All language subtitles for Hip Hop Was Born Here (2025) S1E2

LL COOL J: So, Wu Tang explodes.

You know, you're one
of the breakout solo superstars.

But first, what made you...
feel hip hop?

Why did you wanna do hip hop?

It was a movement that was going
on that we were all aware of.

Being from New York,
you couldn't stop the movement.

Everywhere you looked
was hip hop,

from the fashion
to the breakdancing,

to the graffiti.

It was such a subculture that
we embraced it even more 'cause

everybody wasn't up on it.
- Yeah.

You know,
that was New York style.

- Y'all ain't up on these?
- Yeah.

- Y'all ain't up on this?
- Yeah.

And you know what
was crazy, though?

You look at us back then,
who would ever think

that we could be in a position
where we could feed our families

for the rest of our lives,
be world-praised and famous

for doing something
that we love to fucking do?

I would have never
imagined that shit, man.

- We made it this far.
- We made it this far, fact.

That was a good reminder for me.

Fact.

♪

LL COOL J:
Hip hop is everywhere,

every corner of the globe.

To understand the power
of hip hop today,

gotta go back
to where it all started...

SINGER: ♪ Ain't no love ♪

LL COOL J: ...my hometown,
New York City.

Because listen, when I tell you,
hip hop was born here.

SINGER:
♪ In the heart of town ♪

♪ Ain't no love ♪

♪

Now, hip hop was built
from the ground up,

from the streets up.

It's just something
from nothing.

A new sound,

a New York sound...
- [beatboxing]

...always growing and evolving,

breaking down doors.

Because in the early days,
there were no doors open.

Y'all ready?

There's so much information
to give

and so much we gotta say.

But please understand, hip hop
is the ultimate underdog story.

I used to believe in it,

when nobody around me
used to believe in it.

They dismissed us as a fad,
said we were a flash in the pan.

Now it's the soundtrack
of our planet.

♪

So, I'm in Queens,
where it all began for me,

far from the billboards

and the boardrooms where
hip hop is found today,

to speak to a friend who knows
better than anyone

the story of how hip hop went

from an underground
New York sound...

to a transformational art form

that impacts culture
around the world.

♪

- We in Hollis, Queens.
- Yes.

Your home.
What I wanna know is,

what was your very,
very first exposure to hip hop?

It was dudes in Hollis

that used to bring turntables
out on the front step.

I remember that.

The next thing you know,
I became DJ Run.

And here is Run-D.M.C.

[audience screaming]

♪ Whose house?

♪ What, what? ♪

♪ Run's house ♪

♪

LL COOL J:
Run--hip hop royalty,

founding member of Run-D.M.C.

Along with their DJ,
Jam Master Jay,

they were at the forefront

of hip hop's mainstream exposure
and commercial success.

DON CORNELIUS: Do you have
an explanation for the success

of rapping as an art form?

It's funky,
and everybody can dance to it.

- [cheers and applause]
- [laughs]

That's it.

LL COOL J: The first hip hop act
to have a gold record,

first on MTV,

first to land
an endorsement deal.

Adidas gave me this.

And it all began
in a Queens alley with Run

and his partner in rhyme,
my good friend Darryl McDaniels,

better known as "DMC."

RUN: D had the turntables first.
He taught me how to DJ.

Darryl McDaniels, yes,
and his brother.

- He taught you how to DJ?
- I didn't know how.

That's crazy.

DMC was a DJ
before he was a rapper.

His name was DJ Get High.

[laughing]

DJ Get High taught me how
to DJ at 15 years old.

We got Run's name right here.

Yep. I wrote this
a long time ago,

before Run-D.M.C.
even came together.

I'm DMC,
and I live around the block.

LL COOL J:
Okay, so just back up a second.

- Gotcha, baby. I got you.
- You grew up in Queens.

Right. I lived eight blocks
from here.

- Okay.
- So, I lived on 205th Street.

