Corie Sheppard Podcast
Corie Sheppard Podcast
Episode 222 | Shit Talk
What else could we name episode 222?
This episode is full of Kaiso about....you know what - and a heavy dose of cemetery kaisos of course as we were just as shocked as everyone else with 'influencer' Gabby Fequire popularly known as Gabby Fe's carnival stories. If you missed this you're under a rock and you better off staying there unless you see her coming.
Cuba came here and got dealt with while most of us were in traffic trying to get to the game. Thankfully Yorkie steered us into the Gold Cup and we were happy to be there to witness it although the Cuban team was back in Havana before we could get home.
Stuartie and the crew are in Jamaica begging for our lives and much to our surprise, Colm is acting Prime Minister once again. We get into a breakdown of what tariffs are and how they intended to work and demystify some of the rhetoric that's being spread across the socials.
Enjoy!!!
Rhythm, crank it, hey, all right.
Speaker 2:This one good for the ass, but it ain't too good for the nostrils. Okay, like something dead living here, boy.
Speaker 3:Bim, bim, bim, bim, bim, bim, bim, bim, bim, bim.
Speaker 2:How's it going? How's it going? Up in Manzan, up by Bantan, up around Lime? We don't miss at all. Only three hours, we, drinking with sour Land to Kai's stomach, decide to give him a call. We hold his nose and grrt okie dokie, just grrt okie dokie, okie dokie, okie dokie Paper. I say bring a comb, let me drink a rum Me and studying jam. Bring me a bunch of crème. Grrt okie dokie, okie dokie, me. And.
Speaker 4:Sturdy and Gem Bring the punch and cram. I honestly thought it was only Christmas time. These kind of things happen to me. I mean, it's kind of wild too.
Speaker 2:Are you smelling it? It's good for you. Close your nose and open your eyes. Sniff this Drinking greedy Like he ain't a whore. He even tiff burnt and punch a cream. When his stomach kicked down, everything turned brown and behind started to flow like a muddy stream.
Speaker 4:Behold his nose and grit, just grit story. Me had no plans to record this week, you know, but when it comes to spit talk, that's me, that's my zone, so I come together a whole episode full of songs to do with Tata. I'm not starting there, I want to start in the right full play. As a matter of fact, should I reverse this? Start and start? Because usually I could come here and easily say that I could come and bad talk the Soka Warriors after a good game and them kind of thing. I had something to bad talk, yes, but most importantly, over two legs we beat Cuba mercilessly.
Speaker 4:That girl was talking about what Cuba do. What she do in the cemetery is what Cuba do in Cuba. And down here I was telling her only a frightened for dwight, because dwight come here and in the midst of issues we could talk about still young and them in jamaica and where the issues lie right, but in the midst of all the issues we have in, imagine the man saying rubio, and these fellas only know rubio, rubio say here, what is he seeing? All them cuban people only have their doctor and all them kind of thing, them fellas, and them is what you call them illegal immigrants or slave labor or kind of human trafficking Me can't remember what you say, but in the midst of that, dwight York bring Trinidad to play Cuba. So let me just cleanse, sprang along a little bit now. Cleanse it a little bit for me.
Speaker 2:Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, we back and we're gathered here for the game of your life. Lovely, lovely, lovely. I want to see you put your flags up in the air right now.
Speaker 2:Sing oh, oh, oh, oh, oh oh oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh. I am a soccer warrior. I say win or lose, I am a fighter. I am a soccer warrior. I come to shine my nationality brighter. I am a soccer warrior. I say win or lose, I am a fighter. I am a soccer warrior. I'm a soldier. What we are, I've got the time to go. So I'm not a fighter.
Speaker 4:We will attack, we will defend. No, we ain't bound to defend. Let me be honest, right. We ain't bound when the opposition and them fellas and them, when the opposition and them is man like Cubanos and so on, when they go to slave labor, if Rubio and them right, it's not an under early revived, it's not an early riff, defend. But congratulations to the soca warriors. We are in the gold cup. That is big news. As we prepare, I think the gold cup will start in june. Who knows? I don't like to miss when trinidad and tobago playing and when soca warriors playing. Well, as maximus dan says, soca warriors and many, many more artists say so.
Speaker 4:I wonder if people are paying attention to the fact that the TTFA is now saying that we don't own the rights to the word Soca Warriors and whoever. I sorry me, I registered myself and I wish I had gone, registered myself. I'd have a change to get, because apparently the person who owns the rights to the name Soca Warriors is charging 30 million. 30 million right is what they want to get. Is charging 30 million, 30 million right is what they want to get. 30 million is what they're looking for to be able to give up the name soca warrior. So apparently we look at I. I see rome jerome priscilla on the radio the other day on his social media trying to help us find new names for the soca warriors team. I'm not sure if we had 30 million to pay them, but the name of the team I remember when some people might remember, when it was strike squad on them days, but the name soccer warriors a big global brand like that. I can't believe that that name went into so much songs. It went into the team when we qualify in 2006. And now all of a sudden, we do have rights to the name and could be losing rights.
Speaker 4:Well, let me, let me keep paying attention to that because that is not good. Right, that's that. That can't be a good thing. But what I could tell you good is dwight york and russell latipi, them fellas and them good. As I always do, I find my way down to the stadium. I want to say let us please avoid using manny ram john stadium anyway going forward, because under fenwick or angus, even none of them fellas didn't have the support.
Speaker 4:Clearly, dwight york, bring back our energy because his first competitive game was in Cuba. We went 2-1. In my opinion, a scrappy affair, but we never looked overly threatened by Cuba. They went up one goal, which was a bit, I mean, matador kind of defense on them, fellas' score, but we had them on the back foot the whole time. It's a few youths there on the team that I like a lot. I I have a few youths there on the team that I like a lot. I like Spicer, I like the way he's looking going forward. He looks real dangerous, and some more attacking players. I see Joven Jones there and we didn't have a full-strength team in Cuba and it showed when we had a full-strength team in the stadium here.
