Original subtitles

(Music plays)

Talib: You know, he's such an unassuming person.

When you meet him, he doesn't scream peanut butter wolf.

(Lively music)

A-trak: Peanut butter wolf.

I mean, yeah he's a character

and I think that the quirks of his personality are a big part

of what has made stones throw such a cool label.

Krondon: Stones throw created a home for all musicians.

It created a home-producers, rock groups, whatever.

Motherfuckers.

(Lively music)

?uestlove: I admire wolf's strive for embracing the unembraced.

He's able to pull all these acts together

and cultivate an underground.

Common: The work that peanut butter wolf does

I think is like, necessary.

There's no limitations to the things that he chooses to do with music.

No regard for like well, these are the rules.

I think that's like what we wanna hear in music.

Dam-funk: Wolf, what's up with you? That's right, y'all.

What's happening, world? This is dam-funk.

You're tuned in to peanut butter wolf's 12/12/12, y'all.

Boiler room, check it out.

Fl (lyrics) Don't go swag, just stay cool.

Don't go swag, just stay you.

You know we gonna keep on funking you till I die, y'all.

Got the afro now you motherfuckers can't hate on my perm, no.

You know I'm gon' keep on funking you till you fucking learn, y'all.

Don't go swag, just stay cool.

Don't go swag, just stay you.

And if I ever hear you motherfuckers

tell me this bullshit, trying to walk up to me

and you ain't black singing that n word

imma fuck you up, y'all.

(Crowd laughing)

Don't go swag, just stay cool.

Don't go swag, just stay you.

Give it up for pb wolf keeping this shit real true, y'all.

(Crowd cheering)

Fifteen years, you know we gonna keep on doin' it y'all, yeah.

Worldwide, L.A., bay area, San Jose, Fresno, San Diego

L.A., Pasadena. You know we gonna keep it real true, oh yeah.

Make some noise if you're feeling this shit

y'all right now y'all, oh fl

(crowd cheering)

Kanye: It's just those moments where you meet with these people

and you understand that this is a culture and a lifestyle

and an inspiration for so many

and it feels amazing when you can walk into these spaces

and you know, live inside of that creative zone

when people just keep it, you know, to that level of purity.

Voiceover: This is j“ stones throw j“

voiceover: The tomorrow people.

Fl (lyrics) What is the magic that makes one's eyes

sparkle and gleam, light up the skies

the name of the game is lightworks fl

(upbeat intro music)

Wolf: I think the first song I remember from my childhood

was the entertainer from the movie the sting.

(Piano music playing)

Lori: He was a sweetie pie

and very focused at a young age on music.

(Piano music playing)

Wolf: My dad was in the service.

After I was born he went away to the Vietnam war

and he came back when I was 2.

(Piano music playing)

We moved around.

We had to have moved to like 5 or 6 houses in 3 years.

Boston, south and north Dakota,

3 or 4 different cities in Texas, southern California

and then eventually settled in San Jose.

(Ship horn)

(Piano music playing)

I was literally on the moving truck and I came out

and a kid like knocked on the moving truck door.

Steve: And I went up to him and said,

"hi, my name is Steve.

Do you wanna be my friend?"

So that's how long I've known him.

(Piano music playing)

Wolf: And I thought it was so funny and like nerdy and weird

but I was like, I don't have any friends here.

I might as well give this guy a chance.

Chris: So, that's how they got together

and they started singing or playing this music in the garage.

Wolf: We kinda got into disco and soul and funk together.

(Lively music)

Voiceover: Hi, this is your dj Chris

with the top 50 hits of our record.

Michael Jackson's new song... That was sexual healing by Marvin gaye.

A super old time singer, I mean old.

Here's a song for all of us kind of people dj.

Next song on our countdown is a song by Diana Ross,

who's been in a lot of our countdowns before.

Well, I'm gonna have to go now

because I have to do a dumb book report.

Lori: Poor boy didn't eat his lunch. He'd take the lunch money.

He thought I didn't know.

He took the lunch money

and he'd get a ride to the record store.

Steve: We'd just like buy a candy bar for lunch

and save the rest of the money and go buy records.

Wolf: Between the two of us,

like if one of us bought the record then the other one wouldn't

because he lived across the street from me

and then we would have twice as many records that way.

(Upbeat music)

By the time I got into high school,

I started getting into more new wave and punk

and that was around the time when I met Jeff jank.

(Upbeat music)

Steve: We were just kind of the music clique.

Me, Chris, Jeff jank, Dave gatt.

Dave: I know Chris wasn't just into hip-hop.

I knew he liked the cure,

I knew he liked new order.

I knew he liked all these other types of music.

(Upbeat music)

Steve: We didn't really fit in to one particular clique.

We were friends with all of the different cliques

because we were into all of the different types of music.

Alternative or new wave crowd.

We were friends with the jocks, we were friends with the hip-hop crowd,

we were friends with just about every crowd

except for the heavy metal crowd

because that's the type of music that we weren't into,

but we're still cool with them.

John: We were 80's kids

but were basically into counter culture no matter what it was.

(Upbeat music)

Hip—hop, punk rock, new wave.

Anything that was like opposite of the mainstream we were into.

Wolf: And it was at that time I started experimenting

and playing instruments and playing in bands.

First band I was in was with Jeff jank.

(Loud music)

He was the guy in my high school

that I thought was gonna really be like a successful musician.

I was like a super fan, you know, from afar

and then he asked me to be in his band.

I felt like that was a dream come true.

(Loud music)

I loved what I was doing with Jeff but I think my talents and my passion at that point

were more into hip-hop.

(Hip-hop music)

Charizma: Come on, come on, come on.

Charizma: I said, the hip hop. Wolf: It don't stop.

Charizma: The hip-hop. Wolf: It don't stop.

Charizma: The hip-hop. Wolf: It don't stop

charizma: The hip-hop. Wolf: It don't stop.

Charizma: Now do you got the flavor?

Come on Jeff, let's go in the studio.

Charizma that's my name or shall I introduce myself, self live and direct.

Yo I'm movin' off this—-

wolf: How are you doing?

My name's peanut butter wolf.

I'm here at the studio.

(Upbeat music)

Amy: Charizma ended up being kinda my 3rd brother.

He was at the house nonstop.

We had like this wall on the staircase

that had like all our family photos,

and we took a picture of charizma and put it up there.

Jonny: That time period was kind of the will Smith kind of era.

Like when will Smith was like radio friendly.

Like, "oh, this hip-hop stuff isn't so bad son," you know?

Chris and charizma had that kind of appeal

but with still being like edgy, still being punks.

(Hip-hop music)

Fl (lyrics) Beat box play one for me fl

(beatboxing)

(Upbeat music)

Amy: They were really silly together.

Chris was really shy

and he brought out like a really funny, creative side.

So, it wasn't unheard of for the two of them to, you know, get in costume.

Jonny: He would talk Chris into getting like

dressed up with wigs and like 70's,

like really weird clothes from thrift stores.

(Upbeat music)

Wolf: Okay, public enemy? No, too violent.

Charizma: No. Beastie boys, that's too old.

Beastie Boys. X-clan.

My name's Mike d.

Mike d: I'm psyched to hear Chris was somehow inspired by

or encouraged by what we were doing

because I think they're a great example

of just being really independent being really creative.

