Ice Cube | Club Random with Bill Maher
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LinkedIn, the place to be, to be. So you are the first guest to be a half hour early. Is that right? Were you on Asian people's time? You know, um... Half hour early, I love it. And of course I was ready, because I'm always ready. Well, my pop said, if you can't be on time, be early. Right. And I think he got it from a wise man. Did you ever hear of Lombardi time?

No. Never heard that term? Vince Lombardi? No. You don't follow football? I mean, I never heard of that term. I know Vince Lombardi. Oh, yeah. It's the trophy that they give away. But Lombardi time, when he was a coach, meant 15 minutes early. Oh, yeah. That's that shit. I think I heard, was it Mike Shanahan? Oh. Find somebody for being on time. Right. You're supposed to be five minutes early. Yeah. On time is late. Right.

Well, it's a great quality to have. I always think when people are late that I know they don't mean it, but it is a passive-aggressive way, meaning or not, that you're saying my time is more valuable than yours. Yeah. Especially if it's not in, you know, I mean, L.A. traffic is crazy. But we know that.

That's what they always say, traffic. Like, oh, wow, what a new adventure. Los Angeles traffic. I had never anticipated. Of course traffic is bad. You factor that in. And we have it on our phones now, how bad the traffic is going to be. Yeah, exactly. I think that...

causes people to be late too because they're like, look, oh damn, I got, it's only going to take me 32 minutes to get there. I got time. And then they look back at it and now it's 45 minutes and they say, damn, what happened? Some people just can't leave the house without trying on three different outfits. And when I say some people, I mean women. Yeah. Yeah. So. You know, they want to make sure they look good for each other.

They want to make sure they don't get clowned by each other and shit. That's part of it. But it's also for us. Come on. I'll tell you a story. You'll find this amusing. I did this actually in my act as a bit, but it is a true story. About 15 years ago, I had a horrible, horrible night because I ate a pot brownie and did this stuff called ephedra.

What is that? It was legal at the time. They pulled it off the shelf. It was a natural nut from Brazil, but it was basically speed. Yeah, it was what they take today. Energy drinks are probably almost, but this was like supercharged. Okay.

So I thought, oh, I'll take the ephedra for energy and I'll take the pot brownie for creativity. I'll get so much work done. Of course, I was like out of my mind. I didn't know what reality was. Yeah. I think I was sitting there for a very long time, unable to move. My heart was racing. I finally called somebody. I literally did not know when I put the phone down if I had done that or just thought I did that. Yeah.

So I called. So like 20 people showed up in my living room an hour later. I must have been calling. Damn. And this one girl was the last one there, a girl I was kind of seeing at the time, God love her. She was like...

Was coming down there were other people there by there was like an hour and 20 minutes after and I'm like, okay What and shit I know and she was all made up Even though I said I'm dying. It's an emergency. You have to come over here She has she got the she got made up. She she wanted to make sure she looked better dead and you look good then early and and you come out of it, yeah, and you said my life and

Yeah, she had to make sure she looked good. Hey, you know, I guess everybody got their quirks. You know, everybody got their quirks. Well, of course. But, I mean, you've been married a long time. Yeah. Okay. So you probably, you got used to one person's quirks. Yep.

And she got used to yours. Without a doubt. Right. And I got a few. But you have lived an admirably scandal-free life, I feel, for someone as much in the public eye as you are. Yeah, and you know, I'm a good dude. You know what I mean? At the end of the day, I'm a good dude. Yeah, I'm not saying you're not. I'm just saying it's kind of rare. You know, I didn't get into this business to get in trouble.

I got into this business to be creative, to do cool shit with cool people. And so I keep it all in perspective. I know it's a thousand things I can get into that's destructive, but it's a thousand things I can get into that's constructive. Right. You know, I just choose to spend my time on cool shit. I'm just saying, not...

Everybody in show business has their head on straight like that. In fact, I would say, would you not agree that the rule more is that they don't? There's something about people in show business, what draws people to show business or the type of people who succeed, as my friend Jimmy always says, and it's the greatest quote he said, insanity photographs. Yeah.

Yeah. It does. People love to... There's some... A lot of the people who become the biggest stars or get the incredible followings, there is a kind of insanity in them. They're very often in their own world, especially musicians, you know, have no idea. Don't ask them who the vice president is. Yeah. You know, they get used to people handling them. Right. And they get lazier.

And everything comes easier. And, you know, pretty soon they're just kind of being ragdolled around. And some of them, you know, are leading the charge. You know, it was a saying by Robin Harris, you know, if I sit in first class, I want everything I'm supposed to get, you know. So it's like...

Some people, I'm a rock star, goddammit, I'm gonna live the rock star life. I'm a rap star, I'm gonna live the life. And the problem is that the whole world is essentially your enabler. I mean, it's one thing if you have a more normal life and you have an enabler. You can go to that one person and say, look, you're not helping this guy at all.

By doing these things that are enabling him and his addictions, addictions including to pigging out on fame and money and the privilege that is afforded to people who everyone else idolizes. But you can't, you can say to one person, you can't say it to a fan base. You can't say to all these people, hey, you're not doing this guy any favors by remaining his, they're gonna be his fans.

Nowadays fans are like stans, right? They're beyond fans. They get literally violent sometimes. - I mean, could you imagine going against a beehive? - Right, no. - It's like, come on now. You wanna get stung a thousand times a day? So yeah, people, you can create your own little kingdom.

You know, in your own little head. And they do. In your own little, you know, in your own, you know. So it happens. But you have to work for it not to happen. You know, you have to be conscious. That's the line. You have to work for it not to happen. Yes. You know, I looked in the mirror when I was 18.

a teenager still, you know, I had one or two cool songs that were starting to bubble. And I looked in the mirror and I said, I still want to be myself. You know, don't lose that guy you're looking at in that mirror. And every so often I make sure I take that long look and make sure that I still recognize the guy that's looking back. Well,

That guy publicly, if I had to associate him with one physical attribute, it would be scowling. That comes natural. That's just how my face looks. No, but you're often, you're funny in your movies, especially when you're

impatiently frustrated with people around you who were doing stupid shit. That's a great character. Without a doubt, because I think that's how a lot of us feel. It's like we're frustrated at the stupidity that we find ourselves in. And that the clear road sometimes seems so clear

But it seems like nobody wants to take it. You know, like nobody wants to take that clear path. They kind of want to, you know, they want it funky. They want to kind of thrive off and feed off their emotions and let that... You mean bad emotions? Well, any emotion. Like...

Some guys like to be pissed off and yell and be on 10 because they feel something. If they're not on 10, they feel unheard and inadequate. And it's not a space where they can actually be heard. So they like to turn it up. Did you watch Succession? No. Never saw that one? No. You heard about it? No. Come on.

The HBO show Succession? I mean, I know about it. I mean, nobody comes and say, man, you know, Succession was great last night. You love it. Nobody does? Nah, nah, nah. I wonder why that is. I don't know. Maybe they don't think I'm into stuff like that. You would love this fucking show. You're a mogul. It's about a mogul. I bring it up because, apropos to your point, the...

