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♪ ♪ - ♪ so i'm asking ♪ ♪ where are my friends? ♪ ♪ i know that this love ♪ ♪ has come to an end ♪ ♪ but why didi have to listen ♪ ♪ to my friends? ♪ [indistinct chatter] ♪ it was only yesterday ♪
- you know,he's such an unassuming person. when you meet him, he doesn'tscream "peanut butter wolf." - ♪ that's the show ♪ - hey. - ♪ if you want some more ♪ - peanut butter wolf, i mean,yeah, he's a character. and i think that the quirksof his personality are a big part of whathas made stones throw such a cool label.
- stones throw createda home for all musicians. it created a home-- producers, rock groups,whatever, motherfuckers. - i admire wolf's strive for embracing the un-embraced. he's able to pullall these acts together and cultivate an underground. - the work thatpeanut butter wolf does i think is, like, necessary.
there's no limitationsto the things that he choosesto do with music. no regard for, like,"well, these are the rules." i think that's, like,what we want to hear in music. - what's up?yeah, that's right, y'all. what's happening, world?this is dam-funk. you're tuned to peanut butterwolf's 12/12/12, y'all. ah, boiler room, check it out. ♪ don't go swag ♪
♪ just stay cool ♪ ♪ ah ♪ ♪ just stay you ♪ ♪ you know we gonnakeep on funking you ♪ ♪ till i die y'all ♪ ♪ got the afro now ♪ ♪ you motherfuckers can'thate on my perm, no ♪ ♪ you know i'm gonna keep onfunking you ♪ ♪ till you fucking learn,y'all ♪
♪ and if i ever hear youmotherfuckers ♪ ♪ tell me this bullshit ♪ ♪ trying to walk up to meand you ain't black ♪ ♪ singing that n-word,i'ma fuck you up, y'all ♪ ♪ give it up for p.b. wolf ♪ ♪ keeping this shitreal true, y'all ♪ [cheers and applause]♪ 15 years ♪ ♪ you know we gonna keep ondoing it, y'all, yeah ♪ ♪ worldwide ♪
♪ l.a. ♪ ♪ bay area ♪ ♪ san jose ♪ ♪ fresno ♪ ♪ san diego ♪ ♪ pasadena ♪ ♪ you knowwe gonna keep it real true ♪ ♪ oh yeah ♪ ♪ make some noise if you'refeeling this shit, y'all ♪
♪ right now, y'all ♪ oh! [cheers and applause] - it's just those moments whereyou meet with these people, and you understand that-- that this is a cultureand a lifestyle and an inspirationfor so many. and it feels, like, amazing whenyou can walk into these spaces and, you know, liveinside of that creative zone
when people just keep it,you know, to that level of purity. - this is... - stones throw. - the tomorrow people. - ♪ what is the magic ♪ ♪ that makes one's eyessparkle and gleam ♪ ♪ light up the skies ♪ ♪ the name of the gameis light works ♪
- ♪ yeah, uh ♪ ♪ yo, yo, listen up ♪ ♪ listen up ♪ - ♪ shine with that sparkleand gleam ♪ - ♪ listen up ♪ - ♪ shine with that sparkleand-- ♪ ♪ sparkle and--sparkle and-- ♪ ♪ the name of the game ♪ ♪ is light works ♪
[horn honks] - i think the first songi remember from my childhood was the entertainer,from the movie the sting. [the entertainer plays] - he was a sweetie pieand very focused at a young age on music. - my dad was in the service. after i was born, he went awayto the vietnam war. and he came backwhen i was two.
we moved around. we had to have moved to, like, five or six housesin three years-- boston,south and north dakota, three or four different citiesin texas, southern california, and then eventuallysettled in san jose. [horn blares] i was literallyon the moving truck,
and i came out,and a kid, like, knockedon the moving truck door. - and i went up to him and said,"hi, my name's steve. do you want to be my friend?" and so that'show long i've known him. - and i thought it was so funnyand, like, nerdy and weird. but i was like, "well,i don't have any friends here. i might as well, you know,give this guy a chance." - so that'show they got together.
and they started singingor playing this music in the garage. - we kind of got into discoand soul and funk together. [funk music] - hi, this is your dj chris with the top 50 hitsof our records. michael jackson's new song. that was sexual healingby marvin gaye, a super old-time singer,i mean old.
here's a song for all of uskind of people, djs. next on our countdownis a song by diana ross, who's been in a lotof our countdowns before. well, i'm goingto have to go now, because i have to doa dumb book report. - the boy didn't eat his lunch.he'd take the lunch money. he thought i didn't know.he took the lunch money. and he'd get a rideto the record store. - we'd just, like,buy a candy bar for lunch
and save the rest of the moneyand go buy records. - between the two of us, like, if one of us bought the record,then the other one wouldn't, because he livedacross the street from me. and then we would havetwice as many records that way. [pop music] by the timei got into high school, i started gettinginto more new wave and punk. and that was aroundthe time when i met jeff jank.
- we were justkind of the music clique, me, chris,jeff jank, dave gatt. - i know chris wasn'tjust into hip-hop. i knew he liked the cure.i know he liked new order. i knew he likedall this other types of music. - we didn't really fitinto one particular clique. we were friends withall of the different cliques, because we were into all ofthe different types of music-- alternative or new wave crowd.
we were friendswith the jocks. we were friendswith the hip-hop crowd. we were friendswith just about every crowd, exceptfor the heavy metal crowd, because that's the type of musicthat we weren't into. but we werestill cool with them. - we were '80s kids. but we were basicallyinto counterculture, no matter what it was.
hip-hop, punk rock, new wave, anything that was, like, opposite of the mainstream,we were into. - and it was at that timei started experimenting and playing instrumentsand playing in bands. the first band i was inwas with jeff jank. [punk rock music] he was the guyin my high school that i thoughtwas gonna really be, like,
a successful musician. i was like a superfan,you know, from afar. and then he asked meto be in his band. i felt likethat was a dream come true. i loved what i was doing withjeff, but i think my talents and my passion at that pointwere more into hip-hop. ♪ come on, come on,come on, come on, come on ♪ - ♪ the hip-hop ♪- ♪ it don't stop ♪ - ♪ hip-hop ♪- ♪ it don't stop ♪
- ♪ now dj got the flavor-- ♪ come on, jeff,let's go in the studio. ♪ charizma, that's my name ♪ ♪ and shall i introducemyself, self ♪ ♪ live and direct, yo ♪ ♪ i'm movin' off the shelves ♪ - [as donald duck]how are you doing? my name's peanut butter wolf. i'm here in the studio.
[hip-hop music] - charizma ended up beingkind of my third brother. he was at the house nonstop. we had, like, this wallon the staircase that had, like, all our family photos. and we took a picture of, like,charizma and put it up there. - that time period was, like, kind of the will smithkind of era. like, when will smith was,like, radio-friendly and like,
"oh, this hip-hop stuffisn't so bad, son," you know? like, chris and charizmahad that kind of appeal but with still being, like,edgy, still being punks. both: ♪ come selector,come selector ♪ ♪ the beats will flip it up,and like a recipe ♪ ♪ why don't you mix it upand mix it up, right ♪ - ♪ my beat boxplay it one for me ♪ - [beat-boxing] - they werereally silly together.
chris was really shy, and he brought out, like,a really funny, creative side. so it wasn't unheard offor the two of them to, you know, get in costume. - he would talk chrisinto getting, like, dressed up with wigsand, like, '70s, like, really weird clothesfrom thrift stores. - okay.public enemy? no, too violent.
