Joe Rogan Experience #1285 - B-Real

1. 0:00 – 15:00

   Three, two, one. (fingers snap)…

   1. JRJoe Rogan0:01

      Three, two, one. (fingers snap) Boom. What's up, brother? How are you?

   2. B-B-Real0:05

      What's up, bro? (laughs)

   3. JRJoe Rogan0:05

      Good to see you, my friend. Always.

   4. B-B-Real0:07

      Thanks for having me.

   5. JRJoe Rogan0:08

      It's been a while, man.

   6. B-B-Real0:09

      Yeah. We've both been busy. It's crazy.

   7. JRJoe Rogan0:11

      And in the meantime, weed became legal.

   8. B-B-Real0:13

      Yes.

   9. JVJamie Vernon0:14

      (laughs)

   10. JRJoe Rogan0:14

       You guys were at the forefront, man. You guys were way ahead.

   11. JVJamie Vernon0:19

       (laughs)

   12. JRJoe Rogan0:19

       You were ahead of everybody.

   13. B-B-Real0:20

       You know, we took a shot.

   14. JRJoe Rogan0:22

       (laughs)

   15. JVJamie Vernon0:22

       (laughs)

   16. B-B-Real0:22

       We took a shot, you know, as stoners and advocates and whatnot. You know, uh, uh, we were stoners at first, right? You know, that's how you start. Like you know-

   17. JRJoe Rogan0:31

       Right.

   18. B-B-Real0:31

       ... your friend says, "Hey, man, try this," or you're the one who says, "Try this." Right? It's one or the other. And, you know, eventually you start getting into the High Times magazines and stuff like that, and looking at the, you know, the centerfold pictures of the weed, but also-

   19. JRJoe Rogan0:47

       (laughs) Centerfold pictures of weed.

   20. B-B-Real0:47

       ... we, we like, w- we like to read too (laughs) occasionally.

   21. JRJoe Rogan0:51

       (laughs)

   22. B-B-Real0:51

       So, you know, we'd get into some of the activism aspect of it as well, and that's when we heard names like Jack Herer, who pretty much opened our eyes to everything. And then, you know, I think we became real advocates, you know. At first, you know, we thought we were-

   23. JRJoe Rogan1:06

       Yeah.

   24. B-B-Real1:06

       ... you know, sort of, we read the High Times magazines and we were stoners, so we thought we were advocates. But, like, in reading what other freedom fighters were actually doing out there, and protests and rallies, and all that stuff, you know, we, we really weren't advocates like we thought. Uh, we became that later, for sure.

   25. JRJoe Rogan1:24

       Yeah, Jack was way, way, way ahead of the curve. He's a such an interesting story, uh, rest in peace, because he was a, a Goldwater Republican, you know.

   26. B-B-Real1:33

       Yeah.

   27. JRJoe Rogan1:33

       He was a, just a buttoned down, old school Republican.

   28. B-B-Real1:36

       Yeah. (laughs)

   29. JRJoe Rogan1:36

       And then he got a girlfriend. And then the girlfriend-

   30. B-B-Real1:39

       (laughs)
2. 15:00 – 30:00

   Wait, really? (laughs) …

   1. B-B-Real15:00

      that. (laughs)

   2. JRJoe Rogan15:00

      Wait, really? (laughs)

   3. B-B-Real15:00

      Yeah.

   4. JRJoe Rogan15:00

      You would get into paintball?

   5. B-B-Real15:02

      Oh, man. Uh, yeah, I had a team called Stoned Assassins and, and-

   6. JRJoe Rogan15:05

      (laughs)

   7. B-B-Real15:05

      (laughs) And it was competitive paintball. At the time, I was, you know, training, uh, martial arts as I've done throughout my life. And, uh, I was also playing competitive paintball and-

   8. JRJoe Rogan15:16

      What kind of martial arts were you doing?

   9. B-B-Real15:17

      Shotokan.

   10. JRJoe Rogan15:18

       Oh.

   11. B-B-Real15:18

       I started off with taekwondo and I got sort of, I mean, it's, it's like it was, uh, it was... The dojo was cool, you know, and, and I was progressing quickly, but I sorta fell out with the master there, with the sifu or whatever. I can't remember what his-

   12. JRJoe Rogan15:35

       Sa Bo Nim.

   13. B-B-Real15:36

       Yeah.

   14. JRJoe Rogan15:37

       Yeah.

   15. B-B-Real15:37

       And, uh, one of my partners who I grew up with who was one of my partners in our Dr. Green Thumb, um, brand and whatever, his father, um, was a, was a, you know, sensei and, and his sensei and became my sensei. I went from taekwondo to Shotokan and I started training with him. I mean, he had been in the dojo since he was five years old training with his father, so, you know, I came into that. It, it took, it took a little bit of, uh, convincing for me to go from one thing to another 'cause it's such a different style.