It's a Ramona Clay really of the Murdoch family, Fox News. So he's old like Rupert Murdoch. He's got kids and succession. It's like who's gonna succeed him because

The old man is going to go. Yeah, he's going to go sooner or later. Soon. So in the thing, he almost dies in the beginning. He dies at the end. It's about the succession and the kids fighting each other. You would fucking love it. Yeah, yeah. I definitely got to binge watch that. But the point is that this patriarch, this mogul, Logan Roy, he's a billionaire. They shoot it at the greatest locations. We see his yacht, his castle, blah, blah, blah, his country home. He's got everything you could ever want. Mm-hmm.

And he's just endlessly pissed off. And he's just always, are we going to circle for another hour up here? You know, he's mad that his private plane can't land because there's other planes land, you know. And you can be that person to where you get 99% of what you could ever dream of and you obsess over.

The 1% you don't have yeah, and you don't want to be bad guy not at all. No Come on like you don't want to be rich and die trying What the hell I do know when you are full like no one to push the plate away, right? Hey

No one to cruise, man. You could put that in a song. Yeah. No one to push the plate away? No one to push the plate away. That's a good title or a good line, right? No one to cruise, man. You know, like, nobody would ever ride a bike if you had to pedal the whole time, you know? You were always a clever lyricist. Thank you. You know...

That song, I always loved that song you did about it's a good day. It was a good day. Today was a good day. Because it was a very interesting way, unique to like, here's the way I can comment on the bad things, which I really want to comment on, by saying, this is what didn't happen today. Yeah, yeah. See, that's new. I mean, you know, to me it's what Friday is all about. Like, if the movie Friday is a drama,

You are, it's boys in the hood. You know what I mean? Without a doubt. But taking those situations and trying to laugh at ourselves and hopefully we see ourselves clearer. Well, that's a funny one. Is to me, you know, why the movie hits so.

Also loved the Wayne's yeah movie which is it the one with the long title of don't be a menace yet South Central while drinking a juice Keenan is the mailman and he keeps going message message. Yeah, it's like it's one of the funniest Wayne movies ever well also, but it's it's somewhat cathartic to be able to see them say things which I feel are truisms that I can't say and

Well, that's what it's all about in a way. You know, I think when you're... It's kind of like, I could talk about my brother, but don't you talk about my brother? Yeah, of course. And I would rather hear the brother talk about the brother more than me anyway, because...

He know I'm a little better than me. He's going to really get in there. So I think people accept it when it comes from their own. And it's hard to hear when it's from somebody else. Also, we live in an age of bad faith. And when I say bad faith, I mean people don't argue or make points generally about what they really believe or they really think will help things along. They do it on what can I get you on.

We live in Wokestan. Yeah. It's like you're sparring. Like you're sparring, yes. Instead of learning from each other. Correct. Which is what it's all about. But also, I can get you on something. Like, such a mean girl's attitude. You know, they're like, you didn't get the memo that we don't say...

Latino anymore, we say Latinx. Yeah, you say it. You know who doesn't say it? Latinos. They fucking hate it. But it's like, no, we can change the rules and then the people who haven't caught on will get them. We think it's fetch, Latinx. Nah. No. It's weird how the names are always changing every 20 or 30 years somebody wants to put a new label on the same thing.

You mean ethnic names? Yeah. Right. It all seemed like, you know, you go from this to that to that and the other. Right. At the end of the day. People of color used to be reversed 50 years ago. Yeah. And it's just done to really keep us bickering. Yeah.

chasing these words and not really getting to the root of the issues, which are most of the time very common if we really go down to the root of it. Could not agree more. Yeah. But you said it's being done to divide us. Okay, by who? Who's doing it? Well, who benefits and profits off our...

bickering in our division. It's like, follow the money. I don't know their names, but if you follow the money, you go high enough, you start to see, okay, this is an industry. Okay, let's take rap music. Let's take it. Same people who own the labels own the prisons. Literally the same people? Literally the same people who own the labels, private prisons. So, so,

You know, it seems really kind of suspicious, if you want to say that word, that, you know, the records that come out are really geared to push people towards that prison industry. But they didn't make you write those lyrics. It's not about making somebody write the lyrics. It's about...

Being there as guardrails to make sure certain songs make it through and certain songs don't certain flavors are Exposed on the record, you know, some records are made by committee you meaning record company guys sit around and Tell the artists this is hot say that do this. We're gonna have this guy write the lyrics. We're gonna have that so

The narrative is really kind of structured and really made into what the record company want the record to be. A lot of artists are frustrated with this kind of music making. A lot of people feel like they're being controlled by the label. This is how they do it.

Telling you what songs to sing, what hooks to do, what songs. You know, you can do your song. That's fine. That's an album cut. But you want to, the single is what we all say is the single. So you have, you know, the record company pushing the narrative, you know. And, you know, so this to me is...

And somewhat, you know, some social engineering going on here to to make sure those prisons stay full. Now, there's a lot of course, a lot of dots to connect to make that happen. But I'm just giving you a broad example of how.

People at the top can manipulate what's going on with the people who are bickering and fighting. I just gave you a music example, but there's examples of...

Can I cross-examine this theory? Of course you can cross-examine. Of course. Of course. And I appreciate that. Okay. So if your theory is that the prison industrial complex, and I agree, that's an abomination. Start off with there. Prison should – I've done editorials on this on my show. Prison is one of those things that should not be in private hands.

Yes. Along with health care, a few other things that are like, you know, the good part of socialism. They should not be run by people for profit. I agree with you. Yes. I did not know about this connection to the music industry, that it's the exact same people. If by that you mean that the people who run the record companies may have stock in prisons, private prisons, that's possible because they all have... I mean, do they actually like...

Monday Tuesday go to work as a record company executive and Wednesday through Friday go to work in our prisons No, no, no, okay. So if the course they're not they're not actually running the labels They have no they have financial interest. They have financial interest So if they have financial interest in the prisons and your theory if I'm following correctly is that the kind of stuff in rap lyrics is

works as a funnel to get people inspired to do the kind of things that would get them in prison, right? Like, for example, writing a lyric, fuck the police. Yeah, I mean, writing a lyric, fuck the police. Might get somebody arrested and sent to prison. That might get somebody arrested and sent to prison. That's just one example, one record that the record company did not manipulate. You know, that's pure artistry. But I've seen labels, I've...

Did they work with artists? Did they manipulate you? No. Never? I'm an independent artist. Always have been. I started off on independent labels. So how were you able to avoid this trap that so many others fell in? What did you do right? I wouldn't let an A&R...

asshole in my studio. Like, you're not fucking coming in here telling me how to make a record. I'm going to come from the heart. I'm going to do what I feel. So I never allowed an A&R to, I never had anybody A&R me but Dr. Dre. You know? So, I just wasn't ever going for it. And, you know, they just kind of like let me alone, do my thing. And I was on the independent label like Priority.

I wasn't on a major. And majors, you know, they do it with singers. They do it with rappers. They have a lot to say in what's the finished product. Isn't it always the case, anywhere in show business, but okay, let's just talk music, where the people who are the most talented and are making money, therefore, for the label...

Of course you get to... Yeah. Yeah. Of course you get to...

Make your own rules because it's always about if you're making money for me, you can get away with anything. Roseanne once sang the national anthem in front of some stadium before like the Super Bowl or some big game, World Series or something, and like butchered it almost on purpose. It was like you can imagine what America made of fucking with their precious anthem. They went apeshit. But her show was number one on ABC, so they kept her. Mm-hmm.

