DJ Sir Daniel: Welcome to another episode of Queue Points podcast, dropping
Speaker:the needle on black music history.
Speaker:I am DJ Sir Daniel.
Jay Ray:my name is Jay Ray, sometimes known by my government
Jay Ray:as Johnny Ray Corning, the third what's happening people.
Jay Ray:DJ Sir Daniel: Jay Ray, can you guess which Cosby kid has the
Jay Ray:strongest hip hop connection?
Jay Ray:Well, because I host this show.
Jay Ray:Yes, I know.
Jay Ray:But even if I didn't host Queue Points, I love music.
Jay Ray:So I would know the answer to this question as well.
Jay Ray:Our good brother, Mr.
Jay Ray:Warner.
Jay Ray:Yeah.
Jay Ray:DJ Sir Daniel: Warner appeared on NBC's mega mega hits, the Cosby show playing
Jay Ray:everyone's favorite fictional son and brother Theo Huxtable for eight.
Jay Ray:Years.
Jay Ray:Jay Ray, he's been on our television sets.
Jay Ray:He was Emmy nominated for the role and he made a permanent impact on our lives.
Jay Ray:Jay Ray, what did his presence on television mean to you?
Jay Ray:So, So Theo at the time, just.
Jay Ray:was like a mirror um, being a little black boy and seeing what the possibilities are.
Jay Ray:able to watch him on TV definitely, um, gave me some inspiration, but
Jay Ray:I would say also as a character was really, um, If he felt real, he felt
Jay Ray:like he could be my neighbor and felt like it could be someone I knew like
Jay Ray:it wasn't over the top or too much.
Jay Ray:It was just like, nah, this could be a boy that lived next door and that
Jay Ray:we probably wouldn't hang out because he would have been older than me.
Jay Ray:He probably would have thought I was a dork, but he would have
Jay Ray:been like my friend's brother.
Jay Ray:DJ Sir Daniel: Right?
Jay Ray:I echo everything you said and finding out that The actor Malcolm Jamal Warner
Jay Ray:was an only child and grew up with his single parent mother kind of endeared
Jay Ray:him to me even more because that was me.
Jay Ray:That was my life.
Jay Ray:And so seeing him on television was just such an inspiration.
Jay Ray:And I literally saw myself on television.
Jay Ray:Theo's room was messy.
Jay Ray:Like mine.
Jay Ray:Every time when Theo started rocking the high top fade, I was like,
Jay Ray:I had to get the high top fade.
Jay Ray:He was literally the blue point, the blue point.
Jay Ray:He was literally the blueprint for the young black boy growing
Jay Ray:up in America at that time.
Jay Ray:And he was definitely one of our, one of our heroes.
Jay Ray:And so this episode, we're going to talk about three reasons why Malcolm
Jay Ray:Jamal Warner was the coolest Cosby kid.
Jay Ray:And Jay Ray, although Bill Cosby.
Jay Ray:And the Cosby show had a wonderful connection to music, right?
Jay Ray:They've had everybody on there from Placido Domingo to Stevie Wonder.
Jay Ray:We can't forget that episode, right?
Jay Ray:That Stevie Wonder, uh, uh, my favorite, Nancy Wilson was on that show.
Jay Ray:I remember her coming down the stairs in the basement because,
Jay Ray:you know, the, the man cave was in the basement at the Cosby show.
Jay Ray:Um, so to that point though, sir, Daniel, for, for me, and this kind of parallels
Jay Ray:Malcolm Jamal's later career in music, the Cosby show introduced us to jazz.
Jay Ray:DJ Sir Daniel: Yes,
Jay Ray:So as a young kid, I didn't, knew of jazz, but the connection to
Jay Ray:jazz was really different because the Cosby show would actually incorporate
Jay Ray:jazz regularly into the show.
Jay Ray:Cliff and Claire would always drop that, uh, on the, the, the record player.
