
his own beat, his own pace, his own scratches,
his own melodies.
And then he started working with everybody.
He worked with so many people,
from The Pharcyde, to Tribe...
De La Soul.
The Roots, Erykah Badu.
Busta Rhymes, Janet Jackson.
And he from Detroit.
So we like, that's our guy.
A significant role in hip-hop is the sampling.
And one of the best to ever do it is J Dilla.
All I know how to do is work the MPC
and listen to these breakbeats and chop shit.
You know what I'm saying? I come from that hip-hop shit.
What he was doing was merging jazz...
funk, soul.
He was flipping any record, anything.
The pieces of the record that he would sample--
it would be the same record you sampled,
but he would find a piece in that shit
that you would never even think to use
or couldn't even use it that way.
He could make a Soca record, a reggae record,
an R&B record.
It was just in a way that no one else would do.
And I mean, effortlessly.
Like, yeah, he did hip-hop, but he's way bigger than that.
He's a jazz musician.
He knew his time signature.
He was programming it,
but it just felt live, the swing of it.
He had an understanding of it that he could manipulate it
any way that he wanted to.
He was like, truly, a scientist at it.
Artists like Dilla gave us a new voice,
currency, a relevancy.
And that's real raw talent right there.
And that's why we still talking about him--because his beats
got us still talking.
[calm music]
♪ ♪
Went out to Puerto Rico to do a charity event,
and I was blessed to meet Ma Dukes.
Can't never get enough bell pepper and onion.
Let's see, finish cooking this sauce.
And I was offered an opportunity
to come back to their house...
Keep my pasta loose.
For a meal and, you know, just sit up and listen
to music, this, that, and the other.
Welcome to the hot kitchen. [laughs]
Dilla--he didn't have a lot of freedom as a kid.
And, you know, at that time, you could go to a record shop,
you hear something playing new.
Because he was such a great kid during the week,
when his dad worked, he got to get record or two.
You know, he'd do that-- build his record collection.
He was exceptionally gifted.
He could take anything apart. He was mechanically inclined.
Everybody liked him.
But he wasn't outgoing.
And if he didn't say anything or didn't speak,
it was just because his mind was, like--
his head was in a different space.
Everything is like done through math and science,
even with the music, you know.
Was used to hearing music of all genres--
Mr. Yancey, who had been a musician for over 25 years
professionally, as well as his job
at Ford Motor Company for 40 years
before he passed away.
We entertained a lot of musicians.
When Dilla was a baby, at 11 months old,
he would hear James Brown record come on.
And within the third beat, he'd be up dancing.
But he had not learned to walk yet,
and he's in a whole different world.
So music had him early on.
- If I can get my folder. - All right.
A lot of stuff was floating around on the Internet
because it wasn't released properly.
And so I had to encrypt a lot of stuff.
Why?
'Cause folks are always wanting to do music projects
with us, yet they're using songs that they
don't have permission to use.
It's the legal stuff that I got to take care of.
But the music--being back home with the family
makes all of that so much easier.
The guy basically chopped my record.
It got around-- bootleg versions.
And that was a big hit.
It was my fucking beats.
- Your tune? - Yeah.
And it's like--that was kind of in the beginning--
you know what I'm saying-- when I learned about that shit.
And people can just take your shit
and sample it and rap over it.
And you know what I'm saying?
Ah.
I can't stand that shit.
[rhythmic music playing]
Oh, that was it?
10:72.
Yo, play it again.
♪ ♪
Yo.
[laughter]
And catch you off guard.
Yo.
♪ ♪
♪ I was killing the heart, killing in the spot ♪
♪ Chilling the squad, I seen it before ♪
♪ Tonight she ain't feeling the dark ♪
Listening to Dilla's tracks no one had ever heard before,
I became excited.
End of the night, I wound up leaving Puerto Rico
with the opportunity to make an album from Dilla's catalog
and a hard drive of Dilla's beats,
music that was produced, you know, 15 years ago.
Ma Dukes could have had any artist
in the world do this project.
But I'm really grateful because it's me.
When I met you and the vibe I got and the love I felt,
that was genuine.
And I just felt like I had been around you always.
And that means a lot to me.
Dilla always told me, it's a time for everything.
All right.
Let me know to calm down and to wait for that moment.
And this is the time. - All right.
Let's make it happen.
No doubt.
- And, Dres, you got it. - Ah, thank you, Ma.
You got the golden Willy Wonka gold ticket.
[laughter]
- Thank you, Ma. - Make it happen.
Make it happen.
I was humbled.
I was honored, and I felt a sense of accountability
to what I was about to do.
♪ ♪
I'm excited about it.
Dres, you know, over Dilla beats would be dope.
That's dope.
- Oh, really? - [chuckles]
Wow. [chuckles]
Lucky him.
Doing this has been very therapeutic for me.
I've also been able to kind of just look
at myself and the artist that I am
and how important it is for me to push
forward to do the work.
♪ ♪
But I just picked, like, 40 tracks to start working.
The links are--you know, like, this is 23 seconds.
This is a minute and 24. This is 20 seconds right here.
Creating an entire song from a snippet
has really been a cool experience.
It's not about just writing a rhyme
and force-feeding it to a track.
You know, this project has been very much me
falling in love with what I'm hearing...
♪ I see the stars in your eyes, laying on Drew Hill ♪
And letting that pull out what should go on it.
♪ Baby, loving you a virtue ♪
♪ If I had you, wouldn't hurt you ♪
♪ Couldn't do nothing but nurse your beauty, easy to see ♪
♪ Said I'll show you what it mean ♪
♪ You were born my queen ♪
Here we go.
[playing saxophone]
♪ ♪
You're so amazing.
Yo, that was crazy.
Dilla is tricky, man.
Now that I'm listening to this...
- Yo, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. - And playing...
Yo, yeah. That's my word.
I'm like, the harmony that this cat is using--
It ends differently than just a 16-bar rhyme.
Right, right, right.
♪ ♪
You got some joints I ain't even heard before.
I ain't heard a third of them.
Right.
It's so much more for me to listen to.
- Word. - He's a genius, man.
♪ I need it because they hoping for my nap ♪
♪ And they know that New York is on our back ♪
♪ You broke in on... ♪
Dilla is somebody you can't afford to mess up.
♪ She won't know where I'm at ♪
People would be very unkind to you
if you take a Dilla track, and you
don't make the most out of it.
One, two, one, two.
♪ Then they get no data ♪
♪ In any dream that don't include us ♪
One more time.
I know, like, Dilla's mom
giving Dres those beats
was like giving him her heart...
in a lot of ways.
People have very strong, visceral feelings
about everything J Dilla.
♪ Any dream that don't include us... ♪
Normally, I would be like, I hate this.
You know what I'm saying?
But I know Dres. I love Dres.
And I know his heart.
But a lot of the "purists"-- we don't fuck with that shit.
Even if Dilla was alive,
you're going to get held to a very high standard
that's going to be tough to live up to.
And, also, there's obviously no collaboration of any sort.
It's not like we think of Dres and Dilla
in the same room at all.
♪ Game, new deal-- ♪ Ah!
So there's also going to be that certain aspect
of people going, that's random.
Don't worry about what people are saying.
Worry about what your heart is saying.
♪ New deal ♪
♪ I see the stars in your eyes laying on-- ♪
Worry about what you're going to do
to make this a hot project.
He know what to do.
No, one more time.
♪ ♪
What I'd like to do is just play you guys
some of the full-length cuts from the DnD project.
And I've taken this journey, like, so internally,
and each track, I feel like told me something.
So I want, you know, just play some
of these joints for y'all. - Okay.
- All right, cool. - Yeah.
This one is the one with CeeLo.
And he kills--like, he's just so amazing.
- I can't even imagine. - Yeah, CeeLo is amazing.
♪ ♪
♪ You know I'm there, but you don't really know me ♪
♪ The limelight moves around ♪ - Yeah.
[clapping]
Wow.
Is it still the same way? - For now.
♪ Don't give a fuck about that shit you do ♪
Ha ha!
♪ That way for lots of family ♪
Oh, damn.
- That's on point. - Who's on this one?
Alexander Simone, Nina Simone's grandson,
and Freeway. - Right.
- Yeah. - Wow.
♪ ♪
Usually you don't get that--
That is a full album.
