Joe and Jada - John Legend PREMIERES Clipse collab off ‘Muse’ album + tells CLASSIC stories about “Ordinary People,” early Kanye, Lauryn Hill & ‘The Voice’

0:00 And the fact that we completed this whole journey together is beautiful. And I'm so proud of what we made together. Like the music is incredible. The visuals are incredible. His whole team has been collaborating with us on videos, photos, everything. And just having all that creative energy and artistic ability pouring it all into this project has been incredible.

0:35 Yeah, yeah, yeah. Don't be stupid. It's Joe Crack the Don.

0:39 You know who it is, your boy Jada. You know what it is. The Joe and Jada Show. Every show legendary. Every show iconic. It is special thing about the word legendary today.

0:53 When you think of today's guest. Sheesh.

0:57 You think of real talent. You think of somebody who came in the game with the piano, the pen. The voice, it made people slow down, really feel something. This is a brother who went from them early days, getting in where he fit in, to becoming one of the most respected artists in the world. And he's got that EGOT status. Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony.

1:29 That's television, music, film.

1:34 In Broadway. Only 28 people. You hear me? Only 28 people.

1:42 In the world, in the history, have ever reached that level. 300 million Americans. That puts our guests in some real rare air. But what I respect most is he never stopped growing. He can give you the love records. He can give you soul. He can give you records for the culture. And now he's linking back up with Pharrell for a whole new album. Muse, dropping October 23rd. So we're going to talk music, legacy, family, business, the records that changed everything, and what keeps you hungry when you already got the world calling you a legend.

2:26 Make some noise for our guy, John Legend!

2:29 Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you. What a pleasure to finally be here.

2:36 Oh, man, appreciate you. Honorary Nick fans.

2:39 I see you and your wife have more Nick games than Nick fans.

2:43 I told you before we started the tape rolling that I've been to more Nick's games than any other professional franchise in any sport. I lived here in New York for 15 years, and I would go to the games back when they were begging celebrities to come to the games, like, You know, things weren't always great.

3:01 Man, I was at.

3:02 A game where the guys wore the brown paperbacks. You ever been at a game where they had the brown paperbacks?

3:08 Yeah.

3:08 Three guys in a row with the brown paperbacks. I've been at a game with nobody looking at the game. You're just doing mad deals.

3:15 Yeah. Hey, this, that.

3:17 Stop fucking Wall Street.

3:18 Everybody's doing everything except looking at the game.

3:22 There was a long period of time where the Knicks were in the wilderness, you might say. Yeah.

3:26 But it's beautiful to see the city celebrate this championship.

3:31 It was a long time coming, and I was celebrating with y'all from afar. Thank you. Appreciate it.

3:36 I think everybody, even the owner of Boston, It's one of our arch nemeses, right?

3:43 Because they kept winning. Yeah.

3:45 And the owner reached out to me that I've known for like 20-something years.

3:50 He sees me. Owner of the Celtics? Yeah. It's my man. Excuse me? And he says, no, excuse me. He's connected. Very.

3:59 The man said he was happy for me. He was cheering for us from far. Like, yo, I was cheering.

4:04 This is Boston. Like, who could hate, though? Like, it was just... You could see the joy in the city. San Antonio hate it. They hate it.

4:11 You know, I went out there. They lost. I went out there. They were the nicest people in the world. And once they started noticing that they was about to lose, it was like, yo, get the fuck. Go that way. They would treat me like shit by game four or five. It's like, yo, Fat Joe, get the fuck out of here.

4:30 That time is coming. That time is coming. Wimby's the future.

4:32 He's like an incredible generational player and They'll be fine.

4:37 But it was the next time. That's it. That's it. We needed you in the middle. We're not ordinary people. That's right. Extraordinary. Yeah.

4:49 We don't know which way to go. Like, yo, man, what the fuck is that like in your chamber? If you ever just sat around with a couple of other artists, like, I mean, that's you. and somebody do a song and then you just go, we're just ordinary.

5:06 Well, that song is one of those songs that is going to be part of my life forever.

5:12 People ask me, you get tired of doing these songs? I'm like, no, man. I'm so grateful to have a song that means that much to people.

5:20 That song really launched my career because it wasn't my first single, it was my second single on my first album, but it was the one that connected with everybody. And it set that standard for how I would be perceived for the rest of my career. We made a beautiful video. The song was simple. It didn't sound like anything else on the radio. And it just set that standard from, okay, that's what a John Legend record is. And this is his place in the industry, his place in music, his place in the culture. It established that from the beginning.

