The Daily Zeitgeist - The Inevitability Of Hip Hop 07.25.27
Episode Date: July 25, 2023In episode 1520, Jack and Miles are joined by poet, activist, hip-hop artist, and host of Hood Politics, Jason Petty aka Propaganda, to discuss… Hip Hop 50th Anniversary, Best and Worst Things Tha...t Happened to Us Because of Hip Hop, What Does a World Without Hip Hop Look Like, Is Hip Hop A Counter to Capitalism or Its Greatest Success Story? And more! LISTEN: 2000 by Grand PubaSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Kay hasn't heard from her sister in seven years.
I have a proposal for you.
Come up here and document my project.
All you need to do is record everything like you always do.
What was that?
That was live audio of a woman's nightmare.
Can Kay trust her sister or is history repeating itself?
There's nothing dangerous about what you're doing.
They're just dreams.
Dream Sequence is a new horror thriller from Blumhouse Television, iHeartRadio, and Realm.
Listen to Dream Sequence on the iHeartRadio iheart radio app apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts what happens when a professional football player's career ends and the applause fades and the
screaming fans move on i am going to share my journey of how i went from christianity to now
a hebrew israelite for some former NFL players, a new faith provides answers.
You mix homesteading with guns and church.
Voila! You got straight away.
They try to save everybody.
Listen to Spiraled on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Hello, the internet, and welcome to season 297, episode 2 of
Dirt Daily's Ike Ice Day, production of iHeartRadio.
This is a podcast where we, let's say we take a little deep dive
into America's shared consciousness, and it is Tuesday, July 25th, 2023.
My name's Jack O'Brien, a.k.a.
No one knows what it's Like to be this jack guy
to be this thick
guy behind
plump thighs. That is courtesy
of Blinky Heck Behind
Blue Eyes by The Who,
which might not
seem like the most appropriate song to
open up our 50th anniversary
of hip-hop. Kind of a grim topic.
But I don't know. It To open up our 50th anniversary of hip hop. Kind of a grim topic. But.
I don't know.
It actually resonates with me.
For our conversation.
What the world would look like.
If hip hop had never existed.
It would just be a lot of guys with blue eyes.
Feeling sorry for themselves.
I'm thrilled to be joined as always.
By my co-host Mr. Miles Gray.
Let's fucking keep it hip hop.
With this AK.
Oppenheimer girl in a Barbie world.
Life in plastic, it's bombastic.
Super heated air, destruction everywhere.
Imagination, death is your creation.
Okay, anyway, shout out to Johnny Davis,
the short show titled God.
Yeah, big hip hop. Yeah, shout out to Johnny Davis, the short show titled God. Big hip hop.
Yeah.
Shout out to you for that one.
Shout out to all the Barbenheimers out there.
I only got half of it done this week, but I will complete the other half this week.
Yeah, we will finish.
Yeah, I am just for your support.
All right, Miles, we are thrilled to be joined by a brilliant poet, political activist, academic
emcee, and podcast host of The Must Listen Hood Politics with Prop on Cool Zone.
It's the brilliant, the talented Jason Petty, a.k.a. Propaganda!
What up, y'all?
I might as well continue the tradition here, you know, propaganda.
A.k.a. only when I get an email from Anna.
I get an email from Anna.
I'm on the Daily Zyguise.
My name is Prop.
I host hood politics with me.
I sell cold brew coffee that's prop a courtesy of me damn i'm saying that was a joint right there man i was like listen i keep them in the holster like yeah true mc yeah
how many you ever like how many writtens do you ever like if I'm sure you know you go to freestyle battles and stuff
how many written would you have in your back pocket
man
I mean I come from the age where you're not
supposed to have yeah yeah I know I know
you know I'm saying but
but you get like
you'll it's more like you have like
a grab bag of like
four bar a bar
finish off things in there
just yeah if you get lost you can pull something out of there right right right but yeah but like
a full verse someone's gonna catch you yeah you know and then then you can never come back yeah
yeah i remember being like really disappointed when i used to think like mixtape freestyles
were actual freestyles like it back in the day i'm like no they're workshopping like other material
that's gonna end up on a track and for the real heads like that was on that that was on that uh i heard that line
yeah that was like green lantern mixtape yeah i know yeah they were workshopping it that kind of
that kind of goes to like what we're going to talk about later on yeah that attitude yeah we'll talk
about that when we get there for sure for sure all right well what we are talking about today is hip-hop it is the 50th
anniversary we're going to just talk general thoughts on yeah how'd it go 50 years in yeah so
so what do we think we just listened to some hip-hop and we're all getting back together
what do we think yeah yeah no we're gonna you know talk about the history
talk about the best and worst things that happened to us because of hip-hop talk about
um what does a world without hip-hop look like which i said on our text thread does is that just
a world without black and brown people i because i feel like you would have to take away some of
the vibrancy the life the energy the rhythms of these cultures to then.
Anyway, but I don't know.
That's for us to discuss.
We can discuss.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Very never.
Yeah.
It's like the mainstream maybe is more appropriate.
Like if it didn't.
Yeah.
What would it's the way it did.
Yeah.
If we never fought to like keep it authentic, like if it just becomes like like we just gave up at rock and roll to
where it's just like all right we invented stuff we can't look we can't ever keep anything for
ourselves right yeah right you know i mean yeah uh all right but before we get to any of that
shit prop we do like to get to know our guests a little bit better and ask you what is something
from your search history that's revealing about who you are or what you're up to man i wish i had something like fun but like i've been i've had to like
continue to look for my own like name and address on the internet and so i've googled myself a bunch
of times i can send it to you do you need do you need it yeah that's the problem i kind of had like a
like a serious kind of like stalker situation oh and there was like a moment to where i me and my
wife kind of looked at each other because basically he found the dude found my wife's number and at
that point i was like all right i'm gonna catch a case if we don't fix this right you know so
yeah so like i just had to like find all these programs that'm going to catch a case if we don't fix this. Right. You know, so, yeah. So, like, I just had to, like, find all these programs that you can, like, get your information,
your personal information scrubbed off the internet.
So, I just kind of check here and there to make sure that, like, you can't at least find
my home address.
Right, right.
Because if someone pulls up at the crib at that point, I'm like, well, yeah, take care
of my children, guys.
Yeah, yeah.
Somebody look out for my kids.
Well, no, I think you'll be all right. But, all right but yeah that is like a really complex thing about the internet right
is like the right to like even disappear that's something people have talked about for years ago
like do you do you have the ability to be completely anonymous because when you see
yourself on those public record sites it's a lot of fucking hoops you have to jump through to even
get to somebody who will be like okay we'll take that down yeah it's not yeah of fucking hoops you have to jump through to even get to somebody who will be
like okay we'll take that down yeah it's not yeah even with like i mean i had to show that like i've
filed a restraining order like i had to like show that like yo i did the work you know right right
and finally the restraining order was even drama i was like ah it's like it takes these many times
i'm like man like y'all like luckily this dude isn't violent if you will
you know i'm saying so it's like i if you but i thought damn like what if what if this was violent
you know i'm saying like how hard it was to actually get this stuff taken care of like it's
a month man and um but yeah so the last thing so i just had to double check like a couple days ago to be
like all right am i still can you find my address right right the dark side of the internet yeah
yeah it really is and like it's so much awful shit is said on the internet that by the time
you get to the people who help with this stuff they're like yeah they just seem exhausted, you know? Yes. Right. Yes. Like we had a couple of things back in the day with like people saying anti-Semitic shit that was like, you know, violent.