Yeah, I'm just saying that everything is hot.
So it's, like, fresh and new for me,
but I'm, like, really energized and excited.
It's like I recognize what you've been through,
and here you go.
God got you. - All right.
- This project is for you. - I love that.
I love that. I love that--love it, love it.
Just to give it a little ambience,
I just decided to keep some of the coconut.
I met Maureen with DC Loves Dilla.
They had to come to the radio station.
When we got closer and closer, and then I said,
I'm gonna take you to Puerto Rico.
- Look at it. - Yeah, a little lizard, yeah.
He wants to be in the picture, too, I guess.
You know, she really didn't understand it,
but that was our first real date--
me going and taking her to Puerto Rico.
That's when I started asking her certain real questions
about, like, the people who was around her,
helping her facilitate the legacy
and the estate and everything.
And I asked basic questions-- couldn't get answered.
That's when I knew it was a problem.
After Dilla's passing,
there's a lot of confusion, particularly
those who should be reaping the benefits
of his hard work, which is--
You know, you reading about it, you're hearing about it.
Unfortunately, the lawyers and the curator of the estate
wouldn't let her do nothing.
The estate people was sitting there
trying to tell her she can't go do
anything with Dilla's music.
They were stopping her and stealing
intellectual property.
Shit bags.
Dilla's dead.
His family is alive keeping the legacy alive.
So when I got involved,
I'm going to do like any businessman is going to do--
fire everybody.
Really, the person who is pushing
forward all things J Dilla
and keeping his memory alive...
Since Dilla's passing, there has not been a lot of success
in getting Dilla's music out there.
Yo, it's like you don't want to get involved
in the messiness sometimes of someone leaving us,
and then who controls the estate
or the creative aspect of it?
You know, it can be very tricky.
You know, just because you have something,
it might not just be yours.
You know, me with Prodigy-- I go through the same thing.
I'm gung-ho about putting something out,
but I have to treat it as if Prodigy is here.
It's like, okay, you get this amount of money.
And you get that amount of money.
And let's just honor our loved one.
We humbly learned the down effects of the music business.
We learned that.
Yeah, it's a difficult--
I can't even speak on the situation.
I hope it gets rectified, man. I hope--
The importance of making sure everything
is clear with this particular project is because
you've had so many people using Dilla's
music without permission, putting it out.
And then they wonder--you come back to us and asking us,
how come my song got taken down?
Like, what happened?
I put out a good project and everything
that people think that it's okay to take someone's property
and utilize it for your benefit
without having permission.
Oh, yeah?
Like, and naming it DnD, Dilla and Dres,
like, I felt like it was important that we bond,
that this is an opportunity to be the difference in some
of the stuff that gets questioned
and some of the stuff that gets acknowledged.
DnD is something that, you know, like--
I'll put like this.
When we did "The Choice Is Yours,"
I'm standing in front of the mixing board next to Lawnge,
and I'm like, I don't know what we just did,
but I know we just did something.
- Word. - And that's how I feel.
There is a pressure that I put upon myself,
if anything, I think.
These people that love your son...
Yeah.
They're looking at me like, and you're about to do what?
[laughter]
He's gone, but his music is still here.
- Right. - You've been given the idea.
You've been given the talent.
You've been blessed to make this approach
and shine more light on what and who he was from people
that knew him best. - Yeah.
I think that's very important.
You know, it's going to be a lot of those people
that really don't know how to feel.
It's a lot of those people that were close to him
that are still mourning him. - Right.
You can't be afraid to take that step.
Let them have a taste of Dilla, you know,
and show them--so you've got to give it to them.
That's real. That's what we about to do.
Exactly, exactly.
[serene music]
♪ ♪
One of the things that's really important to me
in the making of this project is Dilla's approval.
And all of that doesn't take place any other way
without me learning about him.
I wasn't going to get a phone call from Dilla.
I had to take the initiative to find him.
I had to take the initiative to find his friends.
Where's Frank? Oh, wait--Frank, Frank.
I'm here. Frank is here.
How y'all doing? Holla at your boy.
Dilla, tell me if you remember this--when we was in the...
Frank Nitty was Dilla's right hand.
Frank was always there, and he cared about Dilla.
Seven years I put out records.
Everything I put out was a J Dilla track.
Everybody needs that guy to hold him down,
and that was him.
♪ Is how we do ♪
♪ We can do two ♪
♪ We got two for you ♪
And he can rap pretty fucking good, too.
- What's up? - What up, yo?
Want to come ride in the family vehicle?
Dude. What up?
You feel me? - Chilling, man.
Welcome, welcome, welcome. - That's what's up.
Man, we've been waiting for this.
Yeah.
Yep.
When I was, you know, going through Dilla's catalog
and pulling tracks,
I didn't know that Frank Nitt--he was the one
that compiled them all.
It's dope that you taking the time to get a little history.
But if he was here and we was doing this,
I probably would've been in his car picking you up
from the airport to come do the work,
because that's how it went down, you know what I'm saying?
I'm so grateful for it, man.
Dres, my mom wants you.
And he's extremely humble.
He's a good guy.
Don't let his humble fool you.
This a hip-hop luminary in a lot of ways
just hanging out in your basement at this point.
[laughs]
Being here creates
a certain type of individual based on the path you take.
One thing about being from Detroit
and being from the '80s or the '90s, in particular--
I would say it's an acquired taste.
Jalen Rose from the University of Michigan.
That's where I can help him a whole lot,
and that's what I'm looking to do from day one.
Detroit's an industrial giant.
I mean, it's changed over the decades.
Largest automobile plant in the world.
Detroit was a thriving city in the '70s.
Chevrolet, Ford, and Chrysler manufacturing cars,
and we also had Motown Records.
And music and cars became our heartbeat.
Detroit leads the nation in violent crime.
It started to change in the '80s
as the crack epidemic hit, and it went on the decline.
It's a diamond in the rough.
It's just really, really rough.
And I think Dilla applied that hustle and smarts
to music.
I don't know.
I wonder how he would feel to see this--
to know that, you know, at some point,
people in your city kind of caught up to it.
Right, right.
- You know what I'm saying? - Right, right, right.
That's so huge, man.
[indistinct chatter]
Let's see if y'all know what's going on here?
I want to take y'all to the East Side of Detroit
real quick.
I'm talking Detroit history musically was this place
right here, Pershing High.
I started here as a freshman, and then Dilla didn't come
here until his senior year.
♪ And I'ma play this game for you ♪
So we had this thing we used to do
called "shake it up"
after school right here with the crew.
We was known as the hip-hop kids, man.
And, like, when we was doing it, hip-hop wasn't cool to do.
♪ To be smacked open-handedly by these ♪
We used to make music at... [speaks indistinctly]
Which is, like, a couple of blocks that way.
You know, that was, like, our first real studio
to work at and do things.
[electronic tones]
I think that Dilla created a whole genre
for soul music and hip-hop that could have its own category.
Nobody else created beats like that, you know,
that felt that way.
Years ago--it must have been late '80s or '90s,
I was smoking a joint in front of the house,
and so he said, yo, man, I hear that music
coming out of the house.
You got equipment down there? You making music?
I said, yep, I do.
He brought the music that he had been creating
from beat matching with cassettes,
and that's how it all started.
At that point, I taught him how to use the MPC.
It was watching a light bulb go off.
It was, like, a dream come true
to finally be able to manipulate music like this
and put it together so fast.
So then he left stuff like this that I have in the machine.
That's cool--that I'll still have.
[hip-hop music plays]
♪ ♪
Crazy.
So there's probably
about six other keyboard sounds like that,
where he played the chords with just one note.
That showed you how great his ear was...
[notes playing]
Just the fact that all these keyboard songs--
that just one chord--
he sampled it, and then played it on the pad.
Nobody else was doing that.
How many songs you got done already?
- Probably about 12, 13. - Okay, that's good.
I would love to play a track or two for you, man...
- Yeah, I'd love to hear it. - If it's cool.
You know what I'm saying? - Yeah, please.
[hip-hop music plays]
♪ Everything that glitters... ♪
Whoo, that shit is cold.
♪ Be careful what you ask for to cash in ♪
♪ Said, I'm a ride or die, baby, mob me ♪
♪ ♪
Wow.
That's the shit. You're on a roll right now.