5:51 And I just feel so blessed to have that in my arsenal, that as part of my repertoire, that anytime I perform it, People are singing Take It Slow with me. They're singing the song with me. And I meet people all the time that, oh man, that got me through a tough point in my relationship. Songs that are like really part of people's lives and affected them and live with them and still mean something to them.

6:16 It's a blessing.

6:17 So you start with Kanye, good music. You're doing Jesus Walks.

6:22 Yeah.

6:23 And so it sounds to me like you just said, even at that time, when you put out number ones with the crew, you said.

6:33 Oh, this is what John Legend sounds like.

6:36 Well, I never thought of myself as not a solo artist.

6:41 That was always my intention.

6:44 We were always working on my solo project. When I met Kanye, he wasn't well-known at all at the time. We had just both moved to New York. He came from Chicago. I came from Ohio originally, but I had just graduated from Penn in Philadelphia not long before I came here. Moved to New York in 2000. My roommate was his cousin. And his cousin introduced us and we started working together. The first time we met was at Jimmy's Uptown in Harlem. I used to play there like.

7:14 Once a month. You used to play in Jimmy's?

7:16 Yeah.

7:17 I used to play there once a month. That shit. You know that's my spot. Yeah, man. Jimmy's.

7:22 I played at SOB's. I played at Joe's Pub. All the spots around town. And I was born as John Stevens at the time. That's my real name. And Kanye comes to the show. His cousin introduces us. We start working together. And this is We met before the Blueprint came out and that was Kanye's big break as a producer because he had H to the Izzo and a couple other tracks on the Blueprint. And then he still wasn't known as an artist. He was just known for making beats. And Rockefeller signed him. But they didn't really think he was going to actually be an artist.

7:54 They signed him because... They didn't think he'd be selling out stadiums.

7:57 Yeah, yeah.

7:57 They just thought he was making beats and they'd rather have him on the roster than not have him on the roster. And he had to prove himself to Dame and to Jay that he was a real artist. At the time, they just thought he was making beats. We were working together on my project. We started working on my demo back then, 2001. We were working on his demo, which became College Dropout.

8:20 And.

8:21 Neither of our albums came out until 2004.

8:23 So we were grinding behind the scenes, trying to get a record deal for me, trying to get a record deal for him, just trying to get noticed, trying to get recognition for the work.

8:34 That we were doing.

8:35 And we believed before anybody else did, and we had to try to convince everybody. And they didn't believe until, I honestly think it took Kanye getting in an accident, through the wire, funded his own video, funded his own mixtapes, and that made Rockefeller pay attention to what he was doing because he was generating so much buzz on his own.

9:00 And then that set him on a path, and then it set me on a path to where all the labels that had turned me down before were like, oh, yeah.

9:09 Second Thoughts, the same music, but Second Thoughts, Reconsider.

9:12 Oh, yeah.

9:13 Yeah, and then I got signed by Columbia in May 2004, put Get Lifted Out December 2004.

9:20 From the Midwest, something that I always wanted to ask you. I could have asked you off the camera, on the camera, whatever. Was you inspired by Carl Thomas? He was out maybe 10 years before you.

9:31 I love Carl Thomas. He played the piano.

9:33 Yeah.

9:33 And he had that summer rain. Yeah, man. I love summer rain. That whole album, man. I love that whole album. Emotional, all of that.

9:42 And when I first came out, people compared me to him sometimes.

9:46 I did.

9:46 Because our vocal timbre, we have a similar vocal timbre, some of the vibrato we use and just that texture of having grown up in church, but also listening to like Nat King Cole and different people like that I think we have a lot in common as vocalists and I love Carl Thomas I was gonna.

10:03 Ask you what kind of music did you grow up what kind of music was I grew up on gospel music, man. Yeah, I grew up on gospel music.

10:10 I grew up in a family that really didn't let us listen to anything other than gospel music when I was a kid. So I was homeschooled. My grandpa was the pastor. My mother was the choir director. My grandmother was a church organist. So I was just in church almost every day, like whether it was choir rehearsal, Bible study, Sunday morning, Sunday evening, revival.

10:32 I was always there.

