Old vs. New

Big Spills from the Streets. Hello, Welcome to the Gangster Chronicles podcast, the production of My Heart Radio and Black Effect Podcast Network. Make sure you download the I Heart Happen. Subscribe to The Gangster Chronicles for my Apple users, hit the Purple Michael your front screen. Subscribe to the Gainst Chronicles and leave a start rating the comment we liked. Welcome every one to another episode or that cames the

Chronicles podcast. And I'm with my guy and you know our special guest co host he haven't been floating around for the last few few episodes. Big Core from the Holding Core podcast. What's up, brother, what's going on with you, bro. Oh man, you know what, man, dutiful man. We above the surface man, and we have a lot of conversations offline, and one of the things we've been talking about lately is this generational divide and much you know, it's like

the young against the old. You know, not just in hip hop music either, but you would see a resonate a little bit more in hip hop where you would get somebody like a twenty one Savage come out and say, well, Na, it's not really relevant. Like that. You have a couple other dudes and maybe in their mind, maybe to him, NAS is not relevant. M I think sometimes we're a little bit too hard on our youth and don't really listen to what they're saying. Sometimes everybody needs to stop

check in everybody's pocket. That's our problem. We were involved with the next Man guy, you feel me, so yeah, you know, whether he's relevant or not, whether he's bigger than him or not, if you're doing good, congratulating Patty on the back. We don't do that, man. We don't congratulate each other. You know. Everybody want to be on the tip. They don't want nobody about them. That's us. Yeah, that's real. I guess it's always been like that. It's

the old Willie Land syndrome. You know what I'm saying, young against old, you know, dark skinned against light skinned. You know what I'm saying, educated against uneducated. You know that's the that's the age old. Uh divide amongst us as a culture, as a race. Yeah, I believe it. He is not. Think it's almost inevitably whenever you have older people or younger people, this can always be a little decide for division. Because this is something that just

didn't start. You know. I remember at one time the hammer Pians was in style, and my mom just couldn't understand why I had to have period of motherfucker's you know what I'm saying. She just didn't get it. But I had to have those. I had that, yeah, on multiple per and used to go to get I was fucking with. I was wearing dickies and ship back then. But you know what, But but I will say this, though there is a difference at least I'm gonna say

to my generation, I'm generation x UM. I believe James and you y'all might be baby boomers, like almost to my generation, I'm not a baby bro don't put that down. I don't know. I'm not no baby boomer. Let me see, I'll tell you what I am. But because jen jen X starts at what let me see I think right now, you know what I might be thinking? Malent? Yeah, because gen X is up to nineteen eighties, so it might

be sixty five to eighty or something like that. Right, probably we us this crap Americas between born betwe when next to bro? Okay? All right, so yeah, so y'all both generation next I think James might be. But regardless, our generation, we um man we we man. We we worshiped our O G s. And especially with music, think about us doing music in the eighties and the nineties. We sampled all their records. We we name dropped them,

you know what I'm saying. If we met him, we was fans, you know what I mean, Like we really we really respected the ones that came before us. But now it's a different culture. These young niggas they think that everything started with them. They think that everything before them is obsolete. It's old. It don't means ship, it ain't ship. And I don't know where that came from,

because my generation wasn't like that. Like we love George Clinton and Funkadelic and you know, even me growing up on Ghetto Boys and and in the West Coast Cuban w even the East Coast Cats, you know what I mean, Big Daddy Kane and all them them niggas was like gods to us. We read did their songs and everything. So certainly revered, yeah, revered absolutely, But now it's like, you know, when when the conversation has had, you know, it's in a more of a a pejorative, you know

type fashion where it's always negative. All them niggas ain't eating them niggas ain't gotten nothing. Them niggas is old, but they don't realize that one day ship especially in rap years. You oh, by the time you're thirty, you know what I'm saying. So you niggas do know that you're going to get older one day and you're gonna want people to respect what you accomplishing, what you brought to the table. So I don't know, bro, You know, they used to bother me at one time, court, but

I think as you get older, you get more mature. Yeah, And I kind of just let up in these junctures and I just tell them keep on living, absolutely, keep on living, you know, unless and then that's the thing too. Man. I just think that it's almost sad when you look at It's almost like we are preconfisient to believe that once you hit the age of thirty is a black man you old C've been called me what's up? Oc? Since I was thirty years old? Bro, that's crazy. And

thirty is young. Thirty young, so super young, you know, thirty, Yeah, for sure. And I believe that these kids, James, they're just automatically embedded to where they're gonna die by a certain age. I think they are. I think they're just going to be just anticipated deaf. I mean, what do you think? What what you go ahead? Jack? I think I think were down at the early age when I was coming up because I've lost a lot of a lot of friends. Uh and the early part of eighties,

mid eighties, a lot of people was getting killed. We

lost a lot of people all over. So, you know, I said it once before, history just repeats itself with us looking at our big homies, then our little homies looking at us, and now the respect level is just played out, you know what I'm saying, And every every generation gets worse and worser because look at look at my generation, I'm older, not around, and look at the cats that's there now, they bear now because the US is gone and the younger cats are not respecting those guys.

So with them saying that their generation, the next generation under there is coming, is growing up and they're not respecting them. So every year, every generation that changed, and it's getting worse and worser, and it's going to be a point where just all watered down to a point where there's I mean, we just don't care no more,

you know what I'm saying. And and we gotta stop blaming everybody else and start blaming ourselves to a certain extent, because if if if somebody, if if us, look at look how they speak on um, the Muslims, how they are with each other, that's how we should be in general period. We should need that way. But we're not, you know what I'm saying, because we got we got older cats such as my age still participating and feeding

the bs. We we got the rap music is when way off the off the charts with the disrespect, you know what I'm saying. So you see social media, how everybody is going at each other. You see grown men sitting here arguing, talking like women like like, going back and forth. So we're not we're not teaching our our kids kids to what they should see. You know what I'm saying. Our young women is watching loving hip hop and that's all you see is black strong women fighting.

