Latest / The Breakfast Club / Jabari Banks Talks 'Bel-Air' Role, Lessons From The Fresh Prince, Freestyles + More

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Jabari Banks Talks 'Bel-Air' Role, Lessons From The Fresh Prince, Freestyles + More · The Breakfast Club

0:00
Speaker 1: Wait that ass up in the morning Breakfast Club. Morning,
0:06
Speaker 1: everybody is DJ Envy Angela yee, Charlomagne the guy. We
0:10
Speaker 1: all the breakfast club. We got a special guest in
0:12
Speaker 1: the building. Yes, indeed from bell and we have Jabari Banks.
0:16
Speaker 1: Well you're what's going on? How are you feeling, my brother?
0:19
Speaker 1: I'm great man, how y'all? Man, blessed black and highly
0:21
Speaker 1: favor Yeah, exactly, blessed to be here, blessed to be
0:23
Speaker 1: with y'all. This is incredible, that's right. Congratula on the
0:25
Speaker 1: success of bell A thus far. Did you feel a
0:28
Speaker 1: lot of pressure having to play such an iconic, iconic role, Yeah, definitely,
0:33
Speaker 1: definitely the pressure. But you know, um many talks with Will,
0:35
Speaker 1: many talks with Morgan Cooper, our creator, and you know,
0:37
Speaker 1: they just reminded me to just be me, be me,
0:39
Speaker 1: you know, bring myself to the role. And you know,
0:41
Speaker 1: it's exactly what Will was doing. He was being the
0:42
Speaker 1: fresh friends in the nineties, you know what I mean.
0:44
Speaker 1: He wasn't trying to be nobody else. So that's what
0:45
Speaker 1: I had to do. How did you get into acting?
0:48
Speaker 1: I got into acting in high school and I sort
0:52
Speaker 1: of you know, it's just like dollying around and then
0:54
Speaker 1: I went to college for it because my mom needed
0:56
Speaker 1: me to go to college, and I was like, I'll
0:57
Speaker 1: go to college for acting. And then I'm from Philly
1:00
Speaker 1: and I from Maryland. Yeah, and uh West Philadelphia born
1:04
Speaker 1: and race. Yeah yeah, actually crazy because I live I
1:06
Speaker 1: lived in West Philly with my uncle philow his name
1:08
Speaker 1: is James. Listen, listen. His name is James James Brogan right, Okay,
1:13
Speaker 1: but we called him Phil because he lived in Philly
1:16
Speaker 1: and I lived with him for a long time, and
1:18
Speaker 1: so that's why you know, Uncle Phil's real name was
1:20
Speaker 1: James James within the show, not just me, with everybody
1:26
Speaker 1: in the cast, you know what I mean, That kind
1:28
Speaker 1: of like intertwined them with the story. But yeah, yeah,
1:31
Speaker 1: I went to school in Philly, a University of the Arts,
1:33
Speaker 1: and then I fell in love with it. Then, So
1:35
Speaker 1: did you tell people that story, like growing up being
1:37
Speaker 1: from Philly and having an uncle named Phil. No, I didn't.
1:40
Speaker 1: It didn't make sense. I mean, it didn't really register,
1:42
Speaker 1: you know what I mean. Like I wasn't really tripping
1:44
Speaker 1: off of it until everything clicked and then it was like,
1:46
Speaker 1: oh wow, like every part of my life has sort
1:49
Speaker 1: of led up to this. Wow, you know you were
1:51
Speaker 1: a fresh Prince fan. I'm assuming yeah, okay, all right now.
1:55
Speaker 1: According to the Philly Voice dot com, the director Morgan
1:58
Speaker 1: Cooper Heat had a twenty five thousand dollars budget to
2:01
Speaker 1: do a feature film teaser for bel Air with with
2:04
Speaker 1: different actors. So how did that turn into this is
2:07
Speaker 1: gonna be a show. Well, so basically, you know, Morgan
2:09
Speaker 1: put the trailer out, you know, just out of love
2:11
Speaker 1: and out of a pure place, you know what I mean.
2:13
Speaker 1: He was just like, I love the Fresh Friends, I
2:15
Speaker 1: want to see this, I want to tell the story
2:16
Speaker 1: that I want to tell, you know. Uh, and he
2:18
Speaker 1: just he took that and he put it on YouTube.
2:21
Speaker 1: And I think within the first day Will's company, Westbrook,
2:24
Speaker 1: they hit him up, and you know, they were like,
2:27
Speaker 1: we want to, you know, talk with you and develop
2:29
Speaker 1: this thing. And you know, I think a couple of
2:31
Speaker 1: weeks after that, he was sitting with Will and he
2:33
Speaker 1: was talking about, you know where we want to take
2:35
Speaker 1: this story and uh, you know, years down the line
2:37
Speaker 1: here we are totally different tone though totally different tones.
