Joe Rogan Experience #2250 — Raekwon Transcript

Transcript

0:00 The Joe Rogan Experience. You guys are so different than every other band that ever existed. It was a giant group of you It's crazy that it worked. Yeah. It's not like a business strategy that anybody would ever come up with. It was more a reputation thing for us. You know, lucky Luciano prime example, you know, he knew that motherfuckers had potential, right?

2:54 Well, Riz is a genius. I said that we play protect your neck. It's I know whenever we have a police escort. That's what's the most hilarious thing How the fuck you remember that? He remind you, he never was dirty. Once we got on that stage, it was like, fuck the stage. Yeah, I never knew that people seen that. I don't know how the fuck you knew that shit like. Oh, I heard about it Yeah, I heard about it. I mean they lost us in the news back then that you guys performed in Rikers. Yeah. Yeah

6:00 It will, I mean. everything was a mixture, it was a mixture. Wow, this shit sound cool, though. so it had to be 80. Yeah, yeah. Do you remember like what was the shit AG1 is a daily health drink that combines vitamins, minerals, superfoods, and more partnered with them for so long. ever, and that's where Rocket Money comes in. But then that show gets canceled and you realize there's only so much vinegary goodness a

10:06 They automatically scan your bills to find opportunities to save. Jre rocketmoney.com And they used to live two, Just don't tell your mother that you was around and shit. And a lot of the music was R&B, disco. when you used to have CDs, you know, like six in the morning, Once the floodgates. I mean there's a few guys who got through with regular shit, but it just didn't last.

13:36 Like, they'd be dressed up like a fucking drag or whatever, all this makeup on. had his hair all wild, his shit was like green and red and all this, and he had lipstick And that shit was going on back then because the drugs the drugs was crazy back then right? you know, listening to Ladies Night. You don't get the kind of band that Wu Tang was like that that has to emerge from an authentic experience

16:11 you'd never actually experienced. keep us in the vibe mode. You know, then it creates this animosity thing. just to start trouble and, you know, then they would come up the block and they would different DJs was coming from different places and going to you know you know trying to hit motherfuckers and swinging the golf club out the fucking Yeah. felt like that was a vessel to being calm.

19:47 You know, when music always kept us calm and you always want to listen to what's the next That was fun times for us. RZA was from Staten Island. of rallies. This is a place where everybody go when they build. They're talking And they would run around and know that, yo, heard about your rhymes you had to know where to go, You know, and the next thing you know,

23:10 Wow, so RZA is essentially the mastermind There was a few people that were together, but it wasn't like you guys no no because it was kind of scary but when RZA had a record situation And you know, he just put that number together. really got talent. Like, yo, so, you know, this is something that I felt and he was like, yo, I caught a record there.

25:39 Yeah, the fine print and shit. yo, chef, this is what I'm trying to do. It's a mandatory. It's crazy. It's all gone. like Bill Burr was explaining this You may you may feel like y'all got talent, but I don't have the resources, right? artist takes. They takes that sacrifice because at the end of the day, you have to start from Yo, I'll sign because what the fuck I gotta lose?

29:00 To be able to say, yo, something happened. became famous, they became big, they became legendary. What you gotta do. And I'm sure later on things worked out You may feel like at the end of the day you can handle it, but a motherfucker tell you Joe fuck you need to know, I advise you don't take them. You shouldn't be having that to make it happen, you fucked.

31:42 Automatically. That's what it is. You gotta know your guy. in terms of the industry because today, when he was 17 on the street. It's like there was guys like that back then but man to get out there and get your name out there and your time to learn something, that opportunity. It's like, what, watching Scarface? but he was able to prove to himself that I could do it.

35:01 And you just keep taking chances. That's right. Like, oh, this guy had fucking three albums before this yeah, think about it think about all our favorite artists out there, you know You know, he start rocking shows in different communities, Yeah, you gotta have some talent. I was listening to that shit yesterday Gene goes back in the gun. Yeah with a bunch of rappers?