And we like had a writer who like went to the FBI and it was it was wild.
Like but like the number of hoops you have to jump through just to like get them to even be like, all right, we checked into it.
It seems like they're full of shit. They're it seems legit yeah yeah yeah it's crazy what is
something prop you think is overrated yeah uh family vacations what happened i don't know why
i laughed at that because you get it yeah like wow because you get it you know i don't i okay miles you on your way
buddy i know yeah you only you only you only you only got one appendage like once you get a couple
appendages you know it's like bam like i like they're not vacations they're trips because i'm
like i'm working you know i'm saying like i i'm like i don't working. You know what I'm saying? Like, I'm like, I don't know.
And for somebody like me, you know,
I was a touring artist for years.
You know what I'm saying?
So I travel for work.
You know what I mean?
I got a system.
I know how, you know what I'm saying?
You get to the airport at this time.
I got access to this lounge.
I know which bathroom to use.
You know what I'm saying?
Like, yo, we got to be at the,
sit here at this time.
This is where I park.
Like I got, I got the system down.
You know, when you with the queen, you feel me?
The kids ain't listening to you because the queen's there.
So, and she don't care because she on vacation.
So she going to move at the pace she want to move at.
Now I'm irritated.
You know what I'm saying?
And we spending more money, you know, now you want some juice.
And I'm like, you ain't got no, we don't need to get juice.
They got juice on the plane. Just wait till we get on the plane. But I know, now you want some juice. And I'm like, you ain't got no, we don't need to get juice. They got juice on the plane.
Just wait till we get on the plane.
But I'm thirsty now.
Right.
Okay.
Everybody go to the bathroom because it's going to be in a lie.
I don't got to go to the bathroom.
Now we in there.
You and them, you and them, you beg for the window seat.
You beg for the window seat.
Now you got to use the bathroom.
So you finna make everybody.
And I'm like, God, dog, you know, you spending more than you want.
You know, it's just know it's just oh my god
it's just it's work it's work yeah my kids my kids like to go to the bathroom on the plane like
just to break things up like yeah it's just fun oh just to be like i'm gonna get up and go you
know what i'm gonna stretch my legs because you sitting there yeah yeah you know i'm saying okay
miles take that take that little newborn take that little newborn on a plane wait till they ears pop right yeah like good luck big dog i know yeah
we got a plane ride coming up in a couple months i'm like a little bit like
bro i'm old school i didn't do this with my children but my grandma definitely suggested
the little cap full of whiskey yeah you just kind of like
put them out real whiskey the benadryl so nyquil yeah right just a cap full yeah you know i'm
saying night night exactly just a little bit of lean i found in my garage a little bit
this is not the official stance of the daily no no it's the official stance of files gray though
just so you know yes put that out there but no i get i mean the other thing i read is like you know having like they could
like a nurse or eat like from a bottle because that helps like clear their air a little bit
pressurized but yeah i don't so far very chill baby so and he's still in that phase where like
he goes where i put him down so basically that's what makes that's why i'm a little bit more like
okay i think we can get through this he's not mobile and like grabbing shit and throwing it yet when we get to that point
i think that's when more of my hair will start to fall out and more gray hair will enter the picture
yeah when you got when they got opinions right for now you can just leave them at the gate to
hold your seat for you while you go and buy stuff at the you know just leave them in that chair
he's not going anywhere just up yeah when you yeah
when you go when you get to that like super cool hotel that's like cool for the for the size that
you need because it's for y'all right so it's not really cool but it's cool right and you like oh
good our kid's bed is literally right next to the bed that i'm with so well there goes there go to
love making because i'm laying right next to my child.
Right, right, right. And then just go ahead
and walk by that super cool bar because
you're not going to go down there. Right.
You can't leave your children in a room
like you're upset. Right, right.
It just reminds me of this shit that would happen
actually when I was a kid, right? And just so, this is
like some real patriarchal type shit
where like, if we're on a vacation with
like other families, like at night the dads will go fuck off and get fucked up.
I remember.
Yeah.
They will go do something like we were hanging out with the moms.
And I was like, when do you guys do that?
Oh, they don't.
They're like, we're drinking wine here right now.
Right.
We prefer your company.
Yeah.
To be honest.
Yeah.
To be honest.
Talk about junior varsity soccer. Yeah. But we, you know we we modern folk ain't no way in the world
yeah ain't no way in the world you discover weird parts of the hotel that like you didn't
because you like we're just walking we're like all right let's walk to the end of this floor
of the hotel and find to see what happens check in every door and see what's in there just like which is kind of fun there's an ice machine let's go get ice holy shit another ice
machine oh my god you're kidding me yeah that's yeah family vacations yeah but it's like it's
great when your kids are older and they're like dude remember when we went to this this and it's
like yeah it's so cool like you know they love it but it's it's great. It's just overrated.
Yeah.
At that point.
Yeah.
That's the that's the duty of the parent.
Right.
So at that point, you are just the facilitator for their for for formative memories.
Exactly.
But anybody who like you come back from a family vacation is like, oh, you nice and
relaxed.
It's like, no, no.
Exhausted.
Yeah.
Tired.
More tired than I was the day I left. Well, so what am I supposed to do? Yeah. Just like vibe out. I don't know. I mean, I think you make it fun for them. You just that's why I'm like, it's work. You're there. So they have good, good time. You're not on vacation. Yeah. You are a servant. Yes. I'm good. You're not on vacation. They are. I used to host like kids birthday parties at laser tag. So I know how to be like the entertainment. You're going to be great. And you're not on vacation, they are I used to host kids' birthday parties at Laser Tag So I know how to be the entertainer
You're going to be great
You're going to be amazing
You just have to tell your brain
You're not on vacation
That's what I had to learn
It took me so many years to figure out
Oh, I'm not on vacation
They are
Then you don't have to worry about anything
You're just there
Choose your own adventure.
We're there in charge.
What's something you think is underrated?
I guess almost on the same theme, I think solo missions, man.
Like, whatever that solo mission is, whether it's a restaurant, a movie, a walk, you know what I'm saying?
The gym, a trip.
You know what I'm saying?
Like, dog, I feel like F like fools be like sleeping on solar emissions first
of all it costs half of what it would cost number one you know i'm saying i would say
much less in my case but yeah totally yeah totally yeah it's a 250 year old man but
yeah no yeah it's gonna cost so much less and I say half because it's like, because that's that money I'm saving.
I'll now spend on extravagant stuff that I wouldn't have bought if there was other people here.
You know what I'm saying?
Like, you know, get the extra avocado.
You feel me?
Like, you know, take that.
Take that tool.
You know, I will take that extra bottle of wine.
You feel me?
Because it's just me.
