Hip-Hop Saved My Life

Yo, yo, yo, yo, yo, thank you for tuning in to another episode of the culture Episode 60. I can't believe we've been doing this shit for that long. That's over a year already. I'm Jeff, with my co host and high 60s. Yeah, we're here on the wake of the 20th anniversary of 911. As we commemorate those that we lost on that fateful day, we salute the first responders that risked their lives to help others. Yeah, it was a tragic day, man. I still remember like it was yesterday. I think I'm always remember that day, as long as I live, I remember doing what I you know, where I was at. I was in a third floor. I was a senior in high school and English class third floor from the third floor window in the school for say, high school, you can see the towers from a distance, and all you saw was the smoke coming out of the towers. I remember the fear in people's eyes. That day, you know, nobody knew what was going on. We heard the fighter jets flying over the building was like, Oh, shit, I just felt like a war. So it was real scary times. So, you know, we're just gonna celebrate those, you know that we lost that day? You know, so we'll try to entertain for a little bit while we reflect on the sad events of that day. Yeah,

I mean, it's always gonna be a tough day for me, because my father was the first responder. to happen the past 20 years, we believe on talk on September 11. It is something that he doesn't necessarily feel comfortable with speaking about, and so on so forth. The most I forgot him was like a small conversation. It was just pretty recent. Obviously, in the past two, three years was going to my cousin's house in West Virginia, we're driving. And I'm like, oh, but how can we never talk about know what happened on September 11, I guess there's some I don't really feel comfortable talking about. So I like just like, I'm sitting here listening. And it's like, you just kind of describing it like walking through like a cloud of dust, like New York never been like so quiet, and so on, so forth. And let's say he's a firefighter, normally, so it was all hands on deck here by trying to go to the Twin Towers, you know, he kept seeing with like, body parts here. People train over here, just massive disruption, can't breathe run around to mass keep wiping off the visor because all it does and everything else like that. She the thing that sticks with me is there like because like, there's there's tons and tons of robot like the building fabric Crusher, the buildings behind beside it, and around and so on, so forth, just like mass hysteria and all this destruction, to the thing that stuck with him was like walking through and underneath all this trouble you hear like people screaming for the life, like, help me save me, help me, please help, like, kept hearing those voices you kept. It was all around like it collapse looks at this people underneath there. But you're under, you know, hundreds of 1000s of pounds of tons of rubble. So like hearing them scream to hearing the voices knowing that there was nothing they could do with and trying to get to these people and basically seeing like, a body part here ahead here torso, they're just shit from and everywhere. And after that, like he was like, like driving at the scene, like look off in the distance comic zoned out and assume, like, let it go. We're discussing no more, because it's a lot for somebody to deal with. So it's always gonna be tough day for him. For anybody who lost him by that day. I remember being at home that day. And I remember watching the first plane hit in the Washington, the second plane hit. And I dropped the western to the point where it's called Eagle Rock, where if you go to it, and you clearly see like, directly, like, cite a line of sight to New York City. And you can see like the building sitting there smoking exposure, and it's long trailer, fire and dust coming out of the side of it. And it's a lot. And I know some people like they get kind of tired of it kind of like a 911 fatigue. But you can't really think about a man you got to put them perspective and like you're saying that like I'm sick of it, but your lives and you won't want to people who went over there that day thinking he was going to go home at whatever kind of day they had and never made it out of the morning. So like I say, it's it's a tragedy. We just got to keep celebrating it and dispose be aware, Be alert, try to do the best we can to try to keep loving each other and you know, building a better society because I I've never seen this country more united than after 911. I mean, the Arabs caught caught off a little bit. I mean, just like when Coronavirus, Chinese people catch her a little bit. But then it was people just unifying. Everybody was happy to see each other and have to be alive because it happened on home field home turf. So for it to get to this point, you know, 20 years later, we're still reflecting and we're never going to lose a memory. It's always going to be a remembrance. And yeah, so for the guys who don't

work, but we want to try to keep it about hip hop today. Hip Hop is in the forefront of our show. It's the moral fiber of our show. So I thought today we would, you know, commemorate hip hop a little bit, you know, talk about how hip hop saved our life or you know, give our testimonials about what hip hop means to us. Wait, wait, wait, man, wait, wait, man, wait, wait, before we even get to them. You know, speaking

about the testimonies about hip hop, we got point on a very similar game can pop that day. I'm gonna get to that.

Oh, no, I'm gonna get to that now because of time. I'm just I'm just letting people know what this episode is gonna be about today. Hey, man,

that synergy seems on the same wavelength.