Speaker 4:Now I'll tell you that, even though I went to the game, I hear somebody from Cuba get set off in the first few minutes and I hear we was up 3-0 because I spent nearly two hours in traffic. I put it in Waze right, and Waze carried me. It's another one here singing about Dini traveling Calypso. I feel like everywhere Rio called in that song is where I had to pass to reach Mani Ram John Stadium. I went to El Seguro, panagia, ipacuna, middell, losirio, clarocomo, gasparillo, if you see where Waze had me going through, and everywhere you go is traffic. As a matter of fact, I say Maniramjohn Stadium here. Right, it was Atto Bolden Stadium. That is the only way I'm talking truth.
Speaker 4:By mistake I put Maniramjohn Stadium in Waze instead of Atto Bolden and I catch myself, me and Zachary, going down and it's only after I say Zachary, wait now. I put the wrong thing in ways when I put Ato Bolden Stadium. Man U Ram John Stadium for those who don't know is in Marabella and Ato Bolden is in Coover. That is where the game was right. So it was telling me 40-something minutes. This is when I done passed Charlie V something minutes to reach mani ramjan stadium. So I tell zachary, I said god boy, when I change it to atto boulder, you know the thing changed from 40 something minutes to hour and something which means it had more traffic to face.
Speaker 4:When you reach down by the stadium and me and know which part I end up in the back of somewhere. But somewhere along the line I see I in a little village and it's about a kilometer and a half. I say zachary, boy, better we pull up of somebody else here and walk. I know if it's Calcutta number one, two, three, four, five, but I parked there and I walk into the game and several issues Tickets selling on island he tickets for the game. But when you reach man Uram John Stadium, data ain't working because it's how I don't know if they didn't cater for the amount of support the team had.
Speaker 4:I feel I want to give dwight york some credit if he's part of the organization of this, because if it's the first home game under dwight york and several uh players who coming into the fall under him that wasn't there or no, they don't have a whole lot of caps, right? Maybe it makes sense to go manny ram john stadium because I see manny ram john atobold and I'll get this right sometime. It makes sense to go Atto Bolden or one of the smaller stadiums so that the 10,000 people that that stadium could hold could look full and look like they get 100% support, whereas if the stadium I think about Hazel Griffith Stadium holding 25,000, if you put 10,000 in there, it'd look like it's half empty, basically, or less than half empty. So maybe it's a genius stroke. But the infrastructure, not just not in the stadium itself, but in and around the stadium, the parking, the getting in and out, because by the time I reached in I was in time to see, I think, his eyes. I at least scored the last goal of the game. It was a good goal to break away and he tap home nice, but that's all I excited to see. I spent my whole evening to see 20 minutes of football, but such is my love for the soca warriors that, uh, that might never change once them, fellas, have football somewhere going. And I, I, I see that we have let me put this out there one time we have qualifying games coming up in in july there's world cup qualifiers, which gonna be a bigger deal, if you ask me, than the bigger deal for fans, than the gold cup qualifying, and then the gold cup games playing, I believe in june. But the june games I don't know if we have any games to play here for gold cup when june come, because those games, typically gold cup, is typically hosted somewhere, from what I'm hearing is in Miami or if it's in Florida. Who knows? If I could get a little runway and a little cheap ticket, I will go, but because I was halfway there wasn't there. Let me read from the Express. Ian Prescott, it sounds like he was there.
Speaker 4:Dwight York delivered in his first official assignment as Trinidad and Tobago's senior men's football team head coach, as the Soca Warriors sealed its place for the 2025 Gold Cup following a 4-0 shutout of Cuba in last night's prelim second-leg qualifier at Atobuldon Stadium in Cuba At least he knows Atobuldon In front of a partisan crowd, tnt completed back-to-back victories over Cuba, bossing the two-match series 6-1 on aggregate, following last Friday's win at 2-1 in Santiago. But Cuba reduced to 10 men from the third minute and he took full control of the first half, with goals from Isaiah Lee in the 22nd and 37th, a goal from substitute Natalya James and Natalya James is who I see scoring at Isaiah Lee in the 84th minute. I know reach and he score and, of course, molino. I want to say that Kevin Molino is this generation's new bong to score. You remember they used to call him Stern, john bong to score. Well, kevin Molino is the new bong to score because he didn't play any first leg. I don't know if it was injury or what, but by the time he gets around to the second leg, he was in charge of things.
Speaker 4:Now, unfortunately, I consider myself a good little talker when it comes to Tata and Lallan thing. I like them kind of talking. I feel hard to beat when it comes to them kind of talk. But I didn't expect I had to do a whole episode or a whole segment or portion in that episode talking about somebody. So for people who not big on the social media, let me, let me hear the the songs in this episode had to do with. I even like say, well, it is not number one, we could play like that is not number one in this episode.
Speaker 4:Half the songs in this episode had to do with that and the next half of the songs in this episode had to do with symmetry. If you're on social media and you know what it is, you know what it is. If you know, you know kind of thing, right. But if you don't know, according to daniel lovelace, if you don't know, I go, I go fill in as to what happened. But I could tell you now that this story ain't pleasant, but we must, we must go. We must go to calypso to find out about stories. Does it by calypso or stories at all?
Speaker 3:let me find out it was dark, dark, dark in a big, big park. I felt like a king upon the throne. Like a king upon the throne, me and Imelda lying low, when I heard her talk and I creep in, walk as I look around frightfully With a light in the center of a cemetery.
Speaker 4:You talk about run, and then it busts me head.
Speaker 3:The living running from the dead.
Speaker 3:I go off and say don't run me, lad, come here we play. I give my card. Well, it's now a running in truth and the foot's taking a mango root, I fall on inside the tube. I get up with a zoom, zoom, zoom. What had me sad and really mad? I was just about to start a little romance with me sweetheart. I kissed her twice, just feeling nice, when her voice said Mr you brave To be bringing your girlfriend on Tommy Grave, you talk about run and he'll bust me head. He live in running from the dead. I go say don't run me, lad, come let me play a game of card. Well, he's now a running intruder Me put stick in him and go rude.
Speaker 3:I fall up inside a tube. I get up with a zoom, zoom, zoom. The scream I make. I saw the whole world shake. I know in big trouble this time. I saw. I see the devil. I see a tall white horse on top of a big black cross as I pull out, oh God, my dead. The horse say kids, come, go to bed. You talk about run. I nearly bust my head. The living running from the dead. I go say don't run me land. I never play, I give my care. Well, it's not running. In truth, my foot's sticking a mango root root, I fall on inside a tomb. I get up with a zoom, zoom, zoom.