Jay Ray:So it gave us the opportunity to not just hear the music, but also
Jay Ray:see some of those folks and, and be able to identify with them.
Jay Ray:DJ Sir Daniel: that's right.
Jay Ray:And as much as.
Jay Ray:Dr.
Jay Ray:Cosby, the person was vocally, um, uh, vocally against a lot of
Jay Ray:the imagery that came along with hip hop culture and rap music.
Jay Ray:Very
Jay Ray:DJ Sir Daniel: was very, he was very, he was not hiding his disdain for it, disdain
Jay Ray:for young people culture at the time.
Jay Ray:Um, We cannot dismiss the fact that on season four, episode five of the
Jay Ray:Cosby show, Theo and his best friend cockroach famously played by Carl
Jay Ray:Anthony Payne, the second learn about it.
Jay Ray:Julius Caesar and Shakespeare by putting it all together in the freshest rhyme
Jay Ray:that was ever on primetime television.
Jay Ray:Do you remember friends, Romans, beat
Jay Ray:shout
Jay Ray:out to beat boxing, sir.
Jay Ray:Daniel y'all don't beat box enough and I'm tired of it.
Jay Ray:I need y'all beat boxing more.
Jay Ray:DJ Sir Daniel: boxes, taking the backseat, like how break dancing has,
Jay Ray:we need to talk about that, but that's another conversation, but yes, go ahead.
Jay Ray:Um, that episode, what did that episode do for you, um, growing
Jay Ray:up, seeing that on television?
Jay Ray:Wow.
Jay Ray:So that episode actually so hip hop was kind of.
Jay Ray:in a lot of ways, but only in certain, only on certain radio stations.
Jay Ray:So back then you couldn't get hip hop everywhere.
Jay Ray:It still was not the cultural phenomenon that it became.
Jay Ray:So for me, was just fun seeing two like teenagers rapping,
Jay Ray:you know what I'm saying?
Jay Ray:Because it did feel like what would often be happening in school at the time,
Jay Ray:lunch tables and rhyming at, you know, in lunch tables in school was a total thing.
Jay Ray:I had not.
Jay Ray:Falling in love with hip hop yet personally, right?
Jay Ray:But I had, I knew a bunch of rap songs and I still owned rap records at the
Jay Ray:times, but seeing it on national TV and it being fresh and cool and funny was dope.
Jay Ray:And the other thing was, you know, our parents will always say, timetables.
Jay Ray:DJ Sir Daniel: Yes,
Jay Ray:This was like that in practice.
Jay Ray:DJ Sir Daniel: absolutely.
Jay Ray:Another reason why, for, you know, why we can't, we can't throw away the
Jay Ray:Cosby show for the, for, for the art, for the list lessons, the reflection
Jay Ray:of real American black American life.
Jay Ray:And we just can't throw it away.
Jay Ray:Um, and so in this episode, we're also talking about, um, how Malcolm
Jay Ray:Jamal played a role in that.
Jay Ray:And his connection to music and getting ready for this episode, though, Jay Ray,
Jay Ray:I was shocked to hear that you didn't know about this one very important stint
Jay Ray:that Malcolm Jamal had on television
Jay Ray:I did not remember this.
Jay Ray:Um, so Malcolm Jamal Warner did a stint as the host for his Showtime at the Apollo.
Jay Ray:And I've seen a clip of it and what's really funny about the clip.
Jay Ray:He's this very, you know, Bill Cosby and whatever, and Jell O pudding.
Jay Ray:DJ Sir Daniel: and the pudding.
Jay Ray:know.
Jay Ray:Right.
Jay Ray:But it was very clear that Bill Cosby did some coaching about how to be on stage.
Jay Ray:But aside from that.
Jay Ray:It's Showtime at the Abalo holds a really special place.
Jay Ray:in my heart, I, I closely, uh, identified it, identify it with Sunday dinner
Jay Ray:because, uh, it came on, on Sundays and we could watch the show while we ate Sunday
Jay Ray:dinner because we had a TV in the kitchen.