Yes. Because, you know, speaking of 911, one of the greatest albums of all time dropped on that same day, September 11 2001. And it was Jay Z's, the blueprint, part one, you know, that he's always going to be tied into that, that he's always going to be you know, I mean, connected to 911 just because that classic album was dropped, you know, when he dissed NAS takeovers on there. And, you know, he it was basically the height of the NAS beef with him. You know, he made a name of Kanye after he'd been ghost producing for d dot. And it brought soul samples back into the mainstream after a couple years of Neptunes and Timberland. So, and I radically, six years later in 2007, Kanye drops graduation also on September 11. Hmm. Interesting. So you know, we're celebrating September 11. a tragedy but we're also celebrating September 11. Because of Jay Z's, the blueprint, one album,

I think there's only one or two classes that JC has recently I think is reasonable doubt in the blueprint. Something man two very good, but those are the two those are probably the only two five mic albums right everything else, like three and a half four, maybe? Yeah, I mean, I mean those too easily. Like it's, it's not like it still follows my like, my idea for lack of a class games, I cannot play this from beginning to end without skipping those who still can. Not a lot of them, but those who absolutely, but I mean, like this, I mean, it's takeover Izo song cry associate of top my head Renegade, since it's not quite Renegade,

but apparently the whole thing goes by, you don't know. So that was like, basically Chinese introduction as well.

Right? It's like it was his, like, it was one of the few times it was really crafted by only a few people touching base with producers with him, just plays in pink. Those are the only ones on any page to create a whole album, like it's just the whole heavy source sample shift and everything to that, you know, it's on the listenership later. Yeah, yeah. No remembers I'm thinking about like, that's just a great album. It was one of those seminal albums in hip hop. Like I said, I know we said we want to do like, like a rewind to kind of really compare Reasonable Doubt to illmatic but we might need around two and you can put I don't know what you will put the blueprint up against, but you can pick another nice album. It's fine by me. Alright, well,

getting back to the topic that I said of today's episode, you know, we're gonna get into these testimonials about what hip hop means to different people. You know, you have guys like NAS, common Lou pay who you know, most deaf, they got songs like you know, most of them has a song name, hip hop, you know, common has a song called I used to love her. I mean about hip hop, like every I feel like every MC has a song has that one song, you know, I mean, where he describes what hip hop means to them. Double XL has an article open, I'll read some testimonials hip hop group, audio, push, price and octane. Price says hip hop is when you're being yourself when this is what you're supposed to be doing. I'm talking about the hip hop for n words that are supposed to be rapping hip hop to me is just what's real to you. When you're being true to yourself, then that's hip hop octane says hip hop is just that feeling. Whatever nostalgic feeling that you get when you first heard real music. That's what hip hop is for me, for me is everything from you know, from battle rapping to beat to breakdancing to beatbox into DJing to MC into graffiti. I love it all. It's the soundtrack to my life. I would say from the way I dress to the way I talk. It's all influenced my you know, it's all influenced by the culture. I remember growing up and just staying up watching, you know, def comedy jam, def poetry jam rather on HBO. And I just love what we do even today. I've always admired or just been fascinated by the idea of expressing yourself. Like, not only through words, but through lyric and to rhyme. You know, I mean, people know I love poetry, but there's different types of poetry's I like the I like the urban type of poetry where you you know, you can rhyme your feelings on a page, make it sound creative. And I always always saw rapping and as poetry and even hip hop in general as poetry even breakdance and that's physical poetry. You know, the graffiti, you know, I mean, that's artful poetry, you know, the DJ in the mixing when you hear like a DJ Premier, or even like I remember when they did, it was m&m and LL Cool J, or M and it was m&m and blackdot. And they were you know, commemorating LL Cool J and they did that rock the bell song I forget what it was show it was and they had DJ Jazzy Jeff scratch him but actually, so Eminem does a verse blackdot does a verse and then they let DJ go off Daddy, Jeff and he's like, you know, scratching, scratching and to me that she was fascinating. You know, I mean, all of that shit is hip hop

and we ever def poetry jam fan. I Just just said that I was on HBO. And I don't know, but I get it like, was that something that you would ever want to attain to be like, like, if it was still exists? Like, would you want to, like get a shot there?

Yes. I remember, I didn't go to DEF poetry jam, obviously. But I would do other, you know, open mic events when I would, you know, when I was writing my little poetry, and I would go out, remember, like, Barnes and Noble was,

don't, don't call it little poetry. We published a book called when you published from my little Nana in a little, my kids in cages, and I'm selling books, man, but I remember when

I would go to the other bars, they would have like, you know, open mics for poetry. I haven't seen those in a while, actually. But yeah, I would go and I would recite some of my poems and those COVID. But right, well, hip hop means to