You need to keep-- you need to stay on that hill.
[chuckles]
A lot of music that's still out here,
you know, and she could have chose anybody.
She got to keep the bar up here.
[soft music]
The spot--the old street here.
We never used this front door-- always the back door.
Come by the stoop. Come by the house.
Come to Nevada.
I was in this house as a 12-, 13-year-old kid
running around.
Like, Ma upstairs cooking--
for real, like, making pies and snacks,
while we trying to make... make music--
or do something we dream of, you know what I'm saying?
Like, make a dream come true.
Dilla Studios--don't nobody get this motherfucker.
Frank is in it deep.
It was just automatic to work with him.
Know what I'm saying? That's family.
You have outdone your cousin today.
James Dewitt Yancey as a person--
extremely smart, bullheaded.
He want to do what he want to do.
You got something to say for the camera?
Funny--a lot of people don't know.
You motherfuckers...
The first thing I learned about DJing was from him.
Like, he showed me how to scratch.
After school, we walked--
Oh, come over to the crib. I want to show you this.
Talk about J Dilla's basement is--we walk in.
His records all over the walls.
That's how I got to know him--sitting in the basement
with the tiles.
Got the couch where I was laid out.
Mother cooking for me upstairs.
He's like, use my records. I don't care what you use.
Pete Rock is in my house, man, making beats.
It's like two giants--
the Hulk and The Thing just chilling out,
teaching each other.
And we became real fast, talking to each other like--
you know?
- I mean, I got all that shit. - Right.
I had that shit. I just wanted to get some--
He has this process, a way of hooking up drums,
making the drums sound like they sound.
That's it. He plays the record, or he hears something.
Oh.
Puts it in the machine.
Hears something else--oh.
I'm watching all these things, and I'm like,
this is alchemy.
This is fucking science what's going on right here.
That's what makes it special, as well as all the music
and all the stars and celebrities
that pulled up in our hood to come get that work.
You know what I mean?
- They all came down to the D. - They came to the D.
They all came to the D. That's what I'm saying.
I'm still a fan of this hip-hop shit.
You know what I'm saying?
Shit like that--it's still part of the dream.
It's still part of the-- I can't believe it.
♪ Putting it on the map for the D ♪
Yo. DJ Dez.
[cheers and applause]
I feel like I represent something special, man.
I'm proud of the era.
I'm proud of the cast that I came in with--
a lot of history.
Finally, that's word.
First of all, how did you meet Dilla?
We met at Amp's house.
You just feel like you at the right place--
you know what I'm saying-- or right moment.
You know when you in the midst of somebody that's special.
I felt like we was going to take over the world.
I felt like that was my partner.
We was aliens, and we was going to take over the world.
Right, right, right, right.
I get it, because since I kind of started this project
and announced that I'm doing this project,
the energy around it kind of goes throughout
my entire sphere of awareness.
You know what I'm saying?
Like, everything around me became kind of charged.
You know what I'm saying?
- It's special. - Yeah, yeah.
It's a special dynamic.
Yeah, it is a very special dynamic.
Hmm.
[clicks tongue]
Keep the passion, man.
You might run into an obstacle.
[serious music]
Just keep the passion, because...
you know, this past can get tricky.
♪ ♪
And it's just... - Right.
[sighs]
♪ ♪
Things become way more complicated after you gone.
♪ ♪
He came back from tour 2000--
from UK.
He just wasn't feeling good.
So, during his hospital stay that we thought
was going to be just for observation,
it ends up being a couple months because he has
to have dialysis, you know?
And he had lupus, which was a very rare blood disease.
And I think they said it was one in...
10,000,000.
J Dilla was like my roommate out here.
So I would go home every day, and he
would be working on his MPC, making beats, creating magic.
And then eventually he got sick,
I'd watch him, you know, physically deteriorating.
[crowd chanting]
The first time I seen him in a wheelchair
was when he rolled off the plane.
It was basically his last tour.
What up, doe? [cheering]
What up, doe?
[cheering] Yeah!
And I'm not gonna act like there's anything different.
You know, it's still Dilla. What up, boy?
You know, it's still that.
The only thing I did ask him was, yo, we been filming.
If you don't want to be on camera, tell me now, you know.
No, film that shit. Film that shit.
It's a blessing to be out here right now
bringing you this celebration-- that's what it is.
Retrospect, he knew.
He knew his time was coming.
He even brought his moms to see you all.
Make some motherfucking noise! [cheering]
He didn't take anything that day, but he's hurting,
I can imagine, all over.
- It's Ma Dukes, y'all. - Bring Ma Dukes to the stage.
[cheering]
That last night before he passed away,
he's finishing up his last project.
Now all I got to do is get the bass line, he says.
In his hospital bed, you know,
with his little crate of records,
little, small little turntable,
I'm sick, possibly dying.
Where's my MPC?
That's a whole other mind state.
It was something that I didn't want to accept,
that he was losing himself.
♪ ♪
Even as I'm holding him, he just had a breath in my arm.
But that breath that I felt was his last breath,
and he died in my arms.
♪ ♪
I had so much love and so many people supporting me
around me.
Eventually I'll come home, and he's not there no more.
So his spirit is still here, and he's living
forever through the music.
It's just that dedication.
Everybody can't be on that type of time.
[cheers and applause] - Thank you all for coming out.
I love you all, man.
♪ ♪
Too young...
died too young.
♪ ♪
When we started coming here, he was digging.
Now, they got memorabilia, T-shirts, all that, but...
It is ice cold.
Shit.
I've been here so many times. You have no idea.
Even after I had records, we still would come in here,
and he would dig.
And we had, you know, singles out.
Our singles would be here on the wall.
There go Dilla's signature right there.
- All right. - Yep.
"Jay Dee, Slum Village."
And then if we go all the way down over here,
you'll find your boy Nitty...
- All right. - Right there.
That's what's up.
- You want to go above Quest? - Okay, sounds good.
- That good? - Yeah.
All right. - Thank you.
I feel honored. [chuckles]
You know what's a good example?
Check with--what is it--
"Why I Got To Be Like That," Pharcyde, okay?
And then listen to "Do For Love" by Tupac.
J, he took record digging to a whole nother level.
I mean, he would come in, literally sit down,
grab the most obscure jazz album
that you could actually think of,
and he would play X amount of songs.
His knowledge was just a joy to behold.
The last three years, all production,
just trying to get my name out.
I still consider myself underground, very underground.
I want to get across there and still do what I do.
You know, and Detroit is the type of city
where, if you don't come correct,
you will be called out for it.
I mean, talk about no-fly zone.
Krrrr!
That's how bad it is.
You know, don't let the smooth taste fool you.
We handle our own around here.
But we also praise...
When it's done correctly?
When it's done correct, yes.
Oh, most definitely.
Excellent, because that's what this is all about.
This is all about doing it correctly.
♪ ♪
It has a weirdness to it.
I could definitely sense, you know,
the territorial aspect of people's
relationships with Dilla-- that I didn't have this.
You know, I wasn't in the room.
I wasn't there. You know, I get it.
I would be a little territorial as well probably.
[cell phone chimes]
Yo...
Oh, wow.
Man.
That's kind of the energy that--
you know, like, the energy that exists around this
is very elusive.
Yeah.
Ask her, you know, if I may, what happened?
Even if she don't do it, whoever she talking to,
she should be armed with the truth about the situation.
They don't know if I'm a piece of shit trying to take
advantage of a situation.
Why should I trust you?
So whatever the fuck they saying...
Yeah, and I'm definitely trying not to...
take anything personal.
It's not even a "fuck you" thing.
It's a "what the fuck are you doing?" thing.
♪ ♪
[line trilling]
Hey, Dres.
What's going on?
So I just got off the phone with Toney and Ma's attorney.
Oh, yeah?
And there seems to be a little bit
of hesitancy on their part about this project,
in general.
This is coming from--
it's coming from left field.
- I'm sorry. - This is news to me.
Yeah, do you have anything signed
with them at this point?
Remember when we were first putting this together?
- Yeah. - You told me--
let's clarify everything going on with the music.
But the music--it was done on the goodwill
of me, Toney, and Ma. - Okay.
I've been moving forward and speaking like--
like I had Ma's blessings-- that they allowed me to do
this from the very beginning.
