Drake, Kendrick, Black Business & the Line Between Culture and Ego

speaker-0: What up y'all? We are back for another episode of Grown Man Game. I am your man. I am the man. I am the only man in this room. Next to my boy. Nah. Nah, next to my man, my co-host, brilliantly brave and abundantly blessed. My man Rod. What's up, Rod?

speaker-1: What's up, what's up? I I appreciate the almost alliteration that you got there, but abundantly, even though you put a hard B in there, it still starts with an A, sir. So but I appreciate it, man.

speaker-0: Make it work, man.

speaker-1: Creative. You stumbled, but you you kept your footing and you got back in there. And I appreciate the the resilience that you had on that intro. Like that's big dog stuff. I appreciate you.

speaker-0: I don't appreciate you, you know, seeing my flaws and then you know I'm saying and listen echoing them to the to the you know I'm saying, to the listening

speaker-1: Listen, man, accountability is accountability. We talked about that several times on the pod, and it it pays to have somebody hold you accountable. That's what's wrong with the world today. You got no accountability. How you doing, big dog? How are you? I'm blessed, man. I'm blessed. Happy to have another day, ⁓ another episode of the podcast getting recorded. That means we either are gonna get flamed in the comments or applauded. And either way, I'm good with it. Yeah. Maybe be.

speaker-0: You're right. You're right. I'm good, brother. Well yeah, we straight. I'm playing retarded. Retard? Nah, retarded.

speaker-1: Did you just say the R word? ⁓ okay. I'm gonna say, man, wow. The hard R is crazy. Not yes. Like I said, you guys have you guys have enjoyed Big Mike on his podcast. Make sure you send your letters, ⁓ and hopefully we can get him reinstated. But ⁓ the hard R is is remember when you could say that though? Yeah, and you wasn't like really talking about nobody, like actually, like you wouldn't say it to somebody who was actually.

speaker-0: What's going on here, man? You trying to get his cam.

speaker-1: You know. Right. Like you wouldn't say and even if you did, like then nobody took a fence. Well, maybe they did. Maybe that's why we can't say it.

speaker-0: Maybe we didn't know because they were hard R.

speaker-1: Yeah, yeah. But but you could say it like that was like a thing. I remember for a long time Ari used to say, she wouldn't say the full thing, she would take the re off of there, ⁓ and just say like re re or or just the tarred part. And I was like, dang, that was kind of interesting that you just kind of made up a new word out of it. But she has since matured and is no longer using the word and hasn't used it for a long time. I remember I remember it being a thing for a while. And now it's like you can't even say it. I don't even know what you would what do you say? I think I think, yeah, what do you say? Autistic now? Is everybody autistic though? But it but there's gotta be different different sit situations, right? Like there's different di disorder. I'm ⁓ I'm so nervous to even say anything really

speaker-0: Autistic or on the spectrum. In the black community, you know, we would say slow also.

speaker-1: Yeah, he a little touch. Maybe a little flicked it. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. So it's like he's special. Yeah. Yeah. He just don't ⁓ what what did Dio Hewley say? ⁓ a football hammer and cowboy boots. He wanna be just in case the ⁓ Super Bowl breakout at a rodeo, he wanna be ready. ⁓

speaker-0: He's back. Be ready, man. It don't really slap right though, you know. Maybe slow, might slap a little bit, but it just didn't, you know, it it never crossed over. So it's not really canceled. Cause it didn't cross over enough. Right. Like trifling. Like you'll never see a white girl be like, you know what he trifling unless she just in the community like that.

speaker-1: Yeah. Yeah, unless she ⁓ white Mike's sister. Mm-hmm. Yeah, that's interesting though. Like it's funny how ⁓ 'cause I wonder like what's the next what's the next word that we say currently is gonna be like for our kids when they're adults that they can't say anymore? Like you can't say the F word, right? Like you can say you can say the letters that associate with that, but you can't say, especially now with the G O T on the end of it. You say with the G-O, the double G O T. ⁓ man. You might as well go ahead and pack it up. ⁓ put in your two weeks' notice before they find out. At least you can get some seminar space or something. ⁓ because they for sure are gonna fire you. ⁓ obviously you can't say the N-word, that's been around forever. however, it's being spread and people are saying it all over.

speaker-0: Right, comfortably. Yeah. ⁓ man, I got a crazy story that kinda pertains to words, right?

speaker-1: Okay, let's do it.

speaker-0: So I'm looking at no, no, I wasn't looking at nothing. What was I doing? ⁓ I was talking to Tiff. Tiff and Maddie, and we're talking about life decisions, trying to teach Maddie, like, okay, here's you make these kind of decisions, and this is what can happen to you in your life if you go left instead of going right, yada yada, yada, yada. Tiff talks about how she had told, you know, Maddie about dating someone when she was younger, like in junior high. ⁓ no, she had snuck out the house in junior high to meet her friend and go to the movies. Her parents wouldn't let her do nothing because they was crazy. But it's all right. Rest in peace. Rest in peace. so Maddie goes, Yeah, mommy told me that story

speaker-1: Mm-mm.

speaker-0: And I was like, she was acting like a young ho. Yeah. I said, what you say? What did you say?

speaker-1: Wow. Wait, wait, wait. Maddie said that? Maddie said that ⁓ I thought you said that. I'm like

speaker-0: Bro. ⁓ no no no no no no Maddie said that but that's still wild enough for me.

speaker-1: No, it's wild both ways, but like I it's a different level if you said it, but man. I said what you said.

speaker-0: Yeah. Okay. And then Tiff was like, yeah, that's a saying that the kids have. So I go, what you talking about? Yeah, daddy, it's not like like a big thing like And then she said it again, just you know, just young ho. I said, no, we're not doing that. I said, watch how you talk to my wife. That's my wife. Watch how you talk to my wife. But I guess that's a new saying that this some of these kids have.

speaker-1: ⁓ Not around here, homie. Yeah. I wish a nigga would around here. Nah, we ain't gonna do that one. Young ho. I ain't I've never heard it. ⁓ I don't doubt that it is 'cause kids is just, you know, it's there it's different. It's the wild west out there now 'cause wild everybody on the same level. Right? We all got access to all the same stuff at the same time. So I can see that being a thing.

speaker-0: Pray you never do.

speaker-1: Right, like we all on the same platforms all at the same time, experiencing everything in real time. So I could see them picking that up and being like, ⁓ ain't no big deal. Like just like I just said about like the N-word, right? Like because everybody uses it and everybody listens to the same music and everybody got the same social media, then like, ⁓ why can't I say it? He's saying the song or, you know, I'm cool. I'm cool enough to say it or

speaker-0: Never that cool. ⁓

speaker-1: Man, young ho

speaker-0: Young ho, it's a new saying. This is like their version of a thought, that hoe over there. But I'm like, nah.

speaker-1: Yeah. Yeah. Nah, can't do it. Can't do it, man. It's like ⁓ like I couldn't say dang in my house for a long time because it sound, you know, just like damn. Like we know what the we know what the meaning is. We know what you're trying to say. ⁓ yeah, no. Mm.

speaker-0: Yeah. I mean even in our house now, like we don't like stupid or dumb, you can't say those. You might as well say bitch ⁓ motherfucker, like it's the same what'd you say?

speaker-1: Okay. Yeah. Yeah, it it's it's interesting how that goes. Cause I remember because we don't, I mean, I don't know that it really happens in here. And it was, it was like a the S word, right? For a long time. It was stupid you couldn't say or dumb, you can't say. ⁓ but I say fool, right? And I actually I got it from RA. So we say fool all the time. And so the kids will say it every once in a while. More more Reagan than anybody else, because she she liked to she liked to go back and forth. And so she said it to me the other day. And ⁓ I didn't even really like it in it didn't trigger anything because we say it all the time. But then I realized, like, after she said it and we just kept talking, I'm thinking to myself, this just call me a fool. Wait a minute, man. Hold up. We didn't got too familiar now. Like we gotta have to back down. Like you gotta figure out like who you're talking to. You can say it to whoever you want to say it to, except for two people in this house. You had to find another way to communicate that. ⁓ but yeah, it it's interesting how the words go. Cause I I know there's g I know there's something. There's something that we say right now that's gonna be offensive to a population of people and we're gonna have to like pull it back and not be able to say it.

speaker-0: Yeah. I know, you know, we say this I say this a lot, soft. ⁓

speaker-1: You you on it you on the birds, bruh. They coming for you.

