Episode 5-40 | E-40

0:35Speaker 1:Welcome back to another episode of the new rory and maul podcast i am maul i'm rory rory today we are joined by we don't use this word icon and legend loosely that's true i'm very serious when it comes to that word but today we are joined by a legend in every sense of the word Somebody that I've always wanted the pleasure of meeting, and today he is here with us. We are joined by the legendary, the iconic E-40 is in the.

0:58Speaker 2:Building, ladies and gentlemen. E-40. Yes. Say now. Album out this week. Yes, sir. Album out. Listen, the quadruple. The quadruple. First time ever, four albums, man, by a rap recording artist. You know what I'm saying?

1:15Speaker 1:What was the, obviously... The 40, to play on the 40, E40, I get that part. But what was the motivation behind wanting to record so much music at this point? Because everything, you're a legacy at this point. So everything now is just like you having fun. But what was the motivation to want to, first of all, sit down and take the time to record 40 tracks? But what was the inspiration behind just even having the idea of doing that?

1:41Speaker 2:So my track record has been putting out double CDs.

1:46Speaker 3:Right.

1:46Speaker 2:In the 90s, bro, 30-something years ago, I was putting out double CDs, you know. Then in the 2000s, like 2010 and up, I put out multiple, two albums at the same time. revenue retrieving day shift night shift graveyard shift overtime shift I went to the block brochure one two three and four the block brochure welcome to the soil one two three and four the block brochure welcome to the soil four five six you know what I'm saying I've been doing them they all charted and all that stuff you know what I'm saying and I just been doing it for many moons you know I was on even some of the bigger records like Tupac All Eyes On Me I was on his double album I was on 8 Ball Lost Triple album I was on a Crazy Bones double album. And so I just been, I put a lot of music out all my life and I felt like all these, I missed out on two or three, two or three years recently. Cause I got multiple, you know, revenue streams and stuff. So I got multiple businesses. And so I just kind of like, you know, took a break off music, but I've been doing features and everything all the way through. So I kept myself relevant, staying in a mix like Bisquick's. And

3:02Speaker 2:then I was like, you know, I got to satisfy my fan base's time. Cause I was going, I was, I pivoted from, um, What was I finna do? I was finna do Rule of Thumb, because I did that in 2000. When was that? 2023? Yeah, so I did Rule of Thumb. But that was November of 2023, right? So it kind of been like two years, two or something. Yeah. And so anyway, make a long story short, and a short story long, I knew that my fans hadn't got no albums from me in a couple of years, and that's not like me. You know what I mean? Since 88, I've been consistent. And so I was like, you know what?

3:33Speaker 2:I got hella songs. That's all I do. I got so many damn rap records, bro. Yeah? Yeah, I can stop right now.

3:41Speaker 1:How often do you record, though? Even if you don't have an album, you want to get in there and lay something down?

3:46Speaker 2:At least four times a week. Yeah, at least four times a week and at least five songs a day I do it, whether it's just a verse and then I'll get a feature or just a verse and then I revisit it later on and finish that up. You know, two verses is all you need nowadays. A hook or a bridge. You know what I'm saying? A hook and a bridge. You feel me? Yeah. So I was like, you know what, let me change the title from Rule of Thumb 2 and 3 because I was going to do a double. Okay. Because I just did Rule of Thumb in 2023. Right. And so I was like, you know what, let me change it. And so I was like turning my money over. So I found the old picture of me 40 years ago. You know, I was 18.

4:24Speaker 2:And I was like, you know what, let me make this the album cover. This kind of fly because it's the 80s and whatnot. You feel me? Right. And so then, so that's 40 years ago. So we playing all fours, right? Right. Then I say, let me put 40 songs on this quadruple album. Let me do, let me do a four, make it four disc. Okay. You feel me? And put that thing out with all brand new blappers. They all blaps. They all brand new. The whole woo-wop. I got a song on there called the woo-wop. The woo-wop. How'd you decide which records went on which disc? Well, I kind of tried to even it out because I got my favorite producer in the world working with us, Rick Rock. OK.

5:05Speaker 2:You know, he produced for Jay-Z and Busta Rhymes and Rock Here, all kind of people. Right. And so I was like, I have I got like six or seven of his blaps. So I want to spread them out. So, you know, I don't want them to all be Rick Rock, Rick Rock, Rick Rock. I want to mix it up because so many producers on there, you know what I mean? And so I just like, you know, make sure I made each one. Where it's like, I don't just put all the blaps, blapper, blappers on one of the discs.

5:34Speaker 2:I want every one of them to have something super slaps. You feel me? That's how I did it. Have you ever connected with Mustard before? Yeah, man. Mustard produced the biggest record I ever been on in my life. You know what that is? Which one? That one right there. Also, he produced the one. that I'm on with Ty Dolla Sign called Saved. And that went platinum. I was on that with Ty Dolla Sign. He produced one more. What else must've produced? One more that was one of them ones, too.

6:05Speaker 2:It'll come to me. But nah, Mustard, I haven't had him produce one for me personally, but I tapped in with him the other day on the DM because, you know, he'll send me some music. I fuck with Mustard real heavy. I like Mustard. He got blaps.

6:17Speaker 3:Because I mean, of course, Mustard is L.A., has an L.A. sound, but I've always felt like his sound did kind of derive from the Bay and from you specifically. I always felt like when Mustard, even his biggest records to me feel like Bay Area.

6:30Speaker 2:I feel like Game Recognize Game. And if he did get a dose of it, I mean, he is West Coast.

6:36Speaker 1:Yeah.

6:37Speaker 2:And he did a he did a better job than Bay Area people, you know, me producers. So he did his thing. And there's no disrespect to the Bay Area. You know, I mean, he he said 10 summers he was going to do it for 10 summers. He gained 20 summers now. You know what I'm saying? So I can't be mad at him, man. I told him, man, I ain't with all that hate shit, man. I don't like that shit, man. You know, so we all won. you know, one coast, man, you know what I'm saying?