Later on, she did something bad and they got rid of her. Times had changed. But my point is, like, when you're making people money, they are going to leave you alone. It's the people who can't afford to tell them to fuck off. I don't know about that. Really? I think the more money you make, the more money that you're making for a label, more than likely the more money you're costing to...

to produce the records, to do all that. They have so much invested that they're going to micromanage even more. The biggest artists got labels in their ass all the time to keep it going, to keep the cash cow rolling. You have, of course, rogue artists that do their own thing, but usually the label backs off of them and goes away.

With the artists, they can really... Where do you record? It must be your home. Yeah, I got a spot in Burbank, behind the Burbank airport. And then when COVID came around, I had to put a studio in my house to still be able to get down.

Why didn't you, and that's usually what people on your level do, isn't it? I don't want fucking bass players and fucking singers coming in my house and shit. You know what I mean? I'm like, these motherfuckers all in my house. I'd rather go to the studio, they can hang out, smoke weed.

and do the shit they do and I don't have to worry about them fucking up my carpet or waking up my wife. You know what I'm saying? No, I get it. I always happen to pee on some shit. I gotta watch them and shit. You know what I mean? It's my personal shit up there. I don't want to have to watch no damn talk player. How often do you go into the studio? When I feel it. It's a

it's a straight off the gut feeling thing you know it's really about um inspiration you know i don't make records now for the radio i don't make records for to begin a grammy and those like that right i make records for for my clientele for ice cube fans right people who love to hear me rap right that's what i make records for right you know everybody else can get it how they how they

how they live it, you know what I mean? So all I care about is making Ice Cube fans happy with the music. You know, everybody else can kind of get in where they fit in. Ever take a look at the world and just want to see it through a slightly different lens? One that says, "Hey, it's gonna be okay." Not, "Eww, we're all gonna die."

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I'm I guess past the normal age for retirement even I'm over 65 so but you know turn do what exactly oh no I it hasn't even crossed my mind but I'm just saying the I don't need to work anymore yeah you know and neither do you you know and I feel like that is what you said is how I feel also I do what I do for the people who have already pretty much

Establish that yes, they're on my wavelength. They have open minds They want some place and somebody on television and in concerts around the country but mostly on television or here but Television is much more political who will like have a real discussion with people Yeah, and I do it for them and they're a dwindling mob by the way Wow, you know, it's so Partisan I mean the world needs that

The world needs straight shooters who are not worried about just being safe and, you know, we don't want to hurt nobody's feelings or we don't want to offend nobody or...

You know, it gets kind of... But also not in a bubble already. Yeah. I don't want to fuck with the bubble people. I mean, for years, I made fun of the Fox News bubble because it was sort of the only bubble. And then I feel like the left, oh, they actually built a bubble of their own. It's weird. It's weird, you know. And I think, you know, at a certain point, it's like you're jumping on a team.

You know, it's like team sport. It's all about team. Yeah. It's only about team. Nobody looks at anything through the lens of what is the actual truth?

It's like, does my team get behind this? And the media is the problem because the media, especially like the people like MSNBC and Fox News, every story is, okay, how can we tell this story in a way that, okay, maybe he doesn't lie, but we could leave some shit out. It depends on what we accent. Let's accent the stuff that we know our audience is going to love. That's going to make those hamsters hit the wheel and say, give me more of that crack.

That's what the media does. And like how long can you binge watch your own, you know, kind of like. Endlessly. Yeah, it's like. For a lot of these people is the answer. Yeah. Endlessly. They have it on all day. I know people who have MSNBC on all day.

And they hear the same people. And I like all those people. And they're smart people. And most of my politics align with them even. But I can't do it. I can't. I don't want to hear any story where I go, okay, I'm not doubting what you're telling me. But I know there's things you're not telling me. And I don't like that. Yeah, it becomes like a stick.

It's exactly shtick. A shtick. You know, like, you know, we do it this way over here. You know what I mean? I saw this, you know, I'm flipping through TikTok. I saw this little, I guess it was a movie. And the lady was, she was coming to take the order. And she was like, what you don't want? What?

I was like, what? What you don't want? Because we only serve meat and taters or meat and rice. So what you don't want? You either don't want the taters or you don't want the rice. It's just like, this is all we got. Don't ask for shit else. This is what we're serving. We're just dropping transmissions. Don't ask for a paint job here. Yeah.

Only bulbs, you know, there's stores like that. Yeah, they're sick. Do you sell shade? The sign says only bulbs. They must have people all day long. But yeah, I mean, this is a country, I would say, where everyone wants to order off the menu.

Yeah. Everyone sees themselves as an order of the menu person, which I guess, you know, the truth is for all the shit that you hear about this country and there is a lot of shit and a lot of problems, we actually are kind of now, as compared to the rest of the world, kind of kicking ass. I mean, we came out of the pandemic economically better than any other country and almost did worse in it.

Because we have so much obesity and that's basically what took people down while we had such bad numbers. You know. But how do people feel? Do people feel that way? Do people feel out of the pandemic, we all feel a lot better? It seems like people feel like they're almost at their wits end.

But again, I hear this and I know what it is and I'm not denying there's a lot of it out there. There always is. This is human life. It's not a picnic for a lot of people. I know parts of my life that were just horrible. So I get it. But when I drive around, I don't see a country that's falling apart. Trump is out there. It's dying. America, it's dying. It's not dying. Maybe I'm going to just the greatest place, but I don't know.

I drive all around. I'm in different cities touring. You know, I see a lot of life and restaurants and people and they're not like unhappy and money is being spent. Unemployment is super low. Inflation is a bad thing. That's like a real thing that they did by spending way too much fucking money that they didn't have to spend on the pandemic. You know, I know people, I'm in the entertainment business, so I know people that's doing good, but I know people that's

That's struggling. Of course. You know, people would go to the grocery store and see, you know, thirty five dollar eggs and shit and like what the hell's going on? You know, so I think, you know, the country needs an enema, you know, real bad. You know, it's a lot of full of shit. Oh, so much shit. That needs to just be stopped.

drained out of there. But a lot of it is bipartisan shit. What I mean by that is the debt is going to kill us, but both of them do it. Both of them, as soon as they get in office, they spend more than they have. A lot of it is the scam.

artists that run this country. Like California, I just read, finally gave up on their, they were going to build a high-speed rail. It started in 2008. 15 years later...

Just could not get it done because the amount of fucking pigs at the trough Who all needed to wet their beak and take some shit out of that the people the? Consultants and the lawyers and all these middlemen who weren't actually building the fucking railroad it it became so expensive like 200 million dollars a mile

To build this thing that they just finally gave up after they spent like 180 billion to build a train, a railroad that is not happening. That's the kind of shit that when you say enema, that's what I think. Yeah. I mean, that's just is it's unfathomable that you could.

waste that much money on a bunch of nothing. As much as they throw money at problems like people who are struggling, yes, there is terrible income inequality in this country, but it's still the rich who pay the most taxes. You pay a lot of taxes, aren't you? I pay a lot of taxes. Yeah. More than I like to. Yeah, okay. So it doesn't seem like more of that is going to change anything. No, because...

