Ice Cube on Big3 Ownership, Hollywood Secrets, Iconic Movie Roles, A.I. & Hip Hop's Golden Era

now I want to just do stuff because I can I want to do it when I know I could do a good job you know just saying jack of all trades master of none is still better than being a master of one I don't want to do so many things that my music or my acting or or the sports starts to diminish because I'm just spending too many plates a jack of all trades a massive nun is better I've never heard anybody say that before I never heard the second part is you know people forget the second part they always say you don't want to be a jack of all trades and a master of none but it's still being it's still better than being a master of one my graduates from my school being Forbes backdrop backdrop a mic drop backdrop [Music] [Applause] yes we are back yes yes yes La um this is going to be a legendary episode we got one of the goats in culture Ice Cube so much to talk about but before we start I give a big shout out to my brother Baron Davis and the whole slick team this is his studio in Los Angeles and he was gracious enough to let us use his facility so shout out to BD and shout out to WTF media yup yup for making the magic happen um but without further Ado this is somebody who is an icon in the game somebody who really needs no introduction um you know when you talk about music when you talk about film TV and now Sports somebody has dominated over the course of 30 years and revolutionized every single thing that I just described uh O'Shea Jackson the legendary so they call this a true West Side connection Legend in so many different games but has really you know become a superstar entrepreneur and um spearheaded The Big Three yeah which is I believe the only correct me if I'm wrong the only black owns professional sports league in America yes congratulations thank you something that has just taken the whole world by storm and um you know about to actually kick off a new season in a couple of weeks so we're gonna be talking about that we're going to be talking about the music entrepreneurship everything so first and foremost thank you for joining us appreciate it thanks for having me man you know this is a this is a nice West Side connection it's only right it's only right the only way so um all right let's get into this so the big three let's go through it first let's start the origin I know it starts in 20 in 2017 and anybody in any neighborhood has played three on three basketball one-on-one basketball two on two and three on three so yeah it's something that was already familiar to us but what made you have the idea to actually take it from the playground to an arena well you know we we rewind about two years back to 2015. is when I started to really uh look at the three on three game I had saw so many tournaments like weekend warrior put your squad together come out and play for you know spider Mountain Dew or Nike or whatever but it was all amateur outside you know nothing nothing professional then I started looking at three on three not just me but but my partner Jeff Quantus we start looking at three on three all over the world and to be honest three on three has played more than five on five when you take about you know you take every basketball bouncing in the world most of them are three on three over five on five and around the world is because of uh infrastructure you know they wasn't and they didn't have you know 50 60 years of basketball now we got 75 but so so they play a lot of three on three and realize a lot of kids play three on three we all play more three on three than five on five you know in our lifetime so um it all you know it just was right and it was like avoiding it in the market in a lot of ways and you know if you like me after the NBA finals you kind of hibernate till till football start so I'm like yo this is a nice Gap in the Summer where it's like nothing that's really popping no full season happens from June to September but the big three you know everything else is mid-season or preseason so we just felt like this was the perfect sport at the perfect time and it's already kind of in our it's in our DNA to to to understand three on three so after you have the idea you have to create a business structure around it so what's that like is when we think 303 we're thinking like people playing in the Parks they're not playing in the Parks y'all playing in actual NBA arenas so how is that building the structure around it getting players to commit to it getting coaches getting sponsors what what was that like in the beginning you know working and arguing about about rules uh working about business model you know just kind of working it all out arguing about that stuff you know what I'm saying really um trying to figure out the best way to to introduce this league and what is this league about and we felt like the the mini All-Star Game was the was the hook um we're gonna go from City to City gonna take the whole league you can see the whole league if you go to a game and we're gonna bring in you know over a hundred athletes that you know you know probably 75 percent of them you know you've seen them somewhere or or you're actually a fan so that was the business model and we were going to treat our our players better we were gonna give our captains control um on who he plays with you know not have a gym and just really make it a player's League um and and be outside the box you know come with our own rules that made our our game more interesting than if you look at FIBA three on three it feels pretty amateurish you know it feels like outside pick up game stuff but we wanted to do things that would bring us into the arena create the atmosphere and create the style of game that was better to watch and better to play for the for the uh players and so in doing that you know we we mixed it all a pot like gumbo you know what I'm saying and uh and came out with the big three and for the last three four years we've really been tweaking it and adjusting it so all the games are interesting you're never out of the game you can always come back because of the rules that we've laid down in our four Point Circle is to me um necessary and and Innovative and smart um bring the fire you know one of our rules where you can challenge a foul uh once a half you could challenge a file and how the players go one-on-one if you didn't like the call and if he if he make it the file count if you if you stop them then the file comes off the board you know it's things like that that we can do in the three on three game that you can't quite do in the five on five game and it makes our game unique So speaking of the business model how is it because like the NBA for instance or any sports league is owned by the owners right and each team they own their team obviously and they hired a commissioner but you guys have full ownership of the league right it's different it's like the team there's no ownership in the teams person not yet okay we're starting to move to that model now you know win talks with a few uh one MLB owner another former NBA owner to buy teams but we did start with the you know kind of like uh Nascar or you UFC or something you know we wanted to make sure that we could calibrate the league before we started to sell teams to owners because we wanted to lead the work and we didn't want you know too much interference with our adjustments and I think we're at a point where it's time to take these teams and put them in cities with owners um but this year we're still gonna go with the the uh with owning the whole league and and getting another season like that under our belt before we start so you would prefer to have different people owning different teams yeah you know that's the growth of the league you know that's us owning the league you know in its entirety forever was never realistic or never you know our plan our plan was to get the league make sure it worked uh from all angles and and then start selling teams then expand um so that's where we at we're in that process right now yeah I feel like the last time especially Our Generation has seen a basketball movement travel like this it was and one yeah right so when I look at your model I'm thinking like was there influence in that because when we were watching that we we were rooting for everyone and then we started to find out who the players were and then we went for them and so I see something very similar