So it don't matter if you're rich or not. This is what it's about or if you make it. How can I be a millionaire and hating them? The next cat coming up, the next brother, you know, climbing the ladder, And that's what we see today are the people that should be in position to change and doing it. They're promoting well, right, James, And that's what I was going to say. You know, I listened to these young kids, right,

and I really pay attention to them. I'm making my business to know what they got on their mind, right, So I don't think we're really giving them a lot of I don't think we're given them monks to really look up to, because, like James said, the biggest clowns online are guys that are over the age of forty five. Let let that just process a little bit. And there's people you don't see no Mexicans on there like that. You don't see people on there like that. You don't

see no white folks on there like that. It's always us. You see a bunch of dudes that look like there's somebody's grandfather, and these cats all older than me, and I'm looking at them like, Wow, you're all really up there playing your stuff like that right now? Yeah, it's like for them, CPM has got some of these dudes are here really just and you can it about it still. You know, like, I know a lot of these niggas ain't eating like that because the content it's so vitriolic,

it's so you know what I'm saying, acrimonious. You know, they're not getting ads like that. You know, they ship getting nan and everything, so they're not even really eating like that. But you know, I really don't know what that's related to, Bro, because you're right, I don't even see the younger generation in terms of using social media to down each other and clown each other and try to find dirt. That's some old beauty shop ship. Like

I can't participate in that. That's ship. Sound like that's why me personally, Bro, I've never watched reality shows. You know, I don't look at gossip sites because to me, that ship feels feminine. It feels feminine to be talking about what Nigga is sleeping with who and how much money and Nigga got, you know, and looking at my mind don't work like that. But it's almost like social media. It's a gift and a curse, you know what I'm saying.

It's a gift and a curse. Like social media is creating some monsters, you know what I mean, And it's giving motherfucker's egos that they don't have in real life, you know what I mean. Motherfucker get online and just turn into anybody they want to be. Nigga could be a stepper. Nigga's trying to recreate history on social media because you're lying to a bunch of people that know don't know you. You know. It's supposed to be entertainment, but that's but that's us though. I mean, let's call

it what it is. Man As Niggas being niggas. Niggas will funk up anything and misuse anything. You know what I'm saying. Um, manniggas will do niggas ship niggas and flies bro niggas can't stay out of ship for ship. So at some point accountability, man, just with how we do each other, you know what I mean? Like all this ship is crazy. Still I think about it often,

and I always think about solutions. I don't want to be a person that's always so hypercritical but but can't offer a solution, you know what I mean exactly, you know, And that's why I didn't want to. Just my intent is never to come in and go off on the youngsters. How about that type, because like from the music they make, they're making stuff for them. I shouldn't like they music

with I mess with what they're doing. And I'm like, man, you know, because I'm like listening, what's new, what's coming up next? Especially when you're a person that's so called love hip hop? You know, I don't have my legs in my hip hop. I like, you know, I'm here to the Playboy CARDI Kat. I like him. I like it's some NBA young boy stuff. I'm hip top Kevin Love, Kevin Gates. I'm a big Kevin Days fans. It was well, Um, I just think, man, we're not giving these guys much

to go off. But then I'm gonna go back to something right, mm hmm. You know one thing I do respect about the New York Cats. You would never hear nothing the come up their mom to talk bad about Big Daddy, came to talk bad about cool she wrapped. They just won't do it. They revered their people. Roll me land on something real quick, especially with rock and roll, right, yes, especially with rock and roll. Mick Jagger and the Rolling Stones.

They and they setings out there still getting it. And guess what, you can hear every young rock and roll person give it up to them. They're gonna say, I look up to them, my love him, And when you go to their conscience, you will see young people there too.

Now go ahead say you say, like, my apologies, I didn't mean to interrupt you, But what I was gonna say is I agree with that to an extent, because from what I can see from my vantage point that the thing bro, these young niggas don't want to know their history. They don't say nothing about them because they don't know about it. They don't know who they are. Because because you gotta think about it, it's some of some of our my generation get mad at at young

niggas because they don't know Tupac. They don't know Biggie. But respectfully, you have to understand a lot of these niggas was born after Tupac was dead and Biggie was dead, you know, So to them, young thug is they o g you know what I mean, Like niggas like that, So they're not like how we were, you know, like me, I listened to VARs and confunction. I like the old ship that was before me, you know what I'm saying,

Like I was interested in that. But now with technology, you know, they just feel like everything is now, it's so instant, so there's really no appreciation for history. So some of why you don't hear them niggas talking about them because they just don't know who they are. Ask a young nigga from New York, Kudi Rabbit. You know what I'm saying, a lot of them, A lot of them don't know, Bro, They really don't know. And and so I can't get mad at them necessarily, right, I

can't get mad. But me to me, if you're an artist, right, you're gonna go back and study Van Going all those people, right, you would think you would think you would go back and study Van Go. I knew, I would. I knew, I would you feel what I'm saying, I knew, I knew. Like, man, it ain't nothing about hip hop that you can't ask me that I don't know. And see, this ain't so much about hip hop right now, man, this is just

about just life in general. If you asked you, if you ask a younger cat today, who um Jesse Jackson Neils, who Jesse Jackson was, who Martin Luther King was? Outside of them too, they probably can't tell you nothing about no shape but very or nothing like somebody because they don't know, don't They barely knew about them too, and them they don't really give a funk. You know, I'm gonna tell you something that really triped me out. I

was talking to my daughter one day. You know, we just right and he now we with our kids, we always trying to make small talk, right. I was telling her, like, hey, you know, just the soldiers and what comes are really based on a really a female army that was really strong in Africa and they fall off the French for like four the years. She said, Dad, I don't really care all that. Why just like that, like I don't like why like why do I care, like I don't care,

and I thought that would be interesting. Yeah, but yeah, she said, Man, I ain't dripping off of that stuff. That episode wasn't wn't running around e jungle fighting, and I was like, damn, you don't care. So so dig is still so even with that statement though, that's the difference in generation. We couldn't even fix our mouth to say that ship. Back then, we just acted like we gave a funk, you know, even though we like, I don't care about this ship. It was oh yes, ma'am,

you know what I'm saying. Oh for real, you know you you couldn't even fix your mouth to even act like you didn't care, you know. So that just that's the you know the difference with this generation, bro, you know what I mean, Like they don't really uh, you know, respect a whole lot or or or I don't know.

