00:00Well, you know, I can do that also.
00:02A little British accent.
00:04Very little.
00:17First of all, let me tell you, you can wear a suit.
00:20You're really good in it.
00:22I want to see you in a Bond movie.
00:27Hopefully.
00:28Well, you know, I can do that also.
00:30A little British accent.
00:32Very little.
00:34Perfect.
00:35Amazing.
00:36Now I need to see you in a Bond movie.
00:39Yes.
00:41Yes.
00:43Speaking about this TV show, they say he's a black guy in America.
00:49He doesn't have time to process his feelings.
00:52Do you agree with this line?
00:54It's hard for a black guy in America to process his feelings.
00:59Somewhat.
01:00Somewhat.
01:01Yeah.
01:01But I mean, that's for any male of any color that has a family he has to take care of.
01:07You really don't have time to process anything.
01:12I mean, at the end of the day, we're all part, you know, we're all cogs in one big machine.
01:18And to make it work, yeah, sometimes you don't have time to do that.
01:23Yes.
01:24I think that one theme of the show is that knowledge is power.
01:30Do you believe it's true?
01:32Knowledge is power, a powerful thing.
01:35Absolutely.
01:37And the reason why people say that is to know before you speak, to be informed, before you
01:46write, to have a sense of who you are, before you present yourself to the world is the best
01:52thing in the world.
01:53So, you can't, you will always sell yourself short if you don't have the proper information
02:01ahead of time.
02:02That's it.
02:03Period.
02:04You will always do what you do in your homework.
02:07Always.
02:09You said once that acting is easier than being a musician.
02:17Do you still believe it's true being an actor is easier or not?
02:22No, no.
02:23And I'm mad at myself for even saying that.
02:26If I did say it, it would be harder than being a musician.
02:31I have more control when I'm writing my own music, creative control rather.
02:37I have some control with the acting thing, but it's so many different layers to it outside
02:44of just showing up to set and saying some lines in front of a camera.
02:48There's a lot of prep that goes into it, not just from the actors, but from the producers,
02:54from the writers.
02:56You have to be connected to all these people to bring your character, some believability
03:04to your character.
03:05You want to get all these perspectives to a point where you understand what's going
03:09on and can do your best job.
03:14I think that Shaolin philosophy influenced you, your music.
03:20And now I want to know if it influences also your acting career.
03:26This philosophy helped you find your method.
03:31I don't know.
03:33That's more RZA and Wu-Tang Clan.
03:36And as I grow, not necessarily separating myself from that, but me being my own entity, it's
03:45more or less like I follow what I feel is best.
03:49And not just the Shaolin way of life, because that's always going to be a part of me.
03:57I add that to all the other things that I've learned over the years now.
04:01So it's not just that.
04:03It's, you know, what my dad taught me, my grandfather, things that I've learned from different black
04:09leaders, as well as white philosophers, you know, Italian artists, just everything.
04:17It's just a plethora of everything that adds on to my character to make me the best human
04:20being that I can be.
04:24Now I want to see you in a Bond movie, doing martial arts.
04:28Yeah.
04:29Doing martial arts epic.
04:32Me too.
04:33Me too.
04:37And you know Mary J. Blige for a while now.
04:42How was working on a project with her?
04:47Um, she's, Mary's always a professional.
04:51We didn't actually get to work with each other on the show.
04:53I do see her every now and then.
04:56But from what I've seen in the first two episodes, she's great as Monet Tejada.
05:02Right now, I can't see anybody else playing that part.
05:06And Mary is who Mary is.
05:08She's going to give you the best of her every time she shows up.
05:12She's going to show up ready.
05:13Um, this TV show is one of a long list of, uh, spinoff.
05:21Uh, now power is almost like, uh, the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
05:26So how cool is being part of a project, uh, like this one?
05:31I think that's ingenious what Courtney is doing with all these different chapters and making
05:36it seem like it's, uh, an MCU technique, um, hasn't been done before with television.
05:43She's already laid the groundwork with the, uh, first series.
05:48Um, brilliant.
05:49Brilliant.
05:50And the fact that I can be a part of the narrative to push it even further, I'm ecstatic about
05:56it.
05:56and I'm very excited for people to see what's going on with this universe.
06:00Mm-hmm.
06:02Um, do you believe in the USA?
06:05Uh, now there's a struggle, social struggle.
06:09Um, do you believe that art can be, uh, a form of activism?
06:14How important is doing a TV show, a TV show like this now?
06:19Um, I wouldn't put too much emphasis on TV or movies changing or, you know, there are some
06:26people that focus on just that and I applaud them for that.
06:31Power is a nice escape from everything that's going on.
06:36The pandemic, the movement, the, everything that's going on right now, the politics and
06:42all that.
06:43This is an hour to sit down and forget about all of that and just enjoy a TV show.
06:50A TV show, mind you, that if you're a Paki, you may see a Pakistani actor on this show.
06:56If you're Asian, you may see an Asian actor on this show.
07:00The point I'm trying to make is there's something there for everybody.
07:03This is one of the most diverse casts as well as diverse studios right now happening.
07:13in Hollywood and, uh, all the credit to 50 and Courtney and the people at Lionsgate and
07:20the people at stars for even being ahead of the curve, so to speak, enough that they would
07:25give a show like this a chance.
07:28Um, how important is to, uh, fight to do the one thing you're good at?
07:34because Tariq wants to study, but, uh, he has family issues.
07:39So how important is trying to do the one thing that you're good at and that makes your life
07:46have a sense?
07:47Very, very important, especially to Davis McLean, because Davis McLean is the suit.
07:54that suit, that suit, that suit alone makes people look at him as successful, not just successful,
08:03because when you're a black man in a suit, you get treated way differently.
08:08I've seen it myself.
08:10So that part of it right there is mainly where Davis McLean likes to lie at, where it's like you
08:19see it, so I don't have to tell you, but when I do tell you, you're going to fucking listen
08:26because of the way I look, you know what I mean?
08:29Yeah.
08:31Okay.
08:32Thank you so much.
08:33You're amazing.
08:34This TV show, but I want to see you in a Bond movie doing martial arts.
08:39Please do it.
08:41Thank you so much, my sister.
08:43Thank you.
08:43Bye.
08:44Bye.
08:45Bye.
08:45Bye.
08:48Bye.