That's why it's...
♪ My Adidas standing on... ♪

♪ Two fifth street ♪

♪ Funky fresh
and yes, cold on my feet ♪

- ♪ With no shoe string...
- ♪ In 'em ♪

- ♪ I did not...
- ♪ Win 'em ♪

♪ I bought 'em off the ave
with the black Lee denim ♪

♪ My Adidas ♪

♪

- So, I lived on 205th Street.
- Okay.

205th street is not nice,
and I wanted to escape.

Cool out a little bit.

[laughs] Get a little...

I lived in the worst part
of Hollis.

[laughs] Yeah, right.

So, me and D would hang here,

get our 40s from Dolly's,
which is up the block,

and we used
to just get real high

and we'd go... [beatboxing]

♪ And then you're
coming with the... ♪

[both beatboxing]

And that's all we--
not even beating on the wall.

♪ And then you're
coming with the... ♪

- [beatboxing]
- And it's like, yo.

- ♪ I fly
- ♪ Like a dove ♪

- ♪ I come
- ♪ From up above ♪

- ♪ I'm rocking
- ♪ On the mic ♪

- ♪ And you can call me
- ♪ Run-Love ♪

The true vibration of Run-D.M.C.

came from this alley right here.
- That's--

And if you look at the first
Run-D.M.C. album cover,

this is the pic.

But before we got a record deal,
it was only supposed to be me.

Ohh.

So, it was written "Run the MC"
in case it didn't work.

Oh, wow.

- Run the MC.
- Run the MC. [laughs]

Then it became Run-D.M.C.

RUN: When we was making
"Sucker M.C.'s,"

I said, "Let D go in there."

D's like,
"What are you talking about?

You gon' get me in trouble
with your--"

D went in there and said,
♪ I'm D.M.C... ♪

BOTH: ♪ In the place to be ♪

♪ I go
to St. John's University ♪

♪ And since kindergarten
I applied the knowledge ♪

♪ And after 12th grade,
I went straight to college ♪

♪ I'm light-skinned ♪

He said, "I'm light-skinned."
The beat dropped.

- Yeah.
- We're signed.

Yeah.

Run-D.M.C.
is now signed as a group,

but when they found out
he would work.

Yo, that's... insane!

RUN: Once that happened,
we did what we did,

it connected,
and we changed the game.

♪

NELSON GEORGE: One of the things
that you gotta remember,

before Run-D.M.C. records

is that hip hop was not
mainstream music at all.

♪ What is wrong? ♪

DOUG E. FRESH:
In the beginning of hip hop,

it was looked at as,
"Yo, cut that noise off.

Stop making all of that noise.
What are you doing?"

♪ Never been to jail, but I stay
up here, but yes, yes, y'all ♪

GEORGE: This is rebel music.
This is outside of music

that existed in the streets
of New York

off of stuff
they thought was a fad.

"Rock Steady."

[cheering]

It was this turn.

- They not rolling?
- They rolling.

They rolling.

Run-D.M.C.!

When Run-D.M.C.
sells 3 million records,

that got everyone's attention.

Run-D.M.C. was articulating
a bigger vision

of what hip hop could be.

♪ With mic in hand,
I cold took command ♪

GEORGE: And once that happened,
every major label's like, "Yo,

they sold three million records?

Okay,
we need to be in this game."

So, that--that was
really the big bang.

- [cheers and applause]
- Yeah, thank you.

We love you, New York.
We love you.

[cheers and applause]

LL COOL J: So, when people
think about Run-D.M.C.,

you think about
"Peter Piper," "My Adidas,"

"Walk This Way."
- Yeah, yeah, yeah.

- You think about "Rock Box."
- Right.

One last word--legacy.

Legacy means to me...

I came, I made beautiful music
for the world.

I made my TV show "Run's House."

Life gives to the giver
and takes from the taker.

Life gives from the giver
and life--

- Gives to the giver...
- Gives to the giver...

- ...and takes from the taker.
- ...and takes from the taker.

All right, class dismissed.

Every day I wake up,

I wanna know, what did I
contribute to this world

that makes people happy?

- Yes.
- That's all it is to it.

Peace and love.

Hi, my name is
Jam Master Jay of Run-D.M.C.

[beatboxing]

And we wanna thank y'all
for watching "Video Beat."

