First of all, Hollywood Walk of Fame, ground-breaking songs, straight out of Compton, Fuck the Police, Boys in the hood, Players Club, RightAlong, straight out of Compton, 21 Jump Street, Three Kings. It is a pleasure to have you here, man.

I'm trying to be like you when I grow up.

No, man.

I never said I wanted to do movies.

I was discovered. I really want to find out who took PAC out or who took Big Yebo.

Mind your own business and you live longer.

Who has the most power in the entertainment industry?

You got to have balance. You know what I mean? Got French going to take this with subtitles?They're not going to understand what the hell is going on. So I was like, reserved. But then we got a standing ovation at the end of the movie. And I look over, it's Quincy Jones, it's Eddie Murphy. Oh, shit. Yeah. And these dudes were... It was Jeffrey... I mean, dang, I forget his name. Jeffrey or Gregory Heinz. They all, man, just praising the movie. And I was like, damn, if the French love this in subtitles, then When we play this in America, they're going to love it.Overnight blew up. Was it him outlined? So my guy this morning, my trainer, I'm with him. I'm like, So today, he's got who you have on the podcast today? I said, Cube. He says, Really? He says, Yes. He says, Man, let me tell you, he's 55 years old. So think about what age he is, right? He says, When Boys in the hood came out in Miami, he says, Pat, I went to the night it came out. He says, There was a line all the way down. He says, Friends weren't sitting with friends because the place is jam-packed. He says, The moment... He's giving me a visual. The moment the guy opened the door, we broke the door to go in to see them. He's telling me the story. Obviously, the market was waiting for this.Yes. It wasn't a lot of movies out that catered to the core audience as far as a hip hop audience, an audience that now we were seeing our lives portrayed on the screen like we had seen with movies like Greece and American Graffity and seeing everybody else's life. Basically, now we were This movie was showing us our lives back to us. And so it was exciting. A lot of people were looking forward to it.In these uncertain times, if there's anything we need, is we need people to believe the future looks bright. So you, if you've heard about me saying this mission to you, we're on a mission to get a million people to wear this gear, and this is what we're doing. If you buy one of these hats, there's a category of buying one hat, getting the second one free. If you haven't yet worn this gear publicly, go ahead and test it out. Buy some of the gear, wear it in public, and see how many people will stop by and say, You also watch a value payment? You also follow a PBD podcast? I do, too. Place your order. Go to vtmerch. Com. Click on the link above or below. Place your order and represent the VT and the PBD podcast gear. Tupac is two years younger than you, right? You're 69. He's 68. You're 69. He's 71. So at this moment, when was the first time you met Poc?When When I met Park, he was like a background dancer for the Digital Underground. Digital Underground was a group out of the Bay in California. Actually, their role manager, a guy named Atrin, was their... Our role manager was their manager. He was like, We got a new group called Digital Underground. You should hear it. Their first song was song called Do What You Like. And so we ended up meeting them once we went to the Bay and just checked out their show. They did some shows with us. And they used to have... Digital Underground used to have the most entertaining show in hip hop. Yeah, it was like a parliament funkadelic feel to it. A lot of characters, a lot of unique routines, and real entertaining show.Non-gang related. No. This is the Humpty, right? It's the Humpty. Yeah, it's Humpty. I've seen a video with Tupac dancing on stage. Yeah. Exactly.So that was his role. He would rap every now and then. Him and Money B would do raps every now and then. We just became real cool. I fell in love with his energy. He was the kind who stayed up all night, never went to sleep, always coming to your room, trying to get you to come out. Just that ball of energy. You and were opposites.Would you say he's a complete opposite of you or there were some similarities?A lot of similarities. We both Gemini, so A lot of Geminis, man.Do you know the famous Geminis?Yes, a lot of them.Elvis, Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, John F. Kennedy, Biggie, Tupac, Prince. I mean, it's a- Kanye. Yeah, a ton of you guys. Yes, it's everybody. So both of you are Geminis. Okay, so you and him are similar, and you're hanging out. Hey, he always wants to go out. So the experience is good. But at this point, PAC is not a gangster. He's not a tough guy. He's an artist. He's a talent.Well, what he used to tell me, man, he would be like, I don't want to do the music you all do.I don't or I do.I do. I do. I want to do the music you all do. Got it. Because he said, Where I'm from, I think it was Richmond. I said, Man, it's raw over there. You know what I mean? They get down over there and I want to talk about it. But he was under Shaq G, who was like, Yo, that ain't really the route. That's NWA and Ice T and King T. That's their lane. You know what I mean? Let's stick with the more party, upbeat. And then he started doing songs like I get around, and they was real cool enough beat. But when he was able to get a solo deal, that's when he started doing the music that he wanted to do. And that's when he started to change and going to the But PAC, we know.Too Short says, whenever I was with PAC, I never knew who was going to show up on any given day. One day, he's the revolutionary guy. One day, he wants to go party with the girls. One day, he's a gangster. One day, he's an artist. One day, he's a historian philosopher. Did you experience that as well, where you never knew who was going to show up, or PAC was just a super creative guy?He was always the same with me. It was always love, respect. We was saying in similar ages, and we were all in a similar situation.Are you a class ahead of him? If we're in high school, hip hop, are you a graduate in class of '88? He's class of '90, where he looks up to Yeah.Okay, I got you. Well, it was mutual love because we looked up to them because what they were doing was creatively advanced. Got it. And so we appreciate what they was doing. They appreciated what we were doing. And we were both youngsters around. Eazy E was the head of our crew. Shock G was the head of their crew. And And so we were trying to find our voice within the structure that was in place. So we would, you know, conversate about how do we maneuver and do that. So we were close in that way, in a more, you know, confident way. We would just build and bounce ideas off each other like, Man, I want to do this. Because I I was waiting for my solo project at the time, too. Then I became solo and started doing my thing. And then he was solo, too. So now he was in LA a little more, and we were running to each other at the studio and just really enjoy seeing each other.Did you guys ever do anything together or no?We did one song together with Ice T. I think it's on the Trespass Soundtrack. I forgot what the name of the song is.Trespass Soundtrack, U. I. C. T.And-yeah, Last Words. Got it.Was there ever any talks of doing something else together? They're like, Hey, what if we did this and what if we did that? Or those types of conversation wasn't really being had with the two of you?Not really being had. On his first few albums, he was really trying to find his way. I was doing movies, and I was trying to build that career. And then I think he really put it together with the, I think it's Me Against the World album. And it really started to come together production-wise. Always, with his first music, he would triple rap his vocals. Like, wrap it once, then wrap it of Eazy E versus Shug? Both of these guys are alphas. What was different about Eazy versus Shug?Easy. You know, didn't use intimidation. He didn't use any intimidation. He just was a businessman straight up. So it was never any, at least when I was around, never any like, Yo, this got to go down. It's going to be consequences to pay.So What was his leverage, though? What was his leverage to keep people around?Having the best ideas, being smart, being innovative, being able to see around the corner, being a visionary, having a plan, having the resources to execute his plan, letting us be who he wanted to be and not who he wanted us to be. He just was I had left the group by then.Okay, got it.So I don't know how it went down.Did you ever hear... One day, it's three months ago, I get a call. They said, Pat, Shug wants to talk to you. I said, What's Shug? I only know one Shug. He said, Shug wants to talk to you.Yeah.Like, D Shugnott. Yeah, it's a collect call. He's on the other line. I'm like, Hey, Shug, how are you doing? Yo, what up? Pbd. Hey, you need the hood. Fucks with you. He's talking to me a lot. What's up, Shug? I watch a lot of your stuff. He said, I want to talk to you. I want to do a podcast with you. I said, Do I come to you? Do you care? He said, No, let's just do a collect call. So it's six collect calls he makes, 15 a bunch of heat for it, right? And he's right now working on the effects of hip hop on society. And he hasn't done the paper yet. The paper is going to come out in the next 3-6 months. And you read different things. Do you think hip hop has had a net positive or a net negative impact on young boys' lives?I think in a lot of ways, it's had a net positive. It's given a lot of youngsters hope. If you think about the world before hip hop, it was pretty corny, and it was really no outlets for the young youth to express themselves. Everything was being done by Grown, grown men and grown, grown women. And there were very few outlets for the youth to express themselves on a mass level or on a major level, put it that way. And then hip hop changed that. Hip hop has created an industry where there was none. It's created more jobs than I can even speak on. It's created an industry He's created talent, cameramen, editors, engineers. It's created superstars from people who can't sing Probably can't sing a lick, but they can still sell out stadiums and arenas. It's giving hope to kids, just like sports have, to change their situation and change their dynamic almost overnight. And look, it's like saying, has movies helped people become better? There's all kinds of movies. There's horror movies, there's pornos, there's all kinds of stuff. But overall, in general, if you don't count all the bad stuff, movies have done a lot to bring the world together.And so I think hip hop has done more to bring people together, especially of all different races. Where else can you go and see kids Kids of all different races getting into one thing, one style of music? So of course, there's the hardcore music, and everything bad in the hood is blamed on hip hop. A bad kid doing something in a baseball hat, it has to be, or a hoodie, he has to be hip hop, or it has had to have something to do with hip hop. And it's not true, because Those things were happening before hip hop. Now, of course, the weapons and all the things that's on the street now wasn't there before, but they're there now. Hip hop don't make weapons. Hip hop don't make drugs. Hip hop might talk about it, might speak about it, may glorify it. But at the end of the day, these things are manufactured by conglomerates and corporations, Hip hop don't leave train cars open full of weapons in the hood or U-Hallss or, you know That has nothing to do with hip hop. That has something to do with a power structure that want to keep the status quo.So overall, I believe hip hop has helped the world be a little more honest with itself.Almost like a form of comedy, I think. But maybe the better comparison would be a comedy, where comedy allows you to... Sometimes Dave Chappelle gets up and he tells some jokes. You're You got to cross the line right there. But you know what? Maybe it's a form of being honest with the market and you decide. If you don't like it, it's like, Look, I'm for this thing when he got up, one of the jokes he said, Ladies, I'm with you. It should be on you to decide your body, your choice, if you want to keep the baby or not. I agree with you. It should be your body, your choice. Now, if it's your body, your choice, I should also have the choice whether to pay child support or not. That should be on me as well, right? And you see the ladies at first, they're all screaming with them, and then like, Boo. And he's going, Wait a minute. Why are you pissed now? And he gets into his whole thing that he does. I get that. I think about when I was a kid and I'm listening to Hit 'Em Up. My workout playlist, Hit 'Em Up.Then you listen to Eazy E, real mother. And then you listen to Mo'Mur, Mo'Murda. You remember that one song with... What was it? We're not against rap. We're not against rappers, but we are against those thugs, thugs, thugs. Remember that hole? Who was it? Bone Thugs, right? That came out with that song. So that's my playlist. And as a kid, to me, it was rage I had on why am I living this life? And this was my way of connecting, right? Where it's like, man, there's an outlet to it, right? So I was internally friends with these rappers. I was hanging out with you guys. It was a good day. I'm one of the greatest hip hop songs of all time. Some say top 5, top 10. That's you, right? Hey, today was a good day. All right. But then you fast forward and this guy said something very interesting. I'm not done with the research, but let me tell you what I did find. I said, what's He said, In the projects and in the hood, hip hop did well because it helped spring people out. He said, But hip hop... And again, he's not done with it.I don't want to quote him on this. He needs to come in and tell us what it is. He says, In the areas it hurt is communities that they don't have a tough life. They're living an okay life, and now they're thinking they're gangsters. You're going to a private school. You're not a gangster. Now you're going to school. I got a gun. Let me tell you what I got. So it made some of kids act like they're tough, and you're not really tough. So it helped the ones here, but it hurt some of the other communities that maybe weren't exposed to this life. When We listen to Brenda's Got A Baby. Brenda's Got A Baby, Brenda's Got A Baby, and then the dumpster, and you're like, remember that whole scene in a movie you guys did? I think, did you do it in Europe? Was it straight out of Compton? What movie was... It wasn't straight