here where it's let's root for the league and now we have teams obviously we see Trilogy is dominates and that we can find guys inside of there like all right these are the players was that the biggest influencing model that y'all were looking at one of them um I also played in in the NBA has something called the entertainment League they play NBA e-league yeah yeah out here and uh last week yeah yeah so so you know they they would they would gather a few of us and go play and Phoenix or go play in um you know Oakland or whatever you know and it was cool because people would come out and check it out so I was like yo this model it's pretty cool going from City to City especially with something like this because you're kind of introducing people to the game and I mean seeing a seven-footer play three on three basketball in person is a look is a whole nother experience that I don't think you would ever forget so so we want to go from City to City and then pretty soon you know these these teams will land in their own cities and we'll go there most of the time the great thing about three on three because I played basketball my whole life a lot of people don't know this three on three is actually a different game than five on five definitely like remember Ed Crenshaw we had we knew this kid we knew this guy he wasn't the most athletic he probably wasn't the best on a five on five but he's virtually unstoppable three on three yeah so it's like I think that it's actually introducing a whole new way like even if you when you see the Olympics yeah introduced I want to ask your thoughts on that but it's not the same experience as a basketball fan you can go to a five on five game but if you're watching a half court three on three game it's not it's not the same it's different definitely not the same different skill sets you know um and I'm glad you brought that up because we've had guys who come straight from the NBA and they struggled in the big three and then we've had guys who didn't make it to the NBA and they shine in the three on three format because it is a different game you know in 505 you can be a specialist you know you could be defensive stopper three-point shot guy run the court yeah rebound guy yeah you know what I'm saying you don't have to be able to do too much else but come off screens let in three on three and you have no nowhere to hide you have to be able to pass dribble shoot and defend or you're gonna get embarrassed so you gotta have all around basketball skills to be successful in three on three because it's not the help coming it's not the screens coming it's you know it's it's mono e mono pretty much you got a man up yeah what are your thoughts on I mean I saw I watched it in the Olympics this year but as you're creating this league it's becoming something and I feel like overseas we watched three on three all the time like I see the highlights it's always a three it's never five on five when I watched highlights from overseas so when you see it becoming Olympics sport what are your thoughts you feel like the impact is growing oh do you feel you're responsible for that both right well we did announce before they announced that it was in the Olympics so he's humbly I gotta say that we we sparked something hopefully but you never know I think it's two different types of game like you have the NBA and then you have the Olympic five on five it's it's two different styles um same with with FIBA three on three and the big three um you know there they have the the amateur version of the game that they do very well and we have the pro version of the game we actually had a few Olympians come and play in the league they play for the aliens and so we just feel like it's two different experiences although you know that doesn't hurt what we're doing at all because it just puts more attention that that three on three basketball is worth your time and you know your your effort and your your money to to pay attention and and and love the sport you know so let's talk about overseas expansion um that's something that all major sports leagues have done NFL I think the Jacksonville Jaguars are playing two games in London this year and they've had NBA games in France and that of course London is NBA Africa so you for the first time Big Three is gonna be at the O2 Arena Champion yeah and All-Star game right that's that's me so obviously you're doing that intentionally right so what's the plans for overseas growth and how does that fit into the business model uh you know we've always had our vision overseas um not only Europe but Asia and you know to me it's it's part of growing a league you wanna You Wanna Be worldwide and you know basketball uh boxing or UFC you know MMA and soccer are the three things that translate all over the world um and so we had our a game in Toronto and 20 um 19 I believe or 18. uh we did our championship in the Bahamas in 2021 and so going to London is you know a great statement for the league you know we're not only taking our championship game over there but like you said our All-Star game so you'll be able to see the best that the big three has to offer you know in London and you know we have a vision of of making What's called the big cup and have each country submit a team and see who got the best three on three players in the world um we also wouldn't mind if an owner bought a team and put it in London you know by us playing once a week we have time for the travel you know it's uh we can play anywhere in the world so that's another advantage of the lead yeah that makes a true world champion right when you do that without a doubt another way to help the league grow is is having exposure and for a while when when the league started you could watch it on CBS I know now there's a structure with Paramount plus what was that conversation like getting it to the networks and trying to convince them that this is something that is worth picking up and how it's going to scale going forward the time has come ladies and gentlemen invest Fest that's right that's right invest best 2023 is hit August 25th 26th and 27th in Atlanta Georgia we are taking it to a new level bigger than ever this year we going through 20 000 people in Atlanta Georgia I want you to do yourself a favor head over to investments.com right now we will have activations from Friday Saturday and Sunday three days musical performances billionaires everything is going to be a completely life-changing experience then the marketplace food truck Village you know don't wait don't hesitate that over now it was a it was a big part of the league you know we understand you know we could have you know went straight to a streamer and and got a check and did it like that but to be able to put it on a major Network for the first two years we were on we're on Fox first was on FS1 and um and and then we got some of the games on big fox but we've been with CBS for three years it's our fourth year and you know half the games are on CBS which is which is great you know it's it's great with growing the league our our ratings are uh better than NHL MLS you know they have more games but you know we have um a constant amount of people watching you know which is which is damn good for you League that's only been around six years so you know we're trending in the right direction we're back on CBS This Year and Paramount plus um we are working out our second platform so half the games will be on CBS half the games will be on the second platform um and to me that's the best way to grow the league is to stay on network television so so you said somewhere that you had higher ratings than like NASCAR no MLS and uh NHL okay yeah so correct me if I'm wrong as a as a sports League you make money off of being on television ticket sales obviously to the games and then merchandise a variety of other stuff right that's sponsorships sponsorships yeah yeah those are the four big things yeah so all right so um how has that gone from you how has that going for you so far as far as to work with corporate Brands to scale up and you've got good ratings to you know work out different deals just like doing one-off with these TV situations or is it like three-year deals or ten year deals and like kind of projecting it in the future or you know our deal with CBS was a two-year deal and and they re re-upped it uh so and and with Brands it varies you know some are three year you know I first deal with with Adidas was a