What up. I'm Van Lathan. I'm here the whole bootleg keV accountable. Check me out on the Bootleg keV podcast. We had a great time. You're not gonna want to miss it. Is this? Where would I have heard of yat song?
Where would you have heard a Yeat song? I think just like online on without knowing it, like if someone used it, because he did. He did the Minion song from the movie for the Rose of Grow or whatever, and it was a big It was big on online like TikTok and reels. Yeah. Well, listen, Van Lathan is here on the Bootleg CAV podcast.
Right, welcome, what's up?
What's up?
Man chilling bro? The only thing I'm here to talk about is Dual Lipa.
Well, I don't know much about her outside of I think she's from the same place Action Bronson's from from Albania. Albania.
Yep, you never heard Dance the Night from the Barbie soundtrack.
Maybe I watched the movie lately, I've been I watched the movie.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, you know like that she heard that song.
I don't know if I've really like applied myself to when it was on to like really no, it's just background knowing.
You feel you too masculine for that you're the type of god. It's like you feel like there's not a part of you and now Postcat Williams, nobody will be able to do it. But you feel like you can't let go and tap and tap into a different side of yourself. That means something.
I have plenty of musical sides in myself, Like tell me, like, what's what's I have a Garth Brooks shirt on it though, Yeah, that's not what I'm talking about.
Though, that's just the racist side of you. Actually, he's not a racist. I shouldn't say that about Garth Brooks. Garth Brooks is actually coolest ship.
And he's like fucking I think he's like a pretty progressive differ.
So I'm saying like, Garth Brooks is one of the genre, He's one of the good ones calling baton rouge. I liked that song. I also liked when he uh he flipped it up and went with Chris Gaines for a little while he was emo was emo.
Yeah, I didn't get that. I mean at the time I was like a little kid, so I was just like, I don't know what's going on here?
You know, so are you so you didn't like that? So are you one of the are you want to white boys that you go extra hardcore to make up for the fact that some people might like not want to let you in. You know what I'm saying.
I'm just me man, just Youah, he's your favorite rapper ever? Yeah, so I have to answers to that question. My favorite MC of all time is Nas. My favorite rapper. Rapper is Nas. My favorite artist in terms of just like discography. Uh, you know, Kendrick's creeping up in there, but it's Kanye.
Yeah, me too.
Yeah, So it's like Nas. And then like I just have a real serious place in my heart for outcasts too. So I would say those would be like the the three. But Nas is like my favorite rapper.
Nas is to me the most the most you know how people say the the greatest rapper of all time. Nas is the most anointed rapper of all time.
I mean I see the perspective of people thinking that, like sometimes he's just like he just gets it because he's Nas. But in my opinion, like between ill maatic it was written, you know, I Am, I loved I AM. A lot of people didn't like it. I just don't know, like who's writing records like fucking rewind you know what I'm saying.
That's my thing is like there are certain people in all of this When we have conversations about who the greatest rappers are?
Who the greatest because your favorite album of all time is four hundred Degrees right?
Yeah, yeah yeah. But when we're having conversations about that, I think we have them too broadly for sure.
I always say just my favorite, right. I think that there's like the list which to me, like the only guy who should be number one that like nobody could argue with is jay Z. Now there's what you can't are I think Drake's And again I don't think I don't think Drake's number one, but I have to give it.
To so what it was when you say Drake or jay Z, Like what's the metric there?
I just think that like we're getting to a point in time where if you're probably like twenty five, twenty six, I think that the way you've lived your life and consumed music, Drake probably has to be the undisputed goat because because nobody was like like a lot, like like
these people weren't alive. Like I went to the warehouse when I was like twelve or thirteen and bought Blueprint, you know what I'm saying, Like I remember buying Ghetto Fabulous and Blueprint on September eleventh, like the same day the fucking the Towers hit. So I think that, like there's a whole generation of people who like there really is only like one answer that's like unarguable, and that's Drake. Right to me, I think Kendrick is. I put Kendrick over Drake.
I think sometimes people confuse and this is a lot of things, and like I said, they're different subgenres. When I say Nas is the most anointed rapper of all time, there are certain rappers to me that exist that I feel like they're touched by something ethereal and spiritual, just artists across the landscape of music to say something to people. I feel like Nas is one of those guys. Feel
like Jay Electronica is one of those. I feel like, you have guys out there, and these guys they would never be on the level of some of the other people because they have something that they have to say doesn't mean that they're perfect people. It doesn't mean that they don't get things wrong. Doesn't mean that they need to grow. It just means that the greatness of their music is being funneled through this ethos that's so uncommon that a lot of people aren't gonna even try to
do it. When you're talking about like Drake, that's like Avatar two the Way of Water. And when I say about that.
That's what I always say, Drake is like the Transformers.
Well, yeah, I'm saying when you go to see when you go to see or Avengers, right right, Vengers in game. But I actually said that because Avatar two went pass Avengers, but maybe it didn't. But look, when when you go to see Avatar two, when you sit down, you're gonna be like, god damn, this is impressive.
You're gonna enjoy it.
You're gonna enjoy it, and you're gonna be like, this is the This is super duper impressive. The visuals are crazy. The story, which is the meat of it, is good enough for you to remember that you are having a good time. You are immersed in something. Dre's gonna do number He's gonna send box that. Drake has always immersed
people into who he is. He's always given you just enough substance for you to be like, Nah, this God doesn't have anything more but not enough in my opinion, not enough, but just enough for you to be like He's given you enough emotion, he's given you enough connection, but he's never really tackled any really important issue.
Dude, this is what I say. I say this on every platform imaginable. I've been saying this for fucking ever. I just don't know how he feels about the world, Like I have no idea about like what it was like growing up to be like a biracial kid whose mom is Jewish, Like I don't know what it's like, like like he has no he has no political he has no political Like he has no political about politics.
Let me say about politics, what's like in the world, like any sort of like little bit of consciousness, a little bit of just state of events happening, little opinion he's like he don't want to have an opinion because it's like the Michael Jordan thing.
I feel like Republican's vos sleepers, sneakers. Let me say something about about when I knew that Drake was kind of where he was and fantastic artists makes great music but this was gonna say and an incredible rapper, incredible rapper, best songmaker ever, maybe like incredible rapper, like doesn't have too many bad songs.
It's literally, yes, it's hard to have a Drake.
Ba ninety six percent from the field. Here's the thing. In the wake of the Drake push a T situation, that was an opportunity not just for Drake to get to the pure essence of hip hop, right because he's not already done that. For people to say that Drake has never answered to this, that's not true. He's answered this is all the time.
He temporarily halted Meek Mill's career, right.
But there was an opportunity there and maybe he was going to do it or whatever for us to get an understanding of how difficult the Adonna situate or the entire thing where his baby's mom was for him, because like those are, that's a real relata relatable situation. When I say that Donna situation, I don't mean to say to say that Donna situation because he loves his son and he's obviously a very great father, father is great father.
But to be in a situation with someone that you weren't particularly attached to and somebody that had kind of been out there in the uh in the industry, everybody was having fun, and then to have that and deal with that, and to be trying to keep it close to the vest like that and not have people know about what's going on in your family life and then you just have somebody come out and tell all your fucking business. That's got to be fucking difficult to deal with.
And if anything, that was an opportunity to and he kinda he kind of dubbed it like I wasn't hiding.
He held the l and didn't reply, But.
He also didn't give us anything more about what it meant to go through that, like when you're at the height of your career.
And why and why it was he didn't want why.
He didn't want to do it, and what it even meant for them to get back cool and all of that. So there's a and it might come from all kinds of things. You know, when we talk about people, we talk about them like we're talking about the NBA or the NFL, But these people are putting their lives in their music. So there might be a trauma response there that might be a distance from people to protect yourself.
That might be there all kinds of shit, But because of that, the music is always going to be less important than somebody else who gets in there and bleeds on them motherfucking records. Always, and it don't matter what it is. We could be talking about the difference between the Beatles and Van Halen, you know, we could be talking about the difference between fucking Marvin Gay and Loser Van Drass.
It's almost like you said, it's like if Drake is like we all have avengers, right, like Nas is like, you know, no Country for old men?
Maybe yeah, Nas is like no Country, but the best movie in that So I would say he's like there will be blood, right yeah, Nas is like there will be blood. You can watch it and enjoyed as much as you want, and I've seen there will be blood a bunch of times. But you gotta fucking commit. You gotta commit to that movie, and you gotta give it something. It's gonna take something from.
You to me. That's why Kendrick to me has like I don't know if we appreciate him enough, because he's somehow catapulted in between his sliders up right, all of them are. He has hit records.
He can the best rappers, Like the music is important.
I don't know if anybody is a better rapper, to be fair like, I don't know if anyone is a better rapper than Kendrick. I mean there maybe you know, like I mean, there's guys like Royce and like you know, there's guys who are amazing mcs out there, but like Kendrick.
Alien Royce is not like a you know, amazing.
Hendrick's like a god level MC.
There's a level of gods rap better than Kendrick.
I think Kendrick can do things Royce can't do, though, I think in terms of like wordplay, voice chain, and I think I.
Think certain things if you were going to talk about lyricals, like lyrical just I think there's I think Loope.
Is probably better than everybody. Loop is just go press just go press play on mural.
No no, I think I think, I think if it's if it's em C, I think might be the greatest. Another white man sit here to separate as you did that on purpose.
No no, no no, I liked when they had their I liked when they had their together.
I caught that. No no, I didn't bought that I used to work at the place that invented that.
So are you telling me that Loupe if we're just talking about at rap.
On the most talented, he's amazing, It's like it's dumb, quite possibly the biggest what if ever, So let me tell you something about Let me tell you something about Loupe when people think that rap like isn't art. I had this conversation with my daddy Rest in peace to my dad. Man. My dad was like, yeah, man, you know, I like the little songs that you'll be having. And this is what I love about older black people. They have a way of bringing you in but then reminding
you that what you're talking about really ain't shit. So my dad is like, I like the little rap songs. Little like those little rap songs, y'all do shit that ain't no confunction. You know, there ain't no Parliament funk or Derek right right right, right right, you know what I'm saying. But so I was like, Dad, I can
make you right now a fan of rap. I put on put you on Game by Loupe Fiasco from the Cool and the song that's basically talking about this idea of the game and this thing that we have kind of elevated in this street ethos and this ethic that we've taken and made it into something that actually helps to define the fabric and the the conversation and the relationships and all of these neighborhoods that not only does it not serve us, it was given to us to
purposefully displace us emotionally and spiritually. And by the end of the song, everybody that worships the game has sold their soul to the devil unwittingly. It is a master word.
It's it's one of his best songs for sure.
Yes, his best song.
Yeah, it's his best song. Don't Go, Don't go on the loop thing, We're not gonna, We're not gonna, I'll go, I'll go.
Loope, Royce, Jay Electronica, Nas Nigga. In addition to my homeboys from Louisiana, Box Royale, all of those guys like these are the guys that I listen to. These are the guys that I listen twice, all over and over and over again. What you have to tell me, how you know, Jay Electronica, What did you.
Think of the Bad Medieval Album.
Here's the thing about the Bad Meats Evil album because I just I was so tired of the girl who I always confuse her name with the porn star's name. It's Skyler Gray, but I always call her, what's the porn star's name, the white chick who was popping like ten years ago.
Her last name is Sasha Gray.
Oh yeah, that's a good one right there. That's a good one, bro, Sasha. You said scholar, But Skyler Gray's I just was Scott to the point where Eminem was just putting this her pink on every fucking record.
I'm like, Skylar Gray doesn't belong on a fuck.