Like, you know, i could do that you know
what i'm saying so i just think solo missions you could get an app you know get an appetizer you
feel me like i love how a lot of your memories right now it feels like you every situation you're
in ordering dinner with your family it's like i want to order this but i can't right now and i
absolutely can't are all your missions to a restaurant listen you got to take what you get right right now i think the thing for me is like i i like i
love experiences like i i realize like when people ask you like oh what gives you life and stuff like
that like i like i don't want like objects like don't buy me no objects like i'll get like i'll
get the i'll get the the object i'll get that for myself because
that's like i've already researched it i know which little doodad that i want and i'll get it
for me right but if i'm like but if i want like a gift like a treat it's like i want to go experience
something incredible you feel me so i'm like i'm the type that like i got a trillion tabs or like
stars on my like yelp or every city you know i'm saying
because i'm like i'm gonna go to this spot they got the bomb dumplings right right you feel me
and i know i like that stuff but i don't want to have to come to a consensus yeah with everybody
else you feel me i'm like no kid they like it too yes which i enjoy this i don't want to have to
fucking negotiate yeah i don't have to have to fucking negotiate yeah i
don't have to negotiate it and then watch you get these chicken tenders and like you don't feel me
and it's just like even watching you get chicken tenders bothers me yeah like just seeing it and
i'm just like i'm trying to show you the world like Like, I'm from South Central Los Angeles.
Like, you know what I'm saying?
Like, do you understand what we providing for you right now?
You feel me?
Like, no, you don't.
The chicken fingers.
I'm like, you know what?
Forget it.
Don't come.
Just don't come.
You're not going to enjoy it.
You're going to mess up my time.
So I love solo missions.
All right.
Let's take a quick break, and we'll come back, and we will talk all things hip-hop, 50 years of hip-hop, celebrate, and ask where it's at.
We'll be right back.
Hi, everyone.
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How do you feel about this, kids?
Hi, I'm Akilah Hughes, and I'm so excited about my new podcast, Rebel Spirit,
where I head back to my hometown in Kentucky and try to convince my high school to change
their racist mascot, the rebels, into something everyone in the South loves, the biscuits.
I was a lady rebel. Like, what does that even mean?
The Boone County rebels will stay the Boone County rebels with the image of the biscuits.
It's right here in black and white. It imprints a lion.
An individual that came to the school saying that God sent him
to talk to me about the mascot switch
is a leader.
You choose hills that you want to die on.
Why would we want to be the losing team?
I'd just take all the other stuff out of it.
Segregation academies.
When civil rights said that we need
to integrate public schools,
these charter schools
were exempt from that bigger than a flag or mascot you have to be ready for serious backlash
listen to rebel spirit on the iheart radio app apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts and we're back and yeah so about 50 years ago you know so some stories say late 60s but you know but
mainly i think i think everybody's just kind of coordinated that we're going to celebrate 50 years
this year 2023 the founding story is super inspiring because it's like a lot of people
practicing the thing that we now talk about as being like future facing like people in a local
community just like spending time with each other like no real profit motive involved just trying to
like throw the best party and yeah it was it was like this organic thing that came out of a neighborhood that
the mainstream media like at the time was treating the bronx because that's where the yankees played
and they had like a pennant winning team at that time and it was like this big story that like
look at this fucking hellscape like people actually live here look at look at these
fucking pictures you guys it's a it's a nightmare and like meanwhile the people actually live here look at these fucking pictures you guys it's a nightmare and like
meanwhile the people
who live there creating the coolest
art form I think
in American history would be my argument
but the best thing in America
yeah yeah I mean you gotta
you gotta give jazz props but yeah
jazz did happen it is wild
to think just
like yeah it's been 50 years and the amount
of cultural change that has occurred as a result i think is really mind-blowing and i know like
when we were talking like how do we even talk like you know because they're saying like you
know people that network like you want to do like a 50th anniversary hip-hop thing we're like yeah
for sure but what what what's important to us i think in terms of talking about hip-hop i
mean obviously there's plenty of podcasts you can listen to that'll give you beat for beat
like the you know historical timeline of hip-hop but i know like when we were talking about this
there's so many things that come through my mind whether it's like capitalism or black liberation or just joy from
having a art form or genre of music that energizes you i was like well i don't know if we can just
talk about one thing so i don't know where do we want to start you want to talk about
man broadly how like everyone's entry point into hip-hop everyone's like what the best or and worst
things that being into hip-hop have given to you because
i have definitely i have my experiences run the gamut and not to say that i feel like hip-hop
has inherently done anything negative to me but i will say being a teenager and looking up to
artists uh in new york city who had a completely different lifestyle than i did definitely led me
into some interesting places as a kid absolutely i. I do think like, this is one of those topics when you guys had me on there, like
there's what you guys said that, you know, to come on on this, like I've never needed less prep for
a pod, like, you know, and I'm like really, you know, in some ways, like trying not to like
dominate the convo because like there's i don't know if
there's there's as there's not many more things i'm more passionate about than like what hip-hop
is what it's meant to the world and even you bringing up jazz is like the just the compare
even just the comparison of just like the the ingredients that jazz came out of are almost
the same as hip-hop right you know right whether it
was economic geopolitical like it still sits in that sort of like you know if you bring it up the
bronx it's like well yeah like if y'all watched warriors like the movie you know i'm saying it's
like yeah yeah yeah they um there there was a blackout in the bronx and there were slumlords
who were destroying buildings that's why you had the rubble kings.
That's why it looked like a hellscape
because landlords would rather destroy their buildings,
you know, and get the insurance
rather than make livable sort of conditions
for these people.
And on top of those rubble,
kids, you know, black and Puerto Rican kids
threw parties.
Right, right, right.
You know what I'm saying? And I'm i'm like well y'all's economic you know racist economic practices
gave us this same with jazz y'all saying like y'all's racist economic things pushed us over
into this corner and we created brilliance out of it right it's what's i guess just broadly
jack what's the what is the best thing that hip-hop has given you
i mean again like very hard very very like broad question is probably the art form that
was the first thing that was like that i was my own i guess you know like i didn't know anybody
like i was living in the suburbs of dayton ohio when i
really started getting into rap obviously at first my first introduction was mc hammer
please hammer don't hurt him right and and then my parents didn't let me buy the parental advisory
albums like because that's a good parent yeah like you know they i would like
through osmosis pick up like r-rated movies or you know they'd be on hbo or like you know my
friends would rent them at their house so i was able to see those but like i couldn't break through
because that like you were never just incidentally like picking it up you would either have to steal
it or like one time i went to the record store with like my friend whose parents let them get it and i bought and this
is what i thought was edgy at the time naughty by nature i was like yes i can finally cop the
and then i turned the sleeve inside out inside the tape cover so that the parental advisory
thing wasn't on the front right Right. Smart. But yeah.
And then, you know, once I was able to like make purchases and like buy everything I wanted to,
like Wu-Tang was, you know,
93 to 97 was probably the best like fan experience I ever had,
like best cultural experience I ever had.
Like it was the first brand I was like super loyal to.
