The Contrast Man: Steelo Brim Talks 1,000+ Episodes of Ridiculousness, Shares his Art Collection

Oliver: We’ve heard your ‘Knock, Knock’ and ‘Plan B’ freestyle. What inspired you to do those freestyles? Was it just random, or were you just sitting in a studio?

Steelo: The knock, knock freestyle was definitely random. It was like one of my first records; I think I recorded it, and it was my first video shoot. Then Plan B, I had that beat beforehand. My boy Rob Holiday did a couple of records on my project, and he produced the Megan Thee Stallion record. So I had already had a freestyle done to it. I hit him like, “Yo, you know, I ain’t trying to step on no toes, but could we find out if it’s cool from Megan? Can I drop this?” And he was like, no, of course. So I was happy that the freestyles got a good response. 

Oliver: Any plan for new music coming soon?

Steelo: Yeah, 1000%. I got a new song dropping on August 26 with Larry June called ‘Summer Goodbye.’ I got a whole bunch of new music. I’m such a person that I take pride in what I do. I want them to come out and be done correctly. So making the new music, I’m just so critical. I’m also a Gemini, so I’m crazy. I will be in my head all day, but definitely, new music is on the way.

Oliver: You got your start in Hollywood by playing in the 2001 film hardball; who influenced you as a young actor? And what other roles would you like to dive into as an actor today?

Steelo: I didn’t even know that’s where I started. [laughs] I did hardball because I was playing baseball. I was ranked in the state of Illinois for baseball, and my principal had called me and said, “Hey, they have these auditions for this movie down here, and they want black kids that like baseball. That is right up your alley” I went and did that movie, and I was supposed to just be background, which I still was, but they ended up bumping me up to an actual regular, so I was getting paid as an actor because of child labor laws. Even with me doing Ridiculousness, for so long Viacom and MTV would hit me and ask me to do a show, and I’ll just be like, that’s not me. For me, it is still about ensuring the representation is pure. 

Oliver: Let’s talk Ridiculousness. 27 seasons and 936 episodes. That’s amazing. Congratulations. What is it like working with MTV, and what lessons have you learned working on such a significant and long-running show?

Steelo: I have to come in and say we have over a thousand episodes filmed already because the thousands are such a milestone. Anything I do, I try to be a student. So even now, I started producing on Ridiculousness season two and I’ve also learned a lot about the business. As we look at it as a business, our show does well because of the profitability of the show. We shoot with low budgets and have a great business return. You want to ensure you’re not putting that much into it and getting a lot back. We were also looking at the efficiency of how we run it. We film six episodes a day right now, which we’re trying to get up to eight. So we don’t plan on stopping anytime soon. I’m humbled by all of it just because it’s not what I came to LA to do. So it’s been nothing but the favor of God in my life, and I’m appreciative.