five-year deal um it just varies and you know the craziest thing was to have this league during the pandemic because you know everything you know kind of went back to to square one until we kind of built it back up because all brands were um they was just calibrating and redoing their business models on how they approach advertising some Brands realized during the pandemic they didn't have to advertise a lot because they were still selling out of their products so you know we had to live through that adjust through that um and you know what's great is we're we're getting more and more corporate sponsors you know every year um we got more this year than we had last year and we still haven't started the season so we're hoping more come in but that's to me you know the the constant fight when you have a league you know Brands will come in and and go out you know so you know the thing is to be around long enough to get those five and ten year deals is the key they talk about you know leveraging your celebrity because I remember the when the league first started uh we were watching the games but there was a marketing campaign behind it you didn't know who you were going to see sit in front row yeah and so how did you better to approach people like hey this is something you got to see because I'm watching it there's a way is that so-and-so said in front row yeah well we wanted to you know we come from entertainment so we knew the games have to be you know dead serious but everything else we can have fun with and we can encourage um all our friends people we know we can encourage this to be the place to be in the city you know when we come to town you know it's it's really a cool experience it's different than the NBA because when you come to a big three game it's not just the corporate guys hanging out you know you got whole families there you know you got people bringing their kids and the neighbors kids you know what I'm saying so it's that fun atmosphere uh nobody gonna tackle you if you run down and get an autograph from Dr J you know what I'm saying it's like it's like that on purpose you know I wanted it to be fun and different than than just your typical NBA game which is pretty standard you know so about web three I know you guys have a web 3 project forever experience action token yeah so yeah what's the deal with that well you know when nfts came out a lot of people didn't understand what they were a lot of people you know was like yo why would why would you sell digital art who was buying that and so the next step in in nfts was was utilities like being able to buy this nft and have physical and real things that you can do with it and not just be a piece of art and so what we what we came up with was a feat which is giving people ownership like experience like if you was the owner you would you would have special parking you'd have you know VIP treatment you know you would have access to practices and you know the the players and and and and the functions and the parties and the the things that we do and so that's what we offered you know we offered our nfts but they were real things that you can do you know you can you know own a piece of a team and and be treated like an owner when I look at the league I look at the player retention and so it makes me want to how would the contract structure with the players is it season by season or is it multi-year because I mean I've seen James White play almost every year yeah yeah I saw Joe killing and I mean he's yeah I mean he's probably gonna be in three pick three Hall of Fame without a doubt so how does that work with the players how do you structure contracts with them usually sign one or two year contracts um you know we it's it's dependent on success um you know if you win it that's my phone so but if you winning you know we want you back if you're not winning then we may make a move here and there you know it's really about and how long you been with your squad and your team you know what I'm saying like that that's uh you know if you've been there a while and you ain't really got over the hump we may make a change and what happens is we pick the player captain and and he gets to pick who he wants to play with so the code captains are his choice and then and then they draft two players from from the combine to make up the the rest of the roster and so um you know we have certain rules though too that if you win a championship that same squad has to return to defend um and the runner-up team they can return with the same Squad too but they have to send one player back to the draft pool and pick a new player and then everybody else the the captains and co-captains stay the same but are they draft players got to go back to the pool and get they gotta you know re-up you know if you're not winning you gotta re-up um so that's pretty much how it goes so James White they've they've you know one have gotten to the playoffs or the championship and so you know he he's there you know what I'm saying there's no reason to pull him because they've been winning the championship you know shout shout out to Stephen Jackson yeah for sure but it's been a lot of talk lately about play a conduct from the NBA side right and I want to talk about this John Moran situation because I see a lot of people like well he has a right to bear arms but then it's like well he works for a private organization so have you ever had any issues with your league as far as player conduct and what's your personal thoughts on specifically the John Morant situation um yeah I mean we want players to conduct theirself in a professional manner what's cool we dealing with players that's older you know been around the game a little bit you know we're not dealing with kids you know we're 22 and up um so you know we want we want people to conduct themselves in the right way we're not going to micromanage our players though you know at a certain point you know what they do outside of the league is pretty much their business um but the NBA is a different you know it's a different League they got different standards um you know I just want him to be treated like other players that's brandished guns on you know on pictures or whatever um you know so it's complicated you know it's like it's like marijuana you know I'm saying like if you want to state that that uh is legal for recreational use do you suspend a guy on camera smoking a blunt you know um it's it's real tricky so you know I just think you just take everything into consideration [Music] it doesn't help his brand and I think he should consider that you know that little five minutes of being cool with your homies it don't do nothing for you don't do nothing for you you know so probably should put the guns down you probably don't want to need a gun you know in this life you don't want to need a gun so I'm saying so you know playing with it is ridiculous you shouldn't play with guns period you brought up marijuana and so it made me think of being a league of first because you were the first lead to accept marijuana and CBD yes as it's something that you can use inside of the league you also the first with a four-point play yeah a female coach yeah to lead a team we're the first to embrace Mental Health First to embrace matter so being in a league at first you're set in Trends and I'm wondering what the relationship is like with the other league where he brought up the NBA so is there a positive relationship there where they're watching what you guys are doing and saying like maybe these are some of the things that we can now accept do you feel like you're setting those Trends in that way I mean I think they're taking things that we're doing and watching us and where you know somewhat guinea pig for it um but you know we've taken some things from the NBA too so we understand that I think I don't think they like the fact that we changed the game without action well we we do what's best for the big three and they they might not dig that because they have a business model you know their players watch what we do um and you know they they may want to be the only ones to change the game um but it's too late so I have a theory that virtual reality is going to change Sports um because I feel like it just makes complete sense like if you could pay to actually put a headset on and like be front row with Javonte Davis throwing punches or LeBron or whatever right like I feel like virtual reality is going to be