Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Uh uh, we wait our reparations. You're listening to waiting
our reparation to production of I Heart Radio. It isn't
lynching light or being skinned alive, genocide of force the
working class to choose between paying that run on time
and getting back to work. Catching the German bings at
(00:20):
heaven side. It's freedom out its finest, and it's their
crime if they're not getting by, And it's my right
to fix my frost and tips and hit the gym
and miss my spit all over them. So tell me,
why are you so threatened by what's that? Now? You
value human life more than investment sized and so does Denmark,
South Korea, Canada, Australia, Friends, Ireland, Italy, Germany, UK, Spain
and the Netherlands enough to paint the people you be
so they can sit inside, and we deserve the same.
(00:41):
To first to me, you want a general strike, ha ha,
that's all right. We're Congress back in business, just like
Georgia is, with hamp to deal with shortages, events and
bank rolling their courtporate friends who once again exhort the
dumps as much as the Republicans will buck this up again,
give us relief with mortgages and rent. You leave us
force to pick between the Morrigan. Pitch intensely on the
pick that they'll be coming west forth to eat the rich.
(01:02):
For it to eat the rich, of course you'd be
a dish. Huh. Yeah, I thought that I had seen
it all. I don't know what's more to get living
under quarantine, got a nick good border stress, gave you
acid check, need more, but they show impressed. Seen three recessions,
three wars. I ain't forty year. It was gonna get
system failed. They can deny it. Ship is frail. Listen, well,
they're gonna want you to go get as sick as
(01:24):
hell for somebody else to stop Cloud going for the
rebound getting boxed out. Hope it doesn't happen. But I
got doubts. While you win, you're fortressing the people getting
shot down because they're in the streets, and now the
cops are using hot rounds. I don't even want y'all
massive gets swung on, watch the world burn with some
gasoline draws on make that. But I'd rather take all
ship and as long as you flowers put a face
(01:46):
on it, wait for it. Not saying that I hate
all rich, but I smoke an l for all of
that hate. Y'all get dope. He my name is Dope
night Frank, and we are waiting on reparations. Hurry up.
Ah So fuck well, I mean, there's no it's no
easy way to say. We might as well just say
(02:07):
because it's on both of our minds. But um, you know,
this episode comes after unfortunate bit of news this week,
the passing of journalists, political commentator, and activist Michael Brooks.
It's weighed pretty heavily on both of us. I was devastated.
I am devastated. We're both pretty big fans. Yeah. I
had recently, only recently gotten into his work, and it
(02:29):
felt like I was only very very recently becoming like
smart enough to fucking understand it. Like he had such
a like internationalist perspective, and she's like such deep care
for the struggles of working people around the globe. And
I learned so much from him about like uprisings from
Brazil to like communism in India in the way that
(02:50):
they had organizedly effectively under COVID, and um, it's really
apartide and just like so many topics, And to find
out that he's gone, he hurts it's like every time
you listen to him speak, it's like you learned something
each time. But it's funny that you said that, because
it's like the way that I found out about him was, um,
(03:10):
it was actually him being funny. It was he was
he was hilarious. He was playing a clip of h
I mean, I had seen him, you know, guests appear
on like Young Turks and you know, Majority Report, but
he was you know, at this point he had had
his show, I think, and he was playing a clip
of Alex Jones, like berating Ben Shapiro. But he said
(03:36):
it to the beat for Nazis Ether and it was
like the funniest shit I had ever heard. I was like, yeah,
I gotta find out who this guy. Yeah, yeah, Yeah,
it's unfortunate. You know. Definitely was hoping at some point,
the more that we keep doing this, maybe being able
to talk to him. Yeah. Yeah. So if all our
(03:58):
listeners out there, if you would please join us in
a brief moment of silence for Michael, we really appreciate it.
So yeah, go check out some of Michael streams with
the Michael Brooks Show on YouTube, um Patreon. He had
(04:22):
a book out about the Intellectual Dark Web that I
recently started reading and it's really good, um that you
can get via red Emma's and highly recommend um. Yeah.