hip hop, I want to say the soundtrack of my life, but I can course is pinpoints. It's like if I never heard another album ever again, I can pinpoint certain particular points in my life. Where Something happened in hip hop was involved. I'm in the first time living thing really, really hearing it. I was in my uncle domotz Mazda, nine to nine, behind three to three to six to six and a nine to nine. So nine to nine was a big long lead version of it. Black Leather seats on so forth. We're driving down to Maryland. It's the first time here what was it the jungle brothers girl out house you any play that shit on repeat, um, like, you hear and everything else like that. But you are kidding. Not really into it. But that's like the thing that struck me. That's the moment I knew, like this was something different. Because like I said, I grew up on house music. So music songs. For me, that's the music of my family, my parents things like that. But it's a whole different thing for them and genre that comes out. I mean, it was I was too young. But at the time when I heard it, you know when Grandmaster Flash and they're doing the message and talking about like, the drugs, the crime, the poverty and so on, so forth. Like I was living in those neighborhoods, I knew what it was like it was, it wasn't imaginable. To me, it was like someone was putting music to the, the visuals that I see in my life. I remember the first time here illmatic and hearing, the beginning of hearing those train tracks go across and spending time in New York and you know, Guineans over new city and the sounds and so on, so forth. And they have the ability to visualize and realize the things that you can't do in your own life. Not that they're impossible, but more in a sense, like, you see things and you wish that you know, there was a way to make it more beautiful, like hip hop created the cinema in my life. It they it molded the pictures and words in a way that I couldn't form and it makes the art form so beautiful that graffiti is beautiful. Not all the time because you see the shit just all over the place in the field like, like this is a fucked up living situation just right and shoot all over the walls. And you see like this dope piece. This this flyers tag somewhere. You see it the name of the people around North just from the tags from everywhere they would be you know who gas 22 or, or easy and it's it's everywhere. They're one leaving their mark one way or the other. The clothing it? I mean, everyone talks about like, No, I'm not wearing rockway anymore, but I had you both had cross colors. I wore my clothes backwards shit like that. Not you look dumb as hell, but it just what influenced to you and what it would have made you do because like, this is the voice of the people. This is the voice of the young people in the voice of our generation. And if we want to wear our clothes backwards in progress slapped later by my parents, I fucking cool. But at that moment, you just want to be a part of this new thing. And like I said, with hip hop, it's, it's adjusted and it's changed in car tire culture. There's not one thing in the world right now, in regards to cultural influence. That hasn't been inspired by hip hop, sidebar. Are we going to do it? Is this racist? Or no, I don't have anything planned for this is okay. This is for when talking about culture. I think that this is obviously racist, but we're gonna I'll show you why. So I think it's Balenciaga. They have the sweatpants that cost 11 $100. But the sweat pants, they're a pair of sweat pants. Then at the top of it there. It's a pair of boxers. So they're designed to look like they're sagging, which is directly something from our culture. Yeah, that's it. Yeah. So we gotta go off that shit. It's perfectly fine. It's absolutely racist. But that's the thing. That's the influence that the hip hop does for something that you know, our parents looked at and so why is your pants hanging off your ass? We have designers are here in the world charge 11 $100 for a pair of sweats, doing the same thing people told us not to do. The influence is immense. It's beyond compare. And anyone who says that they're not the line. Your favorite pop star wants to be down with a rapper. They want a verse from from Uzi or little baby or Dirk or Kendrick or whatever. They all want to be in on this. And the thing that I always love about hip hop is that even though some of it did get sold off, we keep the essence of the culture alive. We try to do our best to try to remember the lessons of the game. Give them the flowers while they're here. That's why, you know, shout out the people like Nora, I was keeping on these artists that you haven't heard from in a while, but I'm telling the stories, who's keeping the lifeblood of hip hop flowing through our veins. And the most important thing is like, hip hop history is American history. You can't from from the point of his creation to this point now, we've, we've co written we've tagline, we've etched our name into the fabric of our society. That's why that's why kids want to dress up and be like us, no matter what race culture or creed. They it's, it's infectious. It's everywhere. For me, seeing what hip hop has done to this world to this platform. And so he got you got people be born breakdancing all over the world because of this, to have the kind of impact from just, you know, two turntables in the mic. That's what hip hop is a man's a beautiful thing.

You mentioned Uzi ver he had his forehead diamond ripped off his off his head you heard about like an asshole. He said I had a show at rolling loud and I jumped in the crowd and they kind of ripped it out. I still have the diamond so I'm feeling good. He told TMZ Get the fuck out of here man. Like y'all take the shit off your fucking forehead bro. Anyway, Yo, I

got that dude man. Yo, come on man. If you got it apart No, you got it. See if he would just put the cylinder head and not to the cost smiley eyes to fix on or whatever for Dang, I'll fuck with it. But I want to say $25 million. Just to come up. I haven't got to reach in your pocket. I've got to click it on your forehead like you'd fucking vision. We're good to go.

people out here snatch and change from people's necks. It ain't none of the smack you up and just take the show right off your face.

I'm thinking I'm thinking that Infinity Stone right out your forehead. Come on down putting that shit right on the gauntlet right on the nose.

But yeah, I'm gonna play the first testimonial by our resident guests and one of our patrons Mikey she about what hip hop means to him. Hey, guys,

it's Mikey, I am calling in to tell you about what hip hop means to me. So I grew up a white kid in Colorado Springs, Colorado, in a household that kind of didn't give a shit about music. My mom liked country music, old school Country Music My dad was like, into the beegees. And but they had this weird record collection. And like on like the the dustiest ends of it, I found like a Jimmy Cliff record. And I found the parliament record. I found some Motown and even in the country and like the other this kind of folk music and things that were that were in their record collection, I found all these elements of music that I really liked. But I just it wasn't all there for me at any point. Until I heard hip hop. I don't know what the first album was that I heard. I don't even know late 80s, early 90s. Whatever it was, it was something that ended affected me. And I heard it was like the beats from the funk records that I loved. It was the storytelling from the soul, r&b country and folk records that I loved. But and this is one thing I actually I end up talking about a lot is that there's like in TV nowadays, if you're a director, why would you ever want to direct movies because like you have two hours or less to tell a story. So how much can you actually develop the characters. But if you have a 12 episode or a 20 episode series that you're making, you can tell all these crazy stories and you can build out characters, hip hop, because it's so lyrically dense. And it's based on storytelling, you're able to tell such a more in depth story than you're ever able to tell in folk music or country music or rock music. And that was I think one of the main things that spoke to me, I came from Irish, Irish people are storytellers. And I was like, dude, I get to hear all these stories laid on top of a sick beat. And it just it spoke to me. Admittedly, white kid from Colorado Springs a lot of the stories weren't about my life. But it was I knew I wanted to hear more I knew I wanted to know more. And I don't know hip hop is stuck stuck with me for 30 plus years. And it's part of my fabric now I hope that I'm part of the culture I feel like I am I represent it in every day of my life. But hip hop means everything to me. Keep hip hop in your hearts. Love you guys.