out of Compton when he's in the... Maybe no, it wasn't straight out of Compton. I don't know what movie this is with Tupac, where he's negotiating with the producer. It could have been a documentary where he's like, I want Brenda's Got A Baby in the Album.No, we're not going to do it. No, it's got to be in the album. I'm telling you, we can't put this in the album. They're not going to let us play this on the radio. What are you doing? I'm not doing this if it's not. You know what's he talking? I don't know which movie it is. But guess what? Brenda's Got A Baby. It's telling a story. He's not making... You said Richmond earlier, right? This is some of the things that he's seen. What do you think about that argument that maybe it hurt some sects, some communities, but it hurt some other because it brought in mindsets to safer communities that are not dealing with these issues?Well, I The thing is, what issues are they dealing with in those communities? Because it might not be gangbanging, but it could be other issues that they're dealing with. This has always happened with art. Sometimes life imitates art, and art imitates life. When I think about people that do what they do, like a Stephen King of the world who usually makes horror movies or sometimes very violent stories, and he's allowed to be that type of artist without somebody doing a psych op on what is done to the world. Sometimes guys paint a beautiful picture, sometimes they paint an ugly picture. But the key is you've listened to the music, you've named some of the most hardcore records ever, and you've turned out fine. It's mindset and it's individuals. And some people don't know how to take it, but that don't mean you should stop doing it because a few people don't know how to accept the music and look at it as music and art and continue to live their lives. Everybody walked out the movie wanting to be Bruce Lee. You know what I'm saying? Everybody walks out the movie thinking they're Bruce Lee.Yeah. And so that happens with good art. People are going to want to... When Bob Irino was on TV on Welcome Back, Carter, being basically a thug in the classroom with a red rag hanging out his pocket and portraying that, you had a lot of people that wanted to be Bobberino. Fonsy come in. He cool. Got the leather jacket. A lot of people going, Hey, I'm the Fons. Nobody want to kill Happy Days because now they're a friend out here in the suburbs, got a leather jacket on and he's saying, Hey, all the time. So this happens when you do great art. People want to imitate it. That don't mean you kill the art for it.Do you still listen to hip hop? Yeah. What do you listen to? Do you have workout playlists or what's your playlist?Not on that tip. I listen to what's hot, and I'm doing music myself, so I'm mainly listening to what I need to do better on my you given that list?A few times. A few times? Yeah.How many times do people think those are the five that are going to be on your list? I don't know.You never know, but these are my O-Gs. I would throw L. A. On there, too. These are my O-Gs that show me how to use the music and make it powerful and not just a nursery line.Yeah. I remember one time, funny story. You know Jay King? Yeah. Okay. Jay King.Club Nuvol.Club Nuvol, yeah. Why you treat me so... And He had what? Look at all these rumors. So one day, Jay King and I started working together. He says, Pat, I want to start selling insurance. I hear there's a lot of business in insurance. I love Jay King. If you've been around Jay King-He's a hustler. He's a hustler. Yeah, he is. So I said, Jay, we got to go talk to certain people that they have reputation and that we can sell them insurance. He says, All right, so let's go to Beverly Hills. I don't know which one it is. He takes me to one of these hotels. We go there, we're sitting there. He says, Let's talk to Shug. I'm like, Jay, no insurance company is going to let me sell insurance to Shug. What are you talking about? And he brings all these guys one by one by one. And then you realize this space is a very interesting... I was friends with Reggie Callaway. I don't know if you remember Reggie Callaway. The Callaway brothers. I want to be rich. And then he had Casanova. Was it Casanova? Casanova. Yeah, I think that's Reggie Cout.Yeah, that was them. Cia, your firstCru. Your first crew, your name was CIA.Cru.In action.Cru in action. We wanted it to be criminals in action, but Lanzo was like, Man, stop talking this criminal stuff. You know what I mean? We're going to be crew in action. I like that. After the Wrecking crew.Cru in I know. So CIA.You've said some stuff about the CIA. Rob, I don't know if you got the clip or not. I don't know which clip this is. We'll play one of these clips if you got it. Is this on Bill, Rob? Okay, play this clip. Maybe your position has changed, but I want to hear your thoughts. Go for it.Same people who own the labels on the prisons. Literally the same people? Literally the same people who own the labels on private prisons. The records that come out are really geared to push people towards that prison industry.But they didn't make you write those lyrics.It's not about making somebody write the lyrics. It's about being there as guardrails to make sure certain songs make it through, and certain songs don't. Some records are made by committee, meaning record company guys sit around and tell the artist, This is hot. Say that. Do this. We're going to have this guy write the lyrics. We're going to have that. You have the record company pushing the narrative and somewhat some social engineering going on here to make sure those prisons stay full.So how much truth is there behind that?I think it's a lot of truth. If you really remember I was talking about the Black Rocks of the World and Vanguard of the World? Look how much they are invested in All these big labels in the prison industry. And not saying that the CIA is sitting there writing rimes, but they may have a deal with the labels and to allow certain records to get through. I mean, it's up to the label who they blow up the whole industry. And so, yeah, I mean, I've seen records made by a committee when it's not the artist's own thought process. But that happens with a lot of records. A lot of records are you got producers, you got ANR people, you got people who sit there and say, Okay, this sounds like it's a hit. This sounds like it's going to be great. It's not hard to imagine a record label finding a kid that's talking the hardest and blowing him up to the top because they know some kids may be out there going to listen. Like you said, being influenced to do something because this is their favorite rapper. So you don't see a lot of happy rappers at the top of the game, do you?No. You know any of these names? Any of these people that the CIA fed them or somebody wrote the scripts for them or no?I'm not looking for names. I'm wondering if you- I don't know names. It's just companies who they're not going to let you put the record out unless they have a say in the production of their music.I got you. That's like you write a book and they say, Hey, you can't be critical of this guy. Take this out. Or, Hey, we got to talk to the lawyers about this line. We don't want to get sued by those like that. You're not saying necessarily to try to get internally to destroy a community like the African-American community.I'm not saying that it's not either. I don't know what their plan is. I just know that the same people who own the labels, own the prisons. I believe, and it's a lot of evidence out there that they make sure that the records that are put out will more than likely have a negative effect on the community community and create a prison industry or a prison community where you got the men and women in the community going to jail often. So it happens. It's real. It's reality.Last two things before we wrap up. Friday 4, how is that looking?Better than it has in the past. There's new leadership up at Warner Brothers, and they see the value in making this movie. But it got to be done in the right way under the right circumstances. So right now, we're just working out those circumstances on how this movie is going to be produced. And make sure that we got a lot of people who are big stars now who want to be in the movie. So we got to make sure we got enough to pay them.The influencers you're talking about.Well, no. Mike Epps is a bigger star. Kat Williams is a bigger star. Terry Cruise is a bigger star. I got what you're saying. These guys are a lot bigger than they was when we did the first movie where-Well, Kat is now-this was they shot. So we want everybody to be happy. We want everybody we can to get back in the movie.Let me tell you which one of your movies I've watched God knows how many times, all about the Benjamins. I can't say for me, that's the one. It says, You ain't got a four head, you got a five head. You don't watch movies, do you? You have dreams. I bet you never see it.That movie is one of those gems that people love. And wherever you catch it, you can watch it.I can't help myself. He is too good. And Big Three, how's that looking? How's that come Amazing.Big Three, we're in our seventh season. We're going into week three in Baltimore. We're selling teams now. So we sold a team in Los Angeles, and we sold a team to a Heath Freeman in Miami. So it's going to be a team out here in Miami. And we're looking at Toronto, we're looking at Dallas, we're looking at London, New York, Detroit. So hopefully we can sell these 12 teams and expand the league and unlock a major fan base.How close were you at signing Kaitlyn Clarke? Were you having conversations with her people?Yeah, we had conversations with her agent. We were a little disappointed. We didn't get a chance to sit down with her and her family because we think we could have made a compelling argument. They probably didn't want us to make and tell her how much leverage she really has at that time. So It didn't happen, but we was ready for it if she was ready to take that step. And it was a big step, playing against men in this new league, it was a major move. She probably just didn't need another challenge at the end of the day. Being in the WNBA with a target on your back is probably challenging than enough.Do you watch the WMBA?I catch a game or two every now and then. Got it.Yeah. She's changed numbers. Her average attendance, 15,500.That's sweet. People love the women's sports because we know they want to win. They're planning to win. And with the men in the NBA, we're not sure. We're not sure if they want to win or are they worried about their brand? Do they want to be like their low management? What is it about? Is it really about bringing home a ring?In WMBA?Or are you saying in the NBA?In the NBA. So you don't think it's not what it used to be anymore?I'm not sure. Are you? Are you sure that every NBA player is dying to win a championship or do they care their brands more.Did you watch the finals? I did. All of them?I called them a few games, about three games.Were you bored out of your mind or not really?I wasn't bored, but It didn't feel the same. It doesn't have the same weight for some reason.I didn't feel it at all. To me, when was the last time I felt it? It's going to sound weird. It's when the Bucks played the Suns. Yeah. That was sick. They were fighting. There was something there. Giannis wanted it. There was something about this one. I'm like, maybe Porzanges just completely changed the game. The first couple of games when he played, remember when he came in, you're like, Dude, this guy's got four blocks in the first quarter. There's no way he's getting 16,44 in the first half or first quarter. I'm just not excited with the NBA product today. I'm not. I don't see the competition. I think the last time I watched the NBA All-Star again when they fought in that one-fourth quarter, where first to 157, I think game ended 155, 157, and the type of defense, you're like, This is cool. And then they went away again. I don't know. Look, the last time I rooted for the Lakers, and I know this is going to be controversial for you because I know your loyalty where it lies. I've been a diehard Laker fan since Michael made that shot over Sam Perkins.Oh, wow. Because that's when I came to the States. Listen, Seydal Treat. I'm talking nick Van Axel. I'm talking Elvin Kando Campbell. Kevin Smith. I think Kevin Smith was his name. 34. Kevin Smith. What was his name? Kevin... Anyways, we had a number 34. That's my era. Travis. Not Travis. This is in the '90s. If you go to 1994, Laker squad, 1994 Laker Squad, 1994 Laker Squad, you would see this. Sadele Treet, nick Van Axel was exciting to watch, left-handed who was a fighter. What's the squad? Can you zoom in? Sam Bouyau.Eddie Jones, Keevox.Remember when Cedric Sabalas scored that 50 points in a game. Oh, Tony Smith. I'm sorry. Tony Smith. Yeah. Did you ever see Cedric Savalas' rap song?Do you remember that? I think I did see it.Flow On. It was called Flow, Flow On, Flow on, flow on. It was terrible, but he scored 50 points in the game. I liked him. He was our guy. We listened to him back in the day. Anyways, Cube, it's been a pleasure. It's been an honor having you on. Congrats on an incredible incredible life. I don't even want to say career because some people have great careers. You've had an all-around great life. You're part of a community where your son wants to work with you and collaborate with you and do movies with you. You're married for 32 years. You love where you came from. You give respect to the people that came from your industry. There is a lot of strong, deep character with you. There's a lot of depth with you, and I applaud you. I respect you, and I really enjoy this conversation.Thank you, man. Thanks for having me on. And we had a good time. I talked about some things that I've never talked about in the interview. So It's a great setting.I appreciate it. Take care, everybody. Bye-bye, bye-bye. In these uncertain times, if there's anything we need is we need people to believe the future looks bright. So you, if you've heard about me saying this mission to you, we're on a mission to get a million people to wear this gear, and this is what we're doing. If you buy one of these hats, there's a category of buying one hat, getting the second one free. If you haven't yet worn this gear publicly, go ahead and test it out. Buy some of the gear, wear it in public, and see how many people will stop by and say, You also watch a value timing? You also follow a PBD podcast? I do, too. Place your order. Go to vtmerch. Com. Click on the link above or below. Place your order and represent the VT and the PBD podcast gear.