6:59Speaker 2:The sound, the sound is, uh, founded by just, you know, talent, true talent, like, you know, uh, heavy bass lines, you know what I mean? I've always loved up temples. You can go to some of my slaps back in the nineties and everything. I have up temples and whatnot. and party music. We mix it up. We got, I'm one of the motherfuckers that created the word. I am the guy that created the word mob music. So my music is a whole nother thing besides hyphy and T-phone. You feel me? So too short. I feel like him and, Him, me, Studio Tone, Be Legit, D Shot to Click, Sugar T.

7:38Speaker 2:I feel like as producers, I feel like it's Studio Tone, Too Short. I feel like it's Ant Banks. I feel like it's Rick Rock. I feel like it's Sam Buster and Mike Mosley. I feel like it's, as far as mob music, you know what I'm saying? It's other ones out there. Where does Shock fit into that? Shock G. Shock G. I said, oh, you said, I didn't say Shock G, but you talking about Shock G? Yeah, from... Okay, I thought you were talking about, because I said Shot, my brother D-Shot, so. Oh, okay. Yeah, no, I'm talking about Shock G. But Shock G, oh, man, he the funk. Yeah.

8:09Speaker 2:He wasn't mob music, he was just funky. Like, Shock G, one of the greatest producers of all time. But he wasn't mob music, but he played, he did party music, though.

8:19Speaker 3:Yeah.

8:19Speaker 2:You know, he's a spirit animal. You know what I mean?

8:21Speaker 1:A lot of people didn't know exactly how musically inclined Shock G.

8:24Speaker 2:Man, he played hella different instruments and stuff, they say, you know what I'm saying? And, you know, just an incredible guy, man. Shit, I used to slap his shit in my cutlass. That vroom, vroom, vroom, vroom.

8:36Speaker 1:Yeah.

8:36Speaker 2:Real life on everything. Yeah. You feel me?

8:39Speaker 1:What's the difference between, because a lot of people, you know, we from the East Coast, but we obviously do the music. you kind of take us through, you know, where you from, but what is the difference growing up in Vallejo versus like San Francisco?

8:51Speaker 2:Like what is the biggest difference? Um, San Francisco, like when we wearing something a little more, um, light, they might have, on a puff jacket or something. Okay. Because they, I'm talking about, we on the water too. We all Bay Area. We got Mary Island water. Yeah. But they right there. They Alcatraz. They right there. Like, it get a little colder. So they got more of a New York type of look. You know, they wear them puff jackets and stuff like that and all that. You know, beanie caps and whatnot. But San Francisco got their own swag.

9:26Speaker 2:You know what I mean? They got their own swag. We got our, they player, you know what I mean? A lot of the cats out there, especially them Fimo cats, You know what I'm saying? And you know what I mean? And so we we a small little city, Vallejo, especially growing up. We only had it. It wasn't that populated. It was like six or seven exits. Now it's a few more, probably probably 11. But, you know, Vallejo is a small city with lots of talent, lots of talent. But, you know, just some recent talent is like the SOBs, like Forrest, you know, been been. making, you know, nationwide, you know, nationwide noise. But, you know, we got, you know, I don't want to miss out on it because a whole bunch of young rappers that go crazy. You feel me?

10:14Speaker 2:You know, it's a lot of talent out there. So I say, you know, of course, the click. I would say, you know, E-40 Mac Dre. Right. I would say. The click is me, B-Legit, D-Shot, Sugar T. Selly Sell, he from my neighborhood. He from Hollywood, Magazine Street and Hollywood Street. We grew up together. He's a gold recording artist. His record just went gold. We got Baby Bash. He got Platinum Records and whatnot. Baby Bash. Baby Bash is the shit. People think he from Houston, but he made his bones out there, but he started in Vallejo. Okay. You know what I mean? Yeah. So baby, you know, we can go on and on forever. You feel me?

10:56Speaker 3:I saw when LaRusso was working his I'm from the Bay record. I love that he went to like each high school and shot a video and everything. But I did see in the comments of everyone from the Bay arguing what is the Bay and what isn't the Bay.

11:10Speaker 2:Uh, they can't argue with Vallejo though. Vallejo's in that thing. You know, I saw that too. I meant to say that. Neff DeFerro. Neff DeFerro. You feel me?

11:19Speaker 3:Um, LaRusso was like purposely trying to go to high schools. I think that word outside what people would call the Bay.

11:25Speaker 2:Yeah. He was doing that.

11:27Speaker 1:Yeah.

11:27Speaker 2:He would go to, uh, like Antioch and stuff like that. And Pittsburgh. And, um, I mean, we so close with the whole, I mean the whole, the whole Northern California, um, I don't even think we the size of Houston.

11:42Speaker 3:Yeah.

11:43Speaker 2:You know what I mean? And that's one city. So but, you know, the Bay is the Bay and it is cities that that are not the Bay, too. But that don't mean that they ain't got Bay cousins or their family. You know what I mean? They might have just been raised in, you know, they might have been born in the Bay, moved to that when they was three or four, you know. I don't even be tripping on that shit, man. You know what I'm saying? It's like we all locked in. Exactly. Yeah.

12:09Speaker 2:I don't care about none of that shit. I'm just telling all through that thing. What's going on with the 49ers owner right now? I don't know. We be having our little lumps and bumps and stuff, man. We be having our little turbulence, man. You feel me? Yeah. He did it outside of the Bay, at least. Oh, you say he? Yeah, the owner. I thought you said what's going on with the 49ers. Oh, I meant the owner. The 49ers owner. Oh, that's right. He was on his way to get some lumps and bumps. Shit, man. He's human.

12:37Speaker 2:Ain't he a free man? I don't know. Is he a free man? That's his business. I agree.

12:43Speaker 1:If I was worth $ 8 billion, I don't know if I would be caught in that type of situation.

12:47Speaker 2:I'm going to have it back. I'm like you. You never know. I'm a Bang Bang Niner gang fan for life. For sure. I got to just have his back. You see what I'm Period. You know?

13:01Speaker 3:Because Robert Kraft, he got caught at that really low-end one in Florida.

13:05Speaker 2:Like, that's their shit. Hey. Yeah, when you up there, though, you got to come on, man. We got to move a little different.

13:11Speaker 1:But I want to talk about just you, E-40, as being the ambassador of the Bay and the icon that you are.

13:18Speaker 2:You've been... There's.