Shout out to Mikey she I like Mike for being an unapologetic white boy. I hope I'm part of the culture. A little bit you good man. You just watch the door watch the door don't

put your feet up on the on the table. You know man yeah and you're the cool stuff and keep your hands off the remote like you you're not you know you're not in charge of flipping the channel on the on the ship. You

Can we watch? No, you are part of the Kota we let you in your

ear. Yo Guess who sent in a testimonial and this guy is even lucky that I'm going to play his show that we're going to give him some airtime. Because we were promoting him early on as we when we first started his podcast, we were promoting him that he was gonna come on and he was gonna come on, never did you know who I'm talking about. Just please refresh your security to finally get my wonderful long time for my jersey, but he lives out in Florida now. So here's his testimonial.

So a friend of mine would ask me what hip hop means to me. And hip hop cannot be put into just one category. A simple phrase can not be said because it's a lifestyle. Whether it's a difference in the way that I dress, that one age difference that I approach the female what I thought, in my consideration were to be gained too much motivation in my day to day motivation in my athletic career. At one point, hip hop was everything. The way that I taught my slang the difference when I change climate from a different state, when I was no longer local, when I was not in town, and New York was not anything to be appreciated, to I had to adapt and understand the culture of different levels of hip hop, in all five elements of hip hop, to when I became a representative of the New York, New Jersey East Coast, to worry about blood boils, and my blood will be buried in the south, to respect the niggas who come from Texas, and my West Coast affiliates, to embody all aspects of what is called hip hop, it's more than music. It's a lifestyle, it's a brand. It's the way I raised my children. It's a difference in discipline, it's a difference in jokes that I made to my children. Hip Hop is everything to me. It made me who I am. And it will continue to be everything that I have, and even to the elements of what I don't necessarily, you know, listen to when it comes to music, whether it's gospel, or emotion at time to where if I can bring you to a place where people call it serenity or place a safe haven. Whether it's short. People call it serenity or place a safe haven, whether it's on a lyric, or deep people's words, you know, the question was about me hitting you in a certain place or hitting you in a certain time to get you to do to get you to go to get you to do whatever, hip hop will forever be a part of me. And the best that I can do is make it a part of anybody else who knows me. And he went on to say, I remember my first tape was the end of the 36 chambers. I got downtown north, that bootleg legit tape, brought it back and just hearing some of the things that were being said and just the outlandish pneus of it. For it to be considered what was our culture? Just open the car door? My father would put it He told me to put that shit on him and I want to hear it. What is this crap you listen to what is this nonsense. And now later on down the line, his second favorite genre obviously not being of that time is put on still put on some of that she put on some of that HQ some of that, some of that because it was news fresh, and it was fucking everybody up to where I brought all of my East Coast with me all of my Jay Z y'all not gonna say nice, but all of my everything to Louisiana and people were like, yo, get that shit out of here. Nigga. We don't listen to that. And I had to learn that there was other types of hip hop that might not always be the lyrical linguistics that we're used to. But what they do in a culture of what is what everybody listens to, to DJ Screw, the Slim Thug, The Big Mo, all of them to even so much of what I would hate on my West Coast affiliates of what I had to get into like, corrupt and even niggas like nocturnal, Dad villains, all of them. So it's more than just a simple thing from the days of listening to vinyls with my sister listening to das effects. Or remember left, my sister first got her self destruction LP with Charisse, one, Queen, the Tifa, everybody like that. So I would not know what hip hop was without my elder who put it onto me. So again, I mean, it means everything to me. It's what I do. I even now at this age at 38, there is some form of hip hop, whether it's me wearing a hoodie a certain way, whether it's basketball shorts, and when I used to play, like I said, having one leg one sack up one side down like ello ever evolving will never die and the most copied, most copied, most copied entity. To this day, everybody wants to rapper, but nobody wants to be a rapper. like Paul Mooney said everybody wants to be a nigga. Everybody wants to be a negative

