Grammy-winner Raphael Saadiq on Tony! Toni! Toné Returning |Ep.151| Jalen Rose Renaissance Man

welcome to the Renaissance Man podcast proudly presented by the New York Post a show we cover Trends in fashion entertainment current events in everything in between my next guest is Uber talented he's a Grammy winning singer songwriter multi-instrumentalist record producer and his influence in Artistry has been seen and heard everywhere he recently announced the Rafael Saadiq revisits Tony Toni Tone but it's just me and you sure the race stages in the United States and I just got an updated date in Charlotte on 9 22. it is my honor to welcome the incredible Rafael Sadiq to the show what up though family thank you I appreciate that yeah definitely it's funny when I when I said I was like Jalen I'm like yeah of course I'm like I I know I know all the shows all his shows everything all all the theme music all the music you use all the pictures in the background the OJ yes yo oh appreciate the love you know Detroit and Oakland we cousin of course of course you know that yes and you're the second youngest of 14 siblings what was it like up in a household of 14 siblings well lucky man everybody wasn't at the house lucky my dad it happened his work early and then later I was like the mistake kid they said you know what I mean so um I wasn't in the house with a lot of them but I I would go to the hospital everybody was at so it was really cool because you know it was cool because when you go to a different School your family already said it's at the bar for you when you get there you have to live up to your brother's expectation so it was cool you get a lot of cool clothes the hand-me-downs and you get uh you figure out what you don't want to do how you don't want to get in trouble like one of your brothers and sisters you get to learn a lot you know that was great absolutely and one of the things about Oakland and the Bay Area is the versatility for so very long that you guys have as it relates to music and Artistry so when do you remember first discovering music and which artists were you listening to as you were growing up so in Oakland it was so many local uh people that people don't know that was better than everybody you know it's like you know hook the basketball player everybody talks about in Oakland right so growing up around like you know athletes musicians it was the same for musicians you know we had our own uh we had our own pants we had her like sliding Family Stone we had you know um Larry Graham was our like he was our hero if you played bass he was like he was our thing um we had uh this guy named Robert ball who was who never made it but to us you know he was the king it's the guy named Big Wang used to ride around a 10 speed with no shirt on with his guitar around his neck and a boom box playing Jimi Hendrix those are my Idols those are the dudes who who I look up to who um cool man I mean them tools were like say hey I said can you teach me something yeah you want to learn something meet me at the tennis course first and play tennis with me I'm like I can't play tennis well just meet me there it was a lot of cats like that this uh that like Oakland legends that really got me inspired like people playing it every every block had a garage with bands in it who people who played with Natalie Cole who play with different people so um man I was I tell people all day I'm lucky that I even made it cast was so much better than me you know but I had all that the bar was that it was so high you know like it's like Detroit Detroit is like some there's something in the water in Detroit people could people could really go in Detroit you know so it was the same in Oakland every corner was singing on the corner bands everywhere so I got it honestly and the crazy thing and I'm glad you brought up hook I remember coming to the Bay playing ball with him and he had a dunk contest I was there um GP Brian Shaw um they were all there and Antonio Davis and they were like he's literally gonna jump over the car over the car yeah he and Blake Griffin people sleep all night he jumped and dunked and landed on the car like hook jump over the car dunked the ball and landed on the ground and it was one of the craziest things that I saw have happen that used to be urban legend but I got a chance to see it play out in real life yeah so yeah it has a lot of Rich things like that you know music musically is there's a lot of rich and static music stores really man I was trying to work in a record store just so I could um be around music I just wanted to be around it and um all the singing stuff is that just happened bro I I can't I'm very blessed I'm very thankful but it wasn't I'm a bass player I play for people I play for people who sing I don't really I never really tried to be a singer it just kind of happened and I was like uh I better rock with it let's just roll let's go well the crazy thing in 1984 shortly before your 18th birthday you found out quick because you got the trials in San Francisco for Sheila E's background band yeah Paradise tour next thing you know you from the bay to Tokyo in the stadium singing Roddick City can't you see tell me about that audition how it changed what happened yeah so Sheila Sheila he was she's she's a big deal in Oakland now but she's she's a legend but I was at this guy house today in Joe and I just happened to be at the studio in the right place at the right time and somebody called and said is anybody up there can play bass and sing and um I'll say yeah and so the next day I went to the audition I think uh some guy had already got the gig then