And we want y'all--we gonna
wanna say good night to y'all.

[laughter]

- All right, later.
- Let's go up and check that out.

Oh, you wanna go check out
that--go to the Bronx.

- All right.
- Let's go to the Bronx, man.

The Bronx we go, baby.

- Here we go.
- [laughs]

BOTH: ♪ Here we go ♪

♪ Here we go, here we go,
here we, here we, here we go ♪

- ♪ DMC and DJ Run
- ♪ DMC and LL Run ♪

♪ Dum-dee-dee-dum,
dee-dee-dee-dee-dum-dum ♪

LL COOL J:
That shit was amazing, bro.

[siren wailing in distance]

Hi. I'm Kurt Loder,
and this is "The Year in Rock."

In 1988, an unprecedented total

of 11 rap albums
went either gold or platinum.

Right now, man, this whole year
has been a highlight to me.

♪ Hit it

♪

LL COOL J: By the late '80s,
Run-D.M.C. had propelled

this subcultural movement

out of the streets
and alleys of NYC

and into fashion, acting...

[cries] No!

...social justice, and more.

Over the next 40 years, artists
would follow the very same path.

♪

With Run by my side,

we're headed
to a South Bronx shoe store

owned by one of these artists,

a hip hop heavyweight
who transcended the genre

and played a huge role
in pushing the culture

to where it is today.

Yo, what up, baby?

Man, the icons.
This ain't even legal, man.

You know we had
to come through.

- What up, baby?
- LL and Rev Run, this is--

- What up, baby?
- What up, baby?

Yo, you guys are really walking
around human streets like this?

Just came from Queens, baby.

Yo, thank you for coming, man,
to Up NYC, man.

- Get him a seat.
- Sheesh!

When they say the South Bronx,
this is the South Bronx.

- You grew up around here?
- Yes.

♪

LL COOL J: Born and raised
in the South Bronx...

- Word up.
- ...my man Fat Joe does it all.

♪ Now scream ♪

LL COOL J:
From chart chopping hits...

♪

...to advancing the culture
through philanthropy...

- WOMAN: Fat Joe.
- ...literacy...

...and yeah, sneaker culture.

♪

Never been worn before, baby.

But as integral as he's been
to building hip hop

and the lifestyle
into what it is to today...

Big up, LL, man. Much respect.

...he still pays homage
to those who paved the way

for him and for generations
of hip hop artists to come.

Yo, listen, let me tell you
somethin', Rev Run.

I'm in the South Bronx.

Hip hop was birthed
in the South Bronx.

Not only was hip hop
birthed in the South Bronx,

they had a chokehold on hip hop
for the first 10 years.

I'm in junior high school
talent show.

That night I performed...

♪ She only comes out at night ♪

♪ The lean and hungry... ♪

- I--Nah. Yo, listen.
- [laughing]

Bro, they are laughing at me
so funny in the crowd like, oh--

Did you have long hair?

Yes, I did.
I looked like the Beatles.

- Yeah, that's what... [laughs]
- But listen what I'm saying.

- Right? Listen what I'm saying.
- Ooh!

FAT JOE:
The guy plays Run-D.M.C...

RUN-D.M.C.: ♪ Two years ago,
a friend of mine ♪

♪ Asked me to say
some MC rhymes ♪

FAT JOE: I watched 1,000 kids
in the South Bronx

look at each other like this.

♪

I watched the Bronx,
who created hip hop,

heard your shit come on.

- Whatever this is...
- Is the shit.

- ...is to reign supreme!
- [laughs] Yeah.

Stuff--it happened in real time.

Like, I'm so blessed
that I got to see it.

♪ Come on, everybody,
let's all get down ♪

♪

LL COOL J:
While Run and my man D

continued to get recognition
outside of Queens,

it was their choice of footwear

and a fortuitous night in 1986
at Madison Square Garden

that truly
changed the game forever.

Now take your Adidas!
Put 'em up in the goddamn air!

Let everybody put on the Adidas!

♪ My Adidas ♪

Come on, put 'em up in the air!