13:20Speaker 1:Nothing we look at in the Bay where we don't see E-40's presence. Whether it's the Warriors game, whether it's the 49ers... whether it's the Giants, like how have you been able to maintain such just like a relevance in the city throughout the generations?

13:35Speaker 2:Like because a lot of.

13:36Speaker 1:Times our icons, they kind of like once they get older, they fall back. But the young guys have it. We see them every now and again. We can't turn on our television watching anything from the Bay and not see E-40.

13:48Speaker 2:Righteous. I, um, it's all natural, like an Afro with me, you know what I'm saying? When you get my age, you know, as you get older, you get wiser, you kind of want to live a more relaxing life as well. And I've always loved sports. So, you know, going to sporting events, things like that. Going to an Earth, Wind & Fire concert or something like that. That's the type of shit at my age I want to do. You know what I'm saying? And I'm still locked in with the youth and whatnot. You know what I'm saying? I keep my eye on the ball. You know, I'm never late like Holiday Freight. I'm gamed up. Keep my ear to the turf like a soccer cleat. You feel me? I'm just a different. I'm a different OG. Yeah. I'm really different. Yeah.

14:32Speaker 2:One of none. Right. No, that's a fact.

14:34Speaker 1:We talked about, away from the camera, we talked about just guys from the Bay. And we was talking about MC Hammer not getting the respect that I feel like he deserves. Growing up, MC Hammer was one of the first superstars that I can remember from our culture. But I feel like as a culture, we don't salute Hammer enough.

14:55Speaker 2:I think we don't either. And I think that My big bro, I be wanting him to, you know what I mean? He's living this life. He ain't broke. He a solid dude. You know what I'm saying? It's just, I be wanting him to go out there and collect his flowers. I know people be reaching out to him. I know he will get a lot of love if he just go out. He could headline a festival tomorrow. He's legendary. I mean, this man sold way more records than me in too short. Hammer is goat. Yes, without a doubt. You know what I'm saying? This man was one of the first motherfuckers with diamond records. You know what I mean? Albums and shit. You feel me?

15:36Speaker 1:He's one of the ones that, you know, I just as a coach, I feel I don't understand how we don't salute him. And like I said, I would love to see him out more. Obviously, he wants to live a.

15:46Speaker 2:More private life.

15:47Speaker 1:But like his story and the things that he accomplished and saw and did is. I feel like as a culture, we need to sit down and give them.

15:57Speaker 2:I think they'll embrace him every podcast, everybody. Without a doubt. Because a lot of youngsters don't even know nothing about him. Right, right. Shit, a lot of them don't even know nothing about me. Right. You know what I mean? I don't know how, but they don't. I'm everywhere like air, all over the place like space, man.

16:19Speaker 3:With hip hop in an amazing way, embracing independence. Um, was that always a Bay area thing per se? Cause I feel like specifically the Bay with its rappers, even Massapeed being from New Orleans and going up to Richmond and everything he did independently.

16:37Speaker 2:Is that something y'all are taught at a young age?

16:40Speaker 3:Cause that was, it was kind of taboo to be independent at the time that you guys were independent. Whereas now it's the most embraced thing.

16:48Speaker 2:Period. There you go. We was out of our time. So, so you ever heard of, uh, The phrase by force, not by choice. You know how you be in a hood by force? You got to live in a hood by force, not by choice. That was us. We had to be independent by force, not by choice. but it turned out to be a great choice. More yaper, the whole woo-wah. More control, you feel me? Taking that more yaper. I'm taking that. Take it. I've been putting the whys over whatever before any. I'm taking yaper. I've been screaming yaper and all that. You know what I'm saying? But what it is is that Hammer, I mean not Hammer, but Master P, He was in the Bay doing his thing. Him, Silk the Shocker, his brother C-Murder, like his whole family.

17:40Speaker 2:Sonia C, all of them, you know. And he was making his ways. He was doing his thing. And we was doing our thing. We had a little more edge because we had talent like them and everything. P and them family, the Miller family, remind me of the Stevens family. And I'll tell you why. He has Silk, his brother, and he has C-Murder, his brother. You feel me? And then, and I believe, I don't know if he was married, but his baby mom was Sonia C. She was a rapper.

18:11Speaker 2:I had, I had my, my, my, uh, my brother D shot. That's Danelle Stevens. Uh, my sister sugar tea that sings sprinkle me with me. That's Tanina Stevens. You got Earl Stevens. That's me. You had the line Stevens. That's my little bro. He, you know, gig and dance and all that. So he was hyphy before they even named the shit hyphy. You feel me? And then you have Be Legit, which is our cousin. That's Brent Jones. So it's like we family, they family. You know what I'm saying? And, you know, ASP seeing us doing our thing, you know, like really making it unfold, like really selling records.

18:46Speaker 2:Like he hollered at St. Charles, my uncle St. Charles, my real uncle, my mama's brother. They come from a family of 11. They got the same mom and daddy, St. Charles, Charles Thurman. You know what I'm saying?

18:59Speaker 1:Yeah.

19:00Speaker 2:Um, so St. Charles had records in the seventies, like in the early seventies, he knew how to do the thing. So he taught us the independent hustle. Okay. He did the artwork for our first little EP called MVP. That was 88. And then I say, man, I want to change our name to the click. I want to be at first most valuable players. You know what I'm saying? And then I was like, I want to change our name to the click. So right away we turned it to the click. You know what I'm saying? He had sick with the records, you know, he taught me how to do my own label. He taught me everything as when I was young, because he was like, you know how uncle is always like a second dad. That's what he was to us. And so, and he's still living to this day. So what I'm saying is he came over, he hollered at him as well as P he put he gave P a lot of advice he worked with him it wasn't just advice they worked together made money together they made millions together you feel me and then JT the bigger figure came over okay you know JT came after P You know what I'm saying? Or vice versa.