Just it's not too late to learn from him even
though he's gone. The thing about when you follow people
on YouTube like that is you feel like you know them,
(04:43):
so something like this happens, or you know, you feel
every day you feel a little bit harder than you
do for usually in situations like this. But then also
because of the nature of being a YouTuber, this is
just endless amount of content that you can always look
to remember him ever, Yeah, so go check that out
for sure. What else is going on with you? Oh? Um,
(05:06):
I'm finally ready to let you read my comic book
because I'm finished writing it. Finished writing it. Yeah, Like
I mean to explain, the comic book was written, but
I kind of went with the what they call in
the industry the stan Lee method, where I outlined the
story and then I drew it and then I put
the you know, the dialogue and word balloons after and stuff.
So that's what I've been doing for the last month
(05:28):
and finally finished that. So um, yeah, look in your
in box soon you'll be everybody about everybody who's read
it so far said it's been dope. So you describe
it to me? I was just fucking mind blown. This
is the thing that exists or what exists to the one.
And because I've been like doing the dialogue, you know, recently,
it's it's been influenced by everything that's been going on,
(05:49):
so a lot of my current thoughts on stuff have
been incorporated into the story of it. I I don't
want to like tease it too much because it doesn't
you know, it's no one can hold it in their
hands yet, So fucking download that ship. What about you?
Fun man? Just watching what's going down in Chicago and
Portland's Yeah, did they already send troops Chicago? I don't
(06:11):
think they had. What's going on in um I believe
Friday night they had a de colonized Zega gong hopefully
and pronouncing that right, protest for Black and Indigenous solidarity,
asking for us for you know, the government to decolonized
by like protecting community gardens in Chicago, by bringing down
(06:32):
the Columbus Christopher Columbus statue, and you know, obviously to
fund the CPD and get uh Chicago cops out of
schools and uh protesters where I met with violence by CPD.
A eighteen year old activist with a Good Kids Mad
City named Miracle Boyd while filming an arrest, got several
(06:53):
teeth knocked out by a Chicago police officer. And UM,
I've been really heartened by the act. They haven't really
let up in that aftermath, Like the very next night
they were outside of Lory Lightfoot's house once again demanding
to fund CPD. UM. You know, I think at this
point the word is out about what's happening in Portland.
(07:14):
The mainstream media's finally picked up on what's going on.
I mean, they're they've been going at it um as
far as like covering it. So that's been encouraging because
I mean you would think if there's ever gonna be
a moment that's going to unify just everybody on like
different political spectrums, it would be literal jack booted thugs
(07:38):
like kidnapping people off the streets. You think the fucking
libertarians would have something to say about this. And Uh,
I mean no, there's definitely boot liquors out there. I've
been I've been seeing them. There's like all of the
freedom of speech warriors that are always down to declare
the end of Western civilization the minute some purple haired
kid won't let Jordan Peters and speak somewhere where are
you nig is at? Huh you can stop those in
(08:01):
the street where you at? Yeah? I digress, you know,
I mean, I guess this is all fitting with you know,
Donald Trump's America. You know, on this podcast, um, and
maybe it's mostly just me, but you know, by extension,
(08:21):
on this podcast, um, we talk a lot about the
revolutionary roots and potential for hip hop a lot of times,
but um, it's inevitable that eventually, sometimes occasionally we uh
in diving deep into hip hop's complexities and contradictions, we
address it's fawning over the President of the United States,
(08:43):
Donald Day Trump. Donald and So this is a topic that,
like you feel really impassionate about it. I definitely have
thoughts to say, Louise, well, you know what, I feel
that we should clarify this right, like we should maybe
amend it and not necessarily talk about hip hop's relationship
(09:04):
to Donald Trump, but talk about rappers relationships Donald trup.
