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Take the wheel. JUST TAKE THE WHEEL. WOO!
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HEY, WHAT'S GOING ON EVERYBODY?
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From First We Feast, I'm Sean Evans and you're watching Hot Ones.
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It's the show with hot questions and even hotter wings.
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And today we're joined by Queen Latifah.
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She's a Grammy and Emmy Award-winning, Oscar-nominated, multi-hyphenate pop culture icon who's been entertaining audiences for over 30 years.
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And you can catch her starring alongside Adam Sandler in her latest film Hustle, which is set to release on Netflix June 8th.
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Queen Latifah, welcome to the show. Thank you for having me.
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How are you around spicy food before we dig in here?
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I'm good around spicy food.
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I enjoy the smell, the aroma, and hopefully taste.
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All right, so just take a bite and Take a bite. feels good to have. Nice. Cool. Classic is sweet. Not bad at all. Smoky.
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So, I want to come out the gate by complimenting you on your performance in Hustle, which is a movie that I really enjoyed not only for the story, but also because it's a very athletic film and really nails the sport of basketball in a way that's not always a given in Hollywood.
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You've described working with Adam Sandler as being a life's dream.
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What draws you to his work?
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Cuz I think you both have a really good compass when it comes to blending humor with themes of family and sentimentality. I quite agree with you. I couldn't agree more.
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Um, I think he's just had an amazing career and he's a cool person.
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I've known him through the years and he's just always been the same cool guy all the every time I see him.
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But I'm definitely a fan of his and I think he as an actor takes chances.
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You know, he takes risks and he pushes the limit.
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And when he dives into it, he dives in 100% and people like really respect and love him for it. I sure do.
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So, you know, playing his wife in this movie was a pleasure. A double loco.
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And we got this side piece right there. Mhm.
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Go a little crispy with that. Mhm. Pineapple cayenne.
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I was like, this kind of sweet.
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Yeah, a little island vibe over here.
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That's a good vibe right there. There we go. Yeah.
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So, I'm really interested in the hip-hop scene that you came up in in the late 1980s and in particular this quote from your long-time creative partner Sha-Kim Compere who once told the New York Times, "We would play Madison Square Garden and then do a rodeo." Which LA Oh, snap.
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Which LA roller rink turned music venue do you remember more fondly?
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Skateland or World on Wheels?
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Um well, both of the shows rocked, but ended in some craziness.
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So, you know, it was really heavy gangbanging at that time.
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Um I think I was what I see on that show.
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I remember having to hide in the office of the manager and it was like a gate pulled down and you could see it being banged in from the outside.
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Like, what the F is going on? This is crazy. I love hip-hop.
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Um and then the other one I remember putting my mic down at the Skateland and letting them give a shout-out and then the guy he grabbed the mic and was like, "I'm going to shout-out this that there."
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He started throwing up all the signs and I couldn't get the mic back.
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I was like, "Damn, what did I do?"
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And I was like, "Yeah, yeah."
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I finally got the mic back.
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That ended up in a fight in there, too, but it was so much fun back then. You know what I mean?
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It was a little dangerous, but it was so much fun and the music was just like it was fresh and new and I was part of that era and that coming up of a new sound in hip-hop, so it was cool with me.
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I don't remember ever really skating in those places.
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I just remember just hanging.
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Well, speaking of skating, are you ready to skate on over to the next wing? Slack. Ah, okay. Let me get What we got? What we got?
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This is the Mez clean here in the third spot. Oh, shoot. Memphis.
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I hope it makes me laugh like the old days Memphis used to. Mhm.
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We're getting in his zone a little bit. Yeah, that's doable.
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No, this is a beautiful This is not This only in the third one. I know. But I'm I'm building.
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I'm building over here, you know? I know.
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You got some really good questions to distract me, but so thank you.
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Thank you for doing a little homework there.
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So, vocal arranger John Clayton once said of you in Jazz Times, "Technically, she can pretty much do anything she needs to with her voice and since she's an actress, she knows how to sell the lyric."
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Is there at all a connection for you between the way that you approach a song and the way that you approach a role?
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Scribble do do do do damn.
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Um, I was thinking absolutely.
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Um, I'll start with that just to get me there.
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Music goes with me everywhere I go.
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So, no matter what I do, there's always music involved.
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And I think when I was a less experienced actor, younger actor, I had to really think of maybe real life experiences to really get me where I needed to be with where the character was.
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But I really don't have to do that anymore and music is so close.
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I can play a song and get exactly where I need to be.
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As long as that song it touches me in a certain way, I can just throw it on.
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It puts me right where I need to be emotionally.
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And then I can go do that scene however many times.
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Off the top of your head without thinking about it too much, the all-time greatest jazz standard. Ooh.
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I mean, it's not really jazz standard, but Strange Fruit is some powerful song. There we go. All right.