big period but I feel like sports particularly basketball football and boxing so how do you feel about that and is that something that you would incorporate in your league as far as to have like not right now but in the future a virtual reality component where people can actually pay and have a virtual reality experience from home yeah without a doubt you know however they want to experience the big three um you know it's a challenge to to get 10 12 000 people in an arena and you free on TV so you know some people gonna want to watch it at home uh like me I prefer watching boxing at home you know I've been to a couple of matches and [ __ ] if you blink so so and you know I like the announcers I like the angles I like the replays I like all that so you know that doesn't make me you know um less of a boxing fan so so people gonna have a um on preference and and you know we would be crazy to try to shine the technology that's available um for people to experience the big three because it's all about eyeballs now you know um it's all about as many people seeing the game you know loving the game fought up and staying interested in the game um that's the most important thing right now you know um making money off tickets um getting a big uh contract for streaming and all these to me is not the way to blow up the league a way to blow up the league is eyeballs eyeballs eyeballs uh and so we'll do whatever it takes to get those eyeballs on us you know whether you come or watch on TV or virtually yeah one of the things when you're creating something Innovative and this is something we've learned is you got to document the process yeah document it all and so I know you're working with Jesse Collins entertainment who was phenomenal in covering especially us yeah covering Us in in the right manner so talk about that and because I know a lot of it is built around some of the challenges that it took you to get to this point with the league without a doubt man you know people wouldn't understand how hard it's been these last seven years [Music] um because of the obstacles and not only obstacles from the outside but obstacles within you know dealing with it with with uh where you know people who have ulterior motives for the league you know and and so you know it's been it's been a challenge but you know we up for it you know we kind of knew it wasn't going to be a cakewalk that you know starting a league from scratch is virtually impossible um because so many things got to go right and and you can get attention but keeping it here is a is another animal so um it's been a challenge but but uh I think people dig it I know the players love it I know fans love it and to me I wouldn't want to do anything else right now you know another movie another record like you know I could do that but this right here is something that's huge and humongous and and so this is where I want to be so I want to ask you about Hollywood actually because you started music and become a superstar and then you just go on a crazy run in Hollywood um but so director producer screenwriting actor you actually have done all of the four I believe one movie you did all four as Players Club right so when you first start in Hollywood boys and hood is your first movie yeah classic that's classic classic so hey I got all right let's start there when you're doing boys in the hood do you in your mind know like this is something that is gonna be a game changer no no you know as a matter of fact when I first saw the rough cut it you know never show somebody a rough cut if they don't know the process because I was pissed off you know I left call my manager at the time and I was like we [ __ ] up [ __ ] up doing this movie it don't even look like a movie it's all I it feel flat and um and she was like what you talking about I said John showed me a piece of it well he showed me the movie but it it's unfinished look don't look Finnish she said did he say it was finished I said no let's let him finish the movie let him finish the movie so from the time I had seen the rough cut to the time he showed me the finished movie I was pissed off you know I was thinking man what didn't you like about it well you know it just didn't have all the sound effects in it it didn't have you know if you watch a movie without without them sound effects and things it feel flat you know somebody set a cup down you don't hear the [ __ ] cup you know you like you see a car go by you don't hear the car you know what I mean it just seemed like what the hell why is this movie missing sounds you know I know I see I should be hearing but he had to put all that in and he had to edit it and polish it up and so when I seen it finished then I knew I was like this is some [ __ ] you know this is a good ass movie like this is this is something that uh is gone is gonna change people's outlook on on guys that come from our neighborhood you know did you feel that's interesting because now I'm thinking about at the time this is after America's Most Wanted this is after or right around the same time as death certificate are you thinking this is a risk because I'm Ice Cube the rap star who's from NWA who has a solo career that's thriving and here I am trying to act because at the time we don't really see too many people in rap that's acting yeah it's you and you can play get in play house party yeah yeah I thought it was a risk Ice-T was acting a little bit or he's in colors yep yeah but uh he's in Breaking it's in breaking and [ __ ] but but it was uh yeah I was like man you know I want to do good I'm not an actor like kept telling John I'm not I'm not actor man you know like I don't I don't I don't even want to be an actor you know what I'm saying I just want to do good in the movie and so taking that attitude and taking that approach and he helped me through it Lawrence Fishburne helped me through a Cuba Gooding Jr um you know they all they are you know helped me get comfortable with doing that yeah like you know you could feel stupid acting you know I mean like you got all these people looking and you just gotta do some some [ __ ] that that's written down from a piece of paper and not from your true heart you know so it was an adjustment yeah I'm thinking to myself now you you start boys in the hood John Singleton rest in peace the influence there but you come back with Higher Learning with him again so talk about the role he played inside of you thinking about screenwriting producing directing everything you know he discovered me as an actor he uh he's he he coached me as a as a writer um and he helped me as a director like he actually came to the set when I was shooting Players Club and it helped me big scene was running out of time and he just helped me organize it and get his shot and so he just he just stopped by to see what was up you know he didn't stop by to work and he stayed there with me for six to eight hours to make sure it just got done right and so I really needed him that day and I appreciated him helping me um because you know he went to film school he went out to these things to prepare him you know I didn't I didn't do nothing but shoot videos and and I was on a few movie sets so um he was my mentor throughout you know I wouldn't I wouldn't have done film and produced and done these things without without John you know basically being a a living example and then helping me when I needed it so how do you even have because most people I you become a successful actor a lot of people just stay in that pocket you could have just been a successful actor but like I said to go screenwriter producer and director and I think the first the first thing that you wrote was Friday was that no no that's the third third movie I wrote uh he he encouraged me to write he he asked me you know I was sitting in his house one day and he was like yo when you gonna write a movie and I'm like what so man I'm barely getting this active [ __ ] right he said you expect every script you get to be as good as boys in the hood that's what he said I'm like I don't know it's not me so Hollywood is full of trash so if you want to do good movies you should write them so and then he said yo if you can write a record like the records you write you can write a movie so that kind of gave me the the encouragement to to just start writing and then he would help me you know taking my scripts he'd read them you know it was trash but and he would help me get better and um I