TWME #3 - T Dubb O

T Dubb O is a family man, artist, activist born and raised in Northside STL. He has done it all from dropping six studio albums to going to the White House and meeting President Barrack Obama. His philanthropy and community outreach has been vital to everyone from Ferguson residents during the Mike Brown Riots to keeping people with shelter who have been displaced due to the May 16th tornado.

We discuss his start in music, his recent album "Set on the Wall", his Kranzburg Arts Residency, when he became an activist, how Ferguson changed his life, the time he met Barrack Obama and much more.

 Feel free to follow him on his socials at

Facebook: @Antioine White
Instagram: @tdubbo
YouTube:  @TDubbO314  

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Thank You

Waynemart CEO/President/Janitor
Wayne A. Phillips

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:01

Hey man, the Wayne Mart Experience, man. Wayne Mort, CEO, president and janitor speaking. The man on my right. Just had a hell of an interview, man. Y'all need me to talk for him.

SPEAKER_02 0:14

Folkside Lost St. Logan, man. Y'all know what's going on. Almighty gang of media guns amongst the guys. T Dubowi here, nigga. Shout out to the Wayne Mort Experience. You know we only rock with the ribs right here. You hear me?

SPEAKER_00 0:25

Indeed, indeed, man. Make sure you go like, share, subscribe, man, and follow us across all our social medias, man. What it is world, here we are again, man. The Wayne Mart Experience, man. I am the one, the only Almighty PK. Wayne Phillips, man. The man to my right. Took him a minute to get here, but he's here. So he's gonna do this. Black activist. I would call him a rapper, but that'd be doing him a disservice, man. He's an artist. Black activist. Should be a politician, but he's against that for some reason. We're gonna talk about that. You know what I'm saying? Revolutionary. Uh it's a lot of things he qualifies as, man. But the one, the only, I'm not gonna say his real name, man. T Dub up, man. What's going on with you, man?

SPEAKER_02 1:19

What it is, though. Thank you for having me.

SPEAKER_00 1:20

And I I appreciate you coming, man. I truly do, man. I appreciate you sitting down with me, man. Uh I'm gonna be real, bro. We talk all the time, but you know what I'm saying? It's actually a little different, actually having to interview you. You know what I'm saying? So, uh, me, let me, let's, let's, I know you uh we don't speak as far as artistry goes, the activism, your philanthropy. Uh, you know what I'm saying? You got a lot of things to cover. So I'm just trying to figure out where to, you know what I'm saying, where to start. Matter of fact, I know exactly where to start, man. Dub, you from the city, man. And as a proud St. Northside St. Louis and myself, man. Where side of the city are you from?

SPEAKER_02 2:07

I'm from the Pac. So a Fallon Park area. Um, everybody knows the block I represent, 44 Bud. Um I was born and raised North City, St. Louis. Uh my mother has always been a city baby. Um our roots are established in the PAC. But I've lived in Baden, um, Walnut Park. I've lived all around the north side, but you know, from the Four Four Buddh.

SPEAKER_00 2:31

Yeah. Likewise. So that being said, man, um, this is my thing, bro. We've had, as I was sitting up here prepping for this interview, I had to think to myself, we've had a lot of run-ins before we were actually aware of who we were, for sure. No, no, but no bullshit. I don't know if you remember this or not. My first time ever meeting you, my first time ever seeing you was, you know what I'm saying, my producer O's camera, Street Status, you know what I'm saying? That was my first time ever seeing you.

SPEAKER_02 3:03

Street Status camera made a lot of niggas famous, man.

SPEAKER_00 3:05

You know what I'm saying? But, and I can't shout out old enough. That being said, my first time ever meeting you was City Girl, right there on Grand and uh and Martin Luther King. For sure. Was I on some bullshit or was I shopping? No, I just seen you. I was like, I was you know what I'm saying? I wasn't, you know, I had just got back to the city. I had just got back to the city when I got out of the military, and you know, I was just like, I'm gonna go on here, just stop in here. And uh I remember I walked up, I'm like, like, I seen you, and I'm like, you had CDs in your hand. And I was just like, man, what the where the fuck do I know dude from? For sure.

SPEAKER_02 3:46

Like, I he look hella familiar. This this one, uh Grishoffer and Chocolate Ty used to work down there. So when I was putting out mixtapes, they used to let me bring the motherfuckers down there and put them in the store, they would sell them for me.

SPEAKER_00 3:59

Uh, yeah, because it uh if I'm not mistaken, it was uh Mobstar Maniac 2, if I'm not mistaken.

SPEAKER_02 4:05

This right around the time I battled JC.

SPEAKER_00 4:07

Yeah, yeah, man. I was so just like, I'm like, dude, look hella familiar, man. And like the stack of CDs was just right there on the counter. Like you had just placed them there, and then you had took off. And I paid, I was standing in the line behind you, I paid for my shoes. And you know what I'm saying? The stack of CDs was right there. I'm like, I grabbed one, I don't know who was behind the counter. It's crazy you say that because I know Grizz now too, but I was like, yeah, come on, grab one. I grabbed that mug and I was like, well, that's crazy. And then sometime later, I think I met you, man. But let me let me ask you this, man. What exactly got you into music, man?

SPEAKER_02 4:43

Family, man, like, and I I think, I think, so as black people, we're naturally artists. Everything we do, from how we dress, how we talk, how we walk, you know what I'm saying, it go back to our roots, you know what I'm saying, as natives, it and at well, whatever you believe, whether you believe, nigga, we was here in America, or whether you believe we transitioned, you know what I'm saying, through the transatlantic slave trade over in Africa. Um the arts was created in our culture, you know what I'm saying? So we it's in all of us. You feel me? It just takes a certain moment to spark it and cultivate it. And unfortunately, with us as black people, rap typically comes from trauma. You know what I'm saying? A lot of niggas start rapping in jail because they go through this terrible situation or lay in the streets. Um, I was fortunate enough to actually be indoctrinated into the shit by people that was just enthralled in the art of it. So my grandmother, just like a lot of black families, is the matriarch of my family. What was the matriarch of my family? She passed three years ago. Um she originally from the southern part of Tennessee, you know what I'm saying, deep southern roots. They migrated to St. Louis looking for a better life. I personally think she was running for murder. You know, she's dead now, so I can speak on this. Uh, but allegedly the uh she came here after uh stabbing and slicing the lady's throat inside of a bar um my grandfather because he was out cheating. But long story short, my family, my mother's side, get to St. Louis. So everybody came to St. Louis to visit my grandmother for holidays.

SPEAKER_00 6:16

Right.

SPEAKER_02 6:16

So us being North Side babies and her living in Velda City, even though Velda City ain't shit, it's an escape from the north. You know what I'm saying? From us at this time, we live on Alice. Niggas is getting shot every other day, drugs.

SPEAKER_00 6:28

Yeah, silly seemed like paradise. Yeah, you know, I could ride my bike over there.

SPEAKER_02 6:32

You know what I'm saying? So my mama would pack my bike up and shit. So holidays, we go to my granny house, everybody come to town. You know how big cousins is, you know what I'm saying? Thanksgiving, Christmas, niggas go outside, take them a walk, come back in, they smell a little weird. And now niggas think they bong thugs in harmony down in the basement with my grandmother, camcorder. But I thought it was the most amazing thing how they could put these words together off the top of their head, and it sounds like the shit I'm listening to on the radio. And that's what inspired me to be like, I I love this shit. You know what I'm saying? And then um, the exact moment where I said, This is what I want to do, uh, one morning is super cold. You know, sometimes we get these treacherous ass St. Louis winters and back in the 90s. I'm talking about this, these winters ain't shit. Not at all. It seemed like back in the middle of the day. I remember traveling that snow and that shit. So it's a super cold day. And my mama had this burgundy celebrity, this this Chevy celebrity. They don't even make these motherfuckers no more. I don't even know what people know what these cars is. It's like a it was like a box style Chevy car. It's burgundy. And um, the night before, it's a big ass shootout on our street. Uh so her nosy ass, she's throwing me and my sister down on the floor, but she's looking out the window like Malcolm X. So I the next morning, I'm I think I'm in preschool, and my sister, uh, rest in peace, six years older than me. Normally she will ride in the front. For some reason, she let me ride in the front. So we go outside, I'm getting in the passenger seat of the car, and the passenger side of the car is like riddled with gunshots. You know what I'm saying? And my mother, um she wasn't college educated, she ain't not a high school diploma, you know what I'm saying? So she worked two, three part-time jobs just to make ends meet and provide for us what she could. So you could just see the despair and disappointment on her face, because I mean it's a 90s, ain't nobody riding around with insurance. Yeah, facts. You feel me?

SPEAKER_00 8:23

Actually, not too different from the day, but yeah, I get what you're saying.

SPEAKER_02 8:26

So you can see, like, damn, I gotta get this shit fixed. You know what I'm saying? So she gets in the car, get in the car, and uh silent for a minute. You know, she warmed the car, pull off, and she put a tape in the deck, and it's ice cubes today was a good day. And I was just watching her as I'm listening to the song, and it was just like a calming spirit came over her. And at that moment, I was like, if that can make my mama feel like that, I wanna do this shit. And I made my mind up right there and there that I was gonna write.

SPEAKER_00 8:54

I ain't gonna lie, that's deep as a motherfucker. That's actually hella deep. That being said, man, we're gonna kind of jump around a little bit. That was the start of your music, man. Since then, how many uh, cause you just dropped set on the wall on all on all platforms, man. Uh I personally be bumping it. Um, we gotta work on me constantly getting killed in everybody's videos, but you know what I'm saying? We gonna we gonna get past that eventually. You're a good action star, man. I don't think it takes that much talent to die, but it's whatever, we're gonna move past that. That being said, man, uh what exactly do your discography look like? Because I know set on the wall is an album, but and I I heard Mobstar Maniac 2, and then I heard everything like songs that you dropped, but what exactly do your discography look like?