Speaker 3:Hear, my voice hear my voice as I reach the street, a tall gentleman I meet. I was feeling so happy To tell him my fright in his cemetery. My voice, tabaka, it's head.
Speaker 4:Living, running from the dead when those say don't run me, lad, that was Kaiso for everything. You know the great Lord Kitchener Loving the cemetery is his song, right For people who say I don't tell them what is his song, and all these things right. So let me read, let me read. Let me read Because people who might be up to date on this story might not understand. I'm reading from they say in a now-deleted social media post TikTok, influencer Gabrielle what do you call her, fekri? It sounds like something, it rhymes something to me. Gabrielle Fekri you might have a U in there said while participating in carnival activities, I literally had to poop on somebody's grave at one point because the party was really going on. There was literally nowhere, there was literally nowhere else to go and I had to go. So I literally crawled into a freaking grave like crypt to go, like to go number two, because I didn't know what else to do because there was, I was literally stuck in the middle of the road, thousands of people everywhere. That was the only privacy I got. Really after feeling you wrote a trinity. Social media Gabby took TikTok to apologize. Before I read further, I want to tell you that the apology was worse, right, you know people say it's not the horn, it's the echo. Well, boy, listen, her echo was way worse than the first one. So, first of all, I never desecrated, disrespected or did number two on anyone's grave site or burial site. I should have been more clear in my other video. I don't want to play the video, it'll be quite bad. But I want to go back to what was said in the first video, quote unquote from live zone. I literally had to poop on somebody's grave at one point because the party was really going on. So I crawled into a freaking grave like a grave crypt, to like go number two. But in your apologies you say I should have been more clear. Gabby Gabs, I didn't think you could be more clear than that. We hear you loud and clear the first time. We didn't like it the first time. We didn't like it the second time.
Speaker 4:And a few things I want to cover here. Right, this word literally. What literally mean to you when you hear literally? Right, a way to think about what the word literal means, right? And then I want you to take a minute and go on your favorite search engine. Right, if it is, use Google, use ChatGPT or what right.
Speaker 4:Go and look up the meaning of the word literally and you will see what happened to generations in this world right now. Literally used to mean I am telling you exactly what it is. So it is a literal transcription of one thing to the other. So it means that I speak in something factual, something or documenting what is happening, or it is exactly a replication of what is there. You know now the change in the meaning of the word literal in the dictionary Lord and Savior dictionary. The word literally now also means that it could not mean the same thing. So literally means two things that opposite one another. Now, if you don't believe me, go and check it for yourself. And that's because of the way the word you use now, because over time, you know, the dictionary and them thing meanings has changed over time, right, and they had to update with the way language update, right.
Speaker 4:And because so many people talk, younger people, I will say early generation. When early talk, they say literally to mean things that absolutely untrue. So they say but I was running, I was literally running at 100 miles per hour. That is how language bill know. So when she says she literally went into a crib, maybe she was using the newer version. I literally know, but where I don't believe she as a man who grew up in plenty cemetery in my time, remember I always tell you about.
Speaker 4:We used to go and fly kite. When I say kite I mean regular, like kite, mad bill kite, don't get ideas in your mind. You used to go and fly kite in the cemetery. We grew up playing cricket in the cemetery. A matter of fact, when football was in the stadium where it was supposed to be yesterday I could have walked. We used to walk through the cemetery, walk down the road, go and watch the football and then walk back through the cemetery to come home. Who making all that rungs and all them streets? I'm talking about the cemetery right next to the gym sector. So we, born and grown in cemetery, we know about cemeteries, a bus bamboo in the cemetery. As I tell you, when you go, all saints and all souls and you put on your nice candles say you thing in your fear, your relative and paying respect. We used to make them into candle wax ball and we used to play candle wax war in the cemetery long time I have plenty cemetery experience.
Speaker 4:So when she says she climb into a cripple like gray, you know exactly what she's talking about. All them cemetery and them have space where you could climb into little space and they abandon and think people is me and I'm in the kitchen. I'll say you making love in the cemetery? Well, yeah, what's? That is the 70s we talk about. And also running in the cemetery to do the unmentionable not new. But when you go on tiktok right, and then you go, what's your name? Gabrie? Fuck, I'm a gabrie fake. What's your name? Gabri? Gabri Fakery? What's your name? Frick me? I know it's pronounced, but when you go and you see her on TikTok putting on makeup, nothing but the video ain't look good Because I don't again my age showing right, but putting on that sort of makeup while you're talking to people, it just seems awkward. But apparently something that the youths don't know is a common thing on TikTok. But she put on makeup, talked about her experience and a big part of her experience was having to run with my girl saying in the apology that the wee-wee truck what we know as the wee-wee truck, she said when she went on the wee-wee truck the wee-wee truck was dirty. Listen, I don't know how that become part of a carnival review. I was even more disappointed because when I say humor, respond to this. Remember the last time I played mass was in humor. So I'm watching humor page now and I'm thinking this is something you ignore. But humor went on to say or put out a disclaimer saying humor is a way of the viral video circulating regarding a former masquerader utilizing public cemetery grounds as a restroom. Humor categorically rejects this behavior and wishes to remind masqueraders, be it local or foreign, that Trinidad and Tobago is a country that respects not only the living but the daily departed. We thank everyone who has enjoyed our road experience for respecting our country and the streets of Port of Spain by using the facilities provided. We thank you in advance for your cooperation for future carnivals, for respecting and loving our country, culture and heritage.
Speaker 4:I think it's something that we have to continue to sensitize foreigners in particular to when they come in here, because carnival is more than just pay your money and play your mass. The ritual that started carnival is deeply spiritual to us as a culture, to many of us as individuals. Deeply spiritual to us as a culture, to many of us as individuals. So it is very we sensitive about it and it's very easy for us to go on the back foot and see some of the things that people do and say in our kind of all space, which is sacred to us, they might do and say that as, uh, we, we on the back foot, we'll get defense. You, you feel hurt when you come in and say things like that, especially because it puts our carnival in a bad light.
Speaker 4:But the truth is, I feel like this story could only put gabby in a bad light, because who does that? In the famous words and the wise words of young brother, who does that? You know, if you're doing a review, you're talking about something nobody don't want to hear about, your. They have a reason. The washroom is the smallest room in the house and nobody don't want to see your hair weight is going with you and what went on. And he doubled the morning and your thing. Nobody don't want to hear none of that.
