¶
Greetings and welcome to another episode of Queue Points podcast. I'm DJ Sir Daniel.
And my name is Jay Ray, sometimes known by my government as Johnny Ray Cornegay the third. What's happening, folks?
Listen, Jay Ray, they say the best things in life are free,
Mmm.
Queue Points podcast, because you don't have to take a second mortgage out on your home to get tickets to come to our show, but check it out.
Ah, shade. Uh
of Queue Points. We are the, the podcast dropping the needle on black music history and, um, JRay, so I was on, as I always do, I'm going through my social media feed
¶ Intro Theme
The Jennifer Hudson show posted their latest pre show celebrity tunnel clip. If you're all familiar with the pre show tunnel clip is when whoever
¶ Welcome to Queue Points Podcast
the celebrity guest is they come walking down the the hallway and the the the the the the showrunners and the the uh the What are they
I guess the production team. Yeah.
is they they make up a song and they clap the person down the hall while they do a little jig down the hall. It's really cute. It's a signature. It's a signature social media post for the Jennifer Hudson show and it goes over really well with with.
¶ Jennifer Hudson Show and Sexyy Red
everybody. So, um, needless to say, I was super surprised when I saw today's feature was none other than Get It Sexy. Get It Sexy. Get It Sexy. Sexyy Red was coming down the hallway. And in true Sexyy Red fashion, she was being Sexyy Red. She had on what I, Derek, she had on what I like to refer to as daytime lingerie. Right,
But outside the house, like not in the bedroom, right?
She was, she was wearing her best daytime lingerie look, coming down, and of course, you know, in Sexyy Red fashion, she bent it over and, you know, kind of cracked it a little bit. And they had to put a heart over it. So they censored it. So that means know that it's a bit much for the Jennifer Hudson audience.
Yes.
yeah, so I was just like, when I saw that, I was like, um, this is where we doing now? This is where we at? Okay, so I'm, the question I have for y'all that are already in the chat and that are tuning in, because we have a, it's part of the larger topic that we have tonight. But, Jay Ray, is there anything, do we need to start shaming? People just a little bit or is there anything wrong with a little bit of shame these it's a little bit
don't, I don't. Yes. So it's just a general yes. I don't think it is. We need to shame people because I don't think I'm gonna speak for I, I Johnny or Jay Ray. Hey, don't have the ability to just like shame somebody. Like, I don't feel like that's my place. I don't feel like that's you ain't my child. You ain't nobody that I can like,
you ain't mama. You ain't none of my
ain't none of my, you know what I'm saying?
¶ Shame and Respectability Politics
However, I Jay Ray do have some shame about myself and I'd be like, I am not going to go on national television in the middle of the day and do this kind of foolishness going down the thing. Now, this is not a respectability politics thing. Y'all. I, sir, Daniel, you know me, I am so liberal, baby. You like it. I love it. It is fine,
we're not policing black women's
policing, black women, body, Sexyy Red could do whatever she wants with her body. However, and there's a time and place for stuff and, and on national TV going down the, the, the Jennifer Hudson soul train line, where do you got to put a heart over the thing?
over the booty here
seems like, it just seems like it's a bit much. And I think Kyriakos and Mark. Are kind of echoing the thing that I think I think I get why she's a thing. So Kyriakos, I do get why she's a thing. I just don't think it's for me. It's definitely not for me, but honestly, I don't think it's I don't think it should be for a lot of people. There's she should come with. She should literally walk around with a parental advisory label, like over her body.
her body. Shout out to Shannon Perez. Darby is in the, is in the
up,
chat. And it's so funny that she's in the chat because her, along with her show partner, we had a discussion, Tashmika, we had a discussion about this, something similar to this earlier last year, as a matter of fact, and it is coming around again, where it's almost like. Okay, I get it. I see where the ladies are going.
Um, I don't want to make this about hammering that, hammering down the women that are in the game that are doing their thing because yes, we know they've been carrying the, um, we know that
hop on their back.
on their backs. They've been selling out shows. all of that good stuff. I think we, Jay Ray and I just recall a time, as a matter of fact, 27 years ago in the month of February, 27 years ago, Vibe magazine, um, February's issue was a double cover
Yes.
and then it's this double cover featured the top hip hop artists, both male and female. And this was such an iconic cover because this cover featured, uh, Kim, Lil Kim, Missy Elliot, Foxy Brown, Lauren Hill. They had their own cover cause they, they separated it by, um, men and women. And it was such a dope idea. Um, you know, of course we had the brat in the mix. You had Trina on the come up. You have Rod Diggle on the come up, a mill, all of these different
¶ Women in Hip Hop: Then and Now
flavors of women in hip hop. And they were all coexisting, J. Ray. Now, look at Kim.