- no.beastie--that's too old. beastie boys?- x-clan? - ♪ my name's mike d ♪ - i'm psyched if chriswas somehow inspired by or encouraged bywhat we were doing, 'cause i thinkthey're a great example of just beingreally independent and beingreally creative. - pow, here we go,mystic television.
we're sitting right here.you know who i am. i'm b-phat, the brotherfrom another planet. we got charizma on one side, and we got thepeanut butter wolf over there. no jelly. and how did you get that name,peanut butter wolf? - oh, that's a secret.that's a secret. - we're from the bay area. basically, charizma is about,you know,
the crazy styles, beingdifferent, the apple juice, the cut-off hat, you know,which i originated and all that. - am i supposed to look,like, into there? - why not? - i'm a new jack.i'm a new jack. - like, we get categorizedas a west coast group. and people think that,you know, just because you'refrom the west coast, you got, like,this stigma on you.
you know, like,you're doing this gangsta rap or you're doing this or that,you ain't got no skills. so, you know, basicallycharizma is out here just to let you knowthat there are some brothers from the west coastthat got skills, you know. and we're out heretrying to do what we gotta doand be different. look at that crazy hatand apple juice there. this guy is nuts.
- ♪ i'm pulling skinsince i'm the real mccoy ♪ ♪ i take girlsand line 'em up like corduroys ♪ ♪ this ain't a hand-me-down,everyone loves a super song ♪ ♪ i love them all,car brakes, red light ♪ - my advice to, you know,any up-and-coming artist, be true to what you do,be different, be original, be yourself. you know, this hip-hop industryis crazy. - ♪ what is an mc,if he can't-- ♪
- ♪ green light ♪ - ♪ check one, twowith the check one, two ♪ ♪ i liketo come back like-- ♪ it's kind of hardto categorize charizma. i'm hard.you know, then i'm cool. then i'm apple juice,you know. we're just tryingto be different. ♪ 1,000 people shotand all the hoods that ran ♪ ♪ thinking how could all thishappen in front of one man? ♪
♪ i made a move on the girlswith the good looks ♪ ♪ that's overduelike a library book ♪ yo, chris,you're wanted, man. - get that shit. - he's still unsigned,but not for long, 'cause charizma issouth bay large and rising. [mutters]y'all, peace. - very few peopleleave san jose and blow up and becomesuperstars in music.
it's just a little suburb,you know, attached to the back endof san francisco. you think about it. you're tryingto tell your family that you're going to besuccessful as an mc. this is like winningpowerball, right? this is like winningthe lottery. "i'm going to be successfulin music, and we're not going to everhave to worry about this."
"right, right, dude.right." - notoriety, you know, makespeople look at you strange. it was interestingbeing with him. there was a lotof crews that-- they weren't happythat we were so prominent. but there wasa love for the fact that san jose was coming up. you know, there was a lotof hope behind charizma and what was going on.
- from the south bay,charizma is ready to blow up. negotiations for his plat singleare going on right now. and they got signed upwith, of course, hollywood basics out of l.a. [both speaking gibberish] - ♪ oh yeah ♪ - ♪ now this little rhymegoes to the hood ♪ ♪ and this little,little rhyme is up to no good ♪ ♪ so why don't you justcome selector, come selector ♪
♪ the beats will flip it up ♪ ♪ and like a recipe, why don'tyou mix it up and mix it up ♪ ♪ right,yo, here we go, here we go ♪ ♪ the reggae style is not,not me ♪ ♪ but i go boom, boom one time,boom, boom two times ♪ ♪ so let's call it coffee'cause this song grind, grinds ♪ ♪ swell, can't you tell ♪ ♪ i flow like fa-fast,you can't lag ♪ ♪ i put on my hat, my shirt,and then my sneakers ♪
♪ and my pants sag down ♪ - yo, it'sa hollywood basics segment. you know what i'm saying?i got charizma in the house. [excited chatter] real quick, yo. i got charizma,coming out of san jose, when your musiccoming out, yo? - april, may.late-ish april. - what's the nameof the 12-inch?
- red light, green light, here's a smirk. - there it is. - why don't you talka little bit about your little adventureup in l.a.? i'll never forget the day, how happy they werewhen they came home. he says, "i reallyfeel like a celebrity." and just happy, happy,just ecstatic two kids. we threw them a big partywhen they got back too.
so i think at that point, hereally felt like he was a star. - oh, it was nice.they had a little party for us. and they were, like, snapping photos of ussigning the contracts. it was so crazy,like, pictures all... [imitating camera shuttersclicking] - you guys feltlike celebrities, huh? - yeah. - a little bit of starstruck.
- the record businessis not clear-cut. they got hooked upinto a label that hadsome constraints to it. they wasn't able to gettheir hands on their money, though they knew it was there. i think there was a lotof people depending on them. there was family, there wasfriends, people around them. there was a lot of pressureto make it work and to make it looklike it's working.
- thank you, grandpa. [laughter] - you kids have fun.i know you will. - he didn't reallyhave it all yet. so i think he was tryingto keep that image. - charizma got caught up insomething that was long-standing that really didn't have muchto do with him at all. - he was in an area wherepeople are starving to death. - east palo alto is the poorestcity in san mateo county.
- really, anybody from san joseat that time in those areas was dangerous. - 42 homicides last year-- has the highest numberof killings per capita of any u.s. city. - he was driving his car, and somebodytried to carjack him, and he--he resisted. - together forever,like a love song?
- together forever. [gunshots] - yeah, i gotthe call the next day. and, you know, it was-- i mean, you neverin a million years can believe somethinglike that. - i remember that day, becauseit was my christmas ball, my senior christmas ball. and we had--i had seen himon that wednesday.
and we said, "oh, yeah,let's not talk tomorrow, "because it willbe more exciting when we see each otheron friday." so i didn't plan to talkto him on that day. i was at home watching tv,and chris called. he told me that he was gone,that charizma was gone. - i didn't know what to do. i mean, i was just--i took a break from everything and just didn't really--
i just turned off, basically. - ♪ i love mary ♪ ♪ i ♪ ♪ i love mary ♪ - i was determinedfor the music we had done togetherto be heard. and every label i sent it towas either, you know, "no thanks,"or just no response. so in 1996,i started stones throw.
[alarm beeping] - [vocalizing] [rhythmic beat] - i feel like we're allone and the same around here. we're all striving for the samething, you know, more or less, which is the advancementof independent music. - it almost feels likestones throw is a home of sorts. it's a very welcoming vibe. it's almost like peanut butterwolf created his own genre.
- most of the time,it's an uphill battle anyways, because mostof the things i sign are thingsthat nobody's heard of. - i think as a curator, peanut butter wolfis absolutely needed. and we need more peopleto follow his example. smaller movements makefor a bigger, better culture. - i feel like "the lost boys"is a term that shouldn't bethrown around lightly.
but i thinka lot of the people that chris brings into thefamily are looking for a place. - ♪ tonight ♪ - l.a. is a big place. and everything isall about how big, how fancy, how hollywood you are. and after, you know,coming across stones throw, it just feelsa lot more free. - today let's just seeif we can--
you know, i don't know.we'll see, but it's easy. it's like a fast, like,a drum-and-bass-type sound. so, you know, we'll see.man, it sounds great. i'm just gonnaget set up real quick. one, two, three, oh. being on stones throwhas really changed my life. i mean, before i was on stonesthrow, i was driving trucks. i was delivering toolsto places. i was workingfor the american red cross.
all that stuff was fun. i mean, but all the while,i was always recording and doing music,and i never gave up the dream. ♪ this intro ♪ ♪ look inside yourself ♪ ♪ yes ♪ at the end of the day when i'm smoking a cigar andat the beach somewhere, like, you know, chillingwith a cadillac margarita,
you know, later in lifei'd like to look back and say i never did,you know, sell out. and that's the type of artisti want to continue to be. and that's the kind of artist that stones throw hasat this current time. - it takes someone withan unusual personality, i think, to sort of see these littlenuggets of potential in people and actuallyinvest a friendship and spend time with peoplethat have that potential.