Speaker 4:I do have a little bit of a gripe no pun intended to slide in there, because mass bands and it's used more juve bands than mass bands let Let me talk cleanliness, right? If Gabby wants to talk nastiness, let me drift away from Gabby for a minute and let me talk cleanliness, because a part of Carnival must be the cleanliness associated with it. So people might remember, but we evolved to the point where it had wee-wee trucking. It didn't always have that and as a little boy growing up in St James, I'll tell you that it is. You wouldn't believe how much people will find a spot to do what Kitchener do or even to do what Gabby do, or you know, as men we pull up on the side of the road and have a little space, we see a little, we take a leak quick. That's a bad habit I think we have, and especially when you grow up in.
Speaker 4:Anybody who grew up in St James or Woodbrook or in Tongue could tell you stories about where people will basically pee all on your car, pee on your fence, and then it's my work now. So you pee all on your car, pee on your fence, and then it's my work now. So you make the money and go on the way. Try make the money and go on the way. Hearts make the money, barbarossa, whoever, wherever area was, then make the money and go on the way. And now i's the one who had a. Wash down my thing, wash my car, get in confrontation with people over who want to pee in which corner.
Speaker 4:And I was talking to my boy, kevin lucas. I was talking to him in the gym recently. I know it don't look like I go in the gym, I buy school, but I was talking to him recently and they have a business called culture in right in st james there, the original song rev location, and he was saying that kind of all time he's kind of stay home to watch out because people they're in a more lonely part of st james where he is a little too active for this, but I never even thought of it. He say people will literally jump your yard and go and go and do the numbers somewhere in your yard and no respect for nothing. And I feel like if, as individuals like Gabby do things like this, you know you would think that is in a society, it makes sense to allow people to police themselves. And in a mature society where you have people who forward thinking and, and you know, don't care about the world and the footprint they leave on the world, they would. They wouldn't do something like this. But the truth about it is most times you had a police people and I feel like the carnival bands need to do a better job policing their people to ensure that none of this happening.
Speaker 4:I know the the answer as to how, but they must monitor these things. You can't have your masqueraders. I'll say that, admittedly, in my time I was a young man and I didn't know any better. You saw Juve, you go on over, you jump up on a man bonnet and all this. The bands must look out for people's property as they pass into.
Speaker 4:When you pass down my street in St James left the street how you meet it and the Wiwi truck was something that it never used to have. Women and men and things. You start to find a way. Ask somebody. That's another thing I see. Growing up in St James, a lot of people used to just come and ask you to use the washroom and what you're going to do is people you know. So I'm glad that the mass bands have it, but I don't think much juve bands have a wii truck and I think juve bands also need to add a wash down truck to the thing, because when all your past down the street and all your paints and your powder and your mud, which is part of the ritual, I like the ritual but I don't like living in a place where every year you have to come back out and paint your wall at my expense. So why is this? The juve bands now not charged with responsibility when they're getting licensed to pass through areas? Just walk with a water truck behind the thing. What's that water? Walk with a water truck behind the thing and just spray down the walls as you go. If there's mud on them, things on the wall and the paint all you're using and things. If you wash down that one time, all you could save the people who have to deal with this every single year. But the truth about the batteries as well. It not nothing you could do and nothing you could prepare.
Speaker 4:I would humor 100% on everybody who completely against this girl, gabby, not for just doing what she do, because, beyond being nasty, you're very, very disrespectful not just a cult here and to who we are and what kind of all means to us and as a people. You're nasty, you stink bad because you're going in the cemetery on somebody's grave and have no respect. It don't matter what country you're in or what circumstances you're in or how much people or what facilities was provided. What manner of man are you that you would go on somebody's grave and do this. You know what you're nasty bad to, how. If you do that, listen, if I did do that, it would have been the best kept secret in tongue. I would have never come to tell people. Well, I do that, boy, you wouldn't believe how you will fix yourself to casually, in two separate videos, talk about your private matters and your most embarrassing things. You, you have no respect for nobody. You have no respect for yourself. You're just nasty, bad. And people taking this influence thing too far.
Speaker 4:I did see a video just before I started recording. I can't confirm this, but they're saying that she would have been one of the people who was hired by Yuma as an influencer or as a model who would have modeled the costumes in the beginning. And in famous words, or in wise words, I'm a friend of Neumark, as you've never told. Let me bring shame back in this century. Let me bring shame back. You have no shame in your eyes to come and you make this an issue. But anyway, as I say, by Calypso's, all stories are told. For me it would have been my best kept secret, but, like for Lord Nelson, he didn't feel like keeping any secret neither. Listen, good.
Speaker 5:Listen to the lyrics and, kaissona boy, I'll see you guys ahead. So then I get up and I winded me way when the low almost cried, when the horse there stole me. Sorry, sir, they both occupied. I walk back to me seat, very, very cautiously, stepping. Very neat, I walk walking just like a young lady this time, if you see me, beads of perspiration and sweat. 15 minutes done, gone already, and them people ain't come out yet. I start to get dizzy. Lord is now a sick hope and I pray that them two people come out quick. I know a woman came out. I felt so relieved. It's. Then the hostess told me sir, would you sit and pass me seatbelt please? Oh Lord, help me Charlie. Yes, I must have fainted away during the course of the flight because the rumbling and the tumbling of my bowels had to get up. I said, lord, I'll go dead tonight. I now realize the toilets were vacant, so I make up my mind to go. Then came another announcement. Ladies and gentlemen, we're now landing at the Arco. When the aircraft touched down, it hit the runway so hard. It's then that it happened. Imagine now I'm smelling bad.
Speaker 5:I passed immigration, customs said no, I couldn't go through Is. Then the officer told me you can't bring no rotten onions with you. Oh God, help me, charlie. Yes, I said, look, officer, let me explain what happened to me. He said I don't want to hear you. You can't bring them things in this country. The smell getting stronger, feeling embarrassed, the socks and my shoes done wet. Trying to persuade him to come in a corner to explain, the man started to fret, lord. It took some persuasion to get him away from the crowd, because what I had to tell him I couldn't tell him aloud. But when I explained to him he felt sorry for me. He showed me to the lavatory. I said officer, don't worry, as you could see all fall down already.