Thank you for Shaq for sending that in. Yo right now. Right? Yeah, like the influence everywhere, like say it was born here. But like, it's almost like, you took a piece of clay and you gave it to other parts of like the country like, this is hip hop, you move that how you want to. And then when did their own thing. That's why I like, like I said, I'm going to repeat this again. I know, I know, I said last week that 3000 had the best verse or heard all year. And he's one of my favorites, he's always going to be, but like, his his art form. And the way that he expresses and breaks down things and looks at the world is completely different from a bunbee, which is completely different from a nap, which is completely different from an M, which is completely different from an E 40. or something of that sort. But it's still the same message you can still you're able to articulate the way you think and the way you feel about life events about pitches, hoes, and guns. It can be something detailed and heartfelt. It's not limited. The attack on hip hop in the past is off like this is a violent art form. It's not a violent art form. It's something that we just read, reflection of the society that's around us, not even just our neighborhoods, or if we grew up in a particular level of poverty. It's you know, the lack of housing, the lack of education, the lack of health care, police brutality, like I said, he mentioned self destruction, like we talked about these things like the the black on black crime as a kind of wanted to get across, but it's a lot. Like this is not a simple form. And most people don't even know what rat means, which is hilarious to me. I'm like, just put the letters together, you know, read and write the letters to rip. Know the P is poetry. Right? Right. Rhythm and poetry. Yeah, yeah, that's all it is. That's all you're trying to do. And that's what it is. And like I said, with poetry, not every poet sounds the same as you know. So like I said, what you're gonna you're gonna get some some wild as lyricism from a quote, we'll use nice, you'll get some wild as lyrics from ti, but it's not the same, but the skill and the talent and the basis there. That's the beautiful thing about hip hop.

And speaking of self destruction, yo rest and peace to Michael K. Williams, man, he was found dead in his New York City apartment. Everybody knows him. Probably mainly from the show the wire. I don't want to speculate but you know, they're saying they fall and all types of drug paraphernalia in the room. So I mean, a sad tragedy. So recipes to him, she broke my heart.

Oh, my God. This, you know, it's a weird thing like, like his very last performance that we actually saw visually on TV. was him performing as DMX. Oh, that's right. When he when he when he did the tribute thing at bt, came out and did his, his last thing in the world is that he reflected the thing about Michael K. Williams, that there was this, this violent aggressiveness about him but there was this humility. He said he never even though he looked like a bad guy, he never seemed like a bad guy. He always seemed heartfelt. He always seemed like a kind of guy and kind of break bread with he took on really challenging roles. He was a really good actor. But even he said like the demons that he had to fight at all these years with the drugs and so on so forth. And like the book I have called all the pieces matters a book about the wire that like said he was basically on set playing Omar, his most iconic character. He was basically a functioning drug addict. He said he'd go back, go back in New York City, go get high, get fucked up and go back down to Baltimore. He dealt with this his whole life, but like say he was a talent. He's a massive talent. No, he's the thing that you put him in something and it just enhances whatever you're putting on screen. Was he part of the LGBTQ community? No, I think there was an interview that I think is a breakfast club I think trolling me and pushing me in admitted that he was bisexual. I don't I don't necessarily know his his his his actual proclivities, because you never really saw him like with someone email or email or whatever. But like he, like you're playing Omar,

but he played he played a lot of what I'm saying he played a lot of gay roles that he felt you know, he was comfortable in those roles.

Yeah. And that's thing about Omar he wasn't your art archetypical gay guy. Like I said, we think gay in regards movie you think feminine characteristics bent wrist shit like that. He was it was a guy who ran around with a trench coat and a shotgun that happened to be gay, but had this really interesting moral code it it kind of it was weird, because it gives you like that, that morality isn't a simple thing that morality is fluid. Like, he's the guy who runs the right hand shotgun and Rob drug dealers. But he gives the drugs to the people, which is the bad thing like you shouldn't probably give addicts more more dope, but he's like, well, your life already fucked up. Listen, just try to help take the pain off take this shit. So it's weird, but like I said, but he could express that in a way that he was as a character, the expressions on his face, the tone of his voice, the way that he was. Not a lot of people have that kind of depth and that requires a bit of like a scarring of your soul to be able to project it out so willingly and freely to everybody. likes it demands

a challenge. Sorry to him last Do you mind if I read a few more testimonies? testimony? Yes, sir. Let's go a B ob. He says hip hop to me is definitely a lifestyle is definitely more than just the genre of music. I think every genre music has a lifestyle, but it's more. It's really a culture, man. It's more than a lifestyle, its culture. It gives people a way of life. I think, while a lot of conscious artists are cherished these days is because it's so much commercial. It's not even what it's about just because there's so much of it. You know, when you see a video, you know, it's going to have cars and holes in it. You know, somebody is going to be talking about the same Oh, shit, but it's about balance. It's not bad to talk about it. It's about the balance. I'm not always in the club. I'm not always hanging out with moto bitches in front of a car, but I do it. I'm also into other shit as well. I kind of give the people the best of both worlds. That was Bo be fat. Joe said hip hop saved my life. Without hip hop. I'd definitely be in jail for 1000 years or die. Hip Hop has been able for me to live my dreams, I was given me a platform to leave behind the legacy hip hop has helped me helped others. I would probably go forever with metaphors. I could tell you all type of cliche shit, but that's absolutely the truth. The freeway said hip hop means everything to me. I've been in love with hip hop since I was a kid since I was like six or seven. I actually got a song about it on my new album. But it means a lot to me. I love hip hop me doing hip hop. It was a means for me to feed my family and still love doing it. It means everything to me. Now, I have a get a word of the week. If you're interested to get go we're in His Word has a lot of different meanings. And the word is dope. d o p e. So according to urban dictionary, dope is saying something as cool. It's most heard in big cities, or it can also be a drug. Yo that no shirt is dope. Or look, some guy is selling dope. Old people. The old people definition is marijuana. My grandmother told me not to be smoking dope. I was cooking dope in the house. She is a dope whore. Yeah, so in the 60s to 80s dope marijuana, I use it a lot. But I use it to mean something cool. Like I say your action is dope something when I describe something I like, or something that I think is cool. I say That's dope. So that is to get a word of the week.