2:41
Speaker 1: Break that down. Break down if people haven't seen this show,
2:44
Speaker 1: the differences between what we've seen as a kid Fresh
2:46
Speaker 1: Prince of Bela Yeah, well you know Bellair, Uh, twenty
2:49
Speaker 1: twenty two version is a dramatic retelling of the Fresh
2:52
Speaker 1: Prince of bel Lair, the quintessential nineties sitcom, and uh,
2:56
Speaker 1: you know, it's all the characters that we know and love,
2:58
Speaker 1: but basically we get to dive deep into who they
3:00
Speaker 1: are and the actual stories that are going on in
3:02
Speaker 1: their lives and uh, you know, it's a it's a
3:04
Speaker 1: modern day retelling of the Fresh Prince of bel Air basically,
3:07
Speaker 1: and um, and when you think of the story, you
3:09
Speaker 1: know are our showrunner TJ. Brady He said it perfectly.
3:12
Speaker 1: He was like, we all know the story of the Joker,
3:14
Speaker 1: you know what I mean. But when we see jan
3:15
Speaker 1: Kie Phoenix do what he was doing, it was like,
3:17
Speaker 1: did you really think about it? You know what I mean?
3:19
Speaker 1: And so like we get to see the story, we
3:22
Speaker 1: get to see how Will ends up in bell Lair,
3:24
Speaker 1: and it's gonna be super exciting for like old fans
3:26
Speaker 1: and new fans and man, it's it's been crazy to
3:28
Speaker 1: love around the project. Did you were you afraid to
3:31
Speaker 1: turn something that I guess what's so happy? So I
3:34
Speaker 1: would call it bright I'll call Fred Prince of bel
3:36
Speaker 1: Air Bright. Would you were you afraid to turn something
3:38
Speaker 1: like that dark? Nah? I wasn't afraid of it, um
3:41
Speaker 1: because when I had seen Morgan's trailer, I was like, oh,
3:43
Speaker 1: I get it, I get it, and I'm like, I
3:45
Speaker 1: was like shout, I'd watch that, you know what I mean.
3:47
Speaker 1: And so I think it's I think it's important because
3:49
Speaker 1: it's a reflection of our world, you know what I mean?
3:52
Speaker 1: And I think, you know, it's it's it's important to
3:53
Speaker 1: see that. How hands on was Will Smith during the
3:55
Speaker 1: taping and all that man he was? You know what,
3:58
Speaker 1: I always say that it was it was great that
4:00
Speaker 1: he wasn't because he really gave us. He really left
4:02
Speaker 1: the our retelling and our creation of these characters to
4:05
Speaker 1: our own volition, you know what I mean, And so
4:07
Speaker 1: that allowed us to create these, you know, characters that
4:12
Speaker 1: ourselves are in, you know what I mean. He didn't
4:13
Speaker 1: have his thumb on it, hella, you know what I mean,
4:15
Speaker 1: And so I feel like that's what I appreciated about him.
4:17
Speaker 1: But you know, he definitely gave us a lot of tips.
4:18
Speaker 1: What about the other characters, Carlton and all of any
4:21
Speaker 1: of them coming and said or did, yeah, we have to,
4:23
Speaker 1: we have to. We had a few talks with the
4:24
Speaker 1: original cast, so it was definitely a blessing to to
4:26
Speaker 1: get their blessing. Then to see that that torch passed,
4:28
Speaker 1: you know what I mean. I always wonder to you know,
4:31
Speaker 1: if and I would love to add world is but
4:32
Speaker 1: maybe he told you. I wonder what he had played
4:35
Speaker 1: that character differently now because you know, oh he's older now,
4:40
Speaker 1: and he always said that back then he was he
4:42
Speaker 1: would pretending to be somebody he wasn't, right. I wonder
4:45
Speaker 1: what he played at approach that character different now? Definitely.
4:49
Speaker 1: I feel, you know, like when he when he was,
4:51
Speaker 1: you know, doing the Fresh Friends thing, he had no
4:54
Speaker 1: acting chops at all. Yeah, you know what I mean,
4:55
Speaker 1: and so he was just kind of up there just
4:57
Speaker 1: trying to figure it out. And I definitely think, knowing
5:01
Speaker 1: what he knows now, it definitely would have been different,
5:03
Speaker 1: but it wouldn't have been as raw. So you got
5:05
Speaker 1: you got an acting shops, so you weren't doing what willcams.
5:07
Speaker 1: But he said Will used to be saying everybody. It
5:09
Speaker 1: was a little different for me. It was a little
5:10
Speaker 1: different for me because I was a theater actor and
5:12
Speaker 1: so this is my first time being in front of
5:16
Speaker 1: a camera, in front of a forty person you know,
5:18
Speaker 1: camera crew, and uh and so that was definitely a
5:21
Speaker 1: learning curve for sure. How did you dis go to? You?
5:23
Speaker 1: Just you know, I just sent him my audition, you know,
5:25
Speaker 1: with I had. I had a manager, had an agent
5:28
Speaker 1: that I got through a showcase, and uh, you know,
5:30
Speaker 1: they sent me the call. They were like, yo, there's
5:32
Speaker 1: this show called bell Air and for this character Will.