I think it's technology, bro, I think technology is really what funk this ship up, to be honest with you, because I've even talked to youngsters and my kids, and they do they think because they have access to YouTube and Google, they feel like, oh, the information is right there, not understanding that some of the ship you land on was written by motherfucker's. That hell, they don't know what the hell they talk about. It's just they you know, it's just their opinion. So you know, you could be

subscribing and taking on some ship by motherfucker. This as dumb as you, but because you looked it up and they got a website, you take it as law. But you know, but you know how they say, man, the Bible say it, bro profit is not respected in his home? You know, he ever noticed how we can say some ship to our kids and the going one year after other niga say something to him. It's like it became all the time. It's like and I'm telling them, like, there's no money in this world. Is going to give

a funk about you? Like I give a funk about you? Right, But you would rather going to listen to these other motherfucker's than me telling you something. And it's like it's long. Somebody tell she was right, and they treat me all you for real, boy, what a revelation. I was actually right. I actually know what the funk I'm talking about them. Hey, sometimes you know you gotta let life kick these these

youngsters in the ash. You know what I'm saying, because nothing gonna hit harder than life, nothing's gonna talk louder than experience, you know what I'm saying. But like back to the generational divide though, um, you know, I don't know. I mean, let me ask you, big Jake, do you think that we Do you think we failed? Do you think we failed them? Do you think your generation failed us? My generation and in essence ship we felt the youngsters. Now.

I to be honest, I think every generation failed each other because the generation before me, that's say they failed me. I had the homies, I had people that rooted me on with I get down, and a lot of people praising to get down, opposed to man, cut this ship out. Go to school, man, what you're doing hanging out in the hallway, Go get in class. So I think we we all let each other down because we'll be we'll be HYPOCRISTI I we sit up here and say, it's

this generation, PAULM. We as black man, has been sucking up from the beginning, you know what I'm saying, And we still haven't caught on to where we're supposed to go and where we should be. So we all we we all dropped the ball and and the cold part about it is is you only have a handful of black men, strong black men trying to uplift these young cats, trying to teach them and show them. You got a lot of guys on some of their platforms teaching kids. I believe we we we can be a double as sword.

We can't say I'm praising the kids, I'm helping the kids. I'm an activist. But you out here on some other whole different ship, disrespecting black women and the whole line. So, yeah, bro, we we have leedy. We have let ourselves down for a long time. Nobody really came with a solution to say how we can fix us. And if we don't do that, I guarantee you two thousand and we're gonna be lost. It ain't gonna matter if a black man got money, it ain't gonna matter because we're gonna try

to get what that black man got. We ain't gonna try to go rib the white man. We're gonna rob each other because we think that's the safe place to do it. We were better off doing our doing ourselves, you know what I'm saying. So if we don't kill each other off by it's over. Bro. If if these guys that got these platforms, these men that that's around a lot of kids, these coaches and everybody else don't step their game up us if we don't step our game up and and really for mode saving kids we

asked out and that's playing an uncut Yeah. So yeah, we gotta step letting each other down, brother, you know. And a big part of that too is, um, we don't do things to be genuine no more. Everybody always has an ankle. Nobody just goes out their way to do stuff for the community. Because I remember when I ran my youth football program. I actually spent a lot of my own money. I had a bunch of kids

playing in the program that was there for free. But I knew I couldn't just kick them dudes in the street. They come up, they want to play football. There was always like, okay, let me try to figure out a way that these dudes can play. You know, one year, my man top Dog, you know, shout out to my boy top with t V. He gave some money towards you know, the look he is playing one year, which was real cool. You know what I'm saying. What's real cool? When I reached out to him for that he made happen.

But we don't have people out there. The guys that are really out there man, trying to actually be something to the youth are few and far between. That would always have to be some form for a lot of cats out there. Them getting the trophy. I'll tell him, I saying, man, y'all here every year, go through all this stuff just to get this little fifty dollar trophy at the MT year to say, y'all want the super Bowl,

like y'all the ability check or something. They want to be competitive, They want to be they want to be relevant themselves, and not thinking that it's for the kids. You know, when you see these kids playing football at school, the parents is in the beach. You're fighting. Come on, what are we what are we teaching them? We're showing them something totally different. And and I can honestly say this, I lived that ship. I know what what different is

opposed to living? Right, you know what I'm saying or from what I've seen it, don't intention to buy my situation. This is what I want to be. We gotta take that mind frame from our kids. You don't want to be like that, right, I tell everybody you don't want to be like a mob James. You don't want to be like, uh, a twokey. You don't want to be like those those guys, you know what I'm saying. You know, they did something for the for our game culture. Those

guys were somebody in our gang culture. But let's teach our kids how to live, you know what I'm saying in a real kind of way. So we know that us as as black people, we're not a monolist and I think that, you know, just like the music, I

think it lacks balance, you know what I'm saying. Um, But as it comes to like what what what Jay is saying, there are people out there that are doing great things and positive things, you know what I'm saying, But for whatever reason, the media that's not appealing to the masses. They don't want to see that. You know, the media don't push that because I think that people are followers by nature, people as sheep right. So imagine if the young rappers and the people that that had influence.

