NPR’s Juana Summers talks to rapper Flavor Flav about his decision to sponsor the U.S. Women’s water polo team at the 2024 Olympic Games.
SCOTT DETROW, HOST:
There are always big surprises at the Olympics, and one of this year’s biggest is an unlikely pairing – the U.S. women’s water polo team and Flavor Flav. That’s right. The founding member of the rap group Public Enemy is now a sponsor and official hype man for the water polo squad, which, by the way, is chasing a historic fourth gold medal in Paris. My cohost Juana Summers caught up with Flavor Flav and joins us now from the middle of the Olympics excitement, right by the water polo venue. Hey, Juana.
JUANA SUMMERS, BYLINE: Hi, Scott.
DETROW: I think when you and I were talking about you heading out to the Olympics, Flavor Flav was not on our list of things you’d be covering, but here we are.
SUMMERS: (Laughter) Here we are, indeed. I sat down with him not far from the aquatic center, where I am right now where the women’s water polo team plays. And we got to chat about a whole lot of things. Let’s take a listen to a part of that conversation.
I got to say, you have been getting quite the reputation here at the Games and online as well for all of the support that you have been bringing to the U.S. women’s water polo team and other athletes. I just want to start by asking you to tell us the story. Were you, like, always a big water polo fan, or how did this happen?
FLAVOR FLAV: Well, it all happened from, you know, a young lady on the water polo team – her name is Maggie Steffens – and she put a story out, you know what I’m saying? And my manager read the story, and my manager turned me on to the story. And when the women aren’t in the water playing water polo and everything, you know, they’re home, working active jobs – one, two and three jobs. These girls are out here busting their butt to make the United States look good. So when they’re out here playing and practicing, it takes them away from their work. So I said to myself, why not step in and try to help these girls out?
SUMMERS: Our team at ALL THINGS CONSIDERED recently got to spend some time with goalie Ashleigh Johnson, and I know that you’ve described her as an inspiration. Got to say I just was blown away when we got to talk to her, both by her athletic skill and the way she thinks about her sport and the kind of role model she is. I’m just curious if you can talk a little bit about your relationship with her.
FLAVOR FLAV: I met her family – beautiful people, man, beautiful people, you know what I’m saying? And she’s the only Black person that I know right now playing water polo. Hopefully, by her doing this and also by me being a Black sponsor for the team, hopefully this will open up the door, you know, for more people of color. Also, we know that water polo is not a big, recognized sport like basketball or baseball or football. This sport, I want it to be more known once these girls are out of the water.
SUMMERS: Here at the Olympics, what has the atmosphere been like when you’ve gotten to go to the aquatic center and watch the women compete on the U.S. water polo team? What’s the vibe like? How are you hyping them up? How are you getting the crowd involved and making sure these women know that they have support?
FLAVOR FLAV: Well, I ain’t going to lie, but I do have a loud voice. And I have a big mouth. So when I’m on the side, I know these girls hear me in the water, talk about – come on, y’all. Come on, come on, let’s get another goal. Let me tell you something – this sport is very hard to play. It takes a lot of strength and a lot of endurance. I tried playing water polo. I tried it. They let me try it with them, you know? I jumped in the water. I was in the water for about a total of maybe seven minutes. Juana, this was the hardest seven minutes in my life. I’m dead serious.
They gave me the ball, and they allowed me to shoot against Ashleigh. For my first time ever, I think I did real good ’cause I scored two goals on her. But I think she kind of let me to, you know, just to, you know, make me feel good and give me a little bit of encouragement – you know what I’m saying? – and the whole nine (ph). But every time that they score a goal, you know, I’m like, yeah, boy, come on, let’s get another one. Let’s get another one. Come on, we got five. Let’s go for six. Let’s go for six. You know what I’m saying? Come on. Yo, Maggie, come on, shoot the ball. Shoot the ball. Yo, you know, I’ll be cheering them on, man. I just cheer them on, and I know they hear me on the side.
SUMMERS: I mean, these women are hoping to make history here. They are chasing down that fourth gold medal. You have been watching them. You have seen this all up close. You think they’ve got it?
FLAVOR FLAV: I don’t think they got it. I know they got it. You know what I’m saying? And I know for a fact – I really, really feel deep down in my heart, these girls are going to come up with that gold medal. You know why? – because they don’t hardly lose no games. They don’t. I watch these girls win, win, win, win, win, then the hands go up. And they stay there. These girls are dynamite. They’re bomb. I’m really proud to be representing them, and not only that, but I got lucky to be sponsoring and representing a winning team.
DETROW: Juana, of all the moments in your journalism career, what was it like to have that conversation in the middle of the Olympics with Flavor Flav?
SUMMERS: Got to be honest, never thought that would be a part of our Paris assignment, yet here we are. We were having this conversation on this tiny little side street. And I got to tell you, Scott, as we were talking to Flavor Flav, we’re sitting in these chairs, and I look up for a second. And I notice that we’ve attracted a little bit of an audience. Two of the people that we met were Rich and Mary Gallivan. They were in town from California. And as it turns out, first of all, they are public radio supporters.
DETROW: All right.
SUMMERS: Secondly, they have a personal connection to this water polo team, and they just could not wait for us to finish so they could talk to Flavor Flav and tell him just how much he’s meant to them.
RICH GALLIVAN: The women are blown away. Like, the elevation you provided to them…
MARY GALLIVAN: Yeah.
FLAVOR FLAV: (Laughter).
R GALLIVAN: …By just being here in your presence, the social media campaign – ’cause they’re usually under the radar screen and nobody knows about them. But you’ve elevated the perception of them, and the publicity is so powerful.
DETROW: You know, Juana, one of the things I love about this whole situation is that I feel like, you know, we always – there’s the sports that we all get drawn to in the Olympics that probably are not top of mind the rest of the year. And I feel like the whole story of how Flavor Flav got involved with the water polo team has really just kind of filled in the gaps and illustrated just what day-to-day life is like when you’re one of the best water polo players in the world, but you’re also living a regular life between Olympics.
SUMMERS: That’s exactly right. These water polo players are at the top of their sport. They very well could win that fourth goal. But they’re regular people. Many of them have other jobs. They’re still working towards these goals and having to do a lot to make sure they can continue to compete at this level. And I have to say, I am really hoping that I get to go watch them as they continue their quest for that fourth gold here in Paris.
DETROW: That’s my cohost Juana Summers, covering the Olympic games for us. Juana, thanks so much.
SUMMERS: Thank you, Scott.
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