5:35
Speaker 1: And I was like, hold on Bellaire, Will. And I
5:37
Speaker 1: saw the call and I was like, okay, okay, I
5:39
Speaker 1: could do this. I knew it was me. I just
5:41
Speaker 1: had to prove to everybody else. But I thought that
5:42
Speaker 1: they wanted like a big name, you know what I mean.
5:44
Speaker 1: I thought that they wanted somebody who was recognizable to
5:46
Speaker 1: everybody else. And so I was like, I don't know
5:48
Speaker 1: how I'm gonna get this role, but you know what
5:51
Speaker 1: I mean, I just had to surrender to the whole process.
5:52
Speaker 1: And uh. And so I sent him my call and
5:55
Speaker 1: uh and a couple a couple of weeks down the line,
5:58
Speaker 1: what did you have to do on that first tape
5:59
Speaker 1: to your Yeah, it was a couple It was a
6:01
Speaker 1: couple of scenes. No I have to wrap no, no,
6:04
Speaker 1: I just uh, I just uh it was it was
6:05
Speaker 1: a couple of scenes. It was actually a scene with
6:07
Speaker 1: Lebron in it. Lebron was supposed to be in the
6:09
Speaker 1: first episode, but you know it was you know, budgeting.
6:12
Speaker 1: You know, well he was supposed to be playing when
6:14
Speaker 1: the people you're playing ball against. No, no, no, no,
6:16
Speaker 1: he was just supposed to be at a bell lay party.
6:18
Speaker 1: Was like like, yo, that's Lebron, you know what I mean.
6:20
Speaker 1: So I did a seeing Lebron was in it. Um
6:22
Speaker 1: and I mean as as soon as I read the scenes,
6:25
Speaker 1: when I first got the script, I was like, oh,
6:26
Speaker 1: this show has something to say. It's the surrendering to
6:29
Speaker 1: the process. Yeah. For me, it was like as an artist,
6:35
Speaker 1: we're always fighting against something. When you're like an upcoming artist,
6:38
Speaker 1: you know what I mean, it's either like time, money,
6:40
Speaker 1: or resources, you understand. And so it was it always
6:43
Speaker 1: felt like there was a push and pull with me.
6:44
Speaker 1: I was like, I wish I could do this, but
6:46
Speaker 1: I need this. So I wish I could do this,
6:47
Speaker 1: but I need that. And I was like, I don't
6:49
Speaker 1: know how I'm gonna get where I'm gonna get but
6:52
Speaker 1: I felt myself getting there, you know what I mean?
6:55
Speaker 1: Um and uh, And you know, because when it when
6:58
Speaker 1: it comes to like opportunity, like it really just like
7:00
Speaker 1: a lot of the times like I feel that, you know,
7:03
Speaker 1: it's it's about like someone like reaching down sometimes and
7:05
Speaker 1: like being like giving this person like Okay, I see you.
7:07
Speaker 1: When I see your talent, I'm gonna take a chance
7:08
Speaker 1: on you. And I didn't know how I was gonna
7:10
Speaker 1: get to that point. So I remember there was a
7:12
Speaker 1: point in time where I was walking around this track
7:15
Speaker 1: in North Philly at Temples Campus that I found and
7:19
Speaker 1: and I was studying my lines for the script, right
7:22
Speaker 1: and there was a bee that flew across my face.
7:25
Speaker 1: And a lot of the times when bugs like fly
7:27
Speaker 1: across me or like get close to me, I'm like, damn,
7:29
Speaker 1: I swat, you know, I tense up. When there's cold water,
7:32
Speaker 1: I tense you know what I mean. I want to
7:33
Speaker 1: stick a toe him. And I was like, I'm gonna
7:35
Speaker 1: surrender to the universe, to the nature, and I'm just
7:38
Speaker 1: gonna And that was like a big learning lesson for
7:41
Speaker 1: me throughout the whole process was like I don't know
7:43
Speaker 1: how I'm gonna do it, like, you know what I mean,
7:45
Speaker 1: that's okay. I'm okay with not knowing, you know what
7:46
Speaker 1: I mean, because like now, like it's not in my hands,
7:49
Speaker 1: it's it's in the universe's hands, tends whatever you believe,
7:51
Speaker 1: you know what I mean, And and just knowing that
7:53
Speaker 1: gives you peace. And so through that I was able
7:56
Speaker 1: to just focus on me because I feel like a
7:58
Speaker 1: lot of times as artists, you know, like you know,
8:01
Speaker 1: the comparison is the thief of joy basically, you know
8:03
Speaker 1: what I mean. And so when you see yourself audition
8:05
Speaker 1: and you're like, oh, nah, he got more to look,
8:07
Speaker 1: you know what I mean, he got more active shops,
8:09
Speaker 1: so he's done more things than me, you know what
8:10
Speaker 1: I mean. And so you sort of just start tearing
8:12
Speaker 1: yourself down in that way, which was I was blessed
8:15
Speaker 1: enough because it was over zoom that I didn't have
8:18
Speaker 1: to see the competition, so it was just me versus me,
8:21
Speaker 1: and so I just surrendered to the whole process and
8:23
Speaker 1: I was like, I was like, I don't know, I
8:25
Speaker 1: was okay, but not knowing how long did you like
8:27
Speaker 1: to be sit there? Nah? It was just it was
8:30
Speaker 1: just flying. It was just buzzing. It was no, I
8:33
Speaker 1: did'stide my face flew by. It flew by, but it
8:36
Speaker 1: was it was hovering, you know, beesby. Yeah. I wasn't scared.