We pay the taxes, but we don't have a say in where they go. But a lot goes to the programs you think perhaps would do better with more money. Well, it's probably a bunch of it. People at the top, like you said, a bunch of people. A lot of lawyers. I think this country is over-litigated.

It's too many lawyers, too many, too many frivolous lawsuits, too many, too many coward judges who won't throw that shit out. Well, you know, we haven't said a president or or I don't want to be the one to kick that out. Let the appeals court do it. And it's like you're supposed to be here for common sense. And, you know, you're just basically a clerk. So it's just I mean, that's true. It's a it's a.

It's like, I love Vegas, but no matter how many lights they put up, it's still about gambling and walking out of there poorer than you walked in is the game. You know what I mean? No matter how pretty you make it, it's all about they want you to leave.

Separated from your money. You can play and have fun and play the little game, but basically they want your money. They don't want you to win. If you win too much, they'll escort you out. I just played Vegas last weekend. I love Vegas because when I'm in Vegas, I feel like it could truly be myself.

prostitute with a gambling But there there is something about being in a town that is The one thing in America that's that's there and made for adults as opposed to children everything else is for fucking children and I

As someone who's never had children, you know, obviously I feel I'm a little bit of a fish out of water. But when Vegas tried to be like for the whole family in the 90s, they failed because it's not bad. When they reinvented themselves with the slogan, what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. I mean, you can't get closer to saying we're not going to talk about

Girl you brought home from the Spearmint Ride-off. Yeah Okay, and leave your little kids at home I've leave the kids at home, you know I don't see any hardly any kids anywhere when I go to Vegas. You just don't see it. I wonder if they're banned I'm sure you know a lot of people's like FTK man. Fuck them kids, right? You know, but I mean Europe I only know

You're one kid who's a fantastic actor. Oh, yeah. O'Shea Jr. He made a great little place for himself. Yeah. I mean, I love my kids. I'm sure. They're amazing. They're good people. And at the end of the day, that's all you want to contribute. You want to contribute good people who are not trying to scam somebody, not trying to beat somebody, who's not trying to get over...

They're not into the, you know, the drug, the drinking, the gangbanging, the bullshit. They're not into that. And all your kids are like that? All of them, you know. That's great. They're not womanizers or nothing like that like you. But what I'm saying is they're not bringing a bunch of babies home. Right. You know, and all that kind of crazy shit. And they're not, wow, like they're not taking advantage of.

Like they could be like some kids would be like, I would probably be like if my father was Ice Cube. No. Everybody around here would know that.

This fucking little cube, he keeps coming around here fucking wanting his way all the fucking time. You know what I mean? No, you obviously did it right. I mean, that's not coincidence. When kids come out good, look, somebody once said, who has children has given hostages to fortune. It's true. Bad shit can happen to good people. But in general, when the parents do it right...

The kids come out good. Yeah. I mean, you know, I've seen some great parents with some crazy ass kids, you know, like, you know. But you don't know how they parented when you weren't there.

That's true. That's true. That's true. In general, I really feel like a kid doesn't absolutely even need two. Two is better. They just need one person who's going to always be there and will, no matter what you do, if their kid is mad at the world, I'm still going to stay. You can throw rocks at my head. I'll be there tomorrow. I mean, that's true.

don't give in to their bullshit. Yeah, that's my wife Kim. Don't want to be their friend. You can be their friend when they're grown up and they're made, when the clay has been molded, but not before. That's what today's parents fuck up with. They want to be their kid's

Friend or did just not your job or they're totally scared of their kids. They don't want to say shit to them I do a bit about that. You know, I mean like they they don't want to say nothing. No, they don't want to yeah They don't want the key there. They like this practically trembling. Yes when there's ready to go. Yeah, did it go? It's a I know it's the wildest sight, you know I think you got to be firm but fair and you got to be

the parent. You can't fall apart one day, like, you know, and just throw a tantrum and shit and, you know, be a kid. Like, you can't, you got to hold it together. And so, you know, you're an example, you know, they're going to watch you. I feel like the black community has a lot of, like, on both ends of the spectrum, like, parents who are

Didn't do the job at all and a lot of kids raised by grandparents and then lots of parents who are like so much better than the white parents because they don't take Bullshit and they just do it the way we used to do it the right way my item You know you'll hate me for this but a girlfriend years ago And she said to me the difference between me and my white friends is when I fuck up like in the supermarket the white friends

When we get home, my mother right then and there. Hitchhikes right there. Yeah. You know. And that's how you do it. Right there in the cereal aisle. I mean, you know, you got to nip it in the bud. You know what I mean? You really do. But he was great in Ingrid Goes West. Yeah.

Mean a lot of people have not seen that movie maybe now that Aubrey Plaza is such a big star Well, I always was a huge fan of I Every time I was in a hotel room I'm on the road usually you know what I where I watch my movies like and though in the hotel when they have the first-run movies Yeah, and this chick was always in some awesome indie movie. I never heard of and I'm happy for but He that was such a great movie. She's awesome. He's awesome and

Such a great comment. It was about social media and this chick who like gets sucked into you know She did it's so it's such a great comment on the kids today who like live more in a virtual world Yeah than a real world. Yeah, it's a

Well, you know, he picks great films to do. You know, I grew up, I mean, you know, coming up through it, I did, you know, a lot of hood movies. But he's, you know, he wants to, you know, go outside the box. So, you know, I'm really proud of his decision making. He's in Spain right now, you know, and he's working on Den of Thieves 2. Oh. Yeah, so...

It was very cool to see him, you know, take the baton and run with it. Yeah. And not... Fuck it up. You know, yeah, not fuck it up and not... Give credit to Anepo, baby. Without a doubt. I tell him, I say, man...

You second generation Hollywood men go in there and act like it. Right. Don't go in there and act like you some starving artist and shit. I don't know. Hey. I did a thing on Nepo Babies before the strike shut us down. And I was saying, first of all, I don't begrudge them.

They're very often great because very often the gene is in the family, you know and often you're around it And so it comes second nature and you absorb it from your talented Forebearer, you know, that's all good. Just don't say, you know, I had it harder No, you didn't have it harder You actually had it a little easier because it's always a good story to have somebody who is you know Or you know, hey, it just got my foot in the door Well, a lot of show business is getting your foot in the door

So, okay. But still, people are very talented. What I was saying was, show business, Nepo Babies, politics, Nepo Babies, the one place that has no Nepo Babies is sports, which is why I trust it more than anything else. Like, you can be the son of a player, but you're not there because you're the son of a player. Doc Rivers' kid

It's good enough to be in the NBA. Yeah. It's not because his father's doctorate. Not at all. So sports is the only thing I trust 100%. Whereas I know the 450 people in the NBA are the best they can find in the world. And they do go all over the world. And they're looking every day. Yeah, I bet they are. They're fucking looking every day. You know, it's not like, oh, we got our team. We don't have to. Right. You know, so they're.

They're always looking to improve. Hey, what a perfect segue. And I never had one in this show before because I don't do segues because I'm too stoned. But that segue hit me in the head. You have a basketball league. Yes, the big three. Look at me, just like a real talk show host here. Yeah, man, ain't that something? Got a future in this, man.

Tell me about your basketball league, Ice Cube. I hear it's exciting and the new thing in basketball. Without a doubt. You know, it's the big three. Professional three-on-three. Yep. You know, it's kind of like three-on-three has been the step-cousin of five-on-five forever. When I heard about your league, I said, this is how I play. This is what I do. Yes. Half court, three-on-three, all the rules. Yes.