French going to take this with subtitles?

They're not going to understand what the hell is going on. So I was like, reserved. But then we got a standing ovation at the end of the movie. And I look over, it's Quincy Jones, it's Eddie Murphy. Oh, shit. Yeah. And these dudes were... It was Jeffrey... I mean, dang, I forget his name. Jeffrey or Gregory Heinz. They all, man, just praising the movie. And I was like, damn, if the French love this in subtitles, then When we play this in America, they're going to love it.

Overnight blew up. Was it him outlined? So my guy this morning, my trainer, I'm with him. I'm like, So today, he's got who you have on the podcast today? I said, Cube. He says, Really? He says, Yes. He says, Man, let me tell you, he's 55 years old. So think about what age he is, right? He says, When Boys in the hood came out in Miami, he says, Pat, I went to the night it came out. He says, There was a line all the way down. He says, Friends weren't sitting with friends because the place is jam-packed. He says, The moment... He's giving me a visual. The moment the guy opened the door, we broke the door to go in to see them. He's telling me the story. Obviously, the market was waiting for this.

Yes. It wasn't a lot of movies out that catered to the core audience as far as a hip hop audience, an audience that now we were seeing our lives portrayed on the screen like we had seen with movies like Greece and American Graffity and seeing everybody else's life. Basically, now we were This movie was showing us our lives back to us. And so it was exciting. A lot of people were looking forward to it.

In these uncertain times, if there's anything we need, is we need people to believe the future looks bright. So you, if you've heard about me saying this mission to you, we're on a mission to get a million people to wear this gear, and this is what we're doing. If you buy one of these hats, there's a category of buying one hat, getting the second one free. If you haven't yet worn this gear publicly, go ahead and test it out. Buy some of the gear, wear it in public, and see how many people will stop by and say, You also watch a value payment? You also follow a PBD podcast? I do, too. Place your order. Go to vtmerch. Com. Click on the link above or below. Place your order and represent the VT and the PBD podcast gear. Tupac is two years younger than you, right? You're 69. He's 68. You're 69. He's 71. So at this moment, when was the first time you met Poc?

When When I met Park, he was like a background dancer for the Digital Underground. Digital Underground was a group out of the Bay in California. Actually, their role manager, a guy named Atrin, was their... Our role manager was their manager. He was like, We got a new group called Digital Underground. You should hear it. Their first song was song called Do What You Like. And so we ended up meeting them once we went to the Bay and just checked out their show. They did some shows with us. And they used to have... Digital Underground used to have the most entertaining show in hip hop. Yeah, it was like a parliament funkadelic feel to it. A lot of characters, a lot of unique routines, and real entertaining show.

Non-gang related. No. This is the Humpty, right? It's the Humpty. Yeah, it's Humpty. I've seen a video with Tupac dancing on stage. Yeah. Exactly.

So that was his role. He would rap every now and then. Him and Money B would do raps every now and then. We just became real cool. I fell in love with his energy. He was the kind who stayed up all night, never went to sleep, always coming to your room, trying to get you to come out. Just that ball of energy. You and were opposites.