8:39
Speaker 1: I was just like I'm just keep walking doing me,
8:40
Speaker 1: you know what I mean? And um, that was just
8:42
Speaker 1: a big learning lesson for me, Like I'll never forget
8:44
Speaker 1: that that bellet. Are they recreating episodes that were done
8:47
Speaker 1: because there's so many iconic episodes like you know, the fall,
8:50
Speaker 1: the episode, the pool Hall episode, the drugs episode. Like,
8:55
Speaker 1: are they recreating or they're doing new episodes. They're doing
8:57
Speaker 1: new episodes, but they're recreating moments. I would say, you know,
9:01
Speaker 1: moments that are recognizable. They're gonna be like, oh okay.
9:03
Speaker 1: So if you've seen the pilot episode, there's a moment
9:06
Speaker 1: where Will is on the plane and there's a glass
9:10
Speaker 1: full of OJ, you know, champagne glass full of OJ
9:13
Speaker 1: and that's just a you know, a call back to
9:15
Speaker 1: the original song, you know. And there's just moments, a
9:17
Speaker 1: little small moments like that that are that are gonna
9:20
Speaker 1: get the audience hype, I mean the og fans. You mean,
9:22
Speaker 1: because you have to learn how to rap or did
9:23
Speaker 1: you know how to wrap. Did you have that part? Now?
9:25
Speaker 1: I was a rapper before I was actor rapp. Okay,
9:27
Speaker 1: so you rap? What was your rap name? Uh? I've
9:29
Speaker 1: been big back now now I've been through many rap names.
9:32
Speaker 1: I used to call myself an indie. The philosopher actually
9:34
Speaker 1: Jabari Banks in my rap name that fast, We want
9:36
Speaker 1: to slow that down. Indeed, the philosopher anybody indeed a philosopher.
9:41
Speaker 1: And I was in middle school. What was your rap name?
9:45
Speaker 1: Dizzey van Winkle like Dick Van Dyke. No, like Dizzy
9:52
Speaker 1: like Rip van Winkle. Uh, mixed with a dizzy Dizzey Devil.
9:57
Speaker 1: Remember Disney Devil it with Tasmania Devil with it. I
10:00
Speaker 1: think he had a son up Dizzy van Winkle. Yeah,
10:04
Speaker 1: Dizzy van Winkle. It was wild, like you know, Rip
10:06
Speaker 1: Van Winkle was sleep for man long, and so I
10:09
Speaker 1: always felt like, you know, I was sleep for man
10:11
Speaker 1: long and then I woke up like mentally confused. So
10:13
Speaker 1: I was dizzy, Okay, got you because they were looking
10:15
Speaker 1: on you? No, I got yeah, yeah, yeah, you know
10:17
Speaker 1: what I mean. I was like, Okay, they're sleeping on you.
10:19
Speaker 1: So I was in middle school. It was in middle
10:26
Speaker 1: Now you said that you learned so much from will
10:29
Speaker 1: in five months. What are some of the things that
10:32
Speaker 1: Willy Lahma taught you Willie Lama? Right, Nah, Yo, it's
10:36
Speaker 1: it's been, it's been. It's been super enlightening for sure. Um.
10:39
Speaker 1: You know, I feel like one of the bigger lessons
10:42
Speaker 1: that I always that I've been taken with me. You know,
10:44
Speaker 1: I've been thinking about that a lot. It's like he says,
10:46
Speaker 1: you know, don't let the success get to your head,
10:48
Speaker 1: don't let the figures get to your heart, you know
10:50
Speaker 1: what I mean? And uh, and I've taken that with me.
10:52
Speaker 1: I'm just like, man like, there's a lot of noise,
10:54
Speaker 1: a lot of noise, and there's a lot of things
10:58
Speaker 1: that come into this business that aren't about the work,
11:01
Speaker 1: you know what I mean, And to just stay about
11:03
Speaker 1: the word, because that's that's how you elevate, you know
11:05
Speaker 1: what I mean, that's how you that's how you you
11:07
Speaker 1: know what I mean inspired, That's that's what we do.