B fap: Here we go mystic television.

We're sitting right here.

You know who I am, I'm b fap, the brother from another planet.

We got charizma on one side

and we got the peanut butter wolf over there, no jelly.

How did you get that name peanut butter wolf?

Wolf: Oh, that's a secret, that's a secret.

Charizma: We're from the bay area.

Basically, Chris was about you know, the crazy styles,

being different, the apple juice, the cut off hat

you know, which I originated and all that.

Wolf: Am I supposed to look like into there or?

B fap: Why not?

Wolf: I'm a new Jack, I'm a new Jack.

Charizma: We get categorized as the west coast group

and people think that you know,

just because you're from the west coast,

you got like this stigma on you.

Like you're doing this gangster rap

or you're doing this or that, you ain't got no skills.

So basically, charizma's out here just to let you know

that they are some brothers from the west coast,

they got skills, you know?

We're here trying to do what we got to do and be different.

Voiceover: Look at that crazy hat and that apple juice there.

This guy is nuts.

Fl (lyrics) I'm pulling skin since I'm the real McCoy

I take girls and line them up like corduroys

this ain't a hand-me-down

everyone loves a superstar

I love my mom call breaks red light fl

charizma: My advice to any up and coming artist

be true to what you do

and be different, be original, be yourself.

You know, this hip- hop industry is crazy.

Voiceover: What is the mc if you can't green light.

Fl (lyrics) Check 1, 2 with the check 1, 2

I like to come back like 3

charizma: Kind of hard to categorize charizma.

I'm hard then I'm cool then I'm apple juice, you know?

We're just trying to be different.

Fl (lyrics) A thousand people shot

and all the hoods that ran

thinking how could all this happen in front of one man

I made a move on the girls with the good looks

that's overdue like a library book fl

voiceover: Yo, Chris, rewind that man.

Woman: He's still unsigned but not for long

because charizma is south bay large and rising.

All, I feel y'all, peace.

(Crowd clapping)

Grand the visitor: Very few people leave San Jose

and blow up and become super stars in music.

It's just a little suburb, you know,

attached to the back end of San Francisco.

(Upbeat music)

You think about it.

You're trying to tell your family

that you're gonna be successful as an mc.

This is like winning powerball, right?

This is like winning the lottery. I'm gonna be successful in music

and we're not gonna ever have to worry about this.

Right, right dude.

(Chuckles) Right.

Kermitt: Notoriety you know, makes people look at you strange.

It was interesting.

Being with him there was a lot of crews

that they weren't happy that we were so prominent

but there was a love for the fact

that San Jose was coming up.

You know, there was a lot of hope behind charizma and what was going on.

Joanne: In the south bay, charizma is ready to blow up.

Negotiations for his plat single are going on right now.

They got signed up with of course Hollywood basics out of la.

(Knocking)

(Hip-hop music)

Fl (lyrics) Now this little rhyme goes to the hood

and this little riddle-rhyme is up to no good

so why don't you just come selector, come selector

the beat will flip it up

and like a recipe why don't you mix it up

and mix it up, right.

Yo, well, here we go, well, here we go

the reggae style is not, not me

but I go buck-buck on, one time

buck-buck, two times

so what, so call it coffee 'cause this all grind—grinds.

Swell, can't you tell I'm flowin that fast, you can't lie

I put on my hat, my shirt and then my sneakers and my pants sag down fl

voiceover: Yo, it's the Hollywood basic segment, you know what I'm saying?

I got charizma in the house. That's right.

Voiceover: Real quick and then charizma.

Coming out of San Jose, when your music coming out, yo?

Charizma: April, may, may-ish April, we're droppin' a 12-inch.

Red light, green light. Here's a smirk

voiceover: Why don't you talk about a little bit

about your little adventure up in la?

Joanne: I'll never forget the day, how happy they were when they came home.

He says, "I really feel like a celebrity."

And just happy, happy.

Just ecstatic two kids.

We threw them a big party when they got back, too.

So, I think at that point, he really felt like he was a star.

Wolf: It was nice. They had a little party for us.

And they were like snapping photos of us signing the contracts.

It was sort of crazy.

The pictures were all (Rapid camera sound).

Joanne: You guys got like celebrities, huh?

Charizma: Yeah. Wolf: A little bit of starstruck.

Grand the visitor: The record business is not clear cut.

They got hooked up into a label that has some constraints to it.

They wasn't able to get their hands on their money

though they knew it was there.

(Soul music)

I think there was a lot of people depending on them.

(Soul music)

You know, with his family, with his friends, people around them.

(Soul music)

There was a lot of pressure to make it work

and to make it look like it's working.

(Soul music)

Charizma: Thank you, grandma.

(Soul music)

Voiceover: You kids have fun, I know you will.

(Soul music)

Grand the visitor: They didn't really have it all yet.

So, I think he was trying to keep that image.

Kermitt: Charizma got caught up in something that was longstanding

that really didn't have much to do with him at all.

Grand the visitor: He was in a area where people are starving to death.

Voiceover: East palo alto is the poorest city in San Mateo county.

Kermitt: Really anybody from San Jose at that time

in those areas was dangerous.

Voiceover: 42 homicides last year.

Has the highest number of killings per capita of any us city.

Wolf: He was driving his car and somebody tried to carjack him

and he resisted.

(Soul music)

B fap: Together forever like a love song.

Charizma: Together forever.

(Gun shots)

(Soul music)

Wolf: Yeah, I got the call the next day

and you know, it was

I mean, you never in a million years

can believe something like that.

Maria: I remember that day because it was my Christmas ball,

my senior Christmas ball and we had, I had seen him on that Wednesday

and we said, "oh, yeah, let's not talk tomorrow

because it'll be more exciting

when we see each other on Friday."

So, I didn't plan to talk to him on that day.

I was at home watching TV and Chris called.

He told me that he was gone,

that charizma was gone.

Wolf: I didn't know what to do.

I mean I was just

I took a break from everything

and just didn't really

I just turned off basically.

(Hip-hop music)

I was determined for the music we had done together to be heard

and every label I sent it to was either

no thanks or just no response.

So in 1996 I started stones throw.

(Alarm beeping)

(Finger snapping)

(Ticking sound)

(Beating sound)

(Rattling sound)

(Up tempo music)

(Rattling sound)

(Up tempo music)

(Upbeat music)

Jonwayne: I feel like we're all one and the same around here.

We're all striving for the same thing for you know, more or less

which is the advancement of independent music.

Ariel: It almost feels like stones throw is a home of sorts.

It's a very welcoming vibe.

It's almost like peanut butter wolf created his own genre.

(Upbeat music)

Wolf: Most of the time it's an uphill battle anyways

because most of the things I sign are things that nobody's heard of.

(Upbeat music)

?uestlove: I think as a curator,

peanut butter wolf is absolutely needed

and we need more people to follow his example.

Smaller movements make for a bigger better culture.

Royal kush: I feel like the lost boys is a term

that shouldn't be thrown around lightly

but I think a lot of the people that Chris brings into the family are looking for a place.

(Upbeat music)

Myron: La. Is a big place

and everything is all about how big, how fancy,

how Hollywood you are

and after coming across stones throw it just feels a lot more free.