20:06Speaker 2:One of them can't. I was first. They know that, right? You know what I'm saying? So anyway, but they all, you know, the independent, that shit was born there, man. We, you know, we had a one, we had a small one shot, but I first started, we first started with selling tapes out the trunk of the car. Yeah. So I'm talking about what consignment sheets and shit. They used to call me business zero because I'll pull up at M & M Liquor, drop off like 15, 20 cassettes, 30 cassettes and something like that or CDs or whatever we had at that time. We even had vinyl. And so, you know what I'm saying? And I'll put it on consignment and drop it off. They call me and say, hey, we out of CDs or cassettes or whatever. And then I bring them 30, 40 more. You feel me? And then it went like that. And that's just one little store.

20:47Speaker 2:So I did that all around the Bay Area and whatnot. Then we had a one-stop called Music People. Music People. And we had another one called City Hall Records. So City Hall Records was our main hub. So St. Charles created this system where you do a sales sheet. On that sales sheet, it was kind of like you put everything about yourself, who you've been in concert with, and all that stuff. And then you got the barcode on there. You got the album cover on it. And so you send that out with like five CDs to every mom and pop store or any... Yeah, any mom and pop star that dealt with rap music. Okay. So he had a big-ass book like this before the internet, a big-ass book just like that thick. I'm telling you right now.

21:28Speaker 2:And that was his magical book because in that book, he just did his due diligence, called every state. Mm-hmm. You know, just deep south, midwest, everywhere. Anybody who dealt with rap music, and we'll send them out through Pitney Bowles, I believe. I think I'm saying it right. It's UPS. Okay. Ground. So it might get there two, three weeks later. But once they got it, the store owners will look at it. They'll put it in their thing, play that shit. They're looking at the cover because they know it's attractive because it got, you know, trues and vogues, zeniths and vogues. Right.

21:59Speaker 2:We on there with cutlasses, and we look like... you know, you look like something, you look like something, right. You know, so all the cast is, um, you know, living that life that we look like, you know how it looked like with us. You know what I'm saying? They buy the CD, um, and they are there here on planet in the store. Um, And they'd be like, give me that. Next thing you know, you got cats that's really having it their way, spreading the word. So when it's a cat, they got hella blap in his trunk and he having it his way and he's a factor and everybody looking up to him. He got a voice out there in that city he at. Everybody going to adapt to him and say, man, I'm bumping that. You feel me? I need that.

22:35Speaker 3:Yeah. Yeah.

22:35Speaker 2:And that's what it was, man. It spread it like wildfire. But the whole thing of the Bay Area is, man, we hustlers, man. Out the gate. First and foremost. For sure. Yeah. I hear that.

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23:18Speaker 3:Based on average annual single pay payment of AT & T, Verizon, and T-Mobile customers compared to a 12 months on Boost Mobile unlimited plan as of January, 2026. For full offer details, visit boostmobile.com. How'd you pick the features on the quadruple disc? Because we had Juvie up here last week who actually even said that he thought Master P was from the Bay. Didn't even know they went to the same high school at some point. Like he was like, I thought he was from California. Um, how'd you go about picking these, these features?

23:52Speaker 2:Juvie being one of them. Oh man, you don't understand how far I go backwards cash money. Hmm. I'm an old fossil, man. I'm, boy, boy, I've been doing this shit since Kermit the Frog was a Polly walker. You know what I mean? So, me and Birdman and Master P, all of us, we go way back. But, but, but Juvie, that's my partner. He just did the Visnidia with me in the year. You feel me? And, you know what I'm saying? That's my real friend. You feel me? We are family. And, you know, I feel like I'm, I'm a, I'm a, Louisiana motherfucker. I went to Graham state university.

24:34Speaker 2:I went to school with Jubilee. You know, Jubilee is real new Orleans. Yeah. You know what I'm saying? I went to school with cats like that. And that's, they pilot too. You know, everybody, you know what I'm saying? No him. And, um, just me being out there, my granddaddy from Bernice, Louisiana, you understand me? Grandma from Homer, um, you know, and my daddy from Mississippi and just being, I feel like I'm a, a South city boy or something. I don't know. I don't know what to call it.

25:02Speaker 2:You know, I just got this South in me, you know what I mean? Yeah. So when I first met, met, um, Birdman, it was 1996. I was on my Hall of Game, uh, tour for the Hall of Game, uh, album. Um, and, uh, I was at the radio station in New Orleans and, and I see, I see, uh, like a shorter dude and a super tall dude. Um, And the tall dude was his brother Slim. And then it was Birdman, Beatrice. And he was like, hey, man, I'm Beatrice, man. Just before he called himself Birdman. You know what I'm saying?

25:31Speaker 2:And he was like, man, I'm, you know, hey, man, we salute you. We fuck with you. You know what I'm saying? Much love. I was just coming in. They was going out. And we, ever since then, we've been cool. And so... Um, I had got on their, uh, baller blocking, um, a song with them, uh, did the vision video. They flew me out, did the vision video, kicked it with them through the whole weekend. We went, we did, I was supposed to, I was so fucking drunk on the, on the tour bus. Juvenile attorney told the story too.

25:59Speaker 2:With all of us on the bus, me, Cavio, Muggsy, all of us on the motherfucking bus, old Meesey, all of us on the bus with Cat, all the cats, money cats. We had a couple of buses and we doing, they did two visit videos that whole weekend while we was out. No, they did three. We did one and then they did two more out there. You feel me? Like they did back that ass up. I was so drunk. I had a hangover, bro. I was on the bus during the whole time. You know what I'm saying?

26:23Speaker 1:Yeah.

26:24Speaker 2:But one of the first cameos I did with them was BG, Cash Money is an Army, better yet than Navy. And I was on there popping my collar. Birdman was like, 40, do that thing you be doing with your collar. And I was like, it is right here, you feel me? So if you go look at that, visit Nitto, you'll see 40 water way back then. And that thing, you feel me? So we all locked in, you feel me? No, definitely.

26:44Speaker 1:But do you feel like with the South in particular, I feel like because, like you said, Vallejo and the Order Bay, y'all had to do.

26:54Speaker 2:Because it was always L.A.

26:55Speaker 1:People talk about California, especially when it comes to hip-hop, it was always L.A. Do you feel like y'all kind of had to make y'all bones and let people know we got a story, too?

27:04Speaker 2:Fucking right.