10:34 And since we were homeschooled, like, They sheltered us from everything. And so it was almost strictly gospel until I was like 10 or 11 years old.

10:44 In my house. Then my parents got divorced. You know, we broke a record here. Kirk, frankly, you heard that new... Yeah. That beat is crazy. It's incredible. I listen to it five days, five times a day. Y'all don't do that to me. I don't even know my own lyrics. What's wrong with you? We'll be fine this time. We'll be fine this time.

11:12 I listen to it five times a day. That joint taking off. And, uh, Even that, right?

11:19 Even that. Because he used. It's crazy. Land yesterday. What was yesterday? Sunday. I came back from Nebraska. Omaha, Nebraska. Best place on earth, by the way. Best people. Best state college. All right. Rampant. I've never been to Nebraska. You went to the university? No, I had a show.

11:37 I had a show. I don't know the state. Yo, go fuck yourself. I'm asking you a question, dude. You know I don't know where the fuck I went to eat. It was incredible. The food was incredible.

11:49 Where was it? That Midwest hospitality. Yo, let me tell you something. I've never been to Omaha, Nebraska. This is a beautiful people. Beautiful. Cornhuskers. It's a good vibe. Nice people. No. Nice. You ever been to Omaha, Nebraska? Yes. You did. You been out there? I've been there. Sure.

12:09 I was talking to Pusha. Pusha was like, yo, Joe. I said, man, I got a show in Omaha. He was like, what's that like? I thought nobody been there.

12:16 I've been. Rampant. They let us come visit sometimes. No, it was amazing. No, no, I don't even think so. A lot of black people in Omaha, Nebraska. You would never believe that. I know some Nebraskans.

12:29 I didn't think there was a human black person in Omaha, Nebraska.

12:33 Gabrielle's from Nebraska. She's a big Cornhuskers fan.

12:36 Yeah. I went there. The whole concert was sold out. I said, man, this shit right out here. I didn't know. Damn, why the fuck I even bring that up, though? Kirk Franklin. Kirk Franklin. So I land.

12:49 The guy who picks me up at the plane, you know, we got this concierge service that picked me up. Shout out, Delta. The guy puts me in the car. He's playing gospel. I told him, yo, you heard that Kirk Franklin? He was like, Kirk Franklin, the man. But then he started telling me, because this guy's church. Like, there's no way I could tell the guy, you know, he had the baseball cap curved. He's a nice guy on a Sunday, right?

13:14 And he playing the clock. He said, you know, a little bit of controversy in the church because he used The hip hop.

13:22 Yeah. They said it's borderline. They thought it was too worldly. Yeah. He's a revolutionist right now in the church.

13:31 I said, no, but you see, he got guys like me who don't listen to gospel like that.

13:35 Yeah. Playing it five times a day.

13:37 He's been dealing with that since way back. You know, like all the records that he did because he made records that were influenced by hip hop and by R & B. And that crossed over to stations that weren't playing gospel on a regular basis. And a lot of people were like, well, this is too worldly. This is too much like them.

13:56 Like we have to sound different. We have to sound like strictly gospel. And he's dealt with that controversy his whole career. But he keeps coming with hits and it's undeniable. And his theory of the case, I believe, is that let's make something that everybody can listen to and put that message in there in a way that's digestible for everyone, even if they didn't grow up listening to gospel music.

14:19 You know what I go back to? I go back to, uh, what we talked about prior to this. We had Kanye West making music.

14:28 Right? So I just think of all the, uh, Missy and Timbaland were working for, uh, to everybody.

14:35 Yeah.

14:36 And then I'd be like, you know, like, I had DJ Khaled with me before he was DJ Khaled and he was giving me all type of ideas that now people be like, yo, Khaled be like.

14:47 I had Swiss like that. You had Swiss like that? These are like secret weapons.

14:51 I think all of us had that and I was at the Culture Con yesterday and we were talking about a quote by Issa Rae.

14:58 She was talking about how a lot of.

15:00 Times people are looking to level up and find a collaborator that's already well-known, that's already a bold-faced name.

15:08 But a lot of times, the people are right around you. They're right there. They're your peers.

15:12 And you got to find your tribe and rise together. And I think that's what all of us did. Almost none of us were plucked out of obscurity by some already famous person. We needed that as well. But what we were building, we were building with people who are our peers.

15:27 And that's what we were doing. This one is for the OGs. Let's keep it 1800.