37:36 My god Nice. Yeah, phenomenal. It's the beginning. Yeah. Yeah, I was on a road trip with like YouTube and you know, so many of these platforms, That was when cockblocking came out I was a huge ghetto boys fan. Fuck a War. I don't give a fuck about you and all that bullshit you're stressing. You can't pay me to join in on your camp While I push your ass on TV playing golf

42:35 They was public-gaining me thinking. It was talking about things that were going on in the world and that became the television So when I think about those Compton Boys, What the fuck was that right, you know, but you heard it in a song and you knew it was real, right? damn, the fuck was that that just happened? ill shit. And that's one of my favorite groups right there, Ghetto Boys.

44:55 and I was at the gym riding on the stair climber. It was like they were rapping for themselves, right? Yeah, like they didn't give a fuck who was listening the police. KRS-1. They were saying something. You know a lot of people that coming out of you know, the hood and just being like I know you you come from the hood I lived in Newark, I was telling you.

47:31 Selling dope, he was selling dope and they got him. Yeah, I would say definitely 91. Oh my god, I gotta work I see Slick Rick, I see Rakim, I see Cube, When we came out, Naughty by Nature was the shit. Kuji Rap, one of my favorites. That was the thing. Lyrics is everything. and more and more twists of what they were saying. I mean rock and roll you had the 50s it starts to emerge and the 60s really takes off and you know

51:53 That was stupid, baby. You know, it just sophisticated. I grew up watching more Scarface and mafia movies, Once Upon a Time in America. A lot of drugs was being sold in my community that were doing things that bothered other people They got kicked the fuck out of Shaolin. and doing shit. So we wound up changing the name and calling it Shilin because we were the

54:49 going over to your friends. Like, yo, you go to a new name, who is this guy? All this shit that RZA was thinking about at that time from. You had the white boys over here fucking doing that they brought up the block to us. yo, your niggas know karate and all this shit? He knew the arts and shit. Beating them with fucking laundry mat hoses and shit an expression. So if you drinking, this is Wu-Tang to them was always something like an expression. So if you're drinking, this is Wu-Tang.

58:07 Like, whenever I kill something, I'll show you. It goes back years. go back and search Wu Tang and it'll show you. Oh, we'll show you. Yeah. Oh, okay Oh, look at Jamie under cam Hanes or just we time. We then when you find cam Hanes, it'll show you Like every time I shoot an elk, I text Wu Tang. Wow, crazy. I'm like, all right, that's what I do now.

1:00:00 that's like saying you're a black belt Yeah well there's a lot of bow hunting in Texas. Yeah that's what I'm saying. A lot of bow hunting in Texas yeah. To me, yeah You should find some other thing you like to do just to give you a little break mentally from whatever you're trying to do. Maybe I should take a new turn, you know, mix it up. You know what I mean?

1:02:54 Well, when I see guys like LL and Kane and them perform and Slick Rick and Ice Cube, it Why not? So you felt like you would get a five year run. What's that? Had that supermodel wife. Oh, then everything got real soft Kind of crazy. Still going. Yeah, still going. So those are our heroes. Those are guys that we look up to that, you know, they still doing anything man.

1:05:35 Yeah. they don't appreciate you. We just put him on stage and he knew the fucking words. Yeah, you're right, you're right. And they're like, wow, yeah, yeah, this is 1992. That's amazing. You know, I remember old man would tell us, you know, they look at hip hop That's not a long ago It's like my thing to that is always like yo it's no different from going to see a

1:09:17 You know what I mean? So what's going on really? Yeah, this is that which is why Wu Tang was so good the reason why it was so good You're going to listen to it anyway. Not me should never fucking rule you but around me, you know in a friend from the neighborhood yo, as long as I can make my cream, I'm good. Nah, real shit, real shit. came up with cash rules, everything around me and him and Meth, they put it together

1:12:58 Giganti a Teflon Don with a Diamante. So he made me go back and change it. So he just told you harder. rule, everything around me. It wound up being one of our biggest records, And that's what I think that people love about Wu-Tang The fuck, he's right. It's contagious. Yeah. Yeah. I jumped right in behind him. all on one song. we'll take the little bit of money,

1:17:49 as long as you got the money. He was like, yo I'll give you all that deal. we looked at it, like you said, as a movement. So even though we knew we were a group, in our minds we looked at it, you have, you know, these other other guys coming out and creating their own labels and bringing Oh, the beat is everything, bro. I mean I tell people all the time, like, number one for us,

1:20:44 And I answered him, I gave him an answer Anybody could make rhymes. It's like how you can listen and protect your neck and you get that energy from us. And of course, just having his ear for music and listening to other people's know, he played with different things. And of course, you know, just having his ear for music He was like that when Terry Bradshaw was playing, Lynn Swann.

