Rickey Smiley’s Life Of Family, Food and Still Having Fun Making People Laugh

When Rickey Smiley is inspired, you should just step aside and let the legendary funnyman cook. Stand-up comedy specials and tours, movies, nationally syndicated TV shows, and his own, long tenured nationally syndicated “The Rickey Smiley Morning Show” on the radio are all successes. The 55-year-old has always seemed to chef up popular content for over 30 years now (yes, he was on HBO’s Def Comedy Jam back in 1992). Today, he’s prepping another dish on his burner. Smiley is taping several episodes for his new podcast “The Rickey Smiley Podcast” in a swank, rented out mini mansion on the outskirts of Atlanta, Georgia. Among his dozen guests today are two of ATL’s and music’s biggest hitmakers, producer Jazze Pha and history breaking songwriter, producer and performer Sean Garrett.  

Smiley doesn’t just want to greet the people he’s interviewing with his signature grin, he wants to leave a lasting impression and surprise them.  Rickey Smiley is inspired, his team besides a couple of cameramen are wisely standing aside and letting him cook, literally.  What some of his fans may not know is that among his many talents, Smiley gets busy in the kitchen. This last menu he’s putting together includes cornbread, collard greens (with turkey, no pork) and his secret weapon pinto beans. 

“These are some good ass pinto beans,” Garrett—the man who Jay-Z himself nicknamed “The Pen” because of his writing of songs for artists such as Beynce, Usher, Rihanna, The Pussycat Dolls, and many others—  boasts after sampling a tablespoon full.    “Gotdamn, these are good.”

“It’s all about seasoning! Seas-Uh-Neeng bro,” Smiley, who admits he has aspirations of opening a restaurant that has about “eight or nine tables, then expanding from there,” would explain later. “Cause a bean is a bean. But how do you season it though?”

Several weeks later, Smiley has his family and friends over at his Alabama estate as he helmed the kitchen duties for Thanksgiving. Let’s just say your favorite professional bistro has got nothing on Casa De Smiley. The menu included:

Rotisserie smoked and oil-less fried turkeys, honey baked ham, Chicken and dumplings, Gumbo with collard greens, Mac and cheese, Sweet potato pie with Mac and cheese on top. The aforementioned collard greens with smoked turkey and pinto beans with smoked turkey and Conecuh sausage, cornbread dressing, giblet gravy, rolls, cornbread, of course cranberry sauce as well as an assortment of desserts are all served. 

The day after, Smiley let’s nothing go to waste as he uses the left over cornbread dressing and mixes it with lump crab meat and added seared shrimp on top.

This Thanksgiving was especially reflective for Smiley and his family as it was the first one they experienced since Brandon Smily, Rickey’s oldest son and eldest of four children passed away on January 29th this year. Smiley was very forthcoming during his appearance on the Today Show in early March, speaking about his son’s history of drug abuse and how he tried to always intervene. Brandon Smiley was doing well, looked to have shaken his addiction and just joined the church about a month before passing away from an overdose.  

While the loss of his son has been difficult to reconcile, Smiley has managed to continue his career of making people smile everyday on the radio, tv and social media. He’s been an inspiration to his fans. 

Here, he talks his next goals in his personal life, why his Dish Nation co-host Da Brat’s music still bangs (as does 8Ball and MJGs) and why comedians are competitive like rappers.