It's it's one of the things where it can mean a lot of things and nothing at the same time. Like some some shit is cool. Some cheese is dope. Like it's one of the things and it's fitting like it's not a word I ever argue with because I always liked the word like sometimes like, I guess it's it's like the color people's version of awesome. Yeah, like an awesome sounds a little bit too white. Like, oh, man, that's awesome. I like not man's dope. Like it just flows better. It's just dope. Exactly.

Yeah, sure. Well, oh t said hip hop and music saved my life. It means everything. To me. Hip Hop means everything to me. I can be starving, thirsty, having to use the bathroom all in one. And we be and we began a hip hop discussion. All those things go away nine hours later. No. Let me tell you why G Rap was that guy. Hip Hop just changes everything. For me. It's just everything. If a beat was on here now without you knowing I start activating. If that's the word that I want to choose, I need to start moving. Maybe thinking of rhymes is just everything to me. Like, like I said, I posed the question, What does hip hop mean to you? And I didn't realize how deep I mean, some of the answers would be Lloyd bank says that's a dope question. To be honest, hip hop to me is definitely therapeutic. And has always been though. Even when I was starting off, it would get me through my day during my school days. And even when I was playing basketball has always got me in the zone that I needed to be when I wanted to tune out whoever was around, because I grew up in a big family. So it's part of the reason why I still write music in my room today, because I had to get away from everybody. It's just a habit at this point. Now I love it. It means a lot to me. I'm more aware of what I need to be to be stamped. I'm already stamped for what we've done. But where I go next 510 years as far as my Korean help people remember me I have a chance of kind of rewrite that for people that thought I was something that would just come and go is real shit, man. I want to play

both amazing man. It's amazing. Like, these are people that are part of the culture and they make the living off of it and they still love it. Like I said, if you if you if you do a job you love you never have to work a day in your life. I guess that's how I feel. So I got

a audio testimonial from one of our patrons D block helwig.

Thank you, sir. For me, hip hop is my universe and it molded me in every aspect of my life. Hip Hop is like what oxygen is for lungs. It will change his form but at the core of it, it will always be me. Hip Hop protected me when I needed protection. Gave me love when I needed love gave me friends when I needed friends gave me a brotherhood when I needed family. The lessons learned are universal. And if you want to know what hip hop really encompasses, put away the history books, grab a headpiece and just listen. The culture is where you can begin.

Not a little picky. Like when I'm at school, especially when something bad happening. Oh, Jimmy od

we have Another Patreon Kaiser grant guys a shout out. Thanks man to God this way yeah to say,

What does hip hop mean to me? Well, hip hop is my wife, my softball, everything in between. The only thing that that even if we get pissed off she's she'll she'll she'll apologize to me or apologize to her and everything is great. I mean, it's the only the only thing in this world that that won't judge me and motivate me and hype me up to take me to another to another space another place the beat of my life bro there's no other way to put it. In a quiet world, I don't know what the fuck off me but when it comes to hip hop, I mean it's everything who I am today because it's because of hip hop in Washington some shape or form you know what I mean? You know there's so many different outlets within hip hop. You know that you know, like I said motivates you take it to the next level. That's what hip hop means to me. Shout out to the world.

Yo, speaking of hip hop, I want to get your opinion on to some some wild news from a hip hop pioneer the whole Africa boom bada and Zulu Nation situation because Africa boom bada and the Zulu Nation are being sued for for child sex trafficking. The child victims act lawsuit was filed against hip hop pioneer and Zulu Nation organization. They were recently served lawsuit repeatedly sex trafficked a 12 year old boy two other deviant adult males and exchange of money for four years. Blah blah blah. I'm not gonna get into the graphic details but there's been rumors now for years that Africa bambara you know what I'm saying? Not only was gay but was you know, doing stuff and molesting boys and whatever the case people brush those rumors off because of you know, obviously he's a pioneer in the game. But it's crazy shit. And when you you know when shit like this comes on and you go back and you start listening to like their Oh shit, like some of the stuff you know, it's I raised you know, eyebrow raising. You know, there was you know, there was supposed to be, you know, credited for like the knowledge itself and all of that. The Pro black movement and shit like that. I'm from the Bronx from the, you know, Blake, birthplace of hip hop. Checking the claim describes how stage after stage moment after moment, visit after visit vada. methodically, patiently and expertly groomed, the preteen into acceptance of this leak illegal contact and illicit behavior. Yeah, I'm not going into those issues as disturbing. But it's crazy, bro. He's getting charged with all types of charges. That's like five or six different charges.

Mm hmm. Charged damage charges, accusations or accusations. But no, no, I got some But no, please, please, trust me, please continue.

And you know, when people aren't aligned, like, you know, that whole planet rock shit is making sense. Now, you know, when they go back, and you listen to that she was just about, you know, sex drugs and space aliens. And basically, I don't know how to feel about it.