Imagine if they were talking positive. Imagine if the rappers started rapping about ship that they wanted to see. We all know how it is in the hood. We know it's fucked up. We know what that life is like. But now let's talk about if you change that narrative talking about you want to see niggas win, you want to live, you know, instead of that's drill and let's let's kill. Let's step man, let's live, let's get to

some money, let's raise our kids. That ship could still sound dope, right, So niggas gotta make the positive ship. I mean, it's it's that easy, the same way we came up with the negative ship. Think about it. It went from the sixties seventies disco. Remember, everything was about love. Everything was about court and abroad and getting some you know what I'm saying, getting some love and some masks and you know, hey, sexy, I don't want to take you out and all of that. Then it just went

to funk a bit, don't with my niggas all day. Well, you know, one thing I remember, man, that my of me coming up is that the men I did have in my life were always men like. And I thought about that one day. I said, well, maybe we didn't have social media. Fact, then maybe it was it's always been a bunch of dumb ass old niggas. But then I thought about it, but then I thought about it. I have never meant nobody to act like these dudes. Have you, James, think about think about think I think

about it. Have you ever been a foolish as old man? Yeah, yeah, I have to. I have to. But the difference was is it's almost like the junkie ship we was talking about right back in the day, if a nigga played with his nose and did some ship, he knew uncool. He kept it a secret, he didn't broadcast it. Right. So even back in the day, you had niggas in the church, you had you know, niggas with whole families that had other families across town. But they carried themselves

with a certain coup, you know what I'm saying. That's what I'm saying. So I'm not saying that they are you know, above, you know, are infallible. They you know, they was bullshit. Had been around since since the beginning of the time. You know, motherfucker's has always been on bullshit. But it's like back in the day, like even when the nigger went to the pin. When I was growing up, if an uncle went to the pin, they just said he went down south with other family. You know what

I'm saying. It wasn't a thing like oh yeah ship you know hor me sitting down, whoo whoo whoa Because think about it, we celebrate when the nigga come home after doing ten more than we do when a person graduated college college, that's what I chelled. My grandson where his you know his problems? Yeah, how to stay working? You know what I'm saying. And I don't see his mind with Oh my dad and Jim, You're not gonna go to school to ever make that statement. You know

what I'm saying. If the kids say where your father? No, you never so you know they was out. They was out to stay working. But when like what you were saying earlier, if if, if reppers changed their message and their music, kids won't have a choice because they're flowing off the beat already and if they're listening to it, you're recondition in their minds to say, Okay, I can do this now. If you see young black men dressed up sharp with a tie on, the next one gonna

want to be like that too. That's flying. Yeah. You know we don't see that. We don't see our our young today in the suit. They think it's hey, they think it's bullshit, right right, even if even if you think about balance, bro, like you know, I listen, I'm not gonna be a hypocrite. I like some gangster ship. I like some ship with the edge. But even back in the day, think about it, bro, One of the most memorable songs was what will Smith Fresh print Summertime.

I'm still my favorite. You know what I'm saying. And back then, you have balance, You had kids and play, you had uh you know, young MC, you have balance. You still had the gangster ship, but you have balance now everybody, I mean, with exception to Kendrick J. Cole, I mean you can count on one hand. You know what I'm saying. Everybody a stepper. Everybody life fucked up, everybody got it out the mud, everybody got bodies, everybody selling,

everybody Pablo Escobar, you know what I'm saying. So you know, and the youngsters are impressionable. And I used to defend this is the thing I could be. I'm gonna be transparent, right because I was a rapper. I signed with No Limit Records in I was a gangster rapper and I was living that ship too. I made excuses I did. I made it. I didn't get it. I had to grow a little bit, but I made excuses for the music being as influential as it was, Like I would

just be like his music. Bro, this is just mute, you know, I said to all the rapper ship. But once I got older, I looked back on some of my own experiences and I had Cebow on my show recently. I even told C Bow. I said, C Bow, I said, Man, I gotta tell you, Bro, your your music got me and some ship. I said, I was listening to one of your songs. I turned my gangster up. You know what I'm saying. When the song came up, I end

up getting into a shootout. You know. But I wonder if if I wasn't playing that song, I probably would have got my ass on, you know what I'm saying and just went about my business. So I had to be honest with myself to say, even me as a strong wheel mature, you know, young adult. I was always mature beyond my years and I knew better, but even still it influenced my mood, you know what I mean. Just like something when I can listen to summertime, when

I listened to Summertime. I feel good. You know what I'm saying. I feel like ship. You know, like man, life is good, you know what I mean. But ship I put on I put on some gangster ship. You know. I even shout out to m c A. You know what I mean. I put on some old school eight music to drive by. I'm on some bullshit, you know my attitude Ship. But all that stuff. I want to read this letter, man, Man, it has never been debunked

as being a false letter. I really believe this is real, man, because you've gotta understand this hip hop is a big gangster rap music turned to a multi billion dollar industry broke. Some of that is systemic because look at the people that still I'm gonna read. I'm I'm gonna read something to y'all real quick. After more than twenty years, I finally decided to tell the world what I witnessed, the which I believe was one of the biggest turning points

in popular music and ultimately American society. I struggled for a long time winning the pros and kinds of making the story of public as I was reluctant to implicate the individuals who were present that day, So I simply decided to leave our names and all the details that may risk my personal well being and that of those who were like me dragging something they weren't ready for. Between the late eighties and early nineties, I was what you may call a decision maker, was one of the

more established companies in the music industry. I came from Europe in the early eighties and quickly established myself in the business. The industry was different back then, since technology and media weren't accessible to people like they are to day. The industry had more control over the public and had the means to influence them anyway it wanted. This may explain why in early I was invited to attend a closed door meeting with a small group of music business

insiders to discuss rap music's new direction. Little did I know we would be asked to participate in one of the most unethical and destructive business practices I've ever seen. The meeting was held at a private residence on our skirts of Los Angeles. I remember about twenty five or thirty people being there, most of them familiar faces. Speaking to those I knew. We joked about the theme with a meeting as many of us did not care for rap music and failed to see the purpose of being