11:08
Speaker 1: That's why we do what we do, you know, I mean,
11:10
Speaker 1: everything else around is kind of surrounding it, and it's like, okay, cool,
11:12
Speaker 1: that comes with the with the with the territory. It's interacting, right,
11:15
Speaker 1: because you want accolades, but those same accolades can make
11:19
Speaker 1: you a prisoner to the opinions of other people. Yeah,
11:22
Speaker 1: you don't really want that. Yeah, no, no, no no, you're
11:24
Speaker 1: staying here. Yeah right, yeah, I mean, accolades are just
11:26
Speaker 1: they're nice, you know what I mean when they come around.
11:28
Speaker 1: But it's definitely all about the work for me, for me,
11:31
Speaker 1: you know what I mean, because that's why I find
11:32
Speaker 1: my joy yet, like like you know what I mean,
11:34
Speaker 1: I find joy being here, you know what i mean,
11:36
Speaker 1: just talking, but you know what I mean, when I'm
11:38
Speaker 1: doing my work, when i'm when I'm when I do
11:39
Speaker 1: doing something that makes me happy, that's that's that's what
11:42
Speaker 1: that's what it's all about for me. But you know
11:44
Speaker 1: what i mean, the wards that come with it, you
11:46
Speaker 1: know what i mean, Yeah, come with it. So when
11:47
Speaker 1: you do, when you through it about taking this or
11:49
Speaker 1: trying out for this, did you ever get nervous that
11:51
Speaker 1: you'd be always stuck as that character like you look
11:53
Speaker 1: at Julia White. No, no, no, no, no, I'm never
11:56
Speaker 1: I'm too dynamic for that. I knew that about myself,
11:59
Speaker 1: Like I'm I I I am an artist that that
12:03
Speaker 1: is transformative. You know what I mean like I think,
12:05
Speaker 1: I think you'll see that through throughout the throughout the years,
12:07
Speaker 1: you know what I mean. I I can transform, and
12:10
Speaker 1: I always knew that about myself, Like I was a
12:12
Speaker 1: totally different person a year ago, two years ago, you
12:14
Speaker 1: know what I mean. You look at that prison like,
12:15
Speaker 1: who the hell is that? You know what I mean?
12:17
Speaker 1: And like and so I feel like down the line, um,
12:20
Speaker 1: I want to take on roles that are going to
12:23
Speaker 1: give people a different perspective of about how a black
12:28
Speaker 1: person can be, you know what I mean. Like I'm
12:30
Speaker 1: super interested in being like in fantasy movies, you know
12:33
Speaker 1: what I mean, and and seeing fantasy, sciences, science fiction,
12:36
Speaker 1: and you're just like, like, show you ever seen a
12:38
Speaker 1: Lovecraft country fire? You know what I'm saying. And like
12:42
Speaker 1: it was it was a moment where it was like, oh,
12:44
Speaker 1: like we can be you know what I mean, we
12:47
Speaker 1: can exist in this type of And it was like
12:50
Speaker 1: this was a period piece but it was also fantasy,
12:52
Speaker 1: but it was also drama, and it was also you know,
12:54
Speaker 1: sci fi. And I also season I could not imagine
13:00
Speaker 1: all these black people doing this science fictional stuff. That's
13:03
Speaker 1: what it seemed like. We had a yeah, you know
13:04
Speaker 1: I think that came down the budget, you know what
13:05
Speaker 1: I mean, And she says, she says, she feels like
13:10
Speaker 1: HBO couldn't see black people in that space for a
13:15
Speaker 1: long period of time. I'm interested in opening up that role.
13:18
Speaker 1: I'm interested in opening up that story, you know what
13:20
Speaker 1: I mean. And I feel like I don't ever want
13:22
Speaker 1: to get stuck in just the box of he's fresh friends,
13:24
Speaker 1: so's he's done this, you know what I mean. That's
13:27
Speaker 1: not me and I don't think I'll ever be that person.
13:29
Speaker 1: You know. It's so interesting, that's such a great question, NVS.
13:31
Speaker 1: Because it's like that role is so iconic, right, not
13:34
Speaker 1: just the role, because we're talking about there's a lot
13:36
Speaker 1: of iconic roles, but the person who played the role
13:39
Speaker 1: became an icon with finness self. So could you ever
13:45
Speaker 1: truly fill those shoes? I don't know if anybody would
13:47
Speaker 1: ever And that's not of you. I don't know if
13:49
Speaker 1: anybody would ever see you as the fresh print. Yeah. No,
13:51
Speaker 1: I'm not interested in that. I'm not interested in like
13:53
Speaker 1: actually feeling like, you know what I mean, I'm telling
13:55
Speaker 1: the story that I'm telling for a new generation at
13:57
Speaker 1: the end of the day, and this is opening up
13:59
Speaker 1: opportunity for me, you know what I mean. And this
14:01
Speaker 1: is like giving me access for me to open up
14:04
Speaker 1: opportunity for the next person, you know what I mean.