wrote a script called America he's just young which is uh from an old Funkadelic record and then I wrote another one called Full Life and then I wrote Friday but with DJ Pooh legendary so Friday you wrote you wrote that that comes out that changed the games again yeah when you so this time you're a little bit more seasons in Hollywood and you actually wrote it so when you wrote Friday did you have an idea that that was going to be as big as it turned out to be for for the cool people you know I felt like we're gonna do a Hood movie and not from the hood you might not understand what's going on but that's cool longest people from the hood know what's going on because I felt like everybody I liked in Hollywood that was black had Hood classics uh and I wanted mine you know I mean I had boys in the hood but I wanted my own so I was you know working on that because I was like get a hood classic then people always gonna like this movie and they always gonna hire me as actor if I ever have to you know rely on my past to get work in the future so having a hood classic was was most important I think you you might be and sorry maybe you can correct me he might be the only person with a classic five mic album and a classic movie that's his what you think definitely ever yeah a classic movie that he that he made that he made he made the movie yeah at a classic album like when five mics meant something you have five mics that's a fact and Friday we I mean boys in the hood alone was a classic yeah that's yours but Friday is yours yours that might be a new thing I'm so that how long did it take to shoot because it was like maybe a couple of days 20 days to shoot yeah so as you're writing is one thing right but this business side of it and we've seen it with production is you got to pay these people yeah right who so who's teaching you about budgets like who you need the lighting the direct who who's teaching about that is John as well um I had a great manager by the name of Pat charbonnet and uh she's actually a producer on the Friday movie but between her and me we was just figuring it out you know figuring out who we wanted to use um to help us uh here and there and so we just you know worked on finding the right crew you know um but yeah yeah it was really you know her knowledge of the business that that helped us get that movie done in 20 days so what to do a follow-up really quickly because you you alluded to it Players Club yeah right out of 40 films it's the only one that you have directing producing screenwriter and acted in yeah and did the soundtrack and did the soundtrack I'm wondering because why is that the only one that you did it was it something that you saw from the production side that was like oh direct inside that was like this this is a lot well directing kind of takes you out of the game for about a year year and a half you're you're stuck on one project you know and I didn't want to be bogged down so I actually like producing better than directing you know I like to find a director that I can work with and then produce the movie because I'm not as bogged down you know I can I can actually produce um three movies in the same time as I could direct one um and so I just felt like I didn't want to I don't want to be bogged down like that again to have to you know I wrote the movie so I was I was on that movie forever like writing it then getting it where somebody wanted to make it then casting it shooting it editing doing the soundtrack you know putting it out and commentating the DVD and you know so since you look up and it's a long time on one thing instead of doing multiple earners what's going on listen e-y-l-u is relaunching revamping retuning that's right we're creating a new educational experience that's more expensive Charlie tell me what we got yes 2023 we got a lot in store a lot of planned for you guys so you know that eyo you already includes monthly financial planning calls with me book club calls with Troy real estate call to mg the mortgage got access to the home buying blueprint volume one and volume two part of the revamp will include 27 local chapters from across the United States live interactive teaching Hands-On not just pre-recorded videos plus 15 brand new curriculums the biggest just got bigger speaking on Friday was there lessons that you know because I mean if I'm wrong was there issues with Warner Brother because they own the franchise right Warner Brothers they are they they distribute the franchise so they they distributed the first one and it has in the contract that they they have the right to distribute each one each one so what were there issues trying to make more Fridays like they have to approve something before you could actually make a Friday yeah so talk about that well we you know we did the first one and and I wasn't gonna do another one after that um they approached me could you want to think could you think of another one um so I said yeah and then I approached Chris Tucker he didn't want to do it so I was like oh okay this let's kind of throw a little monkey wrenching in the movie so so we did it next Friday with my caps that was great people loved it then we did Friday after next and then they asked me to write a fourth one and I wrote and [Music] they they had an issue because um Craig and DayDay ends up in jail from selling weed you know and finally end up in jail and deboing the Joker Brothers is trying to you know I mean they in jail too so they're trying to you know trying to you know stab them up and [ __ ] so they just was like Jail's not funny you know nobody nobody's gonna laugh about being in jail I'm like you ridiculous like then all these movies come out like Orange is the New Black and and let's go to jail and life life and you know get hard and all this [ __ ] and I'm like okay so y'all definitely don't know what y'all talking about so I just kind of you know that was in 2013. you know so I just kind of stopped paying attention to him then they asked again They begged again for me to write another one so I saw a camera right one to fit this time won't be about jail and they loved it but they just had these little notes that they kept trying to change things trying to change it and I'm like dude you guys do not know what needs to go on a Friday movie like stop pretending like you you guys are smart when it comes to this [ __ ] you know I mean I know it I know it's gonna work I know it's not gonna work and they just kept messing around knowing those back and forth back and forth you know six months of this [ __ ] and then uh John Witherspoon passed away oh so they like just [ __ ] around till the Man passed away and then tiny passes away AJ Johnson it's like the movie we're gonna go back on the Block and so you know uh I've been trying to get it get control of the franchise uh since then so you guys you essentially essentially you wrote two you actually wrote two more Fridays yeah and that's never came out yeah obviously yeah so you say you're trying to get control of the franchise how how do you go about trying to get control of the franchise um you know I mean of course appealing to their superiors on you know their basically sleeping on money is it like a buyout thing maybe like if you pay you can not I'm not I'm not I'm not gonna pay for it you know what they need to do is let me control it and they'll make a lot of money but if they're not gonna make it so you're open to doing another one I'm open to seeing if another one can be done yeah while you're doing that while that's happening there's still other franchises being created that you're involved in yeah right so Barbershop yeah it's right there do you have the Are We There Yet yeah and so now you're like uh interesting family households I wonder what that experience was like for you from boysenhood to that point like there's a generation where it's like oh Ice Cube the guy who makes the kid movies like I grew up Ice Cube was the dude that was telling us that's and I was like yeah I'm with this I'm with this so like what how's that transition because we don't see people grow right we don't see our artists grow we don't see them evolve and we don't see them have these moments so what was that transition like for you it's amazing you know to be able to sustain love in in families and like once I realized my fans my core fans were having kids and their kids was in elementary and Junior High I felt like okay it's time to do something to to