I mean, I don't feel any type of way. In all honesty. I don't think it's me being jaded as a human being. I think it's more that people shouldn't have heroes. Like, you have people that inspire you, people that guide you, people that help you grow, but who shouldn't have heroes, your heroes will always disappoint you. You can admire what they did musically, but you shouldn't craft your life to live like them or be like them in any kind of way. He went all the positivity, things like that. The reason why I say that is because since time immemorial, and we'll get religious for a second. You always hear something about a pastor who's doing fine or whatever, preaching against whatever ills are on the country and then finding out you got a whole illicit affair, a whole different family, he's stealing from the church might be having same sex relations, whatever, whatever it may be. Same thing with your entertainers, and so on and so forth. They're humans, humans are mistakes and they make flaws. This is a mistake. This isn't a flaw. If these accusations are true, this is a criminal life. You basically destroyed the life of this young boy by basically passing around like a loose cigarette for four years. Should there be some type of retribution for that? Yeah, I'm not believing that I'm not the kind of person who says like if someone like molest a child, they should be murdered. Nah, I'm not on that wave. I don't believe in the loss and sacrifice of human life. And I also know that the people who do things like that that's for them that's normal because it's learned like it's learned behavior. You don't just do it out of the blue like it happened to you so therefore you think is normal so you do it to other people. Is it sad that it's been bothered yet because you know, this parliament and uplifting thing like say we talking about hip hop, they were one of the seminal people and part of that the Zulu Nation, everything to that degree to come to this point, I realized that this effect going on behind the scenes. I mean, it's sad and it's heartbreaking. Sure. Is it surprising? No, because again, your heroes shouldn't be your heroes, you should enjoy what they do as a craft, then let that be. It's kind of like the art Kelly defense. Yeah, like, I try to avoid these moves. But sometimes it does. Come on, I still hit the bob with it. But I'm really clear, like, I like the song, but I hate this person. Because that shit carried on for a long time. He's like this carried on for a long time. And for it to carry on like that, if he's having such a public profile, someone had to know something, and someone probably didn't do anything about it. And just let this cook and this is big. So I'm like, Look, these are the facts that are going to pull them forward, there's going to be an accuser, if someone is going to defend themselves. If these things are true, there's a price and we're gonna have to pay for it either by prison time or monetarily. But something has to be done about this. It's a it's a blight on societies have bled on hip hop. So if this happens to be true, whatever happens the result whatever penalty that has to be served I just want to be the harshest penalty possible just to be a real deterrent like to knock this shit off seriously. Because our Kelly, from what I'm hearing about that trial, that man is going under the fucking jail. If he gets off of this, I have no idea what the fuck going on with our legal system, but this is not gonna last long. It's another one of them instances. You can't you cannot protect the predators to have to do something and stand up for it. This This came to light, someone's going to do something about it. More power to

this isn't but this is an uninterrupted episode. Meek Mill said hip hop means a lot to me hip hop basically saved my life. Coming up in the streets being involved in a bunch of stuff I shouldn't have been involved in had no guidance. My dad died young my mom would be at work all day left to the streets to learn for myself. I was I always was in love with hip hop. You know, when I came home from jail, I decided to dedicate my life to it. And you know, it changed my whole life. It changed my life. And it means a lot to me. Tony, you'll say hip hop means a lot to me. Like I said, I remember Run DMC Houdini kuji rap MC Shan, real rock, sand, other Roxanne Shantae KERS. The list goes on and on Queen Latifah. She had record like ladies first hip hop was totally different even like records like self destruction was crazy. You have Public Enemy fight the poWER Come on, man. Hip Hop was crazy at that time in the 80s then it transformed into the 90s you had Wu Tang creme golden Ray with the purple tape. It was crazy because I remember there was something with ghosts and somebody said he didn't write his album. I was a big fan of ghost the purple tape is a classic for me. You have begun you had pun BMX. I love hip hop now but it was kind of so exciting. Even when you looked at big impact right cool. There was beef crazy and it was tragic because lost the two of the greatest rappers alive when Park row hit him up and Biggie wrote who shot just remember to this day how I felt which is crazy. That's why I really think was the fuel to the fire because the music was so hard pothead style and big headed style. It's crazy. Twin the set hip hop to me means freedom, creativity, youth. Those main three things right there. Well, I kept it short and sweet. But yeah,

point. Sometimes get Get to the point. Get it out the way Warren G

hip hop is a way of life. It's a way of expression. It's a way to express yourself where rhythm is life and life is rhythm.

regulators. No, no, it was a clear black night clear by me. That's my shit. But you ever listen to it word for word? It's um, it's some of the most amazing songs I've ever heard the story whether any of it is factual. Because the whole thing is that I'm going out to get some pussy these dudes roller for me comes out and murder. Eight murders him and I go I go right back out right.

Girls and take him to the hotel to smash. Yeah, like this murder being investigated. Is this still unsolved? You know? Yeah, we plus years later.