   16. JRJoe Rogan16:10

       Mm-hmm.

   17. B-B-Real16:11

       Um, but, you know, I adapted to it and I liked it and it was, um, very different. Less flash, but, uh, (laughs) he's very disciplined and, and his father, you know, he was, you know, born in Japan, raised out there, and he, he, you know... Their, their shit is kinda different. They go to, to, to, um, martial arts universities and they get degrees in different martial arts. So they-

   18. JRJoe Rogan16:36

       Oh, yeah.

   19. B-B-Real16:36

       ... can go and take, like, okay, hapkido and jujitsu and Shotokan and, and all this and, you know, get their, their degrees, you know. They work their way up in the belt system and all that stuff, but they become teachers through, through that university, I guess, and-

   20. JRJoe Rogan16:53

       That's fascinating.

   21. B-B-Real16:54

       And, uh, yeah, his, his father was one of the guys in one of the federations that, uh, he's one of three or four senseis that have to come in and give you the black belt when you actually get it.

   22. JRJoe Rogan17:05

       Ah.

   23. B-B-Real17:06

       Yeah, it, uh, what was it, uh, SKFA or something like... I gotta, you know, I'm just going to-

   24. JRJoe Rogan17:11

       Shotokan Karate Federation or something like that?

   25. B-B-Real17:13

       Yeah, something like that.

   26. JRJoe Rogan17:15

       (clears throat) Yeah, I mean-

   27. B-B-Real17:15

       So you could imagine when Lyoto Machida came on the scene, you know-

   28. JRJoe Rogan17:18

       (laughs)

   29. B-B-Real17:19

       ... we were like, "Yeah, someone representing the style that, you know, we were training under anyway."

   30. JRJoe Rogan17:23

       Yeah, a lot of people got excited when he came about. He was really the first guy to legitimize karate in the modern era of mixed martial arts. He showed-
3. 30:00 – 45:00

   Just plug your ears…

   1. B-B-Real30:00

      I, you know-

   2. JVJamie Vernon30:00

      Just plug your ears and keep moving.

   3. B-B-Real30:01

      I get those from-

   4. JVJamie Vernon30:02

      (laughs)

   5. B-B-Real30:02

      I get those from time to time, you know? You know? I get the Flat Ear-

   6. JVJamie Vernon30:05

      People need to stay the fuck off of YouTube, man.

   7. B-B-Real30:07

      Sh- (sighs) man. Stay-

   8. JVJamie Vernon30:09

      (coughs)

   9. B-B-Real30:09

      Yeah.

   10. JVJamie Vernon30:09

       They get confused.

   11. B-B-Real30:11

       Yeah. That's it, that's the craziest shit.

   12. JRJoe Rogan30:13

       Yeah.

   13. B-B-Real30:14

       'Cause I always argue like this about the flat Earth, right? So, hey, listen, if we got a flat Earth, there's a edge, right? And there's always thrill-seekers looking to do something thrilling. And there's always a thrill-seeker that fucks up and falls right off of that edge, right? So how many-

   14. JRJoe Rogan30:31

       (clears throat)

   15. B-B-Real30:31

       -motherfuckers would be falling off the edge of the Earth if we really had one?

   16. JRJoe Rogan30:35

       Oh, for sure.

   17. B-B-Real30:36

       You know?

   18. JRJoe Rogan30:36

       Yeah. There would be climbers. There'd be a bunch of dudes who would try to hang off the edge and take selfies.

   19. B-B-Real30:41

       Think about it, right? 12 people this year have died at the Grand Canyon. That's the Grand Canyon.

   20. JRJoe Rogan30:48

       Is that really that many?

   21. B-B-Real30:49

       That many.

   22. JRJoe Rogan30:49

       Damn.

   23. B-B-Real30:50

       So far, in, in this year. And some people die of a heart attack there because, you know, it's too much for them to be on that little bridge that they have there that, that extends past the, the edge of the canyon. They, they put in a l- a little bridge way so that y- you can go and look down. And-

   24. JRJoe Rogan31:07

       People have heart attacks doing that?

   25. B-B-Real31:08

       And people h- have had heart attacks from that.

   26. JRJoe Rogan31:10

       (laughs)

   27. B-B-Real31:11

       But the other guys are the ones trying to do selfies.

   28. JRJoe Rogan31:14

       Oh.

   29. B-B-Real31:15

       Falling off the fucking bridge and plummeting, right?

   30. JRJoe Rogan31:18

       (imitates falling sound)
4. 45:00 – 1:00:00

   Mm-hmm. …

   1. B-B-Real45:00

      There's, there's common sense and then there's common sense on the streets.