Speaker 4:Oh Lord, Nello say when you gotta go, you gotta go. But I have a little message. If only you go, human man, because you come to talk about you going in the morning and you eat doubles and then you die. I have a little message for Gabby and Kaiso Do it, greedy. If you know you have to be on your road for two days, take your time with your greedy self. They send me down like prophets of old To cool this tongue.
Speaker 1:Keep it more. Control Me. Ain't got no vision and ting, neither no big message to bring. Always tell me England, I want Icelandian Go and sing this song through the land. Keep singing everyday. Remember how we say what's sweet in goat mouth, the sour in the bam bam. But if you fly now, I same thing does make you cry.
Speaker 6:But sweet and good mouth, the sour in the bam bam Little bit of pressure, little bit of pressure.
Speaker 1:So you take and you take, and you take, and you take.
Speaker 4:Mistake, but sweet and good mouth the sour in the bam bam.
Speaker 1:Alright, so windy, bam, bam, alright. Forget move bags and them schoolgirls tell Thank you. Tell them, if they choose life, nothing wouldn't go right. It's them and the old country's life. I keep singing Every day. I remember what sweet and good Mouth of sour in the bambam. What give you flying eyes? Same thing just makes you cry. What sweet and good Mouth of sour in the bambam.
Speaker 4:My mother and them used to tell me Not because it's free, you go, just eat them all. Not because it's free, you go eat them all. Take your time, gabby, and have a little more respect. Listen, we getting visa to go England. I want to talk about some strain we might face from the US.
Speaker 4:Just now, I see both Rowlers well, rowlers are the questioner, but both Rowlers and Mamma Mia see, and what's the man named vincent, too, cartel and young brother partner, ralph gonzalez. He said to take away the visa. You know, I mean, I'm in bound for no visa and thing. I want to tell them, slow down a little bit, because they don't live all their life and do everything. All they have to do is take away visa. Understand the stance? But because everything free, you just eat we are, we are, we are.
Speaker 4:We had to put our foot on who come in here for Carnival and what they could say and who we call an influencer or whatever we call them. Right, but in more news here, right, and more serious news, more serious matters. Right, because I mean, gabby is an issue, yes, but we faced an issue here where the excrement could hit the ventilator, if you understand what I'm saying. I've heard it from Loop News here Trump says countries that buy Venezuelan oil or gas will face a 25% tariff. Now I've been meaning to talk about tariffs here, right, when I do a course called International business or globalization at master's level, right, we spend a lot of time understanding the relations, the business relations from one country to the next and how government's involved with that. So, because in an mba you're really telling people how you're trying to prepare people to be able to run a business or make decisions on behalf of our business or corporation. So it's important I explain to everybody, or everybody on the same page with you, where international relations is concerned, not from a governmental standpoint, but how businesses interact with one another. For instance, you have somebody, a company here called BPTT them fellas is a British company, but they operate in Trinidad and Tobago. Somebody who come here to start up the company, or the people who run an Exxon in Guyana, for example, you face a lot of cultural issues with managing staff because you can't manage Trinidadians, like if there's British people, or you can't manage Russians, like if you understand, the same way you would manage somebody from Jamaica. Those cultural nuances matter and how you relate to that stuff is always going to determine your success. Along with things like culture, they have things like the issues between countries, and part of the issues between countries is typically how does one product move from one country to the next?
Speaker 4:A lot of times businesses would love it where I could just buy whatever I want from wherever in the will and make my thing and sell it right. So let me talk about the most basic business here would be a suitcase trader. Right, many of the people only drag mall intensity. All them places start off as suitcase traders. If you want to look at a brand like cashy, cashy starts off with people traveling, going place, biting on sale and bring it back and sell it. Sell it in what used to be the drag mall them time. Right Now there's an issue with that because every government has a responsibility or they're under pressure to manage the business relations, the domestic business relations.
Speaker 4:So if you want to say I have a government in power now, the businesses here, big and small, will be putting pressure on the government to say, hey, I want these conditions so I could operate and manage a business successfully again. The government heavily dependent on the tax. People complain about individual taxes like income taxes and property tax and so on. But the government's heavily dependent on the companies, who pay taxes right, at corporate levels particularly, and then the many small businesses who should pay tax right, who, let's assume, everybody paying tax government depending on that. So a part of the government mandate, or part of what we will look at in the election next time, is what is the government putting in place to either incentivize people to be in business or create fertile ground for businesses for people, domestic, here, right, uh, and also things like foreign direct investment?
Speaker 4:What kind of, what kind of grung you laying for foreign businesses to feel comfortable or want to come here and invest? When they come here and invest, the profit that they make, some of it will go back to their country, but some of it will be spent here. Some of it will be paid to taxes which will better our living conditions and our standard of living and so on. Keep in mind as well that most businesses will employ people. So, whether our business is a small business and employing one or two people, or you're employing hundreds of people, that's what a set of people that you're making self-sufficient, you're making independent. You're making crime less of an option for them, you're making dependency less of an option for them because they may not be as dependent on the government for things like what I like to call transfer programs, right, or what is called transfer programs or handouts. We have to get a grant for this and this, for that, and you also have people now paying taxes too and paying into systems like nis. We need young workers in this country, right? What all that had to do with tariffs.
Speaker 4:The issue is this the government is the one who determines when goods come from another country, what I will do. Will I let them come free? Will I allow them to come at all? The government is the legislator. None of them has said the law, so them could basically say this can't come in the country at all. The idea of this not coming into the country at all is what would create the people we call in the 1% today.
Speaker 4:If you look at the people who run the biggest businesses in the country today, a lot of them are very, very successful Because of decisions that was made in the late 80s, where they had a thing called a negative list. Right, that would be what you call an embargo, where certain products cannot come into the country at all. So people you couldn't bring in any foreign fruits and vegetables and snacks and them things. So when you look at people like at a lock jack who run in sunshine snacks and I believe, universal foods as well, if sorry if I'm wrong about that, but they're running sunshine snacks you couldn't get kellogg's back in them days because kellogg's was on the negative list. It is a positive thing I mean everything about upside and downside but it's a positive thing for the domestic businesses because if you were to buy, if you were to allow Kellogg's to come here free because of the size of a company like Kellogg's, their cost per unit to make a box of frosted flakes it low, so what they could do is potentially sell at a cheaper price here if they want.