SPEAKER_02 9:52

Officially, I probably got over 20 projects out here. You know what I'm saying? Like, I remember nigga Magic used to work at this gas station downtown. Like me and Kizil, I had bought some studio equipment. Like, we trapped out going crazy, doing all types of stupid shit. But we trying to figure the shit out. Like, I was buying studio equipment, like we was recording mixtapes, selling them and passing them out back then. But officially, uh, I have six studio albums. Um, let me count. The drop, that was my first official studio album. The drop, Pleasure, Money Pain. I remember that. Defiance. I remember that album. Don't stop at lights. I remember that album. Soon it all be over. And says on the wall. So I have six studio albums officially. Okay. I have a collaboration album with Tyrone Woodley. Um so that's uh seven if I include that. I have two collaboration projects with Bodine, both uh Bruce vs. Bang. Bang one and two versus Bang 2. So if I count those as nine, okay. You know what I'm saying? But BvB One and Two, I consider them mixtapes, even though two is on all platforms for streaming. And Chaos Theory, that was uh quote unquote an album, but it's a collaboration project. So I got six solo studio albums up. Okay, you said the Monster Maniac series, that was just some shit niggas trying to figure out and did mixtapes and put them out in the street. I think the only one was actually online was uh MM2 and MM3, and that was on that piff, but niggas hated on me because I did like a hundred to some thousand downloads.

SPEAKER_00 11:28

That being said, you just said something interesting, man. I actually been wondering this for a minute, man. I don't mean hey. I don't want to rub nobody the wrong way, but I'm gonna say just what it is, man. You and Tyron Woodley are on songs together.

SPEAKER_02 11:49

We got a whole album. I think it's I think it's like I can't remember, I think it's like 17 songs. So he dishes This is another thing. These fucking distribution companies is popping up in trash. This is just for independent artists. Like be aware of where you distribute your music and how you distribute your music. So we was talking to Atlantic Records. Okay, you know what I'm saying? Um He had a plug with Atlantic Records, the president Kevin Weaver, the vice president Ian Cripps. Shout out to Ian Cripps, he's a white boy, but that's my that's my low because of his last name. Um so he was dealing with them, you know what I'm saying? When he told the world that he was interested in doing music and he had dropped a song that I uh I wrote for him with Whisk Khalifa, um these labels came running. As you know, now it's just about numbers and presents and shit like that. They don't give a fuck about people's actual talent. It was like Tyron Willie from the UFC wanna rap. We see dollar signs because of his following. And then we got the UFC. So 300 was interested in signing on a couple other labels. So we ended up semi-doing business with Atlantic Records. And um I told him that I would distribute the project properly, make sure it got done right. Right. He wanted to go through a platform that Atlantic Records created called Level Distribution. Had never heard of it, don't know nobody that used it. He listened to them fall for the Oakie Doke. So now the project is not even up now, but it did like across all platforms, like 10 million streams, uh, a bunch of fucking sales. Like it was very successful for an independent project. But yeah, it was like, I think like 16 songs.

SPEAKER_00 13:18

Okay. I'm gonna be real. If somebody I've I've met Tyrant, I've sparred Tyron, I've tried at his gym when he used to be over ATT Evolution. For sure. I'm gonna be real, man. He should have definitely just stuck to fighting. Like, he he definitely should have just stuck to fighting, man. It was just like, I was listening to it and I was like, like, when I when I first met Tyron, it was at his gym, for sure. Uh his sister was the uh like at the front desk and all that, and his uh lady at the time used the whole her uh her workouts out of there and all that, whatever, whatever. Solid gym, I actually missed it. It was a decent place. But I remember, I remember when I was training, it was around the time he was on his title run.

SPEAKER_01 14:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 14:08

Right? When he was on his way to the uh UFC Championship, man, and I remember him stating he was like, we was uh in the gym, he decided to train that day. He usually had people come in the gym and he'd fly in or they'd fly in to spot with him or wrestle with him or whatever. Because I remember I seen Ben Ashkin in there one time uh when they was in there rolling around at the gym. And I was just like, he ain't had nobody there. He was like, hey man, you I be seeing you, man. You can you can go uh I see you be switching stances, man. Like, go go a couple rounds with me right away. I'm like, I bet. And while we was taking breaks in between the rounds, he was like, he was like, man, he I'm chasing the bag. He like, man, you only get the money when you become champ. That's a fact. And he like, man, I'm trying to soak up all these opportunities. Some opportunities are going well for him. Like, uh, he was in Straight Out of Compton and uh other movie roles, and he I be seeing these series on Netflix.

SPEAKER_02 15:05

I be seeing him, uh Wi-Fi while we went down there, he did that shit.

SPEAKER_00 15:09

I seen him uh, what the hell was that? It was some game show. I think it was like Hollywood Squares or something like that. I know, I ain't see that. I seen he was on some game show and I left, but I was like, and I'm I'm rooting for him, hey, black man get paid. For sure. But man, when that dude started rapping, I was just like, hold on.

SPEAKER_02 15:25

So that's a misconception. A lot of people think he started doing music and then he fell off. No, the album was done. We completed the album before he fought Darren Teal and he beat the hell out of Darren Teal.

SPEAKER_00 15:36

Yeah, he was Darren Teal.

SPEAKER_02 15:37

The album was done. Woodley hadn't been in the studio with me in over a year before he fought Oostman. So why did he get why did he drop it? He had some it was some personal things going on with him. You know what I'm saying? Like he was. Like, you know, they got a running joke about him, right? Yeah, rap ain't had nothing to do with his falloff. Like he wasn't even rapping at that time he fought Usman. He had nothing to do with that. And we didn't get back in the studio after that. So I don't, if he was in the studio, it wasn't with me. You feel me?

SPEAKER_00 16:03

Because yeah, he dropped, yeah, man. I remember I was looking at look, Tyree, if and when you see this, man, I'm look, I'm not trying to, I wish you the best, but man, they got a running meme with him where he dropped the song. Uh he announced it and dropped the song I beat your ass. And the running meme is he has beat zero asses since that song dropped.

SPEAKER_02 16:30

He beat Dirty. That's song, that song dropped. The night yeah, that he walked out to it. He beat Dirty. Now he didn't walk out to it. He should have. I thought he walked out to it.

SPEAKER_00 16:38

He didn't walk out to it. I know he wants to. I know the post-fight press conference.

SPEAKER_02 16:43

It was supposed to drop Monday. We were supposed to go to New York, be on Swear in the morning, and that's why I said, like, you got to let people handle the business who know how to handle the business.

SPEAKER_01 16:51

Right.

SPEAKER_02 16:52

The album, the song dropped the day before the fight, and it wasn't supposed to. We look up and it's out, but we were supposed to announce it on sway in the morning Monday after we flew up to New York after the fight. But bad people handled the bad business role. You know what I'm saying? So it fucked up the whole rollout. But he beat Darren Till when that song dropped.

SPEAKER_00 17:10

Oh, okay. But yeah, that's straight a running joke. That Mug straight said he's beat zero asses since he dropped the song. I beat all that. It did indeed, man. So you T Dove Bo, man from the North Side, man. Sure. You know what I'm saying? You had pretty rough upbringing all of that. How do you go from that to music to activism? Like, man, like you really, like, it was Obama, if I'm not mistaken. You was at the White House, correct? I done met every president.

SPEAKER_02 17:49

But actually being in the over office strategizing and trying to create a plan in regards to helping black people with predatory policing, that was in, that was with Obama. But I've been to the White House numerous times.

SPEAKER_00 18:02

How exactly did you pull that? I always wanted to ask you that. Like, how exactly did you manage to pull that off?

SPEAKER_02 18:08

So that was a like were you invited up there? Yeah, I was invited. So that was a it's an organization called Pico. Now they go by uh Faith and Action, but it's the largest faith-based organization in the country. Um you know the the gap between clergy and regular black people here in the city. It's it's a big gap. If you're not religious and you ain't going to church every fucking stuff, you don't fuck with that. Yeah, they ain't rocking with something. When Ferguson happened, I'm out and it's one night. It's crazy. I think it was a night it was a young woman named Spook got shot in the head. She survived, but the police went and confiscated the bullet. You're talking about the rubber bullet situation, right? When they said they was out of rubber bullets and out of non-lethal unitions, and they said they was using live ammunition. She got shot in the head. Yeah, I remember that. The police, the only reason they showed up was to confiscate the bullet after surgery. But she survived. But that night it's mayhem. And uh I look up in the middle of the trig ass and shit, and I see these this uh black bald head nigga in his full clergy costume with the white collar and everything, looking like a priest that never seen this shit before. And I look down, this nigga got on some white forces. So I'm like, dude, can't be from here. You know what I'm saying? So I went and holler at him, his name, Pastor Michael McBride. He like, no, I'm not from here. We from the Bay Area, we from Oakland. And um, we started locking in with him because he saw what we was doing and what we was building with our organization, so he became like a mentor of mine. Right. Sent me through the leadership training, and I really learned CVI, which is community violence intervention, organizing criminal justice reform, re-entry work, like really learning how to organize and build and sustain the organization. Right. Because he saw these national people come in trying to take advantage, so he helped us create programs. So um we got invited out to DC via him.

unknown 19:52

Uh-uh.