I had every single album cover as a poster on my wall every time a solo album would come out i would like add that
poster the you know i didn't have the new harry potter drop as a thing i camped out for but i
still remember like going to the mall the day wu-tang forever dropped and like there being a
line and like playing it in the car on the way home with my friend
and just and it delivered you know like i i loved that album i had my cousin buy me that album
because i was like i you know i was 13 when that came out and i looked like a kid and my cousin
was older and he's japanese and we were like i think we were in new jersey i forget why and we
went to the record store like hey you gotta give me the wu-tang album and he's like what he's like oh okay he's like because they're not gonna ask you like
they're not gonna press you about being a kid because i was like they're not gonna sell it to
me and i remember this black woman was checking him out he brought the fucking cd to the counter
she looked at him she goes you like wu-tang and he got so nervous even though it wasn't like are
you of age it's just
like right he felt like he's like what's oh she's like okay you're down he's like he's like oh yeah
yeah i do she's like oh okay all right she's like yeah he goes yeah they're nothing to fuck with
yeah yeah he's like i mean they are for the children so yes i'm not sure if you've heard
but yeah yeah for the children man yeah just generally i think it was the coolest thing i
had a chance to be a part of like yeah like you know once it broke mainstream it was definitely like it was outsider art it
bonded me with my older sister who was like way cooler than me but like you know what was your
sister listening to huh what was your sister listening to she was listening to like everything
i mean at that time she was hanging with like some straight
edge people who listened to rap so i forget specifically but they made me a mixtape that
i i bet that's where that 2000 song actually no that was 95 so it would have been well before
that but like yeah there are still songs i recognize from that that you know we we didn't
like have the albums but we have like mixtapes that right right
i mean that's how it went yeah yeah and then like she taught me like prep was a bad word
you know she was like you're not dressing like a prep are you no no
yeah yeah i love it take them dockers off homie yeah prob what about you i mean i i can only
imagine what you would say what hip-hop
has done for you uh yeah the life it's given you the experience if you have but what what how did
what's man how do you i mean how do you summarize that it's yeah you're right it's so hard to
summarize like you know i'm i it sounds so cliche it's on a t-shirt you know but truly i can say
like yeah hip-hop saved my life like in so in so many ways
and so many levels like i mean yeah i've been a professional rapper for you know so long but like
i mean i saw the world like hip-hop took me across the world i met my wife because of hip-hop you
know i mean like you know just my my friend network to this day like just everything like it gave me so much why i didn't
gangbang it's like you you know i'm i'm in the age range that jack is but i it was all happening
here for me so you know we're you know going you know you're eight nine years old breaking and
breaking two comes out you know and but i could go to venice you know
so you go to venice beach and you like i don't know what these crips and bloods is talking about
i mean that scene i mean it's cool and everything but that dude just spun on his head right right
and i don't there's that is the coolest thing i've ever seen in my life right whatever that is
you know what i'm saying so So, like, you know,
I got that.
I don't know what a bigarette is,
so I'm going to watch
this Christian dance.
Yeah, exactly.
I was like, look,
I don't know what you're talking about.
I cut.
And I'm like, look,
that mural you jogged by,
I remember, like,
going from my house
to my grandmother's house.
My grandmother took care of us,
you know,
all of our cousins and stuff.
And, like, you'd have to cross
where the 10 and the 101 met
over at the L.A. River, right? Yeah, yeah. Right right by alameda so that's where all the big graffiti stuff was at
you can't you're like if you're a single digit age and you're seeing that as you that's like
it's like this is larger than life it's like we who did that who got to paint that you know i mean
i was like i it just i i still remember just the feeling of like, I want to be a part of this.
You know?
Yeah.
The clandestine, again, the clandestine missions to like Fat Beats when, you know, Taste was
coming out, catching the bus to Melrose.
You know what I'm saying?
To get to Fat Beats.
You know what I'm saying?
To like, you know, it was another one.
Like eat Babu or something.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Hey, seriously.
And that's actually a funny story.
This front tooth right here, this chip toothoo did that you know really it was an accident
you know because you need taboo used to dance you know i'm a dj babu oh oh babu that's it well i saw
babu all the time yeah you know what i'm saying because i was i remember going to fab beats like
oh babu oh this one yeah i'm missing this molar because the dj battle is scar right here bro but yeah but you
see these guys that now it's like you know i'm a pre-teen while they're you know in their 20s and
they're creating this culture you feel me that like i'm too young for like radiotron and all
that stuff i'm old enough for like unity project blow or too young for you but old enough to go to
it so you see you see dilated
peoples when they're teenagers right see you know the far side you see this stuff happening
that's corrupt snoop you see it happening but they're the big kids you know what i mean
and you're like i just whatever that is right i want to be a part of it and you just so like
honestly that that's if it wasn't for graffiti like if it wasn't to find another tribe, you know, again, I'm from the inner city.
Like you find another tribe that's not if you're not slinging drugs, you're not gangbanging, you're not like a, you know, I was a late bloomer.
Like I didn't grow a mustache till college. So I wasn't I wasn't playing basketball.
You know what I'm saying? Like so I but I found my tribe, You know what I'm saying? But I found my tribe.
You know what I'm saying?
And with that tribe, you could be a little more open-minded.
I could go kick it with the skaters.
I could go to Dogtown.
You know what I'm saying?
Because we had hip-hop in common.
You feel me?
I didn't have to stay on the block and be hard and stuff like that.
I could be creative and be an artist.
Yeah, for sure.
Yeah.
So I'm like i
mean obviously i could gush about hip-hop forever but ultimately like if i were to solidify it is
like yeah like it gave me a place to be you know that got me through you know all the stuff that
everybody knows about the inner cities in the 90s right right yeah how about you for me like you
know being biracial and growing up in the san Fernando Valley, it's not like obviously I have my whole black family and extended family that I was able to derive my own sense of blackness from.
But also when you are but they all lived on the other side of the city, like in South L.A.
Yeah. And so being there, like unless I was on the weekends every day at school, it's like me and like maybe a couple other black and brown kids at school.
I didn't have a lot of my sense of like my racial identity was a little bit stunted because a lot of the communities I were in weren't necessarily looking like me or had the same existential stakes as I did.
or had the same existential stakes as I did.
And I think rap was one of those,
like those first mainstream forms of media that was speaking just pure unadulterated,
like blackness, like into my ears.
And also understanding things like,
like, you know, getting into more conscious rappers
and actually understanding, like hearing through hip hop,
it really actually helped me make sense of like white supremacy or racism police violence and things like that
because i wasn't experiencing them firsthand but i knew based on everything my relatives say what
my father would say what my grandfather would say about how they grew up what their experiences were
that there was i i needed a way to sort of, I don't know, I guess, connect to it.
And again, help me, A, feel like it's okay that I might feel like the odd kid out or
whatever, or whatever it is, because there is this much larger world where people are
being able to like vocalize something about a struggle that is like being black or brown
or just in general poor in america and i think those
things are all very interesting they helped me like kind of take it not take it so much for
granted like in the beginning i was just love like i love you know all the bad boy shit and
like the bling bling air and things like that and then when like black on both sides by most
death came out in 1999 i was like in eighth grade and that's when like shit started like opening up
and i was like oh my god yes this is like i've i'm finally finding things that are articulating
a lot of deep down injustices that i'm like that i'm observing and couldn't quite articulate so
in that sense like that was one of the greatest things to happen is to really get me to see the world differently, but also understand like where where I fit into the larger context of it all and like what what my place was in it.