Look,
Kim is in full That ain't daytime
that's not daytime lingerie
that's nighttime, you know, hardcore La Bella Mafia lingerie right there. That's Kim doing what Kim does and having a great time doing it. And we respect her for it.
Yes,
But there was a time where, but Kim, Fox
look at like look at Lauren look at Missy look at Kim look at foxy like
it all, it coexisted together. They, everybody had their own flavor and was still selling records, winning, winning multiple Grammys, um, and all kinds of awards. But now it's just like, uh, what are we doing guys? What are, what are we doing here? How did we get here?
How did we get how you got to sing the song?
did we, okay. Before we get, before we get kicked off of IG and
Because you know, Deborah Cox will come on and be like how they said how they sounded so good singing my song. Right? Um, so. What I absolutely love about this moment is it's such a variety of like styles, right? You know what I'm saying? Even when we look at the men. So you have LL, who by this point is a legitimate veteran, like LL is 13 years into his career. As part of this cover, right?
So you got an LL, you have Busta Rhymes, you have Method Man, and you have Master P, who's fairly new on the national stage at this time. He had been around for a while, but nationally new. But let's go back to these women, to that point of like, there was a moment in time When Missy, Kim, Lauren, and Foxy could not only be on magazine covers together, they were all selling platinum albums at the exact same time and were able to do these different flavors of what hip hop was right now.
Everything is so one note, at least from a commercial. We're talking from a commercial standpoint because we can already hear y'all like there's a whole lot of rappers. There are a whole lot of women who are out here killing the game. But commercially we get one type of thing that is currently happening.
And so here's the thing. I, you know, I'm rubbing my crystal ball and I'm making a prediction here. I'm having a vision like Raven. That's so Raven. Like, I'm starting to feel like there's going to be a bust.
There has to
like how the economy is about to bust and they're warning that the, the housing, all that stuff is about to bust. There's a B, there's about to be a, a bust in what people are going to. continue supporting, especially when it comes to female rap, because like we said earlier, female rap is pretty much carrying the game on, carrying the game on their back right now. But I predicted that there's going to be a bust that people aren't going to be.
¶ The Future of Female Rap
As likely to support or things aren't going to get be on the level as they were and I could be wrong here This is just me, but I'm starting to see well Maybe there might be people are getting desperate desperate times call for desperate measures. You even got the one young lady What was her
Who?
She's, now she's in a commercial featuring, uh, covering Kaya's My Neck, My Back, but it's for a, a Dove soap commercial. You know, the young lady that don't like children on a plane with her, that was going, was going head up with T. I. 's grandchildren,
What's her name? Chica?
That's it. The one that wanted to fight, um, T. I. 's grandchildren. Right. So now she's doing commercials. Singing a variation of My Neck, My Back, because it's hard out here, it's hard out here for her, like someone that presents like
Mm hmm.
and raps like her is not going to be climbing on the charts.
Yes.
So she's gotta, so even in her own small way, she's kind of acquiescing to what the, um, the, the, the marketplace is calling for in her own way. But now it's just getting I don't know I think it's kind of getting out of hand and there might just be a Blowback and there might just be it's not just gonna be the men that aren't selling right? They're gonna be declining sales in this whole rap game Completely
So, um, I want to shout out Kipper, who is also in the chat, who said, as with music in general, it will hit the wall, right? So it's what happens every time. Um, what, what I am, what gives me hope, what gives me hope is that. Listen, Rhapsody got her, her first Grammy this year, you know what I'm saying? And that woman has been churning out high quality albums for almost a decade at this point, if not a decade, right? High quality material. And it does give me some hope that.
You know, folks like her. So it's not just her out there. We have Tiara Wack and some of these other, you know, folks that are out there, LaKaylee47, all of these folks out there who are really making high quality hip hop, right? On the women's side, of course, we know Kendrick literally just reset. What men in hip hop are required to do, right? I'm sure all of the dudes are sitting there like shaking in their boots about
Now we gotta
now. I got a rap I got a like right.