Would you say he's a complete opposite of you or there were some similarities?

A lot of similarities. We both Gemini, so A lot of Geminis, man.

Do you know the famous Geminis?

Yes, a lot of them.

Elvis, Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, John F. Kennedy, Biggie, Tupac, Prince. I mean, it's a- Kanye. Yeah, a ton of you guys. Yes, it's everybody. So both of you are Geminis. Okay, so you and him are similar, and you're hanging out. Hey, he always wants to go out. So the experience is good. But at this point, PAC is not a gangster. He's not a tough guy. He's an artist. He's a talent.

Well, what he used to tell me, man, he would be like, I don't want to do the music you all do.

I don't or I do.

I do. I do. I want to do the music you all do. Got it. Because he said, Where I'm from, I think it was Richmond. I said, Man, it's raw over there. You know what I mean? They get down over there and I want to talk about it. But he was under Shaq G, who was like, Yo, that ain't really the route. That's NWA and Ice T and King T. That's their lane. You know what I mean? Let's stick with the more party, upbeat. And then he started doing songs like I get around, and they was real cool enough beat. But when he was able to get a solo deal, that's when he started doing the music that he wanted to do. And that's when he started to change and going to the But PAC, we know.

Too Short says, whenever I was with PAC, I never knew who was going to show up on any given day. One day, he's the revolutionary guy. One day, he wants to go party with the girls. One day, he's a gangster. One day, he's an artist. One day, he's a historian philosopher. Did you experience that as well, where you never knew who was going to show up, or PAC was just a super creative guy?

He was always the same with me. It was always love, respect. We was saying in similar ages, and we were all in a similar situation.

Are you a class ahead of him? If we're in high school, hip hop, are you a graduate in class of '88? He's class of '90, where he looks up to Yeah.

Okay, I got you. Well, it was mutual love because we looked up to them because what they were doing was creatively advanced. Got it. And so we appreciate what they was doing. They appreciated what we were doing. And we were both youngsters around. Eazy E was the head of our crew. Shock G was the head of their crew. And And so we were trying to find our voice within the structure that was in place. So we would, you know, conversate about how do we maneuver and do that. So we were close in that way, in a more, you know, confident way. We would just build and bounce ideas off each other like, Man, I want to do this. Because I I was waiting for my solo project at the time, too. Then I became solo and started doing my thing. And then he was solo, too. So now he was in LA a little more, and we were running to each other at the studio and just really enjoy seeing each other.

Did you guys ever do anything together or no?

We did one song together with Ice T. I think it's on the Trespass Soundtrack. I forgot what the name of the song is.

Trespass Soundtrack, U. I. C. T.

And-yeah, Last Words. Got it.

Was there ever any talks of doing something else together? They're like, Hey, what if we did this and what if we did that? Or those types of conversation wasn't really being had with the two of you?

Not really being had. On his first few albums, he was really trying to find his way. I was doing movies, and I was trying to build that career. And then I think he really put it together with the, I think it's Me Against the World album. And it really started to come together production-wise. Always, with his first music, he would triple rap his vocals. Like, wrap it once, then wrap it of Eazy E versus Shug? Both of these guys are alphas. What was different about Eazy versus Shug?Easy. You know, didn't use intimidation. He didn't use any intimidation. He just was a businessman straight up. So it was never any, at least when I was around, never any like, Yo, this got to go down. It's going to be consequences to pay.So What was his leverage, though? What was his leverage to keep people around?Having the best ideas, being smart, being innovative, being able to see around the corner, being a visionary, having a plan, having the resources to execute his plan, letting us be who he wanted to be and not who he wanted us to be. He just was I had left the group by then.Okay, got it.So I don't know how it went down.Did you ever hear... One day, it's three months ago, I get a call. They said, Pat, Shug wants to talk to you. I said, What's Shug? I only know one Shug. He said, Shug wants to talk to you.Yeah.Like, D Shugnott. Yeah, it's a collect call. He's on the other line. I'm like, Hey, Shug, how are you doing? Yo, what up? Pbd. Hey, you need the hood. Fucks with you. He's talking to me a lot. What's up, Shug? I watch a lot of your stuff. He said, I want to talk to you. I want to do a podcast with you. I said, Do I come to you? Do you care? He said, No, let's just do a collect call. So it's six collect calls he makes, 15 a bunch of heat for it, right? And he's right now working on the effects of hip hop on society. And he hasn't done the paper yet. The paper is going to come out in the next 3-6 months. And you read different things. Do you think hip hop has had a net positive or a net negative impact on young boys' lives?I think in a lot of ways, it's had a net positive. It's given a lot of youngsters hope. If you think about the world before hip hop, it was pretty corny, and it was really no outlets for the young youth to express themselves. Everything was being done by Grown, grown men and grown, grown women. And there were very few outlets for the youth to express themselves on a mass level or on a major level, put it that way. And then hip hop changed that. Hip hop has created an industry where there was none. It's created more jobs than I can even speak on. It's created an industry He's created talent, cameramen, editors, engineers. It's created superstars from people who can't sing Probably can't sing a lick, but they can still sell out stadiums and arenas. It's giving hope to kids, just like sports have, to change their situation and change their dynamic almost overnight. And look, it's like saying, has movies helped people become better? There's all kinds of movies. There's horror movies, there's pornos, there's all kinds of stuff. But overall, in general, if you don't count all the bad stuff, movies have done a lot to bring the world together.And so I think hip hop has done more to bring people together, especially of all different races. Where else can you go and see kids Kids of all different races getting into one thing, one style of music? So of course, there's the hardcore music, and everything bad in the hood is blamed on hip hop. A bad kid doing something in a baseball hat, it has to be, or a hoodie, he has to be hip hop, or it has had to have something to do with hip hop. And it's not true, because Those things were happening before hip hop. Now, of course, the weapons and all the things that's on the street now wasn't there before, but they're there now. Hip hop don't make weapons. Hip hop don't make drugs. Hip hop might talk about it, might speak about it, may glorify it. But at the end of the day, these things are manufactured by conglomerates and corporations, Hip hop don't leave train cars open full of weapons in the hood or U-Hallss or, you know That has nothing to do with hip hop. That has something to do with a power structure that want to keep the status quo.So overall, I believe hip hop has helped the world be a little more honest with itself.Almost like a form of comedy, I think. But maybe the better comparison would be a comedy, where comedy allows you to... Sometimes Dave Chappelle gets up and he tells some jokes. You're You got to cross the line right there. But you know what? Maybe it's a form of being honest with the market and you decide. If you don't like it, it's like, Look, I'm for this thing when he got up, one of the jokes he said, Ladies, I'm with you. It should be on you to decide your body, your choice, if you want to keep the baby or not. I agree with you. It should be your body, your choice. Now, if it's your body, your choice, I should also have the choice whether to pay child support or not. That should be on me as well, right? And you see the ladies at first, they're all screaming with them, and then like, Boo. And he's going, Wait a minute. Why are you pissed now? And he gets into his whole thing that he does. I get that. I think about when I was a kid and I'm listening to Hit 'Em Up. My workout playlist, Hit 'Em Up.Then you listen to Eazy E, real mother. And then you listen to Mo'Mur, Mo'Murda. You remember that one song with... What was it? We're not against rap. We're not against rappers, but we are against those thugs, thugs, thugs. Remember that hole? Who was it? Bone Thugs, right? That came out with that song. So that's my playlist. And as a kid, to me, it was rage I had on why am I living this life? And this was my way of connecting, right? Where it's like, man, there's an outlet to it, right? So I was internally friends with these rappers. I was hanging out with you guys. It was a good day. I'm one of the greatest hip hop songs of all time. Some say top 5, top 10. That's you, right? Hey, today was a good day. All right. But then you fast forward and this guy said something very interesting. I'm not done with the research, but let me tell you what I did find. I said, what's He said, In the projects and in the hood, hip hop did well because it helped spring people out. He said, But hip hop... And again, he's not done with it.I don't want to quote him on this. He needs to come in and tell us what it is. He says, In the areas it hurt is communities that they don't have a tough life. They're living an okay life, and now they're thinking they're gangsters. You're going to a private school. You're not a gangster. Now you're going to school. I got a gun. Let me tell you what I got. So it made some of kids act like they're tough, and you're not really tough. So it helped the ones here, but it hurt some of the other communities that maybe weren't exposed to this life. When We listen to Brenda's Got A Baby. Brenda's Got A Baby, Brenda's Got A Baby, and then the dumpster, and you're like, remember that whole scene in a movie you guys did? I think, did you do it in Europe? Was it straight out of Compton? What movie was... It wasn't straight out of Compton when he's in the... Maybe no, it wasn't straight out of Compton. I don't know what movie this is with Tupac, where he's negotiating with the producer. It could have been a documentary where he's like, I want Brenda's Got A Baby in the Album.No, we're not going to do it. No, it's got to be in the album. I'm telling you, we can't put this in the album. They're not going to let us play this on the radio. What are you doing? I'm not doing this if it's not. You know what's he talking? I don't know which movie it is. But guess what? Brenda's Got A Baby. It's telling a story. He's not making... You said Richmond earlier, right? This is some of the things that he's seen. What do you think about that argument that maybe it hurt some sects, some communities, but it hurt some other because it brought in mindsets to safer communities that are not dealing with these issues?Well, I The thing is, what issues are they dealing with in those communities? Because it might not be gangbanging, but it could be other issues that they're dealing with. This has always happened with art. Sometimes life imitates art, and art imitates life. When I think about people that do what they do, like a Stephen King of the world who usually makes horror movies or sometimes very violent stories, and he's allowed to be that type of artist without somebody doing a psych op on what is done to the world. Sometimes guys paint a beautiful picture, sometimes they paint an ugly picture. But the key is you've listened to the music, you've named some of the most hardcore records ever, and you've turned out fine. It's mindset and it's individuals. And some people don't know how to take it, but that don't mean you should stop doing it because a few people don't know how to accept the music and look at it as music and art and continue to live their lives. Everybody walked out the movie wanting to be Bruce Lee. You know what I'm saying? Everybody walks out the movie thinking they're Bruce Lee.Yeah. And so that happens with good art. People are going to want to... When Bob Irino was on TV on Welcome Back, Carter, being basically a thug in the classroom with a red rag hanging out his pocket and portraying that, you had a lot of people that wanted to be Bobberino. Fonsy come in. He cool. Got the leather jacket. A lot of people going, Hey, I'm the Fons. Nobody want to kill Happy Days because now they're a friend out here in the suburbs, got a leather jacket on and he's saying, Hey, all the time. So this happens when you do great art. People want to imitate it. That don't mean you kill the art for it.Do you still listen to hip hop? Yeah. What do you listen to? Do you have workout playlists or what's your playlist?Not on that tip. I listen to what's hot, and I'm doing music myself, so I'm mainly listening to what I need to do better on my you given that list?A few times. A few times? Yeah.How many times do people think those are the five that are going to be on your list? I don't know.You never know, but these are my O-Gs. I would throw L. A. On there, too. These are my O-Gs that show me how to use the music and make it powerful and not just a nursery line.Yeah. I remember one time, funny story. You know Jay King? Yeah. Okay. Jay King.Club Nuvol.Club Nuvol, yeah. Why you treat me so... And He had what? Look at all these rumors. So one day, Jay King and I started working together. He says, Pat, I want to start selling insurance. I hear there's a lot of business in insurance. I love Jay King. If you've been around Jay King-He's a hustler. He's a hustler. Yeah, he is. So I said, Jay, we got to go talk to certain people that they have reputation and that we can sell them insurance. He says, All right, so let's go to Beverly Hills. I don't know which one it is. He takes me to one of these hotels. We go there, we're sitting there. He says, Let's talk to Shug. I'm like, Jay, no insurance company is going to let me sell insurance to Shug. What are you talking about? And he brings all these guys one by one by one. And then you realize this space is a very interesting... I was friends with Reggie Callaway. I don't know if you remember Reggie Callaway. The Callaway brothers. I want to be rich. And then he had Casanova. Was it Casanova? Casanova. Yeah, I think that's Reggie Cout.Yeah, that was them. Cia, your firstCru. Your first crew, your name was CIA.Cru.In action.Cru in action. We wanted it to be criminals in action, but Lanzo was like, Man, stop talking this criminal stuff. You know what I mean? We're going to be crew in action. I like that. After the Wrecking crew.Cru in I know. So CIA.You've said some stuff about the CIA. Rob, I don't know if you got the clip or not. I don't know which clip this is. We'll play one of these clips if you got it. Is this on Bill, Rob? Okay, play this clip. Maybe your position has changed, but I want to hear your thoughts. Go for it.Same people who own the labels on the prisons. Literally the same people? Literally the same people who own the labels on private prisons. The records that come out are really geared to push people towards that prison industry.But they didn't make you write those lyrics.It's not about making somebody write the lyrics. It's about being there as guardrails to make sure certain songs make it through, and certain songs don't. Some records are made by committee, meaning record company guys sit around and tell the artist, This is hot. Say that. Do this. We're going to have this guy write the lyrics. We're going to have that. You have the record company pushing the narrative and somewhat some social engineering going on here to make sure those prisons stay full.So how much truth is there behind that?I think it's a lot of truth. If you really remember I was talking about the Black Rocks of the World and Vanguard of the World? Look how much they are invested in All these big labels in the prison industry. And not saying that the CIA is sitting there writing rimes, but they may have a deal with the labels and to allow certain records to get through. I mean, it's up to the label who they blow up the whole industry. And so, yeah, I mean, I've seen records made by a committee when it's not the artist's own thought process. But that happens with a lot of records. A lot of records are you got producers, you got ANR people, you got people who sit there and say, Okay, this sounds like it's a hit. This sounds like it's going to be great. It's not hard to imagine a record label finding a kid that's talking the hardest and blowing him up to the top because they know some kids may be out there going to listen. Like you said, being influenced to do something because this is their favorite rapper. So you don't see a lot of happy rappers at the top of the game, do you?No. You know any of these names? Any of these people that the CIA fed them or somebody wrote the scripts for them or no?I'm not looking for names. I'm wondering if you- I don't know names. It's just companies who they're not going to let you put the record out unless they have a say in the production of their music.I got you. That's like you write a book and they say, Hey, you can't be critical of this guy. Take this out. Or, Hey, we got to talk to the lawyers about this line. We don't want to get sued by those like that. You're not saying necessarily to try to get internally to destroy a community like the African-American community.I'm not saying that it's not either. I don't know what their plan is. I just know that the same people who own the labels, own the prisons. I believe, and it's a lot of evidence out there that they make sure that the records that are put out will more than likely have a negative effect on the community community and create a prison industry or a prison community where you got the men and women in the community going to jail often. So it happens. It's real. It's reality.Last two things before we wrap up. Friday 4, how is that looking?Better than it has in the past. There's new leadership up at Warner Brothers, and they see the value in making this movie. But it got to be done in the right way under the right circumstances. So right now, we're just working out those circumstances on how this movie is going to be produced. And make sure that we got a lot of people who are big stars now who want to be in the movie. So we got to make sure we got enough to pay them.The influencers you're talking about.Well, no. Mike Epps is a bigger star. Kat Williams is a bigger star. Terry Cruise is a bigger star. I got what you're saying. These guys are a lot bigger than they was when we did the first movie where-Well, Kat is now-this was they shot. So we want everybody to be happy. We want everybody we can to get back in the movie.Let me tell you which one of your movies I've watched God knows how many times, all about the Benjamins. I can't say for me, that's the one. It says, You ain't got a four head, you got a five head. You don't watch movies, do you? You have dreams. I bet you never see it.That movie is one of those gems that people love. And wherever you catch it, you can watch it.I can't help myself. He is too good. And Big Three, how's that looking? How's that come Amazing.Big Three, we're in our seventh season. We're going into week three in Baltimore. We're selling teams now. So we sold a team in Los Angeles, and we sold a team to a Heath Freeman in Miami. So it's going to be a team out here in Miami. And we're looking at Toronto, we're looking at Dallas, we're looking at London, New York, Detroit. So hopefully we can sell these 12 teams and expand the league and unlock a major fan base.How close were you at signing Kaitlyn Clarke? Were you having conversations with her people?Yeah, we had conversations with her agent. We were a little disappointed. We didn't get a chance to sit down with her and her family because we think we could have made a compelling argument. They probably didn't want us to make and tell her how much leverage she really has at that time. So It didn't happen, but we was ready for it if she was ready to take that step. And it was a big step, playing against men in this new league, it was a major move. She probably just didn't need another challenge at the end of the day. Being in the WNBA with a target on your back is probably challenging than enough.Do you watch the WMBA?I catch a game or two every now and then. Got it.Yeah. She's changed numbers. Her average attendance, 15,500.That's sweet. People love the women's sports because we know they want to win. They're planning to win. And with the men in the NBA, we're not sure. We're not sure if they want to win or are they worried about their brand? Do they want to be like their low management? What is it about? Is it really about bringing home a ring?In WMBA?Or are you saying in the NBA?In the NBA. So you don't think it's not what it used to be anymore?I'm not sure. Are you? Are you sure that every NBA player is dying to win a championship or do they care their brands more.Did you watch the finals? I did. All of them?I called them a few games, about three games.Were you bored out of your mind or not really?I wasn't bored, but It didn't feel the same. It doesn't have the same weight for some reason.I didn't feel it at all. To me, when was the last time I felt it? It's going to sound weird. It's when the Bucks played the Suns. Yeah. That was sick. They were fighting. There was something there. Giannis wanted it. There was something about this one. I'm like, maybe Porzanges just completely changed the game. The first couple of games when he played, remember when he came in, you're like, Dude, this guy's got four blocks in the first quarter. There's no way he's getting 16,44 in the first half or first quarter. I'm just not excited with the NBA product today. I'm not. I don't see the competition. I think the last time I watched the NBA All-Star again when they fought in that one-fourth quarter, where first to 157, I think game ended 155, 157, and the type of defense, you're like, This is cool. And then they went away again. I don't know. Look, the last time I rooted for the Lakers, and I know this is going to be controversial for you because I know your loyalty where it lies. I've been a diehard Laker fan since Michael made that shot over Sam Perkins.Oh, wow. Because that's when I came to the States. Listen, Seydal Treat. I'm talking nick Van Axel. I'm talking Elvin Kando Campbell. Kevin Smith. I think Kevin Smith was his name. 34. Kevin Smith. What was his name? Kevin... Anyways, we had a number 34. That's my era. Travis. Not Travis. This is in the '90s. If you go to 1994, Laker squad, 1994 Laker Squad, 1994 Laker Squad, you would see this. Sadele Treet, nick Van Axel was exciting to watch, left-handed who was a fighter. What's the squad? Can you zoom in? Sam Bouyau.Eddie Jones, Keevox.Remember when Cedric Sabalas scored that 50 points in a game. Oh, Tony Smith. I'm sorry. Tony Smith. Yeah. Did you ever see Cedric Savalas' rap song?Do you remember that? I think I did see it.Flow On. It was called Flow, Flow On, Flow on, flow on. It was terrible, but he scored 50 points in the game. I liked him. He was our guy. We listened to him back in the day. Anyways, Cube, it's been a pleasure. It's been an honor having you on. Congrats on an incredible incredible life. I don't even want to say career because some people have great careers. You've had an all-around great life. You're part of a community where your son wants to work with you and collaborate with you and do movies with you. You're married for 32 years. You love where you came from. You give respect to the people that came from your industry. There is a lot of strong, deep character with you. There's a lot of depth with you, and I applaud you. I respect you, and I really enjoy this conversation.Thank you, man. Thanks for having me on. And we had a good time. I talked about some things that I've never talked about in the interview. So It's a great setting.I appreciate it. Take care, everybody. Bye-bye, bye-bye. In these uncertain times, if there's anything we need is we need people to believe the future looks bright. So you, if you've heard about me saying this mission to you, we're on a mission to get a million people to wear this gear, and this is what we're doing. If you buy one of these hats, there's a category of buying one hat, getting the second one free. If you haven't yet worn this gear publicly, go ahead and test it out. Buy some of the gear, wear it in public, and see how many people will stop by and say, You also watch a value timing? You also follow a PBD podcast? I do, too. Place your order. Go to vtmerch. Com. Click on the link above or below. Place your order and represent the VT and the PBD podcast gear.