speaker-0: Goofy. You are goofy. Stop being goofy. That's goofy. We say that a lot in our house. So I could see soft or goofy. ⁓ I just remember being a kid and be like, man, stop acting like a C. But you can't say that no more. It's like, ⁓ whoa, so

speaker-1: Yeah. You know, like I w I wonder, like for cause like for white people, like the C word is like a big deal. But I don't remember like I really it did it ever have it carry any weight around like I never even thought to say that. Yeah. But like where did that but where did that pick up steam to be such a like a a harsh word where like you couldn't say that to a person. You said it to somebody like it was a problem. I don't know, but it I don't think it's a black. Maybe maybe that's something that to kick around to the community. Is that a is that just a white thing? Like the the C I can't even say it 'cause my kids outside the door, but but the C w Mother No, I think they went upstairs. I'm pretty sure they went upstairs. I think it's just R.

speaker-0: ⁓ my bad. I'm out here. Well, they heard it before. He took ⁓ to a Kendrick Lamar concert. All kind of cussing. They they heard it.

speaker-1: I did. It did. It was crazy. It was crazy. It was a lot of cussing, a lot of weed smoking. ⁓ which

speaker-0: I tried to take my daughter too, but I couldn't get off her.

speaker-1: Yeah. The air smells funny in here. Don't worry about it. Yeah, it does. It does. Just, you know, don't breathe. Don't breathe. ⁓ man. All right. ⁓ we got sidetracked. We're going well. Okay.

speaker-0: For sure. Yes, sir. We might as well jump into ⁓ congratulations, brother.

speaker-1: All right, well w what we congratulating you on this week?

speaker-0: Man, you know what? I'm tired of giving people my my health updates for my congratulation brothers, but I'm just gonna sprinkle just a little bit, just a little bit. I feel like did I not? I don't think no no, I don't think I did. But your boy's cholesterol is you know what I'm saying, on point, beautiful. Below normal. I'm out here. Just a little bit of fiber in the morning, a little less beef. Here we are. You know what I'm saying? One's 160 something. Maybe 180. I don't know. But it's in the right speed zy. So that's a little sprinkle of congratulation to myself. But the main one is so some of you artistic brothers out there may hate on me for this. ⁓ and I understand it because I'm an artiste also. You know, I ⁓ I produce music and this week alone, right? So

speaker-1: It's in the right spot.

speaker-0: I'm messing with this AI. And, you know, I'm saying, I'm like, ⁓ this is pretty cool. But I forgot about it, threw it away, not really thinking about it. I'm ⁓ on the socials, and this one producer, she's like, yo, use this AI to add lyrics onto your music without having to, you know, hire somebody to come in and sing. I'm like, yo, let me check this out. Check it out, do it. brought life to some of these beats. I said, you know what? Am I about to be the guy that puts out the

speaker-1: It's about you about to be Timblin?

speaker-0: Out to be Timbo, man. Like, I'm putting these songs out, man. I'm just gonna throw a little six-pack out there and just see what he do, cause it's my fully produced beat, my full production, my concept of the song, my lyrics, well, my prompt to make the lyrics. Now don't let me get out here lying. But it's an AI voice singing it. But I might like, I need a voice sultry, R B. Gone through a lot of heartache and pain, worse than Mary J. Blige. And I'll put her on a dark beat and then it'll sing over the beat with the the prompt for the lyrics. And it sounded kinda hard, man.

speaker-1: Man, I wonder I wonder how that works. Like what is the can ⁓ so you can just do that? You can just put it out and then just like it's out there. So that I'm assuming that's similar to like you can create an artist essentially, like the like a s a voice, and then you just produce to that voice. Mm-hmm. Or you you could technically have a whole slew of voices and you just produce Man, that's crazy. Did I share that that that one ⁓ man, what was that? I don't know. I I can't even remember what I'm talking about at this point. But I I I I shared it with Ari. It was like ⁓ people were commenting on the fact that they didn't know that this was an AI voice, but it was a song that had got gone viral on TikTok, I think it was, and then people were pointing out that it was right. People were pointing out that it wasn't a real person. ⁓ and like people were obviously shocked, right? 'Cause you just assume that every time you hear somebody singing that's gotta be a real person. Right. Not no more, man. The boundaries is gone. Congratulations on that. Is that all your congratulations?

speaker-0: Yeah, my main congratulations was just that I'm finally putting some stuff. I was just gonna do an instrumental album. I might still do an instrumental album, but I'm finally putting it out. It's been like three years. I kept saying, I'm gonna throw an instrumental album out, I'm gonna put it back finally, finally. It's coming out, so

speaker-1: Yeah, let's do it. Get it out there. Dope. Dope. I like that. be careful. ⁓ this is why I say that. ⁓ so I I'm on I'm on threads now, right? I'm getting busy on threads because it's just like I used to be real active on Twitter before it became X and then I just kind of fell off. Yeah. ⁓ and just went hard on Instagram. But threads is like it's like black Twitter times ten. Like I'm almost I'm almost to the point where like I my algorithm on threads is all us. Like all the comments and I like everything is like all us, which I I l absolutely love. But I had came across a prompt ⁓ to create like an AI image, right? Did you see that? And ⁓ and like the very next day, ⁓ it was the ALC was talking about ⁓ the water in in Georgia and she had like a jar of water and it was all brown. I'm like

speaker-0: Yeah.

speaker-1: Damn man. And somebody commented because so it the the post, the original post that I posted was like it took off. Like it had like 400 likes and like a bunch of comments or whatever. But then one of the comments, like the last comment I saw was like, is this worth our water? Like, dang, man, you can't have no fun no more, man. You can't just can't have no fun out here in these streets. And then after that comment, it was like just negative, negative, negative after that. Like, you're stealing. You're still in create still in work away from the creatives and I like, Man, I was just messing around on Chat GPT. Like I just wanted to have a little fun and create some stuff. But apparently me and Mike is is killing all the water.

speaker-0: We sorry y'all. That's our bad. ⁓

speaker-1: So I'm gonna give you an insider tip. It's not slowing down. Invest in water. Like that's it AI, if this is if that's truly what's gonna happen, right? If like AI is going to lead to water being gone or being ⁓ not ed not edible, not drinkable. Yeah, you know, go ahead and pack it up. Start storing water however you can, start investing in whatever is is purifying water or is is water companies because it's Full of people doing that. For sure. Right.

speaker-0: Social media gets on my nerves though too. All right, y'all go ahead and clip this up. But social media gets on my nerves because it'll be somebody in the comments talking about capitalism is evil and y'all are y'all are participating in a capitalistic society and this is ridiculous. And whoop, what I'm like, bro, you are on your Apple phone on the internet, right, on Mark Zuckerberger's social media.

speaker-1: Yeah. Right. Come on now.

speaker-0: Come on, bro. We're we're all trapped in this thing. We I mean we can figure out a way out, maybe somehow, but if you're watching this right now and you like, I'm an anti-capitalist, well

speaker-1: Mm-hmm.

speaker-0: Thanks for watching, man.

speaker-1: Right. I don't know what to tell you. Yeah, yeah.

speaker-0: Why capitalism always gotta be bad when black people start becoming

speaker-1: Yeah, it's it's it's tough out here in these streets, man, 'cause everybody got an opinion, which they're entitled to, but but not everybody should share it. Like you some opinions are just your opinion, you keep it to yourself, like 'cause

speaker-0: There's a lot of re reads out there. ⁓ sorry. I was just talking about

speaker-1: ⁓ man. ⁓ This guy. I was gonna say that we all wasn't we all wasn't in the same classes, right? Some of us had remedial English, some of us had, you know, grade level English, some of us in honors. It was all different, but we get to we get to social media and we all together. Everybody in the same boat. But we ain't all graduated. Yeah. So that's something that I always I constantly have to keep reminding myself. Like when

speaker-0: No there,

speaker-1: There's comments or just content that's like don't make sense. I'm like, man, this is that's right. Yeah they wasn't, yeah.

speaker-0: Well brother, what do you need to be congratulated on?

speaker-1: All right. ⁓ ooh. Good. Not something that I necessarily did, but I was ⁓ blessed to be a part of. I now have a a middle school and high school daughter. So both my daughters promoted from fifth grade and eighth grade. So now I have a high schooler and a a middle schooler. So I am fully in these teenage, teenage streets. So I'm gonna give myself congratulations early and hope that it sticks.

speaker-0: Sounds good.

speaker-1: ⁓ that I survive ⁓ this this next phase because my biggest fear in in in this in this era right now, and this is jokingly my biggest fear, is that they all sync up and it's just me and the dog in the house by ourselves that time of month, like that week, two weeks, or whatever it is. ⁓ I might I might be knocking on your man. No, you got two women over there. I'm not going over there. Nah, you can have that all to yourself. I just might sleep in the car for a few days until it passes, you know what I mean? ⁓ but yeah, so my congratulations, I think, for this week, for this parti yeah, for this week is that because I mean it's like a it's like graduating myself. Like I've become now ⁓ a teenage father, full blown teenage father, not just I got like a baby in a in a middle schooler. I got a about to be adult. We went, ⁓ I took my older daughter like twenty minutes. Her first driving lesson today. So yeah, we out here, man. We out here taking chances. Risking it. We almost killed a donkey today, baby. Legit almost ran a donkey over in the parking lot. ⁓ if that tells you anything about where we live. Appreciate you, man.