I Gotta be deep and stuff. Oh, man. Okay
Oh Man right, but for the women I feel like that same sort of reset Is, you know, on the way where it's just going to be required for them to like, to like, you know, pick up the pen again. Well, the fortunate thing about women is actually the women have kind of been like, all of these women have been rapping, rapping.
Yes. True.
just image wise has been a whole other thing, but they've generally been like rapping, rapping. I think from an image perspective, that's where the bust is going to come. Seeing the variety. And how women can be presented to us from a commercial standpoint.
Right. And you know, and speaking of the Grammys, we would be remiss if we did not bring up Dolce,
Love Dochi! Yeah,
like, really cleaned up at the Grammys on her first go round and has really done something special with her career. And she, you know, she told that line of You know, of being sexy, you know, she was, she had a bikini bottom during her Grammy performance. But she was up there rapping.
She raps.
she raps down, like, and she spits. And so, is Dolce like the, the final frontier? Is she the last hope? It's like, but what if you, what if you can't, you can spit, God, God forgive me for what I'm about to say. What if you spit like Dolce, but you look like Dank?
I think that's fine, though, right? There's always, well, there's other problems with Dank, but the other Dank, there's other problems with Dank, though. So, the, okay. This is actually a really interesting point, sir. Daniel, I think, I think we are also at the point in commercial hip hop where gimmicks are kind of like some people think they need a gimmick. And I think folks look at size now as like a gimmick. You know what I'm saying? That they can play up.
So I feel like if somebody was spitting like Dolce, and looked like dank, there's an opportunity for them. There's a, there's a lane for them. I think, you know, uh, uh, uh, who's our homegirl that, that we, that, that was, uh, body positivity and she just lost a lot of weight. Lizzo! Child, that's a shame. I couldn't remember that lady's name, honey. It's been a while and she's been through a lot.
¶ The Role of Gimmicks in Hip Hop
But I think Lizzo kind of opened. up was possible. However, I think here's what it is. The gimmicks have to stop, right? It's about letting the talent lead. And I think if there's anything we can take from this moment, taking from Dolce, right? Letting your talent lead you, right? This is no, like, no, this is what I do. If you spit, you spit. This is what I do. No matter what you look like. So I think there would be room, but it's just like, you got to lean into what you do.
For sure. And shout out to, um, I believe it's Infinite64, uh, wants to join in the conversation. Please feel free to leave something in the chat. Um, that's the quickest way to, to hop in and be heard on the show. But I, you know, I think you're right, J. Rey. I think we, it's where the gimmicks have to stop and the talent has to lead. Um, But here's the rub. We have, everything now has become so media led where it's like we don't care about the music anymore. We care about your personal life.
We care about, you know, your baby father being on trial for shooting at someone. We care about your other baby daddy following you around at the, um, during the Superbowl because he's stalking you. We care about
This happened. I didn't hear about this.
Yeah, that was an offset Cardi B thing.
Jesus Christ, sir.
but, um, yeah, so those are the things that we, that people are showing up for. People are showing up for the public meltdowns. People are showing up for, you know, how much weight you lost. People are showing up for whether or not, you know, your BBL is clockable or not. That's the stuff that I think we, we play a role in it as well. We play a huge role in it as consumers and No longer, they're dictating to us what's hot. We're no longer dictating what the culture should represent.
We're no longer dictating what's fly and what's hot. It's being served to us. It's being, actually, it's being pushed down our throats, whether we know it or not.
Sir, Daniel. I, this leads me to also wonder. How important do you think it's going to be important for us to get back to like crews and groups? I feel like so much of the creativity gets stifled because these artists are in their own bubbles. You know what I mean? Like they don't have like a crew. They don't have a crew that they're trying to compete against to rap against. It's just them. You know what I mean?
And the people who work with them, but a lot of times it's not just like other emcees that you just kind of work with. I feel like that creativity, that, that push, that drive to do something really does sometimes happen in community. And I'm wondering if we've gotten so far away from that.
Mm.
for a lot of reasons. I think, you know, money wise, it's just easier to be a solo act
¶ The Importance of Crews and Groups
because you get to keep it all
Oh, yeah.
And, uh, uh, big corporations don't want to pay all them people. You know what I'm saying? They don't want to have to worry about the hassle of it all. But I am wondering if that creativity means that we also need to be spending more time together as people in rooms like doing stuff. Mm hmm. Mm
It's quite possible. It It's very possible. I mean, you mentioned this in a prior episode about the same thing about people being separated, about crews being separated and community at the very beginning, at the very, um, at the very nexus of this art form of hip hop was the thing people. joining together in community centers, rec centers, um, battles, all of those things, those things were happening.