make sure I'm still cool in this household that household or whatever now last thing I want you to look at your Kim be like Ice Cube you should you should look him up he used to be he used to be cool you know I mean we used to rock him you know he used to used to use let me put this record up yeah yeah so I didn't want to be that guy you know I wanted I wanted the kids to know who I was so the way to do that is to do a movie that they love and that's always going to get played like see are we there yet the kids grow up they love it but they outgrow it but then there's always new kids coming up who their parents is like yo sick of you bugging me stick you in front of a movie put in are we there yet so the love is reject uh generated yeah you know what I'm saying with each with each generation that watch that movie they end up growing up and then they reach a point where they discover my music they discover my my other movies and stuff so it's uh it's a way to re rejuvenate fans and to make sure that that the youngsters know who you are and they're not just relying on you should have heard death certificate you know I mean you said I heard today was a good day yeah you've done something very unique inside of that too and that's providing opportunities so that that's the first time we see Eve in a movie yeah first time we see Nicki Minaj and that type of throw uh you were super intentional about that like given opportunities to people especially in the rebel if they're great you know I mean if they're good if they if they have uh uh a personality that I think people want to see more of um yeah you know it's really all about being the right person for the role um and so you know I didn't know they was all gonna work out you know I mean never know how it's going to be when they when they actually audition or they come on set but yeah I want to give people a shot that that Hollywood may be overlooking So speaking of Hollywood screenwriters they're on strike right now and this goes back to the web three conversation where somebody told me you know I just I started thinking about it and I'm like they might not have as much leverage this time because of chat gbt and it's like well if I can have a computer write a script in a day that I don't necessarily need a screenwriter just what's your thoughts on that well I think you know it's something that's um very real and and it can happen yeah you can have a computer write you a script in a day um but you know at the end of the day will it be as as real as a person writing it will they have that feel to it um who knows you know it's a new world that's why they're on strike you know they wanna you know curve it in some ways you know the worst thing is for them to tell the studios not to do it but then they go home and do it and when it's time for them to turn in that secret they're cheating yeah so you know at the end of the day you know um technology is here everybody got to make an adjustment um I don't know if I want all my entertainment to you know come from an artificial Source you know I may just check out and you know people be scrolling more and looking at real stuff you know I think that the the hunger for reality is gonna start growing as more and more artificial things take over you know I even think it's a backlash right now with music about the music because you have a lot of people using auto-tunes and they sounding like a computer and I don't know if people are gonna go for that longer because you had a Timberland song for big yeah I did how you feel about it I didn't like it because it's artificial you know I mean I treat it like a sample you know I can sympathize the brothers but uh not the Isley Brothers you know it's just a piece of how great they are you know it's a sample it's a portion it's not the real it's not The Isley Brothers you know it's my interpretation of that so um I guess you would look at this like you would look at sampling yeah in terms of the movies and writing there was a phase when you did the the family comedies like the ones we a little too earlier you did the Buddy cops films with 21 Jump Street and 22 Jump Street I remember watching the original show Holly Robinson right along with that ride along with Kevin is there uh a genre or a topic that you feel like you're headed toward that you haven't done yet I think I could do more dramas I mean I I like with the success of my comedies um most people should have comedies in my face most movies I get green litter comedy so and I got some dramas in me some what's that process like of getting a green lid so for most people they don't even understand it's like you write the movie then it's what's the next step I have to get into you write the movie um you polish it up as tight as you can get it and and you uh you know you pitched the idea to the people you know you know I know from being out in Hollywood for 30 years I know people at different Studios that you could say hey I got some you know we pitching we're gonna be going around the different Studios and telling them the idea on this date you want it you want want me to come in and so you set up a bunch of meetings where you go around town uh pitch an idea and um you know people respond to it yo we like it we want it and um then you send them the script um the script go through whatever process it go through at the studio I think the marketing team has to sign off on it you know you don't want to do a movie that they can't sell so a lot of different departments sign off on it before it's green lit green lit means the studio has agreed to make it uh everybody has signed off on it and you need actual signatures and um once you get all the signatures you need the movie you know they start to spend money and the movie is actually green lit when they start to spend money do you put the budget as how much it's going to cost to make it or yeah they figure it out yeah you uh you take the script you you get it to a line producer a line producer he uh he breaks down how much it's gonna cost how many days it's gonna take to shoot how you know what you need how many locations and you know he kind of breaks the script down to puzzle pieces and um and each piece costs a certain amount of money to create so you know you look up and you're slide yo for this much money you could shoot 30 days because it costs you know 130th per day you know I mean and so depends on how much it costs per day that's how many days you got to shoot on how much your budget is you know what I'm saying so it costs a million dollars a day and you got 30 million dollars you got 30 days to shoot so um Sports and activism has always kind of gone hand in hand in the black community from John Carlos at the Olympics to Muhammad Ali to modern day Colin Kaepernick to Kyrie Irving you have been very vocal as an activist for a long period of time in a variety of different political situations that you've taken apart now you're actually an owner of a sports league so what's your thoughts on players taking social stances and what's your Just Thoughts in General on sports and political activism racial different things coming coming together like what's your thoughts on that because a lot of people think I should be separate some people think that they should go hand in hand like what's your thoughts I think um nobody want to see robots play if that's the case then you know everybody would be creating their own LeBron James robot you know so nobody wants to see robots play so human beings with opinions um you know do I want you shouting out anything political in the middle of a jump shot but before well before and after the game man they put a mic in your face you got the mic I'm I come from a from a culture of you got the mic use it you know um and you could change somebody's attitude you know you could change somebody's thought process um if they hear from the right person you know I remember different people coming up to my school and speaking and some people are paid attention to some people I didn't it depends on how much that I like them respect them understand what they was about so sometimes it takes an athlete to get the message across mourning a politician or teacher or preacher or whatever so you know everybody should be able to voice their opinion um depending you know it don't depend I mean it don't matter if they play a sport or not would they be throughout your career you've pretty much done a variety of different things