I played did I believe I see there's uh was Sheila's musical director he came to me and said just hang around you got the gig so I never I remember taking the BART back to uh back to the to the bed to Oakland and going to my boy's house and they was all sitting in the living room watching MTV and I was like bro I got the gay about to be playing with Sheila and everybody's like oh that's cool but they was looking at me like damn he about to leave because I was in a band with them so a couple of days later um the next day I went back to the audition my mother said you should take Tim which is the other Tony and I said well she said don't bring anybody yet she's not pretty sure my mother said just take him my mother doesn't play music she's a straight church lady and I don't know anything about r b but you know BB King and whoever else she she heard so I took Tim and that's my friend Tim put him on the drums I put him in the drums and then it's me and my friend Tim then I put my buddy Carl so three of my friends we all went to Tokyo we played with uh Prince it was amazing to watch the uh the level of professional how professional he was and she was how how they rehearsed and how they worked doing it proving the bad and from accounting like Prince from his accounting uh people role managers tour managers I just was like a sponge man I just walked around and watched everything they did and um you know Prince was funny like we'll go to a party and perhaps itself isn't enough girls here for you he had hired the whole four model agency you know this time I had a Jerry curl a fanny pack around my uh around my waist I had a shirt on with glitter on it it said Taurus the Bull on it I mean I was looking to mess bro but when Prince is standing next to you and talking to you when he moves away the girls just gravitate to you you know I mean you look you know I gotta write a letter around but I was out there looking a mess but you know what this is a funny story so when I audition everybody had on Prince hats like the prince Hat makeup all this crazy stuff and um what I had on was a windbreaker so 501 some blue Nike Cortez and my Detroit baseball cap yes Old English that's what I wore for the whole tour after the gigs always would take everything off we had to wear and put back on my Detroit Cab dude that was my hat that was my hat 86 I was a great tour yeah that's love that's love rest in peace Prince of people to ever do it and I'm pretty sure he was a crazy inspiration for you because as I mentioned you're a multi-instrumentalist who also writes who also sings who also performs so just talk about his inspiration on you and your career yeah he was a big inspiration because um he played he played every instrument he was uh he was real he really loved music and you really gotta love it I love music just like you love like you love hoop I love how you talk about basketball as a commentator because you one of those cats like how Dion said you know when he gets into a debate he can say you know what actually played the game thank you for me for me being an artist I can actually stay when I'm singing I actually play this I actually play a lot of instruments and listen to a a lot of different styles of music so being around him you can see how much he loved playing piano drums bass guitar making the song Come Together loving the response he's getting from people you know in the world and he could also pick out cities that he knew that was special to him like Washington DC is like a special City for me I don't know why but I can go there in the daytime I can feel the energy of uh Happy around five o'clock I go to a bar and I can feel the energy of the people are getting ready to come to the show and I know what the music sounded like and Princess the same way as far as Detroit is kind of where he it kicked it off at the skating ring he used to play the skating ring I forget the DJ in Detroit to play Prince records first but I hear the story all the time but you're hearing this music he talks about the Detroit crawl so to be able to be able to be an artist and know who was the day ones before you blew up and who really got it is a thing that I took from Prince to you have to know how to read your audience he's amazing audience and you didn't stop there like you ended up becoming one-third of one of the greatest trios to ever make music Tony Tony tone so I have to ask you what did the name of the group come from actually it's Tony Tony but where I came from Tony my mother said the same thing but it's actually came from um ah Antonio I want to say Antonio Banderas that's not his name though The Untouchables uh the Untouchable so when uh they went to hire the Sharpshooter his name was Tony Antonio right Antonio that's his actress his real name his name was Tony and so we watched this movie and my brother used to used to put like this perm in his hair and have his hair really like slip and he was like you know what if I went to school on the first day my teacher wouldn't even call me Dwayne if you call me Tony Tony and we used to lie and so we we played at this gig this sweating gig before we sort of got on we didn't have a name it was just a trio we're just playing copper songs and this guy was like I don't know what the name of this group is but what's the name of the group and my brother just looked at the guys there Tony Tony and we was laughing and then when the guy said it to the audience he said please welcome Tony Tony we said it had a little ring so once we got the deal we just kind of rolled with it and it was it was funny to us but then it became a real thing you know when I