of Eazy E versus Shug? Both of these guys are alphas. What was different about Eazy versus Shug?

Easy. You know, didn't use intimidation. He didn't use any intimidation. He just was a businessman straight up. So it was never any, at least when I was around, never any like, Yo, this got to go down. It's going to be consequences to pay.

So What was his leverage, though? What was his leverage to keep people around?

Having the best ideas, being smart, being innovative, being able to see around the corner, being a visionary, having a plan, having the resources to execute his plan, letting us be who he wanted to be and not who he wanted us to be. He just was I had left the group by then.Okay, got it.So I don't know how it went down.Did you ever hear... One day, it's three months ago, I get a call. They said, Pat, Shug wants to talk to you. I said, What's Shug? I only know one Shug. He said, Shug wants to talk to you.Yeah.Like, D Shugnott. Yeah, it's a collect call. He's on the other line. I'm like, Hey, Shug, how are you doing? Yo, what up? Pbd. Hey, you need the hood. Fucks with you. He's talking to me a lot. What's up, Shug? I watch a lot of your stuff. He said, I want to talk to you. I want to do a podcast with you. I said, Do I come to you? Do you care? He said, No, let's just do a collect call. So it's six collect calls he makes, 15 a bunch of heat for it, right? And he's right now working on the effects of hip hop on society. And he hasn't done the paper yet. The paper is going to come out in the next 3-6 months. And you read different things. Do you think hip hop has had a net positive or a net negative impact on young boys' lives?I think in a lot of ways, it's had a net positive. It's given a lot of youngsters hope. If you think about the world before hip hop, it was pretty corny, and it was really no outlets for the young youth to express themselves. Everything was being done by Grown, grown men and grown, grown women. And there were very few outlets for the youth to express themselves on a mass level or on a major level, put it that way. And then hip hop changed that. Hip hop has created an industry where there was none. It's created more jobs than I can even speak on. It's created an industry He's created talent, cameramen, editors, engineers. It's created superstars from people who can't sing Probably can't sing a lick, but they can still sell out stadiums and arenas. It's giving hope to kids, just like sports have, to change their situation and change their dynamic almost overnight. And look, it's like saying, has movies helped people become better? There's all kinds of movies. There's horror movies, there's pornos, there's all kinds of stuff. But overall, in general, if you don't count all the bad stuff, movies have done a lot to bring the world together.And so I think hip hop has done more to bring people together, especially of all different races. Where else can you go and see kids Kids of all different races getting into one thing, one style of music? So of course, there's the hardcore music, and everything bad in the hood is blamed on hip hop. A bad kid doing something in a baseball hat, it has to be, or a hoodie, he has to be hip hop, or it has had to have something to do with hip hop. And it's not true, because Those things were happening before hip hop. Now, of course, the weapons and all the things that's on the street now wasn't there before, but they're there now. Hip hop don't make weapons. Hip hop don't make drugs. Hip hop might talk about it, might speak about it, may glorify it. But at the end of the day, these things are manufactured by conglomerates and corporations, Hip hop don't leave train cars open full of weapons in the hood or U-Hallss or, you know That has nothing to do with hip hop. That has something to do with a power structure that want to keep the status quo.So overall, I believe hip hop has helped the world be a little more honest with itself.Almost like a form of comedy, I think. But maybe the better comparison would be a comedy, where comedy allows you to... Sometimes Dave Chappelle gets up and he tells some jokes. You're You got to cross the line right there. But you know what? Maybe it's a form of being honest with the market and you decide. If you don't like it, it's like, Look, I'm for this thing when he got up, one of the jokes he said, Ladies, I'm with you. It should be on you to decide your body, your choice, if you want to keep the baby or not. I agree with you. It should be your body, your choice. Now, if it's your body, your choice, I should also have the choice whether to pay child support or not. That should be on me as well, right? And you see the ladies at first, they're all screaming with them, and then like, Boo. And he's going, Wait a minute. Why are you pissed now? And he gets into his whole thing that he does. I get that. I think about when I was a kid and I'm listening to Hit 'Em Up. My workout playlist, Hit 'Em Up.Then you listen to Eazy E, real mother. And then you listen to Mo'Mur, Mo'Murda. You remember that one song with... What was it? We're not against rap. We're not against rappers, but we are against those thugs, thugs, thugs. Remember that hole? Who was it? Bone Thugs, right? That came out with that song. So that's my playlist. And as a kid, to me, it was rage I had on why am I living this life? And this was my way of connecting, right? Where it's like, man, there's an outlet to it, right? So I was internally friends with these rappers. I was hanging out with you guys. It was a good day. I'm one of the greatest hip hop songs of all time. Some say top 5, top 10. That's you, right? Hey, today was a good day. All right. But then you fast forward and this guy said something very interesting. I'm not done with the research, but let me tell you what I did find. I said, what's He said, In the projects and in the hood, hip hop did well because it helped spring people out. He said, But hip hop... And again, he's not done with it.I don't want to quote him on this. He needs to come in and tell us what it is. He says, In the areas it hurt is communities that they don't have a tough life. They're living an okay life, and now they're thinking they're gangsters. You're going to a private school. You're not a gangster. Now you're going to school. I got a gun. Let me tell you what I got. So it made some of kids act like they're tough, and you're not really tough. So it helped the ones here, but it hurt some of the other communities that maybe weren't exposed to this life. When We listen to Brenda's Got A Baby. Brenda's Got A Baby, Brenda's Got A Baby, and then the dumpster, and you're like, remember that whole scene in a movie you guys did? I think, did you do it in Europe? Was it straight out of Compton? What movie was... It wasn't straight out of Compton when he's in the... Maybe no, it wasn't straight out of Compton. I don't know what movie this is with Tupac, where he's negotiating with the producer. It could have been a documentary where he's like, I want Brenda's Got A Baby in the Album.No, we're not going to do it. No, it's got to be in the album. I'm telling you, we can't put this in the album. They're not going to let us play this on the radio. What are you doing? I'm not doing this if it's not. You know what's he talking? I don't know which movie it is. But guess what? Brenda's Got A Baby. It's telling a story. He's not making... You said Richmond earlier, right? This is some of the things that he's seen. What do you think about that argument that maybe it hurt some sects, some communities, but it hurt some other because it brought in mindsets to safer communities that are not dealing with these issues?Well, I The thing is, what issues are they dealing with in those communities? Because it might not be gangbanging, but it could be other issues that they're dealing with. This has always happened with art. Sometimes life imitates art, and art imitates life. When I think about people that do what they do, like a Stephen King of the world who usually makes horror movies or sometimes very violent stories, and he's allowed to be that type of artist without somebody doing a psych op on what is done to the world. Sometimes guys paint a beautiful picture, sometimes they paint an ugly picture. But the key is you've listened to the music, you've named some of the most hardcore records ever, and you've turned out fine. It's mindset and it's individuals. And some people don't know how to take it, but that don't mean you should stop doing it because a few people don't know how to accept the music and look at it as music and art and continue to live their lives. Everybody walked out the movie wanting to be Bruce Lee. You know what I'm saying? Everybody walks out the movie thinking they're Bruce Lee.Yeah. And so that happens with good art. People are going to want to... When Bob Irino was on TV on Welcome Back, Carter, being basically a thug in the classroom with a red rag hanging out his pocket and portraying that, you had a lot of people that wanted to be Bobberino. Fonsy come in. He cool. Got the leather jacket. A lot of people going, Hey, I'm the Fons. Nobody want to kill Happy Days because now they're a friend out here in the suburbs, got a leather jacket on and he's saying, Hey, all the time. So this happens when you do great art. People want to imitate it. That don't mean you kill the art for it.Do you still listen to hip hop? Yeah. What do you listen to? Do you have workout playlists or what's your playlist?Not on that tip. I listen to what's hot, and I'm doing music myself, so I'm mainly listening to what I need to do better on my you given that list?A few times. A few times? Yeah.How many times do people think those are the five that are going to be on your list? I don't know.You never know, but these are my O-Gs. I would throw L. A. On there, too. These are my O-Gs that show me how to use the music and make it powerful and not just a nursery line.Yeah. I remember one time, funny story. You know Jay King? Yeah. Okay. Jay King.Club Nuvol.Club Nuvol, yeah. Why you treat me so... And He had what? Look at all these rumors. So one day, Jay King and I started working together. He says, Pat, I want to start selling insurance. I hear there's a lot of business in insurance. I love Jay King. If you've been around Jay King-He's a hustler. He's a hustler. Yeah, he is. So I said, Jay, we got to go talk to certain people that they have reputation and that we can sell them insurance. He says, All right, so let's go to Beverly Hills. I don't know which one it is. He takes me to one of these hotels. We go there, we're sitting there. He says, Let's talk to Shug. I'm like, Jay, no insurance company is going to let me sell insurance to Shug. What are you talking about? And he brings all these guys one by one by one. And then you realize this space is a very interesting... I was friends with Reggie Callaway. I don't know if you remember Reggie Callaway. The Callaway brothers. I want to be rich. And then he had Casanova. Was it Casanova? Casanova. Yeah, I think that's Reggie Cout.Yeah, that was them. Cia, your firstCru. Your first crew, your name was CIA.Cru.In action.Cru in action. We wanted it to be criminals in action, but Lanzo was like, Man, stop talking this criminal stuff. You know what I mean? We're going to be crew in action. I like that. After the Wrecking crew.Cru in I know. So CIA.You've said some stuff about the CIA. Rob, I don't know if you got the clip or not. I don't know which clip this is. We'll play one of these clips if you got it. Is this on Bill, Rob? Okay, play this clip. Maybe your position has changed, but I want to hear your thoughts. Go for it.Same people who own the labels on the prisons. Literally the same people? Literally the same people who own the labels on private prisons. The records that come out are really geared to push people towards that prison industry.But they didn't make you write those lyrics.It's not about making somebody write the lyrics. It's about being there as guardrails to make sure certain songs make it through, and certain songs don't. Some records are made by committee, meaning record company guys sit around and tell the artist, This is hot. Say that. Do this. We're going to have this guy write the lyrics. We're going to have that. You have the record company pushing the narrative and somewhat some social engineering going on here to make sure those prisons stay full.So how much truth is there behind that?I think it's a lot of truth. If you really remember I was talking about the Black Rocks of the World and Vanguard of the World? Look how much they are invested in All these big labels in the prison industry. And not saying that the CIA is sitting there writing rimes, but they may have a deal with the labels and to allow certain records to get through. I mean, it's up to the label who they blow up the whole industry. And so, yeah, I mean, I've seen records made by a committee when it's not the artist's own thought process. But that happens with a lot of records. A lot of records are you got producers, you got ANR people, you got people who sit there and say, Okay, this sounds like it's a hit. This sounds like it's going to be great. It's not hard to imagine a record label finding a kid that's talking the hardest and blowing him up to the top because they know some kids may be out there going to listen. Like you said, being influenced to do something because this is their favorite rapper. So you don't see a lot of happy rappers at the top of the game, do you?No. You know any of these names? Any of these people that the CIA fed them or somebody wrote the scripts for them or no?I'm not looking for names. I'm wondering if you- I don't know names. It's just companies who they're not going to let you put the record out unless they have a say in the production of their music.I got you. That's like you write a book and they say, Hey, you can't be critical of this guy. Take this out. Or, Hey, we got to talk to the lawyers about this line. We don't want to get sued by those like that. You're not saying necessarily to try to get internally to destroy a community like the African-American community.I'm not saying that it's not either. I don't know what their plan is. I just know that the same people who own the labels, own the prisons. I believe, and it's a lot of evidence out there that they make sure that the records that are put out will more than likely have a negative effect on the community community and create a prison industry or a prison community where you got the men and women in the community going to jail often. So it happens. It's real. It's reality.Last two things before we wrap up. Friday 4, how is that looking?Better than it has in the past. There's new leadership up at Warner Brothers, and they see the value in making this movie. But it got to be done in the right way under the right circumstances. So right now, we're just working out those circumstances on how this movie is going to be produced. And make sure that we got a lot of people who are big stars now who want to be in the movie. So we got to make sure we got enough to pay them.The influencers you're talking about.Well, no. Mike Epps is a bigger star. Kat Williams is a bigger star. Terry Cruise is a bigger star. I got what you're saying. These guys are a lot bigger than they was when we did the first movie where-Well, Kat is now-this was they shot. So we want everybody to be happy. We want everybody we can to get back in the movie.Let me tell you which one of your movies I've watched God knows how many times, all about the Benjamins. I can't say for me, that's the one. It says, You ain't got a four head, you got a five head. You don't watch movies, do you? You have dreams. I bet you never see it.That movie is one of those gems that people love. And wherever you catch it, you can watch it.I can't help myself. He is too good. And Big Three, how's that looking? How's that come Amazing.Big Three, we're in our seventh season. We're going into week three in Baltimore. We're selling teams now. So we sold a team in Los Angeles, and we sold a team to a Heath Freeman in Miami. So it's going to be a team out here in Miami. And we're looking at Toronto, we're looking at Dallas, we're looking at London, New York, Detroit. So hopefully we can sell these 12 teams and expand the league and unlock a major fan base.How close were you at signing Kaitlyn Clarke? Were you having conversations with her people?Yeah, we had conversations with her agent. We were a little disappointed. We didn't get a chance to sit down with her and her family because we think we could have made a compelling argument. They probably didn't want us to make and tell her how much leverage she really has at that time. So It didn't happen, but we was ready for it if she was ready to take that step. And it was a big step, playing against men in this new league, it was a major move. She probably just didn't need another challenge at the end of the day. Being in the WNBA with a target on your back is probably challenging than enough.Do you watch the WMBA?I catch a game or two every now and then. Got it.Yeah. She's changed numbers. Her average attendance, 15,500.That's sweet. People love the women's sports because we know they want to win. They're planning to win. And with the men in the NBA, we're not sure. We're not sure if they want to win or are they worried about their brand? Do they want to be like their low management? What is it about? Is it really about bringing home a ring?In WMBA?Or are you saying in the NBA?In the NBA. So you don't think it's not what it used to be anymore?I'm not sure. Are you? Are you sure that every NBA player is dying to win a championship or do they care their brands more.Did you watch the finals? I did. All of them?I called them a few games, about three games.Were you bored out of your mind or not really?I wasn't bored, but It didn't feel the same. It doesn't have the same weight for some reason.I didn't feel it at all. To me, when was the last time I felt it? It's going to sound weird. It's when the Bucks played the Suns. Yeah. That was sick. They were fighting. There was something there. Giannis wanted it. There was something about this one. I'm like, maybe Porzanges just completely changed the game. The first couple of games when he played, remember when he came in, you're like, Dude, this guy's got four blocks in the first quarter. There's no way he's getting 16,44 in the first half or first quarter. I'm just not excited with the NBA product today. I'm not. I don't see the competition. I think the last time I watched the NBA All-Star again when they fought in that one-fourth quarter, where first to 157, I think game ended 155, 157, and the type of defense, you're like, This is cool. And then they went away again. I don't know. Look, the last time I rooted for the Lakers, and I know this is going to be controversial for you because I know your loyalty where it lies. I've been a diehard Laker fan since Michael made that shot over Sam Perkins.Oh, wow. Because that's when I came to the States. Listen, Seydal Treat. I'm talking nick Van Axel. I'm talking Elvin Kando Campbell. Kevin Smith. I think Kevin Smith was his name. 34. Kevin Smith. What was his name? Kevin... Anyways, we had a number 34. That's my era. Travis. Not Travis. This is in the '90s. If you go to 1994, Laker squad, 1994 Laker Squad, 1994 Laker Squad, you would see this. Sadele Treet, nick Van Axel was exciting to watch, left-handed who was a fighter. What's the squad? Can you zoom in? Sam Bouyau.Eddie Jones, Keevox.Remember when Cedric Sabalas scored that 50 points in a game. Oh, Tony Smith. I'm sorry. Tony Smith. Yeah. Did you ever see Cedric Savalas' rap song?Do you remember that? I think I did see it.Flow On. It was called Flow, Flow On, Flow on, flow on. It was terrible, but he scored 50 points in the game. I liked him. He was our guy. We listened to him back in the day. Anyways, Cube, it's been a pleasure. It's been an honor having you on. Congrats on an incredible incredible life. I don't even want to say career because some people have great careers. You've had an all-around great life. You're part of a community where your son wants to work with you and collaborate with you and do movies with you. You're married for 32 years. You love where you came from. You give respect to the people that came from your industry. There is a lot of strong, deep character with you. There's a lot of depth with you, and I applaud you. I respect you, and I really enjoy this conversation.Thank you, man. Thanks for having me on. And we had a good time. I talked about some things that I've never talked about in the interview. So It's a great setting.I appreciate it. Take care, everybody. Bye-bye, bye-bye. In these uncertain times, if there's anything we need is we need people to believe the future looks bright. So you, if you've heard about me saying this mission to you, we're on a mission to get a million people to wear this gear, and this is what we're doing. If you buy one of these hats, there's a category of buying one hat, getting the second one free. If you haven't yet worn this gear publicly, go ahead and test it out. Buy some of the gear, wear it in public, and see how many people will stop by and say, You also watch a value timing? You also follow a PBD podcast? I do, too. Place your order. Go to vtmerch. Com. Click on the link above or below. Place your order and represent the VT and the PBD podcast gear.

was I had left the group by then.

Okay, got it.

So I don't know how it went down.

Did you ever hear... One day, it's three months ago, I get a call. They said, Pat, Shug wants to talk to you. I said, What's Shug? I only know one Shug. He said, Shug wants to talk to you.

Yeah.

