Adult Swim—the cable network that shares channel space with Cartoon Network—has done it again. The network is one of basic cable’s No. 1 network with adults 18-49 and always has a show that develops a following. The new show that caught the eye of pop culture is Black Jesus by Aaron McGruder and Mike Clattenburg. McGruder, the creator of the mega Adult Swim series The Boondocks and Clattenburg, a Canadian TV and film director of Trailer Park Boys, co-created the half-hour-long sitcom geared around a black Jesus Christ living in modern day Compton, CA. Initially, the show was met with criticism by mostly conservative Christian groups. But as the show went on for the past three months, its popularity increased and disapproval silenced. Charlie Murphy—an internationally billed comedian who's performed in countries like Australia, New Zealand, Sweden, Iceland, Norway, Scotland, England, and Canada—stars as "Vic" on Black Jesus got on the phone with XXL to discuss why he signed up to star on Black Jesus, the early criticism of the show, Chappelle's Show and tells a hilarious story about smoking with Snoop Dogg and Don "Magic" Juan.

Black Jesus' season finale airs tomorrow (Oct. 9) on Adult Swim at 11 p.m. EST.

XXL: Black Jesus is phenomenal. Did you think this was going to be a big show when you were brought on?

Charlie Murphy: I had worked with Aaron McGruder before, so when I read the script, it was aligned with what I’m familiar with. Before I even read the script, I knew I wanted to be a part of this because it was him. I knew it was going to be good. It was funny, it's different, it’s a risk taker.

Where does Black Jesus rank to you in all the things you've worked on?

It ranks up there with everything else. Chappelle's Show, when it came out, became the No. 1 show on cable. It was the all-time No. 1 selling dvd and I was part of that. I’m proud of that. This show, Black Jesus, has a lot of the same characteristics. Its first season, the show maintained the No. 1 spot, Thursday nights at 11 p.m. That looks good to me. A lot of people are watching the show. This is just the beginning and it got people on the hook. It’s very encouraging and I know when we come back again, it's going to be even stronger. The audience is there.

If you met Black Jesus in real life, what would be the first thing to come to your mind?

Well the next thing is do I believe him to be Jesus. Now, if I believed him to be that, the first thing to come to mind is you want to help out with whatever he’s there to do. You better know, if this is Christ, I better get down with this. Whatever you want, let's do it.

If you could describe Black Jesus in one word, what would it be?

Fresh. It’s taking the whole sitcom genre in a direction it has never been taken before and it's doing it in a smart manner. There were a lot of people guessing what the show was going to be. They had preconceived notions. They haven’t even seen the show and they judged it. But then when the show came out, that died down tremendously because intelligent people looked at it and determined anybody who’s arguing, it’s not what you're describing. And you can’t point at these people and say these people are evil or any of that because Jesus Christ and Black Jesus are doing good things and promoting doing good things. Point blank. The show talks about love and kindness constantly. Black Jesus is trying to drill that in everyone around him. That’s the hope in the show. There are young people that weren’t even discussing spirituality, and then started to because of the show.

What type of music do you listen to?

Hip-hop, jazz, rock n roll... I like all kinds of music. I was in the Navy. When I was in the Navy, we lived in close proximity with a whole lot of people that ain’t from your neighborhood that you were raised in. They listen to different things and you tolerate it because they tolerate listening to your stuff. Then you acquire taste for all kind of things. I like all kinds of music.

What hip-hop do you listen to?

When I do, I listen to the guy who was the best out there. I listen to Nas, Jay Z, my man Greg Nice and Positive K—they have a new record coming out. I listen to Lil Wayne and Drake too.

Is there an album or song that you particularly love?

If there’s a song it has to be “Wisdom Body” by Raekwon and Ghostface Killah. I’ve been listening to that a lot. When I have my portable speaker with me, I put on some Wu-Tang. They are the greatest of all time. I love Wu-Tang.

You interact with a lot of rappers?

Oh yeah, definitely. You got to remember CB4 is a part of hip-hop. It was the first big hip-hop movie. As a result of that, it made me a friend of hip-hop and people who are rappers. When I meet them, they like, "That’s the dude from CB4." We’re already clicking right there.

On Chappelle's Show, some of the best moments were when people would tell their stories on the show (example Prince, Rick James sketches). Is there an interesting story you can remember that you had with a rapper?

I got a funny story with a rapper. I was once in a room with Snoop Dogg and Don "Magic" Juan. Snoop Dogg passed out a blunt to everybody. We were all talking and smoking. Then all of a sudden, I was like “wow I’m really high, this some good ass weed. This whole room [felt like] we were having an earthquake. I shouted, “Yo Snoop, y’all don’t fell that man? Y’all don’t feel that? We’re having an earthquake.” Snoop turns and says, “We’re in Brooklyn cuz,” [Laughs]. “We’re in Brooklyn cuz." And we really were. That’s when I realized I needed to sit down because I really thought there was an earthquake.

How fun was life during the Chappelle's Show years?

That was like being in college, man. It was a lot of fun. It wasn’t just a bunch of writers sitting around. It was bunch of comedians. You can have guys that write some really funny stuff, but they may not be a funny person socially. Then you got comedians who were born socially funny. We had a lot of fun doing that show. If anybody can think of having a good job where you can get up and go to a place and laugh, busting out laughing all day, it’s going to be something funny happening.