[cheering]

♪ My Adidas ♪

GEORGE:
Famously, Run-D.M.C.'s headline

in Madison Square Garden,
they hold up their sneakers,

and they have everyone
in the crowd wearing Adidas

hold up their sneakers,
and, like,

and a third to half the crowd
had Adidas on.

Executives from Adidas
were there, and they're like,

"Yo, this is our market."

- ♪ We started
- ♪ Alley ♪

- ♪ Now we chill in
- ♪ Cali ♪

♪ And I won't trade my Adidas
for no bullshit Bally's ♪

♪ My Adidas...
[echoing] Adidas, Adidas ♪

That changed the game
for hip hop.

When Run-D.M.C. signed that
million-dollar deal with Adidas,

that set hip hop on its course

to be able to dominate
in those spaces.

GEORGE:
That got everyone's attention.

It brings hip hop through
all these different audiences,

so now it's not just
an urban kid audience.

And that expands
what hip hop is.

[shouts indistinctly]

TONE: Later on, you had
Cross Colours

and Kriss Kross, right?

You had Will Smith
selling Ray-Bans, right?

I make this look good.

Big brands partnering up
with young entertainers,

you know,
from Rockaway and Sean John.

♪

That was really the big bang.

♪

We're actually selling product
outside of music.

I think once we realized
that the artists were brands,

I think that really pushed it
into the mainstream.

♪

OSORIO:
As it started to grow up,

it transitioned
into this business.

You're not just making
money off of the music.

That is when we started to see
more of a hip hop entrepreneur.

LL COOL J:
Look, at the end of the day,

hip hop was influenced
by Run-D.M.C., bar none.

Like, I don't think
nobody could even argue

with the type of impact.

How did these change the world?

RUN: Well,
when I got into the game...

Yo, D's house right there.

I don't know nothin'
about publishing.

I don't know nothin'
about nothin'.

Right.

So, our basic thing that we did
to get money was with shows.

As we made the record,
"My Adidas," things changed.

It connected with the people.

I remember going
to Detroit wearing 'em.

I remember going all around
the world wearing 'em.

These sneakers--they were
accessible in everybody's hood.

So, everybody picked them up,

and we got
the first million-dollar check.

We got the connection
with Adidas.

We put out our own sneakers.
Changed my life.

Okay, Joe,
you was generating income

with your music, doing shows.

Why did you decide
to expand beyond that?

Well, you know, we're artists.

We rely so much
on touring money.

- Right.
- Promoters are the promoters.

So, when they know
that you only relying on this,

they start playing them games.

Like, "Joe, how many times
people wanna see 'Lean Back'?"

Are you kidding? It happens
to everybody. I'm like, what?

And so you got your whole family
depending on you.

- Right.
- So, I realized

I gotta diversify.

Too many rappers,
know what I'm saying?

You done seen 'em go platinum...

- Right.
- ...and make hits

back in the days...
- Right.

...and sell 20 million records,
and now they all broke,

- Know what I'm saying?
- Right.

No disrespect.

- Even if my touring goes low...
- Mm-hmm.

I got other sources of income
coming in.

- Mm-hmm.
- So, that is the root of

why I branch out
into other businesses.

Now all the little kids
is like, "Yo, Ma, look,

Fat Joe got a store,"
they mother could hit him

like, "Yo, you know,
he was on welfare.

He was on the cheese line
like you.

He grew up in the projects
down the block.

If he did it, you could do it."

Now I've become
such a good businessman that

the shows are cherries on top.
- LL COOL J: Mm.

You, maybe you don't understand,
but you went to acting early.

LL COOL J: Mm-hmm.

FAT JOE: You went
to doing business early.

- Oh, yeah.
- You, you--

you was clear before anybody.

Oh, because a smart rabbit
has more than one hole.

- [laughs]
- You know what I mean?

The fox start chasing him
and all that he got.

- Whoo!
- You know what I mean?

♪

It's no big deal to see Fat Joe
up in the Bronx.

- Right.
- Know what I'm sayin'?

'Cause that's my home.
You know, no matter

how much money I make,
I'm still gon' be up in there.