[dramatic orchestral music] - i put out my first albumon stones throw. and it's beena wild ride since then. ♪ i wish that it would rain ♪ [vocalizing] i was tryingto make hip-hop music. i had just moved to l.a.from detroit. i didn't really know anybody. i got introduced to wolf,and i was trying to get him
to put outsome of my hip-hop music. he was more interestedin these demos that i did in my bedroomof soul music. it was stuff thati never really had any plans on making into a full album. but, you know,he's got that vision. he's really pretty magicalin that sense. - i feel likei'm kind of a stomping ground to start people's careers.
and then they cankind of do what they want after. i thinkthat's why i like working with a lotof younger artists. - oh, here it is. - i made a demowith, like, eight songs, and i sent it to, like,six other labels. the only label that hit me backwas stones throw, wolf. ♪ wait and see ♪ ♪ i'll show you ♪
♪ you'll see ♪ i work atthe u.p.s. airport, and i just drive tugsaround the airport. ♪ 'cause i've beenon a lonely road ♪ ♪ and i still gota long way to go ♪ ♪ i've beenon my lonely road ♪ wolf is the godfatherof my son now. - you know,there are these kids that are making recordsin their own rooms.
i mean, vex ruffin is a very-- he's a good example of that. what we're doing is in tryingto go against the mainstream and goagainst this kind of fake world that the music industryis pasting for everyone. ♪ i know how the system works ♪ ♪ i know how the people work ♪ ♪ and it doesn't ♪ ♪ stop lookingover your shoulder ♪
♪ no one's there ♪ they're not restingon their laurels, which is whati admire about them. they're not scaredof change, and they're notscared of embracing what's coming upin the future, so... - majors, they've got individualdepartments for taking a leak. smaller labels,i know this myself, 'cause i've run them,it's a very hands-on business.
it's a very personal business. - you know, they don't tryto create artists. they try to find artists.you know what i mean? they don't--and nurture artists,you know what i'm saying? not try to limitwhat anybody does but try to have people reachtheir full potential as artists. you know what i'm saying? - we're gonna take two. on the count of three,"black power."
one, two, three. - ♪ uh, yeah ♪ ♪ yo, what you want from me? ♪ ♪ who was sayingthis nation's indivisible? ♪ ♪ i don't care what they sayor if they paid ♪ ♪ cats is miserable ♪ - you have an artistlike homeboy sandman, who's a new york-based artist,who's been around for years. and he's been makingquality hip-hop records.
and no one's taken a chanceon marketing and promoting it or getting it out there. so i thinkthey were a perfect fit. - ♪ everything we sayis in vain ♪ ♪ the days are biblical ♪ ♪ uh ♪ ♪ so ♪ ♪ what you want from me? ♪- what you want? - ♪ what you want from me? ♪- what you want?
- ♪ what you want from me? ♪ - what you want? - i was at mcdonald's, and i don't knowwhose car i was in, but the radiowas on real low. and i just heard--i heardmy ear just catching stuff. and i heardsome [bleep] progression i've never heardin my life. i was like,"turn that [bleep] up.
turn it up, turn it up." so i was sitting there,i knew it was about to end, so i tried to catch the last,like, lyrics of it or whatever. i went home,and i sat for, like, two hours, [bleep] quoting those [bleep]lyrics, trying to find it, and i found this forum. and it was some random [bleep]japanese [bleep]. and it said "the stepkids,"and it had the song title. and i [bleep] youtubed it,found it,
then found outthey was on stones throw. and i was like,"what the [bleep]?" i listened to the album. and i was like, "oh, my gosh,this is crazy." - ♪ he's a shakespeareof his day ♪ ♪ like david when he plays ♪ - ♪ i'm one of a kind ♪ - ♪ he's darwin of his age ♪ ♪ a prophet and a sage ♪
- ♪ a legendin my own mind ♪ - it's just a reflectionof wolf's tastes. when he started the label, he was really just interestedin hip-hop. like the human mindnormally does, you know, he wanted to expandand get into some new stuff. - stones throw is like a communeor something at this point. we're just off,like, doing our own thing. - i'm diva.
and i am an intergalactic,inter-dimensional, immortal pop star. and i'm here, living a few incarnationson earth to try to seewhat i can contribute to the human populationand... heal this planet. - you mentioned jonti. he's such a sick dude.he's awesome.
hey, jonti. - the vocals that he hason his shit is so tight. i don't know if that--does he, like, sing that shit? or is it--wow, dude. but then you got motherfuckerslike guilty simpson, who's just, like, dirty-ass,real scary hip-hop music. - when i went to talk to stonesthrow about signing, the main thing he told me was that was he didn'twant to change me.
you know, didn't wantto change my music. i could be as filth flying filthas i want to be. say what i want,do what i want. - they're all interesting dudes. but, like, each one of them injects their personalityin their projects. after just a handfulof these records that come out, you can look at them togetherand be like, "oh, yeah, this isfrom the same stable."
- right, right. yeah, yeah, and the other thingis that stones throw is kind of a meeting place for a lotof different musical worlds. - james pants wasan intern for stones throw. he came to one of my gigswhen he was 15. he went to his senior prom, and then he wentto my gig afterwards and took his prom date,and then he said,
"hey, do you wantto go record shopping?" i said, "sure." you know, "you knowthe way to my heart." and then he eventuallyinterned for the label. and then hestarted making mixes. i don't even think he reallytold me he was making music, but another employeeat stones throw said, "hey, have you everheard james' music?" i said, "no."
i heard it, and i was like,"wow, he's holding out on me." and then i told him thati wanted to put his stuff out, and he, you know,he couldn't believe it. [mic feedback] - good evening,los angeles. [breathing heavily] my name is james pants. i come from a land very far awayto be here tonight. i hope you havean excellent time.
it's a variety show of sorts, with song, dance,drumming, and screaming. have fun. ♪ the eyes of the lord ♪ ♪ are upon you ♪ ♪ today ♪ ♪ are upon you today ♪ [car beeps] - ♪ do you understand? ♪
♪ what? ♪ ♪ what? what?what? what? what? ♪ - [cheering] - when i first heard madlib,it was the lootpack, and it was on college radio. i was working at a recorddistributor at the time, and i had juststarted stones throw. - i was with stones throwin the beginning because of the first recordshe put out.
we joined with himbecause we heard charizma, peanut butter breaks. this dude was playingall this crazy music, all the hip-hop we liked. like, he's playing this shit? i'm like, "damn,this dude is crazy." we just connected from there. - ♪ yo ♪ - that was at the time when wewere, you know, shopping deals,
and they weren'treally interested. but at the same timewe weren't willing to change what we wanted to dofor the labels. and then it luckily gotin the right hands through wolf. - when i heard madlib's music, that immediatelybecame my focus. - oxnard is actually calledthe little chicago, because al capone and them usedto transport drugs and stuff back and forth, from,you know, oxnard to chicago.
a lot of gangs out here. a lot of gangs, you know,were rappers too, you know. in the music world in oxnard, everybody's reallytrying to get along, 'cause there's really no timefor that bullshit. you know, everybody istrying to do this music thing. - this is all live. as you can plainlyhear and see, there's no lip-sync businessgoing on here.
this is the real jam,the jam of the jams. and we're doing itsomething like this. - ♪ this nigga take it backlike blaxploitation ♪ - the first timei heard of stones throw was when i boughtthe lootpack album. the first thing i noticedwas how dense that album was. it was packed. it was, like, over 20 songs,maybe 22, 23 songs. and i just couldn't believethat they were doing
this level quality musicbut so underground. - ♪ speakingabout your copycats ♪ - ♪ your copycats ♪ - ♪ your weak beatsand your sloppy raps ♪ - ♪ sloppy raps ♪ - stones throw came crashinginto our world, like, just came crashinglike a meteor. - ♪ sketchesof sounds increase ♪ - could you please justintroduce yourself?