SPEAKER_02 19:53

They was having a meeting with this big company by the name of Kellogg Foundation, trying to see if we get some support back in St. Louis. So he invited me and my lady out to DC to convey the message in regards to what's happening in St. Louis, what's going on. So we tell our stories, you know what I'm saying? And at first, they be trying to get people talking points and shit like that. I've always been a good speaker. I'm good at conveying my message. I don't need nobody to tell me what to say in regards to my city and how I represent the strife and the pain and the oppression that we go through. I'm well versed in delivering that. Uh but looking at a nigga, they don't know that until I open my mouth. So at first they like, well, just talk about this. So I stand up, you know, I had a little suit on, I take my jacket off and I roll my sleeves up and I start showing my tattoos, bullet wounds, all this shit. And I'm like, I'm just gonna be transparent with y'all and tell y'all the story. And before I finish talking, everybody in the room is interiors. And there was a young woman in the room by the name of Ashley Allison, who ended up being the uh head of Office of Public Engagement for the White House at the time, who was which was Obama. So she pulled me and my lady outside after this situation and was like, hey, I wanna invite y'all to the White House tomorrow to have a meeting. Cool. So she invited us to the White House, we meet with her. And uh she kept, for some reason, every president, I don't know if it was just Obama, but I think it's every president, when they speaking on them in a certain light or a certain place, they never use their name. So she kept calling dude like Bob or some shit. She was like, Yeah, I'm gonna set up a future meeting with Bob and all this. And I'm like, Yeah, whatever. You know what I'm saying? I don't trust government, I ain't really trying to fuck with y'all. I'm ready to get back to St. Louis. So uh this is October. So about a month later, I get a phone call from Barbara Online out of DC, who is one of the most powerful and prevalent civil rights attorneys that we ever ever seen. And she's also a black woman. She became a mentor of mine as well. Sort of a mother in the movement space. She was like, Hey, uh, we want to invite you back out to DC to be with the president. At first, they didn't want to let me in, though. They said I was high risk, um, very anti government, super revolution. So I I never called myself an activist because I I view activists as people that I kind of feel like the activist label. Kind of got put on everybody who said something around Ferguson. I more so look at myself as a revolutionary who engages in activism at times. But my shit, my lane is more so civil disobedience and programming. You know what I'm saying? So I'm more of a revolutionary. But um she was like, we're gonna set it up, and they ain't wanna let me in at first. But she told them folks, she was like, it won't be a meeting if Doug's not in the building. And I got invited, we went in and had the conversation, and I mean it was history. That's the only thing that really came from it.

SPEAKER_00 22:31

How long, what what was he like? You met him, like how long was the meeting?

SPEAKER_02 22:35

Like, it was probably like probably about an hour, you know what I'm saying? And I'm gonna be honest with you, the meeting pissed me off. You know what I'm saying? I'm How so? Because I realized during the meeting that it was a it was a it was just for the image. It wasn't to actually change anything. That doesn't smell. And then when I met him, I'm like, this dude is really like a real politician. You know what I'm saying? Like so it's a the first the picture that went viral is the first picture of him opening the door. You can see me and him, and it I'm s people thought I was smiling when I was laughing. So they walk us through this hallway, we didn't go through the front office, we they walk us through this hallway and like the wall opened. Yeah, and he's standing right there, but when he opened it, it was right in front of me. And he looked at me and did like this and was like, who let you in? So I start laughing. So they took that picture, so it was like, oh, look at this, they're so happy to meet. But then as you see the rest of the pictures be sitting in the overall office at the press conference, me at the end of the table, it's like this scowl is on my face. You know what I'm saying? Because I'm I'm pissed off. One, a national organization hijacked the meeting, so you got people in here that's not even from St. Louis talking about St. Louis issues. Two, dude is giving us the politician answers. And when I start asking the hard questions, he was like, Alright, get up, let me show everybody my rug. Because every president got their own custom rug. When I say this, people be like, What the fuck are you talking about? But he didn't want to go into depth of the conversation of where we was going, and he was like, Every president get their own custom rug. I don't think you think I'm dedicated to black people. Let me show you. My rug has Martin Luther King quotes on it. And I just I just shook my head and shut the fuck up for the rest of the evening.

SPEAKER_00 24:14

I see what you're shooting there, but it's like, bro, I don't give no fuck about this rug. Yeah, not at all. That's wild, man.

SPEAKER_02 24:21

But they gave me the pink badge that they color-coded it now, that means you're high risk. So they followed me to the bathroom everywhere. It was a good time, though. I still spent like the strip club.

SPEAKER_00 24:34

There's I wouldn't say why would they label you high risk, but I'd imagine if you finna go meet the president, they uh you secret service, they done ran background checks. So they didn't want to let me in the building. Yeah, that's gonna let me in the building. That's insane. I asked that one because I wanted to know, but my second part to that is is like what got you into the whole, like, how do you go from music to, you know, activism revolutionary type shit? How do you go, you know what I'm saying? Like, shit. It's a lot of people, you know what I'm saying? It's a lot of uh, especially these days, it's a lot of uh, you know, artists that decide to be woke these days and all that other stuff.

SPEAKER_02 25:16

But it's like, niggas been rapping woke forever, but they don't do shit. Like, this is my thing. All the niggas who quote unquote conscious rappers don't do shit for the community. They talk all that whole tip shit and you can smell sage when you play their whack ass music, but they don't actually do shit. Them niggas ain't frontline when police killing niggas. They ain't showing up when the military out there busting people head. You know, most of these niggas uh are like super aggressive and oppressive with women and disrespectful and low-key pedophiles and shit. They just be talking that conscious shit. You know what I'm saying? Like what I've the rappers that I've met, it'd be the gangster niggas that's really about their work and trying to change shit because we lived it. You know what I'm saying? We went through them circumstances and we looked around and we had the the uh the mental fortitude to one fight and overcome that shit, but we also had the vision to see that this ain't how shit's supposed to be. And a lot of times our goal to change that is alright, I'm gonna use rap or basketball or whatever the situation is that's not change, not only change my life, but change my family life, put my homies on, try to help my block. Um, but I'm also now trying to do better for the community. Look at how many basketball players or rappers you see, end up starting community centers and shit like that. Now, the difference with me is I became well versed in political education. I was always deep into trying to educate myself. I saw shit was fucked up, and I knew that if you can't understand this system and understand our true history, then you can never create a trajectory of where you're going to liberation. Yeah, those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it. Absolutely. You know what I'm saying? So I've always been a quote unquote organizer or a bridge builder, even before I got involved in that level of work. Like it's it's communities and niggas I brought together that would normally have hated each other under certain circumstances if I didn't bring them together. You know what I'm saying? Even when I was in quote unquote the underworld, it would be hoods I did business with that my hood have hate to death. You feel me? Right. But I was able to bridge certain situations together. So I was always an organizer, always trying to defy odds and eliminate oppression. It's just when Ferguson happened, it was just like, all right, nigga, you gonna keep just doing it in the hood, you just gonna keep rapping about it, or you're gonna fucking do something because they're killing us, and you got black boys that's gonna be walking the street.

SPEAKER_00 27:30

So with Ferguson, so it'd be fair to say that Ferguson is kind of your launch point for to fully say, nigga, I'm gonna actually fight daily.

SPEAKER_02 27:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 27:40

I'm gonna be real. I think for most people in St. Louis, I think yeah, Mike Brown getting killed was that because I that's what it was. For me, when Mike Brown, yeah, for myself personally, I kind of got more heavier on it within like the last five years, for real, for real. Six. Yeah, last six years. But when Mike Brown, yeah, when Mike Brown got killed, that's when I was like paying attention real heavy to like what goes on like around the city. You know what I'm saying? That's where uh I know that's where Ohan, Shay got her started. Salute to her. For sure.

SPEAKER_02 28:16

Um that's where most of them got their story. Yeah, because like they they showed up a little later though, like a lot of it, like me, Teff, Rest in peace to the homeboy, D-Boy, Darren Seals.

SPEAKER_00 28:28

Uh rest in peace, Darren Seals.

SPEAKER_02 28:30

Even like the homie Bodine. Like, really, I'm gonna be honest with you, it was gangsters, like single mothers and like independent artists out there. You know what I'm saying? Day one. You know what I'm saying? It weren't no fucking activists, it won't no organizations. The the clergy tried to chase us off. You know what I'm saying? When the pro the protest actually started, he was murdered October 9th. We had a little situation with the police. The next day is when the organizing and protest actually started at the police department. Now you got so many people running around that say they made the call and took credit for it. We ain't called clergy there. We ain't got nothing to do with what they was doing. They was on the on the corner and on the sidewall praying. We went and sat in the middle of the street and blocked that shit off, and that's when it started. You know, they was coming to try to tell us to get out the street calling us disrespectful and all this shit. Like, we cursed their ass the fuck out.

SPEAKER_00 29:16

Yeah, I was out there, yeah. Those days I was out there on my cameraman swag. I uh I got the footage on the hard drive of like, I was out there in the me, my roommates, uh, my right-hand man behind the camera. He uh uh you what was you out there with Ferguson with us? I know uh your little brother was. I know Reggie was out there. Yeah, he wasn't, but my uh his little brother Reggie, he was out there salute to my nigga Reggie. But I was out there on my cameraman swag, and we was out there damn near every day. And I straight uh they ain't got it on their website no more, but uh the Riverfront Times took my footage of uh like when they start popping, when they first said curfews and shit, like hey, y'all gotta be out of here by 12 o'clock, and I had it on camera. It was like 9.30, like 9.30, 10 o'clock. Yeah, they start popping up. They start popping tear gas and shit, and I like I got hellas of that shit on footage. I got a uh, it's on my old hard drive. I hope that mug is not corrupted, because that's like my bread and butter right there. That was my magnum opus, as they'll say. But it's like living in a city like St. Louis, man, it it just always threw me off. Like, look, like up until Ferguson, I kind of was just like, this is just how it is with me here. It's normal. This is just how it is. I don't know why it's like that it is. White people live over here, black people live over here. If you're black, anything behind county line is sunshine and anything behind the county line is sunshine and rainbows compared to what you have inside the city line. So, and then it was like Ferguson hit, which is the county, and it was like, like, damn, like this is really how they getting down. Cause like the thing that fucked it up for me, I ain't gonna fake it to you. I was looking at my phone, driving, very irresponsible. Don't do that, people. But that being said, I'm looking. I'm I'm looking, and they say, you know what I'm saying, kick man killed in Ferguson. Yeah, right. By the police. And I'm just like, uh. Uh, I'm like, sound like some typical bullshit, but you know, tears the life around it. Right. And then I sit up here, I remember because I was where I was at for like two, three hours. I think it was like, and then I checked my phone again, and it was something about like, dude, body was still in the street. For four and a half hours. Yeah, four and a half.