14:06
Speaker 1: And so my story is my story, wild story is
14:08
Speaker 1: his story. Yeah, we're not the same, you know what
14:10
Speaker 1: I mean. And like I'm telling this story of the
14:12
Speaker 1: Fresh Prince, but like you know, I'm telling this story
14:15
Speaker 1: of of a sixteen year old young man from Philly,
14:17
Speaker 1: you know, gets sent to la But at the end
14:19
Speaker 1: of the day, like our stories aren't the same, and
14:22
Speaker 1: you know, nobody will ever be Will Smith. He's one
14:23
Speaker 1: on one, one on one, and Jabari Banks is one
14:26
Speaker 1: on one, you know what I mean. So I wonder
14:28
Speaker 1: if you could even tell this story if it wasn't
14:30
Speaker 1: for like the reruns of Fresh Prince playing all the time. Now,
14:33
Speaker 1: yeah you know what I'm saying. Yeah, no, I know,
14:35
Speaker 1: Yeah I wonder, Yeah, I wonder how much do you
14:38
Speaker 1: relate to the character? Well a lot, man, it's it's
14:41
Speaker 1: been it's been a really meta experience, Bromm. You know
14:45
Speaker 1: what I mean, In a way that it's like when
14:48
Speaker 1: you see Will you know on Mulholland Drive with Jazz
14:53
Speaker 1: for the first time He's like, damn, this ship is
14:55
Speaker 1: fucking crazy. It's crazy. That's Jabari too, you know what
14:59
Speaker 1: I mean. And so there's moments in the show where
15:01
Speaker 1: it's like will the characters having an experience in Jabari
15:04
Speaker 1: is having the same experience. And so it didn't feel
15:07
Speaker 1: like I was like, you know what I mean, were
15:09
Speaker 1: you having in a real life I'm having it in
15:11
Speaker 1: a real life, real life. But it didn't feel like
15:13
Speaker 1: it was like I had to act. It's just like
15:15
Speaker 1: I had to exist, you know what I mean. I
15:17
Speaker 1: had to be you know what I mean. And so
15:19
Speaker 1: there's this it makes sense crazy yeah, So you mean
15:21
Speaker 1: like coming from Maryland and coming from Philly, Philly and
15:24
Speaker 1: then having the tape out there, you like like like whoa, yeah, yeah,
15:29
Speaker 1: definitely life change. I seen you at the All Star Game.
15:31
Speaker 1: You're ringing the bell in Philly in La now. So
15:35
Speaker 1: it's just a whole new life and how you how
15:37
Speaker 1: are you adapting to that new world, that new life
15:39
Speaker 1: and new friends, new people in your life, bele asking
15:42
Speaker 1: you for money. How this ship definitely making me dizzy,
15:44
Speaker 1: you know what I mean. It's definitely making me like
15:46
Speaker 1: you Van Winkle exactly, like you know, it's just um,
15:50
Speaker 1: you know, I'm definitely grateful always, that's what I move.
15:53
Speaker 1: I'm moving grateful this but like you know what I'm
15:55
Speaker 1: saying that it's a lot of it's a lot of smoke,
15:57
Speaker 1: it's a lot of it's hazy right now, you know
15:59
Speaker 1: what i mean. There's a lot of noise, you know
16:00
Speaker 1: what I'm saying. And like, I'm just grateful that I
16:03
Speaker 1: met the people that I met have a great support system,
16:05
Speaker 1: and I feel like that's what's the most important. When
16:07
Speaker 1: you out in LA and you knew and everybody wants
16:10
Speaker 1: a piece of you, you know what I mean, It's
16:11
Speaker 1: like you gotta you gotta have people around you that
16:14
Speaker 1: remind you to stay grounded, you know what I'm saying,
16:16
Speaker 1: because everybody's pulling you in three different rections, Like you
16:19
Speaker 1: know what I mean, like uh and so and so. Yeah,
16:22
Speaker 1: I mean, I'm just I'm just happy. I'm happy. I'm happy,
16:24
Speaker 1: you know what I'm saying. I can't I can't say that, Um,
16:28
Speaker 1: I'm I'm you know what I mean, tired or I
16:30
Speaker 1: can't say that like that. That's our duality, you know
16:32
Speaker 1: what I mean, Like that's that just comes with the territory.
16:34
Speaker 1: You get tired sometimes, but I'm always happy to be here,
16:37
Speaker 1: you know what I'm saying, Like I never I would
16:38
Speaker 1: never want to be in another position, you know what
16:40
Speaker 1: I mean. At being a Filly native helped you with
16:42
Speaker 1: the role for sure? For sure? Definitely definitely And what
16:46
Speaker 1: way do you think we I mean just when it
16:48
Speaker 1: when it comes to slang ringo, just the energy, you
16:52
Speaker 1: know what I mean. It's it's it's it's very specific
16:54
Speaker 1: and so you know, um being there and knowing the culture.
16:58
Speaker 1: You know what I'm saying, it is it was huge.
17:00
Speaker 1: It was It wasn't It wasn't. M That's a hill
17:03
Speaker 1: too that you have to climb as an actor too.