But it's like, again, when the corporations came in, they split people up because they realized that there is money to be made in separation. There's money to be made through contention, battling, even though battling was, battling has been around, but it was. It was a friendly sport
It's a sport! Like Kendrick talked about. He was like, I'm into it for the sport.
for the sport of things. So, and, and so, okay. So this, this is a perfect place to segue into a break
Mm hmm.
come back because speaking of Kendrick, I think there's a lot of people who don't understand. what is, what was going on with the whole Kendrick Drake thing. And so therefore they can't understand the halftime performance. And so there's a lot of people speaking on things that they don't know about. And that's grinding my
That ain't their place.
Right, that's grinding my gears at this point. So we are going to wrap up this conversation about the ladies and hopefully, you know, hopefully the ladies will continue to deliver quality and as well as, um, variety in the nearby future. But Jay Ray, when we come back. We got a couple things to talk about. We're going to talk about halftime performances. It's the 37th anniversary of one of Spike Lee's most famous movies.
And um, we also gonna just touch on the ticket situation, you know, giddy up for the Cowboy Carter show. Anyway, this is Queue Points podcast. I'm DJ Sir Daniel,
I'm Jay Ray, y'all.
and we are dropping the needle on black music history. And we will continue to do so on the other side of this break. So you don't go nowhere. You stay right where you are. We'll be right back after this. So Jay Ray, you know, we've recently had a string of bad weather . And you know who I kept thinking about, especially on the snow days? I kept thinking about parents.
I can't imagine being a parent and having to come up with things like to occupy your children's time, but at the same time, they're missing school. So you want it to be a productive time as well. Luckily, Luckily for all our parents out there, we have a great friend by the name of Penny. I'm talking about "What's Poppin' Penny?," the fantastic children's show. And it is now available on YouTube, Jay Ray. Their first animated episode is coming out this spring of 2025. That's right. DJ Sir Daniel.
So it is the goal to have 1000 subscribers on the "What's Poppin' Penny?" YouTube page. So parents, caregivers, teachers, trusted adults.
¶ What's Poppin' Penny? Ad
If you can hear the sound of our voices, go on over to YouTube and subscribe to "What's Poppin' Penny?" so that your Brownstone buddies can check out the animated version of the show when it is released this Spring. It doesn't matter even if you're already subscribed and listening to the show on Apple, Spotify or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts, you gotta go over to YouTube and hit that subscription button, subscribe, subscribe, subscribe. Peace. Peace.
Welcome back to Queue Points, the podcast dropping the needle on black music history. My name is Jay Ray and that is my brother, DJ Sir Daniel. We're going to do some shout outs real quick, Sir Daniel. So over on Tik Tok, shout out to my girl, Angie, my girl, Angie from Detroit is tuning in over there.
What up though?
what up doe? Adam actually is over there on from Detroit to talking about what up though. So Detroit is on tick tock, checking us out. You know what I mean? So shout out to y'all and shout out to everyone who is joining us, um, on YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram. We appreciate y'all so much. Shout us out. Let us know where you're tuning in from. Sir, Dan, yo, we got a couple other topics
we sure do. It's so funny that Detroit is in the building cause they got a whole doll battle going on in
yes, it's I which I was just like what's happening
¶ Kendrick Lamar Halftime Show
we battling over dolls
Right
But please go ahead.
So upcoming so in terms of this Sunday this past Sunday
hmm.
There was a concert that had a football game.
Yeah.
There was a concert that had a football game. Fortunately, Philadelphia Eagles won. I live in Chester. So shout out to the Eagles.
to the home team.
Yeah, but within, you know, so that was one thing. But the big thing was the record breaking. Half time show, um, by one, um, Kendrick Lamar.
That wasn't, that wasn't record breaking. He wasn't more popular than Usher. That wasn't, nah, nah, nah,
According to the numbers, y'all, I, listen, I didn't make it up. I, I've only looked at the reporting. I don't know if all the reporting from reputable sources is wrong, but apparently it was a record breaking half time display. How, in addition, though, Sir Daniel, It was culturally relevant. That was the thing that I think for me was most important. My fear was, so here's my fear going in. I'm like, they done booked Kendrick Lamar for this halftime show.
