Today, we bring to you the one and only Lenny S., a true friend of the showcast. (He gets name-dropped just about every episode.) You may know him for the many songs he helped A&R with Roc-a-fella or Def Jam, the mixtapes he was behind, the work he’s done with Nipsey Hussle and DJ Khaled, the photos he’s behind or even his elaborate Halloween parties.
Or maybe this is the first time you’re hearing of him, and now you get to see him as Teen Wolf. In any case, we were lucky enough to steal 30 minutes of Lenny’s time during Super Bowl weekend to talk about the movies he loves, how he ended up in State Property, Star Wars vs. Star Trek, the movies he saw (but maybe shouldn’t have) as a kid and the snacks he misses!
What’s a movie you could talk about for two hours? Or like, if you were on 2J3BD, what’s a movie you would bring to the table?
Casino. Or…Godfather II?
Is that to test if Jadakiss actually is Italian?
(laughs) 100% (laughs) Oh my god. But definitely a Martin Scorsese movie. But I’d probably land on Casino. Casino or Goodfellas are two of my Top 10.
2J3BD: How do you know The LOX or how do The LOX know you?
Well, those are different questions. I know The LOX because I’m a fan of their work and I started out at Bad Boy back in the day doing my little internship, whatever whatever. So that’s how I got put on to them — on my own but through being at Bad Boy, too. And then, over the years, through consistency, we just developed a good relationship.
So you overlapped at Bad Boy?
I mean, I didn’t know them like that but we were around one another, you know what I mean? So even when I was on the street team — that was like, 94, 95 and I went to Roc-a-fella in 96 — when I went over to Roc, then we went on the No Way Out tour in 97, 98. So they had already known me a little bit and then on the tour, you see somebody every single day. And then I developed the strongest relationship over the years with Kiss because I ended up being his A&R at Def Jam for a little bit.
What’s a movie you used to watch on VHS?
Krush Groove. It’s one of my favorite movies ever. It’s hard to put it in the — it’s like, an honorable mention or a sixth man on the bench. Cause like, I can’t put it up there against like, proper actors who make groundbreaking films. It’s not no Daniel Day-Lewis shit! You know what I’m saying?
It’s meaningful and nostalgic for you.
Yes. And by the way, to be rappers, they did pretty good honestly. Even when I watch it now, I don’t look at it like, “Oh, these guys are like, amateur actors.” They were being themselves! They were playing themselves! So like, it wasn’t hard for Run-DMC to play Run-DMC and LL to play LL. And Russell…Russell’s the only one who — I love and admire the fact that Russell wasn’t egotistical — I don’t know if it was his decision or the studio’s, but like, wasn’t egotistical enough to be like, “I have to play me!” He got Blair Underwood to play him — and honestly, he was the only actor! And he’s a good actor! Kurtis Blow and everybody else played themselves, and that’s what made me fall in love, love, love with hip-hop. I was already in love with it from the music but that, for me, was the first and best visual outside of Beat Street.
I was about to say…
Yea, and Beat Street was more of a history lesson. It hadn’t gone super commercial yet. Krush Groove lends itself to where, oh shit, these guys are on the radio now, they’ve got real record deals, they got swag. Beat Street was like, the foundation, the beginning. So it wasn’t really star-powered, it was how it started.
Was it weird seeing yourself on-screen in a documentary like Fade to Black or a narrative film like State Property?
(laughs) Absolutely, man. I never wanted to do that stuff. I never wanted to be in front of the cameras. For State Property, everybody would lend a hand: whatever that was. So, for me, I had a Denali at the time: rims, system, kitted out. You know what I’m saying? And they didn’t have a bunch of cars on deck — no one was renting cars for this movie, they didn’t have the budget for that. So I would lend my car to them whenever they needed it, it was one of the many cars in the movie.
One day I was picking up my car — they were doing a jail scene. And Dame had utilized everyone he possibly could, they needed new faces. So he was like, “You need to get in this scene!” And I was like, “Bro, I just came to pick up my car, bro.” “Nah, you ain’t gotta talk, you just gotta be on the phone while Beanie Sigel’s in jail.” And I just did stuff like that because it was easier to do the scene than to argue that I don’t want to be in it.
It’s just like, seeing me onscreen, it’s cringe-y to me — to me.
Do you revisit any of the Roc films these days?
Yea, I watch the Fade to Black doc, it was just incredible. And you don’t really get to see Jay like that — I mean, I get to see him in real life every day and I’ve been in every studio session with him but like, it’s good to see him onscreen for the rest of the world to see. And I used to revisit Paper Soldiers because that’s how I met Kev. Kevin Hart, that’s when he first came to Roc, he did the movie and we’ve been tight ever since. It’s cool to sometimes go back and rewatch that and see how people have grown or evolved, and what they started from. Remember, this is from before Soul Plane. A lot of people look at Soul Plane as the start, but that was more of the commercial one, the one that got more visibility and more promo. But Paper Soldiers was where it was at: Charlie Murphy, it was the writing and producing. It was dope. So I rewatch that sometimes.
What would you say is the best hood movie?
The best hood movie is probably between Menace and Friday. Or Menace and Boyz N Da Hood.
And where do you fall on that?
Oh man. I love them both. But I’m gonna look at this real performance-wise. I dunno, man. They’re both groundbreaking, they both had actors who became commercially big actors — from Nia Long to Cuba Gooding Jr. to Larenz Tate, both of them had real real good shit. I dunno. That’s hard, man. They’re equal.
You’ve gotta take a shot, Drink Champs rules.
Yea, yea, I’ll take the shot. (laughs)
What’s a popular movie you’ve never seen?