Hip hop is so many different things that I think
it's kind of unfair to just mask all of it
like be boys and be girls and graffiti artists, every
this is this is more of a rapper thing because
it has to do with personas, Yeah, and like the
cultivation of like very specific kind of personas in hip
(09:25):
hop and in the rise of Donald Trump. Donald Trump,
in many ways, Donald Trump's very essence pre presidency represents
in a lot of ways the very id of what
(09:46):
for at the very least mainstream American hip hop what now,
you know, obviously there's much to be said about the
turn that hip hop is taken on Donald Trump. This
is a public figure and that's all that we're really
dealing with here, Like, trust me, well, we can get into,
like you know, the political ramifications of this, but I
(10:08):
think that's pretty easy, you know what I mean. It's
fun Donald Trump all day in hip hop at this point,
you know what I mean, because of what he represents politically.
But as we all know, that wasn't always the case.
And Donald Trump was definitely a figure that was a
referenced numerous times over two d times, over two hundred
times in the last thirty years. So the takeaway from
(10:28):
all these references positive and negative, and most are positive
and favorable. By a count done by of song lyrics
about Trump were negative, while sixty we're positive. Two hundred
rap songs. Obviously, I know they've been way more than
two hundred rap songs created in that time, but that's
(10:51):
really that's a lot of references for anyone. That's crazy
if you think about that, you know what I'm saying, Like,
the only only other you know, figure that I can
think of that has that many references in hip hop
would be like Tony Montana, who's like famously not really
(11:11):
notoriously not a real person, not even necessarily his um
rise to political power, but he became such a commonly
referenced character in the story that is hip hop if
(11:32):
you actually go back and you listen to it. So
let's just give you a brief little history. So the
earliest that anyone can really recall hearing references to Donald
Trump and rap songs would be around and that unfortunate,
unfortunate accolade is going to either go to the Beastie Boys,
(11:53):
the Fat Boys, or my pick of the goat iced tea.
But one of those cats had the first Donald Trump
bar I did a cart in the White House, and
after that Donald It's hard to think of Donald Trump
(12:14):
as anything other than a politician. At this point. You
can't really divorce him from his office or his power
or the party that's behind him. But if you really
do try to, just like take yourself back to a
time before that this brash, arrogant, self important, um verbose
(12:40):
dangerous like might be a criminal, but has like an
acceptance in legit business. Just there's just a lot about
who Donald Trump was as a figure that totally makes
sense that he was dealt with the way that he
(13:01):
was in hip hop up to that time. I mean,
no different than I mean if you just consider, if
you if Tony Montana was a real person, pretty sure
it would be like a horrible human being, you know
what I'm saying. Yeah, like not a good person. Pretty
sure Al Capome was not like a good guy. I'm
pretty sure Noriega wasn't a good guy, you know what
(13:22):
I mean. Like, these are all figures that have been
referenced in hip hop time and time again, and I
don't think anyone is going to to to question the
references that will come in the future, you know what
I'm saying. The aspect of Donald Trump that makes it
such a regrettable reference going back is what he's become,
(13:45):
you know what I'm saying, which to reveal himself to be.
But that is the issue to me, is that the
deal breaker he has revealed himself. Yeah, like like was
that not something that was obvious to people? All right?
So my thesis, as it were, if hip hop is
(14:11):
the most powerful cultural entertainment phenomena to happen in the
last thirty years, with its mainstream incarnation being at the forefront,
then does mainstream American hip hop have any influence over
Donald Trump's rise to power? Now? By power, I don't
(14:32):
necessarily mean political power because again, one of the reasons
that we're not really tackling what hip hop's relationship to
Donald Trump is now is because like at this point
it's kind of cliche, Like the consensus is fun Donald
Trump for the most part, it's it really is something.
I mean, I've I've asked several rapper friends of mine,
(14:54):
and it's kind of a hard thing to deal with
in music now because like making a song about your
thoughts about Donald Trump is like it's kind of passing.