And he gonna have to not do what needs to be done. You know what I mean? Because that is what They will require. I was wrong. So when the, when the, apparently when the, I guess it was the owner or the head of the NFL was like, Kendrick could do whatever he wants. They literally let that man kind of do whatever he wants. I'm like, Oh, you, you really are doing this. And thank you for putting black culture, black men together on that field to speak to our experience.
So. That's a thing that happened this week.
It sure did. Let's see. Sunday was what? Five? No. Let's math. Sunday,
Sunday was a four day. Oh, yeah about four days ago,
Four days ago. People are still talking about it, Jay Ray.
That's when you know, you hit that's what you know
They are still talking and people, not only are they still talking about it, but some people are a little butt hurt over the fact that it took place. Their butt hurt, hurt over the fact that it was Kendrick. First of all. First of all, they're salty because of course he did perform they not like us, which is con is a controversial song of the summer. They are. You know, they're salty just because, oh, they're salty because, what did the young lady say from England?
When I, when I watch The Hat Times, I do not want to think. I want to be entertained.
That's
want, I don't want to think. I want to, and you know what?
for you
Good for you, but you're going to get,
¶ Controversy Over Kendrick Lamar's Performance
you're going to get knowledge. You're going to get
You're going to get this word, you're going to get better knowledge, you're getting with the people you need to get with.
And unfortunately, sis, that's what's going to happen. Um, that's what happened with the Kendrick Lamar show. Um, I think that, and I really, this will be the only time you hear us talk about it, cause we're not going to go on for. Weeks talking about this thing
But you can invite us on to your, to other platforms. If you want us to come on at Wax Poetic about, there's so much we could talk about, invite us on. We won't do that over here, but we'll come over to your, your platform. So if you want to have Queue Points come over, let us know.
That's fair I'm not but I'm not arguing about who's the biggest star between Kendrick and Drake
Oh, I'm not having that conversation.
we that's dead I'll leave that to those other podcasts and But what was I saying? It's just The idea so yes, so the young lady was saying she doesn't want to think we just want to you know Have a good show and then there's this argument about Whether or not that was the worst, um, Super Bowl halftime performance ever. And that's being said by people on the right wing.
Of course, you know, Fox and Friends, they're gonna say that because, well, you know, um, there were a lot of, it was, it was culturally aware, and they can't stand when we do things that are culturally aware. And where we do things that are, well, you know, their favorite word woke, they can't stand anything that's woke. And I had to, I had to sit back and think about, we see a cleansing already. This administration is already doing a cleansing.
of anything cultural or anything that would cause you to think or have any kind of critical thinking skills, another scary word. There's a, they're being, they're being cleansed out. You see the Kennedy Center is, um, purging. People are leaving. Issa Rae is leaving. Um, somebody else, um, publicly said that
Rhimes, step down.
yes. So, we're seeing things, we're seeing that people, there's gonna be a, a a very Stark line. This is not an this is not an invisible line. This is not a scrimmage line See I gave y'all a football term.
¶ Cultural Cleansing and Critical Thinking
This is not a scrimmage. This is not imaginary a real line is being drawn Between people, between people that want to exchange ideas and uphold history, teach history, exchange knowledge. And then there's the other half that wants to just completely control narratives, control information, and control thoughts. And so I think what This performance did on a grander scheme is it exposed and made that line very, very visible.
And it just is like a starting point of more foolishness to come with the administration that we have in office now and just the world and just the world in general, like they're thinkers and they're non thinkers.
Listen, Toni Morrison, um, there's the great, uh, Toni Morrison in 1975 did this talk at, I think, Portland State, I believe is where that talk took place. It gets sampled all the time. People are always pulling from that, that conversation. But one of the things she talked about was how when people When racism, when people want to take control, they start erasing your culture, right?
Yes.
Can't let you have it, because what, when you start being able to think, when you start being able to see, it creates imagination,
have pride.
You have pride, and you suddenly, all of a sudden, you don't want to do what they want you to do, right? So, I think we're definitely at that point. It is not surprising that what we're seeing happen, in particular with the Kennedy Center, is happening. Um, what I think we must do, and what Kendrick was, to your point, really making sure that we know that we have to do, is we have to do this. We gotta come here and do Queue Points every week.
Yes.
We have to. This is our work. We can't let this history go untold because it will be erased. We are the people that hold the history. If we don't talk about it, the people that hold the history will pass on and it will be, where is it going to be?