I like Badman, it's evil, but it's Eminem coded. So em has a very distinct style, and it's his style, and the way he does his thing now is pretty heavy handed. So but but the song you just brought up about Loupe, I would take a single one of those from Drake and be like, Okay, he has some songs that make you think he is. Some songs like whenever Drake talks about his mother.
His mom or he does I mean like he's very vulnerable. I feel like when talk when he's talking about relationships in like Darl's Room. Yeah, I just think that like, uh you know, like you said, like just dive into any sort of fabric of like the world, that'd be nice.
Drake also is like one of the best examples of uh like light skinn nigga privilege that's ever existed. Because I know you can't. You probably try to in your off time. I don't because like a lot of Drake has a lot of songs that are very very very uh sensitive, complimentary, uplifting to women.
But also Drake got a lot of heart on these whole songs.
Drake got a lot like even when when when Best I've had? When when when Best I've had first came out? The song every all the girls are rocking, It's like when you listen to the words of that record, that's not a very heartfelt song.
Well, you know, I think the greats are all uh you know, hypocrites, tupac nas I.
Mean, not a human beings.
So the pendulum swings both way. We're not not everybody is one thing, you know what I mean.
So what I'm so all I'm saying with him though, is that like he has a record, he has a reputation of making music for women. He has a.
Reputation he has that reputation, right, He has.
A reputation of making music for women, and really, when you think about it, especially here of late, he has as many songs for the women as he does. Basically, I'm hard on these holes and I'm Drake, you know. But look, I tell you, I'll tell you one thing right now. The run that he's been on for Nigga since I was dunking.
It's eight nine, like best ever had got work.
It's not gonna happen again.
No, it's one of one. It's not gonna happen again.
So whatever you whatever you want to say, put his jersey in the rafters is not gonna happen again.
So your personal favorite rappers like give me your like did you you kind of just gave me.
The nas that motherfucker juvenile Juvie Juvie fucking uh Royce j Electronica.
I wonder you grow because how old are you? About the same agent forty three? Okay, so you're older than me. You're seven years older than me.
When I was a little.
Kid, I was so into No Limit records. Of course, ghetto dope was like an important part of my life.
And you want to beat them, what you wore camouflage.
Yes, I had that. I had a no I could BROH had the chain. I didn't have camera.
Flro I could see you.
I was super poor.
I didn't have cameraf I couldn't see you. I'm from the rough scrabble areas of Phoenix. I could see you. Yes, Actually, right now.
I'll tell you, hey, hey, wait wait, Phoenix is crazy.
I'm sure it is. Like I'm not just Phoenix, by the way, because there will be some nigga name No, Phoenix is crazy. I see right now that nigga is gott Stale. That's how this shit gets sucked up. And then all of a sudden, I get back to my d MS and that's a nigga named Cactus T that got problems with me. Some shit like that I did not like. How was there not been a rapper some nigga that named Catasy. I'm not thiss in Phoenix, man,
I'm not just in Phoenix. I had my no limit chain though I know you did, and bro, you had all the chains. You was hopping from crew to crew like one of these. I can. I can see you at fourteen of the of the Rosenberg model.
No, no, it wasn't fourteen. It was more like like sixth grade. Uh, it was definitely like I would say sixth grade, fifth, sixth grade. I would have like my folder and I could tag up the rough riders are the Wu Tang.
Double see what like there's a certain thing for white boys who really love rap. But it's no man, I can all see y'all, you know, because then when you get to a certain age, then we can't tell you shit about rap, no more than you get to it.
No, I'm not that no, no, no, no.
We get to a certain age and you can tell you can't fucking tell me what coming mint to me.
In nineteen ninety five, I.
Drove all the way from Phoenix to Minneapolis to hear him spit.
No, I did see comment in Phoenix.
See, I know you did.
Common in the Roots.
That's a great show. By the way, talking about rappers.
Black thought, oh yeah, nuts yeah.
Nuts Andre three thousand, Oh yeah, I hope Glass of Equipment right there. I hope Blast alone here is this. Glasses hundred three thousand is one of the top five rappers of all time.
I think Glasses has some of the worst hip hop takes ever. And him and I argue about them all the time. So you know, Glasses has you know what, y'all. Let Glasses fuck with y'all. That's the problem. My new thing with Glasses is and I know it burns him up. That's my guy, one of the most solid people. Now he's the best.
My favorite thing with Glasses is.
Now there's his album's up there on tape.
Three words, I say, the Glasses agree to disagree because.
He doesn't want that.
No, that's not what he wants. Glasses. Glasses are coming there. Sit down. He tried to sit here and say Drake wasn't hip hop and I said, that's a that's a star wars right there. And he tried to say, well, I gotta think about whether or not Kanye's hip hop because he grew up in the middle class home. Yeah, I mean, that's just once again the Drake isn't hip
hop thing. He said four for four isn't a hip hop album, which is a wild thing, right, So I mean that's these are these are see you guys are this is Glasses one on one, I'm talking about the next one. And then his tweets, his tweets, he'd be throwing it out on Twitter like I ain't even gonna engage today. He believes it though. One of the smartest guys I'm gonna talk to you, and just one of the people that like when you go against him, it'll make you smarter.
No, no glasses is great now he just got some crazy takes.
But yeah, so's those guys. I'm trying to think who else. Obviously I love kN Drake Lamar. It's a like a lot of people that I listened to a whole hell of a lot, like uh Lears and Fury Rock Kim. I love Rock Kim.
That's one of my favorite songs.
One of the If you caught me in like ninety seven, I was bumping like the Eighteenth Letter crazy, I was.
Gonna say, I actually really the first rock came album I ever owned was the Eighteenth Letter, and then I kind of like went back and got like paid in fool, and I like, would I go back and kind of just go through like five MIC albums and the source and go buy them and catch up?
You know, things seems the same, and the whole scene is laying I come in grant with the unexplained, with the brains chained awe like nigga. He on another level, He's the Marlon Brando him.
It was cool meeting Rock Kim as I was, I think it was like you know what I'm saying, see see you know what I'm saying.
Like it was like like you you see, that's this is what I'm talking about. Let me tell my story. It's not about let me tell your story. Is about that moment probably means so much to to keV that when he meets a new black and this is not the first.
Time, why is everything Rachel, because it is. You don't want it to be. You don't want it to be. You don't want hip hop to be for black people.
You don't think it is. I didn't say that, Okay, So then why can't I say Why can't I say you're white?
I was trying to tell my story, you're white.
I'm black. Look at this. Take a picture of this. This this is the for me and you know, but what I'm saying is this that meant so much to you because he saw you for the first time. Now far you have to drop.
Know what I was trying to say, Well, it was cool when I met Rock Kim because I met him with like a lot of my homies that are like much older than me, right, so like they like like we're listening to him, like like when he was was rock him and Eric Eric b oh wow. So for me, like of course Rock Kim's Rock Kim, right, But it was just dope to see like like kind of like it was like my homies like their jay z just kind of see them and the way they were just like and I was like excited, but but to them
it was like everything to meet Rock Kim. You know what I'm saying.
Are you familiar with the history of Hollywood?
I mean I wouldn't say I'm extremely familiar. I mean I would say I'm vaguely familiar. I think that we're all vaguely familiar.
I mean I live here. Well, this is why I say he's the Marlon Brando of rap. All right, this is my explanation for this. So method act comes in. You know, Marlon Brando and you know everybody from the Stella Adler school and different all of that stuff, the Strasburg and all that method acting comes in and it changes acting, right because there's a you know, you guys, you know old Hollywood, very earnest, all of that stuff.
Then you have guys that you have a different school of acting that comes in, which is based in realism, synthesizing the character, uh taking that characters emotions and then making them real, real, grounded portrayals of people that are that affects you in a different way. And then every everything changes after him, right, not necessarily the inventor of it, but the single symbol of when everyone started to sound different.
Right, like he was kind of the because of him, everyone applied themselves for rapping.
Right. So, after Brando, and this is Van's opinion, because I know that somebody out there going after Brando, then the next generation of actors that come in a little bit after that, particularly in the sixties, Jack Nicholson Hoffman, all of these guys, and these guys take like the Pacino de Niro, These guys interpret drama in a different way.
To me, Rock him is the bridge between he ha ha coolgie rapping the rest of those guys too, but he's the He's the bridge between all of that and just thinking of a mass I'm just on this bitch and I'm just spitaking for sure, right, and there are other guys that are there too. But when I think about what it changed and how people are are different. I'm gonna get on this motherfucker. You're think of him, you think you think of him, and then you think
of the sound. Totally fucking changing, at least for lyrics, for lyricism. There are other guys out there that are Internet situations. I'm sure that Ninth Wonder and Sway are like, Man, We're gonna call you and tell you a different situation, because those are too most novels with hip hop guys I've ever talked on the phone Sway.
I've never I met Ninth Wonder once in Saint Louis at a bar.
Nice Wonder is a fucking encyclopedia of hip hop. Nice guy, Uh, Sway is too yes. Sway for sure is the only thing I don't like about Sway. There's one thing I don't like about Sway. Sway too nice man. Sways too nice. He's too affable, he's too approachable, he's too concilia tour. It's not a negative, but you know a lot of people talk about all of these people and these powerful people and where they should be, and one of the
star warts one of the most important voices. Sometimes I just want Sway to comment under the fucking thing and say, nigga, I'm your father. I've been doing this.
Everyone's father and I've been doing this.
But Sway he's like, legitimately, I'm walking through a fucking walking through a hotel. Twenty fourteen, twenty fifteen, Stop dang man, I love with you. This is way pre Kanye. Stop the love what you're doing TMZ and blah blah blah blah. Approachable, give you advice, talk to He's just a perfect energy and I, well, you know, I'm here for and he's been yeah, a one year heel term from say.
I see, I don't, I don't. I think that's why we love Sway because he's above all that bullshit. Is he's above like the petty shit. He's above you know, worrying about what other people are doing.
You know.
I think like Elliot's been going through that the last six months or so where he's tough and I you know, for me, like see it like like Elliott's to me like up there with Sway in terms of like your shit. I used to get his magazines when I was a kid, you know what I mean. I used to buy every double XL and all the sources and everything, and so I think with Elliott, it's like, I don't know, it's
like a mixed bag. I guess how people feel with him kind of like kind of poking at you know, like a kais sanat or you know, but Sway I wouldn't want. I just feel like that's why swaying. Sway is the goat. So it's like if Sway's the goat, it's Sway Elliott, but Sway's the goat on a whole different level in terms of me because when I think of my childhood and watching MTV, that's where we before the Internet. I watched Sway interviews on MTV News, you know.
But I think that that's why we love Sway, because Sway's above just you know, that's pocket watching and looking over at other people.
This is what I'll say about Elliott. Elliott knows how I feel about him and what I think about him about him and honestly, what be dot do and what they mean. You know, they know how important they are. You know, you could be that as not a guy that lacks in any type of confidence. This is what I would say about Eliott.
Neither, by the way, not lacking any sort of company, not that.
I say about Elliott, and I hope that this is taken with as much love as well. How I mean it, Elliott is supposed to remain the example of what we want to be. It will be a gigantic blow to hip hop and to hip hop journalism. If Elliott Wilson turns into the example of what you don't want to be.
What you want to be, like he's the golden standard.
Let me tell yeah, exactly so what you want to be and in every single different avenue, what you have to have or like you said, standard setters, monument builders, right legends.
And authorities on stuff. And when you're that, when you are that, that's bigger.