27:05Speaker 1:I say that about the South, too, because it was kind of like that with the South. Not until you started really listening to Catch, you're like, oh, we all got kind of the same story. We all from the hood, but we just say it different. We got different slang. But do you feel like there was things that y'all had to do to kind of be recognized more because obviously being from the Bay, but then having to deal with the whole wave coming out of Los Angeles and then the South, they had to make their bones because it's like, we're not LA, we're not the West coast.

27:33Speaker 1:We're not the East coast, but we also got something to say.

27:36Speaker 2:Absolutely. You know, LA is the bigger place, the bigger name, you know? And so that's what they think off top. Cause I, I had partners hit me and just like 40, man, I'm out here. I'm out here. I'm out. No, they say 40, I'm out here in the Bay. And I'll be like, where you at? Um, off of Crenshaw. And I'm like, I say, man, family, y'all like seven hour drive, give or take with traffic, you know, uh, 55 minute flight. They don't know two different cultures, but we all fuck with each other. You know what I'm saying? Uh, you know, penitentiary wise and everything, you feel me? For sure. And so we ride, you know, but I was like, um, uh, you know, I always said that if it was an airplane that was just going around doing a tour and it was like, Yeah, they'll go L.A. right there, woo after woo. They'll go Compton. They'll go Watts. They'll go this.

28:33Speaker 2:They'll go that. And then they go, and then they say, they'll go San Diego. No, I wouldn't even say San Diego because they get looked over, too. I'll say, and if they went by the bay, they'd be like, and there's some Alcatraz. Then they just keep going. They won't care about it. They don't care. Like, we did have to make our bones. We had to go hard. Like, we the most gamed up in the world. We got the most game than anybody in the world.

28:56Speaker 3:Mm-hmm.

28:57Speaker 2:At least back when I was coming up. Right. That's all we specialize in. Mm-hmm. You know what I mean? Yeah. Swag and pizzazz.

29:04Speaker 3:Right.

29:04Speaker 2:Being gamed up. Yeah. You feel me?

29:06Speaker 1:That was definitely one of the first things being, you know, growing up in the East Coast when we started getting hip to who E-40 was. The first thing we recognized was it's a lot of style.

29:16Speaker 3:Mm-hmm.

29:16Speaker 1:A lot of like, just the slang and the way you talk. Then it was like the music.

29:21Speaker 2:Right.

29:21Speaker 1:But the music, when we first started hearing E-40, I remember first hearing your music, it was like, Oh, the.

29:26Speaker 2:Way he talked, this is him.

29:28Speaker 1:Like there's no separation from seeing an E-40, interviewing E-40 just.

29:32Speaker 2:Chilling versus when the music come on. It's the same person. That's me. Have you ever been in a situation where.

29:40Speaker 1:you know, coming up, somebody you wanted to work with and you finally got the opportunity to meet them and talk to them, was it ever something where it was like, damn, this guy wasn't the way I expected it to be? Like, just the interaction wasn't what you expected it to be?

29:56Speaker 2:Because you coming back from, like you said, the 80s.

29:59Speaker 1:So it's guys that we probably look at, we don't remember, but it was like, did you remember ever meeting somebody like, damn, I want to work with this dude? And then you meet him and it's like, damn, the feelings wasn't, it just wasn't a connection there.

30:10Speaker 2:Yeah, I'll be doing some good interviews. Man, you know what? I definitely have met a couple of cats like that. They kind of hurt my heart.

30:20Speaker 1:Yeah.

30:21Speaker 2:You know what I mean? Okay. But I don't even want to say their names. No, we ain't got to do that. But just you being a legend. I have. I have. We don't hear about the legends being disappointed. And guess what? You don't even hear about the motherfuckers like you hear about me, man. You feel me? Right. Yeah, man. I'll last with these niggas. You hear me? Yeah, man. Yeah. In real life. Yeah. I'm right here. 2,000 wild 26, though. Still here. You feel me? 2026 on they bitch ass quadruple album hello now dropping four of them things man how um how have you kept up with that longevity cause Maul and I are 10 years apart you've had hit records when he was in.

30:55Speaker 3:High school when I was in high school when I went to college like you've stayed consistent. And it also didn't feel like you were forcing it. Like it's too old to be here type vibe, which we get, I think with people that started out in the eighties into this time, how, how have you stayed so relevant yet so much yourself and not even chasing the new sound in the Bay? Yeah. You didn't sound weird on, on the stupid dumb high fee when I was in high school, little B and everything going on.

31:21Speaker 2:Absolutely. How do you maintain that type of longevity? So first and foremost, I got a lot of faith in God. My granddaddy, I was telling you about from Bernice, Louisiana, he's a preacher. We grew up in a church house and he always told me, stay prayed up, keep the faith. You know what I'm saying? God has always answered my prayers. It might not have been right on time, but he's always been there. I'm a true believer in the Lord. I'm a true believer because I've seen it. Out of all these years I've been on this planet. You know what I mean? So anyway, I grew a talent for playing drums. Back in the days, I played drums. I got in the band when I was in the fourth grade, played all the way to 12th grade. And, you know, at that time, it wasn't Pro Tools. It wasn't logic.

32:04Speaker 2:So we had to do things manually. Drums, being in the music, that's how we did it. You know what I'm saying? So I really got a passion for rapping. When I first heard the Sugarhill Gang in 1979, I knew what I wanted to do. I knew I wanted to be in music, first and foremost, off top. But I knew I wanted to rap because there was some unique shit to me, man. Like, what the fuck is this? You know, that was my first rap I ever heard. The Sugarhill Gang, rappers delight.

32:30Speaker 3:Yeah.

32:30Speaker 2:79 i think i was 11 years old same time and uh i was rapping but just fucking around with me and the homies you know what i'm saying but i wasn't putting out music yet my first my first uh ep came out in 1988 you know what i'm saying like in tower records and shit like that rainbow records and you know ty uzis and you know what i'm saying seventh heaventh and all these mom and pop stories across the nation we start getting it out there but anyway make a long story short um i i just so happen to be um you know, one of those dudes that have been, they've been relevant in every era of hip hop and I'm grateful for it. You know, the majority of every era of hip hop and, and that's by keeping my eye on the ball, um, you know, um, staying updated, not outdated, uh, being myself, having a foundation that a soil cause I'm from the trenches. I'm really from it. I, you know, I, I was a hustler BR before rap and, um, You know what I'm saying?