So we just did that and just made, you know, kind of elevated to the professional level, added some wrinkles that the NBA can't do, you know, like a four-point. We got four-point circles out there, so yeah.

If you shoot 30 feet from the basket, man, you deserve an extra point. So can I, as the imprimatur of this great new league, who knows this better than anybody and you are the authority, can I bring to you an argument that I have with a basketball player, friend of mine named Woody Harrelson? No problem. We play here all the time. Yeah. Okay, here's my contention. You're playing half court. Yes. The guy...

shoots an air ball. Yes. I say that still has to go back court because you're trying to simulate exactly what would happen with a full court. In a full court, if a guy shoots an air ball, you don't suddenly change baskets. But Woody Harrelson and many other people say, no, in half court, if a guy shoots an air ball and you get the rebound and you're on the other team, you can go right up and score. Yeah. It's the equivalent of a

Turnover fast break dunk, you know guy shoots an air ball and doesn't hit the rim. So you're with Woody on this Yes, that's how we play three Did I stumble into the guy, you know don't hit the rim like you know, I mean like I

Okay, like we can have little babies out here that don't hit the rim, you know I'm saying so like I've got to hit the rim if you're you're you're if it's a serious shot Excuse me, but the pros Sometimes shoot air balls. Okay any in this a turnover and this way and then goes dunks. Yeah, I

So how should the turnover be dealt with? You're coming, you're driving in, a guy pokes it right to the guy right up under the basket from the defensive team. He should be able to lay that up 'cause it's a turnover. He should get an easy basket 'cause they turned you over. - I feel like this is poor logic. The point of half court is, if you picture the court, the full court, we don't wanna waste all that time going through the middle part of the court.

We want to get to where the action is, which is within 30 feet of the basket. So instead of going all the way back each time, back and forth, we take the ball backcourt. And then we play at the same basket. By that logic, anything that would happen that would cause you to go to the other end of the court has to go to backcourt. It's just a shorter trip.

I understand that in logic. Oh, no, I'm going to get the scowling guy who's frustrated. But just like you have boxing and you have MMA, okay? MMA is in a cage. Boxing is in a squared circle. Octagon. Yeah, octagon. I mean, MMA is in an octagon, but it's a cage octagon. Right. Okay, and then you got the square circle. You got boxing gloves. You got little mitts.

Even though it's fighting even though it's pretty much the same there's still Adjustments there's still things that that make MMA exciting. There's things that keep boxing Exciting that that's all their own so

The whole thing about, okay, this is how they do it in full court. We're creating a whole new game here. Three on three is a whole different game than five on five because it's a lot more personal. In five on five, you can be a specialist. You can just be a defensive guy or a rebounder or a three-point guy. You know what I mean? Not in three on three. You got to...

Pass, shoot, defend, and score. Pass, shoot, defend, and score. Rebound. You got to do it all or you'll be exposed and really embarrassed. Right, because I've played many games where one guy is lame on three. And it does throw off the balance. Without a doubt. Yeah. I have been that guy a few times. Yeah.

Hey, you know, it happens. It's not a good feeling. It's not. You look up and you're like, damn, everybody's better than me. Right. Or you're just having a bad day. Normally, you're not the worst, but for some reason... Some reason, yeah. You know, even the pros have two for 18 nights. Yeah. You know. It's funny how that happens. Well, what's funny to me about basketball is two things. If I had never seen...

Guy shoot a basketball from 25 feet away or even 20 feet away. They'd never seen that in my life I would think the chances of getting that ball into that hoop are a one in a thousand it just Yeah, and yet when you do it, it's it's you know, I mean the pros if that when they're not guarded It's like eight out of ten. Yeah, it's insane and when they are guarded it's half if they're good Yeah, but even

On any given night, I mean, it's such a small margin of error. I don't know why some days I feel like I feel fine. I'm not drunk. I've played drunk. I played better drunk.

But for whatever reason the same shots just are off by two inches and that's enough to just give you that bad night That's what make us amateurs You know, I mean that's what even the pros do it. Yeah, very very very few pros Like LeBron James is one of the very few you just never see two for 18. I

Yeah. You just never see it. He's never bad. He's efficient and he's just never bad. It's never like, oh, one of those nights. Yeah, it's true. Yeah, very few are like that. That's why he's the king. Yeah. That's why he's the king. Why, you're saying he's the best ever? No, I don't know about that. He's the king, but I'm not saying he's the best.

Well, I mean, they play. It's so hard when people have those sports arguments about who was better, Babe Ruth. It's like they played in such different times with such different circumstances against different people. Yeah, I mean. I mean, the Jordan era was so much more physical. There was a lot more.

It was rough. It was rough. Same in football. They used to not protect the quarterback at all. Not at all. It used to be. I mean, what happened to Joe Montana is just criminal.

I mean, that hit he took to put him out for two years. I don't even remember that. But I do remember the Lawrence Taylor against Joe Theismann, that leg. I can still see it. It's one of the grossest things. I thought I would never see anything like that in football. I was like, that can happen? I was like, yeah, that can happen. No, so, you know, they definitely...

or play a game now that I find frustrating to watch and a lot of people do it too much flopping. A lot of it is it's like it's almost like

It's half basketball, half ballet. You know, you've got all these moves that they do that are sort of like automatic, standing there to get the charge. It's like, it's not natural. It's not how you really would play defense. It's like we're merging this into some sort of kabuki theater. Yeah, I mean, I think they're more, you know, they play 82 games. That's a hell of a lot of basketball games. And...

I think they're really worried about a guy, you know, instead of getting a guy who goes all out and gives you six years of all out, they want 10, 12 years out you. So they want you to last a little longer. They don't want you to take the hits. They don't want it to be as physical. They want, you know, guys kind of getting out of the way. Yeah, everybody, you know, that's why...

In the big three, we don't play that shit. It's like back to old school, physical, hand checking, come in the lane, and it is nothing nice. And, you know, that's how we grew up playing. Guys can trash talk. They won't get a fucking tech and thrown out, so you can be yourself.

We got two robots playing. You have de-pussified basketball. Yes. I definitely put what we loved about the game, that it wasn't an easy bucket, that nobody was going to get out your way. Right. You're going to have to earn it. Right. Real defense. Right. Yeah.

And, you know, I took out the game clock, so it's first to 50 win. Right. Just like the backyard. And we have a shot clock, so you—14 seconds to get it up, so you can't sit there and talk and dribble. But it's fast-paced, and guys love to play. You know, guys love to play. The NBA hates us. You know, they think, you know— Why? Because your competition? Because you're showing them up? Well, they don't like us—

changing basketball without asking them for permission. We didn't go and say, please, Adam Silver, please, please, can we put a four-point circle in our game? Can we please do innovative things that you guys are too slow to do? There are always in sports there have been competing leagues, and usually they get absorbed. Now, this couldn't happen with you because you're playing a completely different game.