Than a crowd that you can pull or the heat that you can deliver. It's bigger because what it maintains is the cultural integrity of whatever you're endeavoring into. Hip Hop is a more serious endeavor because guys like Elliott Wilson exists. Hip Hop is a more serious art form because it has serious critics and serious journalists like Elliott Wilson. If he devolves, which it seems like he's dead set trying to, if he devolves into this new school, which I'm not saying I'm not a part of of clout
chasing media figures. It's not just a blow to Elliot Wilson's legacy everything, it's a blow to all of it. Hip hop becomes less serious if guys like that take themselves less seriously.
Yeah, I look at Elliott and beat out as like, you know, I think back to like sitting at my house, I think it was Christmas or New Year's a few years ago, watching the Drake interview, and I'm like, this is the old Like these guys don't have to put out a bunch of shit because when like they can have conversations like that nobody else has the access to have and or like that's why, like when he was kind of mad that Drake was doing whatever Drake was doing,
sitting in the bed with that what's that chick saying the white chick Bobby all talk. Yeah. Yeah, like like like it doesn't matter because you've got the three hour all time Drake Interview, and you're gonna get another one because you're fucking Elliott Wilson.
But here's the deal, though, there's a way to make that criticism right. I'll tell you what I mean by that, there's a way to legitimately I'm not a part of hip hop Meetia oh ship.
keV Damn that velcal came off. Wow, Bro, things are broken there.
It is shit. It's always good to drop a white man on his fucking head and it is your head. And I'm talking about so ecosystems. We talk about ecosystems. What is an ecosystem? An ecosystem is something that uh cyclical, ife's itself, right, It's a it's a system of life. So that means that, like you know, the fucking plant grows, the fucking insect eats the plant, the fucking animal eats the insect. Animal dos ecosystem. When one part of the
ecosystem stops working, the whole ecosystem is threatened. Right. It is incumbent upon hip hop artists to do interviews with hip hop media because that feeds the ecosystem. They have to do hip hop media, there's no I'm telling you they If you are a rap artist, and you are a big rap artist, you have to do traditional hip hop.
Media at some point, at some point cycle. You have to do it all the time.
And the reason why I think you have to do it all the time is two reasons. Number one, cultural responsibility to invest back into that media. Number by the way, I don't disagree with you, and number two, to feed the ecosystem of hip hop because the other part of it, the people that look like Bobby and all of those people, they gonna eat off hip hop regardless. The question is whether or not Bobby all talk is whoever her name is, and no disrespect to her, is gonna eat off hip hop.
That's not a question. Her people gonna eat off hip hop because her people own the record companies, her people playlist, the shit, they own, the big streamers, they gonna eat off hip hop. I don't know who her people are, but when I say her people is, I mean white. So her people are gonna eat off hip hop no
matter what. The question is whether or not the black people, and not just black, but the people in hip hop media, whether they're going to eat off off of it, And the only way to really control that is to go sit down with them.
I think that Unfortunately, most artists don't agree with you anymore.
They don't agree. I'll tell you why they don't agree. They don't agree because and this is just a direct criticism because as hard as they are, they are equally pussy. And I say they equally pussy because everybody want to be hip hop, But don't nobody want to be hip hop? Don't nobody want to sit down and answer questions in the way that hip hop interviewers ask them. Don't nobody
want to have somebody? Hip hop is supposed to be this cultural art form where we don't dance around, and we get straight to the FoST to the point, straight to the point. We don't play no games. It's no funny shit, it's no oh blah blah blah blah blah, none of that. It's like, hey, did you do this? How did this go? How did this go?
Blah blah blah.
But because people have seen a lot of people have bad moments on big platforms.
Now, they don't want to have one of those.
Afraid to be hip hop. They're afraid to go sit down and talk in the way that not just hip hop talks, but the way that black people talk, the way that we talk when we interviewing each other. Hey man, that's crazy, what the fuck you're doing? Hey man? You
out of a sister? Boom boom. They're afraid to have a conversation, So they would rather go sit down with someone that has a big platform that will treat them in a way that's not to me culturally authentic, then actually have a culturally authentic and powerful conversation with someone that benefits in the long run them then that person's platform, which I am not in hip hop media. I'm just telling you my observations and the entire hip hop ecosystem.
So you can't be brave enough to rap about like shooting people on records and all of that stuff, and brave enough to be out in the streets, but not brave enough to go sit down with somebody that's gonna ask you real questions.
Well, I think a couple of things. One like I've heard actual like managers label people say like if someone's at a certain level, doing interviews can only hurt them.
Right, Well, this is what I would say, probably, But I would also say this, there's also another part of that. Another part of that is this inside of this ecosystem. I know this very well worked at MC. Inside this ecosystem, we have to hold interviewers accountable. I agree for asking questions that aren't substantive, that are clout chasing that are beef inspiring, that are all of that stuff. You have your platform. You can ask people whatever you want to
ask them. You can do whatever you want to do. But if we're going to talk about all of these different responsibilities that we have, we also have to talk about the fact that there is a way that you're supposed to conduct an interview when the interview is about music, culture, inspiration, work ethic, when it's about your past, when you're really gonna sit down and get a penetrated interview with the art artist or with someone, if there's a way that you do that, and if you veer off into the
click baity clout chasy situation, which a lot of people are doing, we have to be honest about those people too.
Yeah, I think like my approach to interviews really is like if I'm not fully like there's people i'll interview who I'm like, I'm familiar with their music, but I might not be like a like a hardcore fan, right, So my whole approach is like trying to figure out who they are, like the common ground between me and this person, so we can shoot the shit and have
like a cool conversation. Like I feel like When I think of like Elliott and Beatout, I know that they're going to have the laptop with all of the notes and then this year and then on this you know what I mean. And they're certain artists that I'll have those conversations with. But for the most part, you know, it's almost like when I went and did a I just did an interview NBA Young Boy, and I was like, Okay, everybody who talks to this guy treats him like he's
an alien. Uh, I'm just gonna like just go hang out with him and shoot about ruge. Well, shout to you're from Baton Rouge, right, Well, I just feel like, you know, like I just wanted to like just talk like, yo, let's just hang out shoot the ship like mountain.
Yeah, how was it? It was fucking beautiful. You loved it.
It was cool.
You loved it.
Okay.
You ever heard of his site Point and Shoot on YouTube?
Yeah, he just did a video about me.
I watched it.
Yeah, it's so funny because you mad. No, I'm not at the point shooting actually broke. I m him and said the video was really good, good.
Job, But can I show you that was passive aggressive? No?
It wasn't it was funny.
It was let me tell you, bru, y'all try to what people don't understand.
I've been wait a minute, so you watched that video, so then you know I went to Grave Digger Mountain. So why did you ask me that question if you knew the answer.
Because I just because I'm playing games, because.
You're a troll digital That video is so funny because I did not realize. So I used to live in Vegas. I did radio on this right, and I used to DJ a monthly hip hop showcase. So there was a there was a guy named High High Life who used to throw the showcases and me and my boy saying with DJM, so we would DJ for like maybe ten to fifteen artists every time this would happen. So if you ever been to like a rap showcase, local rap showcase, one they're not very busy. Two they fucking suck the
DJ because you're dealing with all these USBs. And back then it was it was a CD, you know. So I had no idea that I had ever encountered that dude sharp prior to the time I met him, and he came into my podcast, right, So it's just funny that like this guy has this like gotcha moment and it is like trying to talk down on me because like I frink wetted strip clubs in Las Vegas.
And I've been but well, this is what I would say.
It was funny though, No, no, I actually think that is just really funny. What I think that dude, like the video was funny.
I tried to draw him out and get him on your podcast or you can line him up side. I don't know what you're trying, no care. If you're one of the biggest gangsters, you actually might be Catus Tea. You one of the biggest gangsters in Phoenix. You're trying to give them this is what people do. See y'all think I'm too I'm too veteran for this. You, hey man, I appreciate that good boom boom. I love to have you come over here and then all of a sudden,
you and your man over here stomp them out. And that's good for you because now you've got a headline.
Your own children. How many children you got, I have two children, and I are old. I have an eighteen year old and a ten year old.
So that changes nothing. I'm not help you stomp out point and shoot outside of them.
Listen, if you have babies, that would be one thing.
But you what you just said was, I got another nigga in the crew that can help me fucking stomp out point.
I'm not risking any charges. I'm not risking any felonies.
I get it for.
I actually genuinely thought the video was funny. It was I watched all his videos, and I think that, like, he's actually really good.
There's something to be said that when someone is obviously fucking with you in joke. I thought it was like all of the stuff he said about me, I genuinely took YouTube.
I thought it was like funny. I was like, oh, that's good because like I'm I have like, uh, I don't have that big of an ego. I don't really give a fuck. Like the way him and I talk to each other, me and my friends talk to each other.
I'm like, this ship is great. What uh?
What youtubes do you watch? What YouTube channels do?
I mean?
I would say most of my YouTube stuff is very sports heavy, you know. I would say I watch a lot of PFT with like Mike Florio, Chris Sim's I watch, Uh you know McAfee's in there every once in a while, all the NBA stuff. Uh, and then I'll I've veered into like there's this political channel called Breaking Points. I know that point, Crystal Bill.
Yeah, I like the ball I love them because I can just watch and watch Rising as well.
With Rising is amazing on the Hill. They're great, dude, They're great. So actually, those two shows I probably watch every day in some capacity, just clips, you know, like to catch up on what's going on. And I think that it's joke because it seems like they're all four of the people involved in those two shows are very level headed and they give you different perspectives, so.
You don't ever go on Welcome to hood War stories. No no, no, no, no.
I can show you my algorith you see it now, bro, Pa, what the fuck did you see that? I'm saying you want?
Did you see what he just did? He said, I can show you my algorithm if you want to see it, and then he reached into his pants.
Bro, No, look look what's the first video? What's the first video?
Said? What did I tell you? WHOA? Well, I don't want to see your algorithm, bro, put your algorithm away. It's my YouTube algorithm, r algorithm away. I don't know what y'all don't know why you call it the algorithm, probably because.
It's my YouTube algorithm, like it.
Put your algorithm away, bro, They're not trying to see your algorithm.
I see the herd, I see p f T Yeah, I see uh.
Welcome to wod WARSW I'll go to Welcome to.
Hoo fucking Uncinko MSNBC Lebatars.
Like I got, I don't have as much other sports stuff. I got a lot of it, right, I got, But it's all it's very specific with me. So it's LSU football. Oh yeah, you know what I'm saying. It's LSU football.
So it's not necessarily I have a lot of sports stuff on there, but it's specific because I saw myself sifting through a lot of fucking sports topics I didn't give a fuck about, right, but it's Saints, LSU football, very direct sports stuff, like five different LSU football channels off the bench, my favorite one Power hour LSU Fucking After further review.
There's a show like that for the Suns.
I watch Tiger Bait.
There's this pH and X sports podcast I watch on YouTube, like at the end of every game, they go live and then you.
Sit down and watch it. Kalickie Canada stated, she comes in and she goes, Yo, why are you just watch the game? Why are you gonna sit down and then watch two hours of somebody talking about the game that you just watch? And I'll just Positive TV and I go. My wife says the same thing, just Positi TV, and I go, you want to be in this or not?
Cool?
Boom? Let me watch my shit, Let me watch my shit, Let me play the game. I come back all the way from uh fucking working on the road. I'm doing cn INN or something like that. I sit down, I got the controller. When I have the controller? Okay, keV And Spider Man is swinging nigga. I am Spider Man. I'm swinging around New York. I'm helping people. I'm saving people. I'm going on missions. Bro. Just last week, no bullshit. I beat Scorpion, I beat craving a Hunter. I beat
motherfucking Samman, I beat Venom. Not Spider Man. Me, I did it?
Okay, I beat all of these people. I say, is this Spider Man too?