Yeah, look, Dres, if I'm understanding correctly,
you haven't had a chance to paper up a deal yet
for the album itself, right?
I'm the only one that's spent money in the creation
of this project.
No one else has.
I've spent thousands upon thousands of dollars
creating this, getting all kinds of features.
And I was under the assumption that, in good faith,
they're my partners.
They represent Dilla's interests.
J Dilla is the producer, and I'm the MC.
I got--that makes total sense.
I know a lot of things get lost in translation sometimes.
I think Toney might have maybe misconstrued--
Like, I even asked her on film, you know,
why did she give me permission to do this?
And the answer, you know, was heartwarming.
I don't understand where this is coming from.
Look, I'm not sure if this is a game or a tactic,
but I'm just doing my best
to kind of alleviate their concerns.
So the sooner we get something in writing that outlines
exactly what this relationship is
and exactly what you guys are doing, the better.
Well, let's put it under contract.
I hope we can figure this out.
I don't know where they went off track.
I literally look at them like an extension of my family
at this point.
But... - [sighs]
It sounds like you really need to talk to a lawyer.
Yeah.
I appreciate it.
♪ ♪
What's really fascinating in the music industry
is most artists have this optimistic view of things.
They go into the studio. They write together.
They hang out.
As y'all pass this, y'all are going
to notice that he looks like he's about
to spit a serious rhyme.
That because they work so well with each other
that the contractual nature of it will just all work out.
They just do and create.
It's a very nice way to view the world.
Unfortunately...
that's why you need me,
because that's not what the world is about.
Here, just sit on this chair. Just sit over here.
Here, let me grab your bag. - Oh, thanks.
In this specific case, which is Dres, the organic nature
of the way this came about, which is him just happening
to be at a show and happened to be invited
by Ma to her house and happened to talk to Toney,
who happened to give him material,
his first step wasn't, like, hey, lawyer.
Go call Ma Dukes' lawyer and get a contract.
It's just not the way people think.
All right, so...
I'm not sure if-- do you know I met with--
with Ma Dukes and Toney--
- Okay. - On Thursday?
Yeah. How'd that go?
It's my understanding that Ma Dukes,
through Toney's music publishing company,
controls the rights to the music...
at this point.
Their concern, I think, is, you know, natural
because there's so much product out
in the marketplace right now, J Dilla product,
that's unauthorized. - Right.
That's one of the hesitancies of them.
If you look on YouTube or on Instagram
or even Spotify and Apple,
you see unauthorized Dilla tracks.
Definitely.
Their hesitancy and uncomfortableness
is you were going off and doing your thing,
and you were getting features, and you
were making the tracks work.
And they didn't have a real understanding
of what was going on with their son's music.
I paid for all of these sessions
and told you all about every single--
you know, like, every step.
This is why having contracts with them
is so important to them
and, obviously, so important to you.
One of the other problems is the estate.
It's a bit messy.
In addition to Ma, there are other parties that are vying
for control of the music.
And it's one of the things we just have to clean up,
which is, I think, you know, one of the reasons
that you should just take a step back for a moment
so we can, you know, get some clarity on that.
- All right. - Don't focus on it.
Don't do any recording. Don't talk about it.
Go and do Dres, tour, produce. You know, do your thing.
I've taken it as far as, in my heart,
like, I'm looking at them as Dilla
and that me and Dilla are a duo.
What she's affording me is the platform...
- Right. - For the world to see
exactly what I have to say today.
- No, I-- - And that's all I need.
That's all I need.
You know, there's no paperwork.
So let us focus on Dilla,
because if we can't make this deal,
then these tracks will never see the light of day.
All of our time and your money is going to go to waste.
Let us work on this so we can get this deal done.
All right.
♪ ♪
I've been the same artist I've been my entire career,
but the music industry can definitely make
anyone uneasy.
Is this right? Is this correct?
Is anything going to fall on me?
And as much as "The Choice Is Yours" puts me
in a lot of rooms and things thereof,
it doesn't afford me what this project is about to afford me.
From here off, I think is taking
some of my eggs out of this basket and this project.
♪ ♪
There's hundreds of thousands of examples
of records that have been made that will never,
ever see the light of day.
It's called shelving.
You know, the question is, will this Dres and Dilla album
be one of them?
[person humming]
How'd you sleep?
- Oh, slept well. - Yeah?
Good.
I told you I've got to go to Milwaukee today, right?
Yep.
Did I tell you what I was doing?
I told you I was doing a day party for Adidas--
the sneaker company?
- Yeah, I know what that is. - Okay, cool.
I definitely would like to think that there's
something inside of me that--
that shines inside of Sid.
Hey, Sidney. Hi.
- Say, "Happy Father's Day." - [babbles]
That's my boy.
Who is that?
Who is that with them pearly-white teeth?
Is that my baby?
Mwah! Don't be so happy about it.
Sid has grown up with me in and out.
Like, you know, it's kind of a running joke in the house.
You know what I'm saying? Like, I'm always leaving.
Hi, everybody.
Now say, "bye."
He always sees me traveling, going back and forth...
Say, "hello." - Hi.
Writing, reciting, practicing.
That's dad's 9:00-to-5:00.
Dad is unorthodox in the degree that, you know,
he doesn't see me get up at 7:00 in the morning
and go to the office and come back, ever.
But he's always seen me working.
Did you finish? - Yeah.
There were 154 questions total on the test,
and I got through, like, 130. - That's pretty good.
You know, like I didn't grow up in a nuclear family.
Be right back, Sid.
So me learning how to create
a peaceful home is a process.
I don't come from it.
So there's times when I've had to trial-and-error.
That's something that your family
has to go through with you.
What planet has a ring? - That's Saturn.
Okay, smart boy.
I live Saturn, too.
You live on Saturn, too? I live on Earth.
Maybe you take me with you when you get older
and you go into space? - Okay.
I just want you to know, I'm a huge fan.
[laughter]
Like all my kids, they're dreamers, without question.
And that's important. It's important to dream.
Love you. - Bye.
- I'll see you later, okay? - Yeah.
All right.
Yeah, call Mom when you're hungry.
- Yeah. - All right?
You know, like, that's the shit that ages you--
when you stop dreaming.
But when you're young,
you might not see where reality and dreams meet.
[elevator bell dings]
Yo, how y'all feeling? [cheering]
Yo, my name is Dres.
I go by the name of the sugar-dick daddy Mista Lawnge.
As you get older, that becomes
a little bit more definitive,
definitely with your career and relationships.
Once you become an artist, you have
a sense of responsibility.
We have a sense of responsibility
to all of these people right here--
you know, things that we're doing.
They look at us.
But at the same time, I really have
to stress that people are people,
and people make mistakes, and nobody's perfect.
Like, me and Lawnge-- anything can happen.
What's the name of this group on the stage tonight?
all: Black Sheep!
Say what?
You know, sometimes you outgrow relationships.
You got Mista Lawnge and Dres in the house.
Man, what y'all been doing for two years, man?
Y'all been on hiatus, man. - Back up off us, man.
We hear a lot of--
well, you want to go ahead and elaborate?
Nah, man.
- Say no more. - We'll be back--
We got Black Sheep in the house.
I missed me and Lawnge being Black Sheep
and having the knowledge of each other,
as well of ourselves.
We had vision.
We had concept.
You know, we were a package before we ever hit wax.
[indistinct shouting]
♪ Yo, who's the black sheep? What's the black sheep? ♪
You know, people definitely always affiliated
"The Choice Is Yours" with me and Lawnge.
Peace, brother. Pardon me.
- Black Sheep, right? - No doubt.
But at this point, people have literally seen me on my own
for years.
What up, baby? - How you doing?
And with Strike shadowing me, they've
come to understand that me and Lawnge aren't together.
So I think, you know, like, they kind of
put my face to the song today more so than they do Lawnge.
[tone beeps]
Please make sure your seat belt is--
You know, like, people have asked me, like,
do I ever get tired of performing "Choice Is Yours"?
Coming on, doing, like, one song and everything,
and they just pulled me in for that.
But that's beyond a blessing.
Life is going to be what it is.
You know what I'm saying?
It's not always going to be a sunny day.
[shivers] It's cold.
Milwaukee is about that action.
Remember when we was-- where was we at?
It was Sweden or something.