(Funk music)

Dam-funk: Today let's just see if we could, you know-...

I don't know, we'll see but it's easy.

It's fast, like a drum and bass type sound.

You know, we'll see.

Man, this sounds great.

I'm just gonna get set up real quick.

1, 2, 3, 0h.

(Upbeat music)

Being on stones throw has really changed my life.

I mean before I was on stones throw I was driving trucks.

I was delivering tools to places, I was working for the American red cross.

All that stuff was fun I mean

but all the while I was always recording and doing music

and I never gave up the dream.

(Upbeat music)

At the end of the day when I'm smoking a cigar

and at a beach somewhere like you know, chilling

with a Cadillac Margarita, you know later in life

I like to look back and say I never did you know, sell out.

And that's the type of artist I wanna continue to be

and that's the kind of artist that stones throw has at this current time.

(Upbeat music)

A-trak: It takes someone with unusual personality I think

to sort of see these little nuggets of potential in people

and actually invest the friendship

and spend time with people that have that potential.

(Piano music)

Mayer: Put on my first album with stones throw

and it's been a wild ride since then.

Fl (lyrics) Well I wish that it would rain fl

I was trying to make hip-hop music.

I had just moved to la. From Detroit.

I didn't really know anybody.

I got introduced to wolf

and I was trying to get him to put out some of my hip-hop music.

He was more interested in these demos that I did in my bedroom of soul music.

It was stuff that I never really had any plans on making into a full album

but you know, he's got that vision.

He's really pretty magical in that sense.

Wolf: I feel like I'm kind of a stomping ground

to start people's careers

and then they can kind of do what they want after.

I think that's why I like working with a lot of younger artists.

Vex: I made a demo with like 8 songs and I sent it to like 6 other labels.

Only label that hit me back was stones throw, wolf.

Fl (lyrics) Fancy, I'll show you

you'll see fl

I work at the ups airport

and I just drive tugs around the airport.

Fl (lyrics) 'Cause I've been on a lonely road

and I still got a long way to go fl

wolf is the godfather of my son now.

Anika: You know there are these kids

that are making records in their own rooms.

I mean, vex ruffin's a very

he's a good example of that.

What we're doing is trying to go against the mainstream

and go against this kind of fake world

that the music industry is pasting for everyone.

Fl (lyrics) I know how the system works

I know how the people work

I know how the system works

and it doesn't

stop looking over your shoulder, no one's there

stop looking over your shoulder, no one's there

stop looking over your shoulder, no one's there fl

they're not resting on their laurels which is what I admire about them.

They're not scared of change

and they're not scared of embracing what's coming up in the future, so...

(Crowd screaming)

Geoff: Majors, they've got individual departments for taking a leak.

Smaller labels and I know this myself because I've run them.

It's a very hands on business.

It's a very personal business.

Homeboy sandman: You know, they don't try to create artists,

they try to find artists.

You know what I mean?

They don't...

And nurture artists, you know what I'm saying?

Not trying to limit what anybody does

but try to have people reach they full potential as an artist,

you know what I'm saying?

Voiceover: We're going to take 2.

On the count of 3, black power.

1,2,3.

(Clicking)

(Upbeat music)

Fl (lyrics) Yo what you want from me

who was saying this nation's indivisible

I don't care what they say

if they paid, cats is miserablefi

talib: Artists like homeboy sandman who's a New York based artist

who's been around for years

and he's been making quality hip—hop records

and no one's taking a chance on marketing it,

promoting it or getting out there.

I think they were a perfect fit.

Fl (lyrics) Everything we say is in vain the days are biblical

(upbeat music)

Yo what you want from me, what you want

yo what you want from me, what you want

yo what you want from me, what you want

yo what you want from me, what you want

yo what you want from me, what you want

yo what you want from me... fl

Tyler: I was at McDonald's and it's the ra...

I don't know whose car it was in but the radio was on real low

and I just heard

I heard my ear just catching stuff

and I heard some (Beep) Progression

I've never heard in my life.

I was like, "turn that (beep), turn it up, turn it up."

So I was sitting there.

I knew it was about to end

so I tried to catch the last lyrics of it or whatever.

I went home and I sat for like 2 hours (beep)

Quoting those (beep) Lyrics trying to find it

and I found this forum

and it some random (Beep) Japanese (beep)

And it said the stepkids and it had the song title

and I (beep) Youtubed it, found it

then found out they was on stones throw.

I was like what the (beep).

Listened to the album and I was like

oh my gosh, this is crazy.

Fl (lyrics) He's a Shakespeare of his day

like David when he plays

I'm one of a kind

he's dannin of his age

a prophet and a sage

a legend in my own mind fl

Dan: It's just a reflection of wolf's taste when he started the label.

He was really just interested in hip-hop.

Like the human mind normally does,

he wanted to expand and get into some new stuff.

Wolf: Stones throw's like a commune or something at this point.

We're just off like doing our own thing.

Diva: I'm diva

and I am an intergalactic, inter-dimensional immortal pop star,

and I'm here living a few incarnations on earth

to try to see what I can contribute to the human population.

And heal this planet.

(Up tempo music)

Tyler: You mentioned jonti.

He's such a sick dude.

He's awesome.

Hey jonti.

Earl: The vocals that he has on this shit is so tight.

I don't know if that

does he like sing that shit or is it

wow dude.

But then you got motherfuckers like guilty Simpson

who is just like dirty ass, real scary hip-hop music.

Guilty Simpson: When I went to stones throw about signing,

the main thing he told me that he didn't want to change me.

He didn't wanna change my music.

I can be as filth flarn' filth as I wanna be,

you know what I'm saying?

Say what I want, do what I want.

A-trak: They're all interesting dudes

but like each one of them injects their personality in the projects.

Afterjust a handful of these records that come out

you can look at them together and be like,

"oh yeah, this is from the same stable."

Royal kush: Right, right.

Yeah and the other thing is that

stones throw is kind of a meeting place

for a lot of different musical worlds.

(Up tempo music)

Wolf: James pants was an intern for stones throw.

He came to one of my gigs when he was 15.

(Up tempo music)

He went to his senior prom

and then he went to my gig aftennards and took his prom date

then he said, "hey, you wanna go record shopping?"

I said sure.

You know the way to my heart.

(Up tempo music)

And then he eventually interned for the label

then he started making mixes.

(Up tempo music)

I don't even think he really told me he was making music

but another employee at stones throw said,

"hey, have you ever heard James' music?"

I said no.

I heard it and I was like wow, he's holding out on me.

(Up tempo music)

And then I told him that I wanted to put his stuff out

and he, you know, he couldn't believe it.

(Up tempo music)

James: Good evening, Los Angeles.

(Crowd cheering)

My name is James pants.

I come from a land very far away to be here tonight.

I hope you have an excellent time.

It's a variety show of sorts

with song, dance, drumming and screaming.

Have fun.

(Music)

Fl (lyrics) The eyes of the lord are upon you today

the eyes of the lord are upon you today

the eyes of the lord are upon you today fl

(upbeat music)

(Upbeat music)

Wolf: When I first heard madlib it was the lootpack

and it was on college radio.

I was working at the record distributor at the time

and I had just started stones throw.

(Hip-hop music)

Madlib: I was with stones throw in the beginning

because of the first records he put out.