33:28Speaker 2:Had my ups and downs. Wasn't always up. Right. That's life.

33:31Speaker 3:Yeah.

33:31Speaker 2:You know what I mean? I know how to make it look like I'm at my best when I'm at my worst. Right. You ain't gonna catch me out of pocket sweating. You know what I'm saying? You know what I'm saying? I'm gonna stay on my P's and toes, man. Right, right. Never get caught digging in my nose, you know what I mean? Right, right. Yeah, yeah.

33:46Speaker 1:As somebody that has seen so many different transitions in the culture of hip hop, like you said, pretty much 40 years in the game, um, How do you feel about this whole new AI thing? Because we've seen Dr. Dre recently embrace it, Rick Rue embrace it. All of the legends that we kind of felt in talking to each other, we felt like, nah, they wouldn't be with that.

34:07Speaker 2:But I love.

34:08Speaker 1:The fact that DJ Quick came out and was like, I'm not with that. I'm not really into the AI thing. As somebody who has seen so many different transitions from the business side and technology and the way you even put out music, How does E-40 feel about the whole AI thing?

34:26Speaker 2:I think it's the way, if you're going to use it, use it uniquely. I think you got to turn what the times are the times to turn on you. Right. Because this shit is too far ahead. It's locked in for life. I think it's not going anywhere. Right. Eventually, you're going to use it some type of way. Whether you're like, shit, hey, I need you to... Shit, I don't know how would I say this. Give me... give me a, uh, make somebody sound like he 40. I don't know. You know, how would you feel about that though?

34:59Speaker 1:Like if somebody took your whole, the whole E 40 style person persona and they put out a record and say it shoots to the top of the chart, how would you feel about that?

35:09Speaker 2:I'm kind of like, we're quick to be honest with you, but I know producers use it in certain ways, you know, long as they really plan their music and stuff, you know, and, um, I really can't call it, bro. I don't know. I can't say I'm going to never use it. I won't use it to write my shit or nothing. Right, right. None of that shit. Right, right, right. You feel me?

35:27Speaker 3:Yeah.

35:28Speaker 2:None of that. Yeah. Yeah. Put it that way. That's that.

35:35Speaker 3:Did that affect the music in the Bay when like that whole tech shit hit San Francisco and just the outer areas there? Yeah.

35:46Speaker 2:What do you mean?

35:47Speaker 3:I mean, I know it's a little open-ended, but I feel like San Francisco took on the brunt of every startup, every technology company moved there. And I'm sure the city changed drastically. Did that affect the music scene at all?

35:59Speaker 2:Oh, hell no. I'll be seeing all them cats, all the startup company guys. I'll be seeing them when I'm courtside at the Warriors game and whatnot. I'll be seeing them cast. They made some good decisions in life. Absolutely. And that's why they so yapered up. You feel me? Right. But no, it ain't affect the music scene. The music scene, man, I just feel like I just want my Bay Area cast to go back to the Bay Area. We starting to say gang and yeah gang and I'm like I heard somebody saying it I'm like when we start talking like everybody else we always been trendsetters bro like what a trendsetter is that and then in a game that we still the game that we got left for you know what I'm saying the game that we got left it's really like recycle game from when I was coming up when I was a young mustache. It's like, you just recycling it. Y'all don't know. We say anything y'all saying, we already said that shit many moons ago. You feel me? Right.

36:53Speaker 2:So I don't know. I mean, I just feel like I'm not bashing the new generation and then like, the youth but it's like we more creative debate we more creative than what we've been doing lately man you know what I'm saying we've never been followers we've always been.

37:07Speaker 1:Leaders we say the same thing about artists from New York and just the way they create and make music and the things that they say we like that's not even that don't even feel like New York but I think social media because we've all been kind of put into.

37:19Speaker 2:This That might have something to do with it.

37:21Speaker 1:We can see how everybody else talk, how they dress, how they create. So you don't even realize it. You take it on that energy and now it comes out in your creation.

37:31Speaker 2:Right. Subliminally, it can be self-subliminally. It can just, yeah, I see what you're saying.

37:37Speaker 1:Yeah.

37:38Speaker 2:I try to be open-minded, man. I ain't bashing nobody.

37:40Speaker 1:But one thing about it, you have not changed anything.

37:44Speaker 2:Slang persona charisma.

37:46Speaker 1:Style e40 is e40 like it's there's no changing who e40 is let's talk about um la russell and everything that he's been able to build and create um how special was that for you to watch what he's doing well um one of my guys that do security his name and he was like man i want to put you up on my boy la russell man he you know um he worked with my boy Juan and he was like, you know what I'm saying? He was like, man, he said, man, I want you to, uh, get a dose of him, man. I said, man, let me hear him.

38:20Speaker 2:And he, and he sent me a social and everything. And I started following him. I said, start seeing how he do his thing. And then he put me together with him. We start talking and shit. And I just like, I like his vibe. I like everything he doing. Just a positive guy. You know what I'm saying? And, um, you know, I got nothing, especially being from Vallejo.

38:38Speaker 1:Yeah.

38:38Speaker 2:He's from Northern, he's from North Vallejo.

38:40Speaker 1:Mm-hmm.

38:41Speaker 2:You know what I'm saying? And I was, I was just happy for him, man, you know, and, um, you know, it started getting bigger and bigger, making a lot of noise, and, um, You know, I rock with him, man. I really do. I love positive people. Right. The man ain't bothering nobody. Right. You know what I mean? There's people hating on him. You know, people, first and foremost, you know, he had went through his little, you know, backlash for the situation with, what was it again? The Heaven Sent. Yeah, that shit, right?

39:05Speaker 3:Yeah.

39:06Speaker 2:I was like, I kicked back because, you know, I'm real smart. As I get older, I get wiser. I'm like, I bet all these motherfuckers couldn't wait for him to do some type of hiccup. All these old hating ass motherfuckers on the sidelines.

39:16Speaker 3:Especially when you build your presence online the way he did. Right.