Spider Man two? I saved New York. I saved it. When I come home, let me play the game.
Do you ever buy video games and you're mad because you don't have time to play them? Wrong, that's my life, not by all the games, and I never played my kids got them. Lie.
You could make time to save people if you really cared about it. But the problem is that you got to listen to shoreline Mafia and the rest of the underground, which, by way, I'm not disting to my fuck with them Mark oh.
Jez shouts shortline Phoenix.
So the rest of the underground people, you gotta listen too much hip hop. See, I don't listen to as much hip hop as you. I'm gonna go to my hip hop right now. I'm gonna go to my title because jay Z telling me to to buy a title and then after I got tiredled and got used to title, he sold it to white people. The Verizon by ten? Is that true? Yeah? Oh? But so my ship, like literally the ship that I'm on, like my playlist, it's all old ship.
Bro.
Yeah, I think I'm not listening to much of that new ship, so I agree. So I've heard these songs, so I don't have to like. But you have to be up on hip hop. Yeah, so you don't have time to save New York. The new ship I love is is uh.
So. I knew who Dave was for a long time, but I know who from the UK. So Dave and Central cy put an EPR called to Split Decision, which was my second favorite project from last year. But I dived into this guy Dave and his discography. He's so good you like him? Like Dave, Dave is like an elite level.
Where is he from?
He's from the UK. He's fucking fire.
Yeah.
See, he's got some of the more most vulnerable rap songs that ever heard my mine.
That's Captus Tea. That's Catus T right there. I will tell you one new group that I like. These guys out of New York. They called forty one.
Their fire shoutout. I've had him on twice. Jen Carter, Kyle Rich Bro. Jim Carter is crazy Broyeh, She's fire and they're cool ast fuck Jim Carter is crazy, bro.
I'm I supposed to be listening to PST from the side of the side.
How can I see what I what I listened?
So I got this is what I got out here. I got Dua Liba I got Domino, remember him, of course you get though jam in about the slam. I got Beanie Siegel, I gots Victory, which I guess I'm not supposed to be listening to that now. Oh shit, oh shit, I'll still listen to that shit fuck that. I got a flip side. Oh my god, bro Beanie Sigle, Freeway, that's actually Freeway and p D Crack. So my my playlist, my playlist on here though is I'll show you my
hip hop playlist. This is my hip hop playlist running the far side, ninety three to Infinity to Infinity, Infinity, Sean Fintassy Ye until Infinity.
Shout out to the ringer Sean Finasy Yeah, which.
Is the greatest hip hop song I've ever made. Disagree Yeah, Okay, got this team? Uh hey, I disagree Mass Appeal, Electric Relaxations.
So this is like a playlist you put together. Yeah, this is my ship shook Ones I wish I had see. I don't have a playlist like that.
That's me. I just I just big L.
I just hit search and like whatever I feel like listening to. I do the same thing Boom, I do that.
I do that too. But I do have some playlists that I have to have.
And Spotify has a twenty tens playlist that they curated for me. That is fire. It's like all twenty ten ship that I like. Tit title Well, Spotify is great, Spotify is to You could go listen to Higher Learning on Spotify.
Listen to Higher Learning the podcast on Spotify. Spotify is great. I used title for a lot of music stuff. Spotify is amazing. It's great.
I used title for a lot of music stuff though, because.
Title knows me now. Title knows me now.
I give most of my podcast. Yeah, my twenty tens playlist is gas. But yeah, I mean I just and then I'll just download albums. You know, I got you download, I got j id on here Forever story, Pray for Paris. We'side gun, that's.
Not gun crazy, whole Griselda crazy, going back to going back to Ellie and b Dot. I was loving Griselda. I was fucking with Griselda. Listened to a lot, I had a New Year's Interview, and then I became a Griselda fucking fan. Love Griselda, love them, love Griselda. But I love everybody. I love the people that don't get along. I love Griselda. I think Freddy is having a great like Freddy.
Actually, yeah, he's one of my best friends in the world.
So you were Freddie best friends?
Yes, okay, that's my brother brother for real, for.
Real, y'all. Have you ever been to Sam's Softbro.
Yeah, of course, making sure chicken wings. And that's the best place to throw money at strippers. Because listen, not for me in reasons obviously.
Listen to what you just said. Listen, let me tell you how you're a misogynists.
Yeah, because when you throw the money at Sam's Hofbro, it's kind of like feeding birds. Okay, Wow, it's true. It's true. Whoa is anybody who's on the stage has a right to the dollar?
Whoa catus tea. Let me tell you something. You throw money at strippers, I throw it in the air. I throw money too strippers because here we fucking go. I accept them and their humanity and what they are. I throw money to them.
So help.
No, no, no, no no, you said what you meant stand on at catus t What you said was you throw money at strippers? At them? I throw money too strippers. Sometimes I don't throw it. Sometimes I put it in an envelope and hand them to and say, most people in the world, you will not find another higher connoisseur of these establishments other than myself. I rarely go. But when I do go. When I say rarely, I mean like once a year. But when I do go, maybe
not even that. But when I when I do go, I throw the money to them, hand it off like a fuck of the time, because I want them to live their dreams.
I am very very integrated in the strip club culture, so I'm very very aware. I'm friends with a lot of strippers. It's a budget for a strip club night, that's a good personally me. Yeah, it was a.
Boutleg kept night.
It depends on where I'm going, So, uh, if I was in Arizona and my heyday, like Jaguars, which is like the best strip club on the West Coast, Jag Wires, Yeah, Jags. Jags is the best strip club on the West Coast.
Anybody who's gone will tell you that. All the rappers I take there say the same Wires Jags like Jaguars Yeah war Uh So I kind of like, you know, I just kind of like I want to say, like it was kind of like my spot, so I would go in there and get my chicken wings, I get my fucking shrimp tacos, I get my cabana.
Gotta tell you this is actually a very precious moment. Like there are rare times when you're talking to someone and you can see the wheels of their brain are taking them back to a time where they legitimately have good times. Yes, there a place where they legitimately like like like Kim started talking about jack Wires and he goes, yeah.
It's a good place. But it wasn't even like a good place for the reasons that you like, like not even get it.
It was a good place just because there are certain places even naked women or no naked women. Well, the ambiyonce it's a am Beyonce is the food. The time in your life is right time in my life.
And like for me, I would rather I'm a I'm a like dive bar kind of guy or a strip club kind of guy. Like I'd rather not be at a night club. I mean, I own a nightclub in Scott Steel, right, So like shots at the nightclub game fucking does very well. I love DJing at nightclubs, you know, but I'm not going to a night club unless I'm djaying.
Right, not your thing.
Like, I don't want to go hang out at the club because I don't know if it's really ever been my thing, to be honest, m I'd rather go to a dive bar or go to a strip club where we could just chill, have a little convo over some fucking drinks, maybe order some food.
So this is my thing about the club, and this is my thing, right. I'm from a different club culture when I was in Louisiana. We dress up, we go to the club. We dress up like we going to church. We go to Club Upscale, we go there. It used to be like that too, go to Club Upscale, We go.
To the strict leaving force stress code, strictly force dress code.
Right, we go, We go to there, We go to the nightlife. We go to a perfect Tien party. Shout out to TJ, Mike, everybody out there was throwing party. Shout out to all of them. We go to the parties and we go there all dressed up. But when we leave that motherfucker, we are dripping wet with sweatd B. You know them old movies where you see a joint and the people in there and the beads are sweat coming off there.
They got sweat and it's.
A man he got his hand on a woman like that, and they grinding and.
All of that stuff.
All that shit's out. You know, that's what we were doing. We were like the back of the ass up, come on and like the whole fucking club lose thing.
I couldn't even imagine being alive and back.
But it was a couple of joints that you would just drop by the way and just go crazy.
But my argument might be, you know, that's an argument for best rap.
Song ever, could be definitely the most best club song ever, could be definitely best clubs on ever. So like then you get to LA and they don't have none of that. That's not how our clubs are. The clubs in LA are uh, musical museums.
I think there was probably a time where they were more like that, but I don't remember it.
But like the clubs in LA were are musical museums. Like their music playing and you're looking at pretty pictures all around. I mean, people are turning up a little bit. You might get a shoulder shimmy or something like that. So I fuck with that and that's okay. But if I'm gonna do that, I would rather go to a place where I can hear somebody talking.
Yes, I agree, So the music is playing, yes, and we all.
Try to My whole point, were drinking. We haven't a what's what's your drink of choice? Uh?
It's changed over the years these days. If I'm not trying to lose weight and be fat, Uh, I always just get a corona.
I like a whisky sour and so I'll drink tequila on the rocks. So I'll drink one, right and if I can hear you talk and we can all have a we was. I was at a party last night and it was about it was for the black oscar contenders this year. Shout out to Ava and I'm going to get like fifty shoutouts in this beach. So like we so we all have it and we're just talking and we're dancing. Some people are dancing. That's what I like.
I'm older. Yeah, No, I just think that, like like you said, like for me, i'd rather go to a bar or I'd rather the strip. Club is just like home to me. I feel like, what's your favorite movie with an all black cast? With an all Black casts. You can't see Friday, Friday.
Cactus TEA fake answer is a fake answer, an answer alert, it's the true answer. It's nope, it's nope, it's too much. Who's your favorite rapper? Jay z Nah? I didn't say z No, But what I'm saying is nope. You can't say Friday.
You can't.
You gotta go. I'm challenging you to go deeper than that. I'm challenging you go deeper than Friday. Would City of God count No, No, okay, I mean you wily motherfucker you maybe, but not really kind of but no, Moonnight. I would say Moonlight. Now, now you're trying to be woke. Love moon Night. I love it too.
It's fucking perfect movie, great movie perfect.
Try to get Charlotte to watch it. A perfect movie, perfect movie perfect. It's a perfect one. While I land better.
But like, yeah, I can't say. I can't. I can't watch anything with singing in it.
Oh, you'll like musical. No, I can't do it. I can't do it.
My wife was telling me so last night we went her favorite musical. I don't know, fuck, probably fucking Little mrmimad or some shit. Last night.
Uh.
I went to the movies with my family. Her and my other son that's ten, went sal Wonka. I went and saw Iron Claw with my eighteen year old. Yeah that's look shit, it's a fucking say bad movie. Dude, keV like you wanted to bond with him. You wanted him to know the meaning the family, which is why you see that, because that more not me and my son are hardcore wrestling fans as I am.
I'm the number one voice in wrestling media. All right, Yeah, that's neude, I'm the number one voice in wrestling media. That's not true. Go to my Twitter? Are you?
Are you trolling Rosenberg?
Go to my Twitter?
Is that what it says?
Yeah, I'm the number one voice. I don't think I'm hip to why you're saying that. So is it like when Andrew schul said he was the number one voice in m M A media and was trolling the other guy with the glasses. I don't know what you're talking about as far as that's controlled.
But I didn't know that I.
Am, And it's been discussed. This is not this is not me just saying this. I've been putting. I've been put over. Who puts you over a couple of different people, because you don't know that I've like I've been put over. You know what I'm saying.
Do you watch wrestling? Those serious questions?
I am over as fun?
Do you actually watch though?
No you don't. Of course I'll watched wrestling.
Oh okay, of course I'll watch wrestling. Did you watch all last night? I haven't. I was at the movies.
See what I'm saying. This is all I'm talking about when I'm talking about white people. You're asking me if I watched wrestling last night?
What was I doing?
Watching fucking raw? I was watching But I was watching punk. And then you're gonna watch an Iron Claw and you're gonna come back and you're gonna you didn't even watch Rare all last I watched iron Claw. You didn't even watch about the von Eriks. I watched Iron Claw about the Von Ricks. Yeah, what's your favorite? What's your favorite match? From Jimmy Superfly Snooker to what? You didn't answer it because you don't know wrestling like I know wrestling.