SPEAKER_02 31:50

Like, he's I'm like, And then didn't even put him in the ambulance. They threw him in the back of a minivan.

SPEAKER_00 31:54

Yeah, yeah. Uh yeah, I actually have seen that unfortunately too many times. My partner, uh, my partners Lucky and Smiley, uh, from Labity where I'm from, when they partner got killed, it was a gray minivan that they came and scooped his body. I saw the whole thing. It was a gray minivan that scooped his body off the street. And they threw him, uh, they threw the sheet over him and threw him in the back of the van. And the fire truck came and washed the blood off the street. Rest in peace to London, man. Salute to my niggas Lucky and Smack.

SPEAKER_02 32:23

The crazy part about the Mike Brown situation, they left him there so long and it was so hot. That yeah, it was hot as fuck that day. The blood wouldn't come out the concrete. Months later, really, it was probably about a year, they had to cut that whole block of concrete out because the blood stayed on the ground so long and cooked into the concrete that the stains wouldn't come out. They had to cut that ain't that word a little meat, because right now it's a medium or no. It's a medium or no. Yeah. But if you if you go back to some of the old pictures, you see a block like cut out of the street in new concrete. Yeah. That's how long the blood soaked into that concrete. They had to cut the concrete out the street.

SPEAKER_00 33:04

Damn. But yeah, I I vividly remember that. I finished up what I was doing, which was hours late, and I'm like, damn, like, like they still ain't got his body out the street. I had time to roll, I had time to straight roll over there, and I saw walking down the street, and I still saw the white sheet. And I walk, I walk straight back to West Floors. I'm like, man, I'm gonna, I'm gonna I'm gonna wanna. It was like Amala Canfield. Yeah, Amala Canfield was like outside. And I'm like, man, I'm finna just walk back to West Floors and I don't want to see, I don't wanna see nobody in the street. Like 20 minutes after that, that's when they showed up with the military. Yeah, ask the question. That's when they showed up with the Ferguson Police Department showed up with the big trucks and all that. They put the little yellow barricade around them and all that, but I'm like, damn, like y'all just now, like y'all just now covering them up, trying to get them out the street, all of that. And I'm like, and I'm like, I don't know what it was, but it was something about I gotta see how this play out. Like I got it, like, and from that day forward, I just paid a lot more attention to what was going on around the city. So I know I'm pretty long-winded on that, but what I was getting at is that it seemed like that was like St. Louis is a city that don't really unite about shit, unfortunately. But it was something about that day and that moment that everybody was kind of on the same page.

SPEAKER_02 34:29

You know, and people ask me this everywhere I go, they say, because honestly, St. Louis, we don't take enough credit or and we're not proud enough for that moment. And I'm not, it's unfortunate that a life was lost for it, but we revolutionized the world, how every movement has gone since 2014 has mirrored what we did in St. Louis. Facts. Not just in this country, but around the world. You know what I'm saying? And that was a generation of people that one was hopeless, but everything that we had gone through up until that point gave us everything we needed to create the biggest movement in the world since the Montgomery Bus Boycott, since the Black Panther situation, since the Civil Rights Movement, that was the longest act of protest ever. And before that, it was the Montgomery bus boycott. You know what I'm saying? So we created a revolutionary moment for black people that really opened the eyes of an entire generation and continued to open eyes of generations after that. You know what I'm saying?

SPEAKER_00 35:36

Yeah, I was saying to my partner, I was like, yeah, this like this is gonna be in history books one day.

SPEAKER_02 35:42

Absolutely. We went we all in the Smithsonian. I mean, I don't know if we still out there now because of Trump, but uh dumbass a chief.

SPEAKER_03 35:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 35:51

But yeah, changed the world, yeah. Sideboy, I think he's gonna start either the second civil war or the third world war. I don't know what dude on, but. Hey, black people buy guns.

SPEAKER_02 36:03

That's all I gotta say about this shit. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 36:05

That being said, man, that being said, and this is something I be seeing you talk about it, and then I'd read into it. All of these people, because you say it sparked shit around the world for sure. But what's crazy is that it's people who for some reason they like still kind of like profiting and benefiting off of Ferguson despite Absolutely. And it's like, for the life of me, I don't understand that shit.

SPEAKER_02 36:34

Like, I mean, it's it's it's social justice, right? And I I again it's another thing I used to say. The social justice world is dirty than the dope game. You know what I'm saying? Like, ain't the point of social justice is put yourself out of work. I mean, that's what I thought the goal was. That's why we created our organization to actually change and accomplish it. But you go into these meetings and people are planning five and ten year budgets. So clearly you're not looking to accomplish the shit that's on your mission statement on your website in five years or ten years if you're planning to keep be doing that work 10 to 20 years from now. You know what I'm saying? So a lot of people, I just I actually just put this on my Facebook. I said this in another interview. We have too many people in places where lives are impacted by the work that are just there for a job. That's with schools, that's with social justice organizations, that's with everything. If you don't have deep dedication to the perseverance of black life, then you shouldn't be in this realm. Now it's a place for you in this realm. It ain't director, it ain't executive director, it ain't manager, it ain't case manager, it ain't organizer. It may be on the back end and accountant or some shit, maybe legal. But if you don't have a deep dedication to this work, it's the same, like our volunteer basketball coach. Yeah. Three years since I took over, undefeated, championships. We even got a city resolution for the work that I did with this basketball team. Unheard of in the Hazelwood School District. St. Louis City gave us a resolution that this is a county school. Yeah. That's how transformative the work is I'm doing with these young men. If you're not doing that for black people, don't be in this space. Just because you're a teacher and you need an extra 4,000, but you don't know shit about basketball or wrestling, don't come in here trying to play coach with these kids and they trying to prepare to go to the next level and you fuck up their opportunity to get better and be prepared when they get to high school or middle school because you want an extra bag. We got too many people in places where impact matters. Motherfuckers is just one job. And that's this is around the world.

SPEAKER_00 38:44

Yeah, with St. Louis.

SPEAKER_02 38:45

I'm definitely around the world, but you talk about people still benefiting from St. Louis, it's that. You know what I'm saying? Yeah. Motherfuckers see the opportunity for the bag. Phil Agnew does that shit. Been doing it. That's Tefnim homie. I'm sick of that shit. I spasted out on his ass on Instagram. Nigga, 10 years later, you still talking about Ferguson. Nigga, you from Miami. Yeah, that's dead. You got a bag, started a whole nother organization, been around the world touring because you came to Ferguson once and took a picture. Nigga. Trayvon Morton got smoked in your state, and y'all ain't do nothing to get lit from that. But one of our own get murdered in the press, and you niggas want to show up and take advantage of the situation. D-Ray Mekison. Blue vest nigga. Movement for Black Lives, Mo all them niggas, man. These niggas came here, stole funders, raised millions of dollars, left, and left our city in shambles. We couldn't even get grants for the work we was doing here every day. Because you niggas was speaking on our behalf, saying you're the gatekeepers in the face of funding.

SPEAKER_00 39:51

My thing is this. How the this is my thing. How the fuck can out-of-towners because that seemed to be a consistent thing of politics across the board. And it's like, how the fuck can out of towners, you know.

SPEAKER_02 40:02

Politics, because they already in the movement space. So they got the relationships with the philanthropists, they got the relationship with the funders, the people that do the grants. So it's like, oh, well, I took a picture with Teff Poe. I'm the representative that gets the funding to Ferguson. So they'll get the money, and then for instance, Kayla Reed in Action St. Louis, when she first started action. Salute to Kayla Reed. Advancement Project, which is the national organization that hijacked the first Obama meeting. It's the reason Tef ain't make it. It's the reason my lady Rika ain't make it, even though me and her is the reason the meeting was set up. Because they had they hijacked the meeting. Oh, we're gonna organize this. They was bankrolling Caleb organization that started first. It was all about the voting work. But they getting money in regards to Ferguson and the relationships they quote unquote created with us and giving her a micro grant versus I'm gonna raise this money and send it to St. Louis. It's a dirty fucking world, bro. And it's all about the oppression of black people. They wake up every single day and fund their middle class lifestyle on the deaths of street niggas that they don't even want in the building to train to do these positions. Look around at these organizations and look at their staff and tell me how many straight black men you see. How many straight black men you see on these boards and in these organizations that are doing the work that affects black niggas every day? Re-entry work. When I do re-entry work and I look around, primarily women, white men, black women, gay black dudes, if it's one, or one straight nigga somewhere, and who is the most that's affected by the criminal justice system? Who dying every day to violence? Who is the less, the least to get employed? Who is the least to graduate high school? Why the fuck we ain't in the rooms getting these opportunities to fight for our own liberation? You don't even want us in the space.

SPEAKER_00 41:58

It's funny you say that, man. He's a modest guy, he's behind the camera, but it's not like uh reform as far as like, you know, re-prison reform and you know, uh sure re-entry into society like that. But me and uh my man's behind the camera, we a part of this uh community development. Uh what's it called? Neighborhood planning committee. Yeah, neighborhood planning committee, right? And we literally I literally said this to him when we were sitting in there. I was just like, y'all don't look nothing like the people that are in the areas that and that's the problem. It's like, yeah, y'all don't look nothing like y'all don't I don't even think y'all even from St.

SPEAKER_02 42:42

Louis to Washington? No. Most of these organizations show up in these communities when they got a uh a grant to do so. Voting time. You know, like right now, how many people you done heard talk about voting?