- ♪ long awaited ♪ ♪ if you'renot flipping cuts ♪ ♪ like dj romes,well, then you're not ♪ ♪ representing with the lp ♪ ♪ now if you're not droppingtracks like madlib ♪ ♪ then you're not ♪ ♪ well, if you're not kickingstyles like wildchild ♪ ♪ well, if you're notsupporting hard-core hip-hop ♪ ♪ well, then you're nota real hip-hop mc ♪
♪ if you're not in tuneto this total bliss ♪ ♪ nowadays a lot of rappersi like to dis ♪ ♪ 'cause, yo,all up in your songs ♪ ♪ you be talkingabout your glocks ♪ - wolf was alreadytaking us on the road. so he was showing us stuffthat other cats i know didn't even get to see untiltheir second, maybe third album. - ♪ when the camera's off,you be acting soft ♪ ♪ 'cause you bein that mental state ♪
♪ thinking that you're great ♪ - damn, dude.how do you eat this? - [laughs] - try to eat it. - oh, my god. - try to eat it.try it. - ♪ hey how we do ♪ ♪ we keep it hotlike benihana with no drama ♪ ♪ while you bitelike a piranha ♪
- it wasn'tuntil meeting lootpack to where chris finallywas able to move on. so there was a long periodbetween the passing of charizma and the meeting of lootpack. and it was after the successof the lootpack that he moved outto l.a. to do more. he risked everythingto come to l.a. but it was a movethat he needed to do. he needed to be with madlib.
he needed to be there, becausemadlib was the next thing. - and nowthe competition begins. - the four horsemen, riding through town, egon, jeff jank, wolf,and madlib. that was the label. like, it was just out the house, like, literally out the house. - egon was justthis very diligent,
responsible, passionate guythat came in and moved to l.a. and he came on boardto help make sure that thingswere getting done. - jeff jankis also a visionary. and he is more involvedin the decision making at stones throwthan anyone cares to realize. - he plays an enormous rolein stones throw. and he isthe grumpiest motherfucker
that you will ever meetin your entire life. but i love that dudeto death. - he knew nothingabout computers, but he taught himselfbasically everything as far as, like,starting stonesthrow.com. and he is, like, a big-- he's, like, the secret weaponof stones throw, you know. so this is literallya bomb shelter that was madein the '50s, i guess,
when the u.s. and ussrwere in this cold war. we called the studiothe bomb shelter, you know, because of that. - and that's wherethey ran everything, out of that damn house. egon out of his roomin the front, jeff jank downstairsdoing nothing but artwork, madlib right aroundthe corner smoking and just playing drumsor beats just cranking out.
like, it was--i loved going over there. oh, my goodness. i used to love going--oh. [sighs] by then, like, yo,it was stones throw. you know, it was, like-- it wasn't no longer,"stones throw?" it was like, "stones throw." like, "oh, shit.this is the house over here.
it's going down over here." - reality showsweren't popular back then, but it would have been crazy. you'd see a couple dudesarguing over here. i'm eating uphis frozen dinners, 'cause i'm broke,you know what i mean? he's like, "where my dinners at,homey?" like-- or over here, i'm playing musicat 5:00 in the morning and drums, and jeff jankcomes in yelling.
and the next daywe're drinking martinis like nothing happened. like, that's how we lived. it was crazy. - hey, little quas,once you wrote it down how them little piggies betrying to run you. - ♪ hey, yo,we heading to a party ♪ ♪ to go see what's happening ♪ ♪ smoking the lah in the car,turn on some rapping ♪
♪ start to freestyle,we be up on our way ♪ ♪ finish up the blunt ♪ - somebody pass me that spray. - you know, i appreciatedlootpack for what it was. but on one of the tapeson the back side of it was this guy with a high voicerapping over the beats. - ♪ police pulling us over forno reason, searching the car ♪ - to me,it seemed like the beats were a littlemore experimental.
the whole project just seemedmore experimental than lootpack. - ♪ you got warrants ♪ ♪ y'all niggas readyfor some torment? ♪ - i asked madlib about it. i found myself listeningto that over and over, you know. and i asked madlib,"what is this?" and he was like, "oh, man. "oh, i forgotthat was on there. "yeah, you know, like,
you weren't evensupposed to hear that." and i'm like,"no, that's really good. like, you know,i want to put that out too." and he's like,"really? "cool.i'm with it. whatever, you know.fuck it." - quasimoto's soundis the madlib sound. quasimotois a piece of madlib. it allows madlibto say and do things
that maybe he wouldn't doas an artist. - ♪ the other daymr. buddha had this plan ♪ ♪ get grands off the manso our whole crew could expand ♪ ♪ they all wanted meto drive ♪ - we all need that as artists. and quasimotois a genius invention. - ♪ in my garagethinking large ♪ ♪ then they gatheredthe entourage ♪ ♪ my niggasstraight hit the bank ♪
♪ then broke the hell out ♪ ♪ so much money, you couldn'teven get that smell out ♪ - hearing that shit,at the time, there was nothing like it. you didn't even needmushrooms or weed or nothing. you didn't even need it. you could listen to that shitand just be like, "what?" that shit would just trip youthe fuck out, man. - yeah, that's the only timequas comes out, yeah.
it's the only timequas will come out. i mean, not for weeks. for, like, a month or two,you know what i mean? yeah. i wouldn't advise that,but yeah, my man does that. - yeah, what--like, how--if you, uh-- - uh... same.he's just more loud. you know what i'm saying?- yeah.
- same type of vibe,if you get to know me. but he's just loud,and i'm more, you know, calm. i think i'm loud when i'm drunk,i don't know. man, i have no idea. [whimsical music] ♪ i remember ultramagneticand stetsasonic ♪ ♪ afrika bambaataa& the soulsonic ♪ ♪ mc shy d, public enemy ♪ ♪ boogie down,mc shan, mc ren ♪
♪ disco 3, mr. magicwith the rap attack all day ♪ ♪ kday mixmasters,craig mack ♪ ♪ steady b, schoolly d,heavy d ♪ ♪ mantronix with mc tee ♪ - madlib had, you know,this kind of reinvention cycle. quasimoto wasa big departure. you know, he was not afraidto then go out and make somethingthat's not what people expect, that is not evenwhat people think
is gonna bea madlib album. - ♪ c.c.b.take it back like l.o.n.s. ♪ ♪ remember daddy freshor maestro fresh wes ♪ ♪ i know rap, my man ♪ - and it sounded likewhat it looked like. i didn't disagreewhen they showed me. you know, i was like,"yeah, that's it right there." [beep, static] a pig-faced alf nigga,like, you know what i mean?
that's what he sounded like. [laughs] - and then madlibstarted telling me, "i want to make jazz." i said,"you want to make jazz? "how are you gonna make jazz? you don't evenplay instruments." "oh, i don't haveto play instruments. i can sample."