That's before my time.
But I was just joking. I want to say, was it?
No, it wasn't. Jimmy was Jimmy Superflies. I'm trying to think what was WrestleMania. Was it two or three? Where fucking macho man. I don't think that was against Jimmy Super Superflies.
You know, I'll be honest with you all, Jose, I'm not good at recounting, like individual matches that I love. I have individual matches.
That I love.
There are but to me, for me, there are certain matches that I do love. There's certain matches that I love too that I can fall out. But it's more storylines, it's more specific moments. It's he'll turns like my favorite wrestler run ins ten years.
Uh, but this is before he passed. Everyone knew this. But I love Bray, you love who Bray Whitet. Bray White was my guy, dude.
He was my god.
Some reason I thought you said Ray and then no Bray. Yeah, Ray was that fucking dude. I felt like he was so mismanaged and he should have been the guy to be fucking Undertaker, not Brock the under thing.
The other thing that that's tough about being the number one voice of pro wrestling and being such a wrestling fan, it's such a hard life on the guys Man and the ladies. So you're like, it's going to be a lot of tragedy. If you were a huge wrestling fan.
And watching did you watch Iron Call? I did that watching that movie, You're like, damn, like wrestling literally like destroyed.
That's some different shiit. Like I won't shout out to Kevin von Eric and like at the end of the Iron Claw not to not to see a picture of his family, see a picture of his family. I couldn't have been happier for him.
Me too, man, because the whole movie, you're just you just feel for him.
Yeah, I do not want anyone to think it's not too far off though. I was gonna say that the von Eric family represents the typical wrestling family is trajectory. But I mean there's a lot of carnage and a lot of tragedy. But that is, man, God bless Kevin van Eeric.
That is that next level, bro.
That's insaying. Look, I've seen this before. I know in my own life. Right now, you know, all my dad, my dad, and all his brothers passed away. My father like literally in the last fifteen years we lost all of those guys, right, So my uncle Mark died then my dad died. Then my uncle Milton died. Excuse me, my uncle Mark died, My uncle Milton died, my dad died.
My uncle Ray died. Nobody touched seventy, right.
So the movie hit me in a different way at this time because I'm looking at it and I'm thinking about brotherhood bonds, a whole line of family. What it meant for my uncle Ray, who just passed away a couple of weeks ago, to be the last of his brothers and to know that all of those guys are gone. You know, he didn't even make it a year and a half, two years after my father passed away. I'm not sure how much he wanted to be here after
all of that stuff. And like if you if you from bar Rouge or other places like that, you know situations where he didn't got killed, his brother didn't got killed, she did, his mom, and then got killed everybody. So it's not like I don't know tragedy situations like that when it happened to them in the way that that happened to them. Just the bizarre, hyper tragic nature of all of it. It gives it this weird, almost spiritual
through line. And you try to wonder when you're watching the movie or you're ingusting a story like that, you wonder, like what's the point, Like what is like what what did all of that tragedy mean?
There has to be a meaning for.
Someone to lose one kid from uh uh getting electrocuted, another kid from uh suicide, another kid from suicide, another kid had gastro inter. I think three sons committed suicid. I think it was carry Michael and and the youngest one. So three suicides and then all that you have, you wonder, you know, especially as they get older, even like Carrie, like losing his leg, well done the movie, Carrie losing his just free accident after freak accident. It's just a crazy, crazy, crazy.
Story, great movie that everybody should go check it. Zach Efron's fucking jacked.
He's big, bro. What did he what? I want to know?
Like, that's like committing to a role because he turned into like a fucking John Cena level yoked ass, fucking big big. I mean, you know, I wanted to ask you because uh you obviously the shots of the Higher Learning podcast, But what's it like Working with a guy like Bill Simmons is great because I listened to the Bill Simmons part. I've been listening for like ten years, so almost every almost literally almost every episode.
So here's the thing. So imagine that you're a person like myself, right, and you have all of these varied interests. You're probably the number one guy in terms of wrestling.
Because you're you're unrewatchables a lot too now, but in history, yeah.
I'm on you know, and but you love that. You love movies, you love sports, and you love politics, you love history. Uh, you are very invested into black culture. You have thoughts on so many different things, video games, and then there's one place that somebody knows how to give you the opportunity to uh express, develop and utilize
those talents and those interests. It's not just about the fact that you're good at talking, because I think that if you talk enough, you'll get good at it, right, and if you get blind to the camera, then you'll do your thing.
Sorry, James Andre Jefferson Junior just finished the workout. We're in a competition. I'm listening one place I'm listening. I'm listening to that now.
I like my job.
Fucking No, go ahead and say you're gonna check your wife wile I'm doing my ship going.
It's enough. That's enough. That's enough. That's on, that's on the that's on. McKinley, Hi, I'm not finishing that ship.
Well, well, I gotta make sure. I always have to make sure it's not my kid or my wife. It's always.
But if your kid has an emergency right now, you're sitting down with the nigga who told Kanye Off, I think you got to make decisions. You know what I'm saying like that, that to me, That to me is disrespectful. Yeah, daddy, daddy, I need ice cream. Daddy, Daddy, I skinned my knee. Hey, your kid's name is Justin right? Hey, No, my kid's name is not Justin. Probably probably it's Aiden either. First of all, both my kids are mixed Justin or Aiden. See how close that is?
Aiden and Millennium nigga?
What yeah Millennium.
Yeah, my ten year old names is Millennium.
Yeah, Millennium. Yeah. But then what I mean, there's gotta be a story. Uh.
So me and my wife Black Lady, No, she's Mexican, but my my son Millennium is So we met when he was three, So I have an eighteen year old from my previous relationship, right, who I've had custody of the whole time, me and my girl when we started dating. Her son is three, but he's never met his dad. So, uh. She was watching TV one day, uh, and there was like a Millennium Productions at the end of a TV show or something, and she was like, nobody else is gonna name their kid this. I want a one of
one name. She's right about that, So we call him Millie Millennium MILLI. Yeah, it's that really the hip hop shit again? A cat this T shirt a million million milli a Melli. No, but he's he's a what is he into?
He wraps?
He plays basketball? Now he's he's Mexican Black and Puerto Rican. Oh man, Yeah, he about to be hell on these holes man.
Yeah, that's a crazy Now.
He's a big he's a he's a big, big hooper.
Though he does like what do he play? Like he played with Matt Kids or something like that.
Uh, he's in this Burbank league and then he does this AAU tournament and sure, a thousand oaks. What are you like as a basketball dad?
Are you like? Let me let me pick up the bill Simons question real qick because I want to faix this so I enjoy working with the ringer. I enjoy working with the Ringer because I'll say this is last sense. It's one thing to go to a place where you're telling you. It's another place to work a place where your interests right, It's different, it's different. You're talent being
utilized means hey, you're good at talking about something. We're gonna make you talk about this thing that you don't really care about that much so that you can do something for us, because we need you to feel a spot.
Well, like for like rewatchables, do you like tell them like, Hey, if you ever do this movie, I want to be a ike. That's my ship.
Not necessarily, but it'll it'll be a situation to where it's like, hey, h do you like this movie?
Or you'll get a list of movies like hey, tell us which ones you like? Yeah, and then you tell what you watch what was fucking amazing. It's a great podcast. Just think about it, so think about how pure it is.
It's just a podcast about rewatching old movies and talk about talking about what the movie meant culturally, what you care, how much you care about the movie where you were at the time.
Yeah, Like, in terms of like any of my non hip hop like podcast listening, it's pretty much all Ringer Universe and Joe Rogan. Yeah, because I fucking love I love the mismatch too with Verno and Kevin O'Connell my my NBA shit big Rogan guy. Huh Yeah, I like Rogan.
What do you like about him?
I just like the fact that, like anybody who comes like it's like he'll have a crazy conversation with like a comedian, and then I'll have another conversation with like some dude who's like self efficient setting up like farmland grid and then another guy who like talked about like fucking you know, uh, like like mapping out the.
Old world, you know what I mean.
I mean he did an interview with the with the guy who went and investigated the the the minds in Congo, the cobalt mines in Congo. That was fucking crazy. That Like, I just feel like if you if Joe Rogan, there's enough. It's just such a vast range of conversations makes you gives you more tools in your intellectual tool thought. And I wouldn't even say that it's just kind of like because I don't agree with everything that's said on the podcast.
You know, like the nigger word.
Well yeah, I mean, wait, you do agree with the nigger didn't say that? Well, see look at what this is.
The way, this is the way. This is why you gotta be careful because like you're you're you know what this this this is TM level. This is where yeah, well you think I learned that. This is where you gotta be. This is where you gotta be careful. This is way you gotta be careful because I could make that. I could that I could make that clip look a crazy way in my head, that's what I can make.
That cool crazy Like, No, you can't make it look that crazy.
Yes, again on Joe Rogan, like, I'm like, I'm like, like the nigger word, which is a joke, and you went, well, you said you don't agree with it. I don't agree with everything that, obviously, I'll like, well, like, no, obviously I don't agree with that. No, obviously I don't agree with you're trying to this is.
What we're gonna do.
What were your thought, Well, I'm gonna take this and I'm gonna clip this and and try to ruin and then I'm gonna put it out there and I'm gonna I'm gonna do this whole thing in k fade I'm gonna do. I'm gonna do wrestling terms. I'm gonna do this whole thing. I'm gonna clip this piece of this of this interview I'm gonna put out there. I'm gonna
put it on Twitter. He's gonna like, I'm gonna say lead keV hesitates to answer whether or not I'm telling I'm teaching everybody right now how to cook a headline. You know what's the point and shoot, here you go. I'm teaching everybody right now how to cook a headline. This is how you cook a headline. When you're writing the headline, there are three things you need. Number One
conflict like for example, uh, black iPhone on desk? No conflict? Right, How do you inject conflict into that headline about the black iPhone on the desk?
Device made by child slave labor.
In China, left on desk. Now you have something that.
Is it'll peak.
You'll be like, oh, oh, what is this device that was made by child Let me see what is this? Why do we need children to make this device. What's the thing? What it is? That's the way you do that headline. One headline is I'm not gonna I don't care about the iPhone be on the desk, but something that kids slaves made. I care about that. Click on the headline. Okay, oh it's an iPhone. Fuck it's an iPhone, right,
selective age right now, you're going there now. But by the time you get to the fact that it's an iPhone, got your bitch then clicked my ship.
Aha, dummy, it was just about an iPhone that someone left under, did you? I mean?
Is that me finished? Pleaset tea? Now we take we take you right? And I asked you a question. You balked at it. I'm not sure why if I cut it off right, if I cut it off, if I cut it off right there, I don't.
Have to lie.
It's not a lie. I can do it two ways. I can either ask a question that incites conflict, which is, by the way, is this TMZ one on one?
Yeah?
Okay, watch Bootleg? And there are people much better at it than I want. I was in terms of like headline writing, like much better right, watch Bootleg, Watch Bootleg. keV hesitate when asked if he supports Joe Rogan's inWORD use. Now, you could do it that way, I wouldn't do that, because that's leading too much. It's actually not the type of headline.
I will write.