speaker-0: Yeah. Well, congratulations, brother. And let me put some sprinkling on that. You know what I'm saying? Cause he, you know what I'm saying? We kinda alike in a way where we don't sprinkle ourselves enough. But I think what both your babies got 4.0's, right? Or at least 3.5.

speaker-1: Yeah, the awards was crazy. I was shocked. Like cause I know because I'm involved and I'm around and I pay attention, but dog, they must have said them girls' names a hundred times. This award and that award and this, the president's this, and the principals that, and the honor scores. And I was like, God damn, sit down. Like, let somebody else get something. Stop, stop standing up. Yeah, it was crazy. It was crazy. I I that's them though, right? They did they did that.

speaker-0: I mean they did that but with the guidance of you and Ari, of course. True. And mainly

speaker-1: Uncle

speaker-0: be like, hey, don't be goofy out here.

speaker-1: Right. Yeah. Don't be a re re is what Uncle Mike said. Uncle Mike said. Get him out of here. Get him out of here. Don't pack me up yet, bro. I'm good.

speaker-0: I need the babies to teach you about being able to leave Earth and land on the moon. And being able to get back home safely. But all of us didn't get you know what I'm saying? Four point oh's but

speaker-1: In 2026 it might have happened. In in 1966, it was just a it was a movie. Not today. Let's leave it. Let's leave it alone. It's a topic for another conversation. ⁓ I do want to get to the group chat. And I wanted to talk about this Drake and Kendrick thing, but you haven't heaven giving Drake his his due liston. So we're gonna leave it alone. It's not.

speaker-0: We're not gonna go there now. Yeah, what's going on in the group chat? I've graduated from Drake of Are You High Right Now? Like when he was like, ⁓ man, Drake, Drake is dope. Like I do Drake like I do Kendrick. I love all his old stuff. And I listen to it. The new stuff. Hmm.

speaker-1: That's how you do Kendrick too? ⁓ see? Huh? Freudian slip. You're right.

speaker-0: I mean Right. Nah, I definitely don't do that with Kendrick. ⁓ here we go. Kanye. Excuse me, Kanye. I listened to all the old Kanye. When's the last time you listened to some new Kanye? You was like, This is hard.

speaker-1: Be the LA guy. The ⁓ Vult Vultures or whatever it was. I only listened to it once. The one with Tra the newest one with Travis Scott or whatever. I don't know.

speaker-0: That's what we do with music we like. We listen to it once and we 'cause we don't want to

speaker-1: Here's the deal. Yeah, ⁓ I'm I'm not I'm not a ⁓ I was I was a big Kanye fan in the early Kanye era, right? ⁓ all the way up to probably like eight ⁓ eight and heartbreak. And then what was that after that? Okay. It was one something after that. ⁓ Life of Pablo, I liked. ⁓

speaker-0: Dang, you left eight over. ⁓ I think even before it was

speaker-1: Yeezus. I liked Yeezus, even though a lot of people was kind of See I liked it for Yeah. Yeah. But like the the yeah, I I even like KSC Ghost, honestly.

speaker-0: It's hard. Kid Sea Ghost was the last one that I was on, but he had a lot of different people on there. Ty Dallas Sun shout out. Kid Cuddy

speaker-1: Yeah. Tyles I ain't watching.

speaker-0: Ty Dollars on this for show watching. What's up, Dolly?

speaker-1: He ain't listening. But that that's cool. I just shout him out. He might he might pick it up at some point. I'll tag him. ⁓ but yeah, I I I won't say that I'm a Kanye. Like anything that Kanye come out with, I'm not gonna automatically run to. So I'll say that. I did like the ⁓ the the gospel album though. I'll say that. We went and saw that live at ⁓ at whatchamacallit? The forum.

speaker-0: He don't need to get tagged. Ty is watching Man 2. Game. ⁓

speaker-1: And that was dope. It was a dope concert, dope concept. ⁓ I already knew one of the guys in the choir, so that was cool. We got to kind of get the inside scoop on it. ⁓ but anyway, so this is what I'll say about Drake is I I'm not a Drake fan. I like think Drake makes great music. ⁓ I think Drake makes good music. I won't say great. Some stuff is great, some stuff is good. I've always felt like he sings a little more than I prefer.

speaker-0: Y'all in Illuminati. Change the subject.

speaker-1: ⁓ I always have said, and I said this from the beginning, ⁓ if if So Far Gone was the first Drake like album I'd ever heard, I probably wouldn't have liked it. Wow or liked him because I didn't like it. That's crazy. Cause I had to go back and listen to it and I was like, ⁓ yeah, this is all right. I mean, obviously the radio songs that was on that, like I knew those songs, but as far as the whole album, ⁓ it's whatever. ⁓ see, but that's how everybody is about it, right? Everybody's like that about that album. I think Iceman is very similar to that album. Just the lyrics or the content is is different in terms of what he's talking about. But it's very very sing-song-y. ⁓ the bars are the bars. Like he he's he's gonna give you those. But I mean, this is the Drake that people said they they loved. He came back, he came back and was the Drake that you said he loved y'all loved, and y'all act like something wrong with it, because your allegiance to Kendrick just won't allow you. Man.

speaker-0: That ain't got nothing to do with it. I stopped look, this is what happened to me. This is why I stopped listening to Drake.

speaker-1: Drake do to you?

speaker-0: Drake personally came to

speaker-1: All right. Here we go.

speaker-0: ⁓ I'm a I wish Tiff was here because she could go ahead and not that my wife would ever lie for me, so you know, no no man's wife is gonna lie for them. It's crazy. But I've been loving I like Drake's music since I first heard it. The comeback season, right? Okay. Back on the blog days where you had to find the music on the blogs, all right. Gimme my sauce when he had that song with ⁓ Trey Song, right? Drake, I connected to Drake in the same way that I connected to J. Cole. ⁓ It's regular dude. It wasn't, I sell dope, I'm high. It's here's the things I'm going through. I got relationships. I might have to fight somebody every now and then. But I'm chilling, I'm good. Drake, fast forward now, he hasn't grown at all. He's like, I can't wait for these niggas to run up on me. I'm a pa. Like, come on, Drake. Stop it now. Stop it. You can still make a hot song. Yeah, but for me, I'm forty five. So I don't want to hear Drake in his 30s talking about running up on niggas and I'm the one that's gonna get you if you gonna get it. The Kendra stuff is I mean, it's been I don't know, one, two years. You can let that go. Like, let that go. That's over. That's over. It's a it's a it's new time. Let's keep it going. Iceman. Like I told Rod, I listened to a couple songs on it and I was like, ⁓ yeah, that's hard. ⁓ yeah, I like that one. That's hard. ⁓ no, don't like that. ⁓ no, like I don't like that either. I don't like that either. I Drake is in the same category that I will put what's my man, Pluto. What's his real name? Future. Future. I I like Future's cool, but I'm not listening to his music like now 45. I can't there's only so much dirty sprite I can drink. You know what I'm saying? Like I'm cool, man. But that but turn it on. Yeah. That's how I am with Drake now. Don't I I don't think he's whack, but I'll listen to Kendrick or I'll listen to J. Cole because there is a elevated level

speaker-1: Do your thing. That's hard. Yeah, it's perse it's perceived elevated. ⁓

speaker-0: No man, it's elevated, man. See? Look at God. He's like, take his mic away. He talking about I mean I d depends on where you're at in your life. ⁓ you know what I'm saying? And then

speaker-1: Yeah. Take the mice away from me. Yeah.

speaker-0: And then just what you like in music. Like I I can listen to Pac's old songs. There's no song that Drake is gonna make. That's gonna be like, I wonder why they call you B. I wonder why they call you B. I bet you look here, Miss Stang, hit the salt your game with you're money hungry, and you need to change in the locker room while the homies do his laugh. Hot five, cause another play Joe. It was said you was easy, even sleazy. He's not gonna make that song. It's gonna be like, These h out here sliding trying to get in my bank and then and then it's not gonna happen

speaker-1: It's a d first of all, let's let's just not do this. It's a completely different era, right? When when that wonder why they called there there was that was off the heels of of a whole movement of black empowerment. We was still rocking HBCU sweatshirts and different world. Like it was it was it was some different stuff happening.

speaker-0: Nah, I gotta stop you on that, cause no black fist, just that gangster glare. That that's where Dre and him came out. Like, nah, we ain't got no black fist on here. We ain't got no Malcolm X hats. We just got that gangster glare. That was 9 what? 2? Snoop, 93, 94, 90, he on that front. 96.