I mean, you know, I mean, they could be, they can actually work with us and not against us. They work with the WNBA. They work with the WNBA. Right. They work with, you know, they have the G League. They also work with this TBT, the basketball league, you know, so. And it actually is beneficial to them because they,

A lot of the people in your league are recently retired NBA stars. So the fans have an affection for the recently retired. They followed them their whole career. Okay, we get it. It's time you go out to pasture. You know, it's not a longevity thing, sports. But we still like to see them. In the past, where did they go? The broadcast booth. But, you know, they still can play. These guys can play. They just can't play 82 games. And they just can't play against guys who are 22.

They actually can't. They just can't play 82 games against guys that's 22. But you know what? Nobody plays 82 games because they have these nights where you go to the Broadway play and it says there's a little thing, a sticker in the playbill that says the part of Hamlet tonight will not be played by the guy you came to see. Uh,

But you know Josh McGeaghy. Yeah, and and that sucks and that happens in the NBA Yeah, I mean they'd rest players deliberately like they're not hurt It's just like take two games is too many too many young what even the young players? The time also 82 games is too many in our league. They play 10 games once a week half court to 50 and

go all out. We don't just have retired players. We have young players, 27-year-olds. We go as young as 22. And guys in that setting, it's a whole different game. So we've had guys come from the NBA into the Big Three and not do good. And we had guys in the Big Three, never made it to the NBA,

you know, win the championship. So it's its own sport. Right. And that's, that's probably why they, they don't dig it, you know, but we, we've been here for, you know, just six years. And, um,

They can't stop you. It takes a while for something new to catch on. People are not great fans of new. No, I mean, you know, it's like they want to see if you can make it work. You know, a lot of people just kind of want to watch and see if this is something I can get behind. Is it going to be here every year? You know, a lot of, you know, unfortunately, we had to go through COVID.

And other new leagues came and went, like AAF League, XFL came and went and then came back with The Rock, USFL. You got all these different leagues that's kind of around. Now they got Pickleball. So you have to fight through all that noise and let them know, no, no, no, we're here to stay. We're not going anywhere. And

You know, we're going to be the fastest league to profit in...

pro sports league history. I think as a midlife crisis project, it ranks at the top. Because people do some crazy things when they get to be like late 40s, 50s, and like, okay, things have worked out, and then they just, okay, I think what I need to do is build a rocket ship. Go to space. Or you got to stay creative, you know,

Being creative is why I got into the business. I didn't think I was going to make a quarter doing rap music. We was just doing it for fun, to be cool, to be clever, and to be a part of a new wave of music that everybody older than us was really shunning. How do you feel about the police now?

Things have changed. Like I've always felt about them. You don't think they've changed at all? In what ways? I think they... Well, they never used to arrest their own and put them on trial and put them in jail. That's one major thing. Yes. Also generation. I think the people pushed that change. I don't think the police internally... Police are people. I understand that, but police are...

Bad people. You know, they're a fraternity. Yes. And they, you know, they have their rules of engagement. Some, you know, are in the police manual. Some are not. You know what I mean? So they're not really... The bad ones are the ones that are in, unfortunately. You know, serve and protect is not really on their mind. Win and go home is. So...

There's a lot of problems that was happening in 89 when we did the record, and the same problems are happening today. Of course, because we did the record, police are, to me, held accountable for

Because before the record, they wasn't. You know, you get guys on the stand and just because the cops say you did it, everybody thought you did it. Society is different. 18, 18, yes, 1889, 1989, 2023. It just is. It is. And cops are people who come from society.

So the chance that a cop would have been racist in 1989, I feel is greater than a young person who, a cop, it's basically a young man's game when they're out on the street. Okay. So a guy, he's 25. He was born in 1998. He was born in an era where about the most uncool thing you could be was a racist. Right.

Mm-hmm. Now there are pockets of this country, of course, where that's not true. But why would you go there? They have no good restaurants. You know, you just wouldn't have to go to a holler in Appalachia. I think it's a situation where, you know, cops, they are young, you know. Because of that, sometimes they don't know how to talk to people. They don't really know how to communicate. The young generation really don't, really...

communicate as well. Because of the phone? Because of the phone, because of all kinds of different social reasons that they don't talk to each other. They'll be sitting in the same room

Room texting each other. So what do you mean? Sometimes the young cops don't know how to communicate. So they go straight for the force, you know, because they don't know how to talk you down. They don't know how to say, hey, man, come over here. Let me get what's going on. So they don't really know how to communicate. So the force comes with that. And, you know, accent is the police different. It's like accent is the military different. You know, they.

You might have one or two different kind of soldiers come in and out, but the basic organization is the same. It's not going to change. It's there to win and not to lose. You mean to get home safe? To get home safe no matter what. That's always been one of my big problems with the police. They don't appreciate me saying, but I have.

They have a bad attitude about how dangerous their job is and how much the priority is them not being in danger. If you want to never be in danger, be a plumber. The worst that's going to happen is you're going to be snaking a drain and you'll smell like shit.

This there is an element of danger So when they say things like a better to be judged by twelve and carried out by six you've heard that yeah That is the wrong rap lines - yes, it was That is that is the wrong attitude. Mm-hmm to have about the job of policing You can't be like, okay, how do I solve this problem of me feeling scared now? I shoot the thing that's scaring me that that's

That has to be cured in the police department. Yeah. Across lines, because... They're not going to cure that, because... Yes, you're right, because it's scary. They want their partners to have that attitude. Their partner want them to have that attitude. And if each one have that attitude...

This is why somebody gets shot 85 times. So, you know, so everybody, you know, the thing is empty your clip because AI is going to ask you, why didn't you? Why you only shoot 10 shots instead of 16 like everybody else? Did you feel like it was over? Did you stop for a reason? No. So everybody empties their clips.

So everybody looked like the threat was the same for everybody. Everybody was just as scared. And now this guy is shot 51 times, you know? See, you know what? I've mentioned that many times on my show, the thing about...

Shooting, everybody has to empty their clip. I never understood before you explained that why they do that. Yeah. I thought it was just because they were so all just jacked up. Because if you stop shooting at two shots and this guy shot 16. I get it. You know, you're going to be like. I remember quoting this statistic once, and this is a while ago, but maybe it was from like 2011 or something. But like the entire country of Germany,

I think in that year, the police fired like 91 shots in the entire country that used to be full of Nazis. Yeah. And that was just like the opening salvo. You remember when the Tsarnaev guy, the kid who bombed the Boston Marathon, he was hiding in that boat? Yeah. And...

That boat was so shot up and they missed him. And they still missed him. Wow. It was like a parody. The boat, every place had a bullet hole and the kid was fine. You look up. Yeah. But if you were a cop, don't you think, would you feel that way? I mean, we probably all would if we were pressed into that service.

Yeah, I mean, it's a stressful job. Yeah, stressful. And it's probably not a job you should do every day. But I bet you a lot of it is more, I think the reason people do it, it's more fun than sitting behind a desk. First of all, most people kiss your ass. Like, yes, there is danger, some danger, although they have statistics on this, and it doesn't crack the top ten.

Yeah. Police work is less dangerous than such daredevils as fishermen, cab drivers, and people who work on telephone wires. So, like, it's not the most dangerous job in the world. But, yes, there is danger. But you go into that. It's like a proctologist complaining, I'm looking up people's asses all day. Yes, because you decided to be a proctologist. Exactly, bro. You know, it's a thing where... It's a thing where...