invited to a party gathering to discuss this future. Among the attendees was a small group of unfamiliar faces who stayed to themselves and made a new attempt to socialize beyond the circle. Based on their behavior and formal appearances, they didn't seem to be in our industry. Our casual chatter was interrupted when we were asked to sign the confidentiality agreement, preventing us from discuss us and publicly The information presented during the meeting. Needless to say, disintrigued and

in some cases disturbed many of us. The agreement was only a page long, but very clear on the matter and consequences, which stated that violating the terms were resulting job termination. We asked several people what this meeting was about and the reason for such secrecy, but couldn't find anyone who had answers for us. A few people refused the sign and walked out. No one stopped them. I was tempted to follow up, a curiosity got the best

of me. A man who was part of the unfamiliar group collected the agreements from us quickly, After the meeting began, one of my industry colleagues, who share remain nameless like everyone else, thanked us for attending. He then gave the floor to a man who only introduced himself by first name and gave no further details about his personal background. I think he was the owner of the residence, but

it was never confirmed. He briefly praised all of us for the success we had achieved in our industry and congratulated us with being selected as part of this small group of decision may pers. At this point I began to feel slightly uncomfortable at the strangeness of this gathering. The subject was changed. The speaker went on to tell us that the respective companies we represented had invested in a very profitable industry which could become even more rewarding

with our active involvement. He explained that the companies we worked for had vested medians into the building of privately owned prisons, and that our positions of influence in the music industry would actually impact the profitability of these investments. I remember many of us in the group immediately looking at each other in confusion. At the time, I didn't know what the private prison was but I wasn't the

only one. Sure enough, someone asked what the prisons were and where any of this had to do with us. We were told that these prisons were built by privately owned companies who received funding from the government based on the number of indemates. The more inmates, the more money the government would pay these prisons. It was also made clear to us that since these prisons are privately owned, if they become publicly traded, we be able to buy shares.

Most of us were taken back by this. Again, a couple of people asked what this had to do with us. At this point, my industry colleague, who had first opened the meeting, took the floor again and answered our questions. He told us that since our employers have become solid investors in this prison business, it was now in their inswest to make sure that these prisons for main field. Our job would be to help make this happen by marketing music which the most criminal behavior, rap being the

music of choice. He assured us that this would be a great situation for us because rap music was becoming an increasingly profitable market for our companies, and as an employee, we'd also be able to buy personal stocks in these prisons. I'm not gonna go through this whole letter man, but based on the stuff that we've been seeing as a late man, based on some of the stuff we've been I think it's very plausible that that could have been

a real meeting, Bro. I mean it sounds plausible. I mean because they didn't necessarily name names and get specific. I mean, that could have been written by anybody. But it is definitely plausible, Bro. And and it doesn't sound far from the truth. I mean, it seems like it happened just like that. Well, you know, if you think about it, think about think about crack for example, right,

think about how in our community. Yeah, sure, why couldn't they do the same thing with the music, because like that's even been able to brow The tongue speaks life and death. You read with you, So if you talk about death in destruction, if you're constantly putting off this just a deafinite destruction, the chaos, I'm walking around with my stick, I'm walking around with my boat. You hear, that's the ship that's gonna go platinumf you make this,

make the song that they're talking about. I Love my brothers and this man man, you didn't go to go Wood, right, and you can put it in the same cadence because I heard gospel music. It sounds like secular music, you know what I'm saying. And it was until I rode in on the lyrics like damn, you're talking about Jesus. I thought this was you know what I'm saying, Jody see you know so um I mean, but like you said, yeah, it all feels like a conspiracy. Bro. They give us

the tools to destroy ourselves. You know what I'm saying. We got guns, we got you know, systemic issues, we got you know, I'm not gonna say necessarily lack of opportunity at this point, but we have to fight a little bit harder to get the information and to get in position. Um uh. You know, people got you know, people lose hope, you got drugs, you got guns. Then you have this this culture, this this you know, this

very powerful influential culture that's that's telling you. You know, Fox school, you know what I mean, Like trap, go scam. You know what I'm saying, Go go break a bit, you know, go rob a nigga. You know what I'm saying. And you got in the same thing for the young ladies, you know, fuck getting the education, fun, getting married, you know, be fuck nigga, free fucking nigga. You know what I'm saying, Get you a get you a rich nigga and break him. You know, sell it, don't give it for free. So

now you've got them raising prostitutes basically. So, um, it's crazy, just how we And again I don't want to sound hyper critical, but um, I think because I understand the context of entertainment, but the entertainment is killing us. You know, we are the entertainment. We are the entertainment you know to the overall majority, you know, and they're profited off

of it more than we are. That's just and and and you know, again, I don't want to be a hypocrite because I enjoyed some of the ship, but I just think that when we start trying to live it out, that's the problem. It's one thing for it to be entertainment, but because you've got to think about it, rock and roll and acid wrapping all that stuff. You had hardcore, other genres that were hardcore, but their fan base wasn't

living that out. You know, they wasn't going out flattering you know, sacrificing whatever the A. C. D. C's of the world was doing. But we're actually living this ship out, so you know, I don't know, Yeah, we're actually living this stuff out big time throw in when you think about it, like like like really just think about it, right, the influence that music has over just a side now and our children. Right, you had kids in the suburbs, man whose parents have worked hard to get him up

out of there. The first thing they wanted to go do when he heard in the w A was, Man, I want to go to content. I want to go see what the hell is going on down there? You think what I'm saying. So it's it's very enticing, dog like, like the Games of Lifestyle is very enticeing and attracted to a person looking in on the outside of it, right, you know. But you you think about it, man, we're

losing our young people at an alarming rate. It's very to me, it's a it's a very concentrated effort man, to just get rid of Black America at all costs, it seems like to me. And if people can't see that, they vision blurry, because I'm gonna tell you what they want to do. They want to keep us stuck with these just images on televion. You know, these just negative

images were constantly being fed our own imagery back. So now you got grown as men online acting like buffoons because they don't have no other means, and they figure, well, that's the way I'm appau able to make a few dollars, you know what I mean. So now they just uppen it up. Man, You see this one, this this you know, I don't even want to say his name, just for fear that he's gonna start coming away with the bullship.

