Affion Crockett chimes in on comedians beefing: “It’s not new to me”

On the most recent episode of “Drink Champs,” N.O.R.E. and DJ EFN were again joined by Affion Crockett for a lively discussion on the depths of comedy and his career.

The Fayetteville, North Carolina native has pretty much seen and done it all when it comes to entertainment. In the mid-1990s, he graced the stage on “Def Comedy Jam” and has since kept the bar high. His work ethic allowed him to tour the world, doing stand-up comedy and blessing his fans with specials, sketches, movies and more along the way.

Now, Crockett is fresh off the release of his latest film, A Hip Hop Story. He stars in the production as Roscoe Simmons and, throughout, pays homage to other classic movies in what flows as a tale of the genre’s 50-year history. The movie was funded independently, but Crockett didn’t do it all by himself. The multifaceted talent recruited director Damaine Radcliff and entertainment vet Charlie Mack, both of whom sat down and joined the conversation.

Below are nine major takeaways from the extended “Drink Champs” discussion. Read on to peep those and check out the full episode here.

Crockett provided some insight on what went into the making of his recent film. “This movie is definitely a combination of some of my favorite movies. Even down to it being called A Hip Hop Story. I wanted it to feel like A Christmas Story. Or on the music side, ‘Children’s Story’ [by] Slick Rick. So there is that element of Scrooge, like let me show you what it was, let me show you where we are. And where we possibly could go,” he said. Those who watched realized that he changed the names of iconic rap figures to fit the production, to which he rationalized, “It’s kind of like my bizzaro world of Hip Hop. We knew exactly who they are, but I just knew that the audience would be tickled by [it], and it proved to be correct when I watched the movie with a few different crowds. They loved the name changes.”

Though he ended up taking a 15-year break from the art form, Crockett cut his teeth by doing stand-up comedy and had some interesting things to say when asked if he preferred that or sketches. “Stand-up is how I paid for this movie. So stand-up is a whole business model. And for me, that’s where I learned the timing and the pulse of what the culture is responding to in real time,” he voiced. “Because I have that every weekend or every other weekend test of what my comedy muscle is, by the time I’m writing something and I don’t have the immediate crowd in front of me judging what I’m writing, I know that when I produce the movie or the TV show or the sketch, I know what they’re gonna respond to, for sure.”

Entertainment is in the era of the remake. These days, a good number of films and TV shows have teased Black adaptations of their classic material. On that note, Crockett touched on Idris Elba not caring about playing a Black James Bond. “I understand his mentality on it. He’s just like, ‘Why do we always have to do the Black version of what they created? Why don’t we just create our own?’ Like he did with Luther,” he said. “That’s my thing too. Look, we are very creative. We don’t have to rehash anything. Or be the new Black version of this character that’s been in their world for a long time. I think we’re creative enough; we could come up with some fire.”

Comedians have been making headlines recently due to sharing how they truly feel about one another. Crockett addressed the beef when N.O.R.E. asked if he thinks that comedians are moving like rappers these days. “It’s not new to me and anyone who’s a comedian in the league. This is the first time the public has seen it… We all know who don’t like each other, we’ve all heard the stories, [and] we’ve all seen fights at the comedy club. We know,” he said. “It’s been behind the lines, and it should stay there, but now that everybody’s on the mic talking, bringing s**t up, now the public is weighing in on it and making it bigger than it’s supposed to be.” He also suggested that things balloon quickly in today’s climate because the newer generation of fans is “here for all the smoke.”

On the flip side, the entertainer told various stories about his appreciation for other comedians and the memorable experiences that he had with them. On the note of Katt Williams, Crockett said, “He has this generous side of him that’s like, that’s dope. And he doesn’t want accolades for it.” He called Cedric The Entertainer “one of the nicest n**gas ever.” He recalled how Rickey Smiley gave him “a lot of gems” early on and let it be known that Earthquake was the first person to pay him for a gig. And then looking back to his early days, Crockett explained how Steve Harvey was “one of the few that saw the magic in what I was doing.” Lastly, he talked about his long-standing relationship with Kevin Hart: “He’s a true friend, he’s a true professional. He’s a great guy.”

When presented with a toss-up between “Showtime at the Apollo” and “Soul Train,” the comedian, who has an extensive history as a dancer, picked the former. He explained, “’Apollo’ for me has a different rawness to it. And because I danced on ‘Soul Train,’ I understand how exploitative ‘Soul Train’ was to the dancers.” He elaborated, “For the whole run, they never paid the dancers, and the dancers are what made ‘Soul Train.’ I understand the legacy of ‘Soul Train’ -- it’s legendary, it’s iconic -- but the principle of not paying the dancers and seeing some of the people that I still know to this day and they’re not financially well-off, I think it’s not right.”

Creators such as Cedric The Entertainer, Lil Mama, Lil Rel Howery, Wayne Brady and more were included in Crockett’s new film. With that in mind, he broke down how he approached the casting, stating, “It was whoever we knew that we could portray convincingly. Most of these characters, me and Damaine have already done parodies of them on YouTube, for years, since the early 2000s. We were already doing the JAY-Z, the Kanye [West], the Russell [Simmons].” He added, “This was me wanting to write a movie that... already let me put all of these characters in one place, but make it not feel like a spoof movie. Let’s lace a really dope message in here and deliver that message with comedy as the backdrop.”

Affion Crockett and Charlie Mack met years ago at the Laugh Factory in Los Angeles. Since then, they’ve developed a tight relationship. As far as bringing Mack in to assist with making A Hip Hop Story, Crockett acknowledged, “Charlie’s Hip Hop.” He continued, “I respect him. We literally could talk about whatever. That’s how I gauge my industry relationships. I don’t like users. I don’t like people that want to use me to get to somebody else.” Elsewhere he declared, “He was on set every day, especially the first half of what we shot. And because he experienced a lot of this stuff [and] he was there for it, it was nostalgia for him. He was on set like a kid in the candy store.”

When asked about how he and his co-creator Radcliff might follow-up after A Hip Hop Story, the comedian said, “I’m working on my action star, leading man energy now. That’s where I’m going next. I’m not the guy who’s one-dimensional. You see this from the movie -- I played 1,000 n**gas in this joint.” With the bigger picture in mind, he ended with the following forecast: “I see myself along [with] the Mark Wahlbergs, the Will Smiths. I have that range and I want to do the unexpected.” Expect action, sci-fi and kung fu productions to come soon.

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