39:19Speaker 2:They can't wait for the day you say one wrong thing. They've been waiting. They've been waiting. They do that with me. Motherfuckers sit back and look at every little day observe every little thing bitch ass motherfuckers that's what they really do some hoe ass motherfuckers these days bro yeah for sure you know they overanalyze and shit and they try to put conspiracy shit together and shit like leave the rustle on man that man ain't bothering nobody man let that man do his thing.

39:41Speaker 1:What he's been able to build i mean you know i've been a fan of the culture and hip-hop forever but we've never I've never seen something like I'm talking about at the crib yeah never build that what he built I mean I've never seen anything like that so we definitely support and salute him but the fact that he's from the town he's from the city where you from yeah I mean it has to be just something that you look at.

40:04Speaker 2:I'm happy for him man I'm happy for him bro yeah you know what I mean positive guy you know, the youth look up to him, like the little youngsters, you know, be giving people opportunities, man. He's just a positive vibe, good spirit. You know what I'm saying? Like that.

40:21Speaker 3:Behind the Bars is presented by Sprite. And I want to talk about the full Sprite living track list. I know we've talked about some songs on here before, and I know we're talking about the bars, but today I want to talk about some of my favorite beats that are on this track list. Shook One's Part Two, I think is one of the greatest beats that's ever existed. Underrated Southern Hospitality is one of my favorite. And the Lunchroom Special, grindin'. is one of the greatest beats that's ever existed. So please check out the full Sprite Living track list and break down the stories behind your favorite bars.

40:54Speaker 3:The link is in our show notes. This is the Sprite Living track list. Obey your thirst.

41:07Speaker 2:You fuck with Simba? Yeah, I like Simba. Simba's one of the coldest motherfuckers born. Yeah. Simba's definitely one of my favorite rappers. I'm going to be honest with you. The dopest freestyler that I ever heard is like, I'm going to say Richie Rich. I'm going to say Mr. Fab and Simba. Mr. Fab. I'm going to keep it one thou wild. Freestyle? I don't know how to freestyle. Yeah. You don't know how to freestyle? I don't know how to freestyle. I'm just paystyle on mine, man. Paystyle. Paystyle.

41:34Speaker 2:I don't know how to do it. I never knew how to do it. I probably could if I really started, you know, you know what I mean? I'm, you know, like that, but yeah.

41:42Speaker 1:What do you think about the current, the current state though of just music overall? Um, especially hip hop.

41:48Speaker 2:Lots of talent, but too many people that sound alike. Right. Lots of talent, too many people sound alike. I know it's, it's probably like easy for me to say, cause I know I got a unique voice and I'm one of none. And I, But you had to be that at some point.

42:04Speaker 1:Right.

42:04Speaker 2:That's what you were supposed to be.

42:06Speaker 3:Right.

42:06Speaker 1:You weren't supposed to sound like nobody, look like nobody. That was actually frowned upon.

42:10Speaker 2:You peeped that, right? Back in the 90s and the 80s and all that. We all had to have our own identification. 100%. Busta Rhyme had his thing. Q-Tip had his thing. You understand me? Chuck D had his thing. You understand me? Snoopy Dogg had his thing. You feel me? Warren G had his thing. You're like, hey, it's too many motherfucking sound tools. DMX had his shit. You feel me? Right. Jay-Z had his thing. Now, like everybody had their own voice and name. I mean, voice and identification. And and it's everybody sounded like that.

42:42Speaker 1:But that's why I can't get with the thing, because I feel like. It's literally stripping originality. Right.

42:48Speaker 2:It is.

42:48Speaker 1:It's like, let's pull from what we already have. Let's kind of emulate that and give that same vibe where it's like, that wasn't what this was at first, though. You were supposed to be unique, and we embraced originality in hip hop. Now it's, can you do that again?

43:04Speaker 2:Right, right, right. I just can't. I can't get with that. I agree with you. Yeah, I can't get with that. I agree 100%.

43:10Speaker 1:Quadruple album. Is there anybody... That you haven't worked with over the years, E-40, that you're looking forward to one day saying, I want to create, I want to get in the.

43:20Speaker 2:Studio with this guy. It is some people. Let me think, though. And women in hip hop as well. OK.

43:29Speaker 1:Because I think E-40, I think E-40, Meg Thee Stallion, I think that might that might the walls in the club might come down if E-40 and Meg.

43:38Speaker 2:Get something together. I'm going to talk to T Ferris and my, my, my, my, my publicist over there. Yeah. I want to see the, I want to see the Viznitio. Put it together like the weather. Right. I want to see the Viznitio. Let me see the Viznitio. Viznitio. You know, put a Viznitio together. You hear me? Hello? Yeah. That'd be dope. Um, I want to work with Nas, man. Ooh. I'm going to do a song with Nas. Wow. And I want to do a Nas type of slap. I want him on one of my slaps. Yeah. Up-tempo. Okay.

44:09Speaker 2:With hella bass line, like a hunting tempo with a bass line. I think he'll go crazy because that shorty. Yeah. Do what you like. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And back it up. That's my shit right there. That's one of them ones. Yeah. That's not like a Bay Area. Yeah, definitely. You feel me? Yeah, definitely. That's how I know. Wasn't that his record? Yeah. That's how I know we'll kill it. Yeah. Nas, let's do it. Is this your first time working with Havoc on this? Yeah, I always wanted to work with Mobb D, bro. That's fine.

44:37Speaker 2:Havoc could make that connection, I'm sure. Yeah, I'm hollering at him. Yeah, Havoc on the album. I was happy to do a record with him, man. Is Havoc production and rapping? Nope, a dude by the name of Ted Digital did the slap. Okay. You know what I mean? But I wanted to pattern it to be in the same category as Havoc shit, as Win or Lose. Okay. Because that's one of my favorite songs in the world. Wow. Win or Lose by Mobb D? Yeah. Hell yeah. Come on, man.

45:04Speaker 2:That's one of the ones.

45:06Speaker 1:Who was the first East Coast rapper that you could remember hearing, like, yo, I like this dude?

45:12Speaker 2:You really want to know? Yeah, I do. Hmm. Melly Mayle. That makes so much sense. Melly Mel. That makes so much sense. Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, Melly Mel, man. That makes so much sense. Goat. Yeah, absolutely. You know? I mean, he's been doing his shit since Moby Dick was a goldfish. Right, right. Spitting it from a New York point of view. Yeah, right. If you're gamed up, you can relate to it. A square won't be able to size it up. Right, that's a fact. You feel me?