Jay Ray:And, um, but I did not remember Michael Jamar Warner had a
Jay Ray:stent, uh, hosting that show.
Jay Ray:And.
Jay Ray:It is major that like a 16, 17 year old hosting a nationally syndicated
Jay Ray:show from the Apollo stage.
Jay Ray:Like that is a legendary stage.
Jay Ray:So, um, I didn't remember it, but, um, I'm glad that it happened.
Jay Ray:It's so funny that
Jay Ray:you
Jay Ray:DJ Sir Daniel: said, so Sundays is when you caught Showtime at the Apollo in
Jay Ray:Brooklyn, in New York, Showtime at the Apollo followed Saturday night live.
Jay Ray:So for me, Showtime at the Apollo was part of my light late night television.
Jay Ray:You know, get away since all the adults in the, you know, we're having
Jay Ray:their fun in the clubs and whatnot.
Jay Ray:I was watching SNL and I was watching Showtime at the Apollo and just getting
Jay Ray:to see Malcolm Jamal Warner on that stage, commanding that stage and being
Jay Ray:the MC for the whole show and seeing him introduce acts like another bad
Jay Ray:creation and MC brains, and probably my favorite performance of all time.
Jay Ray:he introduced Salt-N-Pepa in 1987, right before like push it really hit at Jay Ray.
Jay Ray:You haven't seen that episode, right?
Jay Ray:have not seen that
Jay Ray:DJ Sir Daniel: We got to watch it together.
Jay Ray:I don't remember it.
Jay Ray:Let me say it that way, but we have to watch it.
Jay Ray:DJ Sir Daniel: We have to watch it.
Jay Ray:So listen, Queue Points viewers, listen, if you want to see Jay Ray's reaction to
Jay Ray:seeing salt and pepper, um, I believe they perform chick on the side and they also
Jay Ray:perform, they fought, they perform push it when push it was like starting to get hot.
Jay Ray:So we got to watch that together.
Jay Ray:Um, Subscribe make sure you know that when we when we're watching it You're
Jay Ray:invited to watch it along with us
Jay Ray:And drop it, uh, let drop us an inbox, drop it in the
Jay Ray:comments if you want to watch it.
Jay Ray:Um, but we should definitely check that out.
Jay Ray:That would be super fun.
Jay Ray:But yeah, I had no idea, or I did not remember that Michael Jamal Warner,
Jay Ray:um, did a stint as a host, but when you brought it up and it was like a little
Jay Ray:clip of him, I'm like, Oh, that's wow.
Jay Ray:That's the thing.
Jay Ray:DJ Sir Daniel: and I made him and so he's like the coolest Teenager in
Jay Ray:black Hollywood at this point like he's on a major major um A major
Jay Ray:television show, a sitcom on NBC, and he's coming into contact with all
Jay Ray:these up and coming stars as well, specifically in the music industry.
Jay Ray:So of course, it just makes sense that at some point they're going to invite
Jay Ray:him to the set of their music videos and he's going to start making cameos.
Jay Ray:Right.
Jay Ray:DJ Sir Daniel: He was in Houdini's, um, funky beat and Jay Ray.
Jay Ray:At the beginning.
Jay Ray:Yep.
Jay Ray:And Jay Ray, do you remember he was in Michael Jackson's Liberian girl?
Jay Ray:So no, I didn't remember that, but every, We have to do something around
Jay Ray:Michael Jackson's Liberian girl, because you want to talk about a flex, everybody,
Jay Ray:everybody who was in that music video.
Jay Ray:Michael Jackson was the dude at that point.
Jay Ray:DJ Sir Daniel: We should, we should probably do a live watch on that as well.
Jay Ray:And count the cameos, just count the cameos.
Jay Ray:Cause
Jay Ray:can name.
Jay Ray:DJ Sir Daniel: see who we,
Jay Ray:Right.