I will write, I will watch boot Bootleg keV. I'll probably put it in quotes, Bootleg keV on Joe Rogan's inWORD use well, and I'll put that in quote. And I will put that in quote. I will do like whatever you said, I will like. I would like I would put Bootleg keV because this because then I got this is what I want. What I want the headline number one audio. I don't want your name, God bless you. You know whose name? Who names? Whose name? Do I want? That's the name I want. So I want Joe Rogan's
name in the headline. Okay, so I want Joe. I might even go I might even do this. I might even put above the headline. I might put Joe Rogan right, and then I might put uh uh podcast or Cactus t agrees or balks or hesitates when asked if he likes inward usage on Joe Rogan experience boom, We're going everywhere? Now, then this is what I'll do. Then I'll take the clip of Joe Rogan saying the in word over and over and over again. That's a subasset in the post that's at the bottom of the post.
All right, really yeah, this is this sounds this sounds yeah, how I see it. This is how you do it.
Then as a subasset at the bottom of the post. And then I put tags and all throughout there. I got hyperlinks, I got, I got Rogan's apology in the post. I got Rogan saying the inward in the post. I got the whole nine. And then I leave off on.
A question I'm wondering because you obviously worked at TMZ, right your I mean, you have one of the more famous moments ever. Was there ever anything you're a part of over there that you ever like regretted later on in terms of like maybe a particular story or like what you just told me you like that, like you just walked me through this whole thing, which was essentially your job. Was there ever anything you you look back on and you're like, like, damn that I was.
A part of, that you were a part of, or is there plenty of things that happened at TMC that I was embarrassed about, not even just that you were at TMZ four, but like maybe it was a story you wrote that maybe you got wrong initials.
You maybe felt you like it was an unfair approach to that person that after you got later context, you maybe you know, were like, fuck, don't see.
Here's the thing about me. There is one time, and it's there's something that I learned from it. There was one time where I did this whole thing with a porn star that I found out wasn't sleeping with Black talent, right, okay, and so and I named the porn star mmm, the way I would do that now, because it was it was kind of like, I'm just I'm on TV. It's early, and I'm reckless. I'm just Hey, I found out that this porn start that everyone likes doesn't sleep with black talent,
and who is the porn start on camera? Well, if I do that now, it makes no sense. True. So if I found out that they didn't sleep with black talent, and so I asked a question about it, and they weren't, like, they weren't into porn. So the entire room, they don't really know what's going on, right, so they're like, oh my God, like, oh my god, blah blah blah. Harvey goes crazy, he loves the story. They put it up,
They put her up there, they do the whole thing. Now, to me, is it a relevant conversation to have about racism and porn or why certain porn stars won't do scenes with black guys? Sure, is a relevant conversation, but it's such a wides widespread thing that's probably unfair to make one person the face of that, right, if you're going to talk about it the way you talk about it and not make one person the victim of a lot of vituall when that person might not necessarily be
a racist. Is you just say hey, you ask the same question because I asked them by on the street. I said, hey, blah blah blah blah blah, doesn't do that. I name the person. You just say, hey, my favorite points are ports are alike or whatever whatever like that, and then you you have the same conversation. You get the same fears, but somebody doesn't have to bear the brunt.
Of it because it's it's an industry wide It's.
Not an industry wide thing. Only certain people do it, you know, not talking about just the racism and porn in general. Racism and porn is an industry wide thing. Now, I don't have any problem talking about that, and I don't have any problem asking somebody, Okay, well then what's the reason that you wouldn't work with black talent?
What is that reason?
Because there, it's that is it's it's such a fundamental, such a fundamentally troubling thing to me, Like okay, you're you'll do all of this.
But like not that.
I mean, later on I figured out that they've talked to enough people black and white, and they told me that they are just straight up business reasons for it. Whatever it's their industry. I'm not gonna get involved with it. They can fight their own battle. But what I'm saying is whatever it is, whatever it is, forget about it,
whatever it is. What I have to do is be really intentional when I want someone to wear a problem, when I want to put a problem on somebody, when you're on television, when you have a microphone in front of you, you have to be super intentionally, super intentional when you call somebody out, because when you call somebody out, you make them the issue that you're talking about and they have to have earned that to such a degree that you have to be so sure about that, or
else you just don't care about your own responsibility. That's something that I regretted or something that I learned to do differently. As far as stories that I might have broken, to be honest with you, not really, and I'll tell you why. The stories that I was involved with, they weren't that big a deal. Like my job at TMZ. I wrote a lot of stories. But my job at TMZ, especially after the first couple of years, because you know,
I was on the street. Well you started with like the tourist, I was on the team, and then I was on the street right with the camera. Sometimes those interactions I would regret, just like running up on somebody like yeah, and it's because I'm from the South. And for the most part, that job was fun. And for the most part, for the most part, celebrities in Los Angeles they know the do. They're cool, they're cool, they're
they're down to have a good time. But every once in a while, you put the camera on somebody and you look and they'd have that look of I'm really having a fucked up day, Like something's going on with me, like something's happening, or you put your camera on somebody and they would be like, I know, crying, or they would be sad, or you know, they're.
With their kids. Was there a specific instance you can recall?
Not really, not a specific one that I can recall. You know, of course you would have people get mad at you, but uh not one where I felt that I can recall that I felt really really bad about. But I just know that it was like there were certain times to where I was like, I ain't not fucking feeling this today.
The paparazzi game is such an interesting one. I always have been like super intrigued by it. Like I watched did you ever see the Netflix show? It was only one season where they like the ambulance chasers who they go and they get the footage on like accidents and then they sell it to like the news stations and stuff like that. Yeah, crazy show. I forget what it was called.
So good.
It was actually like a Netflix original. But like on the paparazzi side, it's like someone's gonna do that job, right, Those people like have to, I mean, if that's their profession, Like I'm sure paparazzi have kids, they have families, They got to support themselves. Was it like, are there like people who have just been doing this job because it feels like a means to doing something else if you're doing that job, or there are people who like they're thirty years.
They've been doing it for a long time, but doing it as long as they can do it for right, because there's always somebody new, and.
Because I think that, like the guys who get like the real private photos and I'm like, damn, so let me tell you something about that or anything this.
There are very few jobs, any type of job that you can do that are completely devoid of integrity. Like drug dealing is bad. We act like it's not, but it is.
Oh, it's terrible.
Drug dealing is bad. Right, there are levels to drug dealers. There's a way to do drug dealing, to deal drugs.
And we're talking about serious drugs here, talking about.
Serious yes, Like there are a way to deal drugs to do less harm than somebody else. Like hey, I won't deal drugs to a seven year old kid. I won't deal drugs to a pregnant lady. I won't deal drugs Like there are ways to do that. Now, it's all bad, right, but there are ways to even do that with integrity. Right. So, if you look at being a paparazzi as an inherently bad thing, which once again, it's part of a celebrity ecosystem, it's really not any
different than anything else. Like your famous. Part of being famous is leveraging and people take your picture. It's part of a celebrity ecosystem. In and of itself is not bad. However, the nature of the job sometimes can lend itself to being hyper competitive. And when it's hyper competitive, then that means that the humanity of the subjects on the other side of the camera.
Are not being taken into consideration.
So if it's and the same thing about anything else, it's I gotta be first. I gotta get the picture. I gotta get the racist photo. So I'll stick my camera up your dress. So I'll doorstep you, which means I'll be outside of your house waiting for you to come outside your house. Don't know what's gonna come outside your house. Doorstepping people, which Timz didn't do. I'll incite you.
I'll put the camera in your face and ask you about your friend who died to try to get you to cry or try to make you mad, because that picture is gonna go everywhere because once it gets hyper competitive, if and the capitalism gets involved, then that makes you look at the person as you're a big game hunter. Now you're not a photographer anymore. Now you're trying to get something.
You're trying to get something to sell to a site.
Right, So there's to if you're a freelancer, if you're TMZ, you work for TMZ, right, you got to abide by their rules, right, And like the way it's supposed to be at TMZ is if you pick your camera up someone says, hey, I'm not into it, you shut your camera down, right to be respectful. Right, it's more of an on the street interview than it is actually just snapping pictures. That is not to separate what TMZ paparazzi
are doing from anybody else. I was on the street with a lot of different guys and most of them are cool, Like most of them are cool, But then you have some guys that don't give a fuck that are going to get the shot. However, they're going to get the shot, and if they have to follow you for a little while. If they have to wait outside your kids' school, if they have to do all of that stuff, they're gonna get it. And so what I'm saying is that's not indicative of the industry per se.
To me, it's indicative of what that person is willing to do to get an extra buck or to succeed.
That's yeah. I think it's just like, you know, I feel like living here, you kind of see it a little differently because, like you said, like you'll talk to people and they'll they'll like management will call and be like, Yo, my client's leaving this restaurant at this time.
Yeah, And I mean that's a lot of it.
A lot of it is that though, like a lot like for people who don't know, like like like or the artists don't even do it right, Oh my god, bro or the artist or the actor or whatever because they want to put their narrative.
Yeah, I give you example. Oh I don't want to say names, but there was an R and B singer who was a pretty big R and B singer at one time, and I knew through a friend of mine, and you know, it was at the Saddle Ranch in this big fancy car and we had. We were the three of us were eating at the Saldar Range. Right, We're hanging out eating at the Saddle Ranch. And I was like, when you leave here, you prophasee you on the lower or whatever. And he goes, no, it's not
at all. I'm like, okay, well, I'm gonna send the camera to you. I was like, as a matter of fact, I'm not gonna send the camera to you. I got my camera in the car. I'm just gonna shoot you and we're gonna do a little thing for TMZ. And so car pulls out like a big Red Bentley or something like that, right, recognizable, guy had hits And I pulled a camera out. When I pulled a camera out and I start shooting him inside of his car, everybody starts coming around. Everybody's like, oh.
My god, who is that?
And they know his face, like they probably wouldn't have bothered him any other time, but they know it's face. So everybody's going to Man, I get in my shit and I'm going back to the office, and I get a call. Bro that fucking shit was crazy. Man. We oughtna do that all the time. Bruh. I needed that, Broh, Like I fucking needed that. Man, We should do that all the time. And now you have somebody that wants to get shots. You have people that want that you
that uh that want you to shoot them. That's a contact, that's one that if they are ever involved in a story.
You could hit them.
Now that you have that relationship, or if someone tangential to them is ever involved into a story with the story, now you have that relationship. So there is not for the most part, at least while I was that they're an adversarial relationship between TMZ and the celebrity at large, most of the celebrities dig it. I don't know how it is now things have changed a little course, but most celebrities dug it to me most and if they didn't dig it, they didn't have a problem with They
got it right. Then there are some who just can't fucking stand it, like ig Iggy mel Gibson, the fucking The like owner Luke Wilson don't fuck with it, Like a lot of people like that don't fuck with it. And if I ever saw if I saw a black celebrity and they were in a situation to where like I remember one time I saw I saw Golden Brooks, he's sweet lady. And she was eating. She was at She was actually with Regina King. They were they were eating.
This is years of.
Watchman season two. Please find no, not Regina King. She was with Regina Hall. She was with She was with Regina Hall and they were eating at on sunset. And I remember I was walking around with my camera and I asked them two black women. I'm not trying to ask. Yeah, they were eating. I asked them, like, after you guys done, do you want to do a shop? And they went, no, move on.
How to be deal? Somebody else will be around, you know. But it's just all of that stuff. Once again, it's part of an ecosystem.
What I will say about TMZ is this, there's a lot of criticism that TMZ gets right from all all kinds of people. You get criticism for team from from TMZ. People will tell you you worked there, you did this, and you did that, all that stuff. People hate TMZ. They hate it.
Everybody is TMZ true, like everyone is TMZ. Guess what when you see that famous person, what do you do?
I mean that in two ways. Number One, when people know that you work there, it doesn't matter where you go you go sit down at the nicest restaurant in La. I'm in La. I mean, I'm at a cut I sit down, somebody comes over, they know me from the show. Hey, just let you know Tom Hanks is going to be here in a little bit. You know what I'm saying. Like the valets, everyone everyone wants to be a part of it. That's what do you tip them? Yeah, if they give you a good they give you a good tip.