And for me, that's always and again, like to your point, that's always given me community because when I was in high school, I was a DJ and I would like, you know, fancy myself a freestyle rapper every now and then if I got drunk enough.
would like, you know, fancy myself a freestyle rapper every now and then if I got drunk enough.
And that made immediate immediately gave me community with all the Filipino kids who are the breakers and the DJs and stuff like that. And then I could go. And again, like to your point,
you could go you could you could enter a lot of different spaces because at that point in the
early 2000s, hip hop was so pervasive, like it was kind of shorthand for a lot of people to be
like, yeah, this is our like cultural common ground so yeah that also again helped me connect to a lot more people that i didn't because then even
then you i would look at kids were like i like fucking limp biscuit or whatever and then like
some that's not hip-hop yeah yeah it's almost got like yo like you heard of mac dre and i'm like
you're white though yeah okay okay what's up yeah tell me more yeah yeah exactly or like my friends like my friend
like my my homie chris his older brother ryan like the whitest dude you know but he was so
into wu-tang at the time we were like yo ryan fucks with wu-tang and like we're fucking nine
you know what i mean and we're like for real we fuck with wu-tang now too but not really realizing
like at later on you're like wow what was his entry point into Wu-Tang but I get that it's all different but again it just immediately created
this like understanding too so yeah in that sense that's why I've you know all like I've I credit me
being more interested in music and making music and being involved with like more music stuff
is all it all just really comes from that and finding
like an art form that felt like it was truly there like speaking to me yeah so on the con
on the question of like what because we did this thought experiment last week with adam talking
about like if hollywood had never been unionized like and i think we landed that like film looks a
lot different tv looks a lot different so with this one's obviously a lot harder to imagine a
world where hip-hop had never been invented i do think like it seems inevitable in the past tense
but like just how absolutely like perfect it was for the moment and for the past 50 years of culture
like it fully embodies like all the thing like post-modernism where like it
just takes from the rest of the world ingests it and like creates new art that is like perfect and
constantly evolving and like you know resists kind of being co-opted but then still ultimately
is co-opted so like it works with like in the same way that we talk about
like capitalism as being this like living breathing entity like it feels like hip-hop is this both
like part of that but also like kind of a response to it and like i don't know better than it in some
in some instances like better at doing the thing that capitalism aims to do so like i i think it's
inevitable i don't think it's it would have inevitably been as perfect and brilliant as it
ended up being and like i i just like i kept thinking of dick cabot for whatever reason
when we were talking about what pop culture like dick cabot and like the people in the 70s have
you ever seen like i didn't know who dick Cavett was until he started like making the rounds in like viral videos where people are like, look how high David Bowie is in this interview.
And it's like him talking to Dick Cavett.
And Dick Cavett is just this like skinny white dude with his like hair combed to the side.
And he's like in a suit.
And his way of talking is just so like i don't know like sexless and
upper crust and like he's never been on any street anywhere like he's never been wet before or
something like it's just like as like thinking about, like made me think back to like the 70s was really a fucked up time where I feel like white straight white men had had just complete unaccountable cultural power for like way too long.
And suddenly they like made it cool to look like Burt Reynolds and like the beauty standards for women like women like started like that was when like brook shields became a sex symbol like in the late 70s like when she was like 13 or like 12 like it was just
it was like this really toxic fucked up thing so like i don't i don't know where that would have
gone but it feels like hip-hop came through and at least partially was an antibody and was like
okay we need to relieve straight white men of some of this power to decide what
is cool and what is sexy and what like people should wear and talk like
because they are fucking up like so bad.
Smokey and the bandit is number one at the box office.
People,
we need to,
we need to do something.
Right.
Something must be done.
That's funny. I like taking your thought experience like i think about in in our home when both my parents were
my parents split when i started high school but like before that you know my dad was the like the
the former revolutionary you know i say all the time my father was a black Panther. So it was just all, he was all about, you know, unity among suffering people
everywhere. My mom, you know, was the, like, she's from the hood, but she, you know, had a radical,
like Christian conversion, you know what I'm saying? But she's still from the city. So she
still had a little street about her, but was really more about, like, my soul and, like, am I being, like, you know, influenced by the wrong things.
My father, because of, like you said, like, the type of hip hop I was drawn to really young was, like, the, yeah, the self-destructions and that we're all in the same game.
The really stuff that's about, like, you know, even just, like, the tribe called Quest and the poor righteous teachers, the stuff that was just about this, like, black excellence, you know what just like the the tribe called quest and the poor righteous teachers the stuff that was just about this like black excellence you know what i'm saying and like you said like
the struggle against you know oppression so to your point like him coming from the time of the
revolution like marvin gaye's what's going on right I didn't, I got it, but that was my parents' music.
You know what I'm saying?
Like hip hop was a way in some ways for my dad to like be able to have an inroad into transferring, you know, the torch, the mission down to me because of the hip hop I like.
Now, granted, you know know i had same as you
i had like the list of rappers i wasn't allowed to buy tapes for you know the nwas and the icy i
wasn't allowed to have those i remember we had a list on the refrigerator of course but same thing
my sister six years older than me she was a part of like a house party like dancing crew like
totally like like the house party movies right that my sister. Like she was that age and she was doing that. You know what I'm saying? And her friends was
bringing tapes in when I was like third and fourth grade, you know what I'm saying? You know,
getting, getting access to this stuff. But either way, I think, like you said, like a way for this,
my dad to be able to be like, yo, this is the movement and him having the wherewithal
to be like well if my son is you know i'm saying being drawn to this you know this thing that we've
created he's like i don't have to like it right he's like i like some of it but he's like you
know i'm saying like uh but let me be a part of this so i think to your point like hip-hop became in some ways the continual voice of resistance
that was happening with the generation before us yeah but just like the generation before us
and the generation before them like you said the empire always strikes you know i'm saying so like
there was always going to be right you know a money-making version that if we're not careful was going to
envelop the whole thing i brought up on the text thread like rappers delight you know being a hip
a hop a hippie to the hippie to hip-hop people believing that that was like the first rap song
well that was seven years later you know i'm saying and not only was was seven years later. You know what I'm saying? And not only was it seven years later,
the Cold Crush,
the guys that were in that group
were the Cold Crush Brothers bodyguards.
And some lady was starting a rap group
for their record label
and they were auditioning people.
And the dude was like,
hey, Grandmaster Kaz,
can you write me a rap?
And guy's like, sure, I guess.