SPEAKER_00 42:56

Nobody.

SPEAKER_02 42:57

No, wait till I've heard about midterms, but like nationally, but I ain't heard about wait till a couple months before national or I mean before uh uh the folk before 2026 before election time. Wait till around August. See how many organizations you see out talking to people about voting. And then you wonder why St. Louis has poor turnout. Because you niggas only talk about it when you get some money to talk about it. You ain't training people around how to vote and how to use that vote for a weapon 24-7-365. You get some money, send some people out, knock some doors, use every action or whatever one of these turf cutting programs that y'all using, go knock on some doors in a neighborhood you've never been in, don't know nobody, and ask them them to vote. And that's the way that you do civic engagement. And you wonder why we have one of the lowest voting turnouts in the nation in regards to that shit.

SPEAKER_00 43:47

Yeah, that shit's abysmal.

SPEAKER_02 43:48

This shit, this shit is business to these people. They don't give a fuck. Yeah, that's it. Locally, nationally, the social justice world is fucked up.

SPEAKER_03 43:55

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 43:56

Dope boys got better morality. Now stand on that shit.

SPEAKER_00 44:00

Yeah. The uh segue into whatchamacallit uh as far as like local shit. Just the other day, I was looking up uh I was looking at Channel 5 News. I keep forgetting dude's name, but I am a fan of dude. Uh his name, Mark Something. He does the uh on the record segment uh for Channel 5 News. I ain't watched the news in so long, man. I'm I'm I'm old now, man. I'm old now. I gotta get up early for work and all that stuff, man. I be I go to sleep with the news on, so I know what the weather is and I know what time it is when I'm getting ready for work. But I forget dude's name, man, but they was talking something about uh our current mayor, uh Carl Spencer's first hundred days. Karen Kara the Karen. Right. They was talking about her first hundred days and uh they did a uh they did a recap on um they did a recap about like the election. You know, actually no, this was like we in a new year now. This was like actually like right before the new year, you know, they talked about all the highlights of the new year, yeah, of the year that we about to leave. It is in December. Yeah, right. And they was talking about the election, and they said something on there about it, and they was mentioning when Cara and Tashawa ran against each other the first time. The first time, and they was talking about low voter turnout and how the second one had an even lower voter turnout. Because nobody believed they need a candidate.

SPEAKER_02 45:33

And the people that do the voting work that organize people that all and this is the thing, they always take the credit when whoever they was fucking with win. We did this.

SPEAKER_00 45:42

I learned that when I started going to these public joints.

SPEAKER_02 45:45

They don't take the credit when whoever they fucking with lose. It's our fault.

SPEAKER_00 45:49

Accountability, the motherfucker. Yeah, because I like when they was talking about it, I actually went to go look that shit up. And I was like, I'm like, despite the campaign that Carver Spencer ran, I was just like, she didn't, she I think she won like she got like a different, like I think an additional like 4,000 votes compared to what she got her first time. But I'm like, you didn't really, it's like people didn't know.

SPEAKER_02 46:16

It was more so a drop-off in regards to people that supported Tashira versus her getting more votes.

SPEAKER_00 46:22

Yeah, Tashira lost like damn near half of her.

SPEAKER_02 46:25

And it was one of the cheapest mayoral campaigns in the history of St. Louis. Typically, like back when Leider was running for office and shit like that, like they had two, two, three, four million dollar budgets and shit. You know what I'm saying? This was one of the cheapest mayoral campaigns that we've had in quite some time. So they ain't they didn't really do amazing campaigning on either side. I'm gonna be honest, people just didn't, they didn't give a fuck who won. They didn't give a fuck. The average person didn't care between the two who won.

SPEAKER_00 46:54

I mean, my whole life, I'm I'm gonna be, my entire life, I don't, I didn't start caring about like local politics for River, yeah, until like Ferguson. That's when I really like started caring. When Lyda took office, I definitely was like, I didn't care that she won because I didn't know who she was, and then all the fuck shit she got on while she was in office, I was just like She tried to get me killed too.

SPEAKER_02 47:20

Was she in office with the uh outside the studio situation? She the one sent them. She was standing right behind the studio. She sent the police over there.

SPEAKER_00 47:27

What hold up? So what happened with that? Because I always I always see you post that clip from your phone when they was like, get the fuck on the ground and all that other shit. But what exactly fucking happened for that to be a thing?

SPEAKER_02 47:39

So people people think when me and Teff talk about this shit that we exaggerating. Um, but niggas had real CIA and FBI files for the work that we've done. You know what I'm saying? Like, we was different from the other quote-unquote protesters out there. Like, we was crafting programs that, like, we got a program that's in 41 cities and three other countries. We've been to Palestine, we've been to God, Mexico, uh, Cuba, uh, Brazil, the MST revolutionary camp. We got people in the Congo, like, we are internationally connected on some revolutionary shit. Active threats to the government and the system of white supremacy. You know what I'm saying? I'm not just speaking or talking live like this is reality. Like we connected with we're revolutionary motherfuckers and revolutionary groups. It's doing active connecting for oppressed black people nationally and internationally. So we were views a different way than the average person that was just out there yelling or who had a social media platform and they saying this, this, and this. We actively organizing to destroy white supremacy.

SPEAKER_00 48:46

But what made them send the fucking SWAT to the studio? And why the fuck was she there?

SPEAKER_02 48:54

Because it was my studio. I'm organizing out of this studio space. I didn't just have niggas in there doing music. We was organizing, creating programs. I created gang treaties. I had peace meetings there once a week. 100, 150 black men would show up, and wow, I made them vow and pledge not to hurt another black person unless they life or their family lives depending on it. I was doing some things that the police didn't like. Like my studio was right in front of the police office. We on 19th and Locust headquarters is right behind us on Olive. Yeah. So they watch it as organizing. The building before they turned into a parking lot across the street next to Fat Buddha, they used to have a camera up in that building. It was a vacant building. We caught the camera. It used to be somebody up there with a telescope trying to look into the studio to see what's going on. But this ain't the first time. Our space that we had an actual organization out of got shot up in Ferguson. Police shot it up. Next space we had on uh Good Fellow and Natural Bridge, they shot that up broken into it. So we have been actively traced and threatened and targeted by police, feds, CIA. This is a real thing. You know what I'm saying? So I'm gonna be real, man. How do you sleep, bro? I don't. You talk to me early in the morning, you also talk to me late at night. Whenever I told you I'm asleep or waking up, I don't sleep. I power when I can. I thought I was motherfucking paranoid, boy. Look. I ain't paranoid, I'm just aware. You know what I'm saying? Everything is in God's hands. Whatever happened, happened. But I'm not going easy, I'm gonna say that. I'm getting home with my babies by any means. I wish that for everybody.

SPEAKER_00 50:32

Facts. I don't know which one at. So like you ain't never, I know you a rather proud dude, I am myself, but you ain't with all of this going on, you ain't never thought to just like like yeah, I still support, but I'm I'm finna leave.

SPEAKER_02 50:56

Where I'm gonna go. You black everywhere. You can't take this shit off. Oh nigga, I'm Chinese today. I wish, I wish. I can't peel this shit off. It ain't nowhere I can go where I'm not gonna be a victim of racism on this planet. Even if I go to Africa. Depending on what country I'm in, white people control that shit. Look how they oppress them countries over there. That's why they over there rising up and trying to kick Europeans and the French and the Belgians. They're trying to get them out of their countries to reestablish African control. You know what I'm saying? Like, it's nowhere you can go to escape racism. You can't get rich enough to escape racism. Look at Diddy. Diddy a piece of shit, but he didn't actually go to jail for shit. He should have gone to jail for. This nigga beat Cassie ass in the hallway. They ain't locked that man up for that shit. Well, no domestic violence charge. Know what they gave that nigga? The Man Act. You know why that man act was created? Because another black nigga was out here fucking them up. Jack Johnson, world champion that white people couldn't be. And this nigga going back and forth state lines with a white woman. They hated that shit. So they created the Man Act saying you can't cross state borders doing devious acts with women. Locked them up and stripped them of his championship. That was the only way they could take it.

unknown 52:13

Damn.

SPEAKER_02 52:14

That's what Diddy was charged with. He got charged and found guilty on the shit he actually did.

SPEAKER_01 52:22

Yeah. I actually thought the shit was gonna get thrown out on all that shit.

SPEAKER_02 52:26

He had a Rico flying. A one-man Rico for flying for flying prostitution. He had a Ricoh, federal Rico. People don't think that shit crazy.

SPEAKER_00 52:35

I think it's fucking insane. A one-man Rico for buying big prostitution. That's good.

SPEAKER_02 52:40

Meanwhile, we got a president in the office that said, grab a bitch in the pussy. Just grab him in the pussy.

SPEAKER_00 52:44

On national television.

SPEAKER_02 52:45

Whole island full of pedophiles and prostitutes. Pinchers, files. You know what I'm saying? Like, come on, man. It ain't you can't get rich enough to escape this racism. You can't play white enough, cold switch enough to escape this racism. Facts. You can't be their friend and do boy and and tap dance and house nigga your way away from racism. When them people want to press that button on you, they gonna press that button on you. And we got kids that's coming up. We got little brothers, we got entire generations that are coming up under us. And if you don't want to do nothing about changing that shit, then how the fuck can you call yourself a man? I got sons. I don't want them dealing with the shit I dealt with. I don't want them feeling like they stuck under a ceiling because of this bullshit ass system of white supremacy and shit. Because I just want to go about my day, oh well, fuck it. I'm gonna just smoke some weed and say fuck it. Nah, fuck that, man. I I when I say I love my block, I love my niggas, I love my people, I love my mama, I love my my motherfucking kids, I will lay down and die for them to be free. I'll go to hell and burn 24-7-365 for eternity and suffer if they can be free.