We joined with them because we

heard charizma, peanut butter breaks

and this dude was playing all this crazy music,

all the hip-hop we like.

I'm like he's playing this shit?

I'm like damn, this dude crazy.

We just connected from there.

Wildchild: That was at the time when we were shopping deals

and they weren't really interested

or at the same time we weren't willing

to change what we wanted to do for the labels.

And then it luckily got in the right hands through wolf.

Wolf: When I heard madlib's music, that immediately became my focus.

(Hip-hop music)

Oh no: Oxnard is actually called the little Chicago

because al Capone and them used to transport drugs and stuff back and forth

from you know, oxnard to Chicago.

A lot of gangs out here.

A lot of gangs, you know the rappers too, you know?

In the music world in oxnard,

everybody is really trying to get along

because there's really no time for that bullshit, you know?

Everybody's trying to do this music thing.

Voiceover: This is all live.

As you can plainly hear and see there's no lip—sync business going on here.

This is the real jam, the jam of the jams

and we doing it something like this.

(Rap music)

Talib: First time I heard of stones throw

was when I bought the lootpack album.

The first thing I noticed was how dense that album was.

It was packed.

It was like over 20 songs, maybe 22, 23 songs

and I just couldn't believe

that they were doing this level quality music

but so underground.

(Hip-hop music)

?uestlove: Stones throw came crashing into our world

like just came crashing like a meteor.

(Hip-hop music)

Woman: Could you please just introduce yourself?

(Upbeat music)

Fl (lyrics) If you're not flipping cuts like dj Rome

well then you're not representing with the lp

now, if you're not dropping tracks like madlib

then you're not representing with the lp

well, if you're not kicking styles like wild child

then you're not representing with the lp

but if you're not supporting hardcore hip-hop

well, then you're not a real hip-hop mc

if you're not in tune to this, total bliss

nowadays a lot of rappers I like to diss

because yo, all up in your songs

you'd be talking about your glocks. Fl

wildchild: Wolf has already taken us on the road.

He was showing us stuff that other cats I know didn't even get to see

until their 2nd, maybe 3rd album.

Fl (lyrics) When the camera's off you'll be acting soft

because you'll be in that mental state

thinking that you're great

but everywhere around the gates people saying that you're fake

like dropping out of weight while you're trying to have your cake

but with yourjams ain't got no weight

and many niggas won't debate

we keep it hot like benihana

with no drama while you bite like a piranha fl

Steve: It wasn't until meeting lootpack

to where Chris finally was able to move on.

There was a long period between the passing of charizma

and the meeting of lootpack.

And it was after the success of the lootpack

that he moved out to la. To do more.

(Upbeat music)

He risked everything to come to la.

But it was a move that he needed to do.

He needed to be with madlib.

He needed to be there because madlib was the next thing.

Voiceover: And now the competition begins.

J rocc: The four horsemen riding through town.

Egon, Jeff jank, wolf and madlib.

That was the label.

Like it was just out the house.

Like literally, out the house.

A-trak: Egon was just this very diligent

and responsible passionate guy

that came in and moved to la.

And came on board to help make sure that things were getting done.

The gaslamp killer: Jeff jank is also a visionary

and he is more involved in the decision making at stones throw

than anyone cares to realize.

Mayer: He plays an enormous role in stones throw

and he is the grumpiest motherfucker

that you will ever meet in your entire life

but I love that dude to death.

Wolf: He knew nothing about computers

but he taught himself basically everything

as far as like starting stonesthrow. Com

and he's like a big

he's like the secret weapon of stones throw, you know?

So this is literally a bomb shelter.

That was made in the 50's I guess

when the us and ussr were in this cold war.

We called this studio the bomb shelter, you know, because of that.

J rocc: That's where they ran everything out of that damn house.

Egon out of his room in the front.

Jeff jank downstairs doing nothing but artwork.

Madlib right around the corner smoking

and just playing drums or beats just cranking out.

I loved going over there.

Oh my goodness, I used to love going.

(Upbeat music)

By then like stones throw you know,

it was like wasn't no longer stones throw.

It was like stones throw like oh shit.

This is the house over here, it's going down over here.

Madlib: Reality shows weren't popular back then

but it would have been crazy.

You see a couple dudes arguing over here

and I'm eating up his frozen dinners because I'm broke,

you know what I mean?

He's like, "where my dinners at?"

Over here I'm playing music at 5 in the morning and drums

and Jeff jank comes in yelling.

The next day we're drinking martinis like nothing happened.

That's how we live. (Chuckles)

It was crazy.

(Hip-hop music)

Fl (lyrics) Hey yo we headed to a party to go see what's happening

smoking the iah in the car turn on some rappin

start to freestyle, we'd be up on our way

finish up the blunt

somebody pass me that spray fl

wolf: You know, I appreciated lootpack for what it was

but on one of the tapes on the backside of it was

this guy with a high voice rapping over the beats.

Fl (lyrics) Police pulling us over for no reason

searching the car like fl

to me it seemed like the beats were a little more experimental.

The whole project just seemed more experimental than lootpack.

Fl (lyrics) You got warrants

you all niggas ready for some torment fl

I asked madlib about it.

I was like

I found myself listening to that over and over, you know,

and I asked madlib, "what is this?"

And he was like, "oh man!

"I forgot that was on there.

"Yeah, you know, like you weren't

even supposed to hear that."

I'm like, "no, that's really good."

I wanna put that out too and he's like, "really?

"Cool, I'm with it, whatever.

"You know, fuck it."

Talib: Quasimoto sound is the madlib sound.

Quasimoto is a piece of madlib.

It allows madlib to say and do things

that maybe he wouldn't do as an artist.

Fl (lyrics) The other day Mr. Buddha had this plan

get grands off the man so our whole crew could expand fl

we all need that as artists

and quasimoto is a genius invention.

Fl (lyrics) In my garage thinking large puttin' together the entourage

my niggas straight hit the bank and broke the hell out

so much money you couldn't even get that smell out fl

flying lotus: Hearing that shit, at the time,

there was nothing like it.

You didn't even need mushrooms or weed or nothing.

You didn't even need it.

You could just listen to that shit and just be like what?

That shit'ii just trip you the fuck out, man.

Madlib: Yeah, that's the only time quas comes out, yeah.

Yeah, that's the only time quas would come out.

Madlib: I mean not for weeks but like a month or 2,

you know what I mean?

Madlib: I wouldn't advise that but yeah my man does it.

Madlib: Same, he's just more loud.

You know what I'm saying?

Same type of vibe if you get to know me

but he's just loud and I'm more, you know, calm.

I think I'm loud when I'm drunk, I don't know.

I have no idea.

(Upbeat music)

Fl (lyrics) I remember ultramagnetic and stetsasonic

afrika bambaataa and the soul Sonic

mc shy d, public enemy,

boogie down, mc shan, mc ren

the disco 3, Mr. Magic with the rap attack

all day kday mix masters, Craig mack

steady b, schoolly d, heavy d, mantronix with mc tee fl

Mike d: Madlib had you know, this reinvention cycle.

Quasimoto was a big departure.

You know, he was not afraid to then go out and make something.

That's not what people expect.

That is not even what people think is gonna be a madlib album.

