Judging by his recent activity, I would venture to guess that Flavor Flav’s 2024 resolution was to meet and fawn over as many celebs as possible. This year while attending the iHeart Awards he celebrated the women of hip-hop with a custom t-shirt, and shared euphoric videos meeting Katy Perry, Meghan Trainor, and more. He bowed down to The Boss backstage at Bruce’s Las Vegas concert, and even just bumping into Donny Osmond in an LA hotel gave Flavor the feels. So CNN chatted with Flavor Flav about his year of thrilling celebrity encounters, and other things on his mind.
You recently met Cher, can you talk about that moment for you?
“I don’t know if she exactly knew who I was. Yeah. But I could tell that she knew I knew who she was. I’ve been trying to meet this woman for the longest, so when they told me that she was going to be at the iHeart Awards, I said, you know what, now this could be my chance. The only thing I know is that I had to make sure that that woman knew who I was, where I came from and why I was there. And the only thing I could say, mission accomplished, baby.”
And you love Billie Eilish, thoughts on her?
“My love for Billie Eilish comes from, from the type of person that she is, number one. And as a young artist, she’s very incredible. And not only that, but she’s making history. She’s very, very ambitious, a go-getter. And I’m a go-getter. Yeah. Just like Billie Eilish, I love her, man.”
You recently made it backstage to meet Bruce Springsteen, what was his reaction to you?
“I was hoping he knew who I was. But I tell everybody this, I never took gymnastics, but I was flipping. I was flipping. The biggest thing was when he came off the stage to walk into the audience. As he passed by me, he gave his boy Flavor Flav a pound.”
How would you describe life for you at this moment?
“I’m having fun with my life right now. I’m really having a lot of fun with my life right now. Let me tell you this, because you know, this life that we live physically, we only get it one time.”
Isn’t that the point of your clock necklace?
“Yeah. So my thing is this, while we’re living this one, one physical life, let’s get all out of life while we can, let’s have all the fun we can while we can. Because when we die, we become nothing but memories. But we wanna be the most positive memories, the most influential memories, the most innovative memories, you know, the most positive memories that’s talked about years after our death.”
You’re mindful of that every day?
“Hey. Because you wake up every day knowing that life ain’t promised to you.”
Any final thoughts on your mind you want to get out?
“Let me say this. You know, when people see me, a lot of people see me as this real big huge star. Like bigger than King Kong, but to me, I’m not that size. I’m only this human size, you know? And you gotta keep it humble, man. You gotta keep it humble. And I think that’s another thing that people love about me most is because I’m humble, you know? I am a fan, but also I do give people the time of day when people come and ask me for a picture, they get it. When they come and ask me for an autograph or a hug, I give it to ‘em. And that stuff goes a very, very long way.”
How have I gone this far in life without ever hearing the line “I never took gymnastics, but I was flipping,” until now?! Apparently, Flavor Flav is the spiritual guru I never knew I needed. He comes across like a next generation Wavy Gravy spreading goodwill and it’s so funny and endearing. That whole meta description of meeting Cher was pure hippie (take notes, Paul Giamatti!). “She didn’t know who I was, but she knew I knew who she was, get it, man?” His enthusiasm is infectious. And his humility! He’s the greatest at being humble!! LOL. I think he’s genuine in his thoughts, and he definitely pays it forward with hugs and pictures and autographs. It’s just that you can’t ask people (or maybe just me) not to laugh while listening to you boast about your own humility. Aside from that, I’m flipping.