Jay Ray:Cause I'm sure it's like, wow.
Jay Ray:I know that face.
Jay Ray:I do not remember that name.
Jay Ray:DJ Sir Daniel: absolutely.
Jay Ray:So the, I guess the progression of a young person, especially if you're intelligent
Jay Ray:and you're soaking up everything around you, the progression of somebody growing
Jay Ray:up on television is that they, Start directing, you know, if you're, if you,
Jay Ray:if you have that talent and you, you see what's going on behind the cameras.
Jay Ray:So guess what?
Jay Ray:Uh, Malcolm Jamal Warner becomes like the youngest and the hottest music
Jay Ray:video director on the scene because he starts, um, directing a few of
Jay Ray:your favorite music videos, including new additions and eHeartbreak.
Jay Ray:absolutely.
Jay Ray:Um, that was the first time I remember realizing that Malcolm Jamal Warner had
Jay Ray:had kind of moved into that direction.
Jay Ray:What's interesting about that period of time, I think we've talked about
Jay Ray:this before on the show is later.
Jay Ray:MTV and BET started to add directors names because music video
Jay Ray:directing became like a whole thing.
Jay Ray:DJ Sir Daniel: Yes.
Jay Ray:then it was like, you didn't really know who directed any music video.
Jay Ray:It was just like a job for folks.
Jay Ray:But Malcolm Jamal Warner, I remember watching the Any Heartbreak video,
Jay Ray:which in itself was a moment.
Jay Ray:And then he appeared on camera.
Jay Ray:So that's what told like that he was behind the scenes.
Jay Ray:So he had like the thing and he was like back there, like directing.
Jay Ray:And I'm like, Oh snap.
Jay Ray:They all directed now.
Jay Ray:Who
Jay Ray:DJ Sir Daniel: You know, and grown up and he's directing music
Jay Ray:videos and talk about cameos.
Jay Ray:That video was chock full of cameos to you had heavy D and the boys,
Jay Ray:Mm
Jay Ray:DJ Sir Daniel: JJ fad was in the video, the boys.
Jay Ray:And I mean, like Hakim
Jay Ray:video.
Jay Ray:DJ Sir Daniel: all those kids.
Jay Ray:Yeah, they were in that music video.
Jay Ray:Mm
Jay Ray:DJ Sir Daniel: And one of my favorite music videos directed
Jay Ray:by Malcolm Jamal Warner is of course, Brooklyn's own special ed.
Jay Ray:I'm the magnificent
Jay Ray:to
Jay Ray:DJ Sir Daniel: where he makes a cameo in that.
Jay Ray:Well,
Jay Ray:Yes.
Jay Ray:DJ Sir Daniel: So did you know that he also Malcolm, uh,
Jay Ray:directed the five star video?
Jay Ray:Remember five star, they had a video for their song.
Jay Ray:I love you for sentimental reasons.
Jay Ray:He directed that video.
Jay Ray:And so I went back.
Jay Ray:I did not remember that, but I went back and I watched that video.
Jay Ray:First of all, that song still holds up today.
Jay Ray:Um, it's a very 1994 video.
Jay Ray:It looks like, so it's a combination of things happening.
Jay Ray:So you got a little bit of a, of a, um, hip hop bass, slow wine happening.
Jay Ray:There's a Janet Jackson style midriff thing happening with the women.
Jay Ray:It's sepia.
Jay Ray:You know, you got to
Jay Ray:DJ Sir Daniel: Oh yeah.
Jay Ray:You gotta have Scipio.
Jay Ray:Yes.
Jay Ray:um, beautiful song still.
Jay Ray:And a lovely, lovely video.
Jay Ray:Um, I did not remember that, uh, song or that video and y'all
Jay Ray:should go and check it out.
Jay Ray:Um, but I love you for sentimental.
Jay Ray:I love you for sentimental.
Jay Ray:I love you for sentimental reasons.
Jay Ray:DJ Sir Daniel: That way.