It was nice when we went in the club, and we came out--
- We came out, it was snowing. - It was snowing.
It was like we was in Maine or something.
Yo, shit was crazy.
♪ ♪
[line trilling]
Hello?
- Mr. Dawson. - Yes, sir.
Hey, how's it going? This is Dres from Black Sheep.
I was just trying to find out what
time you would be arriving to grab us from the hotel.
You perform at 6:00, right?
5:20.
Let's say 4:30.
- 4:30? - Yeah.
- Okay. - All right.
See you then, bro. - All right.
[cell phone chimes]
Okay, cool.
♪ ♪
I'm not with the bullshit.
Like, and if there was a issue, why didn't I hear from--
Like-- [sputters]
Yeah. Yeah, like...
Yeah.
That doesn't even make sense.
Like, why are we doing it-- you know what I'm saying--
if we're not, you know--
Yeah.
Well, let me just...
[speaks indistinctly]
♪ ♪
And that shit is a bluff. Fuck.
Like, I can't imagine...
Toney not signing off on this shit.
As much as he's talking about it...
I can't imagine it not coming out and it being his fault.
She said out of her mouth, this is signed off.
Yeah, like they--
Fucking studio fees.
Let me just do what I'm doing.
Because if they keep that shit up, man--
Let's go.
We out.
Yeah.
♪ ♪
I'm just going to step back and do what I do.
Y'all do what y'all do. Just figure this shit out.
You know?
♪ ♪
If you were in the middle of making a project,
and you've been working on it for a long time,
you believe you're taking all the proper measures
to get it done, I can certainly understand
why an article in "Rolling Stone" stating
that, in fact, you have done none of those things
and the album is unsanctioned
and doing this without permission
would be frustrating, to say the least.
I've been coming to Milwaukee
for a lot of years, right?
But now I think we're going to be doing a lot of parties
together out here with each other, right?
[cheering]
Got to do the intro.
Definitely warm up your mic.
I'm gonna position myself so as soon as it drops,
I'm walking out.
But I don't want you to just-- you know, yeah, like--yeah.
Cool, cool, cool. This is going to be fun.
♪ I'm for the hood, yo, I'm for the struggle beat ♪
♪ ♪
- Ready? - Yes, sir.
[cheers and applause]
How many of us are 35 and older?
Make some noise. [cheers and applause]
How many of us are under 35? [cheers and applause]
Okay, okay, welcome, welcome, motherfuckers, welcome.
On the ones and twos might join DJ Strike holding me
down for a dozen years now. - What up? What up?
This is going to be a little bit different than anything
you've been to.
We don't get litty.
We rock shit.
So we going to rock shit tonight.
We rock shit! [cheers and applause]
Can we have some fun in Milwaukee?
[cheering]
Hip-hop is definitely in the house.
- Let's go. - Word.
And let's get into some shit.
My name is Dres.
Y'all know what it is.
[cheering]
All right, let's do this.
[cheering]
♪ Who's the black sheep? What's the black sheep? ♪
♪ Know not who I am... ♪
[soft music]
♪ ♪
Doing shows is me breathing, being on the road,
me working, me hustling, me grabbing
any mic that had hip-hop
and a paycheck affiliated with it.
That's my life.
If you can. It goes...
♪ Engine, engine ♪
all: Number 9!
♪ On the New York ♪
all: Transit line!
I get to rock--
literally, rock-- audiences globally.
♪ If my train goes off the track ♪
♪ Pick it up, pick it up, pick it up ♪
[rapping indistinctly]
I lived that.
That's how I paid for DnD.
And everything aside, that's beautiful.
♪ ♪
Thank you for coming.
It was a pleasure to hang out with y'all, no doubt.
Back at you. - Appreciate you.
[speaking indistinctly]
Now say, yeah.
all: Yeah!
That's what I'm talking about.
Performing--
I have those memories of me and Lawnge.
One of the biggest secrets I think I learned from Lawnge
is to just have fun.
Milwaukee, big up yourselves. Word up.
Y'all got it going on.
Good job. Good job. You did that shit.
- I appreciate it. - All right, now.
As long as you're having fun, everyone is enjoying you.
♪ ♪
It's that simple.
♪ ♪
Whoo.
[sighs] Did that.
That's done.
[indistinct chatter]
In 3, 2...
Ah, yo, check it. This is Dres.
And this is Mista Lawnge, the 9.5er.
Together we make up this group called what?
Black Sheep in the house.
Now we're rocking with who?
Oh, shit. [laughter]
I would love to see Dres and Lawnge rock.
But with them not being together for so long,
it's tricky, man.
It's tricky.
Like, you want to see Black Sheep,
you know, this classic team-up of the two.
But we're all human beings.
It isn't easy. It isn't easy to talk about.
Yeah, I don't--
I don't know if that's going to happen.
They were separated so long ago.
And since I've made it to New York
and have been around the scene,
I've gotten to know Dres over the years, always seen him.
I don't recall of any interaction with Mista Lawnge.
So I have no idea. Where is he?
I don't know that they're beefing or whatever.
Is he going to be in the film?
[laughing]
Fat chance. Fat chance.
I'm saying, a good documentary
got to get to the bottom of what the fuck happened.
Well, first of all, where the fuck is he?
I have no idea-- no clue, none at all.
Like, yo, the nigga just disappeared off the Earth.
Like, I heard he's in Florida.
I don't know how valid that is.
Last time I heard, I think he's in North Carolina maybe.
I don't know. - [laughs]
That's interesting.
No, where is he?
[water lapping softly]
In history,
it's always, what happened to that guy?
You see this guy. What happened to the other guy?
We know it's two.
You dig a little harder, and you dig a little harder,
and you dig a little harder.
But sometimes when you find that answer,
it does nothing because it may be by design.
It may be a plan. Who knows?
♪ ♪
Deep down, I'll always be Mista Lawnge from Black Sheep.
But today I'm just dad.
No, you stop. You stop bugging.
No, I'm sorry.
A lot of stuff is a blur to me because it happened fast.
They just wanted to hear what we're capable of.
And then they gave us a demo budget to do
a real demo, you know, in a real studio.
I love hip-hop, and I love the music.
But I don't love what it comes with.
I mean, you guys are so young.
It doesn't matter what your age is.
You're letting people know us.
I'm 19 years old at the time,
fresh out of high school.
Here, go get on that stage.
Here, you're in front of stars.
You're shaking hands with A-listers.
You're, you know, teens making these big, mega hits.
When you have that success,
you have to maintain that success.
The choice is yours.
You can get with this, or you do that.
And that's what they want to see.
That's what they want to see.
And it was overwhelming.
That's what I hate about the music industry
and success--
people's anticipation.
You get kind of a anxiety.
I'm not doing it for the love, anymore.
I'm doing it for their expectation.
How many people who grew up in hip-hop?
Make some noise if you grew up in hip-hop.
[cheering]
Hip-hop cannibalizes itself so much
that they're always looking for the next new.
Look at this. Forget that.
That's old.
Hip-hop is the only genre that that happens in.
That took away the love for what I was doing.
So I just left.
♪ ♪
That was it. Yeah.
[car horns honking]
I'm the Naked Cowboy. [guitar playing]
Ladies, take a picture with you, ladies, come on.
♪ I'm the Naked Cowboy ♪
♪ ♪
[water running]
You think about where you are in life, your age,
you know, and you think about people that you know and love,
the time that passes...
See, I got on fresh paint.
This is fresh paint, so you do it naturally,
so it's not super gray.
So you can always see the older rappers with freshly painted,
but right underneath is gray, a lot of gray--
the new growth. [chuckles]
Hey, it is what it is, man.
♪ ♪
Coming back to New York is very nostalgic,
and it is motivation.
It really throws me right back into the space
that I was in with club life and Dres
and being around the music industry.
What led up to the success of Black Sheep
was what was fun for me.
That is the part that I try to hold on to the most.
It's been, like, 20-plus years.
I'm hoping to really get that energy back.
You know, for me, when it comes to Black Sheep and Dres,
no, never say never.
♪ ♪
Yo.
[chuckles] - What's going on, B?
- How you doing, man? - Good to see you, brother.
- Good to see you, too, man. - Word up.
Say hello to somebodies. - What up, world?
It's Mista Lawnge from Black Sheep.