speaker-1: It's a completely different, completely different era. Completely. 96 and 2026 are extremely different. Extremely different. Musical content is different. The stuff that guys can rap about, the stuff that guys have access to, the amounts of money and fame that dudes have are completely different. Two packs. Two packs sugar. And and honorary Dr. Dre. What y'all pay attention to? I don't. I don't

speaker-0: See the hate? Hate the bait. Two pot anybody with two from the bay in their name.

speaker-1: 'Cause he's not from the bay. Just cause he he spent some time there, he's not from the bay. Right. That would be like saying Lil John from the Bay. He ain't from Cali. He's from Cali. He New York. New York and and Baltimore and whatever. Where was I born? Mm-hmm. Oakland. Oakland? No.

speaker-0: Man, where were you born? So you from O All right then. Next question.

speaker-1: He barely even lived in California. Exactly. All right. Anyway, I like the Iceman album. I don't like ⁓ I really haven't listened to Habiti. I listened to like one I let gave it one spin. ⁓ I got through halfway to the the whatever the other one is, the Maid of Honor, because that just ain't my style. Like I know that that's ⁓ a genre that people like. It ain't mine, so I can't do it. but I like the Iceman album.

speaker-0: Next question.

speaker-1: And I feel like he had to have an album where he addressed everybody that came out against him. I think he had to address all those people. People like he's complaining or he's crying. Like I think he had to do that. Like he had to get that out, get it over with. And then whatever happens with this new deal and the new albums, I think you get you get a full blown Drake, right? ⁓ I think you get the Drake that everybody's looking for. But at this point, I honestly don't care because I am also 43. I really don't give a damn about nobody. Whoa, whoa, whoa. You know what I'm talking about, like musically, like, yeah, you know, I don't really care about that. Like, y'all, you make music, don't make music. You know, I think the J. Cole album was fire. I think it was too many songs. And I feel the same way about this Drake thing, right? Like a double album at this point, bro. You just, you just you're wasting your time. Cause nobody's gonna listen to 27 songs. They definitely listen to 43 songs.

speaker-0: I mean, that's the game now though. You put out a gang of Chris Brown was like one of the dudes that really did it. You put on a gang of songs and then you get your streams up that way. So that's

speaker-1: Yeah, yeah, which is which is and I guess this can kinda be grown man gameish 'cause a little bit more business oriented, which is kind of Drake's situation, right? Like he's trying to get off the label, right? He's suing a label on top of it for for some some foul play or whatever.

speaker-0: He'd like to sue. That's what I heard. He liked to sue.

speaker-1: Yeah. I mean he's only been suing one person or one entity.

speaker-0: ⁓ okay. How many times?

speaker-1: Until you until you win, that's what you do. That's what litigation is. And listen, man, that that's ⁓ business, right? Ain't that why people voted him in? Because we needed a businessman as president? Hey, people people don't like business when it comes to black people all of a sudden. Ain't that what you listen my man

speaker-0: Sound real Donald Trumpist to me. ⁓ Why you gonna sue somebody? Hip hop is an art form. The battle is an art form. Sue somebody. It's the same thing. That's like I I never I never like broke into the house. I was just looking in the in the window to see it. My guy sent a cease and desist, putting out a disrep.

speaker-1: How? Same as Yes, because that's first of all, let's let's be clear. Drake did not draft a cease and desist. Drake did not write a cease and desist. When you when you start a lawsuit, once you decide we're getting into this, the lawyer is doing everything else.

speaker-0: So he don't got no control. He just like I don't know what

speaker-1: That's a part of the suit. You have to there's certain things that you have to do as a part of the suit. You can't be like, I'm gonna sue you and then, but we're not gonna follow these steps. Like you just keep doing whatever. You can't do that.

speaker-0: What's the reason for the lawsuit? Stick to that.

speaker-1: Inflated streams or deflated streams.

speaker-0: Why you all of a sudden wanna sue somebody over inflated streams? Why now?

speaker-1: Because they're trying to devalue him on the end of his deal. Before him and Kendrick even got into the beef, him leaving the UMG was a big thing. Then the beef happens. Then the beef happened. He didn't need to. He was he was at the end of his deal. There was nothing to sue for. And then the beef happens, and now you put money behind my my opponent, right? And then you you give him more streams and more like you're devaluing me as an artist.

speaker-0: It sounds like a sucker to me. That sounds like a sucker.

speaker-1: Yeah, you can say that if you want to. The same thing is gonna happen when AI try to take away everybody's jobs, right? And people be like, ⁓ like we was just talking about you gonna make music, I'm gonna make art. And then the artists out there, the the singers that aren't getting opportunity, and be like, Damn, like we should sue Chat GPT or whatever you used, because we can't make music no more. I'm just I don't know what you use. That's why I said whatever you use. But I'm just

speaker-0: Don't be putting my shit out. I didn't even put no names or what I'm I'm gonna sue. If I get sued, I'm suing.

speaker-1: That's what I'm saying though, like somebody is going to end up getting the short end of the stick. And that person is going to want to sue somebody.

speaker-0: But see that's sucker time, man. You took your L, bro.

speaker-1: The L Imagine happy Bro, I'd rather one of them sue each other than both of them be dead.

speaker-0: Suein big or big suing pot. It ain't See, that's ridiculous.

speaker-1: I'm just saying.

speaker-0: As that that ain't got nothing to do with ⁓ one ain't got nothing to do with the other.

speaker-1: All right. But okay, so if they sued, what what would that be a problem? This is just let's just let's just let's just for a second, let's, let's, we go, let's go back a couple episodes. We talk about black culture and our our affinity for hood violence and nigga shit, right? You're damaging my business. Let's just think about businessmen. You're damaging my business, I'm damaging your business. At some point, you go, hey man, listen, cut that shit out, or I'm gonna sue you. You go, nah, I'm gonna keep going. That's what normal business people would do. But what niggas would do is like, you ain't cool if you you should just take to the streets. We should just fight it out.

speaker-0: You taking it from We basketball.

speaker-1: No, because when you say sucker, this is where I'm going with it. Because when you say sucker, you're you're saying that there's an opposition to sucker, there's another side to that, which is like a tough guy, right? There's a tough guy and say there's a square and a and a and a and a soldier or whatever you want to put, right? Why couldn't either one of them just be people? How are you a sucker? Because you handle business in a business like sense.

speaker-0: That's what I'm saying, Nick. Peace on. at sucker time you jump you jumped into the boxing ring you got socked in your mouth and now you want to sue

speaker-1: But he didn't sue Kendrick though. That's what I'm saying. Kendrick has never seen received any like he'd never been sued.

speaker-0: If I get a subpoena that s names me in the lawsuit, I don't have to be sued directly. If you putting me in a lawsuit, hey man, your gloves work too well on Rod's hands, and that's why I got knocked out. I w I'm putting Rod's name in there. I'm putting it's sucker time. Cause if you wouldn't have got knocked out, you wouldn't even be thinking about suing nothing because you got knocked out. Cause if you was gonna sue, You would have sued before you got knocked out. That's that's why I say sucker time. Here's a sucker time on some hood stuff, right?

speaker-1: So is Jay Z a sucker?

speaker-0: Hold on, let me get my let me get my

speaker-1: For it. Right.

speaker-0: ⁓ White Man Can't Jump. Right? Watching White Man Can't Jump, the original. ⁓ yeah. Yeah, come on now. Yeah, ridiculous. So they on the court. What? My man ⁓ Woody Harrelson's, I forgot his ⁓ his character's name. Billy Billy Hoyt. Billy Hoyt balls up black dude. They at the park. My man is hot.

speaker-1: Yeah, they did have another one, huh?

speaker-0: He says, ⁓ I see what this is. Y'all got me. Okay. Now he going to the car to get the heat.

speaker-1: Mm-hmm. He ain't no sucker though, that's why.

speaker-0: He is sucker. What you going to the car to get the heat for cause you couldn't ball, you could have stopped. You could have been like, okay, I see what this is. Y'all got me. Nah, run it back. I'ma get this. Run it back.

speaker-1: So I yeah, so I think I think you're you're missing the so the problem isn't the battle, right? The battle it can admittedly say he lost, which he does on the album, says he lost. Yeah, you go back and listen.

speaker-0: Dirty. That little nigga took me out.

speaker-1: That don't mean I can't still talk to you or talk about you, right? Like let's like yeah, no. No. He probably him not even probably he did, right? He lost the battle. Cool. Beyond that, there is some foul play at hand and y'all messing with my money.

speaker-0: to go da you wash you got wash So the cases did get dismissed, right?

speaker-1: One of them did. I don't know if they all got dismissed.

speaker-0: I think they well, I don't know for sure, but I know there's a few of ⁓ that got dismissed. So now it's like, okay, nothing happened. Right? Dismissed, dismissed, dismissed.