15:34 It's always like a collaborative song that lets everybody say, oh, take this guy or take this girl.

15:41 Serious.

15:41 For me, it was Ashacha, LL Cool J. It was me, Keith Murray, Foxy Brown, Prodigy, and LL. So that was the song that was like, hey, take this guy serious. You know, what was that song for you? Like for French, for me, it was.

15:57 Like, pop that, pop that.

15:58 You got Drake, Ross, all of them on there. It's always a song.

16:03 The first video for me that broke through before my own songs broke through was Selfish with Slum Village. That was the first time I had a feature credit. That was the first time I was really featured in a video. That's a hell of a feature.

16:26 Yeah.

16:27 But I was also doing little things on other records. So I was singing on Encore. What the hell are you waiting for? That was me on the piano like that. I sang back up on Alicia Keys.

16:39 You Don't Know My Name. You don't know my name.

16:42 I was doing all kinds of vocals and piano all over college.

16:46 That's the shit I'm talking about. Showing Jada. That's why this is the premiere. Hip hop. That's what I'm, you know, Luther Vandross was on a million hits. Yeah, he was doing that too. He was singing back up on a lot of people's records and people didn't even know.

17:00 Yeah.

17:01 He was singing jingles, you know, and people didn't even know. And then he was just putting his voice out there any way that he could. And then finally everyone was like, we need records with this dude. I need to see a documentary on Frank Sinatra.

17:14 The more I keep learning about Frank and what he did for black people, how he stood up.

17:20 And that was the real scary time. He was working with Quincy when Quincy was a kid, Quincy Jones. He was always advocating for the black artists that he worked with, like Sammy Davis Jr.

17:33 anybody else. He was like, if they can't come to the hotel, I ain't going to the hotel.

17:37 If they can't go to the venue, if they can't enter through this door, then I ain't using it.

17:42 He would advocate for us.

17:44 That's why I always respect him beyond just the amazing records he made, but the fact that he was a real ally for us back in the time when it was costly to do that.

17:54 Oh, no, that was a serious time.

17:56 Yeah.

17:57 You know, that was more, you know, we think we had trying times. Now that shit was real. As you know, back then. You know, so I would like to see a documentary on him.

18:07 Yeah. Old Blue Eyes. Yeah. Old Blue Eyes. Yeah, but he stood up. He stood tall.

18:13 You know, at a time where it was really, you know, risking your life for standing up.

18:18 It was risky.

18:19 People were literally getting killed standing up for justice back then. And the fact that he did it, he used his He used his power to do it.

18:27 It was beautiful.

18:29 What'd you think about this Nolan Wells, what happened to Nolan Wells and how they dealt with it? Because I know you went into like.

18:40 It's hard because I don't know enough of the story to really have a strong opinion. All I know is what we've been saying for years is that our lives matter and they should matter to society.

18:52 It should matter to the legal system.

18:54 That means when we die, that the same kind of care that goes into investigating a white kid's death should go into investigating our deaths. That means when we're approached by the police, we should have the same benefit of the doubt that anybody else would have. And that means when somebody takes our lives, they should have the same punishment they would get if they took someone else's life.

19:18 So it's a bare minimum of respect for our lives to matter as much as anybody else's.

19:24 And we still haven't gotten to that point in this country. That's crazy. That being said, what is it like being on The Voice?

19:32 I love being on The Voice. I love being on The Voice. I love working with new artists. I love, like, I've been in this industry for a long time and I feel like I have a lot to share with them and a lot to teach them and a lot of great advice to give to them.

19:48 And I love doing it. It really is fun.

19:49 You know, I think when you get one of them jobs like The Voice, your car could break down in Omaha, Nebraska.

19:57 And a lady invites you in the house. Hey, John, you got a problem? It's the border.

20:01 That's like, that lets you right in.

20:05 Any farm, anywhere in America.

20:08 Yeah, I noticed the difference as soon as I started being on the show. Just the middle America that recognized me, knew who I was, felt like they knew me as a person because they see more of your personality.

20:19 I felt that.

20:21 Increased dramatically from being on that show. And it just opens you up to other audiences. And like I said, they get to know your personality because even if they knew all of me or they knew a few songs, they didn't know me.

20:34 But I think they know me.

20:36 A lot better because they get to see my personality, dealing with other artists, joking around with my fellow coaches, whatever it is, they get to see me as a full person.