But you see, buddy, don't pull the gun on the motherfucker through the interview and don't kind of other ship. And I can just see the time coming to where he meets since the mind's playing with the wrong one. Because I'm gonna tell you now, you come when are set trying to pull out a down you you you're not gonna make it out of there. Yeah, that's real. I wonder how much of that is cap though, you know what I'm saying. You know, I wonder, But even if it's not, you have a whole bunch of people

that's looking at like this. It's only a matter of time before somebody really comes with a gun on the show and just blame my motherfucker right here on the thing on the live or some ship I'm telling you was coming. Well, hopefully it's not on our ship. Yeah, yeah, like that. Mhm. It seems like it's gonna happen with everything going on the way people are disrespecting grown men. Uh yeah, somebody's gonna run the wrong person, and you know,

bad things happening. You know, I don't I'm not gonna try to promote it, but you know, you can see it coming with all the ship, you know, with all these guys being killed, that's real ship that they know makeup ship, that's real ship. So with that man violence, but you know, you know, knowing, we gotta look at it like this because when I was growing up, I've seen it all you've seen. You've seen the PCP prostitution for for young women today or runaway black female, it's

the prostitute. She don't see no other means, no other way. We got young men running around here being pimps because they don't have no better way. So I think we we were quick to clean to what works for us at the time, how we can make money opposed to going out and doing the right thing. You see what I'm saying. So it's it's more than rapping music that's sucking us up. You know what I'm saying. We are so easy to be influenced by others, approached our own people.

We are quick to do each other just because somebody else's personal game. Should I say? I hope you'll understand where I'm coming from. We lost a lot of leaders because there's that one we cat that you know, the police funk with that went baman, you know, funked up ship. You know when you're talking on this ship man, you you you, you tend to just go through all kinds of ships. So I'm trying to light fun sugarcoating. We have sold each other also, goddamn bad, We used to it,

you know what I'm saying. When let's go all the way back to slavery, all the way up to now, we sell each other out by any means necessary. So it's more than just wrap that's sucking us up. Rap plays the biggest part of it, I say, because if you can get rid of every young black man and he can't be productive or produce family children, then yeah, we're killing ourselves slowly, but surely we're wiping ourselves out and don't even know. And and ship this is gonna coach.

You kill a black man if you don't have to pay a fine, because we're gonna be extinct, like motherfucker. You can't kill us, you know what I'm saying. But I mean we we sucked up man. And just listening to that letter, that letter tells a lot. When you go to prison, brother, you're working for a twelveth cent. You're working for thirty four cent the top nights, dott and I'm talking about labor. You're working in the laundry, you cleaning, washing ship that don't consist of penitentiary ship.

But you folded and you're doing you you making searchs, you're making license plates California people, you got all that ship is prison ship? And how much money do they make for making that ship? But you're only getting uh twenty pass in an hour to press a thousand plates today? You see what I'm saying. So it is slavery. You know what I'm saying. They're working your ass. Just think you got twenty five years and you mastered this ship.

You can work the machines and every machine. They got a top notch sneaker working the machines, teaching every other motherfucker that come in there how to work their machines and make the Mason place how to work those lines of machines. Just think how much that you you will be paying to come on the prison yard and cook the it mayste it it makes in the cold part of Barty James. It's not like in the cold part of Bottle Bro's not like they can take them skills.

They had them prisoner card and just get a job automatically. No, something home would be a little cooks or whatever. But what I'm saying to you is, as you was reading that letter, you can just hear just the like this ship is. That's for real. That letter is for real. Yeah, I believe it's authentic. I believe in that lets it is and it happens. So are they making more prisons to to make more money. They make money because they're getting in the cotton and all other kinds of ship.

And you go out and work for it. You got inmates that go and fight fires. You know what I'm saying. That's the camp that's free. You putting your life on the line. Fighting fires. You got inmates that work the yard, and and like like SMC sending those abaseball you out there picking up garbage on the the beach. Mhm. See what I'm saying. You're used for a whole lot of things that they get a whole lot of money for doing,

but you only get a cent, See what I'm saying. Yeah, So so let me ask let me ask you guys this.

So I mean, with all of this being said, right, and and the information is out there right, So at this point, I think the culture, you know, at least for the most part or even of us, we know to play right because because because of the Internet, because we're all able to be connected, you know, unlike back in the day where you know, you had the newspaper magazines, if you didn't read or nothing like that, you wouldn't know the information, right, So why do we choose to steal,

you know, play the destructive game? If we know the play? We literally know that Okay, they got these prisons built for us, they can't wait to put us in jail. We know the dope game fucked up. They can't then infiltrated that we can't get money like that. We know if we're a rapper. We know they're looking for the rico. We know you know what I'm saying, So we know all these plays are set in motion to funk us up. Why do we keep getting Why do we keep playing

into it? What's this pollution? Why? Why? Why? Well? You keep playing into it because you don't You don't see another way out. You don't have an alternative. You don't have an option. If I had an option from okay, I can go to Texas and may thirty dollars in our were supposed to sitting in the hood doing nothing, I would have took that. But we don't have that. We can't tell them cats come do this, get out of the game bag and put the guns down there.