Like, D Shugnott. Yeah, it's a collect call. He's on the other line. I'm like, Hey, Shug, how are you doing? Yo, what up? Pbd. Hey, you need the hood. Fucks with you. He's talking to me a lot. What's up, Shug? I watch a lot of your stuff. He said, I want to talk to you. I want to do a podcast with you. I said, Do I come to you? Do you care? He said, No, let's just do a collect call. So it's six collect calls he makes, 15 a bunch of heat for it, right? And he's right now working on the effects of hip hop on society. And he hasn't done the paper yet. The paper is going to come out in the next 3-6 months. And you read different things. Do you think hip hop has had a net positive or a net negative impact on young boys' lives?I think in a lot of ways, it's had a net positive. It's given a lot of youngsters hope. If you think about the world before hip hop, it was pretty corny, and it was really no outlets for the young youth to express themselves. Everything was being done by Grown, grown men and grown, grown women. And there were very few outlets for the youth to express themselves on a mass level or on a major level, put it that way. And then hip hop changed that. Hip hop has created an industry where there was none. It's created more jobs than I can even speak on. It's created an industry He's created talent, cameramen, editors, engineers. It's created superstars from people who can't sing Probably can't sing a lick, but they can still sell out stadiums and arenas. It's giving hope to kids, just like sports have, to change their situation and change their dynamic almost overnight. And look, it's like saying, has movies helped people become better? There's all kinds of movies. There's horror movies, there's pornos, there's all kinds of stuff. But overall, in general, if you don't count all the bad stuff, movies have done a lot to bring the world together.And so I think hip hop has done more to bring people together, especially of all different races. Where else can you go and see kids Kids of all different races getting into one thing, one style of music? So of course, there's the hardcore music, and everything bad in the hood is blamed on hip hop. A bad kid doing something in a baseball hat, it has to be, or a hoodie, he has to be hip hop, or it has had to have something to do with hip hop. And it's not true, because Those things were happening before hip hop. Now, of course, the weapons and all the things that's on the street now wasn't there before, but they're there now. Hip hop don't make weapons. Hip hop don't make drugs. Hip hop might talk about it, might speak about it, may glorify it. But at the end of the day, these things are manufactured by conglomerates and corporations, Hip hop don't leave train cars open full of weapons in the hood or U-Hallss or, you know That has nothing to do with hip hop. That has something to do with a power structure that want to keep the status quo.So overall, I believe hip hop has helped the world be a little more honest with itself.Almost like a form of comedy, I think. But maybe the better comparison would be a comedy, where comedy allows you to... Sometimes Dave Chappelle gets up and he tells some jokes. You're You got to cross the line right there. But you know what? Maybe it's a form of being honest with the market and you decide. If you don't like it, it's like, Look, I'm for this thing when he got up, one of the jokes he said, Ladies, I'm with you. It should be on you to decide your body, your choice, if you want to keep the baby or not. I agree with you. It should be your body, your choice. Now, if it's your body, your choice, I should also have the choice whether to pay child support or not. That should be on me as well, right? And you see the ladies at first, they're all screaming with them, and then like, Boo. And he's going, Wait a minute. Why are you pissed now? And he gets into his whole thing that he does. I get that. I think about when I was a kid and I'm listening to Hit 'Em Up. My workout playlist, Hit 'Em Up.Then you listen to Eazy E, real mother. And then you listen to Mo'Mur, Mo'Murda. You remember that one song with... What was it? We're not against rap. We're not against rappers, but we are against those thugs, thugs, thugs. Remember that hole? Who was it? Bone Thugs, right? That came out with that song. So that's my playlist. And as a kid, to me, it was rage I had on why am I living this life? And this was my way of connecting, right? Where it's like, man, there's an outlet to it, right? So I was internally friends with these rappers. I was hanging out with you guys. It was a good day. I'm one of the greatest hip hop songs of all time. Some say top 5, top 10. That's you, right? Hey, today was a good day. All right. But then you fast forward and this guy said something very interesting. I'm not done with the research, but let me tell you what I did find. I said, what's He said, In the projects and in the hood, hip hop did well because it helped spring people out. He said, But hip hop... And again, he's not done with it.I don't want to quote him on this. He needs to come in and tell us what it is. He says, In the areas it hurt is communities that they don't have a tough life. They're living an okay life, and now they're thinking they're gangsters. You're going to a private school. You're not a gangster. Now you're going to school. I got a gun. Let me tell you what I got. So it made some of kids act like they're tough, and you're not really tough. So it helped the ones here, but it hurt some of the other communities that maybe weren't exposed to this life. When We listen to Brenda's Got A Baby. Brenda's Got A Baby, Brenda's Got A Baby, and then the dumpster, and you're like, remember that whole scene in a movie you guys did? I think, did you do it in Europe? Was it straight out of Compton? What movie was... It wasn't straight out of Compton when he's in the... Maybe no, it wasn't straight out of Compton. I don't know what movie this is with Tupac, where he's negotiating with the producer. It could have been a documentary where he's like, I want Brenda's Got A Baby in the Album.No, we're not going to do it. No, it's got to be in the album. I'm telling you, we can't put this in the album. They're not going to let us play this on the radio. What are you doing? I'm not doing this if it's not. You know what's he talking? I don't know which movie it is. But guess what? Brenda's Got A Baby. It's telling a story. He's not making... You said Richmond earlier, right? This is some of the things that he's seen. What do you think about that argument that maybe it hurt some sects, some communities, but it hurt some other because it brought in mindsets to safer communities that are not dealing with these issues?Well, I The thing is, what issues are they dealing with in those communities? Because it might not be gangbanging, but it could be other issues that they're dealing with. This has always happened with art. Sometimes life imitates art, and art imitates life. When I think about people that do what they do, like a Stephen King of the world who usually makes horror movies or sometimes very violent stories, and he's allowed to be that type of artist without somebody doing a psych op on what is done to the world. Sometimes guys paint a beautiful picture, sometimes they paint an ugly picture. But the key is you've listened to the music, you've named some of the most hardcore records ever, and you've turned out fine. It's mindset and it's individuals. And some people don't know how to take it, but that don't mean you should stop doing it because a few people don't know how to accept the music and look at it as music and art and continue to live their lives. Everybody walked out the movie wanting to be Bruce Lee. You know what I'm saying? Everybody walks out the movie thinking they're Bruce Lee.Yeah. And so that happens with good art. People are going to want to... When Bob Irino was on TV on Welcome Back, Carter, being basically a thug in the classroom with a red rag hanging out his pocket and portraying that, you had a lot of people that wanted to be Bobberino. Fonsy come in. He cool. Got the leather jacket. A lot of people going, Hey, I'm the Fons. Nobody want to kill Happy Days because now they're a friend out here in the suburbs, got a leather jacket on and he's saying, Hey, all the time. So this happens when you do great art. People want to imitate it. That don't mean you kill the art for it.Do you still listen to hip hop? Yeah. What do you listen to? Do you have workout playlists or what's your playlist?Not on that tip. I listen to what's hot, and I'm doing music myself, so I'm mainly listening to what I need to do better on my you given that list?A few times. A few times? Yeah.How many times do people think those are the five that are going to be on your list? I don't know.You never know, but these are my O-Gs. I would throw L. A. On there, too. These are my O-Gs that show me how to use the music and make it powerful and not just a nursery line.Yeah. I remember one time, funny story. You know Jay King? Yeah. Okay. Jay King.Club Nuvol.Club Nuvol, yeah. Why you treat me so... And He had what? Look at all these rumors. So one day, Jay King and I started working together. He says, Pat, I want to start selling insurance. I hear there's a lot of business in insurance. I love Jay King. If you've been around Jay King-He's a hustler. He's a hustler. Yeah, he is. So I said, Jay, we got to go talk to certain people that they have reputation and that we can sell them insurance. He says, All right, so let's go to Beverly Hills. I don't know which one it is. He takes me to one of these hotels. We go there, we're sitting there. He says, Let's talk to Shug. I'm like, Jay, no insurance company is going to let me sell insurance to Shug. What are you talking about? And he brings all these guys one by one by one. And then you realize this space is a very interesting... I was friends with Reggie Callaway. I don't know if you remember Reggie Callaway. The Callaway brothers. I want to be rich. And then he had Casanova. Was it Casanova? Casanova. Yeah, I think that's Reggie Cout.Yeah, that was them. Cia, your firstCru. Your first crew, your name was CIA.Cru.In action.Cru in action. We wanted it to be criminals in action, but Lanzo was like, Man, stop talking this criminal stuff. You know what I mean? We're going to be crew in action. I like that. After the Wrecking crew.Cru in I know. So CIA.You've said some stuff about the CIA. Rob, I don't know if you got the clip or not. I don't know which clip this is. We'll play one of these clips if you got it. Is this on Bill, Rob? Okay, play this clip. Maybe your position has changed, but I want to hear your thoughts. Go for it.Same people who own the labels on the prisons. Literally the same people? Literally the same people who own the labels on private prisons. The records that come out are really geared to push people towards that prison industry.But they didn't make you write those lyrics.It's not about making somebody write the lyrics. It's about being there as guardrails to make sure certain songs make it through, and certain songs don't. Some records are made by committee, meaning record company guys sit around and tell the artist, This is hot. Say that. Do this. We're going to have this guy write the lyrics. We're going to have that. You have the record company pushing the narrative and somewhat some social engineering going on here to make sure those prisons stay full.So how much truth is there behind that?I think it's a lot of truth. If you really remember I was talking about the Black Rocks of the World and Vanguard of the World? Look how much they are invested in All these big labels in the prison industry. And not saying that the CIA is sitting there writing rimes, but they may have a deal with the labels and to allow certain records to get through. I mean, it's up to the label who they blow up the whole industry. And so, yeah, I mean, I've seen records made by a committee when it's not the artist's own thought process. But that happens with a lot of records. A lot of records are you got producers, you got ANR people, you got people who sit there and say, Okay, this sounds like it's a hit. This sounds like it's going to be great. It's not hard to imagine a record label finding a kid that's talking the hardest and blowing him up to the top because they know some kids may be out there going to listen. Like you said, being influenced to do something because this is their favorite rapper. So you don't see a lot of happy rappers at the top of the game, do you?No. You know any of these names? Any of these people that the CIA fed them or somebody wrote the scripts for them or no?I'm not looking for names. I'm wondering if you- I don't know names. It's just companies who they're not going to let you put the record out unless they have a say in the production of their music.I got you. That's like you write a book and they say, Hey, you can't be critical of this guy. Take this out. Or, Hey, we got to talk to the lawyers about this line. We don't want to get sued by those like that. You're not saying necessarily to try to get internally to destroy a community like the African-American community.I'm not saying that it's not either. I don't know what their plan is. I just know that the same people who own the labels, own the prisons. I believe, and it's a lot of evidence out there that they make sure that the records that are put out will more than likely have a negative effect on the community community and create a prison industry or a prison community where you got the men and women in the community going to jail often. So it happens. It's real. It's reality.Last two things before we wrap up. Friday 4, how is that looking?Better than it has in the past. There's new leadership up at Warner Brothers, and they see the value in making this movie. But it got to be done in the right way under the right circumstances. So right now, we're just working out those circumstances on how this movie is going to be produced. And make sure that we got a lot of people who are big stars now who want to be in the movie. So we got to make sure we got enough to pay them.The influencers you're talking about.Well, no. Mike Epps is a bigger star. Kat Williams is a bigger star. Terry Cruise is a bigger star. I got what you're saying. These guys are a lot bigger than they was when we did the first movie where-Well, Kat is now-this was they shot. So we want everybody to be happy. We want everybody we can to get back in the movie.Let me tell you which one of your movies I've watched God knows how many times, all about the Benjamins. I can't say for me, that's the one. It says, You ain't got a four head, you got a five head. You don't watch movies, do you? You have dreams. I bet you never see it.That movie is one of those gems that people love. And wherever you catch it, you can watch it.I can't help myself. He is too good. And Big Three, how's that looking? How's that come Amazing.Big Three, we're in our seventh season. We're going into week three in Baltimore. We're selling teams now. So we sold a team in Los Angeles, and we sold a team to a Heath Freeman in Miami. So it's going to be a team out here in Miami. And we're looking at Toronto, we're looking at Dallas, we're looking at London, New York, Detroit. So hopefully we can sell these 12 teams and expand the league and unlock a major fan base.How close were you at signing Kaitlyn Clarke? Were you having conversations with her people?Yeah, we had conversations with her agent. We were a little disappointed. We didn't get a chance to sit down with her and her family because we think we could have made a compelling argument. They probably didn't want us to make and tell her how much leverage she really has at that time. So It didn't happen, but we was ready for it if she was ready to take that step. And it was a big step, playing against men in this new league, it was a major move. She probably just didn't need another challenge at the end of the day. Being in the WNBA with a target on your back is probably challenging than enough.Do you watch the WMBA?I catch a game or two every now and then. Got it.Yeah. She's changed numbers. Her average attendance, 15,500.That's sweet. People love the women's sports because we know they want to win. They're planning to win. And with the men in the NBA, we're not sure. We're not sure if they want to win or are they worried about their brand? Do they want to be like their low management? What is it about? Is it really about bringing home a ring?In WMBA?Or are you saying in the NBA?In the NBA. So you don't think it's not what it used to be anymore?I'm not sure. Are you? Are you sure that every NBA player is dying to win a championship or do they care their brands more.Did you watch the finals? I did. All of them?I called them a few games, about three games.Were you bored out of your mind or not really?I wasn't bored, but It didn't feel the same. It doesn't have the same weight for some reason.I didn't feel it at all. To me, when was the last time I felt it? It's going to sound weird. It's when the Bucks played the Suns. Yeah. That was sick. They were fighting. There was something there. Giannis wanted it. There was something about this one. I'm like, maybe Porzanges just completely changed the game. The first couple of games when he played, remember when he came in, you're like, Dude, this guy's got four blocks in the first quarter. There's no way he's getting 16,44 in the first half or first quarter. I'm just not excited with the NBA product today. I'm not. I don't see the competition. I think the last time I watched the NBA All-Star again when they fought in that one-fourth quarter, where first to 157, I think game ended 155, 157, and the type of defense, you're like, This is cool. And then they went away again. I don't know. Look, the last time I rooted for the Lakers, and I know this is going to be controversial for you because I know your loyalty where it lies. I've been a diehard Laker fan since Michael made that shot over Sam Perkins.Oh, wow. Because that's when I came to the States. Listen, Seydal Treat. I'm talking nick Van Axel. I'm talking Elvin Kando Campbell. Kevin Smith. I think Kevin Smith was his name. 34. Kevin Smith. What was his name? Kevin... Anyways, we had a number 34. That's my era. Travis. Not Travis. This is in the '90s. If you go to 1994, Laker squad, 1994 Laker Squad, 1994 Laker Squad, you would see this. Sadele Treet, nick Van Axel was exciting to watch, left-handed who was a fighter. What's the squad? Can you zoom in? Sam Bouyau.Eddie Jones, Keevox.Remember when Cedric Sabalas scored that 50 points in a game. Oh, Tony Smith. I'm sorry. Tony Smith. Yeah. Did you ever see Cedric Savalas' rap song?Do you remember that? I think I did see it.Flow On. It was called Flow, Flow On, Flow on, flow on. It was terrible, but he scored 50 points in the game. I liked him. He was our guy. We listened to him back in the day. Anyways, Cube, it's been a pleasure. It's been an honor having you on. Congrats on an incredible incredible life. I don't even want to say career because some people have great careers. You've had an all-around great life. You're part of a community where your son wants to work with you and collaborate with you and do movies with you. You're married for 32 years. You love where you came from. You give respect to the people that came from your industry. There is a lot of strong, deep character with you. There's a lot of depth with you, and I applaud you. I respect you, and I really enjoy this conversation.Thank you, man. Thanks for having me on. And we had a good time. I talked about some things that I've never talked about in the interview. So It's a great setting.I appreciate it. Take care, everybody. Bye-bye, bye-bye. In these uncertain times, if there's anything we need is we need people to believe the future looks bright. So you, if you've heard about me saying this mission to you, we're on a mission to get a million people to wear this gear, and this is what we're doing. If you buy one of these hats, there's a category of buying one hat, getting the second one free. If you haven't yet worn this gear publicly, go ahead and test it out. Buy some of the gear, wear it in public, and see how many people will stop by and say, You also watch a value timing? You also follow a PBD podcast? I do, too. Place your order. Go to vtmerch. Com. Click on the link above or below. Place your order and represent the VT and the PBD podcast gear.

a bunch of heat for it, right? And he's right now working on the effects of hip hop on society. And he hasn't done the paper yet. The paper is going to come out in the next 3-6 months. And you read different things. Do you think hip hop has had a net positive or a net negative impact on young boys' lives?