45:38Speaker 3:Yeah.

45:39Speaker 2:So, Melly Mel, I would go with... uh what's the boy name schoolie g right uh i would go with um you talking about east coast right yeah shit just ice was my guy just ice he's been talking about cold get dumb him and the mantronics and all yeah yeah come on man but uh ice you feel me um who else uh uh um Man, KRS-One, bro, back in the days, he used to go crazy. So, are you a philosopher?

46:10Speaker 1:Yeah.

46:10Speaker 2:Yes. Yeah, I think very deeply. Yeah. What's the one... Um, um, now there's beans with my dad. Now there's beans with my, what is it? Now there's steak with my beans and rice. What song? Love's going to get you. Yeah. Love's going to get you. Love's going to get you. One of the greatest hip hop songs of all time. Yeah. But if you want to move forward to talk about some, some East coast, um, um, Jay-Z, when my boys started hearing Jay-Z, my partners, and they was like, man, he, because we, we, we so, in the Bay, we like, you know, you heard the terminology, game, recognize game, right?

46:47Speaker 2:We recognize game. So hearing, hearing somebody from the East Coast spit some game about they self, it was Jay, it was Jay, and it was Biggie too. He asked the game about the self too. For sure. But, but, but Jay, when we heard he was, all my partners, they was like, That nigga got some game about himself. He might be from the game. You know what I'm saying? I'm telling you. And then I talked to a few of my partners from the pen. They call me collector where they, yeah, if we fuck with the nigga Jay-Z, my partner, some of my partners in here, they say he was really in that shit. You know what I'm saying?

47:21Speaker 2:You feel me? To see him blossom from the streets to where he at now you can't do nothing but take your hat off man that's the fact you know what.

47:27Speaker 3:I'm saying i know um you've talked about that biggie story before with the phone call that that you guys had when he was in sacramento legendary um.

47:36Speaker 2:Mind you i'm so gamed up and so player and you know what i'm saying my my antics is my i'm not like a lot of I'm not like a lot of niggas, man. I never spoke on that. I never was going to say anything about it. His security is out of nowhere. You feel me? I don't want no brownie points from that shit.

47:58Speaker 3:I don't even particularly care to talk about the side of what he was talking about.

48:03Speaker 2:I just thought it was great that you guys could get on the phone.

48:05Speaker 3:Because obviously he said something that was foul to begin with. And you found a way to just squash it and speak like men. So More so, I want to know what you guys talked about on that phone call. Not the rah-rah story and everything else, but just what the two of you guys spoke about on the phone.

48:22Speaker 2:That story was said several times, but I can move forward and tell you when I seen him in Vegas, me and Wifey about maybe... Hey, when we seen him? About two months after him and Puffy? Yep. About two months later in Vegas in the lobby of MGM. We had already squashed, so, you know, we... you know, we took the picture. I don't know if you've seen the picture. Me, him and Puff and then me and Biggie, you feel me? My wife took that picture. So I posted it many years later after all the shit came out. Like, you know what I'm saying? And so, um, You know, people don't know that Puff reached out to me. He was like, man, I need you on the album. If you can, man, it'd be great. It'd be monumental. You know what I'm saying?

49:05Speaker 2:I think at that time I was doing something and they had to turn it in quick or whatever. But in the inside, people don't know this. Go into the inside of a Life After Death album back in there. Go into the CD or you could probably Google it and it can show you um all the components inside the cd you know the images that show you how the physical copy was that shit say it in there say shout out to e40 it had me spice one and a few other people So just letting you know, we didn't end it on a bad note. I hate that him and Pac gone, and I want to move forward from that shit, man. Yeah, that's a fact. You know what I mean? That's a fact. Quadruple album, E-40. Yes. Listen, this has been a true pleasure and a true honor. Yeah.

49:47Speaker 1:I wish we had more time. Anytime you're in New York City, if you want to pull up, drop some game on us.

49:51Speaker 3:Yeah.

49:52Speaker 2:Doors is wide open. Thank you. Is there anything left that E-40 feels like city official? Like I feel, I feel like you already are.

50:05Speaker 1:I feel like you already are like the, the, the, the official mayor of the city. But like, do you ever look at policies of like, I want to get into that so I could really impact the community from behind those doors?

50:19Speaker 2:The thing is I'm so, I'm not trying to be a me monster, but, and I'm not, and I'm not young. I might be youthful looking. I might be tapped in. I might, I'm going to have a young spirit. You know what I mean? But I don't know if motherfuckers still look at me like I'm, they don't look, I don't think, I think they be looking at me like I'm one of them and I'm not. Like I'm not, I'm not a YN. I'm not, I'm not in that category. You know what I mean? So I know I get hella flack back and shit like, man, foe, man, why you the man? Why you, you know, you need to do something about the crime in the city, my nigga.

50:56Speaker 2:You know, and you know, first and foremost, these cracks in the street, man, we need to finish that and too many blowouts. Like, you know what I'm saying? Like, Too many potholes in the fucking street, man. They're complaining about hella shit. Like, they do me like that. Yeah. You know what I mean? I don't think I'm ready for that. And my nerves are bad these days. You know what I'm saying? I ain't got time for that shit, man. I'm trying to live my damn life. That ain't my category.

51:20Speaker 2:Give him that album one more time, E-40. Check this out. First time ever. The quadruple album, turning my money over, E-40. First time ever. If you want a collector's item, I got physical copies. I got CDs and vinyl, man. And it's available on all streaming outlets and all platforms, man. Get that thing. Number blaps. Be open-minded. Just know this ain't just no West Coast shit. This is E-40 being him, my nigga. You feel me? I've been doing this shit for many moons, ever since Yogi Bear was a teddy bear.

51:47Speaker 2:You understand? Yeah. Fuck with me, man. I'm interesting. Right. Yo, it's been nothing but an honor. We appreciate you, man. A pleasure. Thank you. I'm that nigga. He's just ginger. That's the legendary, iconic E-40.

52:00Speaker 3:Yee!