from speaking out against the police political issues acting rapping Sports is anything that you feel uncomfortable like I I don't want to like this is not my Lane because it seemed like everything is your lane like is there anything where it's like I'm staying away from this yes plenty of things um you know I I just want to do what I feel like I could be I can be additive you know I mean be good at I don't want to I don't want to take away now I want to just do stuff because I can I want to do it when I know I could do a good job and so I you know I do a lot but I make sure that I don't do too much where I can do a good job you know the last thing is um you know this saying um jack of all trades master of none is still better than being a master of one but I don't want to do so many things that that them that my music or my acting or or the sports starts to diminish because I'm just spending too many plates and jack of all trades a massive nun is better I've never heard anybody say that before I never heard the second part is you know people forget the second part they always say you don't want to be a jack of all trades and a master of none but it's still being it's still better than being a master of one so you want to do everything but you don't want to just single out to just one thing too either so I think it's about balance it's about knowing when you've reached your limit um and I want to learn about a game and understand it before I get in it anyway so I'm always you know I I want to respect the game before I get in it because if not you're gonna lose I want to go back to 1991. the line was either they don't know don't show I don't give a [ __ ] about what's going on in the hood yeah more important than the line which is very important was a shirt that you were wearing and said Crenshaw on it um that sparked of movement inside of a young man that we know now as the late Dipsy Hustle I wonder what your thoughts were when you saw the impact that that shirt had on this community and and obviously on him in the whole Marathon brand um I didn't really make too much of it because the the shirt you know and and Crenshaw has had a profound impact on me you know I mean so it's hard to look and say uh yeah I did that when when I I was affected the same way um you know the area it used you know it was Boulevard where you know people would go hang out with their cars they women they music um and so to be able to to just even highlight that area on film was you know I felt honored you know I mean so anybody taking that and running with it you know to me was was an honor that I I upper Stone John instead of myself did so did you do you watch snowfall the show no I couldn't watch snowfall why couldn't you watch it um because John you know John wasn't near the complete division so the reason I asked is because the the last scene well the last year the last scene I've seen that part I was wondering how how you interpreted because it was kind of an Ode to boys in the hood yeah he's walking through the alley that it reminded me of the alley that Ricky was running down yeah you want to see a dead body right you want to see a dead body and they're filming boys in the hood as they're doing it so it felt like an Ode to John so I was thinking about how you know your thoughts were because you were involved in that movie and obviously John was the creator of snowfall I thought it was an amazing um they call it a Easter egg or whatever an amazing homage and and um tribute to John and and we probably had some people around there screaming that you know uh what y'all making what y'all doing right right um man I don't like him yelling you ain't gonna win the Oscar but you know Silly [ __ ] yo that [ __ ] sometimes but but for the most part I thought it was real cool I thought it was a great way to to put a cherry on top and and make you know John's you know Vision somewhere full circle because he's always seen you know he saw Boyz in the Hood and Poetic Justice and baby boy as a trilogy and and so you know this was his you know um weekly crack added so to speak so you know I wish he was able to that it was his vision throughout the whole series but that but that ending was uh real classy is TV more challenging than because you've done TV like too is TV more challenging in the movie or I think so because with TV you gotta you gotta basically create a movie every week with a movie just you know it's a One-Shot deal and so I think TV it's harder to keep up with that pace before we leave I just got asked a couple of rap questions yes um let's do it it's fitting because the last time he was here I asked Baron Davis the same this same exact question so I'll be interested to get your take on it um your top five rappers from LA wow foreign [Music] I don't miss nobody you know I like uh can we claim corrupt yeah yes for sure [Music] I can't put them in order though okay that's fine that's fine I love corrupt okay I think he wanted the coldest um and it could be surrounding areas Compton Long Beach though yeah Kendrick is called okay the game is cold okay um raz-cast interesting choice um crooked eye no Snoop Dogg Snoop Dogg is a superstar on all levels pure rhyming pure rap okay grab the mic okay it's just bars bars you know those [ __ ] to me are you know or uh the bars I I'm gonna make something even more generals 50 years of hip-hop right if we're putting the playlist together what are the five songs that have to be in the the 50. the 50 years of hip-hop what are some of the five greatest songs um I will put the brakes okay um Rapper's Delight okay um the show it's classic um damn I'm looking down to two fingers left I ain't even left the 80s yet um um wow man this is It's hard after that like um wow man them last two can I put one in go for it in my top 50. yeah today is a good day is in the okay all right no problem like I know you're gonna be humbly speaking Yeah I appreciate one of those things man I appreciate that that plays forever it's one of those songs yeah it's like summertime for Will Smith yeah but there's so many it's like you know um treat her right goddamn uh it's like it's so many it's tough It's too many it's too many man it's just like yeah it's it's too many to it's too many too many yeah well hit him you super it might be an easier one I know you obviously in a much more positive light these days but it's important to the culture I think when you spot with your opponent right it's a core element of hip-hop yeah you have one of the top battle songs ever the top battles the top detox what's your top five top no Vaseline is the top battle song ever and it's not even close it's not even close that all right now we have that so all right so what's the top five about that no Vaseline is number one for you what's the top of four other than that battle songs I mean I would go with uh you know hit him up is is good hit them up okay okay ethers is dope um I would go with uh come on killed you're an 80s guy oh you're an 80s guy yeah yeah yeah um oh man I'm gonna have to go with uh the bridge is over yeah here we go and uh I don't know I I think I gotta go with let's go let's go yeah what was let's go again come on D come on D no takeover take over honorable or back to back back to back is dope too back is serious yeah that became like a number one record yeah it was Grammy Nam baby got one too what was that uh back down yes but I don't think it's as strong as like takeovers or songs yeah that's that's in the five but ether no I would say no Vaseline to Ether I'm surprised here's why it's no Vaseline okay you know argue this with us 1mc took out foam C's and the manager can't beat that takeover well no ether ether took out a record a record label that took him out put him on a pause hyena I'm gonna have to rearrange some things I broke up a group you did no that was kind of the Temple beginning of the end for Rufus it was all right so nobody until I guess like Bone Thugs right they came back yeah Bone Thugs was incredible do you do you miss that element of hip like I said I mean of course nobody wants to see violence and stuff like that but do you miss the element because there's still people beefing each other now but now it's it's real beef like do you miss the element of people actually making because it's not easy to make a song about somebody you gotta think you got to research like cannabis is up there as well second round no we can't forget about that we that's