1:22:43 I see from your perspective as a lyricist That's what, you know. Right, right. How can I give it to you if I don't have nothing to do? Yeah, it's like a rare savant there's dudes like that that are like beat machines You gotta remember that DJing started it all. Who the fuck was handling his fucking music, man? I don't know. I don't know Jewish guy I think and he shot this lady in the mouth. Oh, was he Jewish I

1:26:50 Russian Jewish, boom, nailed it. her in the mouth. We had this really strange relationship. Was that his manager killed him because it's more valuable for Hendrix to be dead his music. He's a Ten years ago one that long ago where as the bodyguard said yeah the manager killed him killed Hendrix and Tang movie. a good friend of mine, Q-Tip, one of Leonardo's favorite spots.

1:29:38 Myself Leonardo's peoples in LA I guess he felt like he was committed to doing night and I remember that I wish we could have been able to sit down with on what he wanted to do. Oh, for sure. You know? Yeah. It has to be set up, the scenes have to be set up. I said yo look at the prime example look at NWA. I thought NWA movie was dope it was like, all right, I get it.

1:33:29 That's the opening of the movie real gritty you want that just get everybody on the hook right away I mean just think about the incredible So you just, that alone in the movies, Yeah, yeah, yeah, okay cool. Yeah, we got you. Yeah. Yeah their lives is going into you know you know I tell people all the time you know you know, Old Dirty always wanted to be like Biz,

1:37:11 That was his side of how he wanted to tell it. And it could be done, man. And that becomes this massive hit. what are you gonna give, Of course. I say that we definitely had a piece of watching the new generation grow and kind of build with the storyboard. We're like, what the fuck is, what's a million dollars? The first jumps. High in spec view through the future see millennium

1:41:10 It's my testament to those burned. Yeah, to me for sure. Okay. Yeah, we're gonna do it because we have to not do it because we're all in a happy vibe a happy moment you guys still stay together Some guidance. Yeah, you know it's like today They would've told you, that's not gonna work. No, nobody nobody couldn't it by themselves and be great. That's why it's never been done before, which is amazing.

1:45:15 And I couldn't name one person. friends too man and so different than anything else like the way he did it someone who's interested in a career in it now, It's totally new sound totally new like Just get on YouTube, get on Spotify, educate yourself. know I own I own a cannabis business in Newark called Hash Floria you know I put it on my mother's, you know,

1:48:36 about certain things. But it just sometimes it just sitting in one fucking box where it's like yo come on. We gotta it's not just that We want you to just- They do that in comedy. in a way that's gonna be the most profitable they don't give a fuck if It was like, what? This is what I wanna do now. that same creative force that created It's always terrible because they don't have a vision

1:52:07 because he sees something. They're artists though. You like that again. Like, what's this new thing you're doing? no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, for what it is and then say, yo, look, It was like pointing out things in society and became a huge artist I think it's just be undeniable. Yeah. See, damn, you talking like,

1:54:50 you know only built for cuban links is my The clan of course the clan, but this is something that was my intellectual property that I said yo Everybody's mother is wearing We're finally getting ready to do it right now, it's like damn, this is what you was going through, this is how your mindset was because I just want people to know that You know, we had conflictions with some artists out there, like Biggie back

1:58:33 The new album, I say probably like makes sense it's like oh if you believe it or I'm supposed to believe I was supposed to believe nothing that don't feel like what it's supposed but yeah, that's gonna be the name of my new album. probably, at that time. It's like you could be 50. about growth and development. when it comes to how he feels that passion for boxing or whatever.

2:01:31 And thank you for everything you guys have done Well we gonna make it happen. what the fuck we wanna do. Appreciate it.