Fl (lyrics) Ccb, take it back like ions

remember daddy fresh or maestro fresh Wes

I know rap, my man fl

(upbeat music)

Madlib: And it sounded like what it looked like.

I didn't disagree when they showed me.

I was like, "yeah, that's it right there."

A pig face, alf nigga, like I don't know, you know what I mean?

That's what he sounded like. (Chuckles)

(Upbeat music)

Wolf: And then madlib started telling me, "I wanna make jazz."

I said, "you wanna make jazz?

"How are you gonna make jazz, you don't even play instruments?"

"Oh, I don't have to play instruments, I could sample."

Madlib: At a point I got tired of hip-hop,

you know what I mean?

Because it gets boring.

Anything is boring after you do it for a while, you know?

Got into jazz about 2001.

Mike: It's sort of a reverse manifestation

of people who got into hip-hop

then sort of explored the music that hip-hop sampled,

and then fell in love with that

and manifested a new approach to it.

And when you go to create original music based on that,

your interpretation of it is something completely original.

Wolf: We were playing the music for weldon irvine, who was like a jazz great

from the 70's that a tribe called quest sampled.

And we played the music for weldon then he was like,

"this guy did not just learn how to play instruments.

"He's been playing his whole life, like—-"

I said no, I'm telling you, he just started learning.

He said, "well, I'm gonna look this brother in the face and ask him."

Madlib: He's like, "show me what you do."

Put in the cd he's just like (chuckles)

And I was like woohoo!

Wolf: And that's when I realized

that actual musicians are like giving it up to this guy.

Who was like a producer who just kind of makes do with whatever he has.

Geoff: I always will say that the...

I think that madlib is

you know, I would compare him really to frank zappa.

(Drumming)

Hip-hop essentially was just stale.

Absolutely like the worse bread,

you know, you don't wanna feed ducks.

And viciously commercial, you know like ja rule.

You know that was kind of I suppose around that kind of time.

J rocc: I don't think wolf made it a conscious decision

to make it madlib, the producer of stones throw.

I mean, he had other stuff coming out at the same time.

It's just that you can't compete with somebody

that was making 5 albums every 2 or 3 weeks or something, you know?

Madlib: I'm here from 7 to 7 the next day, everyday.

You know what I'm saying? I sleep like 2 hours, 3 hours.

(Upbeat music)

I'm a quiet dude, I hate people looking at me,

you know what I'm saying?

I don't like too much attention.

Wolf: I don't know him to be anywhere but in his studio creating.

He's not concerned about how popular he's gonna be.

The money and the fame don't seem to be the main reason why he creates.

He creates to create

and to just get it out of his system.

Respect everybody who listens to my shit, though.

You know what I mean?

Othennise, I'll still be bumping it for myself,

you know what I mean?

?uestlove: I got a call from j dilla.

He's like, "madlib is killing me right now."

I said, "really?"

He said, "yeah man.

"Like he's going where I wanna go."

He does little nuances and tricks in his music that like-...

That I know only I get.

Like even if I were to play it for you,

it would go over your head.

Madlib is talking to me and only me.

(Upbeat music)

Kanye: The purest and greatest musicians come out of that environment.

Also, just a struggle that we deal with in those environments.

Where you're fighting.

You're fighting for your freedom,

you're fighting for your economic equality with your talent.

That's all you got.

There's no other chance right there

and you know, that pressure bust pipes.

You know, you're gonna

something great.

A Rose is gonna grow out of that concrete.

(Upbeat music)

Dilla was definitely one of those roses.

(Upbeat music)

Voiceover: And this guy sitting over there...

Y'all guys good?

Dj house shoes: I kind of introduced madlib to dilla.

It's funny, I introduced dilla to madlib through the lootpack album

and then I introduced madlib to dilla

and wolf and madlib came out for the first time

and we were all in the studio.

Madlib: It's madlib, the beat conductor.

House shoes was there rolling up the blunts,

you know what I mean?

My man walked in with the sp and the snow, j dilla.

J dilla: I could explain it

voiceover: Okay, come on man.

J dilla: I hooked up with madlib because I love his work.

Voiceover: How did you do this?

It's like I'MMA tell you, I'MMA tell you.

Voiceover: Start from the beginning, come on.

J dilla: I hooked up with madlib, because I love his work.

Bought his records.

When I first heard lootpack, I went crazy.

Who was this cat?

I actually got in touch with madlib and flew him out.

Let's do an album or something. Let's do a ep, or

let's just mess the industry up,

you know what I'm saying?

Hook up like that, do it. And really do it.

Wolf: You know, madlib really looked up to Jay Dee

and Jay Dee looked up to madlib too.

So it was this real like weird awkwardness when they met.

They were in the studio.

J dilla: Yeah.

Wolf: And then house shoes is like passing weed around.

Dj house shoes: Dilla's never been influenced

by somebody so strongly as he was by madlib.

Talib: Then you see Detroit not just with oxnard

but with the west coast.

Dilla did a lot of west coast sounding thing.

Something about Detroit

and west coast sounds did well in the midwest

but in Detroit in particular.

Mayer: There are no labels like stones throw in Detroit.

There's no entertainment business there.

We all had to look elsewhere

to find somebody to actually put our music out.

Thankfully there is a guy like peanut butter wolf.

(Upbeat music)

Common: That jaylib projectjust turned out to be something, like...

It's a hip-hop monument.

(Hip-hop music)

Fl (lyrics) It's frank nitty in the place to be

with Jay Dee to the illa and the lib

so let me see you touch the sky fl

the gaslamp killer: Madlib and dilla got together

and started challenging each other super hard,

and dilla moved to la.

Fl (lyrics) In this bitch, we raise the stakes

up a little bit and shut shit down

tone to the toe to the chrome to the zone

you need to put your hands up is what you need to do

plus niggas got game like the ps2

it's dankery off and... n

kanye: Dilla maybe perhaps might have been

a bit more of a scientist perfectionist

and madlib might have just been a bit more crazy.

Fl (lyrics) We are in this motherfucker

we are in this motherfucker fl

common: As soon as he got out here he loved L.A.

He loved it.

It was like I think a breath of fresh air for him

because you know, no matter what,

when you're at the crib,

when you're in your hometown,

everybody you know is around usually

and that could be

obviously that's the foundation

but at certain times if you're the centerpiece

then a lot of it is just-...

Everything is depending on you.

It's easy.

It's better to get away sometimes

just to kind of reboot yourself.

(Upbeat music)

Voiceover: Ladies and gentlemen, direct from...

At the lost gates of sunny southern California.

The gaslamp killer: It wasn't like damn,

these Detroit guys did it again.

It was like this is now,

this is us.

Now he's moved here for a reason.

It's because he believes in the energy of California.

He wants to be in the sunshine and the warmth

with all the positivity and all these people

that are really like loving what he's doing

and loving what each other are doing

and really sharing and...

It wasn't so dog eat dog.

We weren't like silver lake, echo park, eagle rock,

Hollywood, venice beach, Santa Monica.

No, we're like L.A.

This is L.A. hip-hop, we all...

You know, Compton, watts.

We were all just in it.

Common: Anyway, he came out here

and I definitely felt his energy being up.

We would go get records and give him records.

He'll just be at the crib.