20:44 And it definitely made a difference. I think that's what this whole thing's about. This era.

20:50 Podcast with us.

20:53 Nobody knew you was going to fuck with me so much on this show. They know your personality now. Way on. Yeah. All right. Flag on the plate.

21:02 Nobody knew that you were a sniper from around the... Yo, but let me tell you something. But it allows you... Because at one time, everybody was tough. Nobody talked. And it was just the records and the videos. We looked at everybody like... You know, we wouldn't even talk to our best friends. You know what I'm saying?

21:19 Me mugging everywhere you went. Me mugging our friends.

21:23 You know, but now you get to show your personality and show who you are.

21:28 And that's dope. You know, the other day I drove with Rem. Did I tell you that story? First time I.

21:34 Drove with Rem in like 10 years, 15 years that we're in the car alone. She's playing me her new album. We got pulled over by the cops. No, the newer album. Now we got pulled over by the cops. The first time we drove together. Motherfucker pulled me over talking about your license expired. I said, this is impossible. Nah, the computer said, I said, bro, you got to be kidding me.

21:59 I gave him the license. He was like, I said, what'd it say on there? I said, no, no. I said, yo, I said, you know, his partner comes. He said, we got two for the price of one.

22:09 Can I get a picture with you guys?

22:12 I was about to say, y'all got to be good.

22:14 In New York.

22:15 Were you in New York or were you in Florida? No, I was in Jersey. But they're good people. Cool with the cops. I told Remy, Remy had the video. She was trying to make it a scandal. Scandalo TV.

22:27 She was like, yo, they're pulling over the black and the Hispanic in the suburbs of Jersey.

22:33 Stay tuned. She had the dash. I said, no, no, no, no, no. I said, these people are nice to me. They're always nice to me here. Don't do it, fam.

22:42 Don't put it on blast. But that shit was crazy, though. You know, they'll still pull you over 2026. We good in New York. We good in New York. You good up here.

22:50 You good. You good. I ain't worried about you. We good.

22:57 Everybody knows I'm New York all day. And for me, that means the next. The fandom goes way, way back. It's something you got to grow up with.

23:07 Something your family puts in your DNA. And eventually, something you pass down.

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23:43 And we want to hear your story.

23:45 Submit a short video telling us how your fandom has been passed down.

23:49 Your family, your team, your legacy.

23:52 Ten fans will win $ 1, 800, and one grand prize winner can win up to $ 18, 000.

23:59 Woo! Winners are announced in January.

24:02 So wherever you are, whoever you're riding for, tell your story.

24:06 Keep the legacy going.

24:08 1,800 Tequila and Fanatics Club legacy.

24:15 What's it like working with Pharrell? I love working with Pharrell.

24:19 We had worked together just a little bit before, just a song here and a song there.

24:24 So he did one song on my third album, one song on my fifth album.

24:28 But we had never really spent that much time together and done a whole project together.

24:32 And he called me at the end of 2024.

24:34 He was like, what are you working on? I've been really inspired by your voice.

24:38 I had done the Birds Don't Sing track for the Clips.

24:42 And he was like, I really want to work with you and do a whole album based around your voice. And he's like, I got all these ideas. I got beats. I got song ideas. When you coming to Paris? And I was like, I'm actually going to be there next month. So let's get in then. And we started it then. And we made a whole album together, man. He's based out of Paris now? He's based there. So he's not in Miami. He's Louis Vuitton like full time. His kids go to school in Paris. I just want free clothes.

25:13 That's it.

25:16 So I would go to Paris and we'd work out of the Louis Vuitton offices. So we're walking through the hall and there's designs everywhere. The designers are working, huddled up. And then at the end of the office, there's a corner office with A studio. Piano sitting there. And we were making a record right there.

25:37 You know, they would notice things missing in the loop.

25:41 If I worked with him for a week, shit be messing.

25:44 I'm looking for that million dollar bag he showed that time with that gold. I'm going to take the chance. I'm going to go for it. Paris is such a beautiful place, man. A special place. Yeah.

25:56 It was inspiring to be there. Yeah.

25:59 Making this album, did you and him have, what's the back and forth?

26:03 Like, what's the... There's conversations, man.