SPEAKER_00 54:04

That's powerful, man. I'm gonna be real. It's rare that I'm left speechless, but yeah, that was that was deep as a motherfucker, man. But let's let's uh move on to something else, man. We kind of been on that for a minute. Which I can talk this type of shit all the time, uh, talk this shit as long as we need to, man. Let's bring it in locally, you know what I'm saying? City related shit, man. Do you still have your residence with uh the Kransberg?

SPEAKER_02 54:35

Uh it was 18 months, it just expired. Uh okay. Music at the intersection was was the expiration of it. But um I'm a resident for life. Oh, okay. You know what I'm saying? I'm just not an act or current artist and resident, but I'm a resident for life. Like I still got access to all their facilities. Relationship is still there. Um it was a beautiful thing. Like I said, I was the I was the first hip hop artist to do it. I just hope I'm not the last, and I hope I represent it properly enough for them to want to bring in more.

SPEAKER_00 55:02

I mean, they have to be on your level of art. Um I've had this conversation with numerous people as far as artists in the city. It's like Yeah, mostly I just about this and everybody. And y'all don't got music if y'all ain't got nobody to talk crazy about.

SPEAKER_02 55:17

Well, that's just them. And I'm gonna be honest with you, that's a small percentage of the rappers here. Like St. Louis has such a vast plethora of MCs. You know what I'm saying? It's so many different pockets. It's just like because of where we come from, we get stuck in that typical pocket of the rap world.

SPEAKER_00 55:35

I'm gonna be real, I would love to be exposed to more artists in the city because as a you know what I'm saying, as a nigga that's proud to be from here, it be kind of making me mad. It's like I done I done started like binge watching the wire and shit. For sure. And it's like, yeah, it's like everybody else come and hustle on our corner. Like when uh Marlowe went to Bodie and was like, hey man, you take hey man, you two options, man. You take our package, man, and you move the fuck out of here. And I definitely feel like in my own city, bro, like everybody else's packages move in in our city. And I I don't like that shit at all. Like when High 104 was still a thing, I don't usually praise the downfall of some shit. I praise that they downfall. I knew it was coming. Like, how the fuck do it come to ST? How is this? I only like 100.3 the beat is owned by iHeart, which is a national thing. Yeah, right? It's based here in St. Louis, but it's a national radio station. So I'm like, I get it, they gonna have the national shit play here, but I'm like, y'all can sprinkle in some STL. But I'm like, hot 104, y'all, our only true STL station, and y'all don't play no local artists at all. If y'all do, it was on that bullshit ass uh Sunday shit Sunday showcase. Ain't nobody listening to the fucking radio on a Sunday night between 9 and 10 o'clock.

SPEAKER_02 57:00

Hell no. The downfall on 104.1 should be studied. That shit should be studied, bro. Like and it was right in front of their face. The problem is they think, you know, is somebody in a position just because they got the job, they think they smarter than everybody else.

SPEAKER_00 57:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 57:19

Yeah. We seen the downfall live in Pereira telling these niggas this shit gonna go bad. And but they was letting it. You know what I'm saying? They wasn't fighting for local power. We we never had a station director that's from the city.

SPEAKER_00 57:34

Never. I'm gonna keep it tired with you. No, no disrespect the dude, but I knew it was going down when they put uh a nigga Andrew on there.

SPEAKER_02 57:45

When they when I because they was chasing engagement, yeah. I'm like, bruh. It had already been sold to Odyssey by then, right?

SPEAKER_00 57:52

They was uh they started like shortly after the home team morning show was started, then it had been sold to Odyssey. Okay, and I remember I was doing lift at the time. Man, I'm listening to the radio, and you know what I'm saying. I got the radio playing because I don't want to offend nobody that's passing in my car. Absolutely. And I'm like, I heard more ads than I heard music, and it's just constantly just the Odyssey app.

SPEAKER_02 58:16

Look, I I knew they needed money because they was what they was radio one at first. Yeah, the the home, so the homeboy T. Marley a couple years ago, I think he had a segment on there. And I for some reason I end up up there. I don't know what the fuck I was up at 104.1 doing. I'm up there. And I overheard him the fact that he gotta order his own hot 104.1 hoodies.

SPEAKER_00 58:38

Yeah, that's a problem.

SPEAKER_02 58:40

At that point, I'm looking around. I gotta pay for my own filters got holes in them, carpet all dirty and shit.

SPEAKER_00 58:45

I ain't never been inside the studio, but man, bro.

SPEAKER_02 58:48

I'm like, bro, this don't look like hot in Atlanta. It don't look like hot in New York. Like, what the fuck is going on, man? Like, like I said, the downfall of one of our radio, that really our industry needs to be dissected and studied and looked at because we done failed and had a whole bunch of opportunity to do some great things. We just had the wrong people in a situation. A lot of gatekeeping, wrong people in situations. And I'm happy that we're now in a place now that we're getting past that. We actually creating an artist ecosystem here where independent artists are taking control, can make money here, can actually get some opportunities outside of here. We ain't gotta play this bullshit uh commercial game where we need a record on the radio before we get an opportunity to get in a venue. I remember back in the day, rappers couldn't even give venues. Oh was the so before O, they wouldn't even let rappers be on the main side of the foo bar. You had to only book the little side. The first rappers to perform on a big stage at the foo bar was us because of O, that man right there, battle rap did that. It wasn't the radio rap, or all this little bullshit that's out here that opened up the the all these venues on Manchester's to allow rappers to book it themselves and create their own shows or places like uh the ready room and shit like that. Yeah, Dellmore Hall. It wasn't this little bullshit rap that you heard. I heard that in that small pocket that did that. That was us. That was me, that was the tough pose, that was the bodines, that was the Bates's, that was uh the Rockwell Knuckles, the Black Space, the Indiana Roms. It was us who did that shit. Not that other shit that everybody be praising, man. It was us getting booked at South by Southwest and A3C and all these international tours. It was us doing independent gold records and fucking uh people from Norway coming here doing documentaries. Man, we run this shit. Real rap runs St. Louis, whether people know it or not. Check the numbers, man.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:41

So my million dollar thing is this, man, because one thing I hate so bad across the board in this city, actually. For sure. From entertainment to politics to just anything, is motherfuckers don't be proud of shit from St. Louis in St. Louis. Because they can reach out and touch it, that's why.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:03

Even the Bible tells me. Who say that? I've heard that quote before. It ain't the Bible. I'm lying like a motherfucker. I've heard that quote. Who said that? Oh, look it up. Who said that a prophet won't be respected in his own town? Yeah, I've heard that. If somebody feels like they can reach out and touch it, it never gonna take it seriously.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:23

Like no bullshit, like like no bullshit, right? Like one of the things that I one of the reasons I started this pod, man, was that it's like as a nigga that's proud for my city, I'm like, it's so much shit that came here from the city, and there's so many people who left this city in all facets, whether they still here or not, that went on to do great shit. And I'm like, the city itself don't give no kind of a fuck, dog. It's just like they don't give a fuck until somebody else gives a fuck.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:52

Yeah, and it's like that's the it's crazy, like you can have this beautiful thing right, and I guess it's similar to motherfuckers who grew up with a diamond mind right in their backyard. And it takes somebody else to come and be like, god damn them diamonds, but to me, shit, nigga, these shiny rocks.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:10

This is the thing though, right? Because you know, for some reason everybody in this city wanna compare everything to fucking Atlanta for whatever reason. I don't know why. But I'm like, I done been to Atlanta, I done been to Texas, Houston, Dallas, you know what I'm saying? I done been to New York. It's like like that, like Atlanta, like they mugs can just randomly see whoever it is that they was just bumping on on a whatchamacallit? Yeah. In Lennox. Yep. You know what I'm saying? And they like mugs be like, hey, nigga, that, like, nigga, I seen Zaytovin and Al Horford in the same place. I was the Bible. Yeah, I'm about to say that was.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:54

Yep, Luke 4.24.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:56

Yeah. But I'm just like, I'm like, I seen, yeah, I seen Zaythoven, I seen Zaytovin, Al Horford when he was still playing for the Hawks. I forget who else I seen. Somebody had to point him out. Uh was Metro, actually. Even though I know Metro from here. But I didn't know what he looked I didn't know what he looked like. But I'm like the Metro. Everybody was straight. Nigga, I seen all three of them in Lenox Mall at the same on the same day. It was around the time when uh Gucci at first got out. He was about to have his uh his concert in Atlanta around that time. Man, and I'm like, people in other cities, they like, you ain't exactly gotta kiss their ass, but it's like they revered the motherfuckers that is either in their city that's doing good shit, or they're from their city and they doing good shit. But I'm like, man, I done been in rooms, I done been like in places like day parties and shit like that. And you know, Murph and Kiwan salute salute to them. They got the smokes and jokes thing going on. Murph, you can just bump in that nigga at the galleria for chilling. Nigga, I done seen people see Murph and it's all smiles, and they be they get to talking crazy as fuck about Murph. Second, that nigga's not within earshot. I'm like, do y'all do y'all not see or appreciate what the fuck?

SPEAKER_02 1:04:17

No, they don't. Like, no, they don't. And and that's nigga, I feel that comes from two things.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:22

I always for St. Louis, I always wonder why the fuck it was like that.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:25

Well, it I mean, I'm gonna be honest with you. It also is not just St. Louis, it's everywhere. But in certain cities that have an industry, it's appreciated a little bit more, like Texas. How they fuck with their underground movement. Facts. That's a beautiful thing. But don't think that it ain't some hate and all this like St. St. Louis is just we're deeply oppressed. I call it PTSD. Post-traumatic slave syndrome. You know what I'm saying? Like niggas are stupidly oppressed in their mind. It's like nigga. Slavery worked her on us with a whole nother level. And I and I don't know if it was the fact that majority of our families rooted here from the deep south, and then you come to a city where is is really the most systemically racist city in fucking America that continue to perpetuate that mindset. Uh, but it's deep problems here in regards to oppression and having that oppressed mindset.