speaker-1: And you can say nothing happened, but you can also look at the numbers and the numbers don't add up. But okay. See I'm just Yeah.

speaker-0: See? Now you say you did it the business way. The business way said nothing happened. Okay. But you like, but but look at the numbers. Something happened. You got washed, man. Just take your L and keep it pushing. Your girl chose me. You know the name of the game.

speaker-1: Okay. So what what about what's happening is making you say that he isn't pushing, just keeping the pushing?

speaker-0: You said

speaker-1: So I can never say nothing about nobody ever again. No. The whole industry flipped on me and I'm supposed to take that L and walk away. They did. No. It was a twenty verse one. At one point twenty writers. What you mean? At one point everybody was shooting at Drake.

speaker-0: See that right there, the whole industry Nobody was shooting at Drake like that. ⁓ man. Who was shooting at Drake besides Kendrick getting it cracking?

speaker-1: ⁓ man. So Metro and Future. You don't remember the whole BBL Drizzy thing? Yeah, yeah, yeah. So we got Metro Future was on that too, because he wasn't he wasn't messing with Drake because he was mad at Drake about the whole twenty one Savage thing at one point. The weekend the weekend had had an issue with him. ⁓ it was a bunch of people. It was a bunch of people.

speaker-0: Okay. That was just Metro. That wasn't Okay, so blatant ⁓ stuff. Okay. Don't make enemies with me. What you what you mean?

speaker-1: If I do make enemies, I can say something about them enemies. Okay.

speaker-0: Sure, but then take your fades. Don't sue me because when you see me

speaker-1: He didn't sue you, that's what I'm saying. Like you keep saying don't sue me. He didn't sue you. Right.

speaker-0: He can sue me. He might try to sue me why you over there on your little podcast talking about

speaker-1: Yeah, the label ⁓ He saw the label. Listen, the only reason the only reason that anybody has a problem with it is cause y'all all been hoodwinked fooled and bamboozled. Like the the Yeah man, the mark the industry and the market pushed that to y'all. Cause how else would y'all have known?

speaker-0: Suck it. No. Push what?

speaker-1: That he was suing.

speaker-0: Cause he sued.

speaker-1: But how would you have known though?

speaker-0: How would I have not known?

speaker-1: How would so if I sue my neighbor, how would you know?

speaker-0: You would tell me.

speaker-1: But Drake didn't tell you. Yeah, I'm saying, but Drake didn't tell you. And then Kendrick, he ain't a sucker, so he didn't tell you either. Right. Because you never heard Kendrick say it. So who told you? Who told everybody that Drake was suing? UMG the same person that's setting this whole thing up. So they know it adds fuel to the fire.

speaker-0: This man The news, I don't know. So s am I supposed to sue Vibe magazine?

speaker-1: No, I'm not saying you're supposed to sue anybody. What I'm saying is the same people that he's suing is the same people told you that he was suing. Because they understand in this community that devalues you because it's the cousin of snitching. Because you can't do legitimate business just like you can't protect yourself from criminals. Like it's the same thing.

speaker-0: So who released that Elon Musk was suing open AI?

speaker-1: Fun though. Open AI probably.

speaker-0: So did they release that so that our community will be like we can devalue Elon Musk now? Like Elon Musk is a

speaker-1: Sucker. You know what? In that situation, Elon Musk ⁓ that's probably more more realistic that either one of them said it. Probably Elon more than anything, probably because he is going to try to use his platform and try to use his his literal platform to see a sucker. Push it. Not how is how is that a sucker? It's business. Only only us will see business as being a sucker. I'm telling bro.

speaker-0: Na Thing is there's a reason why our culture is the way it is and why

speaker-1: Only this culture will see businesses being sucked. Mr. Johnson, who work at the who owns a liquor store in our in our in our community, gets treated like trash because he's a square. He do. He gets treated like that by the gangsters in the neighborhood. Cause they it all right. Anyway, let's move on.

speaker-0: Not really. No. Yeah, man. 'Cause Black Panthers came from Oakland. You know what I'm saying? They did And they the reason why kids get to eat food at school and got yeah, breakfast and lunch programs. Yeah. So they wasn't beating on Mr. Johnson. They were trying

speaker-1: Yeah. They also wasn't gangsters either. And they they formed not only to protect the community from from the police and from white America, but also to protect community from some of those that were in the community that caused problems.

speaker-0: Exactly. And where did the bloods in the crypts come from? Yeah, and and why are they here though? 'Cause they're the little bastard babies of the Black Panthers. That's

speaker-1: Yo area, homie. I don't know about that, bro. I don't know. Maybe at the origin, like, like I know, I know that that Tookie has said that, you know, they kind of started to kind of protect themselves in the community, protect the neighborhood, and then drugs came around and money came around and things kind of turned different. I get it. But that don't have nothing to do with Drake sewing ⁓ Kendrick.

speaker-0: That's what I'm saying. Black culture and street culture is two different things. They are.

speaker-1: They are. But that's what I'm saying, they get confused when you say somebody is a sucker for doing business. In street culture he's a sucker. In the business world he's a businessman.

speaker-0: No no no no Nah, that's not street culture. That's just in black culture he's a sucker. Street culture, what? He's a snitch.

speaker-1: I was telling everybody's he a sucker though. Like I don't get it. I I'm I'm con I

speaker-0: Okay, here in black culture. I'm gonna tell I'm gonna let me too much. Let me get you right here into black culture. In black culture, if I come to your house and I'm hungry and you know me, and I got my daughter with me, and I got my wife with me, and y'all are eating, what you gonna do?

speaker-1: W real me yeah. Say look nigga Mike can't feed his family.

speaker-0: Hey Bay! Babe! Mike out here is crazy

speaker-1: No sucker.

speaker-0: That's a sucker. Now, that ain't got nothing to do with black culture. Black culture is if I'm eating, we all eating. And that's a part of a lot of people's cultures, right? If I come in here and I'm hungry and you look at me, you say, Look, man, I see you're hungry, I'll sell you a plate for twenty five dollars.

speaker-1: A thousand percent. Yeah, yeah. Mm-hmm. That's business.

speaker-0: That's business. That's not black culture. It doesn't make me look at you and say, you know what, that's just business. I get it. I'm gonna be like, damn, we've been homeless for a long time. He doesn't have to offer me nothing, but culturally, it's crazy that he wouldn't offer me something.

speaker-1: See, that's the problem. That's why black businesses struggle.

speaker-0: No, we support our business. No, we don't. The reason why they struggle is because we don't get the kind of loans we have to take out from our four ⁓ one.

speaker-1: Then we have to then we have to charge the prices that niggas don't want to pay. They're going to charge the black tax. But on the flip side, we will go to other communities and pay whatever price they tell us for no bickering and no like all you black and no back and forth, whatever Karen them say the price is, we pay the price. Even if it's it's a markup.

speaker-0: Which is hard.

speaker-1: I'm just saying, bro, like it is it people feel like people feel like ⁓ what is it called? Like ⁓ like if we close, right? Like familiarity. Familiarity, right? So just skin alone is familiarity, right? We both black together. So I know you, you know me, you should cut me a deal. Or if if I ⁓ if I know you, like we friends, like we b like I got a white homeboy at work, I got a business, now he think he's supposed to get a discount just because he know me. But like That's not the real world because other people you don't know, right? Like that don't you know you know me. You know I need this money to feed my family, right? But you're willing to make me take less and take some food out of my family's mouth because we know each other, right? But you will go on the other side of town and pay them full price, no him and it horn, so that they can feed their family. Like it is it's weird for that to be black culture. Like black culture should be supporting each other. Culture in general should be supporting the people that are just. Like if I got a business and I sell plates, then you should pay the plate price. For sure. That's not crazy.

speaker-0: Nah. I can show you a video of a place that opened up with black people everywhere. Everybody just paid the price.

speaker-1: Which it's that's how it should be. That shouldn't that shouldn't be a video. That should be the videos.

speaker-0: I'm saying. I mean, there's a million of them, but it's just the reason why the idea of black people not supporting the only reason we're here today is because black people have supported us. That's it. You don't make it here, I don't make it here, your children don't make it here, your wife, my wife, we're not gonna be in this house if it wasn't for the support. We could not vote. They're trying to take away our ability to vote.

speaker-1: But what's the number one complaint when you go to a Like you could out.

speaker-0: We couldn't none of these things could happen without the collective consciousness of black people working together and supporting each other. Agreed. So it's not like all of a sudden we just turned on each other. That's just what's shown. The welfare queen is a black woman, right? How is that? How is that? How is that? Why? Why is that being pushed? That's my thing.

speaker-1: You you realize that you're making my my point on the whole UMG and media marketing, putting that out there to kind of continue to put it. Like it benefit they care about business. They care about green. It benefits the business to have our highest paid person be taken out by somebody else who we also own.