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Why would this make me go to Strange Fruit? Damn.
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This is some wild [ __ ] I don't know.
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Um I'll think of something more uh happy a little later, maybe. Maybe. Maybe. Maybe.
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Are you ready to move on here to the next wig? You're doing great.
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This is the Los Calientes Verde here in the four spot.
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Okay, let's see what we got.
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Can we even see see any more clearly?
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Yeah, it starts to hit a little back there. Yeah, it's happening.
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So, two of your life details that I find interesting is that you worked at The Wiz before you were famous, and then also owned a video rental store in Jersey City, which are both total anachronisms.
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Do you at all miss the days of CDs and VHS tapes, and what do you think that we've lost in this age of ubiquitous streaming?
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I mean, I miss seeing credits, being able to open up something and just read the credits and always be able to just grab it and look and know who produced what, you know, instead of having to go look it up, you know, I like I like all that kind of stuff.
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I think it's fun to kind of have like a little library.
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I do feel like today's audience feels that independence that we felt back then in the '80s because for a minute it was like label label label, but then the digital era allowed everybody to become an artist and everybody to become their own label.
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But you still have to get out there and get known, so you know, you were able to kind of create your own lane, and a lot of people who probably wouldn't have got gotten a look are now super successful.
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And some people really needed not be there, but but I think a lot of people really should be there who who might not have gotten an opportunity if it had stayed the same. Who yeah, let's do it.
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You know, that Reaper part.
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Carolina Reaper hot sauce. That's nice. I think you undersold.
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I think you undersold over here. I'm actually surprised.
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I must tell you I'm I'm I I'm noticing like a little setup over here.
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Someone one of these is the knockout, but so far I'm still on your feet. Still on your feet.
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You know, we dodging these pretty good.
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All right, Queen Latifah, we have a current segment on our show called Explain That Gram where we do a deep dive on our guest's Instagram, pull interesting pictures that need more context.
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So, we'll put the picture up over here on the monitor.
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You just tell us what's the bigger story. Oh my god.
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Oh man, we were backstage somewhere, huh?
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Me and Tupac were pretty much labelmates.
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Um I was signed to Tommy Boy Records.
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Digital Underground was signed to Tommy Boy Records.
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Initially, I took Treach on the road as my roadie.
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Treach who went on to become the Naughty by Nature. Naughty by Nature.
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Um and Tupac was pretty much a roadie with Digital.
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And he became a rapper in the group and made up the Humpty Dance.
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And they made the song the Humpty Dance of which Tupac created the dance to and it became a smash hit.
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We toured together, so we went all across the country.
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Um San Francisco doing a a show, my first show over $10,000 like which was a New Year's Eve show.
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Um at this cool gay club in San Francisco.
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I was like, "Yo, I'm here."
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He's like, "Yo, I'mma hook up with you."
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So, Tupac came to the club with me and I was like, "Yo, come on, two pockets in the building."
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They went crazy in there.
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I was like, "They're going to tear you out your clothes. Come here."
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He's like, man, he took his shirt off anyway.
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We had so much fun, you know, but that was like my brother and he would like he's the type of person I would like if he loved you, if he was cool with you, he'd lay his life down for you.
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So, I miss him and I love him. Good times. Love that.
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All right, up next and we're probably Hi. Anyway.
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How would you describe Rock and Jock to a kid born in the 2000s? Yo, that was fun.
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And Rock and Jock needs to come back in a strong way.
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Like somebody really needs to get the get it back, you know, in a in a really fun way.
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So, Rock and Jock was just a a chance for, you know, everybody to get together and play sports.
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All your favorite celebrities from Tom Cruise to me, you know, and whether it was a basketball game or in this case, softball.
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With a young John Stewart, by the way, right there. Look at John Stewart. Oh my god.
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I just remember playing one of the Rock and Jock B Ball Jams and I did a theme song for it, I think, as a matter of fact.
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I remember Tom Cruise playing and that dude was he was not a very good basketball player, but he was dogged with defense.
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Nobody He was hounding like all these people who thought they could ball, as soon as he started guarding them, he would not relent.
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He was on their asses and he I was like, "Yo, this dude is no joke."
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He was just so fit and going so hard.
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I mean, I I was like, "Yo, Tom Cruise is dope." He was on him.
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All right, are you ready to move on here to the back half? We can't be stopped.
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Cannot be stopped, I hope.
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So, this is the College and goes?
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College and Ghost over here. Whoa. From Hot and Saucy.
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I'm looking at this hairstyle on this we going to see what it do. Okay. It's kind of cute.
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That's got a little surprise and sweetness to it, too. There it is. I had to wait for it. There you go. And we good.
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If it wasn't going to give me that, then I was going to have to give it a thumbs down. I'm feeling it.
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I'm feeling that that's that tingle. There we go. Yeah, I'm feeling it. I'm feeling the tingle.