SPEAKER_00 1:05:31

It's like I I swear to God, I don't be understanding that shit, man. It's just like motherfuckers do any type of they do anything solid or decent out this motherfucker, and it's like motherfuckers be like who do who who the fuck is that? And I mentioned Murphy Lee specifically 'cause that nigga went on to literally that nigga ain't just a wreck, like, yeah, you can bump into him, but he ain't no fucking regular smoke, like

SPEAKER_02 1:06:00

Rapper, Grammy Award. He's a Grammy. They favorite rappers right now that they are they are Paul Suck Dick for. Don't got no Grammy. We'll never be Grammy nominated. This nigga got a Grammy. And you can go holler at him at the fucking dispensary and shake his hand and smoke with him. He lives in Atlanta, but he always back in the city. Always. Keywand is like the fucking mascot. Niggas is out everywhere. You know what I'm saying? Like, this nigga's Murph is a grand, I don't think people understand that. It's the same thing with Coco from Basement Beats. Like these artists here in the city, like he done reached out to a lot of artists, and motherfuckers don't be responsive or if he be out, people don't be trying to network. Like, this nigga's a Grammy Award-winning producer. I don't even know if Metro got a Grammy. That puts you in a whole nother realm of success and accomplishment. You know what I'm saying? Whether you care about the Grammys or not, still, Pac never got a Grammy. Tupac Shakur never got a Grammy. That's how revered that is. So to have somebody here and say, even Mo. I don't agree with everything they did in regards to the business. I would I have done shit differently as far as a label and trying to help people? Yeah. But them niggas don't have to do that. But still, this nigga is one of the highest selling rappers in history. In history.

SPEAKER_00 1:07:25

In history, bro. Yeah, niggas can't really talk crazy.

SPEAKER_02 1:07:29

That nigga.

SPEAKER_00 1:07:30

I'd be like, that nigga went diamond, man.

SPEAKER_02 1:07:31

Yeah, whether you agree with whatever the fuck he got going on, like that has to be respected and it should be appreciated. Come from that's something to be proud of. From St. Louis, a small ass city of 300,000 people. Now, uh, what is it, 180,000 people? But back in the day, what it was 280,000? Well, we what's the population of the city, y'all?

SPEAKER_00 1:07:48

Pop. It dropped. What's the population is 200,000, 220? Like two, like 220.

SPEAKER_02 1:07:53

220? At the craziest, yeah. It dropped severely. But a small city like this, and then we include the county, U City, and everything. This little region produced one of the highest selling rappers of all time. Grammy Award winning. And they get treated like gods around the world. And we actually come here.

SPEAKER_00 1:08:13

Yeah. And I'm going to be real. And that was my motivation. That was my motivation for actually why, you know, I wanted to start this pod. Because it's like it's talking from one St. Louis native to another. You know what I'm saying? And it's just like, for the life of me, like um, what's the dude? Nike Turbo. Turbo, yeah. I just ran into him at the gesture. Everybody talk, like, I'm gonna be real. I wasn't a fan of it, but I thought it was funny. You know what I'm saying? If you get any type of reaction out of me, I'll live the Christmas drink. The Christmas joint, right? And I just see everybody. Went crazy with the marketing. That's what I'm saying. But I'm saying, I see everybody shitting on the song, right? I'll admit. Is it the greatest shit?

SPEAKER_02 1:08:50

Is it the greatest shit you ever like it or not? That's subjective. You know what I'm saying? A broken clock is right twice a day, a garbage can gets a steak. Nigga, you could, it's a million people somewhere that hate something that you love. Anything can be sold, anything can be marketed, but if you don't like it, cool. And it's not hate to say I don't like this, I don't think it's good. But you can appreciate the effort and the accomplishment that transpired from it.

SPEAKER_00 1:09:22

And her is I'm talking about I ain't seen nothing. Boy, it went crazy. I ain't seen but nobody just everybody just like they talk about it.

SPEAKER_02 1:09:30

Ain't got no major industry budget. You saw that shit everywhere. That was genius.

SPEAKER_00 1:09:34

That was genius.

SPEAKER_02 1:09:35

But I'm like, you gotta applaud that shit.

SPEAKER_00 1:09:37

But I'm then like you go to the flip side. I'm like, nigga, sexy red, salute the earth. I'm like, this wasn't the greatest shit in the world. I'm not a sexy red fan at all, but I support that.

SPEAKER_02 1:09:48

But I mean it's like I can put her getting that bread. She fucking win. Go. I want you to win. Do I like the music? No, but it don't matter if I like it. It's a million people that do. Go win, baby. Go crazy. Are you from the city? Go crazy.

SPEAKER_00 1:10:02

Go crazy. But it's like, it's like, damn, that same energy can't be reciprocated across the board. I just, for the life of me, man, I just don't uh I just never ever understood that, man. Like, mugs don't give a fuck about nothing in this city for whatever reason. You would go tell, you would sit up here and cry if nigga Boosie come up here. I seen it with my own two eyes. Mother cried at the ambassador to be right there in front of Boosie, nigga. Meanwhile, nigga, one of the greatest groups ever created is they from here.

SPEAKER_02 1:10:46

That's a fact.

SPEAKER_00 1:10:46

You can bump into these motherfuckers like nigga.

SPEAKER_02 1:10:49

But we've we've also been like I said, the industry here has always treated St. Louis artists like they were beneath everything else. So the average consumer adopted that personality. Combined with all the other shit, uh oppressed mindset and shit. Like that's that's just community shit, right? Do you believe it can change? Absolutely. I've seen it change. I've seen it change. I've seen it change on small levels. You know what I'm saying? I think it can. I think it can. You know what I'm saying? But it's gonna be on us to cultivate that industry that that leads people to that type of mindset. The problem is that we have generations of just like the school system just lost accreditation again, right?

SPEAKER_00 1:11:37

I ain't getting me started.

SPEAKER_02 1:11:38

It only had it for what, five years before it? Five years, because it didn't have it for almost 30. When did we get accreditation back in St. Louis since 2017?

SPEAKER_00 1:11:47

No, it was like it was way early, and it was like 2000.

SPEAKER_01 1:11:49

But they lost it again.

SPEAKER_02 1:11:51

So niggas ain't get it back to what? Like, no, they didn't have it for a minute in the 2010s. They didn't have it.

SPEAKER_00 1:11:57

Yeah, in the 2010s, they ain't have it, yeah, they lost it.

SPEAKER_02 1:12:00

But it was, it was, it's been current, it's been generation after generation of that has been taught below the city. Don't even get me started on the education side. I just use that as an example.

SPEAKER_00 1:12:09

Nah, I was about to say that because they kind of tied to the thing when I said everybody, it was like, hey, everybody else moving their package on our shit. I didn't like, I don't like it, and I double, it's ironic that he's sitting right here, right? Not gonna say his name, but my right-hand man is sitting here behind the camera, man. Motherfucking, the fact, man, Keisha Scarlet brought her monkey ass down here from Seattle and saw the city as a lick. For sure. Hired her friends from out of town and everything. Everybody got fat raises, but I shouldn't turp, man. That lady came here, got this paper in a year. Muggs was up what? I think it was like 35. I think it was not, it's like it was like 70, I think it was up 70, 70 M's, and they was 35 in the hole after a year. Yeah. It was like motherfuckers taking teachers' conferences in Japan and shit. Yeah. And I was just like, like that, huh? Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:13:12

And the problem is the people that's here, like, how the fuck does this keep happening? Because we revere people from other places, like they, these big amazing things, and we got the beauty and the greatness, all the talent, all the education. We got everything we need here in St. Louis to do what we need to do. Yeah, and I just I just wish people could see that. I think that's it. Like this city's so beautiful. I swear.

SPEAKER_00 1:13:37

I believe it could be, I man, I believe it could be so much great shit.

SPEAKER_02 1:13:41

Niggas just got the wrong niggas, I'm sorry, it's just a lot of fuck niggas that's in the way. They gotta get now, they can't stop shit that we got going on, but they do put a halt on the industry and make it look bad. Like it's it's been plenty of times we've gotten word that a motherfucker called the city looking for a certain artist. But since these niggas weren't connected with you or you ain't boot licked them, they, oh, we don't know who that is. Them niggas ain't cracking. Now knowing we really know these niggas, we'll get a call back, like, oh, such and such said such and such. Oh, what word? Then you see these niggas, oh, what's up, dude? What's up, G, what's up? Bitch, man, I stop beat you with a pistol in this motherfucker, man. Get the fuck off. We just no, I will. We just, man. We we need the right people in position. We just for decades we've had the wrong people in position. A lot of gay, oh, I'll tell you, man, oh was in the industry, man. Still is. Oh, oh, ran with labels in there. He'd say, man, these niggas is foo-foo out here.

SPEAKER_00 1:14:38

I ain't know about that part. My introduction. Oh, was outside of vinyl records, man. Oh, yeah, all baggy. Oh, then you used to manage Kenny Knox? Oh, was in the Kingdom.

SPEAKER_02 1:14:48

Kenny Knox had songs with the game. Get Ghetto was a huge fucking record. I'm pretty sure they done talked the labels and shit. Man, you better.

SPEAKER_00 1:14:58

Kenny Knox made Get Ghetto. Yeah, that's it. That's Kenny. I be knowing a lot of songs, but I don't be knowing who the fuck is I don't know who the fuck made them. Kenny, another nigga don't get enough credit, man. It's a lot of money.

SPEAKER_02 1:15:08

Kenny another nigga don't get enough credit.

SPEAKER_00 1:15:10

Hey, while we talking this music shit, man, I know we've been on it. I know we've been this time actually flying for real, for I'm usually good at gauging time, but I ain't trying to, you know, have this too long, man. While we talking music, man, top five, actually, I'm gonna get it's two-parter. For sure. And it's two parts solely because you can't do a top five of STL songs or projects without Nellie and the Lunatics, and he just has some possibilities.