♪

[siren wailing in distance]

[child yells in distance]

♪

So, hip hop, in many ways
has saved your life.

- Saved my life.
- It saved your life.

- So, tell me how.
- I'm in the streets.

This Mitchel projects,
Patterson,

Brook Avenue, Cypress.

It's my neighborhood.
It's my world.

You know, this is a drug pot
before my time.

- Mm-hmm.
- So, I'm getting

major money out here, but all
my friends start going to jail.

LL COOL J: Mm-hmm.

FAT JOE: So, I knew I had
to change my life.

My brother used to carry
the vinyl

to the block parties
for Grandmaster Flash.

All that... ♪ Mary, Mary ♪

BOTH: ♪ Why you buggin'? ♪

♪ On ♪

- ♪ That funk is on
- ♪ Is on [laughs]

- I'm studying all this.
- Yeah, yeah, yeah.

And outside my house, we had
two DJs, Supreme and Hutch,

and they would jam every day.

And whenever you heard the music
ricochet off the wall,

you stopped playing baseball.
You stopped playing basketball.

You stopped everything.
You go to the jam.

I was born in hip hop.

♪

LL COOL J: So, then when did
you first pick up the mic?

No older than 10.

And you gotta understand,
my father's Cuban.

My mother's Puerto Rican.

They used to be like,
"Yo, what are you doing?"

- They had no concept.
- [laughs]

I'm like, "Yo, I'm writing
rhymes," and they be like,

"Nah, you ain't never gonna
succeed in that."

But I would go everywhere,
battle everybody.

I loved it since my birth.

Hip hop, the inception,
was right outside my window.

Ruby Dee,
the first Puerto Rican MC,

♪ Ruby Dee is my name,
and I'm a Puerto Rican ♪

♪ You might think I'm Black
by the way that I'm speaking ♪

He's from around the corner.

- Sha-Rock, first female MC...
- No doubt.

...two blocks away from me
on Prospect Avenue.

Lovebug Starski--
from my projects.

I mean, hip hop was so fresh

that every day
you learned something new.

- Yeah.
- You go to the block party

and learn a new dance, to wear
your clothes a different way.

- Yeah.
- I was born in that.

♪

LL COOL J: Hip hop
went from South Bronx

to top of the food chain
financially.

And one thing about you,
and I love it,

You always talk about abundance.
You talk about getting rich.

You talk about getting money.
You talk about this stuff.

Sure ain't about
the smoking blunts,

drinking 40s on the corner
no more.

But if they wanna talk
to me about business,

I'm down for that.

LL COOL J: And it's more to it
than just, "I want money."

It's more to it than that.

- FAT JOE: It's my wife...
- LL COOL J: Yeah.

FAT JOE: ...my family
and my community.

It's the real trickle down
effect for me.

The thing I love the most is
giving back to my community.

So, the more I get, I tell God,

"God, I'm really gonna
give back."

- I love that.
- You know?

- My man.
- A'ight.

- Fat Joe.
- LL Cool J.

- Mr. Cartagena.
- Whoo!

You did it. Hip hop born here.

[siren wailing in distance]

♪

LL COOL J: From Fat Joe's world

to hip hop business
and philanthropy in the Bronx

to SOB's nightclub
in Manhattan,

I made the journey downtown
to meet someone

who helped hip hop cross
over into the broader culture

like never before--

a man who showed
a new generation

how artists could impact
the culture beyond the mic.

♪ M-E-T-H-O-D Man ♪

- Oh, what's happening?
- What's going on? What's good?

- What's good?
- Oh, living legend himself.

- How are you?
- Good, baby.

My man. Respect, respect.

What's happening?
What's happening?

- You know, I'm chillin'.
- You are?

- 'Chillin'. Yeah.
- Supposed to be. You are.

Yes, I am, sir. We in SOB's.

- Yeah.
- A little monumental spot here,

and shit, a lot of great talent
came through here, you know.

♪ M-E-T-H-O-D Man ♪

♪ M-E-T-H-O-D Man, hey, you ♪

LL COOL J: An original member
of the Wu-Tang Clan,

Method Man's talent,
captivating stage presence,

and charisma launched him
from Staten Island

all the way to the top.