26:05 You know, when you're in a creative collaboration, you're not always going to agree on everything. And we would go back and forth about this or that arrangement, this or that instrument being included. And I have my ideas, he has his. And, you know, you just got to get to the point where the record is what wins. The music is what wins. And not worry about ego. And then at the end of the whole process, he was like, man, thank you for trusting me. Thank you for going through this whole journey with me. I remember calling you that first day and seeing if you were interested in doing this.

26:39 And the fact that we completed this whole journey together is beautiful. And I'm so proud of what we made together. Like the music is incredible. The visuals are incredible. His whole team has been collaborating with us on videos, photos, everything, and just having all that creative energy and artistic ability.

26:58 Pouring it all into this project has been incredible. Looking forward to hearing this thing. Yeah, sir. Oh, we got a track. What are we playing? Uh-oh. All right. What are we playing? This is new. It's called Bodies on the Floor. It's not out yet. It features clips. Pusha T and Malice are both on the track. Oh, shit.

27:18 Produced by Pharrell Williams, like the whole album. And Newsflash, we just shot a video for this.

27:25 Wow. Just two days ago. Only on Joe and Jada.

27:31 You know, I say to him, he got that one line. He says, sound anything like Jada, then sign right here. Like the labels, if you sound like Jada. Do a song with John Legend, that Grammy coming somehow.

27:44 He the cheat code for it. You need to school me. You know what I mean? Right here. The first track I did with Khaled, was Grammy Family. With Nipsey. Oh, no, you did that. Grammy Family.

27:55 That's one of my favorite. I love that beat. Oh, no, with KMT. Good music to Grammy Family. And he didn't have a Grammy yet, but he was already, like, claiming it. Like, we the Grammy Family. And his first Grammy, we won for the track we did with Nipsey Hussle.

28:14 Yeah, fire. Rest in peace, Nip. Let's go. Body's on the floor. Here we go. Put it loud. Put it up. Put it up. And all it.

28:53 Costs, something we just can't afford to say. I can't keep repeating, so I'm retreating. I can't find a reason for me to stay. All this blood on the table, bodies on the floor.

29:17 It's a war. It's a war that I don't want to fight no more.

29:22 Only heaven can save us. Stretch my hands to the Lord.

29:28 The choice is yours.

29:30 It's a war that we don't have to fight no more.

29:34 We can split the homes down the middle.

29:37 Send them cars back to the dealers.

29:39 The jury in the We'll be right back.

29:52 The women with no man that don't make no sense you trying to find me guilty.

29:57 With no prince what's the bff to.

29:59 All these vvs all your.

30:01 Little girlfriends starting little messes the only thing missing are their wedding dresses while they was counting x's you was counting blessings You be sitting pretty, they happy with 50-50. Imagine going half on a loft outside the city. Sometimes silence is way worse than violence. Feel like we on two different islands.

30:21 When there's blood on the table, bodies on the floor. It's a war, it's a war that I don't want to fight no more. Only heaven can save me. Stretch my hand to the Lord. Hey, the transit yard is a wall.

30:41 And we don't have to fight no more. They say all is fair in love and war.

30:48 What am I still jealous for? I'll let you leave, but can't let you go.

30:53 Is that someone else? I don't want to know. Can't see those hands on your body. It's either me or nobody. But is the blue worth the bad? Do I miss what we had? So much that I need it right back. After all this time. Can't get you off my mind.

31:15 Maybe I drank too much and I just need you tonight. Late night call. Do you miss me at all? We'll get back together. No regret until the morning light. When there's blood on the table Bodies on the floor.

31:38 It's a war, it's a war.

31:39 That I don't wanna fight no more Only heaven can save me Stretch my hands to the Lord The charge is.

31:50 Yours, it's a war That we don't have to fight.

31:52 No more We don't have to fight no more We don't have to fight no more It's a.

32:01 War, it's a war. Look, we don't have to fight no more.

32:10 I think it's the first time I threw flags to this shit so disrespectful. That shit, bro. I can't even begin to explain. Like, I know exactly what happened there. Like, me. I know exactly what happened in that production and everything.

32:32 When the shit switched up. I heard everything. Yeah, yeah. Nah, it's... Man, you guys. Man. Man.

32:43 So in the moment, and then when the horn coming after the piano, man, man.

32:48 I'm like, yo, this shit is... It's perfection. Thank you. Thank you. October 23rd. October 23rd. Muse, baby.

32:57 That's one of my favorites. Fireflies is one of my favorites. Daylight's one of my favorites.