It's like cancer is bad word, dude. Yeah, it's a
really interesting song exactly what racism is bad, you know,
like word, okay, we got we got you? Yeah, what
(15:14):
is what is your thoughts on that? Just just your
initial thoughts on just like that question he just wrote
out of the deal. He has pretty much lied his
way into people thinking he is something he's not. It's
already begun and he's gotten embraced by That's that's the
power I'm talking about. Yeah, Like does hip hop have
have anything to do with his rise to that? I
(15:38):
do not think hip hop is responsible for the rise
of Donald Trump. I wanted I wanted to make clear
something about that, because it's not as if these positive
Trump references to the decades have been turning young black
men out to vote for Trump in droves. According to
the n y T, only of black men voted for him.
So I don't know if we can really make the
connection of like these positive references throughout the the years,
(16:01):
and like, it's not that um saying that hip hop
is responsible for the rise of Donald Trump. I do
not believe that. But I don't believe that The Apprentice
is responsible for the rise of Donald Trump either. But
I definitely know that there's a there's a part in
conditioning the public to be comfortable with Donald Trump as
a public figure. That the Apprentice definitely played right. Yes, yes,
(16:27):
that's all I'm saying. Well, what I think is that, Um,
you know, Donald D. Trump was a young man in
New York during the air of hip hop's ascendency. He was,
even if distantly there when it came up, and he
reportedly liked hip hop. Um, he had friendships with the
(16:48):
had friendships with people like Russell Simmons. Um. And I'd
say that this relationship between Donald Trump and hip hop,
and indeed some shared characteristics between hip hop creators, rappers specifically,
and the current president are what they are because they
were cooked up in the same cauldron. The same social,
cultural political forces that gave birth to hip hop, and
(17:12):
the same mentality that circulated within hip hop as a
result of these cultural forces also shaped Donald Trump and
who he has, who he became, who has become Um,
and and and and some and some have even said,
you know, Charles blow In two thousand eighteen even ventured
(17:33):
to say that Trump took after hip hop in some ways.
He and he quote unquote invidd he aped it. He
admired the men who learned how to monetize swagger. So
I think the really interesting question is to what degree
did hip hop Makedonald Trump who he is? That is true,
but even the implications of that, to me, like I
(17:57):
never even thought about it that way. But even that,
with what we know of Donald Trump, now, do we
think any of that reverence or respect was genuine? No,
I mean it was like it's in cultural appropriation and
it's superficial. I talk about the fact that Donald Trump
has always been a racist. Going back to seventy three,
the Justice Department that Trump discriminated against prospective black tenants
(18:20):
of his apartment complexes, rather than just screening out low
income applicants as they claimed at the time. The Department
of Justice said, black testers to more than half a
dozen buildings and we're denied apartments. But but similar white
testers would then be offer departments in the same apartment buildings.
(18:41):
So this is back in n seventy three, before before
he even has a claim to the fame of the
Trump Tower, before hip hop was even really a thing.
So I do not disagree with anything that you said.
I just feel like there's a reason that they referenced
him so much. I'm not saying that there's no like
(19:02):
mitigating factors behind it, and there's very well a reason
for why there was that connection. There's a reason why
Donald Trump was hanging in those scenes and was around
those people. I don't mean it and like, I gotcha,
see what you did. Yeah, that's not really how I
mean it. I mean it more so just is like
you know what, maybe just letting any old body get
(19:23):
into our hip hop ship is not like a good idea.
Do you think people are have wisened up to them? No? No, no,
not at all. If anything, it's power has been in
the way it has fueled the white suburban imagination about
Black America and stoking those fears of it through reporting
on what's happening on the ground in Black America. Oh God,
(19:46):
these thugs are gonna come and rape your wives and
like whatever. Um that's sort of like white supremacy. Uh
that you know has linked arms with Donald Trump? Is
that have foisted him up as they're champion. Like hip
hop has definitely influenced that to a degree and sort
of stoked most fears that gave an opportunity for someone
(20:09):
like uh, Donald Trump too. I'm just always curious, right,
maybe it's I didn't grow up in the States, And
something that will discover as as we go on with
these episodes is like there's certain things that I perceived
one way because I was living overseas as a kid
when it was happening, that maybe it didn't have the
(20:31):
same perception. Like there definitely was a point in my
childhood when Donald Trump is a figure I just knew
him to be like this rich guy. Yeah, but there
definitely was a point in my childhood when Donald Trump's
bankruptcy and like just the concept of bankruptcy was just
(20:52):
something that like I associated with Donald Trump. He was
like the most famous person that I knew that went bankrupt.