We ended up moving to a place near hancock park,

an apartment that I stayed in for a long time.

And man, I would get up in the mornings and

man, go to the kitchen. There he in the dining room making beats.

I was like

I mean, there's nothing better I could dream of.

Kanye: I met j dilla at common's crib

just down the street here in la.

They were staying together

and I just remembered looking at that mpc

and thinking like those drums that came out of that mpc.

You know, arguably the best drums in hip-hop history

and just remember just vibing with him

and having so much respect

and just wanted to work with him more.

Dilla, every time it's like that kick just sat so perfectly and like the...

His swings, his shuffles on his beats,

his snare choices, the way he sample shit, it was just like

it just sounded like, it felt like drugs.

I mean, his musicjust sounded like good pussy.

Fl (lyrics) Get up in it, what

start her up, what

get her washed dog, prime her armor up, what

big wheels, Cadillac grill, what

what, what fl

station dj: Talking about tryin to put jaylib into circ...

And let's do this drop right here

104.9 London's xfm.

Voiceover: All city people.

J dilla: Turn it up live and direct.

Brand new.

(Laughs)

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

turn up another notch, another notch.

Fl (lyrics) Yeah, holla, get it, popping off from the bottle to the collar

clap your hands y'all

get live when you party with your man, y'all

it's the official

hands in the air, let me see the wrist glow

turn me up another notch in the system

you say you want the hot sh—- then listen

madlib and Jay Dee z doing it like we're doing it for

and you don't want to change your dial

world premier rearrange, your style fl

what?

Common: You know, it was a real like quality time

of making music for them too.

I've definitely seen a lot of quiet power within them.

It was able to connect and do something great.

Wolf: We've been working with j dilla for a while

and you know, I asked madlib,

"who else do you see yourself working with outside of our immediate crew?"

And he said mf doom.

Mf doom: Yeah, the whole mask thing, really

all right, there's a time in hip-hop where

things from my point of view started going more

to what things looked like opposed to what things sound like.

(Hip-hop music)

Talib: The madvillain album,

that's just almost as close to perfect as you're gonna get for a hip-hop album.

You got madlib at the top of his game,

you got doom at the top of his game.

(Hip-hop music)

That's like one of the purest hip-hop albums you're gonna hear

because doom focused so heavily on the rhyme scheme,

and on what he's doing with the rhymes.

Madlib focused so heavily what he was doing with the samples.

It was like—-

it's just like this super pure,

unfiltered raw focus on that madvillain album

that is just untouchable.

Mf doom: He's always at the bomb shelter

and I'm always up on the deck writing, right?

And then he would give me another cd,

I get the cd and I'm writing, you know what I'm saying?

And then he's back in the bomb shelter.

I would hardly speak to him.

Wolf: We knew that we had to put him up in a hotel

and stuff while he was out here.

He always ended up just staying over at our house.

Mf doom: Yeah, I got a mini mansion up on the hill.

It was a pretty big crib though.

Lot of space in there, you know, overlooking the hills.

It was a good place to work at, you know what I'm saying?

Real quiet up there.

Fl (lyrics) They say he accosted the man with the sliced wig

allegedly; The investigation is still ongoing

in this pesky mission he gots the best con flowing fl

egon: I'm really curious because you know, you've been hanging out

with one of the guys that we all consider, you know,

one of the best producers in the game.

In the game from independent to commercial, whatever.

Has he influenced your way of thinking about beats at all?

Mf doom: Oh yeah, "o" just got me back into, the whole fun part of it,

you know what I mean?

Like until then I didn't really have a partner

now I feel like I found my partner, you know what I mean?

Prince Paul: Nobody knows anybody 100%

and doom's pretty eclectic, you know what I'm saying?

A lot of us musicians are kind of in our world and our own thing.

We get to...

We only expose what we want people to really know.

I'm sure there's layers to doom that nobody's really gotten to.

I'm sure there's parts of himself that he doesn't even understand.

Wolf: You know, I knew that he had lost his brother and music collaborator

just like how I had lost charizma and I never...

I went probably like a year or so

without even mentioning it to him.

(Upbeat music)

Then this subject kind of finally came up, you know?

He really opened up to me

and it made me feel a lot closer to him.

(Upbeat music)

Mf doom: Anybody here could wear the mask and be a villain.

Male, female, any race, so called race,

you know what I mean?

It's about where you're coming from in your heart,

you know what I'm saying?

What is the message? What you got to say?

Fl (lyrics) Wreak havoc, beep beep it's mad traffic

sleek and lavish people speaking leaking to the Maverick

he see it as just another felony drug arrest

any day could be the one he pick the wrong thug to test

slug through the vest, shot in the street

for pulling heat on a father whose baby's gotta eat

and when they get hungry, it ain't shit funny

paid to interfere with how a brother get his money

now, who's the real thugs, killers and gangsters

set the revolution, let the things bust and thank us

when the smoke clear, you can see the sky again

there will be the chopped off heads of leviathan, my friend fl

madlib: I knew his style, he knew my style and we meshed them together.

We didn't talk about it.

It just happened.

I go and make my beat cds and he'd be up in wolf's room sleeping or something.

Wake up and do a song.

I wake up and he have songs done.

Only thing we did together was a lot of chocolate shrooms.

Egon: Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, egon, stones throw,

all the way from Los Angeles, California.

I'm here with the madvillain tour, record release parties

featuring superstars like madlib, peanut butter wolf, j rocc,

special guest j dilla and of course, the metal face man, mf doom himself

and we're about to go check in with the fellas.

(Hip-hop music)

?uestlove: By this point,

dilla is like our Dalai Lama, all of it.

He is our spiritual leader.

(Hip-hop music)

What donuts represented was like

you know, the return to old soul loops

and the old motown breaks and that stuff.

I mean, that's where hip-hop was.

It was like the post-blueprint era.

You know, Jay-Z had rhymed over a lot of these...

Well, they were calling them like chipmunk breaks

because kanye would put them on 45 or whatever.

But it was basically like cats rhyming over these old soul ballads on 45.

And I was like, this is almost like your answer to that.

Okay, you know a lot of you cats are bringing back the soul records

but you know, I'm gonna show you just one more time how to do it.

And I was like, "yo man,

it's almost like you were sending a message out there

to all the beat makers using soul records

that you know, like I'MMA show you how to do this, right?"

He was just like, pshhh...

He would never take credit for it.

Common: His mother told us stories about how when he was a little kid

he used to just walk to the park with the 45s on his, um, wrists.

He would carry 453 like bracelets,

45 records on his wrists.

He wanted to go to park with them on his wrist.

That's what would make him happy so he was born into this music.

Fl (lyrics) Okay, okay, there comes a time fl

(hip-hop music)

Jay Dee had gotten sick and it happened when he was overseas.

He felt something going on and when he got back here, you know,

he'd been diagnosed with something,

with like a blood, a rare blood disease.

Dj house shoes: It kind of became public that he was sick

and he was in the hospital not doing good.

Flying lotus: I just remember seeing him looking that way

just like he was already on borrowed time.

And I just

I couldn't even look him in the eye, you know?

Because I had a feeling that he wouldn't want anyone to see him like that.

Wolf: He always bounced back and when I saw him in the hospital you know,

and I remember I went like one time,

I picked him up from the hospital.