- at a point,i got tired of hip-hop. you know what i mean? 'cause it gets boring. anything gets boringafter you do it for a while. you know, got into jazzabout 2001. - there's sort of a reversemanifestation of people who got into hip-hop,then sort of explored the music that hip-hop sampledand then fell in love with that and manifesteda new approach to it.
and when you go to createoriginal music based on that, your interpretation of it issomething completely original. - we were playing the musicfor weldon irvine, who's, like, a jazz great,you know, from the '70s that tribe called questsampled. and we played the musicfor weld, and he was like, "this guy did not just learnhow to play instruments. he's been playinghis whole life." like, i said,"no. i'm telling you.
he just started learning." and he said, "well, i wantto look this brother in the face and ask him." - he was like,"show me what you do." we put in the cd,and he was just like... you know,i was like, "whoo!" - and that's when i realizedthat actual musicians are, like, giving it up to this guy,you know, who's, like, a producerwho just kind of makes do
with whatever he has. - i always will say that, um, that i think that,you know, madlib is, you know--i would compare him really to frank zappa. [jazz music] hip-hop essentiallywas just stale, absolutely likethe worst bread, you know, you don't want to feed ducks,and viciously commercial,
you know, like ja rule. you know, that was kind of,i suppose, around that kind of time. - i don't think wolfmade a conscious decision to make madlib, you know,the producer of stones throw. i mean, he had other stuffcoming out at the same time. it's just thatyou can't compete with somebody that was making five albums, every two, three weeksor something, you know?
- shit, i'm here from... 7:00 to 7:00 the next day,every day. i sleep, like, two hours,three hours in the morning. - really? - shit, i'm a quiet dude.i hate people looking at me. i don't liketoo much attention. - i don't know himto be anywhere but in his studio creating. he's not concernedabout how popular he's gonna be.
the money and the famedon't seem to be the main reasonwhy he creates. he creates to create and to justget it out of his system. - respect everybodythat listens to my shit, though. otherwise, i'd stillbe bumping it for myself. - i got a call from j dilla. he's like, "madlibis killing me right now." i said, "really?" he's like, "yeah, man, like,he's going where i want to go.
"he does little nuancesand tricks in his music that, "like, that i know only i get. "like, even if i wereto play it for you, "it would go over your head. madlib is talking to meand only me." [soul music] - the purest,the greatest, you know, musicians comeout of that environment. also just the struggle that wedeal with in those environments,
you know,where you're fighting. you know, you're fightingfor your freedom. you're fightingfor your economic equality with your talent. that's all you got. there's no other chanceright there. and, you know,that pressure busts pipes. you know, you're gonna--you know, something great. a rose is gonna growout of that concrete.
dilla was definitelyone of those roses. - ooh, do it, nigga. - otis jackson over there. otis jackson jr. - that's all.- that's all you, you know? - i kind of introducedmadlib to dilla-- its funny,i introduced dilla to madlib through the lootpack album. and then i introducedmadlib to dilla.
and wolf and madlibcame out for the first time, and we were all in the studio. - that's madlib,the beat conductor. - house shoes was there,rolling up the blunts, my man walked in withthe s.p. in the snow, j dilla. - i can explain this.- okay, come on, man. - i hooked up with madlib,'cause i love his work. - how do you do this? - it's like--look.i'ma tell you, i'ma tell you.
- start from the beginning,man, come on. - yes, i hooked up with madlib,'cause i love his work. i bought his records. when i first heard lootpack,i went crazy. - okay.- "who was this cat?" i actually got in touchwith madlib, flew him out. let's do an album or something,let's do an e.p., or let's just mess the industryup, you know what i'm saying? hook up, like that, do it,really do it.
- you know, madlib reallylooked up to jay dee, and jay dee looked upto madlib too. so it was this real, like,weird awkwardness when they met. - yeah! - they were in the studio. - and then house shoes was,like, passing weed around. - [coughing] - dilla's never beeninfluenced by somebody so stronglyas he was by madlib.
- then you see detroit,not just with oxnard, but with the west coast. dilla did a lot ofwest coast-sounding things. something about detroitand west coast sounds did well in the midwest,but in detroit in particular. - there are no labelslike stones throw in detroit. there's no entertainmentbusiness there. we all had to look elsewhere to find somebody to actuallyput our music out.
thankfully, there isa guy like peanut butter wolf. - that jaylib project justturned out to be something like--like, it'sa hip-hop monument. - ♪ uh ♪ ♪ yeah, come on ♪- ♪ whoa, whoa ♪ - ♪ yo, it's frank nittiin the place to be ♪ ♪ with jay dee to the illaand the l.i.b. ♪ ♪ so let me see youtouch the sky ♪ - madlib and dillagot together
and started challengingeach other super hard. and dilla moved to l.a. - ♪ up in this bitchwe raise the stakes ♪ ♪ up a little bitand shut shit down ♪ ♪ tone to the toeto the chrome to the zone ♪ ♪ you need to putyour hands up ♪ ♪ it's what you need to do ♪ ♪ plus niggas got gamelike the ps2 ♪ ♪ it's dankery off and here ♪
- dilla, maybeperhaps might have been a bit more of a scientist,perfectionist. and madlib might havejust been a bit more crazy. - ♪ we arein this motherfucker ♪ ♪ we arein this motherfucker ♪ - as soon as he got out here,he loved l.a. he loved it. it was, like, i think,a breath of fresh air for him. because, you know, no matterwhat, when you at the crib,
when you're in your hometown, you know, everybody you knowis around usually. and that can be--obviously,that's the foundation. but at certain times,if you're the centerpiece, and a lot of it is just--everything is dependent on you. it's better to get awaysometimes just to kind of reboot yourself. - ladies and gentlemen,direct from-- - at the lost gatesof sunny southern california.
- it wasn't like, "damn, these detroit guysdid it again." it was like, "this is now.this is us." - ladies and gentlemen. - you know, he's moved herefor a reason. it's because he believesin the energy of california. he wants to bein the sunshine and the warmth with all the positivityand all of these people that are really, like,loving what he's doing
and lovingwhat each other are doing and really, like, sharing. and--and it wasn'tso dog-eat-dog. we weren't, like, silver lake,echo park, eagle rock, hollywood, venice beach,santa monica. no.we were, like, l.a. this is l.a. hip-hop. we all, you know--compton, watts. we were--
we were all just in it. - anyway, he came out here, and i definitely felthis energy being up. we would go get recordsand give him records. and he'd just be at the crib. we ended moving to a place,like, near hancock park, an apartment thati stayed in for a long time. and, man, i would get upin the mornings and, man, go to the kitchen.
and there, he inthe dining room, making beats. i was like-- i mean, there's nothing betteri could dream of. - i met j dillaat common's crib, just down the streethere in l.a. they were staying together. and i just rememberlooking at that mpc and thinking, like, "those drums cameout of that mpc."
like, you know, arguably thebest drums in hip-hop history. and i just rememberjust vibing with--with him and having so much respect and just wantingto work with him more. dilla, every time, it's likethat kick just sat so perfectly. and, like, the--his swings,his shuffles on his beats, his snare choices,the way he sampled shit, it was just like-- it just sounded like--
it felt like drugs. i mean, his musicjust sounded like good pussy. mm. - ♪ get up in it ♪ - ♪ what ♪- ♪ start her up ♪ - ♪ what ♪- ♪ get her washed, dog ♪ ♪ prime her armor up ♪- ♪ what ♪ - ♪ big wheels,cadillac grills ♪ - ♪ what, what ♪
- jaylib in the circuit. let's do this track liveright here. 104.9, london's xfm. all city, people. - ♪ turn it up,live and direct ♪ ♪ brand-new, new, new, new ♪- [chuckles] - ♪ yeah, yeah, yeah ♪ ♪ yeah, yeah, yeah ♪ ♪ turn me up another notch ♪
♪ another notch ♪ ♪ uh ♪- ♪ what ♪ - ♪ yeah,holler, get it ♪ ♪ popping off from the bottlesto the collars ♪ ♪ clap hands, y'all,get live with it ♪ ♪ party with your man, y'all ♪ ♪ it's the official ♪ ♪ hands in the air,let me see those wrists glow ♪ ♪ turn me up another notchon the system ♪
♪ you said you want the hot shh,then listen ♪ ♪ madlib and j deezy ♪- ♪ how we do ♪ - ♪ doing itlike we doing it for ♪ ♪ and you don't wantto change the dial ♪ ♪ world premiere,rearrange your style ♪ - ♪ what ♪ - you know, it was a real, like, quality time of making musicfor them two. and i definitely seenwhy the quiet power within them
was able to connectand do something great. - so we had been workingwith j dilla for a while. and, you know, i asked madlib, "who else to do you see yourselfworking with outside of our immediate crew?" and he said, "mf doom." - yeah, the whole mask thing? really, all right,it was a time in hip-hop where things from my pointof view started going
more to whatthings looked like opposed to whatthings sound like. ♪ so nasty,it's probably somewhat ♪ ♪ of a travesty having me ♪ ♪ then he told the peopleyou can call me your majesty ♪ - the madvillain album, that'sjust almost as close to perfect as you're gonna getfor a hip-hop album. you got madlibat the top of his game. you got doomat the top of his game.