Jay Ray:Yes.
Jay Ray:hard to say fast.
Jay Ray:Um, it's a classic, uh, standard in particular in black music.
Jay Ray:So Nat King Cole has done that song and many, many other folks.
Jay Ray:So, yeah.
Jay Ray:DJ Sir Daniel: So, you know, while we're talking about Malcolm Jamal Warner and
Jay Ray:his foray into hip hop music and hip hop music videos, we got to, there's
Jay Ray:a sidebar here that I don't know if a lot of people know, but Jay Ray, did
Jay Ray:you know that Malcolm Jamal Warner.
Jay Ray:Introduced MC light to the world of voiceover work.
Jay Ray:Oh, that's a great fact.
Jay Ray:I did not know that.
Jay Ray:DJ Sir Daniel: So, um, you know, in crossing paths, MC light and Malcolm
Jay Ray:were, you know, crossing paths and she, and she was like, Hey, you
Jay Ray:know, ask them, how do you get into the voiceover work or whatever?
Jay Ray:And he passed on his.
Jay Ray:Agents information to MC light, which is not something that happens a lot.
Jay Ray:He was like, Oh, here, here's her name and number.
Jay Ray:Well, here's the, here's my agent's name and number.
Jay Ray:Uh, and, um, they got in contact and MC light was able to book.
Jay Ray:Like three major commercials back to back from that beginning.
Jay Ray:And now she's the voice of the BET awards among other things.
Jay Ray:So we have Malcolm Jamal Warren to thank for introducing L Y T E MC light
Jay Ray:to the world of voiceover acting.
Jay Ray:I love that fact so much.
Jay Ray:Um, it shows that there is room,
Jay Ray:DJ Sir Daniel: Yes,
Jay Ray:saying?
Jay Ray:Like we don't have to gatekeep everything.
Jay Ray:Like you don't have to be the only one.
Jay Ray:So the fact that Malcolm was like willing, first of all, he's probably
Jay Ray:like, I'm Malcolm Jamal Warner is fine.
Jay Ray:I'm a get work.
Jay Ray:DJ Sir Daniel: exactly.
Jay Ray:you to get work too, sis.
Jay Ray:You know what I mean?
Jay Ray:I love that so much.
Jay Ray:Thanks for sharing that fact.
Jay Ray:I had no idea.
Jay Ray:Yes,
Jay Ray:DJ Sir Daniel: begin to wrap up this episode of Queue Points, you know,
Jay Ray:Malcolm is just like the quintessential Renaissance man, uh, actor, host,
Jay Ray:director, uh, dancer, cause he dances in the videos also, but Malcolm also.
Jay Ray:Had started a new career as a full fledged musician.
Jay Ray:absolutely.
Jay Ray:Yeah, Malcolm, Malcolm Jamal Warner's miles long.
Jay Ray:So Malcolm Jamal Warner is an accomplished bass player.
Jay Ray:Um, miles long is really interesting to that point.
Jay Ray:It's a jazz funk band, um, with some hip hop leanings.
Jay Ray:he is a spoken word artist, um, Grammy winning, spoken Grammy winning now.
Jay Ray:So the last miles long album, 22, 2022 was nominated for a Grammy,
Jay Ray:but he ended up winning a Grammy.
Jay Ray:In like 2015 for, um, his appearance on, uh, Robert Glasper's black radio too.
Jay Ray:and so he's absolutely.
Jay Ray:Accomplished musician and spoken word artists.
Jay Ray:And I think what's interesting is Malcolm Jamal Warner is helping to
Jay Ray:carry on the legacy of spoken word.
Jay Ray:We don't get a lot of that.
Jay Ray:We of course grew up with spoken word as part of our experience.
Jay Ray:You know, we would have it on TV.
Jay Ray:We would have it as part of the hip hop experience.
Jay Ray:Remember all the black people snapping in love Jones.
Jay Ray:You know what I'm saying?