   2. JRJoe Rogan45:03

      Mm-hmm.

   3. B-B-Real45:03

      And then there's being aware and looking out, and, you know, not being a doormat. And, uh, just it's, it's a whole different type of schooling when you're gang banging, you know? It's the way you, uh, carry yourself, the way you communicate with someone and know whether they're disrespecting you or not, and how you deal with that disrespect which is, (laughs) you know, a whole different world in the gang bang shit. But it's, uh, it's a different kinda education. You know?

   4. JRJoe Rogan45:33

      Mm-hmm.

   5. B-B-Real45:33

      I wouldn't a, I wouldn't take it back. Some of the things I would, you know, I definitely regretted while I was doing it for sure. But, um, it made me see things from, from a different perspective, you know, and, and why, you know, things are the way they are in gangs and stuff like that. From lack, lack of opportunities, you know, for, for these kids to be doing something, you know, 'cause not everybody's good at sports, you know. But there has to be other opportunities other tha- other than that to get kids interested in doing something else. Because falling into the gangs, it's, it's easy. If, if you don't have a good home life at home, the guys on the street are your second family.

   6. JRJoe Rogan46:16

      Mm-hmm.

   7. B-B-Real46:16

      And they eventually become your first family. You know what I mean? And if you don't have a father figure at home, one of the guys in the gang, you know, becomes your mentor. He could become like the guy you look up to as like your father figure. You know, there's that. And then, you know, again, there's not enough programs out there to keep people into doing something different than falling into that. And then sometimes, you know, it just, it's a matter of, you know, you growing up in this neighborhood. If you have to walk down that street and they approach you and say, "Hey, if you live in this hood, you gotta be with us. If you don't, we're gonna make it hard for you." So there's that peer pressure.

   8. JRJoe Rogan46:56

      Mm-hmm.

   9. B-B-Real46:56

      And then there's the legacy shit. Like so if my father was a gangster in this gang and he still lives in this neighborhood, pressure's on for me eventually to take up where Father left off.

   10. JRJoe Rogan47:09

       Mm-hmm.

   11. B-B-Real47:09

       You know? And, uh, it's, it's all those things. And then some people just are thrill seekers and they choose it. They don't have nothing, you know, in common with none of that, they just choose it.

   12. JRJoe Rogan47:20

       For some people too, it's so appealing to have somewhere that you belong.

   13. B-B-Real47:23

       Right. And, and, and that's the thing because if you don't feel like you, you belong in your school or you don't belong with your, in your family, and, and that, that shit can-

   14. JRJoe Rogan47:33

       Mm-hmm.

   15. B-B-Real47:33

       ... totally take hold. And, and you end up there, you know. Fortunately, I had good friends that weren't gang bangers, the, you know, that they had talent for music which is Muggs and Sen, and Sen's brother, Mello. You know, they were... You know, I did music as a hobby, you know, before I got into gangs and, and they got me back into the music the- 'cause they recognized something in me and said, "Hey, we want you to come back. We're, we got these opportunities over here. Come join us."

   16. JRJoe Rogan48:01

       Did you always have that style?

   17. B-B-Real48:03

       No, I didn't, you know?

   18. JRJoe Rogan48:04

       When did you develop that?

   19. B-B-Real48:05

       One, once we started working on our Cypress Hill demos, um, Muggs came to me and said, "Hey, man, you gotta do something. You gotta do something different, otherwise you're gonna write for Sen." 'Cause Sen had a good voice, his shit was locked in. In my voice, I was rapping in a voice similar to the one I talk in. And although the rhymes were good, it didn't cut through on the style like on, on, you know, on the beats. It, it just sounded like, you know, some regular shit. So, you know, I didn't wanna be someone's writer, you know? I wanted-

   20. JRJoe Rogan48:36

       Right.

   21. B-B-Real48:36

       ... to write for myself. So, you know, uh, there was a guy that we used to listen to, uh-... um, coming up was name was Ramel Z. He was on this, uh, record called Wild Style, and he was in a movie. He was this, uh, rapper who was very, uh, obscure, but he was an artist too, you know, like a graffiti artist, but then also an, an artist-artist, you know, but he was also a rapper. And what he would do is he'd rap in a regular style, like his talking voice, "This is the brother they call the Ramel." He had a deep voice like that. And then he would flip right in the middle, "Taking it uptown to Cypress Hill with the shotgun," blah, blah, blah, like that and, you know, we were always freaking out on that he had two styles. So, I tried throwing my voice in that sort of similar style and it ended up sticking. I didn't really, like, I didn't think anybody was gonna like it.

