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

The Hollywood Reporter

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

00:59and 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.

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

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