Oh shit. That’s a great question. Some things I can’t say, because I’ll look crazy.
No, you can say whatever. I hadn’t seen Star Wars until fairly recently…
Oh! Star Trek. Star Trek.
I haven’t seen it either.
I just never — I was a Star Wars person. I’ve never done Star Trek. I’ve seen a little bit of the show, I tried to watch a little bit but I could never get into it.
Is that too nerdy for you? Is that the rub?
I don’t think it’s that, because I like Star Wars. Aren’t they similar?
To me, they are but not to most people. I’m trying to figure out, what’s your divide between these two properties?
You’re right, right? Like, what makes a Trekkie different than — what’s a person that watches Star Wars?
A dork.
(laughs) I don’t know, maybe I just didn’t believe it. Not that you can believe Star Wars but how bout this: to me, the characters were more powerful to me. Outside of Spock, the main guy with the ears, you don’t have anyone super well-defined to me. Star Wars, I believe them a lot. You’ve got Han Solo. You kinda know these people in real life: Billy Dee Williams was like super-smooth, and Princess Leia…everyone had their own cool characteristics that really stood out and even Darth Vader, I’m not saying I rooted for him but it felt…I can’t say realistic, because none of them are real but —
You’re saying there’s a relatable quality to it.
Not too much with like R2-D2 — who’s a robot, I get it — but still, even it had compassion and C-3PO was a logical thinker. Like, he was worried about doing the wrong thing. It just all seemed very human or humanized.
But also, did you see it in the theatres when you were growing up?
Yea, I was a super kid-kid-kid.
That’s what I’m saying, it probably hit at the right age.
It did. Thank god my uncle and aunt used to take me to the movies. I used to see wild movies in the theatre that I probably shouldn’t have. I saw Scarface in the theatre.
Wow. You were…seven? Eight?
It came out when?
‘83 I think.
Yea, I was born in ‘74. I remember leaving and thinking that the good guy died. In my mind, I just thought he was the main character — he was — but I was rooting for him. I just thought, “He’s like my uncle, why did they kill him? They killed Tony!”
What’s a great bad movie?
The Wrong Missy.
To me, I’ve watched it several times — it’s just like, a bad movie. It’s a dumb comedy. But it’s funny as fuck. This guy meets this girl, blind date. Fucking psychotic — her name is Melissa. He never goes out with her again.
He’s got a business trip a few weeks later, meets a girl at the airport — also named Melissa. Like, hot. Super hot professional. Takes her to a storage room at the airport, they’re making out — she’s way out of his league and she’s fucking with him. And he gets her number! He’s like, I’m gonna jump out the window and ask if she wants to go on this work trip with me and ask her to go together. She says yes. And when he gets to the plane in first class — he’d bought her a ticket — he text the other Melissa by mistake, the psychotic one! (laughs)
And she’s completely nuts: getting drunk, dancing on the table, super wilding. And she thinks he really likes her because she’s like, oh he invited me on a trip? A work trip? A vacation? It’s corny, it’s dumb — but it’s fucking hysterical.
Are you in on the Adam Sandler universe? Like, this isn’t an Adam Sandler movie but this is all his people.
I’ma be honest with you: I’m really not. I mean, I’ve seen them but I’m on the other side: I’m a Will Ferrell guy, Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn. That’s the side I’m on, all those guys. Wedding Crashers, that’s the side. Any combo that they’ve done. And then, after that, the next generation for me, right under them is…
Seth Rogen, Michael Cera, Judd Apatow, all that?
All that. I’m the biggest Judd Apatow fan. By the way: I’m obsessed — and not in a weird way — his daughter’s an incredible actress. She’s in Euphoria.
Ideal movie snack?
I’m a popcorn guy. Hot popcorn, really right out of the thing. Nothing that’s been sitting there. I need it hot. Outside of that, I used to love — they don’t sell them no more, but my favorite favorite favorite movie snack in the fucking world was Bon-Bons. They used to sell them in all the theatres but they stopped.
My last question, which might be my toughest. Sinners, One Battle or Marty Supreme?
Fuck, man.
I know, and you’ve got politics to maintain.
Yea, man. Fuck. I’m gonna go with Sinners but the Timothee Chalamet role — I think people got it misconstrued. I just think people based it too much on how much of an asshole the character was. It wasn’t a happy ending, per se, so people kinda just left feeling like “He was a fucking dickhead! Why do people like this!” And it’s like, yea, he played an incredible dickhead. So, overall for me, it’s Sinners just because of the way I feel about Timothee Chalamet in that I feel about multiple things in Sinners. From the direction to the music to Mike to the acting to Delroy to Miles Canton — his first role ever — winning awards, playing music, he’s a musician. To me, there were just so many aspects of it that completely made it phenomenal.
And Marty was dope too, Timothee’s performance was undeniable, no matter how much of an asshole he was. I just feel like he — by the way, he did it: he made people walk away like, “I fucking hate that guy.” And that’s what a good character does. There’s films or TV shows where like, people hated Tupac when Juice came out. Not because of him or his music or his rise to fame but because in the movie, he was a shady unloyal asshole to his friends. And I think when you can pull that off, that’s good acting. That’s great acting. That’s phenomenal acting. That’s my little disclaimer on Timothee.
But yea, overall Sinners.
That’s all for this edition of 2J3BD Talks To! Next week, I have the Wave God himself, Max B, talking about New Jack City, The Notebook and how he knows within 1 minute whether a movie’s gonna be good.
Definitely gonna watch The wrong Missy lol
Sheek definitely loved this