I think in a lot of ways, it's had a net positive. It's given a lot of youngsters hope. If you think about the world before hip hop, it was pretty corny, and it was really no outlets for the young youth to express themselves. Everything was being done by Grown, grown men and grown, grown women. And there were very few outlets for the youth to express themselves on a mass level or on a major level, put it that way. And then hip hop changed that. Hip hop has created an industry where there was none. It's created more jobs than I can even speak on. It's created an industry He's created talent, cameramen, editors, engineers. It's created superstars from people who can't sing Probably can't sing a lick, but they can still sell out stadiums and arenas. It's giving hope to kids, just like sports have, to change their situation and change their dynamic almost overnight. And look, it's like saying, has movies helped people become better? There's all kinds of movies. There's horror movies, there's pornos, there's all kinds of stuff. But overall, in general, if you don't count all the bad stuff, movies have done a lot to bring the world together.

And so I think hip hop has done more to bring people together, especially of all different races. Where else can you go and see kids Kids of all different races getting into one thing, one style of music? So of course, there's the hardcore music, and everything bad in the hood is blamed on hip hop. A bad kid doing something in a baseball hat, it has to be, or a hoodie, he has to be hip hop, or it has had to have something to do with hip hop. And it's not true, because Those things were happening before hip hop. Now, of course, the weapons and all the things that's on the street now wasn't there before, but they're there now. Hip hop don't make weapons. Hip hop don't make drugs. Hip hop might talk about it, might speak about it, may glorify it. But at the end of the day, these things are manufactured by conglomerates and corporations, Hip hop don't leave train cars open full of weapons in the hood or U-Hallss or, you know That has nothing to do with hip hop. That has something to do with a power structure that want to keep the status quo.

So overall, I believe hip hop has helped the world be a little more honest with itself.

Almost like a form of comedy, I think. But maybe the better comparison would be a comedy, where comedy allows you to... Sometimes Dave Chappelle gets up and he tells some jokes. You're You got to cross the line right there. But you know what? Maybe it's a form of being honest with the market and you decide. If you don't like it, it's like, Look, I'm for this thing when he got up, one of the jokes he said, Ladies, I'm with you. It should be on you to decide your body, your choice, if you want to keep the baby or not. I agree with you. It should be your body, your choice. Now, if it's your body, your choice, I should also have the choice whether to pay child support or not. That should be on me as well, right? And you see the ladies at first, they're all screaming with them, and then like, Boo. And he's going, Wait a minute. Why are you pissed now? And he gets into his whole thing that he does. I get that. I think about when I was a kid and I'm listening to Hit 'Em Up. My workout playlist, Hit 'Em Up.

Then you listen to Eazy E, real mother. And then you listen to Mo'Mur, Mo'Murda. You remember that one song with... What was it? We're not against rap. We're not against rappers, but we are against those thugs, thugs, thugs. Remember that hole? Who was it? Bone Thugs, right? That came out with that song. So that's my playlist. And as a kid, to me, it was rage I had on why am I living this life? And this was my way of connecting, right? Where it's like, man, there's an outlet to it, right? So I was internally friends with these rappers. I was hanging out with you guys. It was a good day. I'm one of the greatest hip hop songs of all time. Some say top 5, top 10. That's you, right? Hey, today was a good day. All right. But then you fast forward and this guy said something very interesting. I'm not done with the research, but let me tell you what I did find. I said, what's He said, In the projects and in the hood, hip hop did well because it helped spring people out. He said, But hip hop... And again, he's not done with it.

I don't want to quote him on this. He needs to come in and tell us what it is. He says, In the areas it hurt is communities that they don't have a tough life. They're living an okay life, and now they're thinking they're gangsters. You're going to a private school. You're not a gangster. Now you're going to school. I got a gun. Let me tell you what I got. So it made some of kids act like they're tough, and you're not really tough. So it helped the ones here, but it hurt some of the other communities that maybe weren't exposed to this life. When We listen to Brenda's Got A Baby. Brenda's Got A Baby, Brenda's Got A Baby, and then the dumpster, and you're like, remember that whole scene in a movie you guys did? I think, did you do it in Europe? Was it straight out of Compton? What movie was... It wasn't straight out of Compton when he's in the... Maybe no, it wasn't straight out of Compton. I don't know what movie this is with Tupac, where he's negotiating with the producer. It could have been a documentary where he's like, I want Brenda's Got A Baby in the Album.

No, we're not going to do it. No, it's got to be in the album. I'm telling you, we can't put this in the album. They're not going to let us play this on the radio. What are you doing? I'm not doing this if it's not. You know what's he talking? I don't know which movie it is. But guess what? Brenda's Got A Baby. It's telling a story. He's not making... You said Richmond earlier, right? This is some of the things that he's seen. What do you think about that argument that maybe it hurt some sects, some communities, but it hurt some other because it brought in mindsets to safer communities that are not dealing with these issues?

Well, I The thing is, what issues are they dealing with in those communities? Because it might not be gangbanging, but it could be other issues that they're dealing with. This has always happened with art. Sometimes life imitates art, and art imitates life. When I think about people that do what they do, like a Stephen King of the world who usually makes horror movies or sometimes very violent stories, and he's allowed to be that type of artist without somebody doing a psych op on what is done to the world. Sometimes guys paint a beautiful picture, sometimes they paint an ugly picture. But the key is you've listened to the music, you've named some of the most hardcore records ever, and you've turned out fine. It's mindset and it's individuals. And some people don't know how to take it, but that don't mean you should stop doing it because a few people don't know how to accept the music and look at it as music and art and continue to live their lives. Everybody walked out the movie wanting to be Bruce Lee. You know what I'm saying? Everybody walks out the movie thinking they're Bruce Lee.

Yeah. And so that happens with good art. People are going to want to... When Bob Irino was on TV on Welcome Back, Carter, being basically a thug in the classroom with a red rag hanging out his pocket and portraying that, you had a lot of people that wanted to be Bobberino. Fonsy come in. He cool. Got the leather jacket. A lot of people going, Hey, I'm the Fons. Nobody want to kill Happy Days because now they're a friend out here in the suburbs, got a leather jacket on and he's saying, Hey, all the time. So this happens when you do great art. People want to imitate it. That don't mean you kill the art for it.

Do you still listen to hip hop? Yeah. What do you listen to? Do you have workout playlists or what's your playlist?

Not on that tip. I listen to what's hot, and I'm doing music myself, so I'm mainly listening to what I need to do better on my you given that list?A few times. A few times? Yeah.How many times do people think those are the five that are going to be on your list? I don't know.You never know, but these are my O-Gs. I would throw L. A. On there, too. These are my O-Gs that show me how to use the music and make it powerful and not just a nursery line.Yeah. I remember one time, funny story. You know Jay King? Yeah. Okay. Jay King.Club Nuvol.Club Nuvol, yeah. Why you treat me so... And He had what? Look at all these rumors. So one day, Jay King and I started working together. He says, Pat, I want to start selling insurance. I hear there's a lot of business in insurance. I love Jay King. If you've been around Jay King-He's a hustler. He's a hustler. Yeah, he is. So I said, Jay, we got to go talk to certain people that they have reputation and that we can sell them insurance. He says, All right, so let's go to Beverly Hills. I don't know which one it is. He takes me to one of these hotels. We go there, we're sitting there. He says, Let's talk to Shug. I'm like, Jay, no insurance company is going to let me sell insurance to Shug. What are you talking about? And he brings all these guys one by one by one. And then you realize this space is a very interesting... I was friends with Reggie Callaway. I don't know if you remember Reggie Callaway. The Callaway brothers. I want to be rich. And then he had Casanova. Was it Casanova? Casanova. Yeah, I think that's Reggie Cout.Yeah, that was them. Cia, your firstCru. Your first crew, your name was CIA.Cru.In action.Cru in action. We wanted it to be criminals in action, but Lanzo was like, Man, stop talking this criminal stuff. You know what I mean? We're going to be crew in action. I like that. After the Wrecking crew.Cru in I know. So CIA.You've said some stuff about the CIA. Rob, I don't know if you got the clip or not. I don't know which clip this is. We'll play one of these clips if you got it. Is this on Bill, Rob? Okay, play this clip. Maybe your position has changed, but I want to hear your thoughts. Go for it.Same people who own the labels on the prisons. Literally the same people? Literally the same people who own the labels on private prisons. The records that come out are really geared to push people towards that prison industry.But they didn't make you write those lyrics.It's not about making somebody write the lyrics. It's about being there as guardrails to make sure certain songs make it through, and certain songs don't. Some records are made by committee, meaning record company guys sit around and tell the artist, This is hot. Say that. Do this. We're going to have this guy write the lyrics. We're going to have that. You have the record company pushing the narrative and somewhat some social engineering going on here to make sure those prisons stay full.So how much truth is there behind that?I think it's a lot of truth. If you really remember I was talking about the Black Rocks of the World and Vanguard of the World? Look how much they are invested in All these big labels in the prison industry. And not saying that the CIA is sitting there writing rimes, but they may have a deal with the labels and to allow certain records to get through. I mean, it's up to the label who they blow up the whole industry. And so, yeah, I mean, I've seen records made by a committee when it's not the artist's own thought process. But that happens with a lot of records. A lot of records are you got producers, you got ANR people, you got people who sit there and say, Okay, this sounds like it's a hit. This sounds like it's going to be great. It's not hard to imagine a record label finding a kid that's talking the hardest and blowing him up to the top because they know some kids may be out there going to listen. Like you said, being influenced to do something because this is their favorite rapper. So you don't see a lot of happy rappers at the top of the game, do you?No. You know any of these names? Any of these people that the CIA fed them or somebody wrote the scripts for them or no?I'm not looking for names. I'm wondering if you- I don't know names. It's just companies who they're not going to let you put the record out unless they have a say in the production of their music.I got you. That's like you write a book and they say, Hey, you can't be critical of this guy. Take this out. Or, Hey, we got to talk to the lawyers about this line. We don't want to get sued by those like that. You're not saying necessarily to try to get internally to destroy a community like the African-American community.I'm not saying that it's not either. I don't know what their plan is. I just know that the same people who own the labels, own the prisons. I believe, and it's a lot of evidence out there that they make sure that the records that are put out will more than likely have a negative effect on the community community and create a prison industry or a prison community where you got the men and women in the community going to jail often. So it happens. It's real. It's reality.Last two things before we wrap up. Friday 4, how is that looking?Better than it has in the past. There's new leadership up at Warner Brothers, and they see the value in making this movie. But it got to be done in the right way under the right circumstances. So right now, we're just working out those circumstances on how this movie is going to be produced. And make sure that we got a lot of people who are big stars now who want to be in the movie. So we got to make sure we got enough to pay them.The influencers you're talking about.Well, no. Mike Epps is a bigger star. Kat Williams is a bigger star. Terry Cruise is a bigger star. I got what you're saying. These guys are a lot bigger than they was when we did the first movie where-Well, Kat is now-this was they shot. So we want everybody to be happy. We want everybody we can to get back in the movie.Let me tell you which one of your movies I've watched God knows how many times, all about the Benjamins. I can't say for me, that's the one. It says, You ain't got a four head, you got a five head. You don't watch movies, do you? You have dreams. I bet you never see it.That movie is one of those gems that people love. And wherever you catch it, you can watch it.I can't help myself. He is too good. And Big Three, how's that looking? How's that come Amazing.Big Three, we're in our seventh season. We're going into week three in Baltimore. We're selling teams now. So we sold a team in Los Angeles, and we sold a team to a Heath Freeman in Miami. So it's going to be a team out here in Miami. And we're looking at Toronto, we're looking at Dallas, we're looking at London, New York, Detroit. So hopefully we can sell these 12 teams and expand the league and unlock a major fan base.How close were you at signing Kaitlyn Clarke? Were you having conversations with her people?Yeah, we had conversations with her agent. We were a little disappointed. We didn't get a chance to sit down with her and her family because we think we could have made a compelling argument. They probably didn't want us to make and tell her how much leverage she really has at that time. So It didn't happen, but we was ready for it if she was ready to take that step. And it was a big step, playing against men in this new league, it was a major move. She probably just didn't need another challenge at the end of the day. Being in the WNBA with a target on your back is probably challenging than enough.Do you watch the WMBA?I catch a game or two every now and then. Got it.Yeah. She's changed numbers. Her average attendance, 15,500.That's sweet. People love the women's sports because we know they want to win. They're planning to win. And with the men in the NBA, we're not sure. We're not sure if they want to win or are they worried about their brand? Do they want to be like their low management? What is it about? Is it really about bringing home a ring?In WMBA?Or are you saying in the NBA?In the NBA. So you don't think it's not what it used to be anymore?I'm not sure. Are you? Are you sure that every NBA player is dying to win a championship or do they care their brands more.Did you watch the finals? I did. All of them?I called them a few games, about three games.Were you bored out of your mind or not really?I wasn't bored, but It didn't feel the same. It doesn't have the same weight for some reason.I didn't feel it at all. To me, when was the last time I felt it? It's going to sound weird. It's when the Bucks played the Suns. Yeah. That was sick. They were fighting. There was something there. Giannis wanted it. There was something about this one. I'm like, maybe Porzanges just completely changed the game. The first couple of games when he played, remember when he came in, you're like, Dude, this guy's got four blocks in the first quarter. There's no way he's getting 16,44 in the first half or first quarter. I'm just not excited with the NBA product today. I'm not. I don't see the competition. I think the last time I watched the NBA All-Star again when they fought in that one-fourth quarter, where first to 157, I think game ended 155, 157, and the type of defense, you're like, This is cool. And then they went away again. I don't know. Look, the last time I rooted for the Lakers, and I know this is going to be controversial for you because I know your loyalty where it lies. I've been a diehard Laker fan since Michael made that shot over Sam Perkins.Oh, wow. Because that's when I came to the States. Listen, Seydal Treat. I'm talking nick Van Axel. I'm talking Elvin Kando Campbell. Kevin Smith. I think Kevin Smith was his name. 34. Kevin Smith. What was his name? Kevin... Anyways, we had a number 34. That's my era. Travis. Not Travis. This is in the '90s. If you go to 1994, Laker squad, 1994 Laker Squad, 1994 Laker Squad, you would see this. Sadele Treet, nick Van Axel was exciting to watch, left-handed who was a fighter. What's the squad? Can you zoom in? Sam Bouyau.Eddie Jones, Keevox.Remember when Cedric Sabalas scored that 50 points in a game. Oh, Tony Smith. I'm sorry. Tony Smith. Yeah. Did you ever see Cedric Savalas' rap song?Do you remember that? I think I did see it.Flow On. It was called Flow, Flow On, Flow on, flow on. It was terrible, but he scored 50 points in the game. I liked him. He was our guy. We listened to him back in the day. Anyways, Cube, it's been a pleasure. It's been an honor having you on. Congrats on an incredible incredible life. I don't even want to say career because some people have great careers. You've had an all-around great life. You're part of a community where your son wants to work with you and collaborate with you and do movies with you. You're married for 32 years. You love where you came from. You give respect to the people that came from your industry. There is a lot of strong, deep character with you. There's a lot of depth with you, and I applaud you. I respect you, and I really enjoy this conversation.Thank you, man. Thanks for having me on. And we had a good time. I talked about some things that I've never talked about in the interview. So It's a great setting.I appreciate it. Take care, everybody. Bye-bye, bye-bye. In these uncertain times, if there's anything we need is we need people to believe the future looks bright. So you, if you've heard about me saying this mission to you, we're on a mission to get a million people to wear this gear, and this is what we're doing. If you buy one of these hats, there's a category of buying one hat, getting the second one free. If you haven't yet worn this gear publicly, go ahead and test it out. Buy some of the gear, wear it in public, and see how many people will stop by and say, You also watch a value timing? You also follow a PBD podcast? I do, too. Place your order. Go to vtmerch. Com. Click on the link above or below. Place your order and represent the VT and the PBD podcast gear.