This is my brother right here, y'all.
It's been a long time since y'all got this picture.
I better freeze-frame that one.
Word up. - Stay tuned.
All right, for real, stay tuned.
Much love.
I'll catch y'all.
♪ ♪
Where we're headed was one of the top shows
ever in my life-- the Apollo Theater.
[cheers and applause]
The balcony was literally shaking up and down.
Didn't we have to tell people to stop jumping
because the shit was--
Yeah, like, we really thought that shit was going to break.
Uh-huh. It's like, okay, now we're home.
Yep.
Wow.
Black Sheep--it's been years. It's been years.
Oh, my gosh.
Legends.
What's up?
How are you, man? - Long, long time.
Yeah, right. How's everything?
If you embrace Harlem, Harlem embraces you right back.
Good to see you, man.
This is our stomping grounds.
We'd meet in front of the Apollo.
Yep.
Upstairs was a studio at the time.
We mixed "Wolf in Sheep's Clothing"
right in here.
So being here is very inspiring.
That's real.
And it also puts you in touch with--
Like, this is who we do this shit for.
Y'all amazing.
Harlem gives that right back.
I respect what you're doing with the tribute.
Oh, I appreciate that, man.
This is coming home.
The world-famous Apollo Theater...
The Apollo Theater--first of all, it was sold out...
- Yeah. - Standing room only.
It was tense. It was anxiety.
It's like that before any big show.
I remember after that show us walking down
125th Street this way... [car horn honks]
And every car going by was just honking at us.
[echoing] It was like, y'all did it.
And we just walking, just floating down 125th Street,
just feeling like I wasn't touching the ground.
The stage has been graced by such artists
as Sammy Davis Jr., Count Basie...
Ella Fitzgerald.
It's a tradition of Black music.
For us, that was real important.
And then us doing stuff like late-night television--
every audience--we were always having to prove ourselves.
It's Arsenio Hall!
- Time we did Arsenio... - I got something for y'all.
Oh, we got a great show for you.
I want to do some different shit.
So I was like, listen, we perform from the audience.
♪ We're the Black Sheep ♪
Arsenio was like, you got to talk to my producer
about that shit. - [laughs]
So he took me to the producer.
♪ ♪
He was like, okay, so let's just try it.
And the shit popped off. - Yeah, it was crazy.
It was crazy.
[cheers and applause]
So that became a format for them to do that.
Are we ready?
Here's Jay Leno!
And then Leno--
Ladies and gentlemen!
♪ Everybody say scream ♪ [cheers and applause]
That was tremendous for the culture.
That was the beginnings
of putting hip-hop in Middle America.
Being in New York, reconnecting with Dres,
filming this documentary--
it's kind of, like, intense for me.
You know, just in my own head,
it's kind of "Twilight Zone"-ish.
When we lived here, like, nobody
really knew we lived here.
And the engine of my mind starting up,
putting everything together,
but, you know, I'm just looking for inspiration.
If the right thing comes about,
you never know what's going to happen.
Mista Lawnge, Dres, Black Sheep, slam now.
My man. - Good to see you.
Oh, my gosh.
I ain't seen you in forever, man.
What's up with you? You got a beard on me now.
[laughter]
Mista Lawnge got a beard on me, D.
It's painted. [laughter]
Ah, shit.
This is my code D right here, man.
- No doubt, no doubt. - That's what's up.
So we're putting the band back together.
Very, very possible, man. That's what we looking at, man.
We going to be like-- - I still got it.
[laughter]
You know what I'm saying? Yo, man.
For real, for real.
How are you feeling about--
You got something written, though?
Shit. I could play with that one.
[rhythmic beats playing]
This is Dilla, you know, from the DnD project.
You want to jump in? You want me to set it?
It don't matter to me.
Yeah, I'll jump in, while shit is in my head.
All right.
While I was on the plane, I was in my own head
about what we were going to be doing.
I really had no expectations.
[whispering indistinctly to self]
Concepts start flying from what I see,
you know, regular life.
The way things happen...
people.
And I'll automatically go into writing.
Mista Lawnge verse--we haven't heard in a minute.
That's what's up.
Mista Lawnge from Black Sheep...
I'm gonna just run through it a couple of times
until I learn this shit.
Y'all need the beat?
Nah, this for the DnD. This is a Dilla shit.
Oh, oh, Dilla drop. Oh, okay. That's right.
Get him on this project, you know?
- Yeah, yeah. - That'd be crazy.
Let's do it again.
We got the energy. - Mm-hmm.
I mean, with the wild success of Black Sheep,
I still look back.
That wasn't the best part.
The best part was that growing--
you know, just brothers making music,
doing what we love.
We navigated, and we found our way to here, man.
I'm proud of us for that.
We learned from our mistakes.
Continuation. - You know what I'm saying?
What it could've been, what it should've been.
Everything happens for a reason.
Let's do it.
So let's do some shit together.
♪ Yo, Mista Lawnge is the K-E-Y ♪
♪ And some of y'all are going to say he lie ♪
♪ So, listen, maybe I need to spit that truth ♪
♪ When I hit that booth ♪
♪ Then y'all sleeping-ass skeptics ♪
♪ Could get that proof ♪
♪ It's undeniable, me, I'm so reliable ♪
♪ But a lot of rappers' success is really unjustifiable... ♪
[train rumbling softly]
[tone beeps]
Ladies and gentlemen, at this time,
we're approaching our next station stop.
[line trilling]
Hey, Dres. Ma Dukes here.
What up, doe?
I thought I need to call you.
After all the rhetoric and misconceptions about things,
I really think we should get together
and, you know like, have a chat,
kind of explain to each other what the heck's going on,
you know, sit down-- you, me, and Toney,
if that's okay with you.
I don't know what your schedule is,
but we'll be in D.C. Wednesday.
So try to hit me back.
If I have to extend it a day, I will, but let me know, okay?
Reach me back at 313 number or either of the 323s.
Both of them I'll have on.
One love.
[tone beeps]
Ladies and gentlemen, at this time,
we are approaching our final destination,
Washington, D.C., station.
At this time, we ask you...
I haven't seen Ma since we were in Puerto Rico.
As far as this project itself, you know,
I've had to deal with a lot of doubt.
Washington, DC, final station.
We're going through a cloudy situation.
You know what I'm saying?
And it's not for me to move on and just think
that it's going to be okay.
That's not how it's going to work.
So whatever is in question,
I'd like to address now face-to-face
so that there isn't any misunderstandings.
What up?
How are you?
- Good to see you, man. - No doubt.
No doubt. - Good to see you, too.
No doubt, no doubt. Hey, Ma.
- What up, doe? - Ah, here you go.
This is for you. - Oh, my God.
Thank you. - And it's good to see you.
Good to see you, too.
Get all that baggage off your back and enjoy.
It's so good to see you. That's what's up.
Thank you. You know I like gifts.
- It's been too long. - Yes.
- Have a seat right here? - All right.
What's up now? How y'all doing?
Pretty good. It's been a good day.
Weather is not bad. - Yeah, right?
Right? - Yeah.
It turned out pretty decent out there.
It was a little overcast when I left New York,
but it's nice out here. - Oh, yes.
Yeah, it's been quite the walk.
It's been quite the walk.
Yeah. Yeah, we're here, though.
- Yes. - Yeah, you know?
I really wanted to say that, you know, like, this...
Like, I just really trusted who we were.
Like, you know, like, what happened?
Like, what--
There are numerous people doing Dilla music--
not permitted, just willy-nilly doing whatever.
It's a known fact that he's one of the most
bootlegged artists ever.
And...
as far as music, for this project...
I'm saying it from me to the ears of those that will listen
with my own face and mouth.
This was something that I've been very excited about.
Thank you.
This article has brought a lot of attention
to a lot of people.
- I know who I'm talking to. - Mm-hmm.
- And I know what I'm hearing. - Yeah.
These are two different things.
Like, what happened?
This doesn't even sound remotely like--
you know what I'm saying-- like us.
That was a messy interview.
That wasn't my quote.
I was confused. - Like, it's almost--
- So I just don't know. - Yeah, like, why--
why even write this interview?
You just was unsure if you wanted to have this happen?
No.
Toney, did you--when you came to kitchen,
you said, did you see this?