speaker-0: It doesn't make any sense.

speaker-1: Yes, it does. Because when this deal comes up, we're gonna have to pay him. Let's say that let's say the deal on the table is a hundred million dollars, right? But the deal is contingent upon a certain amount of metrics that you have to upkeep. You have to s stream a certain amount of streams, you gotta have a certain amount of albums, you have to meet all these metrics. You get into a beef with another one of our one of one of your labelmates. We can now manipulate your metrics. Through this other person. So we're gonna make money on the back end, because we're gonna make money off of him, because he's already one of our our our number one, number two stars, right? In that genre. So we're gonna push him and make money off of him. And as a result of him getting better, this guy that we got to pay in the next few years is going down. So now we can lower his deal. We spend less here, we make more here. That's just business, dog.

speaker-0: I got Air Force Air Force Ones doing this right here, but the Air Maxes, I'm gonna try to devalue the Air Maxes because next year we need a re-up on the Air Maxes contract. That would be ridiculous. My focus would be I want my Air Maxes here and I want my Air Force Ones here because I own them both.

speaker-1: thousand percent. ⁓ No, you still own ⁓ both. You get this one again to re up on another ten year deal for less. When he re ups

speaker-0: But he doesn't have to re upward two.

speaker-1: It he he wants to re-up with you. He wasn't trying to get out of the deal before that. He was just trying to get more money.

speaker-0: It don't even matter. Yeah, that's the thing. If you come to me, I'm Drake, and you ain't coming with the right amount of money, no more universal. I might, I might, I might do a Spotify deal. I might shout out to Frank Ocean, where I think Drake might have gotten his idea when he manipulated his situation, got his albums out, made the deal with Apple Music. M's, M's, M's, M's, and chillin' come back when he feels like it.

speaker-1: Got it and disappeared. Never. But okay. ⁓ but again That's bus Yeah, that that's that is business, but that's not what I'm talking about. That's business on an individual artist level. I'm talking about the actual machine. You're talking about the artist. Yeah, great for Frank Ocean. Awesome. Fantastic. Had one one decent album. The rest of tra ish.

speaker-0: F Ridiculous. Go ahead, huh?

speaker-1: Okay. All right. Well they're not trash, but they just they're subpar compared to whatever the first one was. I ain't never heard you listen to Frank Ocean. As a matter of fact, this might the first and the first time I ever heard you say his name. This might be the first time I heard anybody say Frank Ocean's name in the last three months. Why would we be talking about him? Dope. People that listen to this podcast haven't they be like, ⁓ man, Frank Ocean. They're gonna go back, streams gonna go up. Cause there ain't nobody listening to Frank Ocean. I'm just saying, like you you you making this the just making that okay, cool. He made

speaker-0: That's crazy. I know where the gap is. That's the gap between us in this whole situation. It's popularity equals what's fire and then popularity. Like Drake is a super popular guy, right? He's gotta be great.

speaker-1: You're wrong. You're wrong. He should you're one thousand percent wrong.

speaker-0: Then why are we talking about Frank Ocean not being amazing? Yeah, he fired.

speaker-1: You brought up Frank Ocean. Yeah. Okay, cool. But Frank Ocean is not a relevant factor. He's a non-factor.

speaker-0: No, he is a factor. Because he's fire. That's like Stevie Wonder is not a relevant factor. Always be. He's Stevie. What? Prince. Michael. Factors. Curtis Mayfield.

speaker-1: He's not. Say see factors. This that's that's so you're all about nostalgia. I'm talking about real what's happening right now. Frank Ocean has nothing to do with what's happening right now.

speaker-0: That's what I'm saying. What's pop That's ridiculous. There's so many dudes that sound like many Frank Oceans. That's crazy. Just like there were so many dudes that sounded like little little mini Wayne. There's a lot of Lil Wayne's children out here.

speaker-1: Why are we talking about that though? That has nothing to do with what we're talking about.

speaker-0: ⁓ because the impact that Linel Wayne had when he came out is why these guys are here doing what they're doing.

speaker-1: Which is even more reason why UMG would want to keep Drake around because you get more guys that sound like Drake that makes Drake more popular, makes you more money. Which is why you would want to have his value go down so you can make a deal. So you can make a deal while the price is low, and then you promote the next album he puts out and run his value back up. That's business.

speaker-0: That's crazy. No, that's crazy. Business would be I'm gonna purchase the value because I'm getting paid.

speaker-1: That's what you think business is, but that is not business. Cause you can't effectively put the same amount of money into both things. You if I can get you definitely can. Okay. I got two cars, right? I have a I have you have two cars. Yes? Okay. So you have one car that's running really well, right? You have another car that runs, but it's not really doing nothing right now. Okay. These two cars are competing for a spot in your driveway. Right?

speaker-0: That is definitely business. Mm-hmm.

speaker-1: At the end of this, one of these cars is gonna like the car that's running really well costs you more money to fix. Right? The other car doesn't. So you could put more into the other car and get more out of it by pushing that car. Right? So you put the money into that car. This other car you don't have to really put money in, you're not really driving it. So the value of that car over time because car value goes down, right? Yes? No? Okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So value is going down. Once this car is built up to a certain level, value of this car is a little bit lower, parts and maintenance might be a little bit cheaper. You can now go back and put money into that car at a cheaper rate and get back to like get more out of that car. So if you have two artists that are your artist 1A, artist 1B, artist 1A is whoever you want it to be. Let's say A1A is Kendrick since he won the battle. Kendrick is essentially quiet right now, not making a lot of music, not really making you a lot of money, new money. He's making you old money off of stuff he's done previously. Artist 1B is making you money currently, but is also going to cost you more money in the next year or so. These two now are beefing. He's already worth less because he's not doing anything. So I can put more money behind him to boost him up and do nothing for this guy. Because I have to pay him. If this works out in my favor, he's now worth less. So when I pay him less, I can now take that money that I'm not putting it in this guy anymore because he's gonna be quiet, because we know that's his his thing. He's gonna go away for five years. We're not gonna do nothing with him. We can take all that money that we've now gained from his whatever and put it back into this artist and let him go. That's business.

speaker-0: That's goofy. That's why Universal's not making no bread. That's why the music business is losing money like crazy.

speaker-1: It's not. You cannot adjust. That even if that is the case, that is still

speaker-0: Business. I mean business everything is business. That's

speaker-1: Still the way it works. Whether you agree with it or like it or not, that is the way it works.

speaker-0: I got contracts sitting at the crib, man. I'm telling you, that's why they're not able to win in a way. Why is Spotify all of a sudden making these deals? Why Spotify don't even make music?

speaker-1: That's bes that's beside the point.

speaker-0: Because these cats in these offices don't know what they're doing.

speaker-1: It that may be the case. That may be an old business model, but that doesn't mean that that's not how things are working.

speaker-0: I mean that doesn't matter. Like racism used to be how things that doesn't mean like that's just the American

speaker-1: What? Yeah, but your argument a completely different argument now. No, I'm not saying that I'm not saying it's good business. I'm saying that is business and that is the business that they they're in. So now okay, cool. That's your opinion, but that's still the business that they're in. So within the business that they're in, this is the way things work. And the only way for me.

speaker-0: You're saying that that's good business. This is doing it, but I'm goofy. Work in every music company going off of Jess of Universal.

speaker-1: I'm only talking about universal. That's what I'm saying. In the business that they're in, and that business is universal. It owns both artists and the music that they create. Yes. That means that's the business that they are in. That's how it works in that business. So You have to operate in the way that things work in that business until you can get out of that business, which is what is trying to be like what he's trying to do is get out of that business and operate on his own, like your famed freight coaching. What wh why is that so hard to grasp? Like why so so then him suing that business to help himself is not crazy, nor is it a sucker move.

speaker-0: It's not hard to grasp. It's a sucker move because of why he's saying that he's suing the business, which is why the cases got thrown out. So now you wasted money on these lawyers that you're gonna pay. So that's gonna hurt your pockets, right? You wasted time on your image, so that's gonna hurt your pockets. And it's n I would love for it to be purely nothing about ego, but to sit here and be like it has nothing to do with ego at all, and it's all about business, is I think a bit naive to think that. Right, just l listening to Drake's music. You wanna be the guy. I'm the guy. I'm the guy. There's no way these other people can see me, right? I am the guy. Kobe. I'm Kobe. I'll still get this thing without Shaq. I don't need no damn Shaq. I should do what Shaq do. Shaq pay the girls. Bruh, just play the game. You don't gotta, you don't gotta dry snitch. You don't got play the game, ball out. Show us you don't need Shaq. Shaq, show us you don't need Kobe. That's what I'm talking about. I'm not talking about it's business. Okay, well, get shack up out of here. I don't know how many deals LeBron and probably made about I want this person on the squad, I want that coach on the squad. And you, you know, I'm not a sports ball guy, but I that's business. I'm the number one guy. If you want to keep me here, I'm gonna flex my muscles. That's something that we as black folks don't do enough of. Flexing our power, knowing our power.