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So, I'll forever have a soft place in my heart for Living Single.
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And growing up, I remember really looking forward to that Fox Thursday night lineup.
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And I remember my dad used to let me stay up an hour past my bedtime even so I could watch New York Undercover afterwards. Of course. Wow. That's what's up.
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I love that you remember that.
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I actually I have a very profound uh Living Single memory if you'd like to hear it. I'm with it.
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I became a man watching Living Single.
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I'm like I'm looking into your eyes and I see change. Yeah, yeah.
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Well, this is where this is where it shifted.
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This is where it shifted. like a portal.
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Like I'm looking there and and feeling what it Tell me what happened.
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So, there was an episode where Overton was having these sort of like fever dream fantasies that featured cameos from TLC.
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And I remember when I saw that on TV, like my whole insides just melted. Oh my god.
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And then I remember going up to my dad the next day and I asked him, you know, cuz I knew I was too young.
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But I was like, "Dad, is it possible for like a girl my age to grow up and when I'm an adult look exactly like an adult now?"
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And he looked at me and he goes, uh "Not exactly, but pretty similar."
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And I don't remember that cuz I was a little let down by it. Oh, no.
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I was looking for my left eye, you know?
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Whoever was hot at that time, they were on our show.
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You weren't the only one who became a man watching that show.
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What we were doing then, no one else was doing, you know?
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But, it was still coming from a relatable point of view.
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And I think that's what made it successful.
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Is that you you could relate to these characters, you know, in some way, shape, or form.
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One or the other and or or some of these stories in one way or the other.
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Or just laugh at the comedy of it all or the ridiculousness of it.
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And we had some great actors on that show, you know? We did our thing. Oh, man.
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Yo, this has like four out of five. Born ready? Is she ready? Born ready. Born ready. All right. I'll go. I'll go. Oh, boy. Mhm. Mhm. See that from the front. Right away.
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Then we got to hit it from the back.
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This would be good in some ramen.
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I might put that in my noodles in. Get those things spicy.
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See, you are a hot sauce person.
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When you walked in, you you shied away from it a little bit, but I think it was an undersell.
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I think it was an undersell, overdeliver situation over here. I'm sorry.
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I've seen people cry on this show profusely. So. So, you came in humble. I did. Yeah.
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You know, I don't want to talk a big game and then crumble, you know?
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So, I came in humble and even umble.
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As my aunt Angel would say.
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Is it true that the scene in Set It Off when your character, Cleo, crashes through the bank in a Suburban?
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Is it true that that scene had to be done in one take because it required shutting down Wilshire Boulevard? I believe you are right.
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They had to get that right.
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There was a lot of that on that movie.
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Gary needed things like, "I need another helicopter. I want to blow this up." You know what I mean?
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It wasn't just like some little things Gary was asking for.
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I need you to shut this whole thing down. down, yeah.
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We need to, you know, and and I appreciated that, you know, that level of of excellence that he wanted.
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And if you see his videos, all the videos he did with Cube was what made me want to do a video with him from the beginning.
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It was just how cinematic his videos were and what stories they told and how beautifully shot they were.
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But Gary and I were both looking to take it up a notch.
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And so that was the film that we were able to, you know, really show our chops as actor/director, you know?
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And um yeah, life's never been the same since that movie. Honestly. Okay, Queen Latifah.
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This next one is the bomb beyond insanity. Oh my god. Okay.
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I'm still tingling, by the way, from Turfing's Curse. All right.
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I'm trying not to let my nose run.
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What's the matter with Jesus? He's all right.
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What's the matter with Jesus? I SAID JESUS. WOAH. I'M JUST SAYING. THAT. YEP. ME, TOO. I'm in. Focus. You got this. Relax your chi. Your chi's, too. Jesus take the wheel. Jesus, take the wheel. Woah.
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So I know that you've long repped Jersey, not the least of which when it comes to your comfort food proclivities.
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For the uninitiated, what's an Italian-style hot dog and what makes the ones at Jimmy Buff's so special? Ooh.
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I wonder what is this makes you speak differently.
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Okay, um How else do I survive? Hey, yeah. You know what?
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I don't You know this This is good This would be good for festivals. Mhm.
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The kids don't need to do anything drug related. You need the bomb? You will get your life.
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It will open you up in ways You know what I mean?
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I think that's a great idea.
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No need to go on a walkabout.
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Just do that [ __ ] And you will find your spirit. My god.
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Um Jimmy Buff's sausage inside of Now you cut a piece of a roll, you split the thing open, you put two hot dogs in there, you put some like diced up potatoes with peppers and onions.
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You push that mush that up in there, put that with your mustard or your ketchup or whatever you want.
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And that's it right there.
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And that roll is so soft, you know, it's not like a full big roll.