It's a battle between culture and corporation. And it just so happens that I saw a clip today that spoke to this conversation that we're having now and It comes from somebody that I admired so much growing up. And even though, you know, he's had a few hiccups in, in his career too. And some things that we chose not to speak about or that are, have not been spoken about, but KRS One. Um, was on with, what's my
Be real.
Be Real from Cypress Hill and told me, gave an anecdote of a, uh, something that happened that speaks volumes to what we were talking about tonight. And we just want to run this clip for you because I think it drives the point home.
I agree. So y'all, this point, this clip is long, but it's perfect.
¶ The Battle Between Culture and Corporations
And it's Chris. So just check it out. And we, you know what I mean? And we gonna, uh, come back and talk about it. Yeah.
That, I, there's no way, no other, there was a better way that that could have capsulized Everything that is going on today, whether it's Kendrick's performance, whether it's the battle between him and Drake, whether it's, um, whether or not we have black history or not, or can we, we can say it out loud, there is a war on culture right now. Corporations. are making it known that they are here to take over everything, but choices have to be made.
Choices have to be made, like intention, moving with intention has to be done in order for people to, in order for culture to survive. And that's the bottom line. It's like. We're going to see, we're going to see people, we're going to see who's real and who's not. We're going to see who's for the culture and who's not. We're going to see people that will, you know, a term that's going to come back up is what we used to say back in the day.
People are going, you're going to see who's a sellout and who's not. It's going to be so apparent. And the people that lead with money. And seeing how much money they have or flashing money. We can pretty much surmise that those are the ones that aren't on the side of corporate and corporations and not the culture.
Yeah. And the thing about this is, in, in, in full transparency, and I'm sure Sir Daniel will be cool with me just talking about this, like, internal to CuePoints, we've been having this conversation, right? Deciding where, where the line is, right? And when we, we literally just like two weeks ago said, we can't do that. It was, and that was what? Like 5, 000? 5, 000. We need that 5, 000. Let's be very clear. Should we monetize here? We need this right.
To be able to keep doing what it is that we do. This is not a cheap thing to do. Right. But it was like, and it was user day. It was like, yeah, but we can't. And you were like, you're right. We can't. We cannot, we gotta, we gotta make these choices. Right. And so it you're absolutely right, sir. Daniel, like it is going to become really, really apparent and y'all big and small. We have to decide who we are, like, who, what we, what we going to do and what we not going to do.
And we going to stand on what we, we going to stand on who we are.
So perfect place to bring this up and I hope we don't get stung too, too bad by the beehive because the beehive is buzzing. Um, is Are we seeing the Cowboy Carter concert series, the Chitlin Circuit tour
Stop it!
No, that's what it's called, the Chitlin
Oh, is that what it's called?
hmm. Which I adore. I like the fact that it's called the Chitlin Circuit because it pays homage. But people are complaining about the prices. And, you know, again, this is a business. Um. There's a lot, and now we probably could have a whole discussion about this alone, but it's, it falls in line with what we're talking about, is, we know people are in the business to make money, but should Is it, is it, are these prices tone deaf, you know, eggs or concert tickets,
That's literally the choices we have to make nowadays.
¶ The Chitlin Circuit Tour and Ticket Prices
have to make
choices we have to make.
and not saying that, um, the artist is responsible for making those ticket prices. I don't, I don't know. Uh, I'm, I'm very curious if anybody has any insight to how ticket prices are calculated. We would love to hear about it.
It's, it's a combination.
Okay, so it is
it's, it's it's definitely a combination. Because, it, it, it, it, it. The, the, the, the team,
Uh huh.
if you are working at that level, there are people who work for you who do all of that stuff, right? Um, I, I cannot imagine that she's in like a conference room where that conversation is happening. It's more just people get paid to make those decisions, right? Um, I think the co I think the conversation that we're having is twofold. It's much like the conversation earlier is Sexyy Red. Um, This is, I want people to experience their joy, and I want people to have the best experiences possible.
And you know what? We know that that tour is going to be beautiful and amazing and all the things. I think the question is, to that point of, is this the time to do something like that? Right? Is this the time to do that? There could be a whole lot of ways to tour. There's a whole lot of ways to tour right and and show up right but We are in a moment right now, and I ain't getting in nobody's pockets. If you can, if you can afford it and go, if you can afford it and go.
But if you can't afford it, don't feel bad about not going.
Yeah.