came home from tour one day my mom was like Tony I'm like oh not you too Mom but yeah it became it became a real thing but uh it's amazing being with uh with my brother and uh and Tim you know it's like I said it's been a long time so right reuniting after 25 years so we've seen this happen a lot in sports we've seen this happen with artists where for whatever reason there's a period of time where you're seeing eye to eye and you're doing shows together and you're doing records together and then there's a period of time where you're not what it's been like for each of you guys relationship wise and musically over these past couple of decades where you guys were in music and doing shows together yeah man we were we were always tight me and my brother we always have love for each other my father we have a very loving family so you know we we know how not to fight so when we got on you know you get on you you get new friends you're getting new money get new girls and and then it just all changes right you know you have different people in between you kind of talking and so that part you know we didn't fight we just we just disagreed and um everything happened how it had to happen my brother we were we were cool he he was the party guy I was the guy worried about you know I've seen so many people come in and make it and they're done in one year I was a little nervous about coming in making a record and not being around in two years so we toured we came together got it together played turned it out did some shows just some beautiful tours made some beautiful music together and then I was like okay it's time to go I just came home one day and said uh I didn't quit I just said I came home and sat backwards on my piano and um I moved to Sacramento my mom had moved to Sacramento I didn't know I didn't know anybody up there um ended up beating Brian Grant um I had I opened up a detail shop and and for this guy I met was really cool opened up this detail shop and we used to watch all the king's cars and the government and everybody so I met this rich man Brian Grant Walt Williams all those Corliss Williams all those guys and I just watched basketball I bought season tickets because I didn't want to ask anybody for tickets first time having season tickets in the floor I just stopped and I just watched basketball for maybe like two three years and I didn't really do any music and um I just left that was it I left B Grant became my best friend and that was trouble that was crazy that was NBA crazy no doubt that's that's what I did I think I even ran into you in Miami one time I was not surprised me and B grant were in the same draft so I would not be surprised and that's what I was gonna ask you since you transitioned for a few years to watch a lot of basketball what are some of your favorite stories being a king ticket holder foreign and you know I knew a couple I knew Weber I knew a couple a couple Kings but not really that good but when I came to the game and I I walked past that bench everybody from the Kings turned around and shook my hand you know like ah and then I just looked I said I looked around and said they nervous as hell [Laughter] as hell right now but I think that was probably that was probably the funniest the funniest thing that I noticed was you know about the kingsman my funniest I think I went to uh I went to a game I seen Seattle play play the Bulls and John was playing at that time salary When Sally is like my brother no doubt so Sally so Sally was like a half to half time he like he walked on the court and it was him and Jordan Jordan was shooting around he goes you know welcome like come here like like come to me I'm like bro I'm not walking down on the course disrespectful I'm sorry I'm getting me arrested I'm standing behind your live you know and he's like he just stood in the middle like come here so I walked on the court and Jordan shooting around I was like oh that's pretty dope you know but uh that was cool and then I think my New York stories as I watch I watch I was at the game when um when Jordan got dunked On by uh starts oh with the left Baseline I was there and so I think the Bulls is winning I think the Bulls might have lost that game because I tried to get up and leave right when it was almost open and New York fans would not let me leave I didn't even know that they were paying attention to who I was rooting for but I tried to get up and do like this and make everybody in front of me behind me turn around like sit your ass down so yeah oh yeah they're intense and also I'm going to ask you being from the bay yeah at one point in time the largest radio station was KMEL and I got a chance to go to a few of the Summer Jams in the early 90s the time when Hammer was the number one artist I seen too short I was hanging with my boy Murray I was there with money he ain't clean up like the mix right at the Too Short Cadillac club party the uh the the players Summer Jams and how they really put on for the bay man The Cameo Summer Jam they put on for the back you I mean you just named like that's that's the gym everybody your name you know shock G just running with the money B I mean it was so lit when you played at the Summer Jam it was so hot and you know people it it's like it's like the town's best we got to come and show what we got we all got deals we all make a little bit of money and you know the town is a hard place to play for they love you and they respect you but you have to bring it they don't really they love you because you're from the hometown but they really if if you garbage you trash they're gone they're gonna they're gonna