Jay Ray:You've got to snap and
Jay Ray:DJ Sir Daniel: Yeah.
Jay Ray:Right.
Jay Ray:And it's a lot of this.
Jay Ray:I mean, I wrote poetry.
Jay Ray:I definitely performed.
Jay Ray:DJ Sir Daniel: Oh God.
Jay Ray:I think we all had a stint in the spoken word
Jay Ray:You walk up onto the mic and
Jay Ray:DJ Sir Daniel: and we connected through spoken word like Jay Ray and
Jay Ray:I are doing here on Queue Points.
Jay Ray:You know what?
Jay Ray:You just unlock the memory.
Jay Ray:I met Malcolm Jamal Warner, shout out to Joyce Littell.
Jay Ray:Um, Of V one Oh three fame here in Atlanta, Georgia
Jay Ray:from W V E V one Oh three.
Jay Ray:Joyce Littell has a long running and fantastic show called passion and poetry,
Jay Ray:which combines spoken word and, um, and, and music, all types of music to
Jay Ray:inspire love within the black community.
Jay Ray:And one of the, one of the special guests when here was Malcolm Jamal Warner.
Jay Ray:And.
Jay Ray:I got to escort him to his dressing room and to the stage, Jay Ray.
Jay Ray:How could I not remember that?
Jay Ray:That is so wild.
Jay Ray:I got to meet Malcolm Jamal Warner and.
Jay Ray:It was just one of those and I, I was trying, I didn't fan boy,
Jay Ray:Yeah.
Jay Ray:DJ Sir Daniel: but I did mention, I was like, Hey man, you know, of course I grew
Jay Ray:up watching you and you meant a lot to me growing up and I think I'm, I'm, I'm,
Jay Ray:I kept it cool, but I just had to drop that on him and just let him know, wow.
Jay Ray:That just came to me just now, Jay Ray.
Jay Ray:I thank you for, for suggesting that we do this.
Jay Ray:but you know what?
Jay Ray:What I love about you telling that story is it was clear that Malcolm was cool
Jay Ray:and it wasn't like a bad story because you know, we always front of mind.
Jay Ray:Remember the celebrities that we've met?
Jay Ray:They'd be like, I never want to meet them again.
Jay Ray:DJ Sir Daniel: Oh man,
Jay Ray:And clearly that was not the case with Malcolm Jamal Warner because
Jay Ray:when people are, you know what I'm saying?
Jay Ray:That would have been devastating.
Jay Ray:DJ Sir Daniel: meet your heroes.
Jay Ray:But in that instance, it was a good encounter.
Jay Ray:Wow.
Jay Ray:Shout out to Malcolm's more Warner
Jay Ray:DJ Sir Daniel: Shout out to Malcolm Jamar Warner.
Jay Ray:just being and giving little black boys hope that you know, you could
Jay Ray:do whatever it is that you want to do.
Jay Ray:DJ Sir Daniel: Including these two black boys doing Queue Points
Jay Ray:podcast right here, right now.
Jay Ray:Jay Ray, let the people know how they can get in contact and keep
Jay Ray:seeing two black boys, um, do their joyful work and Queue Points podcast.
Jay Ray:y'all thank you so much for tuning in.
Jay Ray:If you can hear our voices, if you can see our faces, go ahead
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Jay Ray:DJ Sir Daniel: There it is.
Jay Ray:This is Queue Points podcast.
Jay Ray:And what do I always say?
Jay Ray:Jay Ray in this life, you can have a choice.
Jay Ray:You can either pick up the needle or you correct in this life.
Jay Ray:You have a choice.
Jay Ray:You can either pick up the needle or you can let the record play.
Jay Ray:I'm DJ sir, Daniel,
Jay Ray:Name is Jay Ray y'all
Jay Ray:DJ Sir Daniel: and this is Queue Points podcast, dropping the
Jay Ray:needle on black music history.
Jay Ray:We'll see you on the next piece.
Jay Ray:y'all.