I couldn't believe that "Rolling Stone" article,
using those particular words, misquoting my wife.
It's like, oh, my God, yo.
How? - I don't know.
How?
That's when I knew for a fact that--
- Something was very wrong. - Something was very wrong.
Even some of the wording in it was kind of, like--
It was, like, crazy.
Oh, right, right, right, right.
And it didn't make sense, and it was too much
that I didn't know about that was being said.
I endorsed this project in the beginning.
I've been so excited about it.
And the sheer fact that the idea happened in my own home
in Puerto Rico, okay, three years ago,
so they don't have to worry about--
Nobody has to put an article up.
Yo, we here. This is what's important.
You know, we withstood the storm.
Right.
And we didn't know it was coming.
- Right, right. Real talk. - We go, oh, you know.
- On so many fronts. - And that's life.
Yeah.
That's the real thing, and that's what makes us strong.
And you want to know, like, you know,
that your relationships can survive that.
And that's what it is.
Let's rise together. - Yeah, no doubt.
- That's what it is. - Thank you, sincerely.
You still and always did have my blessing.
Thank you.
That was real.
It is real.
♪ ♪
Anytime I can get a chance to see Ma,
it's, like, this just really parental type of feeling
that I get in her presence.
I think about the very humble beginnings of us
just meeting by chance
and all that it's become,
you know, from the pandemic,
to the trials and tribulations of creation,
to, you know, real life taking place in the interim.
It's been a learning experience within itself.
More than anything, I think it's invigorated in me
to definitely make sure that
my estate and my affairs are situated.
Publishing and the music that I have done
are going to my children
to help them move forward in life.
It also put the desire in me to leave something, you know,
so I'm very grateful for that.
What the world is seeing you do for your son
says it all, as far as who you are
and the mother that you are to this world.
- Wow. Thank you for that. - Like, for real, for real.
Dilla was my whole world.
Some parents don't even know that their children were
talented or creative. - Right.
But you got to nourish that talent
to make the world better for young people.
Especially VH1 Save The Music.
- Yeah. - You know what I'm saying?
Oh, that's what's up.
Yeah, that's--that's my baby.
I mean, that's why-- how many schools we are now?
Oh, my God. We have 40 schools in.
That's what's up.
And just for your own benefit,
visit any one of the J Dilla Tech Grant schools
to see that growth is happening,
and children have more resources.
And it keeps introducing who he is to them.
- Yes, it does. - You know what I'm saying?
Like, they're gonna grow up knowing, like you know,
Dilla, that means something.
That name means something. That name helped me.
- How are you? - I'm good. How are you?
Hello.
- Can you hold on? - Sure.
[hip hop music playing] - Hey, yo, yo, yo, guys, guys.
Turn off the speaker and let's get something recording.
Let's not vibe right now, okay?
So Za's gonna record, bring up a--bring up a thing.
Save The Music's mission is helping students,
schools, and communities reach their full potential
through making music.
One of the things I saw in my first years here was
there was incredible demand from the student side
for hip hop, electronic music, beat-making--
you know, the music that the students are
actually listening to.
Yeah!
You want to record that in?
We've got to name it something other than
the Music Tech Grant.
We put our heads together.
There's really only one person who could possibly be
the patron saint for this program, and that's J Dilla.
Does anybody else wanna take a stab at a different beat?
Yes.
The Dilla Tech Program,
we see it's incredibly popular with music students,
and then it also pulls in
a whole other population of students
who never considered music through the traditional paths.
I'm always amazed
when you take young people seriously
and their creativity seriously what they come back with.
So, let's meet everybody. Y'all got to introduce me.
Absolutely. This is Elijah right there,
definitely one of our producers-in-making over here.
- How are you? - Good, man. How you feeling?
These are some of the guys over here.
They're working right now.
Who's in the booth?
- Can you engineer? - No, he engineer my music.
Oh, yeah? Yeah? And all of y'all are artists?
All of y'all are engineers? All of y'all producers?
- No, I'm an artist. - I'm an artist.
- Artist, artist. - I'm a ballplayer, too.
- Ballplayer, too? - Yeah, he an artist, though.
All right. What's your name, champ?
- Name's Kenny. - Kenny?
- I'ma come up. - Kenny, you wanna come up?
- Watch this. - I like it.
Give it a couple years, man. Not even a couple years.
Just give it a couple months. I'ma blow up.
I promise y'all that. You heard?
You know what? I like the attitude.
That's the attitude you supposed to have.
You know what I'm saying? That's what's up.
So I'm saying-- so can we hear something?
Which one you want?
I want the one that you think is the dopest.
Like, when you play something for somebody,
you give them your best shot.
You don't give them something you working on.
♪ I'ma make it when I'm 18 ♪
♪ Nigga, I was hoping ♪
♪ Living in the gutter, got a single mother ♪
♪ Nigga, I was broken ♪
♪ Coming from the struggle, niggas had to hustle ♪
♪ Niggas didn't notice ♪
♪ Coming from the struggle, niggas had to hustle ♪
♪ Coming from that soul search ♪
♪ Nigga, I was hoping ♪
♪ Living in the gutter, got a single mother ♪
♪ Nigga, I was broken ♪
Who did the track? You did the track?
What I hear, what I hear in that is
who you was, you know what I'm saying?
- Yeah. - More than anything.
It's basically-- it's just my pain, you feel me?
And I just put it in the song, so I have it.
I feel like-- I don't know, man.
We've all looked at life like--
like this ain't right, this ain't fair.
And--and how do I get out of here?
How do I get out of this position?
I feel hopeless, right?
But you're saying, "I was hopeless."
You're not saying "I am hopeless."
I'm just telling you what I'm hearing
and what I see in my head. I'm like, wow, this is strong.
This is powerful. That's a powerful piece.
That's a dope--that's a dope rhyme, a dope hook.
- I appreciate that. - You know what I'm saying?
Want to hear some more songs?
Yeah, yeah. I'm here to hang out with y'all, man.
But I'm only trying to hear-- pardon my French--
I'm only trying to hear dope shit.
I'm not into--I'm not into-- [laughter]
- You let me know if it's not. - All right?
I'ma let y'all know. I'm telling you.
All right, cool. I'ma let you know.
A'ight, who's next?
[indistinct chatter]
Talk to me.
This you?
[R&B music playing]
♪ Together forever don't last ♪
♪ I need some energy ♪
♪ I'm running but I ain't that fast ♪
"I'm running but I ain't that fast," whoo!
♪ 'Cause everybody's living it ♪
♪ What's love if it ain't guaranteed? ♪
♪ Don't need no games, no names ♪
♪ Don't need no time wasted ♪
♪ You slept on me, so I vacated ♪
♪ I got no patience ♪
♪ If I get my heart broke again ♪
♪ That's it, I ain't doing it ♪
♪ What's love if it ain't guaranteed ♪
[students cheering]
Yo, pause that, pause that, pause that.
That's fucking amazing.
- Thank you. - You did that.
I really-- I really appreciate it.
Now, now, hold up, now.
Real quick, before we move forward--
students: ♪ I got no energy ♪ - A'ight? Yo.
[laughter]
Now, real quick, real quick, real quick,
why is this the best song?
She put so much emotion into it.
she not worried about
what people doing today. - Yeah.
She got the most originality I've ever heard.
The track that she chose
differentiated her from everyone here.
She was comfortable in her authenticity.
She was comfortable in who she was.
And I'm trying to get somewhere,
but I'm not that fast--whoo!
Right? That is hard.
Whoo, that's hard. That's hard.
You keep writing. Yo, you nailed that.
You nailed that.
I want to go next.
Oh, you gon' go next?
That's the--that's the one.
I'ma show you what I wrote.
Yeah? You said that like you dead nice.
OK, here we go.
[hip hop music playing]
[vocalizing]
You can hear me now?
[indistinct singing] [laughter and chatter]
A lot of times, artists and actors and entertainers
would have you believe that it's magic, but it's not.
It's the result of efforts.
Today I have the wherewithal to speak, to help, to share.
[laughter]
Something that's already there.
Sometimes just giving a compliment
or a constructive criticism
is exactly what's needed.
You play that over there, man.
You and Iyanna are the Black Sheep of your class.
We're all the product of
some really horrific events, as a community.
It's important that we start bridging some of the gaps
between the generations.