no no we can't audible mention that's up there yeah okay okay do you miss that part of hip-hop um I don't know you know it's like it's like fighting you know it's it's cool when somebody else is fighting you know watch but when you in the fight and you don't know where it's really gonna go I don't know how cool you feel it's like battle it's kind of like you putting you know not only yourself but your crew in some kind of you know um possible Danger you know I mean you don't know how out of hand it's ever going to get and usually when people battling or going at it like that on the record you're serious before they get a chance to have a conversation sometimes they can squash it you you compare the making movies to making TV you're saying like they're making a movie every week I wonder what that's like for you especially while you were creating these franchises the process of writing a movie as opposed to writing an album is it the same creative mind flow like what's that process what was it like for you no I mean you know writing a movie is uh you know I I looked at it kind of like a hobby you know it's like my down time I may I may be out of town maybe on a movie and just bored like in my dresser like in my trailer so I'll start writing just to be creative and not just have a lot of dead space with a record you know I'm I got a beat I'm like you know I'm I want kind of instant satisfaction with a movie I know it's like this is a long drawn-out process so I just kind of take a different approach the music you know you want you want to hear something record something you want it to be dope when it come out the speaker like because you need that [ __ ] like if it's not sounding good immediately you start to you know either break it back down or change things or just you know you got to get it to that process you got to get it sounding good immediately I got two more music questions for you before we finish it's very important versus would you do it versus and who would you who do you think is the ideal dancing partner because how I look at verses it's not always like this is the best person this is the best person they got to kind of compliment each other like yeah a good dancing partner like I don't think two chains and Rick Ross was a good pairing not from a skill standpoint but it just it wasn't a good dancing partner T.I and Rick Ross is probably a better dancing partner so how you feel about would you do a versus and if so who would you want to do a versus with I wouldn't do it versus but um I think me and LL would be a great version why wouldn't you do it because we both can grip and rip you know I'm saying we both grabbed the mic and and spit it and and we both can perform our songs so I think it'd be great we both got hits um and you know he got a lot of hits you know what I'm saying he got a lot of hits so I just think it'd be a good one but I I wouldn't do it why not because I respect him too much I can't go against LL but it don't have to be a battle it could be like because earlier how it's not going to be but it wasn't always Dipset and locks turned it into the battle but before that it was just because even Ghostface and Ray did the verses together like before the the Dipset and locks it was more so like complimenting each other a player song it was very friendly once Jada kids got up there and took Santana's bandana off it has it been since yeah it was the beginning of the end of yeah that type yeah no I'm good all right well my last question my last music question how do you feel about artists selling their catalogs and would you sell your catalog um I think you know you got to do what you feel is right for yourself and your family you know at the time um I don't think I would sell my catalog because I think it's uh man it's a valuable peace to our puzzle and and um my estate my kids my family um you know once you sell it then you know you do something with that money and then you you kind of lose out on what ownership is all about you know I I love when people call me and be like yo we want to put this song in this movie here and it's like you know that's the reason you own a song or on your publishing to be able to grant that and get that extra money you know it's part of the game you talked about family he talked about the state I wonder what it's like watching your son establish himself as an actor in this field amazing I mean I mean who else could play you in in the movie budget son and he killed that so what is that like because most people we see a music their children want to do music and sometimes it works sometimes it doesn't just follows you in acting how's that how's that been it's been great you know I couldn't have like you know written out a better script you know for it to happen the way it did and the fact that he's not only you know taking that role but he's he's run with his career you know he's in Spain right now doing then the thieves too and you know as a father you just want your kids to be good kids and then you want them to do something cool that they dig and uh I think he's he loving life right now you know loving life so proud of him man and I'm proud of all my kids you know all my kids are are great people and that's that's you know that's what you want at the end of the day you know as long as I ain't raising no jail birds and no dope heads you know what I'm saying I'm happy how long have you been married been married for right now it's about 31 years going on 31 years how has that impacted your career um I'm sure people don't really talk about that a lot but how that family having a stability in your family how important was that for you to be able to achieve the levels of success that you've been able to achieve when wouldn't be able to do it without without the family support and without being a family man um you know I I just think about all the time that um that could have been wasted that I ended up really staying focused uh because I didn't have those distractions that I seen some of my peers have and so you know it's been an essential part of me being able to do so many things and do them at a high level um you know if I was just running around you know probably wouldn't get get most of that [ __ ] done Q appreciate your time brother much love much respect how can it when will the big three be airing again um how can the people get information anything else you want to let the people know before check us out the big three we're gonna be back for season six starting June 25th on CBS uh we're starting out in Chicago all summer long from June 25th to August 26th every weekend either Saturday or Sunday check out the big three on CBS yes and um I heard you got a celebrity All-Star Game yeah y'all ready to get down in it well yeah DC yeah y'all ready when is it it's uh it's was a week before the 26th what is that we gonna put in the calendar 19th August 19th put it in the calendar no uh yeah mano nle Chopper you know they they could really who they don't seen them play with them yeah like a ball so we'll let her have y'all come back and show you what you know I see you show us what you got now I appreciate you brother thank you and and thank you for you know being a a shining light for us you know watching from boys in the hood talking about gentrification 30 years ago to not being afraid to be political to you know doing the movies to being an entrepreneur to provide an information game is something that I think a lot of people have gained a lot of insight from inspiration motivation and education so that's something that is extremely important so thank you for everything that you've done for the culture in the world appreciate it man you know much love just thanks for everybody for all the support uh you know you can't do this kind of stuff without the people you know supporting and and showing you that they appreciate it and they want more and um so you know I've had so many people motivate me so to be able to motivate you know anybody from what I'm doing you know it's just a blessing that comes off of uh you know putting putting your head down and working hard you know there you have it ladies and gentlemen yeah yeah yeah my graduates from my school being Forbes backdrop backdrop oh my God [Applause] foreign

Channel: Earn Your Leisure

Views: 188,892

Keywords: earn your leisure, business, finance, sports, entertainment

Id: jtKnUUooV_w

Length: 85min 41sec (5141 seconds)

Published: Tue May 23 2023