You know, that might be a reason, too, why they get so jacked up when there's something going on. That's probably why 10 police show up, you know, because they're so fucking bored.

You know, it's kind of like, yo, something going down. Let's get over there and get some of this action. You know, let me get a lick in. You know, it's kind of like a team that practices but never gets a chance to play. You know, everybody want to get a lick at it. It does seem like when they want to have a million cops at any one place, it's not that hard to do. No. I mean, they do. And they all show up and they all stand around for two hours. Yes, there's a lot of standing around. Well, that's what I'm saying. Like,

Yes, there is danger and there is sometimes disrespect and cops do get shot. I mean they do get assassinated It's yeah, it's not a this cool idea to go to work every day knowing. Oh, yeah It's like turning on the light switch and there's one in a thousand chance or whatever chance that I could get you know That's not cool. Yeah, but then you see what I don't understand your cop you frustrated you want to kick a little ass tonight, right? um

The kid who just went into the church and shot nine or ten people, put a bulletproof vest on him and protect him. But the little kid,

The 18-year-old that's mouthing off at the mall, you know, crack his eye socket. You see what I'm saying? It's like, what's the bullying? Like, why don't you guys give it to the ones that deserve it over just some innocent kid who's mouthing off? Okay, this is my other complaint with the police.

too concerned with your safety over the people's safety you're pledged to protect.

And also the thing about complaining about disrespect, when most people give you free food and you walk around like kings everywhere. You can hit on any girl. We all know every girl has a story about cops. Yes. Maybe I should protect you by following you home now that I pulled you over for no reason except driving while pretty. Yeah. All that. All that.

All that. All that. Yeah. But the other one is, oh, shit, now I forgot because you got me. I don't worry about it, man. You know, to me, it's a thousand things we can come up with that ain't cool. No. But, you know, it's really about respect and...

A society needs police. Definitely. We know that. I'm not saying... Of course. You know, that all police are mad or fucked up. No, I know. You're... I'm just pointing out why it's no different than it was. You know, it's the same... How would you know? It's the same game. How would you know? You live in some giant palace. I mean, everybody I know don't. So, you know, I hear what...

What my folks got to go through and what? Well, you know, a lot of them, you know, they deal with the police in different kind of ways. You know, a lot of them, some of them, they got records. So, you know, the police is checking in on them every now and then. Right. Fucking with them. You know, some of them can't go out the country because of shit. You know, it's just different things that.

Them going through the system has, it's not always abuse, but it's always the system really kind of churning on them and overworking them. I remember what my other complaint was. What? The police need to have a better vetting system about who gets to be a policeman. There's too many people who become policemen because they were stuffed in a locker in high school.

And they want to have a— I think they want those guys. Well, maybe you're right. I think they want those guys with the chip on their shoulder. Maybe you're right. The guys who are ready to give society what it deserves. Yes. It's kind of like having a dirty player on your team. Right.

As long as he play on your team, it's cool. Rick Mahorn. You know, it's like. Charles Oakley. Are we talking? Romanowski or somebody. As long as he's on your team, it's cool. Right. The minute he goes to the other team, then you say, you know, why are they letting this guy play? So, like, they all on the same team, man. You know, they want the Wolves. They don't want the Chihuahuas. You know what I'm saying? They want guys who are ready to go get some. And, yeah.

You know, to some it is a sport. It is the action. It is all about the adrenaline rush and being physical and having power. You know, some guys are just power freaks. It's interesting. We were talking, I don't know, an hour ago or something about how celebrities, right,

their mind goes cuckoo because there's too much adulation you're exalted by people so you can get away with anything it's a little like that when you're a cop because you can just basically do anything because you are the police what are they going to do call a cop i am a cop that is a kind of

First of all, it's a lot of power to trust with a person. But of course, the alternative is not feasible. We do need police. But it is a lot of power. So you should pick much more carefully the kind of people who you're giving that power to. You're giving them a monopoly on violence. I don't think they care because here's why. You and I. When those cops go out and do something bad,

The police don't get the bill. Like, the police, nothing happens to the police department. It all goes to City Hall. They have to pay it. Right. The police still get their money. Nobody loses a dime. Right. Now, if you made police get insurance, if you made police get insurance, now is, do you want to be a racist or you want to keep your badge? Because if you keep getting these complaints or you keep brutalizing people and costing us money,

We're going to take away your insurance, buddy. We're taking away your badge. You're out of a career. So it's the insurance company call. But the police won't do that. But it's always an opinion. A doctor has to get insurance. Why not a cop? The hard part of it is because cops are engaging with borderline people as their job. They're not engaging with...

the people who are just going about their lives, not doing anything shady generally. So, and they're scared, and we've covered that. They shouldn't put their safety ahead of the citizens. But that's who you deal with. I had a cop on my old show, Politically Incorrect, and he said, when I worked in the Spanish neighborhood, I hated Spanish people.

When I worked in the black neighborhood, I hated black people. And when I worked in the valley, I hated white people. That's the problem. Yeah, because you're dealing with, you know, people at their worst. You're dealing with people at their worst every day. You know, I think it's not an everyday job. I think cops are going every other day.

For one. Like basketball players. Just take some stress off. Yeah. Get yourself ready for the next game. No one can play 82 games a year. Because you never know what that guy went through in them last 10 or 12 hours. No. But I think by not putting some kind of personal responsibility on the officers, then you lead to a George Floyd situation. You know, this guy had, you know,

Over 20 complaints. You know what I mean? He wouldn't have been on the force to be able to do that. You know what I mean? He would have been somebody, some insurance company would have been like, dude, you got one more. Oh, I see what you're saying. And you're booted. Oh yeah. Cause you're costing us money with these complaints. Oh, that's a good idea. You know what I'm saying? So it doesn't go to city hall. It doesn't go to the taxpayer is, is, you know, and guys would think twice about, uh,

Being excessive. Right. You need force. Right. It's the excessive force. Everybody wants to find that right line. Yeah.

It's hard, but it is hard when you're a cop. It is. Because you don't know until after the situation is over. Now, in the case of George Floyd, completely unnecessary because he was no threat. He's on the ground. It's just being a dick. Thank you. See, that's the problem. It's not an incident went wrong. No, no. Something went bad. It's just a cop, you know, split-second decision, made the wrong decision, killed a guy. It's the torture. It's the abuse of the person.

It's the taking it too far. Okay, but O'Shea Jackson.

I must tell you. I don't want you to mistake me for my son. I know we look alike. I should flatter you and say why I thought you were brothers. But, you know, plainly you're the father. Anyway, but the difference between 2023 or whenever that happened, 2020, and back in your day writing your songs is that back then what they would have said is, we checked the police manual and it is...

Completely, exactly as it says in the manual, you put your knee on his head until he's dead. That is what it would say. Whereas now, he's in jail. Yes.

Okay, so let's just acknowledge, we're not saying there's no work to be done. But has the police changed? Did the police put him in jail? I think, when you listen to police chiefs around the country, many of whom are African American. Yes. You hear a deaf very different. A lot of them have no power, though. As police chief? As police chief. Why do you say that? Well, it's because, for one, they're elected officials. That's not really...