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It's like just kind of opens in the middle like a pita. You know what I mean?
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Like and that Jimmy Buff's brings me back to where I need to be. Home. And just in time.
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Now that I know who I am.
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I wasn't sure about who I was.
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And now that I know I belong to the universe I can't be tethered to this Earth.
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There are other planets to see. Strange new worlds.
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I should be boldly going I don't know where.
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Where no one's gone before. That's a good place.
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I was thinking I could go there.
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I just didn't want to really say it.
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I didn't want to seem weird. You. Yeah.
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I think I need one of these. Yeah. Yeah, this is nice.
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This will make your lash come off.
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Yeah, that will make you spin in your bar chair right there.
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Oh my gosh, I have to continue. Okay. All right, here we go. Here we go.
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The questions are so good.
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It's a good Man, that's the coldest hot sauce ever.
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Yeah, that went down my throat. There we go. Here we go. Did it go into my eye? What the hell? What is happening?
20:07
So, I was listening to an acting career advice podcast where you talked about how sometimes you'll spend almost your whole paycheck from a project on the tools to help you nail that project, like extra rehearsal time, coaches, etc.
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Where does that impulse come from?
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Cuz it sounds like very solid advice.
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I'm just not sure I've ever heard it before. Yeah.
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I needed that to come out. There you go. Um Wow. I know. You disrespectful.
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You shouldn't You shouldn't speak to people like that.
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Honestly, my desire to do a great job implores me to do what I can to make sure that I do.
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Or I know this is a live show, and this has This is not enough rehearsal, and I want to rock this thing.
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So, I want to go in and do more. You know what I mean?
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I know I need a few more rehearsals.
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I'll pay for it myself, but I'm going to I'm going to make sure that I'm not going to fall flat on my face, cuz I know when I have it and when I don't.
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The bomb could could make you hit the ground, you know? Not you though. Not you though. No, I'm not going down.
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Not as long as long as I got my lord by my side.
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I might preach ON THIS SHOW.
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I MIGHT GIVE YOU A WORD or two.
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I didn't even know I was going to play that role in life, but I might have a gospel show in my life. Amen. Amen to that.
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You don't have to if you don't want to.
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You might as well put the monkey in it. There we go. We've come this far. Come on. Ooh, that's a big dab.
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But this is a good spot, so the last dab. We ending at the Apollo.
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And then We're over where we once began. Cheers. Cheers. What a run. Oh, boy. Here we go again. There we go. Oh, the lord.
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But the good news is that we've hit the final bell and we're still on our feet.
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If we've learned anything along the way, it's that you're somebody who can do a little bit of everything from being a musician, an author, an actor, a producer, but most of all a dreamer.
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And I know that one of those dreams is to direct or star in a sci-fi film.
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Maybe a seed that was planted when you grew up watching Star Trek.
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So under these distressing conditions, can you describe to me the vision of a Queen Latifah sci-fi film? I'm alone on a planet. And then I'm not alone. And then I am alone. And then colors happen.
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And then [ __ ] goes down. And all is bad. And then I save myself.
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And then someone saves me, and I save them.
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And then we transport to somewhere else.
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And then the real director comes in and writes us a good script. We throw that out.
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That was a terrible idea.
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Then we get get Spielberg on the line. And we get Spielberg.
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And then it becomes a real movie.
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We get George Lucas involved.
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And then And then we make something really dope.
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Well, that sounds like an automatic green light.
23:24
And look at you, Queen Latifah, taking on the wings of death and living to tell the tale.
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And now there's nothing left to do but roll out the red carpet for you.
23:31
This camera, this camera, this camera, let the people know what you have going on in your life.
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What do I have going on in my life?
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I got a movie coming out with Adam Sandler called Hustle. It's going to be crazy.
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I also have a movie coming out called End of the Road, also on Netflix.
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I got a show called The Equalizer, where I equalize.
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But today I might have met my match a little bit.
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But I lived to tell the tale. Q L, it's showtime.
24:02
In the building, we have survived. I survived Hot Ones. The bomb. That's the one.
24:11
Was it everything you were expecting it to be? You were. Oh.
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More than I expected it to be.
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Did you have a good time? This was amazing. Ooh.
24:26
Hey, what's going on, Hot Ones fans?
24:28
Thank you so much for watching today's episode.
24:30
Now, I have an announcement to make.
24:31
The first ever hot sauce for kids, Hot Ones Junior, it just got a little bit hotter.
24:36
You know the green, say hello to our brand new hot sauce, the yellow.
24:42
A super mild hot sauce with sweet tropical heat from mango, pineapple, and scotch bonnet pepper.
24:47
The yellow, it's ready to party with tacos, nuggies, heck, even ice cream.
24:49
To get your hands on the newest Hot Ones Junior sauce, visit heatness. com, heatness. com, heatness.
24:58
com to pick up the yellow.