So he wrote him a rap
and that rap became rappers delight and they're the mega stars and hits because the empire always
strikes you know i'm saying but uh that being said i think yeah like i don't know what would have been
our sort of entry into the continuation of feeling like you're a part of this longer heritage of like
the black and brown experience you know without us creating our own version of that whether it
was djing because you gotta remember there's no hip-hop there's no djs yeah like that so there's
so much you know there's no streetwear there's no like so much missing that's more than just rap
music right that's why i feel like it's more than like if there was a world without it i feel like it would more if anything would just be delayed
because i think hip-hop is inevitable and like to your point right about you know you talk about
before there was fuck the police or fight the power there was like say it loud i'm black and
i'm proud and that's james brown or you have Sly Stone and you have the Black Panthers and you look at digital underground like Money B.
His parents were Panthers.
Tupac comes from like there's like that's a very I think I was and I wrote that in my notes about like it is a continuation.
And it was like it's no surprise that a lot of these people come from that tradition and that was sort of the earliest way to articulate the struggles of the community talking about like pervasive police power or you know the prison industrial complex
that was just the new vocabulary to use to to to be able to to talk about that and express that
so like yeah in a way like i feel like it's inevitable and maybe could have only been
delayed because that's that was just
unfortunately that's the momentum of our society was always sort of marginalizing people and yeah
it turned out that the block party gave us all this yeah so i think yeah it's really no surprise
that's why i think it's also important you got it california also has a huge part in hip-hop
because particularly the bay because that's where the blank like the you
think of how many people from the black panther party come out of the bay area you think sly stone
comes out of the bay area and how many people reference sly also as an influence and even his
time as a dj he had that swag that was kind of like early rapping you know all of our slang
almost all of our slang come from the bay like almost all of it, you know? Yeah. It's it's so it is wild when you look again,
that even in a way that we talk about the Bronx or we talk about California, whatever it that's
what makes it feel like inevitable. It's not so much that obviously, like if you want to find a
way that like it really began, we can we can talk about those links to new york but again it was just
i think cultural momentum that just basically came through and just said okay here's a new way of
doing everything we've been doing there's a beauty in like you know even it being even just the
regional expressions you know of how hip-hop kind of came came to be what it is and what southern
music sounds like.
You know what I'm saying?
Like my homeboy says,
like the way he explains it to me is like the type of like LA underground stuff,
like see that as like jazz,
but like the Southern stuff,
like that's blues.
Like it just feels right.
You know what I'm saying?
You know,
uh,
I'll write my down.
Like it just feels right. Right. You feel me? Like there's, they're not words. It doesn't have to be words. You know what i'm saying you know uh i'll write my down like it just feels right right you feel
me like there's they're not words doesn't have to be words you know saying it just the the tall
white tees you know i'm saying like that it just comes from that mud that soil that memphis because
that's where the blues was from so their kids are gonna sound like that right you know i'm saying
just the fact like i think it's very important to remember that, like, hip hop is not just rapping. You know what I mean? Like the the why we used records was because there are schools didn't have music programs. So like, you know, we had to create music with what we had. You know what I'm saying? So like, and that's what they did out here in the West. It was like, yeah, we had all the, you know, the G-Funk stuff. You know what I'm saying so like and that's what they did out here in the west it was like yeah we had all the uh you know the g-funk stuff you know i'm saying of all the all the funkadelic stuff because
we were outside it was a nice day outside so you went out you roller skated you was on the beach
you know so our music just sounded different right we that region and i love that like hip-hop was
always able to provide that palette for you to map your experience and your culture on and which always
makes me mad for like all heads that are like these young niggas is weird you know i'm saying
like right i get mad at that like that's not real you know i'm saying i'm like man yeah exactly
cool mo these greats rap a lot like okay guys like rock him is the gold i will hear nothing less
i'll hear nothing it's like bro okay like that's your thing you know i'm saying like so when like you know when you like you you miles you are the
age of like the cali swag unit you know i'm saying like so when they was you know that's your that's
your age you know i'm saying so the cool kids and uh you know and the jerking you're a jerk
yeah yeah all the pack divs and stuff like that like that's that's what they did they took what
they took what was they were exposed to
and they made something they own you know i'm saying so even with the mumble stuff like i'm
not the type of dude to be like i'm not gonna ride in my car with it but i get it like they
they took what what they had and they made it their own and i just think that like you said
it's inevitable you're going to make treasure out of whatever you was given right right because that
is the process of it all it's like you take what what's left over what you have access to and can you just turn that into something
like because one thing that i always think about too is like how pervasive hip-hop is you know like
obviously it's an american art form but now it's i i'd be hard-pressed to think of a country where
it does not exist and i don't know how many genres of music you can actually say that.
And even if you think to like what's really interesting, even in America.
Right. Like I think numerically, most of the consumers of hip hop are white people because that's it.
That's just what it is. But I'm always curious to think about what makes it so attractive? Now, I get why, like, I can see how for oppressed people in any country, this hip hop is a way was one of the few like genres where it's like it's articulating struggle.
It's articulating, like trying to move towards liberation, whatever, however it's defined.
So I see that appeal there.
And but then eventually that turns into a thing that some more like authoritarian states consider like subversive art because they're giving voice to something that a lot of people are feeling, but in a way that is as an art form, because it doesn't necessarily have to be like it's black people or people from the inner cities in America doing this. It's also here is a here's a here's a set of ideas and aesthetic.
Yeah. Yeah. To express, you know, a struggle.
Yeah, I think it's perfectly built as like a foil to capitalism, almost in the sense that like the way capitalism operates is
it consumes and appropriates everything and ends up destroying it right or like making it uncool
hip-hop consumes and turns everything into art and gets consumed by capitalism but then it always
changes to something new that capitalism then comes for but then by the time it gets to it
it's always changed to something new so i think like part of the appeal is just that it it doesn't ever fully get bogged down because it always
becomes something new that capitalism like just kind of by the ethos of hip-hop it feels like that
is what is seen as true hip-hop is not the stuff that is made year like decades into a certain style being popular like now drill is popular
like but like even think about like the way drill was like it was a chicago thing then like a bunch
of producers in london started making beats but then like people in new york started like rapping
over those beats in a matter of like three weeks all that shit gets seemed like yeah like and that's the
now like probably considered washed but it's the that changes and like there there's a new form of
authenticity but i am curious like from here like you talked about its popularity in other countries
and it's also like frequently banned in other countries and i'm just wondering
like will there ever be the moment when like hip-hop becomes like the the sound of a revolution
that like visit like actually overtly resists capitalism in in some way like it feels like the
natural weapon for that right i don't know man i think there's like there's always this
discussion because you lay you have these like concentric sort of intersections if you will
whether it's resistance commerce you know capitalism liberation peace love unity and
having fun if you ask like karis one you know i'm saying so you have all these concentric things laying on there then then there's this discussion
where you have you know hip-hop still only it's 50 but it's only 50 so meaning we've we ain't
we only got one bono and the closest of that is jay-z you know i'm saying that's like
hove is the closest thing we have to a Bono and the closest thing we have of someone becoming a politician is Killer Mike
you know I mean like so in 50 years we only got two dudes that actually grew up you know I'm saying
and became something more transcendent and both of them and this is a critique that a lot of people
have them in hip-hop both of their solutions to liberation
is just black capitalism yeah you know what i'm saying it's just you know own your own businesses
support black banks only put your money here you know i'm saying so it's like there's this like
discussion around that and then you have dudes like you know your chug d's of the world that
are like nah burn it all down you know what I mean so you know and
dead prez is like yo burn it all down but dead prez still wants you to buy the $50 ticket to
their concert you know I'm saying so there's this like there's a tension there's this tension that
is a microcosm I think of movements everywhere you know what I mean where it's like well i it like you said hip-hop being or not hip-hop
capitalism being so pervasive and so just swallowed earth in a way that like i don't know if any of us
can imagine and even like you go back to like old like the old old old old old like you know
cowboy and like check yourself while you wreck yourself rapping like they were talking about
their coupe devils and like you know they rolling down you rapping. Like they were talking about their Coupe de Ville's
and like, you know,
they rolling down,
you know what I mean?