They didn't try they didn't try this. But it don't work because once you go home, man, you you you you in the hood, and when that happened, everything else is still moving in a circle around you and you're trying to be right. So you know, if if, if if we had something to get rid of something, and we had a choice to do this or that, I think a lot of a lot of these young cats

that do it, you know what I'm saying. I think a lot of cats will make better choices than with it making a day, because I nine times nine times got a ten. If you got podcasts doing the smashing graph, three of them don't want to do it. Three of them don't want to do it, but they found on those two. But those two is the ones that's really out there, and that's that's promoting the situation. You can't save everybody. All of us ain't gonna be saved. You

already know that. So you know, we get locked up, we get a trade, but it ain't gonna do no good. I got life in prison. I got all these certiicapates in myself, but I can't use them because I'm never getting out. What's the purpose. A lot of lifers don't want to work. So it's of choices and the things that we don't have, bro Dad, that keeps us stagnated. Where we're at, Yeah, go ahead. Still, I think it's a big par e. James knocked down the hold chunk of it because I was gonna say some of that,

and I believe it's our hubrish too. Court. I think that we just seem to have this thing in our mind that we go go on this mission. And we go get away from it, and we've never pictured nothing happening to us. We don't have and anything else we

see it happened a million times to everyone else. But we seem to think that we've got a different way to reinvent the wheel all the time, like like you know, we've seen We've seen the homie get busted up the block twenty times and get walked down the street button naked and embarrass you know, the niked is the biggest ball, and they make sure they embarrass him all the time

when they take them down. I started his house, button naked, little thing, just blowing all all in the wind and just you know, getting smacked on the back of the head. But we think, oh yeah, now I'm about to come take that over, and I ain't gonna get crack because I'm gonna do something different. And then you see us as doing the same damn strow without the thing. So we keep seeing the same ship, but we keep thinking that we just go have different results all the time.

And I think it's our own air against our own vanity and are and just being truly lazy because and everybody wants something for nothing, bro, don't nobody ever want to go work for it. We always think it's a lick. Everything in the damn lick. Though. Life ain't about a lick, you see what I'm saying. Life is about you working hard, dog and getting off your ass, and you want to go try to achieve something. But we want to easy.

We think everything is easy. That's why when you talk to most kids, they want to be like, I remember, you used to want to be a professional athlete dog just for the three of the competing against the best of the best. Right now, it's like you get a lot of guys to come safe for the money, and ain't nothing wrong with that. Guys want to be rappers for the money because they want to change their people's life. It ain't for the love of the culture, for none

of that. It's because they want to get well. That the average king excuse the average kid and nine years old saying I'm not doing nothing. I ain't got to go to school. I'm just gonna be a wrapper. I'm gonna make rap something, be rich. That ain't the way to think of nine years old. That's real. Come on, man, we just gotta change it and something. Just these cats with these these mentalities, man, it ain't good for us. We're backwards. We're going backwards. That's real, that's real. I

think too. I think some of it, man, is just a lack of hope too. You know what I mean When I go back to my own experiences when I was young, and you know, I was raised on love, not survival, you know what I'm saying. So it's like, but even you know, you start smelling your piss around fourteen fifteen, you start doing ship and I can remember me doing crash out ship, and but I always still

have hope, you know what I mean. Like like you said, like you just said, Jake, you said that if five niggas is doing a smash and grab, three of them don't really want to be doing it. Um. I can remember some of the ship we was doing when I was fourteen fifteen, Like we hit a gun store, different things like that. I was with it, but I wasn't with it to the extent that, Okay, this is all it is for me, you know what I'm saying. Like I'm just I'm gonna go to prison, I'm gonna running yard.

Like you know, always still had hope. And I think that I think maybe helping some of these kids, uh find that hope and find a purpose, I think because once they established a purpose and a dream, like because I was always a dream. So I really believe that once you have a dream and you establish a purpose, you intend to make different decisions. And you gotta be able to see that ship even when your circumstances is

fucked up. I know it's easier said than done. You might have a kid that got you know, vote a parent, locked up, parent on drugs, you know, and they just trying to fell for themselves and they just trying to survive from day to day, and all everybody around you is doing negative ship. Um, and I know what that's like. But you know, I think it's just being able to interject some hope into the community and in unity, you know, even amongst our culture. I really believe that. I don't

think man can unify us. I think that's something above us. I think that's only God could do that. You know what I mean, because just by by nature, we are you know, we're we're we're we I mean, listen to I know the evil of men's hearts, because I know the evil in mind. You know what I'm saying. We all got it some of us just can control it

and modulate it better. When you can be honest with yourself, no matter how uncomfortable that ship is, then you can address it and do the work, you know what I mean. So I think just hope, you know, any youngster listening, man, just just you gotta have hope, man, because when you lose that hope, you don't give a funk what happens to you. And when you don't give a funk what happens to you, then you ain't gonna give a funk

about nobody else. If you don't care about dying, you don't care about going to jail, That's exactly what's gonna happen, you know what I mean, Because you can't care about the next nigga life. And I know how that is, you know from experience. J I'm sure you can. You can attest to that, you know what I mean, because when you don't care about you, you don't see humanity in the next nigger you like. You know, I could

care less, you know what I mean. But I think when that's checked, you know, along with like I said, we got the information the same way that the youngsters can get the information, which makes them feel empowered that they know more than us and they know everything. You can get the same information to empower yourself and really apply because knowledge is power, but applied knowledge is you know, priceless. So I don't know. I think it's addressing that hope. Man.

I think that's a big part of it, because they'll make different choices if they just exactly when you know what all of this flows into. And I know we don't have much time left, but I want to touch on this. All of this stuff is actually all this stuff actually like goes full circle because Blacks have really we don't trust on another, We don't respect one another, and we nor do we trust one of those I'm gonna tell you something I saw the other day. I was inside of one of my buddies. He got a

T shirt shop right over in bail Flower. Man, you know I was up there. I was up there to buy a few T shirts. You know, if I'm gonna go buy a T shirt, I go to this shop and I'm support him. I saw his brother in there, Hey man, let me get a discount, and the girl behind the counters telling them like, hey, this is what it is. It's five nine. But man, you know, but I can't get a dollar off two man, I don't know what's wrong with y'all. Y'all can't give us a discount.