17:05
Speaker 1: And it's like, man, I'm not really from Jamaica, but
17:09
Speaker 1: you know what I mean, I gotta put on the
17:10
Speaker 1: Jamaican accent, you know what I mean. It's like I'm
17:12
Speaker 1: not really from this that I didn't have to do that,
17:14
Speaker 1: but I'm interested in doing that as acting, you know
17:16
Speaker 1: what i mean? Well take your dinhim off a sweater
17:25
Speaker 1: on it was in New York. Now on social media,
17:29
Speaker 1: there's been a conversation on if Will is wrong for
17:32
Speaker 1: dating Carlton's ex. What are your thoughts on that, you
17:37
Speaker 1: know what I mean, not from a character perspective, either
17:39
Speaker 1: from a real life, real life like happens. Bro, that's
17:43
Speaker 1: like your brother. That's not my brother, you know what
17:45
Speaker 1: I mean. That's not my brother brother. Bro, No, it's
17:48
Speaker 1: my cousin. I don't know him, you know what I mean?
17:51
Speaker 1: Like I don't know him. And like, when you have
17:53
Speaker 1: a connection with somebody, you can't run away from that.
17:56
Speaker 1: It's like, damn, brush your family though he's already wracked
17:59
Speaker 1: his brain. It's like, Dad, I see the history. I
18:01
Speaker 1: know the history, you know what I mean. But when
18:03
Speaker 1: you have that connection with somebody, it's like, like, what
18:06
Speaker 1: can we do? You felt that? You felt that, Bro,
18:08
Speaker 1: It's like I shouldn't be doing this right now, but
18:10
Speaker 1: don't you know a girl around your bar? Yeah? You
18:13
Speaker 1: come on, come on, you know this. You know this though,
18:16
Speaker 1: be honest with yourself. But that lets that also, there's
18:18
Speaker 1: always been that person in your life where you're like,
18:22
Speaker 1: I haven't married twenty one years, bro? Yeah, married years? Okay, definitely,
18:26
Speaker 1: I'm married her. I've my wife for twenty I've been
18:29
Speaker 1: we've been married for since twenty fourteen. We've been together
18:32
Speaker 1: for like twenty four. But when you were sixteen, I
18:36
Speaker 1: was with my wife. I was sixteen, she was fifteen.
18:37
Speaker 1: Tracking holy shit, Yeah yeah, I don't know who I'm
18:42
Speaker 1: talking about. You're trying to say, though, you're trying to
18:43
Speaker 1: You're trying to say, like there's a one when you
18:45
Speaker 1: meet certain women just like you know what I mean,
18:49
Speaker 1: it's just like a you. It's not like it just
18:52
Speaker 1: surpasses all you know what I mean understanding. It's like, yeah,
18:55
Speaker 1: I understand that there's this history there, but you don't
18:59
Speaker 1: have these feelings. That's a good perspective. I didn't look
19:01
Speaker 1: at it like that. I looked at it like yo yo,
19:03
Speaker 1: because that ain't the one you should wife because I
19:05
Speaker 1: smashed no. Yeah, yeah, I mean I feel I feel you.
19:09
Speaker 1: But you know, when Will first met Lisa, like he was,
19:12
Speaker 1: he wasn't like, oh, this is Carlton's exit was like it,
19:14
Speaker 1: who was this girl? You know what I'm saying? And
19:16
Speaker 1: like that initial thought is what's been driving him throughout
19:19
Speaker 1: the season? Got you got? You know? You know, I
19:22
Speaker 1: just I thought about ironic. That's your name? Your last
19:24
Speaker 1: name is really big ya. Wow, Yeah you might have
19:28
Speaker 1: been really meant to play this role. You know what
19:29
Speaker 1: I mean, I feel I feel that way it was.
19:31
Speaker 1: It's it's definitely been an experience that has been a
19:35
Speaker 1: spiritual one from us, you know what I mean. Like
19:38
Speaker 1: there's each player in our ensemble has something in our
19:42
Speaker 1: lives that has twisted us and intertwined us with this
19:45
Speaker 1: project and aligned us with this project, you know what
19:48
Speaker 1: I mean. So it's it's divine. What about the scene
19:51
Speaker 1: when Carton's rapping with his white friends and allowing him
19:53
Speaker 1: to say the N word? You ever you ever been
19:55
Speaker 1: in that situation? No? Okay, how would you have handled it? U?
20:02
Speaker 1: Probably the same way that Will did, you know what
20:04
Speaker 1: I mean, I've never been in that situation. I really
20:06
Speaker 1: resonate with Will in that situation. I think it's amazing
20:09
Speaker 1: that when I first read that scene, I was like, Oh,
20:11
Speaker 1: this show has something to say. Yeah, you know what
20:13
Speaker 1: I mean. I feel like that's going to start conversation.
20:15
Speaker 1: And I think that's how we grow as a community.