They ain't no projects.
That stuff is imaginary.
Like they're imagining
all the big chains
and stuff like that.
So like that's what hip hop was.
These big rope chains,
that's capitalism.
I got money now.
You know what I'm saying?
That's because we was poor.
You know what I'm saying?
So like, yeah,
liberation to them
meant not being poor anymore.
So there's just this like, I don't know, man's also there's a dark side right because all that dookie
chain stuff all comes from just rappers want to look like the drug dealers they just want to look
at the italian drug dealers no less yeah and so like there's a such a bizarre like funhouse mirror
like being aimed at each other thing that like reflects back and like it's it is always like it it's a very complex interconnected system in that way and yeah and even to that point i'm sorry
let me i try not to dominate but even to that point like there's even a discussion that like
our version of venture capitalism is drug dealing like it's like you get your money i don't want i
can't go to these white banks you said want, I can't go to these white
banks. You said the supremacy. I can't go to these traditional, I can't go to the white banks. So
that's why rappers are always like, yo, I used to be in the streets. Now I do this because that was
their version of like investment capital. So it's still just, like you said, this fun house mirror,
because we're still just street dudes. You know what I'm saying? And with the street dudes thing,
there's still the homophobia.
There's still the misogyny.
There's still all these things
that like are mirrors of stuff
that we just need to deal with, period.
That I just, to your question, Jack,
like I honestly don't know
if it'll ever fully be
that liberation sort of thing you're asking.
But also part of the protest is the joy, like the party, you know what I'm saying?
The turning up.
That is part of the protest.
It's like, despite what we're going through, we finna turn up, you know?
Yeah.
No, totally.
Yeah.
Well, I mean, like No Name is somebody who's like interesting and has like kind of socialist politics and makes really cool music.
And she has an album coming out August 11th.
So I'll be looking for that.
I mean, there's no shortage of those like artists either, you know, and I think that's why it that's the beauty of it.
And the kind of sort of dark part dark part too is like you can kind of
there's it it's all encompassing yeah but yeah like that point about jay like it's funny because
i remember when he said that he's like i feel like people are using capitalists as a slur
right yeah sir now but i think it's changed quickly i, things changed on him real quickly. Yeah. On all of us.
So,
yeah.
Well,
probably,
I mean,
love to have you on for a 10 hour episode where we just talked about this,
but this was,
I know I,
I do actually have a question cause you did bring it up and this is something
I always think about is a lot of people who from the old school,
they are,
have a liberation mindset.
Right.
And I think for a lot of people
who are a little more their head is in the space of like black liberation liberating like working
people all that and being as inclusive as possible at what point do you think it could hip-hop not
that it would it would completely sort of divorce itself from a lot of like the misogynistic or
sort of like problematic aspects of it because i don't know part of me like from a lot of like the misogynistic or sort of like problematic
aspects of it because i don't know part of me like i always think of when people talk about it
i say i think on one hand it's reflecting an experience of a person and they're speaking
from that experience other times it does feel egregious it feels excessive it doesn't further
anything artistically and i wonder if if it's so ingrained that it at a certain point like
will like the most popping artists be the ones who actually aren't calling women bitches or hoes
or saying something different and i wonder if if that's also another hurdle that like
mainstream hip-hop like you know can it cross that barrier and that's something i always think
about all the time because that that does feel like something i wish we people were more conscious of because it does affect
everything around us especially with you know like how misogyny especially affects like you
know women of color that feels like antithetical to kind of the reasons why you want to you know
like you want to be liberated and do those yeah nah it's weird man i think that that sort of
nah it's weird man i think that that sort of contradiction even sits in when you think of like the albums the rap albums of the year that the grammys are choosing i mean
they're choosing naz they're choosing rest of five nine they're choosing d smoke they're choosing
these artists that are saying important things, but
those aren't the number one songs on the radio.
Matter of fact, a lot of those songs aren't on the radio
at all.
And even Nas already has his own issues.
He already, yeah, he got his thing too.
You know what I'm saying? So there's this weird
yeah, like
what are the labels
and radio pushing?
You know, what are the kids wanting? And are really the kids just wanting this because they're getting it from the radio?
You know, right. Versus what the industry, if you will, the gatekeepers, if you will, what are they rewarding?
Because you take somebody like NBA Choppa who like is blacklisted, but is the behind Drake is the highest streaming artist.
You know what I'm saying?
So like even no matter what the industry does, if this what the streets want, this what the streets want.
You know what I'm saying?
So I just I wonder if it's like, yeah, is this it's not so much a hip hop thing, but a conversation of who are, who do we want to be as a people?
Right.
You know what I'm saying?
And then,
like you said,
the art reflects that.
So it's like the market,
I asked the other,
other X factor,
the market don't care.
The market's like,
what y'all want?
Yeah.
Okay.
Here.
You know what I'm saying?
Like the instrument don't care.
Yeah.
What's popping right now.
Okay.
Give them 20 more of that.
You know what I'm saying?
And that's where capitalism comes in. That's where capitalism comes in that's where capitalism comes in so like man i i i think hip hop's gonna go the way that in my mind i look at like metal and rock to where it's like it evolves
into these other things and we can a we could become the dudes in the basement you know i'm
saying with our acdc
t-shirts talking about motorheads the own the last real group you know i mean right and then
or we could just let it evolve let it change let it become what it is and just kind of be proud of
whatever iterations that they have and like and hope that we're teaching these young brothers
these young girls to like be different in the world you feel me because yeah
like like to this day like i throw which was probably gonna be my plug like i throw this
party every first sunday in long beach and when it ain't no fun comes on i mean the whole 150 200
people women men women children everybody's singing it you know know what I'm saying? Like, I don't, and then you have to stop the song and be like, hey, listen, nobody really
say this.
Don't actually say this to anyone.
Like, these are not okay words in real life.
It's wild when the whole party goes up going, when I met you last night, baby.
Right.
Boy, you opened up your gap.
And you're like, whoa.
And you even licked my balls my balls like that's in the
song or would we be like yo what's my favorite word yeah bitch the whole party and you're like
don't really call nobody that though like don't actually say that to nobody but like i don't know
is it well i think yeah and i get again i don't mean to say that this is even exclusively something
that's happening hip-hop because no again every art form is going to reflect back what is happening
society on some level so like i'm not trying to pin all of our ills on hip-hop at all but i'm
just trying to think of like because to your point it is evolving now and we see more like
lgbtq rappers coming in the game starting to to chart or, you know, like female identifying rappers.