And that's the thing I think we need to say to people is it's like, it's not a ding on you. You're not a Failure because you can't go to the, the Chitlin circuit tour, right? That's not, uh, it's a rough time, right? It's, it's not an easy moment that we're in right now. You
It doesn't, not being able to attend the concert does not take away from your, your level of devotion and fanhood to this artist. Like Jay Ray said, there are choices that have to be made and in this life, in this life, you gotta make, you know,
to eat them eggs Oh,
a little bit more than, you know, um,
Hold'em.
the Saint Texas, Texas Hold'em. It might sustain you just a little bit more than that. But I get it, we're not here to yuck anybody's yum.
go in and laugh, child.
do what you, do what you need to do. Find your joy, find your peace. But, please don't go into bankruptcy about it. Please don't.
Please
Please don't. We want you to be, be, be smart about what you're doing. Handle your business. But yeah, so enjoy that. But you know, you can always, always go to your favorite streaming service and you can look up, um, A classic Spike Lee movie by the name of School Days, and you can watch that for free. You can watch the Rays sing, I don't wanna be alone
You know, tonight, yes!
You can be entertained in the comfort of your home and celebrate the 37th anniversary of Spike Lee's School Days right along with us. 37 years, Jay Ray.
Um, and 37 years, that film. Um, so much of what we love about the culture today was really kind of birth inside of school days, right? The in terms. Yes, Baychella was literally birth from school day.
¶ Celebrating Spike Lee's School Daze
So school days is in everything. And not only that. Um, there are so many prominent performers that came out of that film. Jasmine guy has often talked about was like, that was a lot of our first movie. Like, do we had not been in a movie before that we were like stage kids and all of a sudden we're in a film. So that movie. is so groundbreaking. We talked about it. Um, during hip hop's 50th anniversary. Um, we talked about the career of Spike Lee and how important Spike Lee has been to hip hop.
So definitely go back and check out that, um, that, that show.
L. Jackson, that popped up in Kendrick Lamar's, um, halftime performance, has a wonderful performance in school days. A lot of your faves, like J. Rae said. Started off in, um, school days or in a sparkly joint, but also remember Jay Ray, one of the underlying stories, one of the backstories of school days was there was a storyline about, um, about the school, uh, what's the term? Um, because apartheid was a big story
Mm hmm.
87 88. Um, and so the school was benefiting from corporations that um, supported apartheid. And Lawrence Fishburne's character divesting
Divesting. Mm
so that the school could divest from those backers so that they would not support apartheid. And that's 37 years ago.
here we are.
issues are coming, are being brought up again in the, in, in, in school days is happening today. So it's like art. That's the thing about good art,
Yes.
old it gets, it still speaks to whatever's happening right now. And shout out to visit the chat. Sam Jackson, um, played one of the Jay Ray Curl brothers at the KFC that was mad about them educated brothers coming up in their neighborhood talking all proper and stuff. And he was wearing the Jay Ray Curl cap in, um, school days.
Samuel L. Jackson is literally My God, he's been in everything
a walking history book.
he is
He is a walking history
now he's been Uncle Sam
And now he's been Uncle Sam. And, um, apparently, apparently some people were saying that you shouldn't call him. No, he was being Uncle Tom. He was playing Uncle Tom and then I saw something about we shouldn't use the term Uncle Tom, we should use the term Sambo when regarding to a black person that's less than honorable. That's a whole
That's a whole nother conversation Lord Jesus, um, but yes 37 years of school days Um, so yeah, go watch school if you want to, if you want to get a, you know, a little entertainment, go ahead and watch school days. You know, it's, it's part drama, part musical, you know, all black. It's Black History Month. You should just go ahead and watch it.
Good or bad hair? See if I care.
So, um, Sir Daniel, of course, tomorrow is a day. Um, it is Valentine's Day tomorrow, Sir Daniel, um, and which is so interesting. It's been so much going on. It's crazy that it's Valentine's Day, but one of the things that of course happens on Valentine's Day is people, and Sir Daniel, you used to have a whole set where you just did your slow jam set, which was, of course, was mostly full of love songs, but this brings up a question. Um, what?
are your favorite, and it don't have to be more than one, but do you have favorite hip hop love song?
Yes. Um, I think I'll go, I feel, believe this is the first hip hop Of course, LL Cool J's I Need Love.
Mm hmm.
Um, right after that for me is, Oh, A Teenage Love
Teenage Love by Slick Rick is great.