Yeah I would. And the other part of it is this, if you are an outlet or you are a radio station, your blog or whatever, and you repurpose a TMZ story, meaning you report on what they reported, you give the information that they got your TMZ. Yeah, I mean I've used You're like, what they want more than anything is for other people to pick up the things. Well, I also think and so and so. My thing is I've had there have been so many places where even when
I was working there and even after that, I've been criticized. Right, and then I hear them say, according to TMZ, this and this and happen. If that's like, you can't have that both ways. If a place is too fucked up for you, either you're gonna say this place has to exist and you want them to be better or you're not gonna fuck with them. And then on top of
that most of these other celebrities. I've had celebrities or people that I know directly criticize TMZ and what they've done, and then I'll see them when they have something to promote on TMZ live. You can't do it that way.
Yeah, it's like you're gonna shoo on TMZ, but then when you when you need.
Which, by the way, when I was there, there were times where the website wasn't a little irresponsible, it was insanely irresponsible, downright racist, sexist, insensitive, the whole nine. When I was there, there was an attack an attachment post twenty sixteen to Donald Trump that TMZ did a lot of his bidding. I'm not all caping for the organization, but what I'm saying is with some place like that that thrives on attention the sharing of stories, it's.
Kind of like the Vlad thing, right, It's like people talk about Vlad, but then they're going to show when they have to promote their album or they need some clout or wash.
The reality is it's a massive platform it's a huge platform, so and so people, and I don't want to compare with ladin TMZ because that I don't want to do that because you know, look, there's nothing inherently wrong with TMZ. There's actually actually inherently wrong with what laders doing. Ladders
doing interviews, TMZ is doing celebrity news. The reality is, if you have a problem with it, if you have a problem with it, the only way to do the only way to really affect that problem is to not conticipate.
Don't assume that's the only thing you can do.
And the reality is is that the influence on the the website and the platform on culture is too strong for anyone to really do that. The way I look at most people, some people with.
TMZ is like they've been right, like almost I feel like that, you know, when they're not right, they update the story in such a real time that it's like very.
Few times they're going to be inaccurate.
Yeah, and this is I mean, as a radio personality, always like yo, this check TMZ.
But I give an example. People said that TMZ was inaccurate on the Lil Wayne story. Remember that, do you.
Remember the story? Was it when he was it when he got arrested.
All right, So I'm gonna I'm gonna do another tmz uh No, it wasn't when he was arrested. When he was sick.
Oh, yes, yes, when he was having his seizures. Yes, I remember that.
This is one of the times that I caught some of the most hell. Okay, all right. So March twenty thirteen TIMS, he reported that Lil Wayne was in a coma and received his last rights at Seius and Hospital. I remember this in Los Angeles. Okay, So let's look at I'm gonna give I'm gonna give everyone right now another little lesson because here's the story right now, let's look at it. So it's been updated a bunch of times right now.
But you originally wrote this story.
No, I didn't have anything to do with it. I was, I was. I was on the street at this time.
Okay.
So it says it says Lou Wayne is in ICU critical condition after suffering yet another seizure. Where told it doesn't look good, teams, he has learned. We brought the story. Three year oldrapper was rushed to see a sign in the hospital. First of all, prays up for Wayne glad that Wayne is happy, healthy and doing of course, of course he's using this as example. This is one of the things. So all of this stuff that is being
a legend here is being confirmed through sources. So someone is telling someone this, right, Okay, someone is telling someone that this is what is going on. Okay, So let me tell you what a lie is journalistically here is that that person isn't telling us that if we're making that up right now, So when they say Lil Wayne is in critical condition and he's being read his last run, no, no, no. If a source says that and then it is put up on TMZ and it's attributed to sources, then that
story is legit. Right. If the source said it, the source said that, then the story is legit. Now if loul Wayne pulls through, the source said that, hey, it doesn't look good, that's that person's objective interpretation.
Doesn't look good.
Somebody came in like they're preparing for something objective opinion. Now Lil Wayne rebounded.
And the whole world went. The whole world.
Went TMZ lit. It was never that big of a deal. If people an example of something, you're married, I'm not calling this on your marriage I'm just using this as an example. If you have brothers or sisters, one sister, that one sister. If I walk into a restaurant right now and someone says, if I'm on the basketball court and someone that I've never met before says, hey, you know bout Let Cav, I saw you on this podcast, I'm like, yeah, it's like, Bullet cav is getting a divorce,
not blue Let CaMV is not getting a divorce. God protect this marriage, he says, blue Let cav is getting a divorce. If I run to the website and put that up on the website, that's an irresponsible story.
Because who's your source, who's my source?
You have a sister, My sister tells you, If your sister tells me, if your sister tells.
Me, then then it's like, well that's that's that's the.
Sources close to butlet cav say the marriage is on the rocks and.
Divorce is on the table or something.
If you do not get divorced, that does not make that story less true. The story is not you getting divorced or not getting divorced. The story is your sister, who they don't know who she is. You're not gonna out your source told us that you were getting divorced. The strength of that, and that goes for journalism everywhere. Hey, before the Dobb's decision is coming out, somebody gets ahold
of the opinion that somebody wrote or someone like. This hasn't leaked yet, but according to sources that tell ABC News this information is coming out. Well, if the information doesn't come out, ABC News would be embarrassed, of course, and so you have to do your due diligence with the sources that you have that they're not gonna double back on you. But the reality of the situation is if you have a source and that source is ironclad and that source is in with whomever you're talking about,
that's go on that story. The question about whether or not you would report something that's that serious and unless you knew it to be, that's different, varies varies platform platforms, platform the platform. When you report about Michael Jackson and the fact that he had passed away, you haven't seen the body, you haven't checked his pulse, you haven't done any of that stuff. You don't know when you report on Prince like you you haven't seen his dead body. Somebody that knows.
Him really well said he was dead and so, and you know that to be true.
You're staking your relationship with them in a in a journalistic way of them on them being a good source. Right, So when I say that they're normally right, it's if they if something is factually correct or factually incorrect, it normally won't go up on the site. I'll talk about one story I did have Jason Pierre Paul, the football player.
I remember him fires incident.
Maybe I knew about that before it happened, hours like hours before it happened. Somebody hit me and literally went, hey man, JPP just blew his hand off with some firewors hours before it happened. It ended up because that was on fourth of July, right, And so it ended up happening maybe at a certain time. It was on the East coast, and I couldn't ever put it up on the site. I couldn't put up on the site
because I couldn't confirm it. I couldn't get a picture of it right, I couldn't get any of that stuff right. I could have gone on the source that he did that, but it's such a finite thing that when it's this has happened not this will happen, but this has happened. I even need to be able to talk to somebody that saw the hand and can give me pictures of the hand. I need to be ironclad because I can't put that up and true, because that's a strength. It's
didn't either happened or it didn't happen. That's a straight up lie. So guess what we put it on the story.
We couldn't get it.
The guy who did get it, I think it was Schefter. He violated hippo laws to get it because he got the ship. I remember him getting in trouble. I don't want to say if Schefter, if it wasn't Schefter, So because I don't want to get.
It, you don't want to. Yeah, but somebody, somebody, you take out the.
Schefter thing there was. There was actually somebody who did get it that violated hippo laws to get the story and ended up getting in trouble. We weren't gonna do that. We weren't gonna call We weren't gonna call any hospitals to try to get it. We were calling any doctors to try to get it. I was trying to get deeper into his inner circle to have someone give me a picture of that.
Damn, that's crazy. I feel like that world the schefter, like, uh, you know, the shams versus WOS world. That shit's crazy.
M hmm.
It's so, it's it's it's it's like the sports TMZ. It's the same thing.
I mean, we have TMZ sports, so it was the same thing, but we didn't do contract stuff. It was more lifestyle stuff around guys. But the same thing. A trade is about to happen, like, uh at three hours from now they sent it to Osh said it to was wosebomb boom? What if they didn't take the deal off the table? Did woes lie? No, somebody told them that.
I was for sure. I was going to ask you. You mentioned that people were. It felt like TMZ did the bidding for Trump, and I feel like a lot of all the news networks are pretty much guilty of that.
No, they weren't.
I think CNN did in terms of just how much they covered him. There was like a free information for Trump all day. Okay, I didn't know.
I'm not talking about I'm not talking about like I'm not I'm not talking about.
What capacity did you mean when you said that.
That the stories were favorable.
They were favorable for him.
Oh yeah, okay, okay, yeah, it's like because Harvey and Trump were friends.
Oh I didn't know that they were. Well, I was going to ask you just like, because because you you you talk politics a lot on your podcast. For people who don't know, go check it out Still Podcast.
High Learning Podcasts, ring your podcast network. We're gonna have Cactus Tea on our show pretty soon.
Well, I was going to ask you, like, where do you see because I don't think Biden's gonna endup being the guy, because I think it'll lose. I think they probably know that by now.
Yeah, so roll that out for me. I was just gonna ask you, like, no, no, no, no, no, no, stay on your opinion. So BID's not gonna BID's not gonna run. So who's going to run? I think he'll probably be Gavin Newsom. Gavin Newso will run. Okay, when are they gonna make this decision?
I think they gotta make it after Super probably after Super Tuesday, so or after the primaries is what I meant to say. After the Democratic primary. Yeah, so they're gonna do the primaries. Joe Biden is then going to be. I think he's gonna take like a if I had to predict it, I think he's gonna probably just for like health reasons, just step away, which is probably like the way to do it, right.
So with every passing day, every passing second, that becomes less likely.
You're right, because I don't disagree with you. My thing is is do you feel like what happened? Because I feel like the CNN, Fox News news cycles, MSNBC during twenty sixteen twenty fifteen, all you would see is Trump trump trump, Trump, Trump, Trump, trump Trump because it was good for ratings, right, And I feel like.
Something it's also a relevant news story.
It was it was, but I feel like something similar is kind of happening now. But in terms of like all of these cases that are I mean not and he broke the law, right well allegedly obviously he's gonna go have to go to court.
And you know it looks like and if you were being objective, that there's some smoke there in some of these cases yet, right, So.
Are all these cases to me are kind of doing the same thing the media did from the first go round, Because I feel like it's kind of it like making people feel like he's like a martyr more now than ever. Who If you had to predict who's gonna be the next president right now, I will predict.
I will predict Joe Biden.
Here's the thing, So you think Biden's sticking sticking in it?
If I had to predict, if you had to, that's your scenario is uh is not out of the question. But I'm interested. All the reason why I ask follow ups is because I'm interested in the specificity of it. Right right, Okay, Joe BID's not gonna run. Everybody say, Okay, Joe BID's not gonna run. Who's gonna run? Are they gonna give Michelle to do it?
That'd be nice?
Is it gonna so?
So your situation right in your let's say it's Newsome first Trump.
Let's say it's Newsome. Right, that's a gigantic problem for the Democrats. Newsom is a is a I wouldn't say a great candidate. He's a corporate Democrat like the rest of them.
Is extremely corporate Democrat.
But he's a corporate But he is young, charismatic who was just hanging out with Clinton today, speaks incredibly well, He's a statesman, presentable, Yeah, when all Fox News was able to mix it up with Sean Hannity or whoever else they have him on there, held zone against handy, held his own against the Santas We actually the Hannity's lunch No murdered handed. Yeah, but okay, So if Gavin Newsom is your candidate, what's the problem with that? What's the huge problem with him being a candidate?
I think that the national opinion of California is that it's in shambles and that he's a terrible I don't think that's that big of a deal. What do you think is the main problem?
