Experience Flav’s deep thoughts on life, love and being Hollywood’s biggest hype

Experience Flav’s deep thoughts on life, love and being Hollywood’s biggest hype

Flavor Flav moves through life these days like he has no time to waste.

In recent months, he’s been spotted backstage at Bruce Springsteen concerts, opening for U2, speaking at Harvard, ogling Cher and Donny Osmond, and trading friendship bracelets with Swifties on the “Eras Tour” gig. The main hype man, however, is no stranger to fame himself.

Flav’s own career began in 1985, when he founded the rap group Public Enemy. He was later inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and starred in several early reality shows, including “The Surreal Life” and “Flavor of Love.”

He hasn’t lost his zest for life, his fellow artists – or his signature watch necklace – along the way. Now 65, Flav’s next project is a reality series that will focus on his pursuit of a high school diploma.

CNN recently caught up with Flav to see if we could bottle some of his seemingly endless passion. Our discussion, which touches on his hopes of meeting Megan Thee Stallion and staying more humble than King Kong, follows. It has been lightly edited for clarity and length.

CNN: Are the sunglasses the watch you wear?

FF: “Yeah. It’s all vintage frames, baby vintage frames.”

CNN: So, as a fan, who have you met recently that you like?

FF: “I got to see Donny Osmond last week, you know what I’m saying?”

CNN: As a Swiftie, are you excited about the new album coming out this week?

FF: “I love Taylor Swift. Yes. You know, power to the Swifties, power to the Swifties.”CNN: You both love wearing your watches.

FF: “Right. right. And we both keep them at 12 too. Yep. And the reason why I keep my clock at 12 is because 12 points is right up. And now I’m straight with you every day.”

CNN: Like. Ok, let’s get into it. What do you think has happened in the last few years with you? Are you growing in appreciation for art and artists?

FF: “You know, the world has a lot of love for Public Enemy. You know what I’m saying? Yes. And there are a lot of young artists who have a lot of love for Flavor Flav too. So what I do is I just accept all of that and I also accept their music.”

CNN: How do you have all this energy? You have a youthful spirit.

FF: “I’m just trying to keep up with what’s going on, you know what I’m saying? With all the new stuff that’s going on and, and all these new, younger artists. Just trying to keep up.”

CNN: You recently met Cher, can you talk about that moment for you?

FF: “I don’t know if she really knows who I am. Yeah. But I can tell that she knows that I know who she is. I’ve been trying to meet this woman for the longest time, so when they told me that she going to be at the iHeart Awards, I said, you know, this might be my chance. The only thing I know is that the woman knows who I am, where I’m from and why I’m there. all I can say is, mission accomplished, honey.”

CNN: And you like Billie Eilish, thoughts on her?

FF: “My love for Billie Eilish comes from the type of person she is, number one. And as a young artist, he is amazing. And not only that, but he made history. He is very, very ambitious, a go-getter. And I’m a fan. Yes. Just like Billie Eilish, I love her, man.”

CNN: You recently went backstage to meet Bruce Springsteen, what was his reaction to you?

FF: “I hope he knows who I am. But I tell all these people, I never took gymnastics, but I flipped. I flipped. The biggest thing was when he got off the stage to walk into the audience. As he passed me, he gave his son Flavor Flav a pound.”

CNN: Do big names want to meet you?

FF: “Yes. And not only that, many celebrities I meet, I’m sure they want to meet me too. I just get to them first before they get to me.”

CNN: Who is still on your list to meet?

FF: “I haven’t met Megan Thee Stallion yet.”

CNN: Who’s the most famous person on your phone right now?

FF: “Other than myself? Babyface Edmonds. Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. Jelly Roll! LL Cool J.”

CNN: What do your kids think of all this fame and fanfare?

FF: “My children play football with these guys, just being themselves. My daily life is, wake up, take my son to school, pick him up from school, you know?”

CNN: How would you describe life for you at the moment?

FF: “I enjoy my life now. I’m really enjoying my life now. Let me tell you this, because you know, this life that we live physically, we only get it once.”

CNN: Isn’t that the point of your watch necklace?

FF: “Yeah. So my point is this, while we’re living this one life, a physical life, let’s get out of life while we can, let’s enjoy it while we can. Because when we die, we’re just memories

s. But we want to be the most positive memory, the most influential memory, the most innovative memory, you know, the most positive memory that is talked about years after our death.”

CNN: You’re aware of that every day?

FF: “Hey. Because you wake up every day knowing that life wasn’t promised to you.

CNN: Any last thoughts on your mind that you’d like to get out?

FF: “Let me say this. You know, when people see me, a lot of people see me as this big big star. Like bigger than King Kong, but to me, I’m not that big. I’m just this human size, you you know? And you have to stay humble. And I think that’s another thing that people like about me is that I’m humble, you know? But I also give people time come up and ask for my picture, they get it. When they come up and ask me for an autograph or a hug, I give it to them. And that goes a long, long way.”