you given that list?

A few times. A few times? Yeah.

How many times do people think those are the five that are going to be on your list? I don't know.

You never know, but these are my O-Gs. I would throw L. A. On there, too. These are my O-Gs that show me how to use the music and make it powerful and not just a nursery line.

Yeah. I remember one time, funny story. You know Jay King? Yeah. Okay. Jay King.

Club Nuvol.

Club Nuvol, yeah. Why you treat me so... And He had what? Look at all these rumors. So one day, Jay King and I started working together. He says, Pat, I want to start selling insurance. I hear there's a lot of business in insurance. I love Jay King. If you've been around Jay King-He's a hustler. He's a hustler. Yeah, he is. So I said, Jay, we got to go talk to certain people that they have reputation and that we can sell them insurance. He says, All right, so let's go to Beverly Hills. I don't know which one it is. He takes me to one of these hotels. We go there, we're sitting there. He says, Let's talk to Shug. I'm like, Jay, no insurance company is going to let me sell insurance to Shug. What are you talking about? And he brings all these guys one by one by one. And then you realize this space is a very interesting... I was friends with Reggie Callaway. I don't know if you remember Reggie Callaway. The Callaway brothers. I want to be rich. And then he had Casanova. Was it Casanova? Casanova. Yeah, I think that's Reggie Cout.

Yeah, that was them. Cia, your firstCru. Your first crew, your name was CIA.Cru.

In action.Cru in action. We wanted it to be criminals in action, but Lanzo was like, Man, stop talking this criminal stuff. You know what I mean? We're going to be crew in action. I like that. After the Wrecking crew.Cru in I know. So CIA.

You've said some stuff about the CIA. Rob, I don't know if you got the clip or not. I don't know which clip this is. We'll play one of these clips if you got it. Is this on Bill, Rob? Okay, play this clip. Maybe your position has changed, but I want to hear your thoughts. Go for it.

Same people who own the labels on the prisons. Literally the same people? Literally the same people who own the labels on private prisons. The records that come out are really geared to push people towards that prison industry.

But they didn't make you write those lyrics.

It's not about making somebody write the lyrics. It's about being there as guardrails to make sure certain songs make it through, and certain songs don't. Some records are made by committee, meaning record company guys sit around and tell the artist, This is hot. Say that. Do this. We're going to have this guy write the lyrics. We're going to have that. You have the record company pushing the narrative and somewhat some social engineering going on here to make sure those prisons stay full.

So how much truth is there behind that?

I think it's a lot of truth. If you really remember I was talking about the Black Rocks of the World and Vanguard of the World? Look how much they are invested in All these big labels in the prison industry. And not saying that the CIA is sitting there writing rimes, but they may have a deal with the labels and to allow certain records to get through. I mean, it's up to the label who they blow up the whole industry. And so, yeah, I mean, I've seen records made by a committee when it's not the artist's own thought process. But that happens with a lot of records. A lot of records are you got producers, you got ANR people, you got people who sit there and say, Okay, this sounds like it's a hit. This sounds like it's going to be great. It's not hard to imagine a record label finding a kid that's talking the hardest and blowing him up to the top because they know some kids may be out there going to listen. Like you said, being influenced to do something because this is their favorite rapper. So you don't see a lot of happy rappers at the top of the game, do you?

No. You know any of these names? Any of these people that the CIA fed them or somebody wrote the scripts for them or no?

I'm not looking for names. I'm wondering if you- I don't know names. It's just companies who they're not going to let you put the record out unless they have a say in the production of their music.

I got you. That's like you write a book and they say, Hey, you can't be critical of this guy. Take this out. Or, Hey, we got to talk to the lawyers about this line. We don't want to get sued by those like that. You're not saying necessarily to try to get internally to destroy a community like the African-American community.

I'm not saying that it's not either. I don't know what their plan is. I just know that the same people who own the labels, own the prisons. I believe, and it's a lot of evidence out there that they make sure that the records that are put out will more than likely have a negative effect on the community community and create a prison industry or a prison community where you got the men and women in the community going to jail often. So it happens. It's real. It's reality.

Last two things before we wrap up. Friday 4, how is that looking?

Better than it has in the past. There's new leadership up at Warner Brothers, and they see the value in making this movie. But it got to be done in the right way under the right circumstances. So right now, we're just working out those circumstances on how this movie is going to be produced. And make sure that we got a lot of people who are big stars now who want to be in the movie. So we got to make sure we got enough to pay them.

The influencers you're talking about.

Well, no. Mike Epps is a bigger star. Kat Williams is a bigger star. Terry Cruise is a bigger star. I got what you're saying. These guys are a lot bigger than they was when we did the first movie where-Well, Kat is now-this was they shot. So we want everybody to be happy. We want everybody we can to get back in the movie.

Let me tell you which one of your movies I've watched God knows how many times, all about the Benjamins. I can't say for me, that's the one. It says, You ain't got a four head, you got a five head. You don't watch movies, do you? You have dreams. I bet you never see it.

That movie is one of those gems that people love. And wherever you catch it, you can watch it.

I can't help myself. He is too good. And Big Three, how's that looking? How's that come Amazing.

Big Three, we're in our seventh season. We're going into week three in Baltimore. We're selling teams now. So we sold a team in Los Angeles, and we sold a team to a Heath Freeman in Miami. So it's going to be a team out here in Miami. And we're looking at Toronto, we're looking at Dallas, we're looking at London, New York, Detroit. So hopefully we can sell these 12 teams and expand the league and unlock a major fan base.

How close were you at signing Kaitlyn Clarke? Were you having conversations with her people?

Yeah, we had conversations with her agent. We were a little disappointed. We didn't get a chance to sit down with her and her family because we think we could have made a compelling argument. They probably didn't want us to make and tell her how much leverage she really has at that time. So It didn't happen, but we was ready for it if she was ready to take that step. And it was a big step, playing against men in this new league, it was a major move. She probably just didn't need another challenge at the end of the day. Being in the WNBA with a target on your back is probably challenging than enough.

Do you watch the WMBA?

I catch a game or two every now and then. Got it.

Yeah. She's changed numbers. Her average attendance, 15,500.

That's sweet. People love the women's sports because we know they want to win. They're planning to win. And with the men in the NBA, we're not sure. We're not sure if they want to win or are they worried about their brand? Do they want to be like their low management? What is it about? Is it really about bringing home a ring?

In WMBA?

Or are you saying in the NBA?

In the NBA. So you don't think it's not what it used to be anymore?

I'm not sure. Are you? Are you sure that every NBA player is dying to win a championship or do they care their brands more.

Did you watch the finals? I did. All of them?

I called them a few games, about three games.

Were you bored out of your mind or not really?

I wasn't bored, but It didn't feel the same. It doesn't have the same weight for some reason.

I didn't feel it at all. To me, when was the last time I felt it? It's going to sound weird. It's when the Bucks played the Suns. Yeah. That was sick. They were fighting. There was something there. Giannis wanted it. There was something about this one. I'm like, maybe Porzanges just completely changed the game. The first couple of games when he played, remember when he came in, you're like, Dude, this guy's got four blocks in the first quarter. There's no way he's getting 16,44 in the first half or first quarter. I'm just not excited with the NBA product today. I'm not. I don't see the competition. I think the last time I watched the NBA All-Star again when they fought in that one-fourth quarter, where first to 157, I think game ended 155, 157, and the type of defense, you're like, This is cool. And then they went away again. I don't know. Look, the last time I rooted for the Lakers, and I know this is going to be controversial for you because I know your loyalty where it lies. I've been a diehard Laker fan since Michael made that shot over Sam Perkins.

Oh, wow. Because that's when I came to the States. Listen, Seydal Treat. I'm talking nick Van Axel. I'm talking Elvin Kando Campbell. Kevin Smith. I think Kevin Smith was his name. 34. Kevin Smith. What was his name? Kevin... Anyways, we had a number 34. That's my era. Travis. Not Travis. This is in the '90s. If you go to 1994, Laker squad, 1994 Laker Squad, 1994 Laker Squad, you would see this. Sadele Treet, nick Van Axel was exciting to watch, left-handed who was a fighter. What's the squad? Can you zoom in? Sam Bouyau.

Eddie Jones, Keevox.

Remember when Cedric Sabalas scored that 50 points in a game. Oh, Tony Smith. I'm sorry. Tony Smith. Yeah. Did you ever see Cedric Savalas' rap song?

Do you remember that? I think I did see it.

Flow On. It was called Flow, Flow On, Flow on, flow on. It was terrible, but he scored 50 points in the game. I liked him. He was our guy. We listened to him back in the day. Anyways, Cube, it's been a pleasure. It's been an honor having you on. Congrats on an incredible incredible life. I don't even want to say career because some people have great careers. You've had an all-around great life. You're part of a community where your son wants to work with you and collaborate with you and do movies with you. You're married for 32 years. You love where you came from. You give respect to the people that came from your industry. There is a lot of strong, deep character with you. There's a lot of depth with you, and I applaud you. I respect you, and I really enjoy this conversation.

Thank you, man. Thanks for having me on. And we had a good time. I talked about some things that I've never talked about in the interview. So It's a great setting.

I appreciate it. Take care, everybody. Bye-bye, bye-bye. In these uncertain times, if there's anything we need is we need people to believe the future looks bright. So you, if you've heard about me saying this mission to you, we're on a mission to get a million people to wear this gear, and this is what we're doing. If you buy one of these hats, there's a category of buying one hat, getting the second one free. If you haven't yet worn this gear publicly, go ahead and test it out. Buy some of the gear, wear it in public, and see how many people will stop by and say, You also watch a value timing? You also follow a PBD podcast? I do, too. Place your order. Go to vtmerch. Com. Click on the link above or below. Place your order and represent the VT and the PBD podcast gear.