He called me to like take him back home.

You know, that was like a huge celebration

in the wheelchair and everything.

Put in the wheelchair in my car and he usually always bounced back.

?uestlove: I'll say I was in denial at that point

but then James started filling up

and he instantly walked outside

and I was like oh god, this is

this is goodbye.

(Crowd cheering)

(Crowd chanting)

Mc: Yeah, say it, say it, say it.

Come on, come on, come on, come on.

(Crowd chanting)

(Crowd cheering)

J dilla: Yo, it's a blessing to be out here right now bringing you this celebration.

M.c.: It's what it is, yo.

J dilla: From the d I'm like fuck it.

(Crowd cheering)

Make some noise if you're feeling me out there.

(Crowd cheering)

(Hip-hop music)

Madlib: When dilla passed everything changed.

He was like a Coltrane.

When Coltrane was there,

everybody tried to follow what he did

and when he died, motherfuckers didn't know what to do.

(Hip-hop music)

Fl (lyrics) All I give to you fl

(hip-hop music)

Mc: Make some noise for j dilla.

(Crowd cheering)

Fl (lyrics) I give to you fl

(hip-hop music)

Common: We felt like we had lost one of the greatest.

The people that I've seen at the funeral

you could just tell that he had touched a lot of people.

Dj house shoes: The music stopped when Jay left.

That's the most accurate statement I could make is

when Jay left the music fucking stopped

and it was like a moment of silence.

A very long moment of silence.

Wolf: Dilla passed away, doom was no longer recording

and madlib didn't wanna rap anymore.

It was really kind of the wild west for stones throw at that point.

Like anything goes.

Gary Wilson: I can hear it now.

Speak to me.

I love Gary.

Speak to me.

I love Gary.

Speak to me please.

I love Gary, I love Gary.

(Music)

Fl (lyrics) Linda wants to be alone, Linda wants to eat alone

Linda wants to sleep alone, all into the night

Linda wants to be alone, Linda wants to eat alone

Linda wants to sleep alone, all into the night

Linda wants to be alone fl

dj house shoes: Up to that point it was a fucking hip-hop label

and it seems like after that point, you know,

stones throw is really not a hip-hop label anymore.

And I think Jay's passing kinda led him to set foot on that path.

Geoff: The Gary Wilson start.

I was enthralled by that whole thing.

Fl (lyrics) Linda she's so out of reach

the girls are swimming at the beach all into the night

Linda wants to be alone, Linda wants to eat alone

Linda wants to sleep alone, all into the night fl

j.rocc: The records up until Gary Wilson was just all heat.

Gary Wilson isn't bad, it's just not hip-hop.

Fl (lyrics) Doctor told me what to do

I got to get away from you fl

what the hell is this like, you know?

And it's what wolf liked.

Wolf: Gary was a hero to me

because he was such an underdog.

The gaslamp killer: And for all of us freaking diehard

hip-hop, b-boy type people,

we were just a little confused.

A-trak: No, I don't think so.

I mean never really saw it as a sort of sudden change like that.

Even during the first 10 years of stones throw

releases like yesterday's new quintet definitely broke the mold

of what a hip-hop label traditionally would release.

I don't think, you know, the releases post donuts

were that much of a surprise or departure.

Voiceover: Next, we'll have dj Steve.

The moment you've been waiting for at the number 1 song

we'll have it right after these messages.

Just think these two albums could be yours for only 10.99.

Could you believe that?

Only 10.99.

(Upbeat music)

Wolf: Baron zen, my buddy Steve from my childhood.

I put out his record that was done on a 4-track.

You know, just some io-fi bedroom

like Daniel johnston type of stuff.

Steve: One day Chris just called me and said,

"hey, let's put out the baron zen. Let's put it out."

So we went through it and he put it out.

(Upbeat music)

Wolf: That did really poorly.

Fl (lyrics) I got to get, got to get, got to get rid of Rick fl

Steve: I was a teacher.

I still am a teacher. (Chuckles)

Yeah, so I teach middle school English.

(Upbeat music)

A-trak: A lot of record labels sign artists or projects

that they think will do well.

(Upbeat music)

But for wolf it was just like,

I'm gonna press up my little brother's punk band.

(Punk music)

Or I'm gonna press up a 7-inch of captain funkaho.

(Upbeat music)

Wolf: We had to start over because the people that we were relying on

were either no longer with us or just not recording.

A-trak: And if people like it, cool. If people hate it, fuck it, we had fun.

(Upbeat music)

Wolf: The more I strayed from what people knew stones throw to be,

the more I got criticized.

(Upbeat music)

I was surprised because we were doing the same thing we had always done

and I felt like I was always finding new artists that were really great.

Diva: The person that really sold me on stones throw, though, was folerio.

Royal kush: Well, folerio has a very inviting sense about him.

He seems to be a traveler.

(Music)

The gaslamp killer: I definitely think that wolf

is different than what people think.

(Upbeat music)

Dj house shoes: Yeah, wolf's a regular dude man.

Slightly awkward, you know what I'm saying?

Good dude.

I think there's a fucking party animal trapped in him there.

Like way deep down.

It's a real wild motherfucker in there.

Folerio: Folerio loves New York City!

(Crowd cheering)

Man: Folerio, folerio yeah!

(Crowd cheering)

Folerio: Great.

All right, well awesome.

Well, I'm just grabbing some records and I'm almost there.

Folerio loving!

(Crowd cheering)

(Upbeat music)

J.rocc: What makes him think of folerio?

And then do it... To go full blown,

folerio'd out. Like he signed folerio like really?

You'll put it out, folerio's new record?

Folerio: You want one more song?

You want one more song?

(Crowd cheering)

Will we make one more song?

(Crowd cheering)

No problem?

James: God, I'm so glad there's a label just putting out this nutty stuff.

That's never gonna sell but it's just so good, you know?

20 years down the road

that's gonna be the records people are looking for, you know?

It's like, "oh yeah this label stones throw,

they only put out 200 of this folerio 45

and it was so terrible at the time no one bought it.

But now it's like it's the...

You know, everyone wants to.

It's like the holy grail of stones throw, you know?"

Wolf: There was a time you know, in stones throw's history

where we just weren't making any money.

A lot of it also had to do with the fact

that the record stores were all closing down.

So, you had tower records and virgin records.

Any major chain in the United States closed down.

Madlib: Internet, YouTube.

I respect everybody that does that

but that messed up our, you know, what we do.

We still wanna do it but that messed up a lot of things.

Wolf: We got hit with like tens of thousands of returns of cds

and a lot of record labels actually closed their doors that year

when that happened and we kind of stuck through it

and just kept putting out weird shit. (Laughs)

(Upbeat music)

Dam-funk: Wolf had heard my music on MySpace

based on the comment I left on baron zen's page.

(Upbeat music)

Steve: Dam-funk's first release was

on the baron zen remix album.

(Upbeat music)

Wolf: He gave me his album

and it was like 5 or 6 albums worth of material

and he didn't wanna make it any shorter.

So I said let's do a vinyl box set for your debut release.

People would go in the record store,

they'll see this box set of this unknown person and be like,

"wow, this person deserves a box set.

"They must be really important."

And it worked.

