Donnell Rawlings Remembers Charlie Murphy | Joe Rogan

But when we were doing Chappelle's show, after Chappelle's show, after second year of Chappelle's show, we weren't really making a lot of money on Chappelle's show, because the show still hadn't been proven. You know how something, you gotta, if you got a contract, you got a contract. That's it. It just so happened, the show blew up before the contract was over, but that don't mean nobody's gonna renegotiate. So we had this popularity, but we weren't making money. And I came up with the idea of doing a tour called the I'm Rich Bitch Tour. And at the time, at the time, Charlie was, Charlie Murphy! Like anywhere he goes. At the time, Bill Burr was a headliner probably at the time in B-rooms, you know what I'm saying? And there's no disrespect to him, but he was on the come up. But when you saw Bill, you knew this motherfucker was gonna be next. You knew he was gonna, he was gonna pop it, but we still wasn't getting no cash. Charlie had never told jokes. And I was like, how the fuck do you around all these comedians you've never been on stage? So I used to bully him, you know, he tough ass motherfucker. Rest in peace. But I was like, yeah, you so tough motherfucker, but not with a microphone in your hand. And I bullied him so much that he finally went on stage and Charlie, the tour was Charlie with MC. And all we needed him to do was 10 or 15 minutes. At the time, me and Charlie, outside of the day, were two popular people on the show. Bill Burr had a couple of sketches, but Bill Burr didn't pop off of the show. And I was like, but if we're gonna do this, let's have a fire show. You know what I mean? We could put somebody weak in the middle. I said, let's give them a show that they won't ever forget. And Charlie used to come out to 10 or 15 minutes. And I tell people that I was like, who's the toughest person to follow? But Charlie would go out to 10, 15 minutes and Bill Burr would come out to 20 to 25. And then I came behind Bill. Not one night for a year. A whole year. And Bill Burr is the type of act, you have no days off. You have no, any of that, any little inkling of being off, you're just gonna hear, yeah, I like the show, but the white dude was funny as a motherfucker, you know? And you could tell at that time that Bill Burr was gonna be a start. Whether it would have been movies or television, but as a stand-up, you know, he was one of the pound for pound, one of the dopest to do it. And that tour went on for a fucking year, we had a blast. Yeah, Bill's brilliant. I got to work with Charlie for, we did this Maxim tour, we did like 22 dates. Me and him and John Hefron, we traveled all over the place. Was it when Charlie was starting to do it, or was he kind of- He's like two years in, he was two years in at the time. And you know what people, Joe, people understand how tough it is to start as a comedian. As a famous person. As a comedian, basically you're an Oprah miker, just selling out all across the country. And not only that, but you're Eddie Murphy's brother. So you got to fight past all of that shit creating your own identity. You know what I'm saying? Like, I could not imagine like the heat he probably had. Yeah, but he ain't Eddie Murphy. He ain't Eddie Murphy. And that's one of the things that when Charlie passed, that I really appreciated about what the Chappelle Show did for him. Because when he passed away, nobody said Eddie Murphy's brother died. Everybody was like, Charlie Murphy's passed away. So he had his true identity and that was Charlie Murphy. Yeah, and that was one of his bits. You know, does it piss you off when people yell, Charlie Murphy? He goes, no, I'm just happy they're not calling me Eddie Murphy's brother anymore. That's funny. I remember that. That was like, at that time, that was a joke that addressed it. And he just kept on- And he found himself. He got better. Yeah. He got better. And then he carved his own lane. He carved his own lane. Dude, I was with Morrie Smith, who used to be the UFC heavyweight champion. And Ivan Salivary, who was the guy who fought in the middleweight division of the UFC, and a couple other professional fighters at a table with Charlie Murphy. And Charlie was explaining how none of these motherfuckers know how to do a Chicago Ridge Hand. He was talking about some karate shit. Oh, he was big on the karate shit. But it is like Charlie Murphy's holding court, standing up. All these UFC fighters are standing back. And Charlie Murphy's talking about Ridge Hand. And he knew exactly what he's talking about, right? Yeah, he knew how to fight, for sure. And I've had- He knew martial arts, man. He knew. He was big into it. Years before, he used to be at his bodyguard when Eddie was right at the height of his stuff. But Charlie was like martial arts. But everything that he said, it was the truth. You know what I mean? You didn't feel like all these dudes lying. Everything he said, it was the truth. And one of the most genuine people you want to meet, man. Yeah. Just a dope guy. Yeah, his karate lineage. Like he has some sort of a connection to some of my friends. I'd have to ask them. But he was like a legit martial artist, too. I saw one video of him in a martial arts contest. And it was- I don't know what- I don't know. I always tell him, I was like, yo, you knocked a 14-year-old, right? I don't know how he- I don't know if it was a weight or whatever it was. And I was like, yo, that was a fucking kid you just knocked out. He was like, yo, anybody in the ring could fucking get it. But he was- Yo, he was gangsta stuff. Why are they putting kids in with him? I don't know. He never- I saw the video, he never wanted me to talk about it. I used to bust his balls about it all the time. I could tell being around him that he legitimately knew how to fight. Yeah, you could tell. The way he carries himself. Yeah, he just had that- that scowl. He just looks like that. But he was one of the nicest guys, man. He was so fun to be around. Like, not knowing him at all and then traveling with him for 22 days. We had so much fun, man. Oh, man, the stories. All just laughing and silly and super friendly and- And all he wanted to do was, man, just have a good time and laugh. That's all he wanted to do and talk shit and talk shit to me all the time. And was so happy to be able to do stand-up. That was a big thing for him, you know, that he could do stand-up and travel around. I always tell him, I tell him all the time, I say, I birthed your career, dude. Like, I bullied him into this shit. He did. That's hilarious. But he did it. But you could tell- you could tell- And I've been around him and I've been around his family. And you could tell when he was growing up, he was the guy that always had the center of attention. Yeah. You could just tell that. Yeah, you could tell. He knows how to hold a story. Yes, he does. That was a hard one, man. When he passed, I was like, if I didn't know he was sick, I had no idea. You know, it's interesting that you say that because I had to continue to do shows, do radio interviews and stuff. And the thing that people kept saying was, he was so young, he was so young. And he was young. But I don't believe that we're all going to live to be 80, 90, 100, you know? Only thing we all guarantee, when we're born, we have our born date, we have that dash in the middle, and then we have the end. And it comes down to what the fuck do you do with your dash? Yeah. How hard did you live? What did you go for? What inspired you? What motivated you? What did you do with that dash? Who the fuck gives a fuck about living to 100 and you don't have a passport? You haven't been outside of your block. You haven't been out. You have never been in an airplane. What are you doing with your life? And I know Charlie from the point of being in the Navy to being with his brother, saying his brother reached certain height of success, being interested in about it, interested in the business. But, you know, kind of in there, but never really made your mark. And then you get a platform that you become and get your identity and shit. That's the dopest shit. Yeah. It's one of the best kind of success stories because it doesn't happen automatically. It's that Frank Sinatra and I did it my way. And it's like, you know, people say what they want to say, but he put the work in. I remember when I think the movie Eddie did called Norbit, right? And it came from a joke Charlie had. The start of that movie. And I guess I think him and Eddie was talking whatever and then, you know, how that could be, could be a movie. And my father Charlie called me and said, yo, man, I can't get this movie deal. I said, what you going to do? He said, I'm about to go lock myself in a hotel for 30 days and write this motherfucker movie. They already gave me the money. You know what I'm saying? I'm talking about. I'm not talking about somebody. I've been writing this movie for six months or whatever. It's like, I'm about to go block everything off and write this shit.