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Feb. 15, 2023

Dallas Austin Part 2

In part two of Dallas Austin's Atlanta sitdown with Questlove Supreme, the hit-making producer/songwriter revisits his time with Illegal, Highland Place Mobsters, and Michael Jackson. Dallas Austin is a storyteller extraordinaire, and this QLS episode has many memorable tales.

0:00 - Dallas Austin on Questlove Supreme Part 2 intro
0:40 - Dallas Austin tells the story of how Lisa Left Eye Lopes gave him the adolescent Rap group Illegal
2:00 - Clive Davis was a big believer in Illegal, but Mr. Malik and Jamal reportedly did not always get along well
3:30 - Illegal started living with Suge Knight and Dr. Dre and hanging around Death Row Records and Dallas Austin lost control of the group
4:20 - Dallas Austin recalls traveling to Death Row and meeting with Suge Knight to discuss bringing Illegal back to Rowdy/Arista Records
6:10 - Mr. Malik returned to Atlanta with a big problem
7:30 - Dallas Austin recalls Illegal's Billboard Music Awards win, and how the group may have squandered an opportunity
8:00 - Where are Mr. Malik and Jamal today?
9:25 - Dallas Austin remembers Y'all So Stupid and Da King & I
10:00 - A discussion about the Highland Place Mobsters, and how they took "Let's Get Naked" too literally
11:00 - The demise of Highland Place Mobsters involves Suge Knight, malt liquor, and a performance gone terribly wrong
17:00 - Dallas Austin recalls his friendship Jacques Agnant aka Haitian Jack
19:00 - Dallas Austin shares some stories involving Haitian Jack and Madonna
19:40 - Madonna and Dallas Austin reportedly fell out over the mixes to her Bedtime Stories album, but they made up years later
21:45 - Boyz II Men's early hits are all rough mixes that Dallas Austin wishes he could have mixed properly
23:00 - Spearhead X went from Rowdy Records to running the Coalition DJs
23:30 - Joi always kept it real, and so did Fishbone
25:00 - Fishbone refused Dallas Austin's idea to cover a song by The Police that could have made them stars—ask Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers
26:00 - What went wrong with Joi's Amoeba Cleansing Syndrome album
26:50 - Terrence Trent D'Arby aka Sananda Maitreya was a complicated artist to work with
28:00 - Dallas Austin says Janet Jackson was his most agreeable collaborator and he shares who was difficult
30:00 - Dallas Austin recalls making Deion Sanders' "Must Be The Money" thanks to an offer from Suge Knight that he could not refuse
32:30 - Memories of working on History with Michael Jackson
36:00 - Dallas Austin walked out of one Michael Jackson session only to find his home at another
38:00 - Michael Jackson liked to show producers his own personal highlight reel
39:00 - Michael Jackson shot one of his epic Pepsi commercials himself
39:30 - Dallas Austin recalls bringing Biggie Smalls to Michael Jackson, and MJ's reaction to his verse
41:00 - Dallas Austin speaks candidly about Michael Jackson's life when he made "They Don't Care About Us," "Stranger In Moscow," and other controversial songs
46:55 - Questlove Supreme revisits more Dallas Austin collaborator history, including For Real and Stepchild
49:00 - Dallas Austin recalls working with Monica and why they remain close 30 years later
51:30 - Dallas Austin talks about plans for his groundbreaking music distribution company, DAD
56:00 - Questlove has an ah-ha moment about TLC's FanMail album and the single "Silly Ho"
59:10 - Questlove Supreme says goodbye to Dallas Austin...for now