Just that already is evolving because, again, all those groups also have their own sets of struggles and oppression that they're dealing with.
And so it shouldn't be a surprise that naturally the language of hip hop would migrate to those places.
So, yeah, I feel like I'm always excited because for every for every like soundcloud rapper i'm like come on
y'all this is not good music there is some forward thinking or kind of trippy artist who's like yeah
i kind of take these kind of like i'm kind of doing like emo rap like i'm fusing emo with rap
and i'm like okay yeah dude yes do it do you yeah yeah yeah exactly totally with it same i never want to be that because i feel like
that's you just put it you put an expiration date on you might as well just go buy your dockers and
your in your new balance you know i'm saying yeah you just give up prep yeah just give up the day
you just put an expiration date whenever you start being like, he's young. I don't like none of this young rap.
And I'm like, oh, it's not for you.
It's fine.
Let them have it.
That's dope.
Be excited for them.
You know what I'm saying?
Be an OG.
Don't be an all head.
Be an OG.
Yeah.
No, true.
That's facts.
Yeah.
Because we've definitely met people, Jack.
We've met people who are like, yeah, you know, like the new stuff, not really messing with.
Yeah.
Bro, that dude still showing up in his like oversized throwback jersey.
Got his baseball cap cocked just a little bit to the side.
Flat brim.
Got the sticker on it still.
Yeah.
He's like, yo, this is real hip hop.
You see these JNCOs now.
Granted, my daughter's wearing JNCOs now, which is pretty cool to see.
But that's not why he doing it.
She's asking you if you have a 4x tall t white
come on man just relax the oversized fitted cap come on man looking like fabulous in 2001
she's like no i don't tie my do rag under here i'll let that i'll let that blow in the wind
okay well prop we could honestly have you back on every day to talk about this. It's such a pleasure having you.
Where can people find you, follow you, all that good stuff?
Yeah, you could follow me all on Prop Hip Hop.
That's all my at mentions, and that's my website.
I do have one plug for anybody in the LA area.
Like I said, I do a party every...
Speaking of hip hop, we're doing a 50th anniversary
kind of celebration with uh y'all you appreciate this with all the original mix masters from k-day
la the 1581 so we're talking battle cat julio g like whoa the original yeah it's crazy they're
all coming so club real ones it's every first sund. So this one is August 6th in Long Beach.
Go to clubrealones.com.
Get you a ticket.
Dude, it's going to be super dope, man.
I throw it with the beat junkies.
So like, it'll be Icy Ice is there.
You know, DJ Curse is there.
It's going to be like, Baker Boys are coming.
Like, it's going to be like an incredible, incredible weekend.
Huh?
With Tito? Yeah.
Tito's coming.
No.
This is Tito. This is Tito. Tito's coming. No, is Tito going to be there? You think I? Yeah. Tito's coming. No. This is Tito.
This is Tito.
Tito's coming.
No, is Tito going to be there?
You think I'm kidding.
Tito's going to be there.
No.
From Tito's top four at four?
Tito's four playing four.
This is Tito in la casa.
All my girls that call me Rasa.
Yo, that was, oh.
Yo.
Anyway, for all my LA's.
Now, okay, now he say he coming.
Now, let me put that caveat.
The Baker boys, Nick and Eric,
they pull up all the time.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
So, they'll probably be there
just because, again, it's the Mix Masters.
So, they'll be there.
Now, last time Eric came,
he said Tito was coming.
So, let's...
I think this might be the weekend.
But, yeah, clubrealones.com,
please come pull up on me. And you guys, too. Y'all, too, clubrealones.com. Please come pull up on me.
And you guys too.
Y'all too on this screen.
Yes.
Please come.
Okay.
That'd be amazing.
Yeah.
I mean, every name you said, I got, I aged, like I de-aged five years.
I'm like 15 now.
As soon as you heard it.
Yup.
Oh yeah.
Okay, cool.
Amazing.
Is there a work of media you've been enjoying?
Yeah,
there's a lot of work of media I've been enjoying.
Okay.
I'm almost like mourning to like knowing like all these shows I've been
watching are ending and I'm like,
well,
they're,
they're not returning now for a while,
you know,
cause nobody's writing right now as it should be.
But I think my favorite one is this tweet from my homeboy,
um,
homeboy Toby, uh Toby Nwigwe.
He was like, for Twitter, he was like,
yeah, that X is the perfect symbol for Twitter.
I was like, it just plays so well
into just how unaware Elon is about himself.
Yeah.
Like you are, I've never met someone so well obviously i've never met him
but like i don't know anybody that has that lacks that much self-awareness
are you calling it x you're like you damn right you know what i'm saying yes you are
yes you are x no no right i was reading this thing about streetwear like the a guy who's like
the king of streetwear in the fashion community philippe plein or something plean he's like a
german dude but he was like interviewed and he was like i love underdog stories like i love elon musk
and i just had to stop reading i was so yeah i can't talk no more but then he was launching a like pair of sneakers
that he co-designed with snoop and i was just like fuck man now i have to buy the shoes
damn it that yeah yeah conflicted miles where can people find you what's working media you've been enjoying uh just
wherever there is at symbols at miles of gray uh that's you know threads too uh where you know i
actually i do thread things i'll be over there whatever we call them yeah yeah yeah it's cool
uh let's see a tweet that i like at noah garfinkel tweeted in house, we believe that X is the coolest letter.
69 is the funniest number.
Paul Pelosi gayed himself with a hammer and memes can be a bank.
Peak blue check Twitter out front signs that you would have.
Yeah.
That's amazing tweet i've been enjoying is actually a screen
cap of a blue ski blue sky from truck chris at truck chris dot bs guy b sky at dot social
uvalde cops cowering behind their vehicle softly whispering try that in a small town You can find me on
X
At Jack underscore O'Brien
And on threads at Jack underscore O
Underscore O'Brien
Love and underscore
You can find us on Twitter at Daily Zeitgeist
We're at The Daily Zeitgeist
On Instagram we have a Facebook fan page
And a website DailyZeitgeist.com
Where we post our episodes and our footnotes
Where we link off to the information we we talked about in today's episode,
as well as a song that we think you might enjoy.
Miles, what song do we think people might enjoy?
I think just, you know, we were talking about hip-hop,
and Jack, you were trying to find that earworm,
trying to figure out what that track was.
2000!
trying to find that earworm,
trying to figure out what that track was. 2000! The help of
Zeitgang, we realized it was Graham Puba's
1995 hit, 2000.
From the album
with the same title, 2000. That album's
called 2000, isn't it? Yep.
Let's go out on that so people can actually
understand where Jack was coming from. This is
Graham Puba with 2000. Yes.
Alright. Well, we'll
link off to that in the footnotes. The Daily Zeitgeist
is a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts
from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app,
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite
shows. That's going to do it for us this morning.
Back this afternoon to tell you what is
trending, and we will talk to you all then. Bye.
Bye. Deuces.
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