- ♪ and you know i knowthat's a bunch of snow ♪ ♪ the beat is so butter ♪ ♪ peep the slow cutteras he utters ♪ - that's likeone of the purest hip-hop albums you're going to hear,because doom focused so heavily on the rhyme scheme and on whathe's doing with the rhymes. madlib focused so heavily on what he was doingwith the samples. it was just, like,this super pure, unfiltered,
raw focus on that madvillainalbum that's just untouchable. - he's alwaysin the bomb shelter. and i'm always up on the deckwriting, right? and then he would give meanother cd. i'd get the cd,and i'm writing. and he's backin the bomb shelter. so i would hardly speak to him. - we knew that we hadto put him up in a hotel and stuffwhile he was out here.
but he always ended upjust staying over our house. - yeah, they had a littlemini mansion up on the hill. it was a pretty big crib,though. there was a lot of spacein there, you know,overlooking the hills. so it was a good placeto work at. you know what i'm saying?real quiet up there. ♪ they say he accosted the manwith the sliced wig ♪ ♪ allegedly the investigationis still ongoing ♪
♪ in this pesky nation,he gots the best con flowing ♪ - i'm really curiousbecause, you know, you've been hanging outwith one of the guys that we all consider, you know, one of the best producersin the game, you know, in the game from independentto commercial, whatever. has he influencedyour, you know, way of thinkingabout beats at all? - oh, yeah, o just got me back
into the whole, like,fun part of it. you know what i mean?like-- like, until then,i didn't really have a partner. and now i feellike i found my partner. - nobody knows anybody 100%. and doom's pretty eclectic.you know what i'm saying? and a lot of us musiciansare kind of in our own world and our own thing,so, you know, we get to-- we only expose what we wantpeople to really know.
i'm sure there's layers to doom that nobody's really gotten to. i'm surethere's parts of himself that he doesn't even understand. - you know, i knewthat he had lost his brother and music collaborator, justlike how i had lost charizma. and i never--i went,you know, probably, like, a year or so without evenmentioning it to him. when the subject kind of finallycame up, you know,
he really opened up to me. and it made me feela lot closer to him. - anybody, anybody in herecan wear the mask and be the villain--male, female, any race, so-called race,you know what i mean? it's about where you'recoming from and from your heart. you know what i'm saying?like, what is the message? what do you got to say? [cheerful music]
♪ wreak havoc,beep, beep ♪ ♪ it's mad traffic ♪ ♪ sleek and lavish peoplespeaking ♪ ♪ leaking to the maverick ♪ ♪ he sees it as justanother felony drug arrest ♪ ♪ any day could be the onehe pick the wrong thug to test ♪ ♪ slug through the vest,shot in the street ♪ ♪ for pulling heat on a fatherwhose baby's got to eat ♪ ♪ and when they get hungry,it ain't shit funny ♪
♪ paid to interfere withhow a brother get his money ♪ ♪ now who's the real thugs,killers, and gangsters? ♪ ♪ set the revolution, letthe things bust and thank us ♪ ♪ when the smoke clear,you can see the sky again ♪ ♪ there will be the chopped-offheads of leviathan, my friend ♪ - i knew his style.he knew my style. and we meshed them together,and we didn't talk about it. it just happened. i'd go make my beat cds.
and he'd be up in wolf's room,sleeping or something. wake up and do a song. i'd wake up,and he'd have songs done. the only thing we did togetherwas a lot of chocolate shrooms. - ladies and gentlemen, boysand girls, egon, stones throw, all the way from los angeles,california. here with the madvillain tour. record release parties, featuring superstars
like madlib,peanut butter wolf, j rocc, special guest j dilla,of course, the metal-faced man,mf doom himself. and we're about to go check inwith the fellas. - your man.[laughter] - ♪ just becausei really love you ♪ - by this point, dilla is like our dalai lama,all of us. he is our spiritual leader.
- ♪ i love you ♪ ♪ i love you ♪ - what donuts representedwas, like, you know, the return to old soul loops and old motown breaksand that stuff. i mean,that's where hip-hop was. it was, like,the post-blueprint era. you know, jay z had rhymedover a lot of these-- well, they were calling them,like, chipmunk breaks,
'cause kanye would put themon 45 or whatever. but it was basically, like, cats rhyming overthese old soul ballads on 45. and i was like,"this is almost, like, "your answer to that, like, "'okay, you know,a lot of you cats "'are bringingback the soul records. "'but, you know, i'm gonna showyou just one more time how to do it.'"
and i was like,"yo, man, it's almost "like you were sendinga message out there "to all the beat makersusing soul records that, "you know, like, 'i'm gonna show youhow to do this, right?'" and he was just like...[scoffs] you know, like, he wouldnever take credit for it. - his mother told us stories about how, when he wasa little kid,
he used to just walk to the park with 45s on his wrists. like, he would carry 45slike bracelets, 45 records on his wrist. he wanted to go to the parkwith them on his wrist. that's whatwould make him happy. so he was born into this music. - ♪ okay, okay ♪ ♪ there comes a time ♪
- jay dee had gotten sick. and it happenedwhen he was overseas. he felt something going on. and when he got back here,you know, he'd been diagnosed with, like,a rare blood disease. - it kind of became publicthat he was sick, and he was in the hospitalnot doing good. - i just remember seeing him looking that way,
just like he was alreadyon borrowed time. and i just--i couldn't evenlook him in the eye, you know, 'cause i had a feelingthat he wouldn't want anyone to see him like that,you know. - he always bounced back. and when i saw him inthe hospital, you know, like-- and i remember one time, ipicked him up from the hospital. and, like, he called me to,like, take him back home.
like, you know, that was, like,a huge celebration. like, and the wheelchairand everything, putting the wheelchairin my car. and he usuallyalways bounced back. - i'll say i was in denialat that point. but then jamesstarted filling up, and he instantly walked outside. and i was like, "oh, god,this is--this is good-bye." - j dilla.
all: jay dee, jay dee, jay dee,jay dee, jay dee, jay dee! - say it, say it, say it,come on, come on, come on, come on, come on,come on, come on. - yo, it's a blessingto be out here right now, bringing you this celebration.- that's what it is, y'all. - i'm from the "d."i'm like, fuck it. been wanting to see my peoples. make some noiseif you're feeling me out there. - ♪ ladies and gentlemen ♪
♪ ladies and gentlemen ♪ ♪ it's that timeat the regal ♪ ♪ a young man went outand made a name for himself ♪ ♪ he's beenon every record-breaking show ♪ ♪ in the regal theaterin the last two years ♪ ♪ ladiesand gentlemen ♪ - when dilla passed,everything changed. he was like the coltrane. when coltrane was there,
everybody triedto follow what he did. then when he died, motherfuckersdidn't know what to do. - ♪ i give to you ♪ - make some noise for j dilla. ♪ oh, baby, baby ♪ ♪ that's--that's--that's--that's ♪ - we felt like we had, you know,lost one of the greatest. you know, the peoplei seen at the funeral, you could just tell thathe had touched a lot of people.