Don't hurt me again. That's hot. Don't hurt me again. And um, Bonita Applebaum.
Bonita Applebaum is a great, great song. It's so sweet. Uh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So, um, what are favorite, uh, uh, hip hop love songs? Of course, for me, Silent Treatment by The Roots is absolutely, I think, one of the most gorgeous, um, slow jams, period.
¶ Hip Hop Love Songs
Um, I think One Love by Houdini.
Yes.
Love by Houdini definitely does a thing. Um, You only get one. One love. One love. Alright, I'm not gonna do, I'm not gonna do that. Um, what else? Uh, Did I pick another Roots song? I can't pick another.
do you think? What about, um, Common?
Which one? Uh, uh, The comment has so many. But you know what? If I was gonna pick a common Love song. I do love Love of My Life with Erykah Badu. I think that's a great song. Um, but there's also I'm gonna pick You Got Me, actually. So, I got two root
Dope. Dope. Dope.
I'm gonna pick You Got Me. There are some We don't give We don't give rappers enough credit.
Yes, I agree.
Oh, the light. Yes. Um, the light by, uh, uh, Common. Um, you consider poor Georgia, wait a minute, this is like, you consider poor Georgia a love song?
You know MC light MC light it had quite a few soliloquies about love gone wrong
She did she did, she did,
she was dating crackheads in high school and
Uh, folks who are using alcohol, alcohol. Yeah.
Drug dealers all of them just had a lot
sidebar, we talked, wasn't in our last meeting that we talked about the fact that MC light storytelling is just my, like some of my favorite. Cappuccino is just one of my favorite stories to hear.
amazing. She's, uh, she's right
in and I ordered a cup. Some guy behind the back said, shut up.
And I did. Pronto.
Quick, fast.
there with Slick Rick. Like, she's, her narration is such an important part of rap music. And shout out to those people that can entertain you and spin a tale at the same time. That takes a certain amount of skill. So shout out to MC Lyte for that. Um. You know, shout out to Sam Georgie and all the and
Roughneck is a love song.
and roughneck. Yes, indeed
It's a tacky love song. And you listen to Roughneck now and I'm like,
Got to get a what?
this young man needs other, has other problems.
Okay, the last point of this, the last part of this tangent that we're on. So, people have caught on to the fact that MC Lyte, um, made a song about messing around with a 17 year old or a young man that turned About
Yeah. Mm hmm.
listen back to that But I saw a video somebody one of these young people found it and they were like, uh, Excuse me MC light you were talking about Essaying somebody that's under 17 But yes, that's, that's a story for another day. That's a story for another day. Go ahead.
How Do I Love Thee by Queen Latifah.
Dope. Yes, indeed.
do I love thee by Queen Latifah, which people do not give that song enough credit. You know, it's a hip house joint. She's just kind of talking over it. You know, it's very sensual. She made a video for that song.
I love that one as well. And yes, shout out to Viz again. Mahogany by Rakim. Also a dope. A dope. Oh, to the opposite sex. Which a lot of rappers are, do very well about. So listen, JRE, let's wrap it up real quick, cause I know we gotta let the people go back to what they were doing,
Yes.
we gotta thank everybody for tuning in.
Absolutely, y'all. If you can see our faces, if you can hear our voices, go ahead and hit that subscribe button. And if you want to do us a solid, it is absolutely free. Share the show with your friends, family, colleagues. If you enjoy Queue Points, chances are they will enjoy it as well. Visit our website at KUPoints. com. There you can listen to our old episodes of the show. Check in with all the other stuff that we have going on, including checking out our blog at magazine. Queue Points.
com. Um, and if you want to support the show, you can check out store. Queue Points. com and you can get yourself some fresh merged merch. We appreciate y'all. We love y'all.
We sure do, and what do I always say in this life, you have a choice, you can either pick up the needle, or you can let the record play.
¶ Wrapping Up and Final Thoughts
Peace to the lie! Respect to the lie,
Okay. We.
to her lie, this
We are not leaving until we talk about y'all. Okay. Real quick.
That girl is a star. Shout Onijah. Onijah is back home in these United States. She's already booked. already so that's peace to the lie, respect to the lie, and respect to her lie.
She's amazing, y'all. Like, I'm like, that woman is not well, but I love her.
She is not well at all but yes indeed. Thank you for joining us for this episode of Queue Points. We'll see you on the next go round. Peace to the
Peace. My God, let it go.