To Nate Dogg is about to make some bodies turn COVID-19 dropping and going it's a tad bit late and they dug him where he had he had to regulate. So in this context, regulate means murder. Murder here. That's why sure but yo Magoo. Got to regulate something like you sure. Hell yeah,

there's more to pot conspiracy according to smart news.com. The cop who held Tupac after fatal shooting is accused of killing rapper or helping him escape in a wild conspiracy theory. The EX Las Vegas cop who held to park on the Sunset Strip after he was gunned down 25 years ago, claims that conspiracy theories blame him for pulling the trigger or even inventing a fake drive by shooting. Okay, people need to stop like I'm a conspiracy theory to a degree a conspiracy theorist to a degree but again a little far with this whole Tupac ship.

Why did he want to pat to come back to life so badly if that if that man is in heightened like he's still alive? He would have came back by now he wouldn't come back like his mama passed away. He can come to the funeral. If he got when he goes, right. I believe that he's dead. Like, I don't think he wants to be part of this. I was gonna live my life on an island somewhere but not gonna fuck off, man. Come on. He don't. He don't want to be here, here. Here. Let them be. But yeah, I

want to thank everybody who submitted their testimonials. Obviously, you know, when we started off this podcast, you know, it was a lot of different things. You know, we wanted it to be diverse. We talked about sports. We've talked Talk about trending topics, current events, but at the, you know, at the heart of it, it's hip hop, you know, it's called a culture and that culture is hip hop culture. You know, we've always wanted to

match your culture, our culture, the culture, that culture,

it's the culture that influences everything right now from pop Cody's over to the media

everything's gonna speak Spanish Luckily, Buddha law called Torah there you go see I can't see Spanish for shit, man. I never gonna marry Spanish girl. I can't speak that fucking thing.

So you know this is that's just what it's about. And yeah, before I go, just want to get your opinion on Holyfield game has asked him over the weekend by Vittorio Belfour referee stopped to shoot in the first round. He dropped Holyfield and Holyfield got up, he's stumbling. And he's just getting his I don't even think Holyfield through one punch in the whole fight. And the referee just stopped because he felt bad for him. He's like, Yo, this is over, man. It's a 58 year old ass out the brain, bro.

This is this is like the name dear of this whole celebrity boxing thing. When you watch Holyfield train, he looks slow. He looked like he couldn't react when he talked you can tell the punishment he took over the years. It's it's slowed, slowed him down his body. He's in tremendous shape for a 60 year old. You can have the strongest body in the world at whatever age you do. If your brain is working, right, it don't matter. Because you're right, you can't do anything you could be in tremendous shape he was. But the whole thing is that you have to send the signals from your body, you know, from your brain to your body to make your body react when you're younger. comes like this. But when you're 58 years old, you took I mean a lifetime of punishment. You shouldn't be in there. Like he like the whole thing about him fighting Mike Tyson. Like neither one of you guys really should be in there seriously, even if Mike looks like it looks like it might look so good for as a like a wardrobe look a little older like Roy Jones is an old man he's supposed to look a little punchy and Mike's in great shape for no man but you're not supposed to be in there taking punches. Vitor Belfort was one of the best MMA fighters of all time. Thinking about him he had extremely fast hands. They apparently didn't float out. And I think on the same fight car like Anson Silva foot, Tito Ortiz goes as a first round. But the whole problem with this is that you have people that you kind of sorta know of, that probably shouldn't be in the right. If Jake Paul's in the ring or his brothers in the ring. Fine. It's a younger man's game. I get it. I don't think either one of them are good boxes. I don't care. But they're fighting people, you know, around their age. They're not finding anybody like old and washed up competing with Vitor Belfort and before that he was gonna fight Oscar De La Hoya COVID Yeah, so they had to pull out and maybe he still wants to do that but I'm like if you're gonna find older people I'm not certain if it's still a good idea like they got a

they had Trump on their common T and they have 50 cent on there. And he's talking about Oh yeah. Is he talking about doing Holyfield and Tyson he better stop with that bro Tyson will destroy Holyfield this right

and and I get it the other term for boxing is price fighting like you're fighting for money All right, I get it but you shouldn't put yourself in any kind of harm or risk doing this for it to be entertaining like I said I'm not entertained by it anymore because none of this is good for me it's a spectacle Yeah, but it's not good boxing like I don't I don't really want to see these guys I know they fought last night I didn't look up any highlights anything cuz I didn't care like I don't want to see a 58 year old man get in the ring with somebody and take punches in the face not interesting. So they got to do something about this either put on better event or if these guys really think they're about that action put it put them against Real fighters and see how that goes. best option because this last night that ain't it

not gonna go well but that's our show man. Like we'll do that we do this for the culture. See y'all next time pace

Hip-Hop Saved My Life - Lupe Fiasco goes out to my homie would drink he said I'm right what I see right to make it right don't like what I'd be I'd like to make it like the sights on TV quite degrading life so makes it easy. See? Now you can still die from that. But it's better than not being alive from straps. Agree a meat notebook in a big deck clip when it's pushed into whack whack. It does attract this week that he got last week because everybody in the store was like that stay a bass heavy metal with a sample from the 70s with a screwed up. Mother sister cousin. He couldn't think of nothing. He turns down the beat writer's block impedes crying from the next room a baby in need of some Pampers and some food and a place to sleep. That plus a black Cadillac Cody's is what keep him on track to be a great emcee. Hip Hop just saved my life