When you got the mind,
plus you got the resources,

man, this goes on and on.
- Yeah.

Music, film, television,

fashion, producing.

My man even made comic books.

Persistence overcomes
resistance.

Wu-Tang is forever,
and hip hop is forever.

And Method Man played
a huge part

in reinforcing that legacy.

♪ M-E-T-H-O-D Man ♪

What was the very first seed

that inspired you to--
to get into hip hop?

[Sugar Hill Gang's
"Rapper's Delight" playing]

My first introduction to hip hop
was Sugar Hill Gang.

- Straight up? Okay.
- Yes, "Rapper's Delight."

♪ Said a hip-hop,
the hippie to the hippie ♪

♪ The hip, hip-a-hop
and you don't stop the rockin' ♪

♪ To the bang-bang boogie,
say up jump the boogie ♪

♪ To the rhythm of the boogie,
the beat ♪

METHOD MAN: But this underground
movement of hip hop,

being from New York,

we had radio stations
that would only play hip hop...

LL COOL J: Mm-hmm.

METHOD MAN: ...late night
on Fridays and Saturdays.

- 100%.
- And we were well aware of it.

I mean, that set the stage
for everything that

I started to love after that,
you know what I mean?

I became one of those kids
that sat next to the radio

on Friday and Saturday
trying to catch up.

A Mr. Magic world, world
premiere, premiere, premiere.

DJ: World premiere.

But what inspired me
to pick up a pen--no lie--

♪ Queens get the money
long time, no cash ♪

♪ I'm caught up in the hustle
when the guns go blast ♪

And Roxanne Shanté.

♪ I'm Shanté,
and the rhymes are def ♪

♪ Just rap so fresh
till I get out of breath ♪

And then we
12, 13 years old, brother.

- Okay.
- We would go on the staircase,

smoke, and then somebody
would start beatboxing.

The first verse
that I ever fucking wrote

was inspired
by "Rock the Bells."

♪ I'm a tower full of power
with rain and hail ♪

♪ Cut Creator scratch the record
with his fingernail ♪

♪ Rock the bells ♪

That cadence that you used
to use where it was

two rhyming words in between
the two rhyming words...

- Right.
- So, it would be something like,

♪ I'm on a mission, don't get up
because I'm taking no shorts ♪

♪ I bust a cap,
and it's like that ♪

Yeah, yeah.

♪ And I will give it
no thought ♪

- Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- That kind of shit, so...

- Yeah.
- Yeah, I was biting. Facts.

And that was my intro
right there and shit.

It's like you taught niggas
how to rhyme, L.

- And it worked out.
- Yeah.

♪ The king of crowd rockers
finally is back ♪

♪ My voice is your choice
as the hottest wax ♪

♪ Rock the bells ♪

Welcome to "Yo! MTV Raps."

Tonight, straight
from the streets of Shaolin,

the Wu-Tang Clan is in effect!

Whoo!

Whoo!

Shoo!

Yeah. Protect your neck, kid.

Cash Rules
Everything Around Me--

- C.R.E.A.M.
- Get the money.

♪ In your mind ♪

Ladies and gentlemen,
please welcome Method Man!

[applause]

Ah, yeah, baby.
My man, Method Man,

on our way Uptown.
- Yeah.

Just swinging through
the streets of New York.

LL COOL J:
Okay, so you're Method Man.

Wu-Tang Clan becomes
this worldwide phenomenon.

Worldwide. Worldwide.

Starts going mainstream.

Hey! Wu-Tang!

♪ We got stickup kids,
corrupt cops and crack rocks ♪

LL COOL J: Talk to me
about what it was like

as the group started going
beyond the projects.

♪ To kick the truth
to the young Black youth ♪

I vividly remember
Wu-Tang is bubbling.

Okay.

We got the "Method Man"
single out.

Right.

It's on "Battle of the Beats"
on Hot 97.

[radio frequencies tuning]

♪ M-E-T-H-O-D Man ♪

It's constantly winning
to the point

where they have
to retire the song.

We don't know that
because we're touring.