I didn't even really know what bankruptcy meant except that
you money is the only concept I had it, So
like I knew that, And from all of the research
that we've been doing, it doesn't seem like that was
ever like held against Donald Trump. Yeah, let me get
(21:15):
you know, Like there's never any like I can't find
any references to you ni is gonna go broke like
Donald Trump, Like no one was ever saying that, like
he even though that was the reality of his life,
it seemed to escape between two tho nine. Trump's hotelling
casino business has declared bankruptcy six times due to inability
(21:37):
to meet requiring payments and renegotiate debt with bis Yo.
I mean, so that's like it's like the heyday of
most of these quotes that were like, yeah, that's like
over a decade of failure for this to catch. But
even the reference doesn't make sense that. Yeah, the aspect
of like Trump being like such a bumbastad figure also
(22:01):
playing into it too, because you know, surely, like Bill
Gates is a famous, rich guy, but he didn't get
as many shoutouts or like comparisons or things like that
as Trump because he's not like showy. Yeah, that's a
good point. That's a good point. Yeah. I know hip
hop is supposed to be inclusive and everybody can get
(22:21):
in and YadA, YadA, YadA, YadA, all that all that
ship I'm saying. So I guess the thing's just like disheartening.
The lesson that I don't think is being learned because
maybe it's just some ship that only I'm thinking about,
but is who we let into hip hop and how
this Donald Trump situation is not the first time that
(22:45):
some body fake in the funk, got open arms, embrace,
and then flipped around on the other side and turned
it turned out to not even be not a decent person,
not be for the culture. Like nothing, know what I'm saying,
Like I look at Donald Trump's fall from grace, no
different than Kid Rocks. You feel what I'm saying. But
(23:08):
there's a lot of people who listen to mainstream hip
hop who, like I'm pretty sure, don't give two funks
about the people making it or anybody that looks like though, no, yeah,
I mean, this is a college town that we're in
right now, and like you definitely see like hoisted pickup trucks,
you know, Magga Hat asked, Motherfucker's out here and the
(23:33):
newest Mego song. I just feel like, obviously there's nothing
anybody can do to change the path. But in hindsight,
you know the fact that there's no self reflection as
to like, damn, you know what wasn't about what I
was doing that would have made a motherfucker like that
feel comfortable? Because what do you what do you see
(23:54):
as the deal breaker for Trump and hip hop? I
don't think. I don't think you can ask me that
question because I feel like we should have been not
fucking with him all along. I agree, No, I agree
for you. So I'm not talking about you personally. Yeah,
I'm talking about what what do you see like? Because
obviously there's a switch right like Trump has been he's
(24:14):
been doing he's been being Trump and doing all of
his Trump things and having all of his Trump is
um and then in hip hop was this I'm doing
I'm living. It's always I'm living like I'm with um,
you know. I mean, I'm getting money like Trump. That
they're staying in Trump hotels, they're well known, like him,
(24:34):
they're saying to the black version of him. And so
Trump has represented as an expiring example of wealth and
success and that and something they want, someone they want
to be close to, whether socially or in terms of
emulating that success. If there was a switch to where
it was just universally fuck Donald Trump. What aspect of
(24:56):
Donald Trump do you think is the deal breaker? It's
hard to say, because I mean, like its latest two
thousand and fifteen jaw Rule was saying not even like
rapping about Trump, but saying things like Trump is very entertaining.
He speaks very openly and candidly about what he feels.