I expect big things from y'all.
Oh, my pleasure.
They're the seeds to beautiful flowers in the future.
[cheering] - Okay.
[chatter]
Good song, brother. Good song.
[radio static]
Yes, yes, yes, citizens.
It's a new year.
They say patience is a virtue. If that's the truth,
this is the most virtuous person
you gon' see on the mic today,
the next big thing in hip hop,
the one and only Lola Brooke is here.
Give her a big round of applause.
Brooklyn, Brooklyn, Brooklyn, Brooklyn, Brooklyn, Brooklyn!
Damn, man. I was nervous when I saw you in the lobby.
- For real? - Yeah, man, honestly.
No, no!
My man Sav sent me Lola's new song called "Just Relax."
Immediately, after I listened to it, like, what?
How did she pick this sample?
"This or That" by Black Sheep,
shout-out to Mista Lawnge and Dres.
This was a huge hit in the '90s,
and then you're making it a huge hit in 2023.
This is "Just Relax." Phone lines are open.
Lola Brooke is here. 888-7423.
See, the 1,200s is full power, though.
[indistinct chatter]
Today we shooting my video, "Just Relax," you know.
I'm not relaxing, though, because I'm working.
All right, guys, last look. That's it. Last looks.
We're about to roll. - Last looks.
This is really a legendary sample
from the legendary song.
So I kinda was scared to touch it because
a lot of people would be like, oh--
my mom would say, "girl, that right there,
when I was your age, we was outside."
And I'm like, oh, my God. - Roll camera.
And playback.
Yes, so good.
all: Girl!
[Lola Brooke's "Just Relax" playing]
♪ Bitches wan' be this 'cause I was always that ♪
♪ Niggas say they rich? Let's keep it a stack ♪
♪ I ain't with the tic, I be moving tac ♪
♪ Bitches say they it ♪
♪ Man, bitch, just relax ♪
- Big record for you. - Yeah, yeah, yeah.
No doubt, no doubt. I feel good about it, too.
Like it's--I've had people try to use the record.
And like, people always ask me to kinda do something
with them with it and, I mean, like, mm-mm.
Like, nah. Like, you know, like,
I would never mess with it
because it's always been right.
♪ Man, bitch, just relax ♪
But this is the only one that I've actually thought
had a chance of, you know, being successful
that I was like, okay, I fuck with that.
♪ Taking pictures like bitches ♪
- All right, that's what's up. - Got it.
Just want to say hello to you, lady.
- Oh, my God! - I'm so happy for you.
You over here doing tremendous things.
- Thank you for coming! - You're killing it.
- Oh, you like it? - I love it.
I'm over there looking at you, going--
- As long as you love it. - I love it. I love it.
You are literally the only person that I feel,
like, did something with it.
I love what you're doing. - Really?
And that's no bullshit. I love it.
Oh, that's a good day for me, man, for real.
Man, you got a lot of good days ahead of you, lady.
- Oh, stone cold shit. - Keep doing what you're doing.
You know what I'm saying?
Dres is here at the video shoot.
This is really a legendary situation.
Yo, keep rocking out.
I'm here-- - Are you here?
Yeah, yeah, I ain't going nowhere.
I couldn't ask for anything better than
the support from Dres, for real, for real.
I'm right here. I'm right here. I'm coming.
All right, we're ready to reset.
Let's reset, reset, reset.
[Lola Brooke's "Just Relax" playing]
♪ A pricey lil' thing, they be ducking the fee ♪
♪ Chasing after checks, they be running to me ♪
♪ Your man is the bro, we ain't fucking, sis, please ♪
- Woah, woah! - Feels dope.
Dope energy.
♪ ♪
That was hard.
Yeah. Every time it was action,
we was--we was--we was that.
One of--one of the things that we did
with "The Choice Is Yours" was we intentionally went down.
What you doing right now, going side to side,
pick a part of the record-- - I was just about to say that.
Pick the same part every time.
- This to then--got you. - A'ight?
I just was saying it to myself, like,
I gotta do the side-- - But you gotta--
But pick the part. Pick the part, okay?
Pick the part in your head,
and keep it the same, all right?
I got you, I promise. Watch it.
No, no. OK, cool.
Yo, the energy is the same as
when I did mine-- - When you was doing it?
Except y'all are all girls. We was all boys.
Oh, all right. Well, we gon' eat y'all up.
You know I'm saying? That's what's up.
Word up. Y'all balancing it out.
♪ Crazy 'bout mines, better know how to fight ♪
I got left.
On my right.
To the left.
Right.
Left! ♪ Bitch, just relax ♪
Cut. [cheering]
- I'm Dres. Peace, man. - Nice to meet you.
- Nice to meet you, as well. - Nice to meet you.
So we're gonna do--
we're gonna do a little close up right here,
and then we're gonna do a wide.
And I want to have you come in that one.
- Okay, sounds good. - So we're gonna do
a little quick movement on her
then let you guys vibe out.
Sounds cool. All right.
[all cheering]
[chanting]
Being a artist, it's always a good feeling to know that
the ones that was here before you actually accept you,
and they're willing to guide you
and let you know what is there to be expected.
I'm so grateful.
[resonant music]
♪ ♪
Music allows you to carry something with you.
Like, how I play "The Choice Is Yours,"
she's gonna wind up playing her song for years,
and years, and years.
And, at some point, someone's gonna
want to do something with her version,
if she's fortunate. I was fortunate.
♪ ♪
When you think about what hip hop is,
which is this incredible genre and culture
that is inherently, by its very nature,
based on past music,
like, that is what it is at its core...
That's hard. That is hard!
whether it's Lola Brooke sampling "The Choice Is Yours"
or Dres rapping over Dilla,
it's like, music has a moment, and then it cycles around.
It's gone for a long time, and then it's like,
whoa, it's back.
It's sort of like dying and going back into the earth.
That's what immortality is,
when people are still talking about you when you're gone.
That's how we supposed to be.
Your spirit and your energy still lives on,
and that's what gives you life.
The torch--the torch is officially yours, all right?
Oh, thank you!
The torch is officially yours.
So many of our vets are always thinking about
the next album or the next tour
or when they're finally gonna get back to
where they were back when.
Is it really more about just this?
Keep doing it, you know what I'm saying?
- Thank you. - This is just the beginning.
Keep doing it. - Just the beginning.
It's the idea that your music can continue
to create more music...
When I say Lola, you say Brooke.
Entering sort of that ecosystem.
- Drive safe, bro. - Oh, you, too.
Love is love, man, for real.
Yo, I just wanna say thanks, Dres, man.
You know what I'm saying? We made this--
we definitely made this happen. - Yeah, man. Yo, yo.
I told you when we was talking.
Everyone always wants to have that next moment.
Everyone wants to get their flowers.
But sometimes maybe the flowers are being given to you
and you're not even looking that direction.
You know what's gon' be the best part?
When the kid is playing Lola's verse,
and their parent is saying, "no, this is--"
and the kid going to be like, "you hear that? No, no, no."
Or the parents play theirs,
and they be like, "oh, that's Lola Brooke."
They be like, no, no, no. Let me hear your Dres.
Like, oh, that was Dres? - I love that about it.
Oh, yeah, you know how they do. - Yeah, I know.
You know how they do. Oh, yeah, yeah.
- I gotta go deal with this. - Yeah, yeah.
Make sure everything good. I'll talk to you.
Them boys be pulling up on the set...
[indistinct chatter]
And there'd be times like this where...
brother like myself...
exit stage left.
[chill music]
♪ ♪
Yo, just--cops out here.
♪ ♪
Big up yourselves, word up.
Y'all got it going on. [cheering]
Now, normally, normally, you hear "The Choice Is Yours,"
that's, like, the end of my shit.
But I got a project coming out
that's gon' blow all y'all minds,
completely produced by J Dilla, for real.
So maybe we'll introduce a little bit of it to y'all,
you know what I'm saying? Why not?
♪ I, baby, don't need your love ♪
♪ ♪
♪ I, baby, don't need your love ♪
♪ ♪
♪ I, baby, don't need your love ♪
♪ ♪
♪ I, baby, don't need your love ♪
♪ ♪
♪ No, I'll never stop living ♪
♪ With this love ♪
♪ MTV ♪
[electric guitar sting, record scratches]