(Upbeat music)

Mayer: I was kinda

like when I came in,

I was part of the kind of like 2nd generation.

Fl (lyrics) You know baby, I know you think we can make it all work out. Fl

David letterman: Mayer hawthorne, ladies and gentlemen.

There it is right there.

How do you do?

Fl (lyrics) I don't wanna make this any harder than it needs to be

so don't cry 3

Mayer: So it was like this new crop of kids coming in.

It was me, dam-funk, James pants and aloe blacc

and wolf really saw it like that.

You know, he saw us as the future of stones throw.

He was getting kind of pigeon-holed into stones throw being the hip-hop label

and I don't think he ever really saw it like that.

Fl (lyrics) Just don't feel the same fl

wolf: After we released Mayer hawthorne's album,

when aloe heard that he's like, "I can do that."

He started working with this band from New York and they did I need a dollar.

(Soul music)

Fl (lyrics) I need a dollar, dollar

a dollar that's what I need

said I need a dollar

said a dollar is what I need

said I need a dollar

I said a dollar that's what I need

and I'll share with you my story

if you share your dollar with me fl

conan: My next guest is a southern California native.

He is here tonight with a song from his latest album good things.

Please welcome aloe blacc.

Wolf: Aloe said, "I think this is the song I need a dollar."

And I heard it and I was like.

Then it got licensed for this hbo show,

how to make it in america,

it was the theme song

and then we rushed to get it on iTunes and we called it

I need a dollar, how to make it in america theme song in parenthesis.

We didn't even ask if that's okay.

Like we probably could have gotten sued for that.

Fl (lyrics) I need a dollar

I said a dollar is what I need

and I'll share with you my story

if you share your dollar with me

come on, share your dollar with me

go ahead, share your dollar with me

come on, share your dollar, give me your dollar

share your dollar with me

come on, share your dollar with me, yeah

yeah, I need, I need a dollar, yeah fl

Madlib: You got your house.

That's what you got your house and your car

but you got to keep that up.

You don't sell a certain amount it's over.

It's over but... you know?

Wolf believes in something different it looks like

because he still fucks with cats that may not sell as much.

Or he may one day,

but you got to take that chance.

That's why I'm still here 20 something years later if you know what I mean.

You can't have the future without the past or anything between.

You got everything and that's what stones throw had.

(Upbeat music)

Wolf: I think what's been exciting for me with stones throw

and just being in the music industry is just how unpredictable it is.

It's difficult but you just never know what's around the corner.

(Upbeat music)

Love man.

(Upbeat music)

Snoop dogg: Nigga, that shit knockin'.

(Upbeat music)

Fl (lyrics) Let me do my thang, do my thang

yeah, imma do my thang

let me do my thang

stay on the low and get it everywhere that we go

let me do my thang

new gators on my feet rolling up and down this street

let me do my thang

I'm busting new batch get it back just like that

let me do my thang

I'm hard in the paint never say what a nigga can't

let me do my thang, do my thang

yeah, imma do my thang

let me do my thang fl

man in green: Yeah, we can turn it all [unintelligible].

Snoop dogg: We got 5 or 6 great club bangers

if we just drop the motherfucker with the right meaning or reason.

I love how you all get down.

You all know what the fuck you're all doing.

I told dam, I was like "whatever they say, I'm with it."

Dam-funk: We just wanna make this a great record,

you know what I mean?

We're gonna do it and you know,

it's beautiful that we came to this.

This is what it really is,

creating music and vibing with each other

and making something happen to a great conclusion,

you know what I mean?

And everybody working together.

Snopp dogg: And dam, this is a record about us

giving the people what they want.

They requested this record right here.

Dam-funk: Yeah, oh, you already know. Snoop dogg: We was forced into it.

Dam-funk: We already (laughs)

Salute to that.

Snoop dogg: We were forced to do this record.

I mean anything else would be uncivilized.

Mike: It's incredibly hard to grow and maintain the same ethics

and the same ethos over such a long period of time.

Where they are today is just a larger version

of what they were originally doing which is incredibly hard to do.

A-trak: Stones throw just managed to build its own empire independently.

There's so many great labels that signed with a major

for some sort of joint venture deal

and that ended up killing those labels.

It's a tempting decision.

J.rocc: It's crazy that they've been able to hold on this long with every other label closing.

Wolf could have got bought up probably 5 times.

Wolf's like, "no, I'm good.

"I'm keeping the label, it's my label, you know?

"I didn't start this to sell it."

Wolf: Some of my decisions have prevented me from being more successful

and I understand that but I guess that's my struggle

because I mean, there's probably like 3 or 4 handfuls of people who

when I put a record I want them to like it

and then beyond that I don't care.

Royal kush: There is a bit of an anti—establishment flair to stones throw

and I don't think that's a coincidence.

I think that has to do with Chris.

His quest to move beyond music

and that move beyond curation in essence kind of go beyond general.

Mike d: I think people like this,

they expect one thing and I get that

but ultimately the only thing that keeps things alive is change, invention, reinvention.

It's just like whatever sparks, whatever it is he sees he's like, great, I wanna do that.

(Music)

Wolf: In 30 years I want to see stones throw records

either in the $100 bin or the 99 cent bin.

I don't want it in the $5 bin.

I want people to either like really hate it or really love it.

(Hip-hop music)

Fl (lyrics) I'm a fugitive running from my past

how long will freedom last I'm swinging knuckles of brass

motivated, hustle for cash, I'm puffing the hash

leave a rapper on the ground with his jugular slashed

and laugh at him, it's humorous

a lot of emcees got one style, me I got numerous

I stand out so nobody's confusing us

I'm way better, cold winners, beige leathers

black pistols, red eyes, blue jeans

white widow, caked up, new green

travel across borders, across water

being short on my cashflow is a tall order

your style shallow like fountains where they toss quarters

wishing away to be the pick of the day

when motherfuckers would care to hear the shit that you say

on show day you couldn't give the tickets away

loser

and this is the way

And this is the way

I step through the door, sharper than a blade from a mower

success, you more like the pitch of a four

what a mess, I ain't gotta brag when I double cash

come easy like a breezy with a treble pass

still by popular demand

return like a shirt when you wore it with a tag

still clown in the c-u-t

eyes low, tae Bo, no s-u-v

ca to the d what up, talk shit

the shoe fit, equipped, get your tongue shoestring, damn

stay sound as I crack jaws

you lock doors, we break through the bores in the drywall

by far we a highlight

you an extra, catch shade from the spotlight, right

no pressure, respect, just the best

to headline the field like rent from your next check

m.e.d.

And this is the way

and this is the way

Pete rock fl

Fl (lyrics) So you feel it oh so very strong

about us meeting

and you would like to know more

I get the feeling

that this here may not work

because you see me I can hide with something there

we can go as far as you would like to go

but it's with your heart baby that you got to let me know

I understand that it takes a lot of work

but I'll be right here if you just stand by your word

(soul music)

You say that you need my love, my love

but what are you gonna do if you get it

you say that you need my love, my love, my loving

charizma: They didn't think we're nerds, did you?

Who cares.

Wolf: I don't know. Charizma: I have twenty cents.

Sometimes you just got to do your own thing, you know?

Charizma: Yeah, we're different than everybody else dj.

That's what sets us apart from them.

Wolf: That's right.