SPEAKER_02 1:15:39

I agree. And I I hate when people try to take them out of that. They still from St. Louis.

SPEAKER_00 1:15:43

Well, my my question is this top five STL tracks, that's everybody from St. Louis, and then a top five, excluding, you know what I'm saying, excluding Nellie, Changgy Murph, all the niggas.

SPEAKER_02 1:16:01

I can't do that. Because even if I include them, like Changy not in my top five in regards to records. Like, I know right there was a club smash, but that's not one of my favorite St. Louis songs. You know what I'm saying? Um I I I'm gone because I'm gonna give credit to the talent of the underground. I'm gonna keep nailing them in the conversation. Number one, you gotta do country grammar. Like, it's a good record. Uh he ain't just on there talking no bullshit. Like, it's it's a nursery rhyme about doing a drive-by. He has this most St. Louis shit ever. You know what I'm saying? Country grammar. Um Number two. Number two, I'm gonna go Tef Poe Michael Makes. And the reason I say that is one that's one of the records that changed the trajectory of Tef Poe's career. Right. Two, it can still be played today and sounds fucking amazing. It's one of the the best things that he does live. It's an internationally respected record. And the shit just dope. And honestly, like Teff kind of paved the way for independent underground rappers here in the city to be successful. He was the blueprint for that shit.

SPEAKER_00 1:17:51

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 1:17:51

So Teff Poe is Nelly of the underground world here in St. Louis. Number three. Number three, I'm going money snap. Throw your head back, baby. Shake your friends and it's being shit, snapping your fingers. I'm going money snap. Okay. I was a teenager, man. That shit had the club on fire. And cuz with the Kerrilly rap. You know what I'm saying? Like, I'm going money snap.

SPEAKER_00 1:18:31

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 1:18:31

That's just my personal preference. Number four. Hood hot. Jake one.

SPEAKER_03 1:18:40

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 1:18:44

Number five, Taylor May. My life is like a whirlwind.

SPEAKER_00 1:18:48

Okay. So we ain't too far off. For mine, on both lists, we talking all-time STL regardless. Uh, country grammar, obviously. Number two, STL. Same little small, but we still do it all. We hit the mall, we drink it all. We know we're gonna smoke it off. Yeah. Number two. My that's my number two. Hood Hot Makes number three. My life is like Whirlwind, number four, and uh five would be uh actually this is a tie for me, right? For gamesmanship, I'll tell you where I place them, but it's a tie for me. It's uh Good evening, Patsy and Murphy Lee.

SPEAKER_02 1:19:35

Shout out to Potsy, man.

SPEAKER_00 1:19:37

Good evening, Patsy and Murphy Lee, and then uh So Serious by the All-Stars. So serious, man. For sure. I remember listening to that on the way to lock ins, man. That's then they had the remix with Styles P and he proceeded to give one of the worst verses I've ever heard in life. But I never heard the remix.

SPEAKER_02 1:19:58

I never knew they had a remix.

unknown 1:19:59

Damn.

SPEAKER_00 1:20:00

I sent it to you. Styles P.

SPEAKER_01 1:20:03

Styles. Styles, I'm finna message you. I rock with the look, man. You probably don't even remember that. I'm sending you that verse.

SPEAKER_02 1:20:14

I just said Styles P is a nigga who if never gave a whack feature. That nah that verse. I had him on that list with the bun being a Jadis like niggas who don't do whack features.

SPEAKER_00 1:20:25

Is straight dumps to me.

SPEAKER_02 1:20:27

Damn, damn, ghost you did the city like that game.

SPEAKER_00 1:20:31

So that's that list. My other five. 80s baby. Grit off. Gritz off him. Back when I was young and I first heard it, I actually, when I called myself wanting to be a real.

SPEAKER_02 1:20:45

You got three fives, nigga? Huh? You should have just did your top ten. How did you do that?

SPEAKER_00 1:20:49

You got a point.

SPEAKER_02 1:20:50

You sound like a weed dealer.

SPEAKER_00 1:20:57

Yeah, man. Anywho, fuck yeah, fuck. You just say top ten. We got 80s baby, Gris Hoffer, Nikki, JMC and Ronnie. I said now, Nikki. I don't care what nobody says. Lyrically, that song didn't ate to me. That song didn't age well, especially whoever the second dude was. I don't know which one. I never knew which one was which. But that second, that second verse was that second verse was cheap. Nah, the first dude, hey, but that beat, I don't give a damn.

SPEAKER_01 1:21:28

That beat, legendary dude. Was tripping.

SPEAKER_00 1:21:32

Man.

SPEAKER_01 1:21:34

Fucked up, man.

SPEAKER_00 1:21:35

The dude, the second dude on the on Nikki, he sounds like he's stalking the girl, dog. I seen you walking down King's Highway with your cousin. Man, I knew about 10 or 12 niggas. I done dreamed about giving them hickeys. Nigga, what? Listen to it. It's weird. But that beat is amazing. The whole nine. The whole nine uh Nino pop. Nino pop.

SPEAKER_01 1:22:05

One of them niggas from Kansas City, though, ain't it? I thought both of them niggas from here.

SPEAKER_00 1:22:09

No, Chaos definitely from here.

SPEAKER_02 1:22:11

Ain't one of them from Kansas. Ain't the other dude from Kansas City, though? Chemo, nah, chemo from here. Chemo from here. I thought one of them niggas from Kansas City. Yeah, chemo from here. I actually would love to get that nigga. I used to slap shit out of Chaos one time. I might still slap that nigga if I see him, but I'm gonna let it slide. Tons of ain't happening ass nigga. Not for the go here.

SPEAKER_00 1:22:35

Yeah, he used to host amateur night at the pink slip. Diddy ass nigga. But uh, yeah, the nigga uh yeah, Nino Pop. Actually, Let Me Holler at You is another one of my favorites. I don't give a damn. That nigga Kingmo can rap his ass off. And then 10 would be uh What was it? I was just listening to it.

SPEAKER_03 1:23:02

Damn, hold on.

SPEAKER_00 1:23:03

I had it on my phone, hold on. Yeah, my shit tripping. I straight forgot that damn song. Oh, that's what it was. Technically from the east side, but 24 is by Raw Reese. Oh, for sure. Yeah, yeah, man. Ra Reese was another nigga we slept on. Yeah, that was, yeah, that was my yeah, that was that's my top 10, man. But yeah, man, this is uh, this has been educational. It was a lot more, you know, radical than I uh expected it to be. I expected it to go there. I ain't expected to last that long, but hey, you know what I'm saying? I don't I don't shy away from no conversation. You know what I'm saying? It is what it is. But that being said, man, hey dub, I appreciate you uh sitting down with me, man, to do the pod, man. You you have no idea, you know what I'm saying, what this means to me, man, to just sit and have conversations with people from my city that you know I rock with, that I fuck with, that do great things for the city, whether people see it or not. The point and goal and hope of this is that people recognize, like, everybody that's doing great shit ain't the people that's polarizing in your face. You know what I'm saying? It's people doing solid shit, whether you know it or not, man. I wasn't gonna say this, but I'm gonna add this while we while I'm doing this outro. Hey, man, this city got hit by a tornado May 16th, man, of 2025. This man has literally been somehow, some way, by hook, crook, hell, hot water, has figured out some fucking way to keep people that's been displaced by this tornado, you know what I'm saying, with shelter from the time that motherfucker hit to the time we're currently talking on this podcast, man. And it's like, what's crazy is, man, uh, like mugs straight don't mugs don't be realizing who really be out here moving and grooving, man, like, and like making shit happen, man. For sure. You know what I'm saying? You hit me up, you know what I'm saying? Like, this nigga hit me up, no bullshit, shortly after that tornado hit, at like two in the morning, because somebody tarp blew off their roof. He taking calls, time away from his family, time away from his kids, time away from his music career, all this shit to see to it that Muggs and you know in his city is okay and in one piece, man. You know what I'm saying? That the little bit of a place you still call home is can still be in that one piece, man. And I be feeling like a lot of people don't be knowing that. The ones who do know that, they don't be fucking appreciative of it. Or they want to sit up here and take credit for it. Like, uh, you ain't, which kind of goes back into my you move my package and move on. And that's some whole ass shit that I'm not a fan of, man. I feel like people like yourself, people like yourself, people like Ohan, people like Kayla, uh all of Action St. Louis for real, for real. Salute and shout out to them. I I can't get them, I can't shout them out enough. You know what I'm saying, for doing the work that they do, man, for I city, man. Entertainment-wise, Murph, Ki-Wine, Nelly. I don't know how you managed to get you and Ashanti to stay in Lake St. Louis, but you the motherfucking man for that. Uh just across Tef, Bowdoin, man, one of my personal favorites, man. Just across the board, St. Louis got so much good and solid shit that's come from this city and that quiet as it's kept, it's still in this city, man. And I just really wish people would one, give people the proper credit they deserve. Don't take no fucking credit that ain't yours or overplay your part. And two, actually appreciate the hard work that people are doing in all facets because you know what I'm saying, you're gonna miss it when it's gone. You're gonna notice it when it's not, when it's not there, man. So, dub, like I said, I can't thank you enough, bro. I truly appreciate it, man. Appreciate it. Uh love to have you back on. We're not as radical of a conversation. You know what I'm saying? We you know what I'm saying?

SPEAKER_02 1:27:17

And that's my passion talker, excuse me.

SPEAKER_00 1:27:20

It is what it is, man. Hey, this this pie was this specific episode is here about you, man. So I appreciate it, man. But on that note, that's it. That's the end of the episode. This is the Wayne Mart experience. I am Wayne PK Phillips, the man to my right. Revolutionary, artist, all around good guy. Look crazy. T Wow, man. Y'all be cool, how y'all be cool, man? We out.