33:05 We got some heat. Let me tell you something. Hold on. Let me tell you something, right?

33:11 And out of this whole interview, because this has been a great interview, and we're honored to have you here, brother, because you're a pillar of the community.

33:19 You're a fucking legend. You're an icon, like he says.

33:21 But what I will take home as a hip-hop head is with all the accolades you have, you start singing that shit live right there. I was like, yo, that's day one type of shit, right? We'll play our song and just be like, well, you went in. Like, I love that shit, man. You don't lose the passion for the music no matter what.

33:45 I love this music, man. I'm proud of it. I love singing it. I love the creative process that went into it. The collaborative process that went into it. Like, you just have geniuses. Like, that whole record is Pharrell. It's a lot of fuckery going on.

34:04 Pusha T. Malice. Terrace Martin, who's an incredible musician and producer. He produced all the horns on it.

34:13 I'm telling you, that shit hit every gimmick of a real hip-hop hand ever created.

34:18 Yeah.

34:18 When the horn come, when the piano go in, when it switches up, when you saying the blood on the tape, all that is a lot of fuckery going on in this record right here. It's just disrespect is what I'm trying to tell you. To a hip-hop head, that shit is not right. It's not right. Y'all touched every DNA.

34:39 Every simple... Nah, I get it.

34:42 I get it. This shit is crazy. I can't wait to hear this album. When this album come out? October 23rd. It's coming out tomorrow.

34:53 And I would say probably, I would guess the video is probably coming out right around that time. So the video with Pusha T and Malice is coming out tomorrow. The album's dropping tomorrow. I'm so proud of it. I'm so excited for people to hear it.

35:14 JoeAndJayTheShow.com. We got new merch fresh off the presses. Go get it. Big out of big.

35:23 JoeAndJayTheShow.com. You can get these. A little cold for a t-shirt with a hoodie.

35:30 It's my favorite right there. I need an extra large. JoeAndJayTheShow.com. Go there and get it. Man, it's amazing, man. And it's an honor to have you here, man, because, you know, you've done a lot for hip hop music, you know, just music in general, man.

35:53 Get us through. People don't understand this.

35:55 Being an artist is a service, you know, and it's like you make people happy.

36:01 You know, people watch their mothers sing your songs. Yeah.

36:04 You know, it's like, like I always know, like my wife's, one of her best friends is Mary, right? And so it's hard to be that cool with Mary, chilling with her all the time, going to dinner, this and this and that, because when people overreact, I don't really think they overreact. I'd be like, yo, you know how many times they watch their mother cry?

36:27 They love her. She has a place in every mother's heart.

36:31 And she made those lyrics that, Everybody felt and everybody, like when she was going through it, everybody was going through it with her.

36:39 I want to ask you a corny question, but it's not, right?

36:43 Name some artists that influenced you or you love, love, love their music. Like, you know, because everybody, the wackest people in the world is asking, what's your top five?

36:54 We're not asking that. Just a couple of names out there.

36:57 The artists that influenced me the most, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, Nat King Cole, Nina Simone, Donny Hathaway, Curtis Mayfield. Those are the artists that really influenced me the most. But also my grandmother, who was my first gospel music teacher, basically. So my playing style comes a lot from her. And then I got to be part of Lauryn Hill's Miss Education.

37:21 I might play piano on that. And that was during that time. It was important, especially during that time, because that's when I was thinking about my solo career and the kind of music I wanted to make. And that album was like the beacon for a lot of us out there that influenced us so much and inspired us and made us want to create our own work. And I would say she was a huge influence, too. You know what our groupie doubt about? Like last week, we had the show in Baltimore, right? We had the Joe and Jada Live in Baltimore.

37:52 That same day, I went to Philly because my man Rich Zababa was there to get a cut in Philly in the hotel.

37:59 Wanya came out the bathroom and was like, yo, Joe, crap. I was like, yo.

38:03 I forced him to bring the other two guys downstairs, Sean and him. You had a Boyz II Men moment. I fucking love Boyz II Men. And I'm chilling with my security and all that. And the man, I said, yo, let me ask you. I asked him what we got in the car. I said, yo, Carlos, let me ask you something.

38:18 You ever see me? He said, boss, I ain't never seen that guy.

38:22 Fucking Boyz II Men.

38:24 Boyz II Men was influenced too. When I was in high school, that's when they were huge. And anybody who wanted to sing, we were singing End of the Road.