Speaker 4:And basically let me say kellogg's, because you know five dollars them time for a big box of frosted flakes and then they get my sunshine slack. Kellogg's so big they could even absorb losses because there's a global company. They could come here and say, well, all right, I go get your kellogg's, uh, tony the tiger, and then I could sell that for $4. And now Kellogg's, our domestic company, sunshine Snacks, can't make no money and run them out of business, which I mean business is a cultural thing. Business is not tiddlywinks. You know it's brutal. So if the market means enough to them and they kill off our local companies, what do you think happens to our local companies over time? We have a problem. There's an issue that the government must manage. So the way they manage it, a and r robinson and the fellas back in the time say negative list. None of them think they're coming into the country and that is that one of the ways to manage it, as well as maybe not to put a embargo or ban it completely.
Speaker 4:You could put a tariff on it and a tariff with what we call duties. So next time you're biting right and you get by Caribbean Airlines you know we have some skybox, no Caribbean Airlines, or, or, or, or web source, or who's the next one, aeroposts or whoever you get from right. Watch the breakdown. You go see something called duties which has 25% or 20% in most cases, and they will tell you as well. Budget to budget, you might hear some things duty-free, like I think now you could bring in phone and tablet and all them things since COVID duty-free in the country. Them things just change over time. Sometimes it's our tariff, sometimes it's our duty, sometimes it's the door of duty. A customs duty is a form of tariff. I get in somewhere. Let's stay with me. I'm making a point A customs duty is a form of tariff. A point her custom duties are former tariff.
Speaker 4:A man who well, I just see something saying, the man acting as prime minister now I told him, I, I told the donor here, you know, I said boy stuart young gone jamaica, and I see him from loop here. Prime minister stuart young will travel to jamaica today, wednesday, where he will hold bilateral discussions with us state secretary of state marco rubio. This is in j, jamaica, the way all the problems start right. According to the Office of the Prime Minister, the talks are expected to focus on US foreign policy and its effects on Trinidad and Tobago and the wider region, and Minister Amory Brown will accompany Stioti to Jamaica. But Minister of Public Utilities, colm Emburt, will act as Prime Minister.
Speaker 4:While you know the same old infighting and PNM. I thought Colm was on the way out and I thought they kicked Colm out, but we'll come to that. So Colm at the time realized that we have a forex problem looming. I'll tell you what I think. I talked about this before, but I'll tell you where the forex problem come from too, as simply as I could. And Colm realized that part of the problem is that only to lose to this credit card and only to buy nothing domestic. So everything only looking for it is look to buy it foreign.
Speaker 4:So I will put a 7% what you call an online tax. So anything you buy online and bring it in through a skybox, you have a 7% tax on that. If you buy it as an individual, hint hint, if you register with Caribbean Airlines or WebSource or Aeropost or any one of them as a business, you ain't gonna pay that 7%. Right, that's what I say. But the reality is that the 7% is charged to every individual who bring in anything into the country. That 7% online tax is a tariff. It's just another form of tariff. A tariff is just a government mandated additional cost that has to be paid when you're bringing a good into our country. Makes sense. Somebody tell trump that for me. I'm not sure if you understand exactly what a tariff is. Right, no, no, no, knock on nothing, but that's how a tariff works.
Speaker 4:So when stioti and amory and them fellas went jamaica and thing and it looked like it's a little of a showdown. I'm sorry they didn't record it, like how they record Trump and Zelensky and them. I wonder if they um, if they ask Imbert, if he uh, not Imbert. If they ask Stioti if he have a tie, if he have a jacket and tie, or if you have a hard bottom leather shoes, I wonder if they ask him anything about that. But when they meet there and this is this have serious ramifications for what the next decade in this country is going to look like. So we should all be paying attention to it.
Speaker 4:But the truth of the matter is Rubio came out and whatever came out of it he said anybody who deals with Venezuela Trinidad, not listed and named yet but we clearly deal with Venezuela and depend heavily on a Dragon Gas deal. That's supposed to come true now Because we have a bunch of multinational companies here who can't get enough gas because production low in this country. So if we was to make a deal with somebody and we gain gas coming in and we have some kind of thing going, we will keep the multinationals. If not, they likely to all mothball all the thing and head out right. So it's in our best interest to get that gas from Venezuela, which is what the dragon deal is and the US don't like Maduro, basically. So them don't want nobody deal with them, them want to prop up that regime and make them no money and things. So we in a little bit of a tricky position. So Rubio come out and say 25% tariff on everybody who coming in.
Speaker 4:Let me tell you what I find not genuine, and this is where I run into problems, running into election season, because I mean I just take my time and talk through issues. I don't do the one-minute TikTok thing as much as I can, and the reason I do that is because these things are nuanced, they're complicated, they're layered, they're not easy. What I just talked about there would be about three lessons in that globalization course right, but the thing about it is saw philip alexander who is putting up himself for voting and so on. These fellas want to be the future prime minister and all these things, and I saw him make a video in response to rubio's claim. I'm agreeing that this is a serious matter and all parties that want to be elected should be discussing this and I want to hear what is your plan and what are talking party in power, as well as all the other people who put enough this up. Maybe, except kizil jackson, everybody else. I want to hear what is your plan and what is your policy and what is their manifesto say with how you're going to deal with this if the dragon gas deal come true.
Speaker 4:And then the us responds because tariffs is not the only way. They could respond. That way, all the rest of them talk about taking away visa because they could stop trinidadian nationals from going to the country. Remember what britain do recently. Britain say, hey, you're let apply for visa here and that is punto final. They could decide how goods and services or people move to and from their country. This regime they have in the states also seem to be making decisions about naturalizations and citizens and so on. So all your uncle and thing who send barrel I hope you know all them barrel and thing you have a room for uncle, because if thing goes sour and they send back uncle, it's by you. He come in, you feel he's on all that barrel for free. Keep this in mind. So I would love to hear from the people running for elections now what they plan to do. Whichever direction this thing goes right, reasonable, reasonable statement, right.
