00:00See, he too cool for school, man.
00:02You know you was in the...
00:03Nah.
00:04You remember that.
00:05Nah, man.
00:06You remember that.
00:06Everybody watching the video, you pause.
00:08Hey, that's me right there in the back.
00:09Yeah, that's what I'm saying.
00:10I think it was the song he did with 3-6 Mafia,
00:12but I can't remember.
00:13It was a cold day back in 1823.
00:17What up, what up, bitch?
00:19Your player partner 2 Chainz checking in.
00:21I'm Omar Epps.
00:22Shout out to The Hollywood Reporter.
00:25We're taking a look at our Hollywood firsts.
00:29First artist that made me fall in love with music.
00:32Wow.
00:33First thing, well, to my heart is Stevie Wonder.
00:36I can't remember which album my mom would play,
00:40but like between him and Donny Hathaway,
00:42that was heavy rotation in the crib.
00:46Some of the first songs that made me fall in love with music
00:49would be obviously Michael Jackson's Thriller album
00:54and then New Edition with Mr. Telephone Man on it
00:59and Candy Girl and stuff like that.
01:00So my dad had a eclectic album collection.
01:05And through that, Rick James with the Red Boots.
01:09The first movie that made me want to be in movies.
01:13Well, the first actor.
01:16I'm going to start with that.
01:17Sidney Poitier was, you know, incredibly inspirational.
01:22So that's my acting hero.
01:23But the first movie where it just really hit for me,
01:28I'm going to have to say Do the Right Thing, Spike Lee.
01:31That was like, that was like it was a camera outside of where
01:35I'm from Brooklyn and everything like that.
01:37And just that, everything about that film spoke to like
01:42the core of my artistry.
01:45For me, it would probably be Juice because my cousin played in it.
01:49And Tupac.
01:52What's up?
01:53My first feature film debut was Juice with the star Pac and Jermaine
02:00and Khalil.
02:01Ernest Dickinson wrote and directed it.
02:03So that was fun.
02:05It was a funny story.
02:06Like Pac was one of those, you know, there's different,
02:09like the frequency of human energy is such that some people walk in a room,
02:14whether they're quote unquote famous or not.
02:17They just have a certain aura, you know, and Tupac was one of those people.
02:24And he just, you know, the room just lit up.
02:28And so from when we first met, it was kind of like we went lockstep.
02:35I'm more of a quiet, you know, reserved personality.
02:39He's more of an outgoing.
02:40So there was a natural yin and yang, but he was funny and very,
02:45there was a power that resonated from, from his aura that you could sense
02:53even all the way back then, you know, it was a cold winter night back in 1823
02:59when Juice came out.
03:03The first time on the set of a music video, I was just trying to get in the
03:07video with Luda, Luda Chris, cause we from the same area and he was doing
03:13music before me, but I just remember just trying to get a cameo.
03:17So I can obviously not even show people.
03:21So people couldn't see me on TV, so.
03:23See, he too cool for school, man.
03:25You, you know, you was in the, you remember that.
03:28Nah, nah, man.
03:29You remember that.
03:30Everybody watching the video, you pulled that ass me right there in the back.
03:33Yeah, that's what I'm saying.
03:33I think it was the song he did with 3-6 Mafia, but I can't remember,
03:37but I know it had something to do.
03:38I definitely know it had something to do with Luda Chris.
03:40And it was just me definitely trying to get in where I fit in.
03:44You know, especially early on videos was such a big thing.
03:47You know what I'm saying?
03:48You know, when they were on BET or MTV and all these different, you know, outlets.
03:52So I just remember coming to a video shoot and just being in the crowd and just trying to stand out the best way I could.
04:01It was a cold day back in 1823.
04:05Probably Baby from Cash Money that I think maybe made an impact because of the way he moved and was kind of making sure everyone was straight.
04:17And I obviously met Wayne through him, who I have a great relationship with.
04:23I just remember me and Baby for the first time and just his aura and presence.
04:29And it's interesting because being from New York, the makeup of the city is such that you just see people walking down the street.
04:39So, you know, and then I went to Performing Arts and Dandre Whitfield and Carl Payne, they were like seniors when I was a freshman.
04:49So I'm going to school and I'm like, oh, that's dude from the Cosby show, like in the hallway.
04:54But just seeing them in person, it's like it made it real.
05:02It made the dream real in my mind back then.
05:05A car.
05:07Yeah, a car.
05:08Yeah.
05:09I definitely bought a Phantom and a Maybach or something.
05:14Just crazy.
05:15I didn't buy a Phantom.
05:16It was just crazy.
05:17I bought a car.
05:18Yeah, I bought a Benz, some type of Benz or something.
05:22Yeah.
05:23I went Rolls Royce and then I got a Phantom and then I parked them next to each other.
05:28Then I got on each one of them.
05:29I just started doing push-ups in the middle.
05:31Just, I have to find that the first time I heard myself on the radio.
05:36It was a cold night.
05:38It was a cold night.
05:40Duffel bag boys?
05:41That's what I was going to ask.
05:42Probably Duffel bag boys with Wayne and Dollar Boy.
05:45You know, play a circle.
05:47Many years ago on a cold, it was like, it was like, it's like probably like 07, 08 or something
05:54like that.
05:55I do remember being excited and feeling like the time has come because I, man, I tried and
06:04I clawed and I fought to try to get in the position that I am now.
06:08So when it started to actually unfold, I remember being extremely excited.
06:16I think we have a synergy that's such that once we started chopping it up, as they say,
06:22it was like, we, it was like, we already knew each other.
06:26It wasn't a, you know, some people you get to know and it's like a feeling out process.
06:32I think we, we connected.
06:34Yeah.
06:35And we a-like and a lot of things, just life things, you know, principles.
06:41We share a lot of the same.
06:43And so it's hard for me to think of one.
06:46I think it's not about the one that this, it's the whole experience is living and breathing
06:52and being present.
06:53And us having a character in the short film that is supposed to be like this avid Atlanta
06:59Hawks fan.
07:00I call the homeowners of the Hawks and ask them to try to get their blessings on using
07:04their logo.
07:05And I find out that it's, it's kind of bigger than them, so to speak.
07:08When we get to set the first day to shoot this film, it's at my mother-in-law's house
07:15and it's a hawk with a broken wing in the backyard, which is, we still trying to figure out the
07:21symbolism behind that.
07:23But I remember sharing a moment about like, things are going to be all right.
07:26Like this is going to go, this is going to be a good week.
07:28And if you look on the cover and a lot of the promo for the short film, as well as my
07:33soundtrack coming out August 1st, you'll see the hawk with the broken wing.
07:38The Red Clay soundtrack is more or less like a mood board for what Red Clay is going to
07:44be, which is going to be a series and these titles and actually some of the concepts and
07:53material that are on these songs have to do with different episodes.
07:58So we're kind of living in the future right now, so to speak, and things will catch up.
08:03But me just always putting literally my best foot forward.
08:07This soundtrack is, it gives you or sets the tone for what you will see with the upcoming
08:14episodes of Red Clay that we're currently working on.
08:16Legendary, legacy, solid, stand up.
08:26I can describe myself in different ways all day, but, you know, you think of me, I just
08:32want you to think of somebody reliable, transparent, God fearing.
08:40What he said.
08:43Double down on that.
08:45You will be able to see Red Clay, the short film, very soon.
08:51In the meantime, on August the 1st, you'll be able to hear the soundtrack and you can kind
08:56of picture the direction of where this is going and I appreciate the love.
09:01Hollywood Reporter, thanks for having us.
09:03Myself, Omar Epps, 2 Chainz.
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