treat it like that but I mean the baby was just so turned up man it was so so much love you know a lot of like like it's like Detroit in Chicago as far as a lot of tragedy and all of that but I always what like to remind people about how beautiful Oakland is how how much how much it could teach you the uh some of the we have some of the most amazing teachers in school some of my my teachers were you know will pull me to the side and tell me what I need to do with music I need to move in life what kind of people I'm gonna be around if I become a professional and I've learned so much there but the Cameo Summer Jam I mean on the way man people calling on your phone you know that's what we have Pages people trying to get in I'm trying to get in I'm like bro I can't help you with two let it get on the lawn you know okay I can't I can't do it bro I mean I can't do nothing for you I'm just that intensity from walking from your car at cameo to a backstage and seeing all those artists of different people you know um whenever I played there when it was almost over and we hadn't rehearsed and we was playing it real easy and I drove up arthritis stupidly I was riding a motorcycle I was really riding this Harley Davidson and I pull up and this band is on there killing it and I'm like damn we gotta work it was Escape was letting everybody have it I was like oh this is not going to be this is gonna be hard right it's killing it but yeah it came out man you just Hammer too man that that is like I love Hammer Hammer was Hammer was down for me I had some issues with the label one time the hammer was huge at the time he was on tour he on his day off he flew back to have a meeting with these people with me we're about four or five people I got the biggest love for MC Hammer me too me too and they that they put me in the mix video can't touch this as you brought up John Sally my brother too that was the first time Sports actually embraced rap music wow see now when you watching the NBA game they're playing music all of the time during timeouts doing warm-ups right but back then only playing like whoop there it is or Montel Jordan This Is How We Do It right that's true that was the only songs that then Hammer came and that that you can't touch this he paired with the Pistons and the bad boys and he took that thing to a whole nother level the coolest the the craziest basketball player ever met was Mark McGuire um with John I met him he he just he just started talking trash to me we started he was like I don't even like your music he told him he's like he was drinking so you like your music he said I like guy I don't like y'all I mean we was battling Tulsa we talked a lot of trash out good guy no doubt shout to the legend Mark Aguirre I there are a few people that you've collaborated with if you don't mind when I bring up their name just give me a snapshot of what it was like to work with this person if that's cool of course Whitney Houston Bobby Brown go ahead go ahead Whitney Houston Bobby Brown telling me the story it's just because of that we're working and then ended up eating some Indian food with Bobby Brown just by herself and he started he was telling me like and everybody think that um like I'm a I'm I I was a problem and he was like it's not me you know I mean he was really you know he was like it wasn't me it's out of the blue and but I always got love for Bobby's uh wow that's a member yeah no doubt no doubt how about Mary J Blige um wow Mary I I would say when Mary came to the studio she said where can I get some good soul food to the best barbecue rib joint no doubt how about this one the Legends Eisley brothers oh wow Ernie Isley uh man I that's my idol I just he just locked me in a room and just schooled me he closed the door boom and he just started telling me how when people all these people all these journalists always call a lot of different people and ask about Jimi Hendrix but they don't call him and he lives with Jimi Hendrix and he was in the room with Jimi Hendrix so he watched him play guitar he's like but they never call me and he just kept drilling me about it he said you think they call me and I'm just sitting there just listening like wow then I got a chance to play uh I had a guitar track that I had on this song and I said I can take it off and you could play it he said no you leave your rhythm guitar and I'll solo over the top of what you're doing and I said okay but I'm gonna play bass at the same time it's called Ernie jam and we played together that's I mean that's I never thought that ever happened in my life you know I mean that's just like it's crazy and we can't talk about artists that are bands without bringing up the roots wow one of the baddest drummers ever I'm a bass player so that's like that that's like the point guard throwing to a center you know I mean like he I'm a bass player and and uh you know Quest love is the most solid drummer for a bass player and The Roots itself is you know black dog could just rhyme forever like this is he could just rhyme forever you know I mean the coolest dude like we were the only bands back in the day when we came out it was funny people used to say how does it feel to be the only band and they thought we were gonna be like it feels great I'm like it's terrible you don't want to be the only band there's nobody to tour with when you're the only band back in the day we told NWA right so we were in wa when uh when you watched uh the cops come tear the stage up in Detroit we was there we played with him in Houston um so it was terrible being the only band but then there was end up being three bands later on it