Speaker 4:But I hear Stuart Young, who is one of these people come out and say they put a tariff and Stuart don't know what he's doing and this is the only thing and I left him here and I'm here to go and you know his talk right. But one of the things I am saying is that when they put the tariff the goods that you're buying from the states and all the things you like to buy online and when they go up I say, but wait, that is not how a tariff works. I want to believe that Stuart knows that too. Have I seen people who know better in preaching? Have I seen that? But maybe he don't know. Maybe he only understands him now so he could understand how it works. But I'm in the us city putting a 25 tariff. They basically saying that anything they import from trinidad and tobago, they will put where there's our online tax, our duty, whatever, so anybody importing it go have to pay an additional 25.
Speaker 4:So the people who, let me tell you, who will be very worried about this right now right, you see carib Caribbeanese people who the US is a big market to them. You see SM Jalil, who sell all the chubby and thing in Walmart and thing. You see Sasha Cosmetics, them fellas on them. They're worried right now. People like Bertie's Pepper Sauce, royal Castle Pepper Sauce, all those people who are exporting things directly to the States and the US is a very big market to them. Whenever Stuart come, exporting things directly to the states and the us is a very big market to them. Whenever stuart come back or they might be doing it, would call now, if he acting them fellas calling, and say why, why is he seen? Because what happens is that and this is where I'm feeling like trump I don't know if he understand how tariffs is, because he seemed to think that the trend guardian companies pay the tariff.
Speaker 4:What happens is, if I used to pay five us for my bottle of Bertie's pepper sauce, the person who imported that pepper sauce right, let me say it's a grocery on Flatbush, it's our Korean store on Flatbush and them is bringing pepper sauce and sell when they know was bringing in pepper sauce for four US and making a dollar on a bottle, and now they put a 25% tariffiff. Meaning instead of buying it for four dollars, he had to pay four dollars for this thing to bertie's and pay a dollar us to the government for bringing in something from trinidad. So now he cost us five dollars. He cannot sell that pepper sauce at five dollars, no more. So what will happen is he will move that to six dollars to maintain his one dollar profit on the item.
Speaker 4:So, which means I as a trinidadian who live in new york who like my little birdies, all of a sudden I face an, a dollar more on the birdies product at minimum right usually a dollar more in most cases, or whatever the profit margin was it passed on to me? Because the burden of the tax, when it comes to things like tariffs and so on, is usually passed on to the consumer. How much of it is passed on is determined by market conditions, but in a lot of cases it's a hundred percent of the burden is be passed on to the consumer if so little right. So what happens is then I start to use birdies a little less or wait for when somebody come in to go bring birdies, so I could avoid and duck the duty, which is illegal, right, you should declare it and pay the duty right, but I could duck it. I you shouldn't do that. You should declare it and pay the duty, right, but I could duck it. I could wait for people to come in, or I could just buy less, or I could just go and buy some kind of Tabasco sauce that day for cheaper and save myself the little extra dollar, right? So the people who should be worried really is the exporters to the US.
Speaker 4:But we named Philip Alexander, named philip alexander, framing this as if the goods coming from the us to come to trinidad and tobago will become more expensive. Now the truth is that they may, but that's a more complicated process. It is not because of it's not directly related to the tariffs. It is is related to how the local or the domestic companies that are affected by this new tariff, how they respond. The truth is also that we do export a lot of things to the states. Most of what we export to the states is oil and gas. Historically, I mean, we're doing so great now, but it's still the lion's share of our exports. But we don't own the oil and gas that we have. And then oil and gas is price takers. Those are commodity markets where the price is determined globally. So there's no one firm that could say well, if I think I could sell it, it's more expensive. So in other words, I'm not sure what Philip Alexander is talking about, but maybe the brightest fellow he's ever had.
Speaker 4:So sometimes I just want a little help. Sometimes, when I'm talking about these things right, it's because I understand it and I'm looking for help for people who will explain it to me in a way that I could understand. What is the difference between the years of studies I put into this and the years of lectures I do in on these topics and what it is really that Stuart's saying or trying to say, and not not, stuart, sorry, what Philip's saying and trying to say, you know, I mean, I just I just be wondering. I doesn't understand. But the truth is, a lot of times to me, philip Alexander is pretty much saying exactly what Gabby is doing. But I come here to play Kaizo, you know Me. I come here for all the stuff. More Kaizo about Gabby.
Speaker 6:Big, big party up in Valsane Rum and roti flowing like rain. Big bush party up in Valsane. Rum and roti, scotch and champagne. Big doctors, big ministers, big lawyers, big professors. For some mystical reason the roti was flavoured with rat poison. It was a big short party. Big shot party. Shot in pan, shot in sand, shot in hand. A big shot bamba, la Big shot party. Big shot party. The party was packed to capacity With big shots in a variety Expensive toilet facilities Such as Roll Royce, porsche and Mercedes.
Speaker 6:I see a big, big, big magistrate In sanitary, a sanitary plate. Then a bald-haired judge Take off the hat, rat-a-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat, cause it was a Big Shot Party, sanitary plate. Then a ball head judge the coffee hat, because it was a big shot party. Big shot party. Shot in pan, shot in sun, shot in hanam. Big shot pambala. Big shot party. Big Shot Party, big Shot Party, Big Shot Party.
Speaker 6:If you tell me this, I'll say off. I see a toilet bowl choke till it's that of off. Toilet paper run out, just imagine, and was substituted by rotis in Woman stepping, sexy and ladylike. All of a sudden it's Like motorbike. Well, a big million here. This one had me hurt. Toilet paper riser. One hundred dollar, note, cause it was a big Short party. Big short party. Short in pan, short in sand, short in hand. A big short bamba lamb, big Shot Party. As you see, it was real, real chaos that night, people running in escalade. I was tempted to call the fire brigade. I ain't see no smoke, I ain't see no flame. I said maybe it's just a foolish game, but same time you smell, I betrayed my head. I end up calling the city council instead, cause it was a big shot party. Big shot party, big Shot Party. Big Shot Party. Shutting bar, shutting car, shutting jaw was a real shot for Rama. Big Shot Party.