Coming out this rank-and-file if they come out the rank-and-file they have their power, but sometimes they put these these police cops yeah, he's police chiefs and put him in place and Give me like you know William Brown a lot of those guys are the last to know what their guys is doing on the street They're just the last to know you know it's kind of like when you it's like you know running your show sometimes when it's fucked up and

And somebody's like, who's going to go tell Bill? And you're the last to know. And you're like, why y'all didn't tell me this shit three hours ago when I could have did something about it? So I think, you know, they're caught up with the mayor and the news conferences and the fundraising and the...

kissing babies and hi I'm the mayor shit and they don't know what the hell you know they're lieutenants and they're captains and they're you know they kick ass we used to have a mayor here Anthony Villa Villa Villa Redosa or some shit like that I feel bad he's a nice guy he's a cool dude I made him a couple forgive us Anthony we're both stoned Villa Redosa Villa Redosa yeah okay

This guy was like... I've never seen a guy who put on that politician thing. I mean, it was almost like AI. And the handshake was beyond firm. Like I spent two weeks at Cedars. No, it was like this guy and he would just...

Boy, some people are programmed for that job. They love it. He loved it. And they good at it. And they good at it. Like Bill Clinton, they said, used to always...

The last person to leave any room if 2,000 people were there and as they were filtering out if he would talk to everybody who wanted to talk to him damn Elizabeth Warren would take selfies with everybody who wanted to sell me like so 4,000 can you imagine taking 4,000 selfies in a row? What would you have to want that bad for me? The answer is nothing nothing. I would never be a politician. I

No, you're not the type. You're begging too much. And I mean that as a compliment. Thank you. You're not the type. They're begging too much. No. But what politicians do you admire? Is there anybody? I know we need an animal. We agree on that. I mean, it's going to be Biden and Trump probably because, well, you know, who doesn't want a fresh 2024 election? I mean, what could be fresher than two 80-year-old retreads? Yeah.

Anybody on the horizon? I'm about as independent as they come. Yeah, I love that. Me too. It's like the partisan shit is kind of getting us nowhere fast. Who do you like? What do you think about Robert Kennedy? I like Robert Kennedy. Yeah, he was here just a week ago. And by the way, you didn't take the vaccine. You gave up money for it. I so admire that.

Thank you. And without even having to get into vaccines, of which I'm- My accountant doesn't admire it as much. I'm sure you don't. You know, my accountant is like- I bet you your wife doesn't like it either. I mean, my wife, you know, she down, so she with me 100%. Boy, you also have a billion dollars already. So it's not like you're driving an Uber now because you gave up $9 million. $9 million, throw it on the pile.

Well, you know, I think everybody can use it. So, but yeah, you know, to me... Principles. Amen. What I felt in my heart that this is too experimental. It's your body. Yes. You don't even have to explain it. You know, I get called an anti-vaxxer all the time. Anybody who has questions, I'm not an anti-vaxxer, but I should be able to make decisions about my own body that...

Because my body's different than yours and my history is different than yours and this pathogen is new. There are some vaccines I would kill to get. It was very new. It wasn't a year old. The disease wasn't that scary. And they just found out that it basically, it's almost certain now, it did come from the lab. Patient zero was the guy who worked in the lab. Ben Wu. Damn.

Damn. So I think your decision is going to look good in history. Well, I mean, I know it looks good in my body. And I know, you know, I know people who've had, you know, issues after. So, you know, I'm not anti-vax. I've been vaxed before, you know. But those vaccinations were studied for 50 years before they got to me, you know. So...

I just thought it was too soon. - It's a deservedly controversial topic that this country does not want to have a debate, or at least I should say the elitist types in this country.

who run the newspapers and so forth, their position should be in the media to question authority. But in this case, they see their position as to completely line up behind it. And like Robert Kennedy has talked about in the New York Times, like this vaccine hysteric. He's not a hysteric. He's a really smart guy who knows a lot of science. And you should talk to him. I don't agree with everything he says either. And I think sometimes he's gone a little too far and put a little...

Who are you going to agree with 100%? Exactly. That's what I said. Nobody. You know, you got to feel like. Life would be pretty dull if you did. Yep. And we would, you know, we wouldn't love the world that we was in if you had to. So, you know, at the end of the day, he seems like a good dude who's trying to do the right thing.

You know, sometimes you gotta look through all the bullshit and try to see the person inside. He's got a candidacy that started out at 20% just right off the bat. Okay, some of that, of course, is the Kennedy name. But it's not all that. It's people want this other voice in the debate. And I find it just so depressing that...

A lot of the media organs get away with a joint decision to, let's just strangle this baby in the crib. Yep. Let's just say right from the beginning, as much as we can, as often as we can, from as many of our writers as we can, he is some sort of kook, he's a crank, he's a nut, he's got misinformation, as if science is just about what you know for sure. Sometimes it is. Some things are settled science. But things like this are not science.

And so let's just label him a kook that we kill in the crib. It's just makes me fucking hate those kind of people. Yeah, man, because, you know, let them debate. Let them debate. Let them debate. Let them get up there with an expert in the pharmaceutical fields and let them have at it. I'm pretty sure he'd welcome it.

He definitely would welcome it. And I'd want to see him against someone worthy. Yeah. Because he needs to answer all the... I was trying to get him to answer some things I think he's going to have to answer on the campaign trail. But I was happy to hear him say things like...

Like we said, not an anti-vaxxer. It's not like we think the vaccines are a myth or that it's a little man inside the needle. I mean, we're not crazy people. It's a medical intervention that has a spotty record sometimes. I generally believe that vaccines have done a lot of good in humanity, including with COVID, where lots of people did need a vaccine because they are not healthy. And they should have gotten it, and it probably saved their lives. That's not me.

Or maybe it is, but that's my judgment to make. Without a doubt, you know, that's the freedoms we all supposed to have. Look, you got me drunk and ranting. Oh, shit. I knew it. Hey, man, you know, but that's why we appreciate what you do, man. You know, you not only, you know, I mean, you do what we supposed to do, question everything. Right. Like, why not? Question everything, you know.

Well, listen, it was a fucking thrill having you here. It's very cool. I'm first of all just very flattered that you would do it. I know you're busy. You got a lot of stuff to do. You don't have to come over here and talk to me. There's no money in it. So I know it came from the heart. It means a lot to me. Without a doubt, man. You're still one of my favorite guys on TV. I appreciate that. Always been. And I like it. You're a straight shooter. Yeah.

And it's all you can ask for in this world nowadays. I never sell out. August 19th, the Albany Ovens Auditorium in Charlotte, North Carolina. On the 20th at the Township in Columbia, South Carolina. September 1st, ACL Live at the Moody...

Trust in Austin, Texas, September 2nd in Grand Prairie. That's between Dallas and Fort Worth, I believe, there at the Texas Trust CU Theater. Also have a pot store in the woods with Woody Harrelson, who won that argument because of you, Mr. Ice Cube. Hey, man, you know, Woody knows how to ball. He does. And, you know, I appreciate the blunt.

Yeah. It was very cool. Very smooth. I'll send you a case. Oh, man. I would love that. Really? Yeah. I'm happy to do it. Those are cool. My friend Boris makes those. That is very personally made with a beautiful... All those cost $6, so I'd appreciate it if you would return them for a deposit. Okay, no problem. Like I used to do the bottles back in the day.

Very cool, man. I appreciate it. That was so much fucking fun. Yeah, anytime, man. All right. Anytime. Anytime.

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