♪ Hey, you, get off my cloud ♪

We had to come back
and perform at the Fever,

not knowing that
this record's been bubbling.

The video's been bubbling.

♪ Here I am, here I am,
here I am, the Method Man ♪

So, soon as we pull up,
it's packed outside.

We've never seen this shit
before up to that point.

- Right.
- Well, who that for?

I found out
when we jumped out that van.

- [audience cheering]
- Brooklyn, please,

put your motherfucking
hands together!

- Oh!
- Method Man! Yeah!

Yeah.

[speaking indistinctly]

[wild cheers and applause]

METHOD MAN: I mean,
the excitement and just the--

the energy
was totally different.

It was like, holy shit.

I was used to being
the underdog.

- Right.
- I didn't know how

to take this shit at first.
- Now you the big--

you was a big dog.
- Yeah, I was like,

but I'm-a meet the challenge.

♪ M-E-T-H-O-D Man ♪

♪ M-E-T-H-O-D Man

♪ Hey, you, get off my cloud ♪

♪ You don't know me,
and you don't know my style ♪

♪

- It felt great that night.
- LL COOL J: Yeah.

METHOD MAN: Like,
they know who we are now.

The beauty was sharing
that moment,

'cause it wasn't just me.
It was a gang of us.

And it's different when you
watch your friends grow from,

you know, grade school

to junior high school
to high school.

It's like being

in the same bunkhouse
with a bunch of soldiers.

It's like, you got his back.
He got yours.

And the only gang that we are--

it's the gang of money
that we make.

[laughter]

- You owe me 20 bing-bings.
- Look at my six G's.

You look at us back then,
who would ever think

that we could be in a position
where we could feed our families

for the rest of our lives,
be world-praised and famous

for doing something
that we love to fucking do?

I would have never
imagined that shit.

And sometimes when I'm onstage,

and I'm watching
my dudes perform,

I get a euphoric feeling
because

I'm seeing them as kids again.
- Yeah.

It's like, holy shit, man.

- We made it this far.
- We made it this far.

That was a good reminder
for me. Shit.

[train tracks rumbling
in distance]

LL COOL J:
Check it out. One word.

You tell me what it means
to you, what you want it to be.

- It's up to you.
- All right.

- Legacy.
- Ooh.

More than anything...

I want people
to recognize my humility

'cause it's genuine.
- Yeah.

I want my legacy to be
to a point where

when my kids run into people
that knew me,

they only have good things
to say about their dad.

Wow.

♪

That's the legacy
I wanna leave--

a good guy.

So, a legacy
of honor and respect.

Yes. Yes.

♪

LL COOL J:
What is the feeling now

when you walk around,
as you move through the world?

- It's fulfillment.
- What is it like

in Method Man's skin
moving through the world?

I'm embracing the fact
that I am a creative.

I couldn't find a word for it
for all these years,

but I know what it is now.
I like to create.

I see a blank slate,
drives me crazy.

I have to add something to it.

On that blank slate,
I see so many different things

and so much potential.

REPORTER: Las Vegas has
officially entered the Chamber--

the Wu-Tang Clan announcing
they will have a residency.

I feel fulfilled and gracious.

But in the same breath,
I deserve it.

- You goddamn right.
- Yeah.

- You earned it.
- I earned it.

- And you envisioned it.
- Yes, I did, sir. [laughs]

- Yes, I did, sir.
- You envisioned that shit.

Good shit, man.
Let's bounce now.

Chop it up a little bit more.
Yeah, that's--that's good shit.

Y'all be good out there, a'ight?

My friends is better than yours,
ya heard?

Ya know I mean?
Good shit, baby. Good shit.

All right. Y'all brothers wanna
talk to me now? All right.

Basically, I'm the Method Man
'cause I smoke the most.

♪ Oh, now be good to me ♪

♪ In the midnight hour

♪ Oh, now be good to me ♪

♪ When I was down
in the shadows ♪

♪ Oh, now be good to me ♪

♪ You know you pick me up
when I've been moanin' ♪

♪ Oh, now be good to me ♪

♪ I'll be... ♪