speaker-1: Okay. So that's not a sucker move. You're saying that that's what is that, business?

speaker-0: What LeBron being like I want this guy here or Kobe? I'm saying Kobe saying like I should just do what Shaq did. That's a sucker move. Right? That's a sucker move. Kobe being like, I work well with Phil. Let's keep Phil. Keep me happy. I don't think that's a sucker move. But if he said, I'm gonna sue the Lakers, unless y'all keep ⁓ y'all get rid of Shaq, that's a sucker move to me.

speaker-1: So if he didn't sue them and he was just like, It's either him or me, one of us gotta go, that would be okay.

speaker-0: That would be weird, but that would be life, right? That's business. I don't want to play with him here. If you want me here.

speaker-1: So if you involve a lawyer, if you involve some some form of of court or ⁓ authority, then then you a sucker. 'Cause that's essentially what I'm hearing. Cause if he just if he if he just said it in the media or if he just made it known to the team, he wouldn't be a sucker. But if he took action because he made it known and nobody did nothing about it, then he's a sucker.

speaker-0: I think the sucker part's not from the legal aspect. The sucker part is from if you go

speaker-1: I think the sucker the sucker thing is like ⁓ snitch's cousin. I don't like it.

speaker-0: It might it might be. It might be. And I'm trying to be better, right? You can be better too.

speaker-1: All right. I don't I don't like it though. It's just it's rubbing up against it's rubbing up against snitch a little bit too much for my comfort.

speaker-0: Maybe. But it might be touching something in you that's that's we gotta work get that up out.

speaker-1: Yeah, I got some sor I got some sucking.

speaker-0: Say I feel where you're coming from. Business is business, don't take it personal. I get that. I get that. ⁓ I just feel like we can't just be like the only reason Drake did that is because it's just purely business. I think there's definitely business in there. There's definitely a lot of ego in there. Yeah.

speaker-1: I don't think there's a such thing as ⁓ you know, business is business is not personal. I think business is personal. I think that it is it there's always a personal part of it because there's person that runs the business or there are people that run the business. So I don't I I don't subscribe to that completely. So yes, for sure there is some part of it that's like, man, I can't believe you mugs helped him beat me, even though he just beat you, right? He just beats you straight up. If you go bar for bar, you go verse for verse and we don't look at streams and numbers, right? He beats you. You can accept that loss 'cause he just beat you. Like he took you out behind a woodshed and whipped that ass and then you know, you came back around, you was beat up, he wasn't.

speaker-0: That's the gen X in me.

speaker-1: Right. Got it. That happened. But two things can be true. That happened, and to further bolster your own business, you helped him with streams and whatever. Right. That is also very possible. Because you're you're looking at those numbers and comparing them to my numbers and saying, Hey, we don't need to pay. Look at what we're paying him already.

speaker-0: It is, it's

speaker-1: We're paying him this and he's getting these number of streams. And you're like, I ⁓ you don't deserve more than he gets. He already getting less than you. So when it comes to that now it's like, ⁓ sh so now I gotta sue somebody. 'Cause I can't what am I gonna do? I'm gonna rap about you, I'm gonna go behind ⁓ we g I'm gonna take ⁓ G behind the woodshed and we gonna fight. Like there's nothing for me to do when I'm fighting against an entity versus arguing with a person.

speaker-0: But I think that's where the the the the the the just the ego comes into it, where it's like

speaker-1: Y'all was supposed to have my back. I'm your biggest artist. Yes. There there is some ego. Yes, he

speaker-0: No no no no no. I mean I lost because you cheated. That's like that's why I was like it sounds trumpy to me. That's Trump. Everything is always if I don't win it's because you cheated and there's this big conspiracy.

speaker-1: He cannot win so I y'all help him cheat. Jay Z said that to Nas and he lost the battle.

speaker-0: And Nas destroyed him. Yeah, but imagine Jay-Z suewing. People would look at Jay-Z like, man, that's a sucker move. Sucker move. Imagine. That would be a sucker move.

speaker-1: Mm-hmm. If he sued the label He sued the late I don't know why y'all caping up for the label so hard. It's crazy.

speaker-0: It's not a cape for the label, it's just the like you said, the culture. It's like there's no way. Like that's why Jay Z and Ash and them didn't sue bronze in them label.

speaker-1: That's the problem though. That's that's the That's the problem with the culture.

speaker-0: Nah, I think it's Gen X and then there's a new Gen Y millennial and then

speaker-1: It's progress, big dog. I don't know what It's that's the only progress we need. Like listen, if we all need to if we're if we all need to move forward, we need capital to move forward, right?

speaker-0: About that kinda progress, man. Yeah, but capital's not everything. That's why that's not the progress.

speaker-1: Bro, capital is it matters. ⁓ and no, it's not everything, but capital matters, right?

speaker-0: But if I have to sell who I am

speaker-1: Nobody's selling who you are. See that that's a perception and that's not true. So if I if I that's a again, that's a snitch thing. Like this all in the same thing.

speaker-0: If if my mind This is a cultural thing where if I say if Rod wants to use the ⁓ mics to record Forfeit Fatherhood, uh-huh, you gonna have to rent them for me.

speaker-1: Okay. What's the price?

speaker-0: It ain't no price, cause you my dog. I can't sit here and be like, this is my dog. Now, if I got a business called Mike's rent a microphone to any and everybody, okay, that's different. If I say, Man, can you make me a a program and hook me up with some supplements that I need? ⁓ yeah, man, I got balance. What's the name of the? Baseline performance man, check this out. And I'm like, you a sucker for trying to sell me. Nah, man. That made sense. But if I come to your house and I'm hungry and you like, you ain't eating unless you pay me, nigga. I'm gonna be like, okay, it's cool, no, I'm not hungry. I'm good.

speaker-1: Yeah, that that's that's still a little different. But but all right. Yeah, okay. But that that's that's problematic though.

speaker-0: That's the culture. ⁓ no, man. It's problematic because of the society that we are in and where we are. And this is why I think the Native Americans kinda got killed off. I think this is why black people were able to go into slavery, be taken into slavery, because the culture's different. If you got a culture that says take, I have more power, I should be to take Boom, Columbus comes over to the to the Bahamas, see these Tejanos, they like come on over, man, we welcome you. He's like, dang, these people over here welcoming me. I can subjugate them. That's the thought in his mind. They're welcoming me. Their culture is stranger, come on in.

speaker-1: All right, Deontay Kyle, we'll get to wrap it up, B. Where are you going with this?

speaker-0: Basically the their culture for some people is take, gain more, this should be mine, right? I think the base of our culture is if I eat, we eat. The more that we get away from if I eat, we eat makes it harder for us. Cause even the reason why there's crabs in a barrel, because it's I don't think there's enough food. No, you shouldn't be able to get up. I need to get up. I'm gonna pull you back down. But if it's if I eat, we eat. ⁓ you got you got the baseline performance with the creatine joint? I'm getting it from my man. What you talking about? Yeah, but how has it been tested outside like this one over here? No.

speaker-1: Okay, all right, cool. So I'm glad you said that. You're getting it from me.

speaker-0: If I get a discount. No.

speaker-1: See, but that's what it is, right? It's like, yeah, but but but you not gonna ask ⁓ what's his name? Andy Frisella and f and f whatever his company is, ⁓ first form or whatever it is, the big one, ain't nobody asking him for discounts. Yo, Andy, I listen to your podcast, ain't gonna get ain't nobody asking for discounts. It wouldn't even fix your mouth to ask him for a discount. But in the same scenario that you just said, like, ⁓ I'm gonna get it from a man. Because I know you and then on the slide you can be like, yo, what what's the price? What's the play? Can I get it for a player prize? No, I I know you was I know you were saying it, but I'm telling I'm that's what happens in our community. It's like, okay, first of all, crabs shouldn't be in the barrel. Number one. Number two, ⁓ crabs aren't necessarily pulling the other crab down. They're all trying to climb out. So it's not like a crab looks up and it's like, ⁓ he's about to get out. Let me pull him down. Like, ⁓ he's on his way up.

speaker-0: ⁓ that was a joke. Point two.

speaker-1: Let me go up to the problem that we face is that we don't have any power or any control and we're fighting to get any little bit of it. And in the midst of that, we're ridiculed for using business, we're ridiculed for snitching, or we a sucker if we do something outside of whatever the culture deems to be okay or not okay.

speaker-0: Yeah.

speaker-1: That's wow. You you have a strong feeling for Drake, you don't know him.

speaker-0: I don't have a strong feeling from Drake.

speaker-1: He's a sucker. You just said he was a sucker. ⁓ he's not a sucker. Okay. Just he's moving like a sucker.