- the music stoppedwhen jay left. that's the most accuratestatement i can make is, when jay left,the music fucking stopped. you know, it was likea moment of silence, a very long moment of silence. - dilla passed away,doom was no longer recording, and madlib didn't wantto rap anymore, so it was reallykind of the wild west for stones throwat that point.
like, anything goes. - i can hear it now. speak to me. i love gary. speak to me, please. i love you, gary. i love you,gary. ♪ linda wants to be alone ♪ ♪ linda wants to eat alone ♪
♪ linda wants to sleep alone,all into the night ♪ - up to that point,it was a fucking hip-hop label. and it seems like,after that point, you know, stones throw is really nota hip-hop label anymore. and i think jay's passingkind of led him to set foot on that path. - the gary wilson stuff, that-- you know, i was enthralledby that whole thing. - ♪ linda,she's so out of reach ♪
♪ the girls are swimming atthe beach, all into the night ♪ ♪ here we go,linda wants to be alone ♪ - the record up until, like,gary wilson was just all heat. and gary wilson isn't bad. it's just not hip-hop. - ♪ all into the night ♪ ♪ doctor told me what to do ♪ ♪ i got to get away from you ♪ ♪ he told me what was ♪
- what the hell is--it's, like, you know. and it's what wolf liked. - gary was a hero to me,because he was such an underdog. - and for all of usfrickin' die-hard, hip-hop, b-boy-type people, we were just a little confused. - no, i don't think so. i mean, i never really saw itas a sort of, like, sudden change like that.
like, even during the firstten years of stones throw, releases like yesterdays new quintet definitely, like, broke the moldof what a hip-hop label traditionally would release. i don't think, you know,the releases post- donuts were that much of a surpriseor a departure. [dramatic music] - next, we'll have dj steve. the moment you've been waitingfor, the number one song,
we'll have thatright after these messages. just think, these two albumscould be yours for only $10.99. could you believe that? only $10.99. - baron zen, my buddy stevefrom my childhood, i put out his record that wasdone on a 4-track, you know, just some lo-fi bedroom, like,daniel johnston-type stuff. - one day,chris just called me and said, "hey, let's put outthe baron zen.
let's put it out." so we went through it,and he put it out. [record scratches]- that did really poorly. - ♪ i got to get, got to get,got to get rid of bread ♪ ♪ i said ♪ - i was a teacher. i still am a teacher. [laughs] yeah, so i teachmiddle-school english. - ♪ i am a crazy robot,and i'm running out of time ♪
♪ time, time, time, time ♪ - a lot of record labelssign artists or projects that they think will do well. - ♪ i take tripswithout luggage ♪ ♪ that's howall my friends go ♪ - but for wolfit was just like, "i'm going to press upmy little brother's punk band." - ♪ credit cards, yeah,they're mad ♪ ♪ just call and complain ♪
♪ you drink to kill the pain ♪ ♪ it's going down the drain ♪ - or, "i'm going to press upa 7-inch of captain funkaho." [electronic music] - ♪ move it, move it, move it,move it, move it ♪ - we had to start over,because the people that we were relying onwere either no longer with us or just not recording. - and if people like it, cool.
and if people hate it,fuck it, we had fun. - the more i strayed from whatpeople knew stones throw to be, the more i got criticized. - ♪ running outof time, time, time ♪ - i was surprised,because we were doing the same thingwe had always done. and i felt like i was alwaysfinding new artists that were really great. [footsteps]
- the person that really sold meon stones throw, though, was folerio. - well, folerio hasa very inviting sense about him. he seems to be a traveler. [ethereal music] - ♪ angel has to dream ♪ ♪ she will see the signs ♪ ♪ you won't geta second chance ♪
♪ you won't get ♪ ♪ a second chance ♪ ♪ second chance ♪ - i definitely think that wolf is differentthan what people think. [rock music] - ♪ if i gave youall my loving ♪ ♪ if i gave you all my heart,would you take it? ♪ ♪ would you break it? ♪
- yeah,wolf's a regular dude, man. slightly awkward,you know what i'm saying? good dude.i think there's a fucking, like, party animaltrapped in him there. like, way deep down, it's a realwild motherfucker in there. - folerio love new york city! folerio.- folerio. [cheers] - folerio.oh, great.
all right, well, awesome. well, i'm just grabbing somerecords, and i'm almost there. folerio loving. [upbeat music] - what makes him thinkof folerio and then do it? to go full-blown folerio'd out? like, he signed folerio,like, really? you're gonna put outfolerio's new record? - you want one more song?
you want one more song?all: yeah! - we make one more song? no problem? - god, i'm so gladthere's a label just putting out this nutty stuffthat's never gonna sell. but it's just so good. you know,20 years down the road, that's gonna be the recordspeople are looking for. you know, it's like,
"oh, yeah, this label,stones throw, "they only put out 200of this folerio 45. "and it was so terribleat the time, no one bought it. "but now it's like--it's the--you know, everyone wants it. it's like the holy grailof stones throw," you know? - there was a time, you know,in stones throw's history where we just weren't makingany money. a lot of it also hadto do with the fact that the record storeswere all closing down.
so you had tower recordsand virgin records-- any major chain inthe united states closed down. - internet, youtube, i respecteverybody that does that. but that messed up our,you know, what we do. we're still gonna do it, butthat messed up a lot of things. - and we got hit with, like, tens of thousandsof returns of cds. and a lot of record labelsactually closed their doors that year when that happened.
and we kind ofstuck through it and... just kept putting outweird shit. - don't make a person angry. ♪ let me start this groove ♪ ♪ by speaking some truth gameto you ♪ ♪ 'cause if you tryto stay fly ♪ ♪ you gotta show 'em through,right ♪ ♪ no matter what you do ♪
♪ don't ever turn your backon your friends, y'all ♪ ♪ 'cause you knowthat they'll be with you ♪ ♪ till the very end, y'all ♪ wolf had heard my musicon myspace, based on the comment i lefton baron zen's page. ♪ don't act all funny stylewhen you make your first buck ♪ - dam-funk's first release wason the baron zen remix album. - ♪ go back, no ♪ ♪ you got to keepyour hood pass intact, y'all ♪
- he gave me his album. and it was, like, five or sixalbums' worth of material. and he didn't want to make itany shorter. so i said, "let's do a vinyl boxset for your debut release. "people will goin the record store, "they'll see this box setof this unknown person, "and be like, 'wow, this persondeserves a box set. they must be really important.'" and it worked.
- ♪ no matter how many busterswanna try to hate on you ♪ ♪ you're gonna need to stay upand stay strong ♪ ♪ and always stay cool ♪ - i was kind of--like,when i came in, i was part of the kind of, like,second generation. ♪ you know, baby ♪ ♪ i know you thinkwe can make it all work out ♪ - mayer hawthorne,ladies and gentlemen. there it is right there.how do you do?
- ♪ i don't want to make thisany harder than it needs to be ♪ ♪ so don't cry ♪ so it was, like, this new cropof kids coming in. you know, it was me, dam-funk,james pants, and aloe blacc. and wolf really saw itlike that. you know, he saw usas the future of stones throw. he was gettingkind of pigeonholed into stones throwbeing a hip-hop label. and i don't thinkhe ever really saw it like that.