And I asked myself, brod Checkers, would you walk up to Macy's and asked him for a discount. If we go up to Macy's, Man, if the price tag says n dollars on there, we gonna pay them mark day nine eighty and they taxes or whatever, and we go get the funk on. And a lot of times not even gonna ask for the receiver, go and keep the receipt. Ain't tripping. But if it's one of us, if we walk in we see somebody behind us look like us, we want to ask for discounts. We want to ask

for this. We want to ask for that man just purchased the ship and respect They shot like you would the next man's. We can't get along with each other. I remember James said something before man a long time ago. We had to stick together. Let's not be like everybody else. Man shoot a ship, stand niggas wound up tearing up some ship. You know, we we we our own worst enemies, bro. And it's sad to me it's like it's really sad.

And I'm hoping that one day I can see the day man that I could see brothers just working together, supporting one another and not and not tripping like porch. You gotta um, you gotta energy. What is it like? It's a health it's a fitness thing, right, say it again. I said you gotta fitness shape that you're doing right? Yeah, I got my own supplement up to muscle sports. Yeah, yeah,

you got supplement. If you are out there selling that supplement out the trunk of your car, I guarantee you if a white person coming by the most people, but it's gonna be that nigger, right the black person if you say he's gonna give it to you, the white person go give it to you. The Mesican person can give it to you, But the one nigger don't come. He go in. You're twenty. It's where you can get two jars for twenty. Yeah. Now you just ain't making

your price for no reason. Bro, You got everything putting there. Okay, it cost me this much to package this, It costs me this much to do this and the third, and you gotta pay yourself a little something. So you've got your thing figured out already. You can't afford to give somebody just too And Niggers just seem to think, is it's a black person selling it, then we're just making up our own prices. So USU us making the profit. Me go make sure you get extra one. We just

out here to make sure you straight. It's like we need to knock that shi off bro right. And as we talk, guess we've been having this just just talking do it seems crazy how we how we have to uh, the way we talk about nigga or that that's the real nigga, that black motherfucker. How we how we identify ourselves with each other. I mean, we all black, but do a tribute all. Sometimes it do me, but I'm comfortable with saying that stupid mother, you know nigga. I

don't think yet, I don't. I don't know how to put it. But the way we the way we introduce oselves to certain people, the way we talk are just general conversation with each other. You know, it'll make you feel like, you know, you're different. Well, I think, Sames, we've always had these colloquialisms and it's a little different, Like you know when you're the hood. What your friends you would say, that's stupid ass nigga, but you don't necessarily mean it that way. But I truly believe the

older I get is I'm starting to really separate. I don't want to be called a nigga, first of all, because I'm a black man. I work for this ship I have. I'm not all trying to get over nobody and not respect everyone. Nigga don't respect no motherfucker, but they don't even respect itself, right, And I do think saying right, I do think we need to be more conscious of how we identify ourselves. Right, That's what I

was trying to say. You know, we can get lost if we if if because it's disrespect to each other. You know what I'm saying. If I if I just met Court, what's up my nigga? You know what I'm saying, that's not you know, if we change the narrative on how we are with each other and people see that, people ain't gonna think like that, you know what I'm saying, And it just goes back to everything that we've been talking about. So just like with these young cats, they

got to learn how to groom themselves. They sold their mind, their hearts, you know what I'm saying. And I can honestly say that if, if, if, you can take a bad situation and turn it into good. You know. But a lot of kids need to learn patients. You know, I didn't have patients when I was younger. I know, y'all didn't. You know what I'm saying. We need to learn patients. We need to learn day by day. Don't try to get everything in one day. You can't get

it that way. And every day is not promised to us. So we gotta live a certain kind of weight every day because tomorrow ain't promise and that's a for sure man. So you know what, man, I think we all just need to just sit back and reflect a little bit, man, and just be more like even like James said, the way we address each other, because I'm really making it a really I'm really making a really consulted effort not to use that word right as much because I'm like

everybody else. You know, you get comfortable with class man, it's dumb ass and thinking this and that. Let's start acting like black man. Let's start acting like black you know, because my thing is this when I'm modem public. I'm a representation for y'all too, just like y'all the representation for me too. Like folks se y'all acting a certain

kind of way. Yeah, there's some of them. They already got their mind made because they've seen so many of us out there misrepresenting man that they think everybody is ignorant, right, And that's not the case, man. But I appreciate you coming to hold us and don't agree in court y'all. Make sure y'all go subscribe to my man show, the Holding Court podcast, one of the best podcasts online. You know what I'm saying. Appreciate that, ain't I got a

quick question? Um, just on another note, so I just noticed on here we all big right, big still big j big court. But I want to tell y'all, man, listen, I appreciate y'all ingratiate me and you know, having me on the platform. Bro, I got a lot of respect for both of y'all. I love what y'all been doing.

I was, uh and still am a big fan of the show, you know, and now to be you know, I'm really grateful and honored to be able to be, you know, amongst y'all doing this, So I appreciate y'all, you know, having me on the shout out to the O. G. M c A. You know what I'm saying. You know, he's getting his bag doing his thing right now. But you know, I appreciate you all, so salute to you. You know. Let me join y'all for sure, and we got and we gotta and we gotta link the chorus

show in there, y'all. Make sure y'all subscribe to my man stuff. Tell them Big Steals thinks you all right, and we out of here. Well, that concludes another episode of Against the Chronicles podcast. Be sure to download the I Heart app and subscribe to The Gangster Chronicles podcast For Apple users, find a purple micro on the front of your screen, subscribe to the show, leave a comment

and rating. Executive producers for The Gangster Chronicles podcast of Norman Steve, James mcdownald, The errand M C. Tyler, our visual media directors Brian White, and our audio editors Taylor Hayes. The Gangster Chronicles is a production of Our Heart Media networking the Black Effect podcast Network. For more podcast from my Heart Radio, visited our Heart Radio app. Apple podcast wherever you're listening to your podcasts,