2 Chainz & Omar Epps Hollywood Firsts: Co-Starring With Tupac, Rap Cameos, Filming 'Red Clay' & More | THR Video - video Dailymotion

Hollywood Journal

2 Chainz and Omar Epps sat down with The Hollywood Reporter to reflect on their "Hollywood Firsts" and reveal why artists like Stevie Wonder and Michael Jackson made them fall in love with music. Plus, Epps recalls working with Tupac in his feature film debut 'Juice' while 2 Chainz shares the story of trying to make a cameo in a Ludacris music video. Finally, the two stars dish on their short film and soundtrack 'Red Clay.'

Transcript

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.

00:59The 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.

01:22That's my acting hero.

01:23But the first movie, which is 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.

01:55With the star Pac and Jermaine and Khalil.

02:01Ernest Dickinson wrote and directed it.

02:03So that was funny story.

02:06Like Pac was one of those, you know, there's, there's different,

02:09like the frequency of human energy is such that some people

02:13walk in a room, whether they're quote unquote famous or not,

02:17they just have a certain aura, you know, and, and,

02:22and 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,

02:33we went lockstep.

02:34I'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.

02:43And very, there was a, a power that resonated from,

02:51from his aura that you could sense even all the way back then.

02:55You know, it was a cold winter night back in 1823 when Juice

02:59came out.

03:03The first time on the set of a music video,

03:05I was just trying to get in the video with Luda, Luda Chris,

03:11because we from the same area and he was doing music before me.

03:14But I just remember just trying to get a cameo so I can obviously

03:20not even show people so people couldn't see me on TV.

03:22So, see, 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 jazz me right there in the back.

03:32Yeah, 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, when they were on BET or MTV and all these different,

03:52you know, outlets.

03:53So, I just remember coming to a video shoot and just being in the crowd

03:58and 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

04:12because 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.

04:23So, I just remember me and Baby for the first time and just his aura and presence.

04:29It's interesting because being from New York, the makeup of the city is such that

04:36you just see people walking down the street.

04:39So, you know, and then I went to Performing Arts and D'Andre Whitfield and Carl Payne,

04:46they were like seniors when I was a freshman.

04:49So, I'm going to school and I'm like, oh, that's a dude from the Cosby show.

04:53Like, in the hallway, but just seeing them in person, it's like it made it real.

05:03It made the dream real in my mind back then.

05:07A car, man.

05:08Yeah, a car, yeah.

05:09I definitely bought a Phantom and a Maybach or something, just crazy.

05:15I didn't buy a Phantom.

05:17It was just crazy.

05:18I bought a car.

05:19Yeah, I bought it.

05:20A Benz, some type of Benz.

05:22Yeah, I went Rolls Royce and then I got a Phantom and then I parked them next to each other.

05:27Then 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.

05:42That's what I was going to ask.

05:43Yeah, probably duffel bag boys with Wayne and Dollar Boy, you know, play a circle.

05:47Many years ago on the cold.

05:50It was like, it was like, it's like probably like 07, 08 or something like that.

05:55I do remember being excited and feeling like the time has come because I, man, I tried and

06:03I clawed and I fought to try to get in the position that I am now.

06:07So 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,

06:23it 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.

06:35We 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.

07:00And I 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.

07:15It'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.

07:51And actually some of the concepts and material that are on these songs have to do with different

07:57episodes.

07:58So we're kind of living in the future right now, so to speak, and things will catch up.

08:03For me, just always putting literally my best foot forward, this soundtrack is, it gives

08:10you or sets the tone for what you will see with the upcoming episodes of red clay that

08:15we're currently working on.

08:18Legendary.

08:19Legendary.

08:20Legacy.

08:21Solid.

08:22Stand up.

08:23I 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.

08:44Double down on that.

08:47You 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.

09:052 Chainz.

2 Chainz & Omar Epps Hollywood Firsts: Co-Starring With Tupac, Rap Cameos, Filming 'Red Clay' & More | THR Video

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