♪ i just don't feel the same ♪ ♪ just don't feel the same ♪ - after we releasedmayer hawthorne's album, when aloe heard that,he was like, "i can do that." he started workingwith this band from new york, and they did i need a dollar. [aloe blacc's i need a dollar] ♪ hey ♪ ♪ i need a dollar, dollar ♪
♪ a dollar,that's what i need ♪ ♪ hey, hey ♪ ♪ said i need a dollar ♪ ♪ said a dollar,that's what i need ♪ ♪ hey, hey,said i need a dollar ♪ ♪ and i'll sharewith you my story ♪ ♪ if you shareyour dollar with me ♪ - my next guestis a southern california native. he is here tonight with a songfrom his latest album,
good things. please welcome aloe blacc. - aloe said, "i think this isthe song, i need a dollar." and i heard it.and i was like... then it got licensedfor this hbo show, how to make it in america. it was the theme song. and then we rushedto get it on itunes. and we called it i need a dollar
(how to make it in america theme song) in parentheses. we didn't even askif that's okay. like, we probablycould have got sued for that. - ♪ i need a dollar ♪ ♪ come on,share your dollar with me ♪ ♪ go ahead, share your dollarwith me ♪ ♪ come on, share your dollar,give me your dollar ♪ ♪ share your dollar with me ♪
♪ come on, share your dollarwith me, yeah ♪ ♪ yeah ♪ ♪ i need,i need a dollar ♪ - you got your house. but that's what you got,your house and your car. but you got to keep that up. if you don't sella certain amount, it's over. it's over. but, you know, wolf believesin something different,
it looks like,because he still fucks with cats that may not sell as much,or we may one day. but you got to take that chance. that's why i'm still here20-something years later. you know what i mean?like, so... you can't havethe future without the past or the in-betweens.you got to have everything. and that'swhat stones throw has. - i think what's been excitingfor me with stones throw
and just beingin the music industry is just how unpredictableit is. it's difficult,but you just never know what's around the corner. [radio stations changing] - what's up, man?good to see you. [do my thang playing] - nigga, that shit knocking. ♪ let me do my thang ♪
♪ do my thang,yeah, i'ma do my thang ♪ ♪ do my thang ♪ ♪ stay on the lowand get it everywhere we go ♪ ♪ new gators on my feet ♪ ♪ rolling up and downthem streets ♪ ♪ i'll bust a new batch ♪ ♪ yeah, it's just like that ♪ ♪ i'm harder than you think ♪ ♪ never saywhat a nigga can't ♪
♪ do my thang,stay on the low ♪ - yeah, we'll turn it downa little bit if you want. put on the other one. - we got fiveor six great club bangers if we just dropthem motherfuckers with the right meaningand reason. and i love how y'all get down. y'all knowwhat the fuck y'all doing. i told dam,i was like, "nigga,
whatever they say, i'm with." - you know, we just wantto make this a great record. you know what i mean?and we're gonna do it. and, you know, it's beautifulthat we came to this. this is what it really is, creating musicand vibing with each other and making something happento a great conclusion. you know what i mean?and everybody working together. - this is a record about us
giving the peoplewhat they want. they requestedthis record right here. we was forced to do it.- we already know. [laughter]- for real, though. - salute to that. - we was forcedto do this record. i mean, anything elsewould be uncivilized. - it's incredibly hard to growand maintain the same ethics and the same ethosover such a long period of time.
where they are todayis just a larger version of what they wereoriginally doing, which is incredibly hard to do. - stones throwjust managed to build its own empire independently. there's so many great labelsthat signed with a major for some sortof joint venture deal, and that ended up killingthose labels, you know. and it's a tempting decision.
- it's crazy that they've beenable to hold on this long with every other label closing. wolf could have got bought upprobably five times. wolf's like, "no, i'm good. "i'm keeping the label.it's my label. you know, i didn't start thisto sell it." - some of my decisionshave prevented me from being more successful,and i understand that. but i guess that's my struggle,because, i mean,
there's probably, like, threeor four handfuls of people who, when i put out a record,i want them to like it. and then beyond that,i don't care. - there is a bitof an antiestablishment flair to stones throw. and i don't thinkthat's a coincidence. i think that has to dowith chris. his quest to move beyond music and move beyond curationand in essence
kind of go beyond in general. - i think people, like,they expect one thing, and i get that,but ultimately the only thingkeeps things alive is change, invention,reinvention. it's just, like,whatever sparks, whatever it is that he sees,he's like, "that's great, i want do that." - in 30 years i want to seestones throw records
either in the $100 binor the 99⢠bin. i don't want in the $5 bin. i want people to either, like, really hate itor really love it. [quakers' fitta happier] - ♪ i'm a fugitiverunning from my past ♪ ♪ how long will freedom last? ♪ ♪ i'm swinging knucklesof brass ♪ ♪ motivated,hustle for cash ♪
♪ i'm puffing the hash ♪ ♪ leave a rapperon the ground ♪ ♪ with his jugular slashed,ha ha ♪ ♪ and laugh at him,it's humorous ♪ ♪ a lot of mcs got one style ♪ ♪ me, i got numerous ♪ ♪ i stand outso nobody's confusing us ♪ ♪ i'm way better,cold winners ♪ ♪ beige leathers,black pistols ♪
♪ red eyes,blue jeans ♪ ♪ white widow,caked up, new green ♪ ♪ traveled across borders,across water ♪ ♪ being shorton my cash flow ♪ ♪ is a tall order ♪ ♪ your style shallowlike fountains ♪ ♪ where they toss quarters ♪ ♪ wishing awayto be the pick of the day ♪ ♪ when motherfuckerswould care ♪
♪ to hear the shitthat you say ♪ ♪ on show day you couldn't givethe tickets away ♪ ♪ lose, lose ♪ - ♪ i step through the door ♪ ♪ sharper than a bladefrom a mower ♪ ♪ success, you morelike the pitch of a four ♪ ♪ what a mess,i ain't gotta brag ♪ ♪ when i double cash ♪ ♪ come easy like a breezy ♪
♪ with a troubled past ♪ ♪ still by popular demand ♪ ♪ returned like a shirtwhen you wore it with the tag ♪ ♪ still found in the c-u-t ♪ ♪ eyes low, tae bo, no suv ♪ ♪ c-a to the "d," what up,talk shit ♪ ♪ the shoe fit, acquit ♪ ♪ get your tongue shoestring ♪ ♪ damn,stay sound as i crack jaws ♪
♪ you lock doors,we break through the bores ♪ ♪ in the drywall ♪ ♪ by far we a highlight ♪ ♪ you an extra, catch shadefrom the spotlight ♪ ♪ right, no pressure, respect,just the best ♪ ♪ to headline the fieldlike rent from your next check ♪ ♪ m.e.d. ♪ - [hums] ♪ so you're feelingoh, so very strong ♪
♪ about us meeting ♪ ♪ and you would liketo know more ♪ ♪ i get the feeling ♪ ♪ that this heremay not work ♪ ♪ because you seem preoccupiedwith something else ♪ ♪ we can go as faras you would like to go ♪ ♪ but it'swith your heart, baby ♪ ♪ that you got to let me know ♪ ♪ i understandthat it takes ♪
♪ a lot of work ♪ ♪ but i'll be right here ♪ ♪ if you just standby your word ♪ - ♪ you say that you needmy love ♪ ♪ my love ♪- ♪ my love ♪ - ♪ but what are you gonna do ♪ ♪ if you get it? ♪- ♪ if you get it ♪ - digi--they thinkwe're nerds, digi. who cares?- i don't know.
sometimes you just got to doyour own thing, you know. - yeah, we're differentthan everybody else, digi. that's what sets usapart from them. - that's right.