38:32 We were singing It's.

38:35 So Hard to Say Goodbye. I'll Make Love to You. All those songs, we was harmonizing together. We looked up to them. We looked up to Jodeci, like those artists. during that time was so important.

38:47 Nine out of every ten people who've ever said, Joe, can I sing for you? They sung this one Alicia Keys song.

38:54 If I Ain't Got You.

38:56 If I Ain't Got You. Why'd they pick that song? Is there a gimmick to the singers? Like, you can hit different notes.

39:03 What is it? Why'd they pick that song?

39:05 It's a good song to show off your voice because it has enough range, it has passion, and everybody knows it. It's definitely a good tryout song. It's a good audition song. For a lot of the men, they sing Ordinary People. Yeah, they'll be like, yo, let me sing Ordinary People.

39:21 Yeah.

39:22 I have a show that's going on to Broadway soon, and we're at the Shed here in New York.

39:28 It's called Imitation of Life. I wrote the lyrics and music for it.

39:31 And the director and anybody who's hosted auditions before said, if I could get paid off every time I heard a man come in and sing Ordinary People for an audition, I'd be rich. Just because it's one of those songs that people love to cover.

39:47 And I think If I Ain't Got You is one of those songs, too. You know, when I heard this song right now you played, man, it reminded me. Yo, do me a favor. Don't watch this movie. Lizzie Borden. It's called Monster. Don't watch it. Netflix. Don't watch it. She killed for a living. There's blood all over this shit.

40:07 It was amazing, too. The guy who did that, he did Jeffrey Dahmer. Oh, wow. He did the Andrew Cunanan. This is on Netflix? This guy's incredible, man.

40:14 And when you said I got the blood on the table, I just finished watching this shit.

40:19 When I was writing this song, I was watching Mobland. I love Mobland.

40:26 And I was really thinking about that mob war shit when I was writing it. And I wasn't going through it with my wife. It sounds like we was having an epic fight. We were about to break up.

40:41 But no, we weren't. But I was listening to this. I was writing the song. I was watching that show during that time.

40:48 And I was just thinking about what it means to be in a war with somebody and always having revenge and always out for the other person. And when do you settle it and just have peace for everybody?

40:58 And so that's what I wrote the song about. Then you wanted her back after the whole shit. Exactly. Like, can you come back one more time? Can I see you once again? That's the hardest time. Can't get you off my mind.

41:09 You make a lot of good music.

41:13 Thank you, sir. With Ross, though. Like, Ross, he gets you in, like, this pocket. Yeah.

41:18 Well, I think Ross is great at beat selection, first of all. And especially all the Justice League stuff we've done together. Like, It really fits his voice well, but it also fits my voice very well.

41:30 And our voices just, they mesh.

41:32 Something about our voices, that baritone that he has and the baritone that I have, it just.

41:37 Works well together.

41:38 And we just always make classic shit together.

41:40 First one was Magnificent.

41:42 He actually had done a remix to Green Light before that, that we just put out on mixtapes.

41:48 But the first true record we did together was Magnificent.

41:52 And then we've done enough records together that we can make a whole album of Join collaborations.

41:58 Yeah, but it don't lose. And he speaks so highly about you. Yeah. He came on this show and was like, yo, you know, I got John. Yeah.

42:06 He's been on two of my albums and I've been on, I think, five of his albums.

42:11 Yeah. He fucked with you. He told me you the cheat code. Our voices just, they just click. They click. Yeah.

42:22 Yeah.

42:22 Thank you all. You got one for him? We do. Oh, you got one? Oh, yeah, we got one. Kiss, you top five. You top five dead or alive. Kiss, I don't... What do you think? You think I don't... Joe, we ain't got one together. That's the only issue. That's the biggest problem. That's... I ain't going to play, brother. You need one with Fat Joe.

42:47 Maybe I'll win the Grammy then.

42:49 Yeah, let's go. Let's get the Grammy. I'm looking for the Grammy. I'm looking... Listen, Grammy mania.

42:54 Yes.

42:54 I got an album out there. Organized rhymes. Let's go. Let's go. Let's get to it. This ain't that. That ain't this. It's Crackin' Kiss, guys.

43:04 Make some noise for John Legend. Muse, October 23rd. Today in stores midnight.

43:15 Get it. Let's go. This album about to be something incredible. Appreciate y'all. That was fun.