- What's going on GQ?
I'm Jalen Hurts.
And these are my essentials.
[mellow music]
One of my essentials is very important to me is
my FaceTime calls with my grandmother.
She calling me right now. - Oh, okay.
- Hello.
- What's up?
What you doing?
I'm doing this thing with GQ right now.
- With who?
- Like GQ Magazine.
I was gonna call you, but when I asked you
what you was doing, you had already beat me to it.
- You want me to hang up and you can call me?
- Nah, we on the phone now.
[both laugh]
But I ain't wanna hold you too much.
- Look what I wearing.
I'mma show you what I got on, let me show you my top.
And I still get tan and I don't understand that.
I'm trying to figure out
how in the hell am I still getting a tan when
long sleeve clothes on. - She not gonna hang up.
Let me let you go ahead and get back to your business.
- Okay, have a good day, Granny love you.
- Love you too.
She gives me so much wisdom, so much love.
She will let me know if I haven't talked to her in a minute
she'll be like,
"Well, my name is Cynthia Duggar.
And you are, how are you?"
She has a big heart.
She's a character, but everybody loves her.
I love her too.
[mellow music]
One of my big essentials, my hot sauce.
Being where I'm from, I mean, we put this on everything.
If it's missing a little piece
just put a little Louisiana on there.
Not to Tabasco, not nothing else, I need Louisiana's.
One of my essentials would've been Popeye's
and it is an essential.
You know, I grew up eating a two piece Tuesday special.
Every Tuesday, you could get two pieces of chicken, a drum
and a thigh for 99 cent.
Brings back so many childhood memories.
But now that you know
I'm taking things to the next level, in terms of my diet
I don't eat it as much, but every blue moon
I gotta get me a two piece or a three piece with a red bean,
apple pie, grape jelly, lemonade, all that.
But for now I just throw the hot sauce
on whatever I can, try and keep it simple.
Another one of my essentials, my cologne.
You always have to smell good.
So this is my favorite right here.
Lafayette Street Number 9, Bond Number 9.
This is my favorite cologne.
Funny story about this.
So I was in the mall in Florida.
Me and my teammates were working out.
We were throwing out there.
We had got the guys together to go work out
ans we end up running past
this woman selling cologne at the mall.
And we was just trying stuff.
And she gives me this one.
I'm like, this the one.
But then she told me the price.
And I said that ain't the one no more.
[Jalen laughs]
I end up buying a whole bunch of the little small ones
after the fact.
You know, my pops put me on cologne,
I got all my ways from him.
So he my hero.
[upbeat music]
This here is another one of my essentials.
I have my daily devotional and I have my journal.
This really important to me because my man of God.
Waking up every morning and having a routine where
I can gain some wisdom and learn His Word, just walk
by the Spirit.
And I strive to do that daily and I challenge myself
to spread that Word organically.
My favorite scripture is John 13:7,
"Jesus replied, you may not know now,
but later you will understand."
My daily devotional has been a pivotal part in my life.
I have my journal.
I always write down the things that I'm grateful for.
Dedicate some time to giving gratitude to where I am,
where I've come and who's come with me.
So my essential, my Lemon Perfect
[upbeat music]
Kiwi, star fruit.
It's a new flavor that just dropped.
This is one of my favorite drinks.
And I love this drink so much because it's so healthy.
It's only five calories in it,
and a guy like me being an athlete, my body is everything.
You know, I talked about like the Popeye's
and like drinking lemonade, all that.
It was like, now I got to the point where
I don't do that as much.
And I try and find healthier options to consume something
that's flavorful.
Lemon Perfect get the job done.
So shout got to Lemon Perfect
for making a healthy drink, healthy option.
You gotta have your cocoa butter.
Being in a cold up here in Philadelphia, in the games,
waking up, it gets humid, but sometimes it's dry out.
It's an essential to me wherever I am.
Where I'm from, it was just in the house.
Like it was always there.
It always comes in clutching at the games
like during the games I ask
Shanice, one of the trainers for us,
I'm like, "You got some cocoa butter?"
Another one of my essentials, my durag.
You gotta keep it tight up top.
Trying to put the durag on before I go to sleep.
If I'm just chilling, I ain't doing too much,
I'll have I have it on my head.
Now I'm giving like AI vibes.
You know what I'm saying? [observer laughs]
Remember when I was a kid, I watched this Miami
the U 30 for 30.
Now I forget one of the players' names in the documentary
he talked about how he took his helmet off
every time he made a big play.
He was like,
"Well you should look at the NBA, everybody see their face.
I wanted them to see my face too."
That like hit me 'cause I'm like, that's real.
You know what I'm saying?
So I always try and make it like a thing.
Like I gotta have a fresh fade.
I gotta have a, a nice little cut
so when I take my helmet off, it's right there.
You know what I'm saying?
[upbeat music]
Gotta have your Carmex.
My reason for having two of them is these two
different versions of the chapstick.
They serve different purposes, I think.
Middle of the game I'd rather have a stick chapstick.
You know, if I'm just chilling, I keep this in my car.
When it gets so cold out here in Philly up north
it gets so cold and it gets dry.
I think Carmex it heals.
You know, it kind of heals your lips.
This is really, really important to me, my music, my albums
my vinyl records.
[jazz music]
I started collecting vinyls
like two years ago.
I wanted something unique, something that kind of,
you know, made my space different.
Frankie Beverly is by far my favorite artist ever.
My first concert ever, I went to a Frankie Beverly concert.
I've always had like a old soul.
So I was a junior in college vibing with all the old folks.
It was on a bye week, they had it at the Magic City Classic
right there in Birmingham, Alabama.
So I get the opportunity to go meet Frankie.
He was the coolest guy the coolest guy.
Face Timed my mom, say hello to my mom.
Anita Baker, she just so cold to me.
Like, you know what I mean?
She has a beautiful voice.
She always can set the mood, set the tone.
Angela Winbush.
So Angela Winbush has a record called "Your Smile".
"I'm an angel."
And I don't know
I know different guys have the different things
but mine's is slow music.
And when I listen to these two songs, I get into their zones
and then my Al Green.
My pops put me on Al Green.
Every time we had gatherings outside, we
didn't have like a big stereo radio or anything like that.
My dad had this big red truck.
It was a Lincoln truck.
They don't make him no more.
We go outside, boy, crawfish, hang out.
He'd always go in his truck, open all four doors.
Let it ride all day on repeat.
So I know every song
from front to back, side to side, all that.
So part of me is a part of my childhood
a part of who I am.
My iPad.
[upbeat music]
I'm moving around so much, traveling so much.
And I like to, to keep my film on me at any time
so I'm able to jot down thoughts.
I'm able to watch film, watch tape,
just consistency is big for me, you know?
So I try and be consistent on everything that I do
with my craft and I take it very seriously.
So this is a great way
for me to find out new knowledge about what I'm doing.
I remember in college, like I used to, you know
watch tape on the plane or whatever
but I don't really do that anymore.
Very essential to me and what I do and who I am.
I just want to thank y'all for taking
out some time to get to know me through my essentials.
Appreciate y'all.
Jay Hurts signing out.