speaker-0: That's a sucker move, but I think Kobe made a sucker move. ⁓ Shachton done some sucker stuff, but I've done sucker stuff. ⁓ none of these people are D's. Yeah, you did some sucker stuff.

speaker-1: Everybody has. Some sucker stuff? I might have asked. I don't know. I don't know. I mean, I think I may. I'm sure I have. I just don't.

speaker-0: We supposed to record, you know what I'm saying? He my daughter. Super sucker stuff. That's what I'm saying though. Like we could come up together or you can go and help your daughter. This nigga want me to come in to work. Nah, B, decline.

speaker-1: Yeah, that's a sucker. Yeah. That was a sucker move back there. They need you.

speaker-0: They need me, man. You know what, you know who needs me more? Me, my family, my homies. You know what I'm saying? I don't need to go to work right now. You know, we didn't spend an hour talking about Drake and Kendrick and this wasn't even the main thing of the show.

speaker-1: But I think it's it got deeper than that, right? Like we talked. I think that was the surface level thing. And I think that's the important conversation to have because it's it's what's popular right now. But I think what underlies that is even more more popular. One, there's a lot of like I like the debate and I like to like the going back and forth because it feels like the barbershop, right? Like you go in, everybody had a debate and everybody has their side and we talk about it and talk it through. But then there's this underneath conversation of like culture of of business of you know identity that I think we don't have if we don't have these things happen. Right? Like we don't just go into the barbershop and be like, man, black culture today, like you know, or like, ⁓ man, you what you think about peek calling somebody a sucker? Like what what what makes you it just don't happen, right? Like we don't have those kind of conversations. But I think through through pop culture, through things that are happening on the outside, you can get to some of the deeper conversations. And so While Drake and ⁓ and Kendrick weren't at the top of the list of things to talk about today, I think we uncovered some other parts that that are important to discuss. ⁓ because again, if we are going to try to get all the crabs out of the barrel, then we need to remove as many barriers as possible. For sure. and and again, crabs don't belong in the barrel. And I don't think it's any any one crab's intention to pull another crab down necessarily, but everybody's trying to get out. ⁓ and we can only do that by helping each other. Now, if that crab that was already at the top has just a little bit stronger, you know what I mean? Like just hold on, big dog, I'm climbing up your back. ⁓ that might be okay, right? Like cause that would be like reaching down and pulling somebody up, you know, if you're a little bit ahead. That's kind of what I would equate that to. But yeah, crabs only got two claws. So, you know, I you know, that's kind of our situation. We only got a couple of things we can really pull people up with, and so ⁓ we can't handle too much weight on us.

speaker-0: Yeah.

speaker-1: Drake Shashu, UMG, make some money, get a couple billion get two billion dollar get a two billion dollar deal and then he can do a whole lot for a whole lot of other people. Canada.

speaker-0: So I mean I hope Iceman like I hope it does amazing. I'm pretty sure it is. It wasn't his albums like one, two, and three. Like he broke records.

speaker-1: It was one through four. Kendrick was like somewhere in there. Or one through five and Kendrick like number two or three or something like that. It's like first day streams.

speaker-0: No man. The money no. No man.

speaker-1: but yeah, so anyway, ⁓ I think we we we've touched on quite a bit here. I think there was some grown man game shared. I think it was actually a crash out conversation, which I which which I think you know people may appreciate. It seems like the podcast is one of these. I think we've been ⁓ we've been like real, yeah, brother oversight like man, nah man. This thing don't know what he's talking

speaker-0: For sure they will. Yeah, yeah. See, see, what's wrong with b brothers just like being in alignment, you know what I'm saying? Like we can have different, you know what I'm saying, opinions. What's wrong with us?

speaker-1: Gotta be Charleston White, and it could be Dr. Umar.

speaker-0: Dang man. It's getting tough in here. Now. Wait, wait, wait. So so so so so you you Yeah. Nah, homie.

speaker-1: ⁓ but yeah, man, I I I appreciate the the conversation. ⁓ I think I don't think there's a a a a winner or a loser in this situation. Depending and until you see what happens, right? Like if if if Drake does get a two billion dollar deal, I think that does a lot for the music industry and individual or like independent artists. because it it it just further sh it raises the ceiling, which also technically technically raises the floor.

speaker-0: For sure.

speaker-1: ⁓ and so for for guys coming into the industry ⁓ coming into an industry that has taken advantage of artists for so long, even in this scenario, was taking advantage of artists, whether you see it that way or not, ⁓ to have a a a have the ability to de devalue somebody after a ten year run is crazy. Right. ⁓ but if that was what happened, that's what happened. I really can't, you know, I can't

speaker-0: Yeah.

speaker-1: Do nothing about it. It's not my industry. ⁓ and even if it was, I'm too, too small on the on the totem pole to do anything about But to do it, brother.

speaker-0: You're never too small.

speaker-1: The dudes at the top can affect some change. And so, yeah, I I I think it'd be great if he got a a new deal and got out of UMG and and and if they had found UMG to be at fault at some point, that might have been good. Not maybe not for the people who work at UMG, like the brothers and sisters who actually work there, whoever they are, but ⁓ but for the industry as a whole and maybe for the artists as a whole, it might have been a good deal. And since, you know, we all tryna rap, act, sing, or play basketball, then just saying, man, you know.

speaker-0: ⁓ man. We doing more man. Alright? Sometimes the crab all they got is rap axing. Football.

speaker-1: ⁓ yeah, I know. I know. Yeah. Sports ball. He plays

speaker-0: Sports ball, sports supplements.

speaker-1: Yeah. That's it, man.

speaker-0: The AI company, but he wanna sell you creatine. It's cool though. I'ma buy some. Creatine's supposed to be good for you, right? What they say. I took it in high school, rapid fuel, it almost killed me. It was too much cash.

speaker-1: It is, it is. Yeah, running. It was some yeah, some other stuff in there. The rapid fuel, it was definitely something else.

speaker-0: But yeah, y'all, we will catch you on the next one. it's gonna be a ⁓ peace and harmony episode about us going to the moon and how we got there and how we were able to return and why we're going back again. And ⁓ we're gonna be lockstep right here. All right? So y'all be be ready, be tuned. It's coming.

speaker-1: ⁓ nine ⁓ nine hat.

speaker-0: Yeah, 'cause this is where I'm from. Alright?

speaker-1: And apparently I go I go hunting. And I'm also a common dad.

speaker-0: We been doing that. Just just in case y'all know, my people from Mississippi. All my uncles got shotguns. Okay? I learned how to shoot a 410 when I was Is that a threat? I'm just saying we been hunting. Don't let nobody black people don't go camp. What you think we was doing, huh? Trying to get away, get to freedom. You think we was just sitting at the Airbnb trying to make it to freedom? Harriet Tupman was out there camping, man.

speaker-1: All right, man. Let's wrap this up, bro. You're delirious now.

speaker-0: In the middle of the ⁓

speaker-1: ⁓ yeah, so listen, podcast wrapped. ⁓ catch us on social media. I know you're already following us, but if like it, share it, subscribe, ⁓ Grown Man Game Pod, shoot us an email at the grown man game podcast at gmail dot com. ⁓ hit up my man's and make sure you follow him at maybe nice mic. Maybe. ⁓ yeah, maybe. ⁓ also Make sure you guys I know you guys enjoy this podcast. There's another podcast that's fired that I think you guys should be listening to. It is damn we grown. ⁓ Mike and his queen have been doing a podcast for centuries, seems like. They got a few hundred episodes down, ⁓ quality content and they they they they jumping off on social media right now. So if you have not yet listened to that podcast, make sure you go on head over there and see Mike not argue. ⁓

speaker-0: Forfeit Fatherhood. Yeah, watch out. We argue.

speaker-1: Yeah, he argues soft over there though. He don't text all day. But yeah. Right. Let's get out of here, man.

speaker-0: That's my queen. ⁓ Whoa, what about what about four fifth five then then, ⁓ What you you trying to act like you don't need to be big duck? I need your help, UMG?

speaker-1: Yeah, it's whatever. That's what I'm done. Pushing you right now. We in the battle, we push you right now. Devalue me, and then once you and then we push me, that's how it works. Seesaw.

speaker-0: Trying to figure out how to get me out of my contract, you gotta pay me enough. Compound culture podcast. We we all getting paid out here. Ain't no crabs over here. We what are we? We lions and what's the black people always? We lions. Nah, if I guess animals gotta be lions. Tigers? Maybe Black Panthers.

speaker-1: And kings. You lying. That's what you is. You lying. Lion. Nigga named Lionel. all right, man. Let's wrap

speaker-0: Sometimes you gotta lie to the people. Yeah man dance man we gotta go deuces y'all grown man grown man gang man gang man gang many What up bro? ⁓