Speaker 4:Big Shot Party. Big Shot Party, big Shot Party I mean, I had to tell you it's Calypso Rio, right, big Shot Party is the name of the song. So see what I'm telling you, fellas in Jamaica and Jamaica again is a very, very important is a critical time for us, right? Because we hinged a lot on this Dragon Deal. I'm hearing a lot of the political parties, including the one in power, very, very focused on what happens with this Dragon Deal, whether it work or it don't work and what will happen and so on. But what I find is that the party in power, who put in the self-backup pre-election, the focus of the discussion is on. I guess you have to stay positive and say the dragon deal, go work. And you go, do everything and do not, so work.
Speaker 4:I would love to hear them talk a little bit more in the manifesto and in the campaign. I would love to hear what is the pnm plan if the dragon deal does not come through it. Those sound like if they're discussing a lot of secondary planning. They've very much hinged on this. I would like to hear from the opposing parties or the parties who are vying for it, particularly the unc and really everybody except kezel jackson. I would like to hear from them as to what the plan is going to be if the dragon deal gas, if the dragon gas deal come true, or if it do come true, if, if, if the boat could kind of give me an idea where it is they heading in this country. You know, give me, give me the upside. If it come true and no we good. If it do come true at all, and no things bad. Let us discuss that a little more as we, and let us discuss a little less about what pnm do and the unc do, we another. I don't care about the them versus we and them people versus we people and the things that appeal to the base. What I really care about, in terms of where my vote will lie, is what are y'all going to do if we get his deal was all a plan. If we don't get a deal, I would love to hear that from both sides, or maybe maybe his wishful thinking.
Speaker 4:So the reality is that, uh, with stuart and them being in jamaica, I heard stuart young come back and one of his first areas of focus was basically getting the banks together along with the central bank. Odd move, if you ask me, but getting them together to talk about the small man and odd move if you ask me, but getting them together to talk about the small man and accessing US dollars, because now we have to go and watch the Soca Warriors play in June, right. So US dollars could be important if we had to go over there, right. But number one, I'm not sure like from a priority standpoint. I'm so worried about this thing with the Dragon Deal and then our relations with the US, which is our biggest international market, that I wonder how much of a priority it is. But Stuart Wacken is Stuart everywhere, stuart in Kambule Riot, he was in football. He's a man. He boots on the ground, he going, and they're doing that. I must commend them because it seems as though he's going to take a different approach with social media, which I see in the opposing parties doing much better than them at. But it seemed as though he he embracing social media a little more.
Speaker 4:But uh, the, the, the issue with the foreign exchange, have more to do with the fact that we are oil and gas and we're not earning as much foreign exchange as we're making. By far. There's a bigger and a growing gap between the two. So we have less us as a country. The government's responsibility is how they're going to distribute us as well. So I could understand the discussion around distribution and whether the distribution is fair, because the average man feel like I can't get 500 us to to travel, but people gain millions of us dollars to do this. That's an eternity. So I I'm not sure if his discussion with the banks is built around the making sure that, uh, the the distribution of us, because that might be the only thing we could. We have some control over how much is distributed and, as he say, how much could end up with the small or the average man versus big business. Or you know, there's accused PNM a lot of defending the 1%. So I wait to see what comes out of that and, if it really, how meaningful it really is.
Speaker 4:But listen again, I didn't plan to record today. I have a few tunes to leave. Only I know the episode's short. I will figure out the recording by myself thing soon where I could get back to my kind of length episode. But as we talking as gabby, gabby carrie in a place, you know she carried on so but she also carried in some um in some places, in some places that I like it. It allowed me to go and dig up some tune, that, that, that that you might know or not know, or that you might have heard or never heard, about Bootsy kind of thing and this symmetry. I want to play a few for you before I go. This one is Kitchener Boss in the Cemetery.
Speaker 3:You know it. I was passing by a certain cemetery. No reason to lie, it happened truly. I heard a couple of voices. I started to wonder who could it be? It must be the zombie getting set to have a party. When I reached the spot, believe it or not, I was so confused to see the boss in the cemetery checking out the secretary. I could not believe. I was so deceived when I saw the young lady, the boss in the cemetery checking out the secretary. Aye, aye, aye, oi, aye, shut your mouth and take it cool. The boss in the cemetery Checking all the secretaries. I hear, ooooh, she got it. I hear, darling, don't be such a fool. Deep eyes in the cemetery.
Speaker 4:Checking all the secretaries in the cemetery, you know. And, gabby, let me tell you something too you as a woman don't know we rituals in this country, you know. So I wonder if you're walking in your house back way. You know that's the thing you're supposed to do when you walk through cemetery and them kind of things you know. So be careful how you're going putting Trinidad in a bad light when you don't know the rituals that we are accustomed to in this country. Last but not least, so for next year, carnival, when you're going jamming people cheering on the streets, when you're gauging something and you're lining it up, just remember that there's something you're gauging Could have just come out of the cemetery. I can't shake the thought after Gabby talking about this, because I start to flash back to every carnival I ever play and every jam I ever take and I start to wonder did I get wiped down in the fit? I want to leave all of you with this one, my favourite soca artist of all time.
Speaker 1:I mean bad, real bad. Now it's boom boom time. I shut up. I shut up, shake it up, shake it up, rock it up, rock it up, shake it up, shake it up. I'm with an Asian in town running up she mall. She say she don't like man, so why didn't turn she long, long For the carnival in the heat of the festival? She want a man, so why behind she bum bum? Why behind she bum bum?
Speaker 3:If it clean, if it clean.
Speaker 1:Behind she, bum, bum for the carnival. I mean All around the waves. Get on in the play Mindy Henshy, boom boom in the festival, walk it up, walk it up, jam it up, jam it up, rock it up, rock it up, jam it up, jam it up. The lady come watch me, straight up in my face, lord Rolling up she belly, twisting up she waist. She said Mr Iowa, when you sing, it's over. I want a man. So wind behind the boom boom, wind behind the boom boom, wind down on the boom boom, wind behind the boom boom. Listen, I'm living, only you know.
Speaker 4:Don't forget the image that's in your mind right now. I always say it's boom-boom time, go and live and enjoy your carnival. But again, gabby, you're nasty, very bad, because I know you went and whined on man after you come out of that cemetery. He's a nasty woman, you know what I mean. We don't deal with that in Trinidad and Tobago too well. But listen, episode 222 in the bag. I'll be here and I'll talk to you all next week. Bye, look out for more interviews and things. Make sure you go and check out Eddie Charles and I have a special one coming out next week for all of you too. Bye, thank you.