You jumped Kamala Harris. So the fact that you jumped Kamala Harris right after making such a big deal.
Of her being the first one, being the first vice president.
Yeah, VP, you jumped Kamala Harris. Now, every single black women, not all of them, but a lot of black women. Let me not speak in absolutes that uh support Democrats more loyal blindly than any other group. I wouldn't say blindly, no, no, but very very like. I mean, my grandma and my mom are like that. What I'm saying is those democrats't matter. Black women are incredibly well educated, and I think they're making decisions. Uh. I don't think it's blind support. I
think it's traditional support. I wouldn't call it blind. Those voters are now to a degree disenchanted. Now, that doesn't mean that they would vote for Donald Trump. I'm not saying that at all. But what I am saying is it would be incredibly politically risky if you were going to go with another candidate, so to alienate your base, most loyal loyal base. So let's say it's Kamala Gavin, Kamala Gavin like Kama at the top of the ticket, Gavin as vice president.
Will you do that? I would? I would think so.
I mean he wants to be president absolutely. I think he will be one day. The question is not the question is when. The question is is it twenty eight? Does does Kamala still get her turn? Does she still get her turn at president? Is he? Uh? Does does she come back in twenty eight? Then? Does he have to wait? Or does he jump her? Obama jumped a couple of people. Yeah, it just sometimes you you you grab the world in your hands and you.
Have to do that. Jump Hillary jump Hillary?
Right, and so then when you come back to kind of what he was were talking about in terms of of Donald Trump. Right now, there's a couple of questions I would ask you, h, who's indicting Donald Trump?
I mean that's the question if he gets indicted. I think that is, well, he's been indicted, if he gets convicted, Rather so if he gets question.
Is when I say who's indicting them? I'm talking about I'm asking specific questions about the coverage. Right. See, and n isn't indicting Trump. MSNBC isn't indicting Trump. Trump has been indicted in New York, in Georgia, and he's been
indicted by Justice Department. Okay, So those entities indicting Donald Trump, whether you feel like it's politically motivated or not, they have a duty to prosecute crimes, right, and if there are crimes committed under their watch and they become aware of these crimes, they're not going.
To take it to indictment unless they think they can get a conviction.
Right, That's the only purpose of doing it. So they have to prosecute criminals. So what I wouldn't want is a Justice Department or a DA or any these people that represent the car Storo, the carcural conditions of America and the cartal state that we live in, which is bad. I'm not a huge fan of just locking people up and throwing away to key. That's not the way I look at the world. But I wouldn't want any of them to not indict or prosecute, specifically a wealthy white
man because they think it's bad politically. I think if you are going no one thinks about whether or not it's bad for the hood. When you are going to indict a man for selling drugs and he has a family, or he has a baby's mother, he has no one thinks about if it's bad for his family. No, for sure, nobody thinks about it if it's bad for anything else. When they do that, I see criminal, I get criminal.
I put criminal in jail. So and more often than not, when we're looking at the other side of this, those guys are being targeted, They are being stopped in frisk. Sure, there are police in their neighborhoods waiting to create a criminal. Out of the circumstances and the systemic dysfunction and failure that has existed in America for a very long time, there are people.
Waiting to do that, so they're almost born into.
This sort of uh legal entrapment that for a lot of them is difficult to escape. So the question isn't whether or not, it's it's making people sympathetic to Donald Trump. The question is did he fucking do it?
So I think that's the question on the factual base, but perceptually it doesn't matter.
What difference does that make? Though? Well, I mean, well, and so you so you would want you would want the Justice Department to say no, because then that would certainly do what between the Justice no, no, No.
What I'm saying is you're saying they're doing their job, which they are doing. I think that Joe Schmoe's perception of what's happening is, oh, it's all happening. At the same time, there's a reason why they don't want him in, so I'm gonna vote for him.
That's Look, here's the thing. I'll just be honest with you. Maybe maybe there are people who who are more sympathetic to them and criminals. Right, I'll tell you what. People of Americans have had a long cultural relationship with criminality. Right, mafioso's scarface, scarface, dope dealers all have been lying eyes, and there've been movies made about them. Also, I'll tell
you what they've never done. They've never took taken one of those guys that they knew to be a criminal and decided that he was going to lead the country. So what I'm going to say is this, if we are so deep down the rabbit hole of Trump's being persecuted or something like that has happened to that you want them to lead the nation, that's fine. You can't argue.
Listen, it's a wild It's not wild at all. It's a wild. I just feel like we've been living in like a Family Guy episode or a South Park episode the last like eight years. So like if he's like re elected, I would not be surprised.
I wouldn't be surprised either. Look, here's the thing when you when you ask me why I think that he'll lose, or why I think that Biden, who is objectively a bad candidate for sure, like objectively a bad candidate.
Yes, right, I'll give you a couple of examples.
Well, I think that.
One.
History tells me Trump will lose. Trump won one election and then he's been consistently losing elections since then, lost in twenty twenty the midterms, people have flipped on them. They've cooled.
All the people who have dived into the elections stealing shit have been losing.
Yeah, Also that there's been a referendum from America on trump Ism, on the whole maga thing. The parts of America that are very definitively maga are not going to come away from it. They feel represented and seen through that.
So that's not going to change.
But the people who are at the margins of that that actually flipped elections, they have been going a different way. So I would have to see them elect him again for me to change trend, not for me to believe it, because they do do it in twenty sixteen to change trend number one. I also do think that as the criminal trials beginning, as thing's mount he will probably become even less desirable by some of the other people on the side. The Republicans are working against Donald Trump right now.
They're trying to get fronton sadis whatever not gonna be able to do it. He's still gonna way. But I'll say this, so with all of that stuff, like, I think that Joe Biden probably still would beat Donald Trump if if he ends up in a general election. About Joe Biden and the Democrats are doing themselves, I'm I'm all the way to the left. They're doing themselves a tremendous disservice in the way they are running their campaign.
I just saw Obama, like sources close to Obama said that he's there.
You go, yeah, so.
You saw that story about I did.
Yeah, there are there are a couple of measurables out there that actually look good for the president, that look good for his administration. Economy is coming back, not the way people will want it to come back, but it's coming back robustly, not maybe as quick as people want to come back. Economies coming back, gas prices coming down. We keep talking about how bad things are in the streets. Data says, y'all talk to people. You always have to
talk to people. But data says that violent crime is down in most of the places where it was up before. There's still places where it's terrible. And if you're on the ground in some of these places and you talk to people, they're gonna get You're gonna get all kinds of different stories about how their lives actually are. I get that. So there are things to message, they're not messaging them.
Well, they've always kind of been the worst at promoting themselves there. They have a messaging problem, well, one a branding problem.
Well, one problem they have now is that they don't have an executive that's capable of speaking with authority and charisma to his wins or to Australia, his his failure, right, they don't have that.
He's not capable.
He's not capable and for whatever reason, they've sidelined Kamala Harris. She hasn't been where she.
Needs to be.
People think that these things are criticisms of the Democrats that I make. I'm not Democrat, but I said, I'm always to the left, but I don't have any part of affiliation. People think that these criticisms I'm making a Democratic party are ones that I'm making because there's some sort of secret agenda from me or from anybody else. There are observations that I hope that people would listen
to so that these things would change. There's no problem right now that people that look at the world like me are observing that would be better under Donald Trump. The war in the Middle East will be prosecuted in a much less favorable way, in a much more aggressive and bloody way to the Palestinians and Gaza than it already is being. And what we're seeing over there right now is terrible, ridiculous, murderer, a crazy so just all
over the place. But it would be worse under Trump. Trump, while he was in office, you could make an argument stoked.
Some of these tropes.
No, they he stoked some of these fires, Some of these tensions arose under him. He made the decision geopolitically to move the embassy uh to Jerusalem and recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, which was a long held point of contention between you know, Israel and the West Bank, like who runs who has Jerusalem? Everybody had just said, kind of we're leaving out on the table. We're not trying to figure that out where it's It's a place
that nobody kind of owns. You talk about Jordan all that stuff, and Trump's like, no, no, no, no, Jerusalem is the cultural and political center of Israel. He moved it there, and not very many other places in the world went along with him doing that. The reality of it is that he did that to signal just how staunch an ally he years of not just Israel, but of bebing that in Yahoo. I want to make sure I say this, Any criticism that I have of Israel is of Israel as a state. Any criticism that I
have of any state is of that state as a state. Right, people are diving deep into some pretty obvious anti Semitism, and these things are being conflated. But if you are talking about a country and it's geopolitical actions, it's economic actions, it's human rights violations or human rights violations that have been committed against them in October seventh, one of the worst terrorist attacks we've ever seen, you have to talk
about it in a sanitized, intellectual way. And the reality is there's a geopolitical advantage for the United States to have an ally where Israel is situated, for them to have a country that has some semblance of democracy and blindly support and to blindly support it, not because they believe in Israel. It's people, it's freedom, it's self determination, or the freedom of the self determination of anybody else in that region, but because they believe in their own
and it's their own interests at heart. It's being able to check up on Iran, Iran and being able to have an ally there and so you'll send them as a mini a pasture helicopters as they need three point three billion dollars a year. So when you're talking about like what you think a country should be able to do and what they should what they should do, you're
talking about how you look at the world. And the way I look at the world is through things that have been deprived of me when I was a kid in Baton Rouge, which is freedom, justice, access to food, water, healthcare, environmental justice, one person, one vote, having your life matter. Those are things that when I'm consistently burying people where I'm from, that I do not see being reflected in certain situations all over the world, right, And that's the
way I look at the world. I don't look at the world through America.
First.
I don't look at the world through the lens of what's good for us is the most important thing to me. I'll look at the world through the lens of are people getting what they need? People have what they need? Particularly in this case, I'm asking America to be the police for the entire world. Particularly in this case, America.
Is involved, yeah, very much involved. Without being involved in America's involved.
So if America is involved, and you know, three cents out of every dollar that I have are going to the Defense Department or whatever the number is probably more than that, then what I want to know is that the people in charge have values and beliefs about the value and sanctity of human life that align with mine.
Well, the only candidate that's running that, it's Corner West that shares those I feel like, because everybody else I feel like is very much.
This is what I mean. It's not a Biden thing, it's not Trump thing. It's an American thing. America.
I think that's the most support.
Here's here's the deal and the killing of Jeffrey Epstein, and my god, it's like, it's like, but here's the thing. This is what I'm saying. I'm saying is this. I'm saying that I have a problem with their being with having allies, the problem with America being like like in a cultural or economic or even a military alliance with Israel. The problem becomes when things are being rubber stamped that as an American citizen, I think go against our stated morals and.
Goals value the values of the country.
I have never been upheld or things that go against mind, and I'm allowed to say. Hey, you know what, I want everybody to be safe. I want everybody to feel safe in their own home. I love the fact that there's a place where Jews can go and they can feel at home and they can feel safe. I want everybody to have that. But at the same time, what I want is for power in the world to be responsible. That's it.
That's beautiful, beautifully said.
Look we out. I gotta say something real before I go. I'm fucking with Catus Tea and everything that you're doing. Baby, Thanks.
My mixtapes coming soon.
Catus t mixtape coming soon. Joe Rogan in word situation, I'm a I'm a. I'm a By the end of the week. When is this dropping? Uh? Probably Friday, Okay, So by next Friday. By next Friday, you gonna be Donald Trump.
Wow.
Because I'm gonna write this headline, adopted this headline. I'm gonna go, they're very fine people. I'm gonna find I'm gonna find all the other stuff you did for some subassets. I got you. Not fuck with what you've been talking.
I appreciate it.
Yeah,