20:17
Speaker 1: That's how we grow as a people. It's like we
20:18
Speaker 1: have these type of conversations, you know what I mean.
20:20
Speaker 1: And that's unique because I know that probably happened at
20:22
Speaker 1: that school. Oh yeah, for remember when all the white
20:24
Speaker 1: kids wanted to be like Will, Yeah, yeah, you know
20:26
Speaker 1: what I meant, turning their cks. Yeah, exactly right. With
20:31
Speaker 1: your bar We appreciate you with join us. What's next
20:33
Speaker 1: with your bari? What's next with your barium? Clothing coming soon?
20:38
Speaker 1: Music coming soon? And uh what kind of music? Because
20:41
Speaker 1: you know they're gonna be expecting fresh Prince parents just
20:45
Speaker 1: don't understand. Mama said, oh no, no, no no, it's totally
20:48
Speaker 1: different than that, you know what I mean? Said Will
20:50
Speaker 1: is one on one, Jabar is on one, you know
20:51
Speaker 1: what I mean. So, yeah, I'm doing my own stuff,
20:53
Speaker 1: you know what I mean. I feel like I'm marrying
20:55
Speaker 1: R and B and hip hop in a way that
20:57
Speaker 1: hasn't been done before. You know, I'm still trying to
20:58
Speaker 1: figure that out, you know what I mean. You're trying
21:00
Speaker 1: to find my voice in that. You know what I mean.
21:01
Speaker 1: It's like I always say, like, I feel like Drake
21:05
Speaker 1: and Don Tolliver are like, are like marrying hip R
21:08
Speaker 1: and B and hip hop in a specific way, but
21:09
Speaker 1: totally different ways, you know what I mean, totally different voices,
21:12
Speaker 1: and I'm trying to find my voice in that. You know,
21:15
Speaker 1: pay hommas did an og Ja rule too? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
21:19
Speaker 1: Now they're keeping you in the family like it's Charlie
21:21
Speaker 1: Mac trying to manage you or is he manage Yah?
21:23
Speaker 1: You know what's crazy. I auditioned for Charlie Matt. He
21:26
Speaker 1: was he was making a boy band called Brotherly Love,
21:30
Speaker 1: and he was he was like developing this this band.
21:32
Speaker 1: And I auditioned from like years ago and I didn't
21:34
Speaker 1: make it. And I see him on the red carpet
21:36
Speaker 1: and I was like, yo, Charlie, you remember me. He
21:38
Speaker 1: was like, yeah, I remember you. You know what I mean?
21:40
Speaker 1: And uh, you know he was trying to hit him
21:41
Speaker 1: my mom and shit. But yeah, you know what Charlie, Yeah,
21:44
Speaker 1: you know Charlie. You know, you know, Charlie's the guy though,
21:47
Speaker 1: you know what I mean? Yeah, Okaye, shout out to Charlie. Man,
21:52
Speaker 1: it's Jabari Banks. It's the breakfast local Motive. So Jabari
21:56
Speaker 1: is still here, ladies and gentlemen. And the last thing
21:58
Speaker 1: he said, ya ain't gonna have me rap. We were
22:00
Speaker 1: trying to save you to bar, sit your ass back down.
22:04
Speaker 1: Oh shit, Now now you know Charlomagne will give you.
22:08
Speaker 1: We'll fart on your bars if they trash. So Charlomagne
22:11
Speaker 1: far on shit, okay here like, turn me up, turn
22:20
Speaker 1: me up? Um uh uh uh uh uh uh yeah,
22:27
Speaker 1: hold on, they go, okay, yeah, have you adjusted? They
22:30
Speaker 1: ass how you've been coping the past six months with
22:33
Speaker 1: everything that's been happening. Now? Uh yeah, now I'm back
22:37
Speaker 1: on their ass. Hold on them all right, got you
22:40
Speaker 1: h Have you adjusted? They ass how you've been coping
22:43
Speaker 1: the past six months with everything that's been happening. Now
22:46
Speaker 1: Barry's been back on their ass, bill board hurting their
22:49
Speaker 1: next looking up like how the fish happened so fast?
22:52
Speaker 1: Now I'm more foulin doing dances I did in my room.
22:55
Speaker 1: M J sparkle the suit. Huh, let's go, hold on,
22:58
Speaker 1: hold on all right, let's go. You get some camera man,
23:02
Speaker 1: turn that short. We free stylin up. Now, what's up?
23:06
Speaker 1: I said, I'm gonna turn this board upside down? Yeah,
23:09
Speaker 1: told bitch fuck with me? Yeah? I love that bitch.
23:13
Speaker 1: She lovely and she in love with me? She noticed?
23:17
Speaker 1: Maybe I know you notice, baby, I keep you focused,
23:19
Speaker 1: maybe I'll keep you loving me. Hold on all right, better? Um,
23:25
Speaker 1: I need some water. I'm knodding my head to the beat. Now,
23:28
Speaker 1: not your ass. Hold on my fat, Michael