was us the route to Salmon condition and the crazy thing about that [ __ ] on Detroit I was there also the police were not happy about the police firecrackers to make everybody scramble but the one thing I appreciate about Detroit not promoting violence or any disrespect to any human beings or the police but we paid our earned money and we realized that there was an issue that got them running off stage and people was throwing stuff at the cops wow while they was trying to arrest him and they was trying to get on the tour bus trust me like and did that Detroit loading dock is right where people was leaving the arena and people was not happy to pay all of that money that the show ended and I have to ask you about somebody else that represents debate to the fullest and shout out to E40 by the way it's spice one they show loved it I was at the Cameo Summer Jam and 40s my brother to this day but I need you to tell me a story about the late great Tupac Shakur wow man Tupac uh it's funny I always seem to pop I would see Tupac sometime I've seen him with Suge Knight One Night in Los Angeles and he had like a a bottle of Hennessy in his back his back pocket well he had it here first and it was a whole bunch of people around they were all together and I was standing maybe five feet away from them and I just walked up and he seems he sees me and he walks away from everybody and he walks up to me and we have a really great conversation you know away from all the noise he's looked at me so how you doing you're good I said I'm good you good how you feeling I'm selling good man what you working on we just talking about life and then um he went back over there and he you know he's a great actor method actor he went back over there and got all in the chaos so when when he we lost him always knew he was this other this other guy too but he always show respect when he seen somebody he knew like you shouldn't be around us yeah you know I'm a I'ma come to you you know uh but he that has that amazing spirit that that people should look at more you have that you know you talk about your mother you know I follow you like really tough bro so um that I just feel we need that energy a lot and more people if you look at pox energy I feel like we need to spread that around right now because it's not it's not these kids fault what's happening what's happening and what they're portraying to be um but he was definitely a beacon and a light and I'm glad they're doing like these all these documentaries and showing his Artistry is a as an actor as a Creator and finding all these things to do in school that they they've taken out of schools you know I went to my school bro it's the music room is empty empty you know so Tupac just he's just all of that he just shows you like when school had the Arts in you know I mean so when every time I see him when I drive down the street and I see like the billboard of documentary I I swear every time I'm driving I just do like this no doubt and and you brought up some for those that have never heard this record because it's really an unreleased record I was telling people about this song for years because I was around in the studio during these years where digital apocals recording this song it's called what's up with the love what's up with the love what's up with the love I want to make sure everybody go check out that record it embodies everything you just said the oxymoron of him juggling like his persona as it related to like thug life and his Persona that related to like his Consciousness and just being a righteous dude that wanted to see the right things happen for people around him so I want to make sure everybody go check out that song and also speaking of Records you guys have anthems and y'all about to be back on tour after 25 years in Southern California wait what what can we expect well in this tour that's about to kick off real soon I mean I'm sitting in a place where I rehearse that right now I slept here that's why this is my yesterday's football uniform yeah but no we're about to hit them man we uh we taking a real serious we it's gonna be anniversary just me and you I got I put I have to win my brother singing the medley of all his his ballots uh you know um I mean if I could like do this real quick give everybody a little alright working working in the studio working okay bro we working we working that's act one act two act three and four so as you do that I have to ask you something if you guys were to do it versus yeah who would you guys want to do it against and why why if we was to do a verses it would be hard for us to do an R B versus with somebody um the only person that we could do it with he could actually beat us that's Babyface um he can actually beat us he's uh he's that's like my brother that's the most competitive person I know some people I've seen him do a show with new edition and he wrote a lot of you know some of the guy songs and I said I went to the show I said bro you sung the songs that they're going to sing when they come on next I said why would you do that he looked at me and said those are my songs oh gee and then this girl this girl said this this lady said uh she said you and Raphael should do a tour together he was like yeah I love to do that but actually I would love to just beat him down I don't know many songs it would have to be somebody older it would have to be back in the day would have to be in Maine who who could have just played one song and squashed us forever but we we got a lot of hitters no doubt we got a lot hear this but we're going to bring it so hard for this I mean you only missed this show