   22. JRJoe Rogan49:30

       (laughs)

   23. B-B-Real49:30

       I thought they were gonna be like, "Get the fuck outta here with that," but they ended up liking it. And, uh, I think the first song that, um, came about in that style was, uh, the song Real Estate off our first album. It's, uh, y- you know, that was where I tried it the first time, they liked it, so then Kill A Man came next.

   24. JRJoe Rogan49:49

       Yeah.

   25. B-B-Real49:49

       And I tried that song in that style, then Hand on the Pump, and it just became a flow after that. And I really did not feel it at first. I was like, "Fuck, I can't believe they got me rapping in this voice right now."

   26. JRJoe Rogan50:02

       (laughs)

   27. B-B-Real50:02

       And it, it, it took...

   28. JRJoe Rogan50:03

       (clapping) Woo.

   29. B-B-Real50:03

       It took a minute to get used to that, you know, like doing it live, because, you know, I had a tendency... We... As, as rappers, you know, that don't know 'cause there's no school for this unless you have somebody who's done it and they teach you, okay, this is what the get down is. And we didn't have that really. It was all hands-on learning. I... You know, for the first few years, man, I was trying to do the voice and I'd end up s- you know, getting over hyped 'cause the crowd is hype. And I'd start yelling the verses instead of, like, rapping them, like, on the record. I'd throw my voice out. My voice would get scratchy. I'd be sounding like Busta Rhymes and shit, you know what I mean?

   30. JRJoe Rogan50:38

       (laughs)
5. 1:00:00 – 1:12:30

   Mm-hmm. …

   1. B-B-Real1:00:00

      today, he is still fucking current. Like he- his- he's still got that style that- that cuts through. Like, you know, some of the older artists, they- they sorta lose the style that-

   2. JRJoe Rogan1:00:11

      Mm-hmm.

   3. B-B-Real1:00:11

      ... that, uh, people love and they don't know how to transition into, you know, what their style would be right now, you know, like updating whatever that style is.

   4. JRJoe Rogan1:00:21

      Mm-hmm.

   5. B-B-Real1:00:22

      You know, a lot of- a lot of the older artists had troubles doing that, you know, but my man Kool G Rap, not a fucking problem.

   6. JRJoe Rogan1:00:29

      Hill Street Blues.

   7. B-B-Real1:00:30

      Hill ... He's still ill. (laughs)

   8. JRJoe Rogan1:00:32

      (laughs) Yeah, he was-

   9. B-B-Real1:00:33

      He's still ill.

   10. JRJoe Rogan1:00:33

       ... fantastic.

   11. B-B-Real1:00:34

       Yeah.

   12. JRJoe Rogan1:00:34

       Yeah, I always got confused why he didn't get bigger. I didn't get it.

   13. B-B-Real1:00:39

       I think-

   14. JRJoe Rogan1:00:39

       I was like, "This guy's so good."

   15. B-B-Real1:00:40

       You know, I think it was- it- it was just the wave that came after him.

   16. JRJoe Rogan1:00:44

       Mm-hmm.

   17. B-B-Real1:00:44

       You know, it's- it's- it's like a ... He was such a underground force and if you're a underground force, you know, you had to make a- a- a conscious decision whether, okay-... I'm gonna go main- if I go mainstream, I'm gonna lose these hardcore fans. I might gain-

   18. JRJoe Rogan1:01:02

       Hmm.

   19. B-B-Real1:01:03

       ... you know, these mainstream fans, but how long are they gonna stay with me, as opposed to these core fans that, that, you know, that, that, there-

   20. JRJoe Rogan1:01:11

       But i- i- with his style, he couldn't just keep them? 'Cause like-

   21. B-B-Real1:01:14

       I, I thought he could. I-

   22. JRJoe Rogan1:01:15

       A lot of guys kept them, right?

   23. B-B-Real1:01:17

       But y- you wanna know something? Uh, I think it was due to, um, you know, the record company not wanting to take the chance. Because as a artist-

   24. JRJoe Rogan1:01:25

       Mm-hmm.

   25. B-B-Real1:01:26

       ... you want everybody to hear your shit.

   26. JRJoe Rogan1:01:27

       Right.

   27. B-B-Real1:01:27

       You know, for us, we didn't play those games. We said, "Fuck it," you know. If, if we felt it was the right look for us, we were gonna take it, you know, no matter what anybody thought, you know. And, uh, uh, uh, again, you face scrutiny for shit like that. But in the end, you know, if you didn't play yourself, people remember that.

   28. JRJoe Rogan1:01:47

       Yeah.

   29. B-B-Real1:01:47

       You know. And we said, "Fuck it, we're gonna take our music mainstream," even though that was not our intent. You know, we always meant ourselves to be a more underground group. But Insane In The Brain didn't allow that. Uh, it, it, it, it propelled us, you know.

   30. JRJoe Rogan1:02:02

       Yeah.

Episode duration: 2:18:00