this show is gonna feel what I said about pop about that Nostalgia and that energy and that love you're gonna feel the love between me and the band everybody's playing with me to my brothers and everybody um like I said I did good on my own producer scoring film you know got a lot of accolades I don't really care about Awards Grammys I never did you know I just I really care about the music and you know and loving my mom my mom is 91. lost my dad five years ago so everything I do I do for my family um I know you lost your mom not too long ago too yeah yeah for sure yeah that's beautiful I've seen all the stuff in your school technique just everything you're doing bro it's amazing but this thing I I could feel the love like in the room I said like I was good on my own but it's nothing like the energy with with Timothy uh Timothy Riley and my brother Dwayne Wiggins um next to me and I told them bro we get together we can't be half stepping we got to come and give people something they haven't seen in a long time it also give these kids opportunity to see how a band works you know I mean like I always use Sports analogies because you know how you guys say you know like when when uh when you guarding somebody you can't touch them no more you can't hold them no more right and they can easily go around you then bye-bye that's how music is now music is the same way people are really not singing you know people really using all kind of different things to to do it I'm not we're singing It's that's it we're playing it's a real game and I always say this too this is a funny thing about I say about Steph Curry uh I'll call Steph Curry chip secretly because I'm like bro I think Steph got a chip in his arm it's like it's not I call Steph chips I'm like yeah that's old chip right there but this this industry does have a chip yeah it's uh it's just and I don't know I got some friends that do it but I just want to give them the opportunity to see it and then they can make their choice but if they cause if they see it they want to do it they want to be challenged and I want to I'm challenging myself it's not easy it's not easy playing what 38 songs wow wow yeah we're playing 38 songs with Arrangements a 12 13 piece band that's when you got hits on hits on hits and as you brought up baby face it reminded me I would love to ask you this question before I get to this Gone in 60 Seconds and let you get out of here who are your top five singers who are also songwriters um say Donnie Hathaway uh Prince Stevie um um I would say Neil Young I would say oh I'm missing somebody huge top five top five come on come on come on come on baby face oh he's like he's definitely in the top five but I have to I'm trying to find a lady like Aretha Franklin that's you but yeah Babyface is definitely um has a crazy pen I worked for them before and to watch him work how he how his brain thinks when he's writing the song it's like he's an automatic pilot wow what a legend yeah but I'm A hip-hop I'm A hip-hop head though more than I am like hip-hop sort of saved my life I'm I'm the only person on Midnight Marauders no r b people made Midnight Marauders I played baseball facts on facts you know I played based on I always tell Q-tip I'm like bro I'm the only r b person on the album who play bass on the 90s that's classic you can't have a a a list of top artists and groups of all time and not mentioned try if you don't mention I don't respect Dilla no doubt Detroit I just interviewed slum Village recently on last week's show wow RJ and T3 was on the show representing that's live yeah Dylan is like uh that's that's the god that's the what about but I I have a picture in one of my keyboards of Dilla and it just reminds me how to be focused and how to work even when he was sick he worked till he was gone you know what I mean and I could never get tired when I look at people like dyla Frankie Beverly who was older and just out there just because he loves it so I just love the love of it man so that that takes all the distractions away from everything else no doubt and I appreciate you taking the time but before I let you get out of here yeah I just refine a segment called Gone in 60 Seconds you ready to do this yep all right here we go I know you should play favorites but if you had to choose what city on your tour list are you most excited about um DC Washington D.C yup you mentioned that earlier what's your favorite r b song to set the mood oh what move ment you trying to go to the bedroom whatever mood you're trying to get oh it's definitely a voice to the land answers Isley Brothers Legends name one artist you love to collaborate with in the future oh the outcast um we need that to happen yeah we need that to happen lastly certainly not least if you could give your younger self any advice what would it be sign your checks your own checks [Music] um one that part well I appreciate you taking the time my brother we looking forward thank you bro it's coming up and I'm definitely get out there to come and support please man love God thank you Jalen

Channel: New York Post

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Keywords: new york post, ny post, nypost, news, us news, breaking news, world news, latest news, story, stories, top stories, jalen rose, renaissance man with jalen rose, jalen rose podcast, jalen rose renaissance man, grammy award winner raphael saadiq, raphael saadiq, raphael saadiq tony toni tone, raphael saadiq interview, raphael saadiq performance, tupac, the isley brothers, the roots, raphael saadiq tour

Id: xRK2cjXwe64

Length: 41min 16sec (2476 seconds)

Published: Fri Sep 15 2023