I think it's a breath of fresh air. Right, And
(25:17):
so there was already this undercurrent of like questioning the
belonging of African American folks in this country, and like, yeah,
I mean, let's not forget about all of the housing
discrimination stuff back in five. I think it's overt racism
is the deal breaker. To me, that's very easy. I
(25:38):
think there's a lesson to be learned from that. We
all look at Donald Trump now, we're like, wait a minute,
this guy's a fucking idiot, right, like like he doesn't
know anything, He's dumb, Like why is he always lying
all the time in abloviate like like this is really
like damn, who the fund shoul for anything that this
guy was saying. You know, That's how we look at
(25:58):
him now, And she's like that. But the thing is
he's always been that. So if the only different factor
is that he came down the escalator and said that
Mexicans are rapists, ah, Like we don't like that ship.
Everything else we were cool with, you know what I'm saying,
Like all the other ship, all the like crooked dealings
and moralistic selfishness, misogyny, like all that ship. It's like,
(26:21):
I mean, when I think of all of the things
that I think are bad about Donald Trump, when I
go down the list, there would be like two or
three things that would come out that I would imagine,
like that, why is anybody funk with this person? And
racism comes in a like number three or two? Do
you feel what I'm saying? Period? But I think that
(26:44):
if there was a Donald Trump, or if there was
an alternate reality where Donald Trump didn't come down the
escalator and say that Mexicans are rapists, I have a
hard time imagining a reality where you would not see
a lot of your favorite mainstream rappers at the Mcarellies.
(27:04):
I fell you on that. I feel you on that. Yeah,
So I think you're making a good point. But like,
the thing that I really wonder in these times is that, Okay,
rappers have been trash talking Trump since seventeen, But what
are rappers gonna do? Like? Are they gonna mobilize people
to vote? Are they gonna come out and endorse candidates?
Are they gonna campaign for candidates? Are they gonna benefit
(27:25):
conference constants for candidates? Like? What are what are we
going to do? What are they going to do? I
don't even think that we necessary. That isn't a must
that rappers go out there and necessarily speak on behalf
of like a candidate or anything like that. But going
we had like the we had like jay z and
like Beyonce indorsed Obama and and but when when jay
(27:47):
z or endorsed the Hillary Clinton, what did he say
when he did it? Said something to the effect of, now,
I got no problem with Trumph. He's a nice guy,
but like Hillary Clinton. You know what I'm saying, It's like, nah, man,
obviously we you know, I'm kind of passionate about this,
and I'm totally open to being wrong, But I feel
that for thirty years hip hop has been like yo,
(28:13):
you know what I'm saying, I gotta get mine flash
flash Flash. We've been putting it out there and it's
I mean, we're living in in woke times and more
aware times where people were more aware and more you
know what I'm saying. So it doesn't mean that shipped
from the past is like bad, but I would think
that people would want to reflect this like damn you
know what, like maybe maybe we have some sort of
(28:35):
like responsibility to take this guy down like a particular responsibility,
Like we have some some of the burden on our
filders of the guilt the past. We have to patone
for our previous actions by like doing something about the situation.
Everybody who everyone who works at the crew of the
Apprentice television show I feel, feel the exact same way.
(28:57):
It's like, yo, man, we was working on making this
type of ship like mad regular. You know what I mean,
to normalize, you know what I'm saying, And now that
doesn't seem cool anymore. So people who worked on that
show should be dropping all those like tapes that no
one is seen yet. I think rappers should. Rappers should
(29:18):
make more of an effort if they feel this way.
If they don't feel that way, then it's different. But like,
if there are things that you recognize in Trump and
Trump is m that like you see is like yo,
that's like a whack way for people to be, then
you should speak on it and speak on it in
your music because more people are going to hear that
than they're gonna hear any interviews that you did. Right,
(29:39):
they might see on like Billboard or Rolling Stone that
you endorse someone one time in their feet, but they're
gonna listen to that song in their car exact day,
and that's what's gonna drive people out to vote. That's
when it's gonna embraise critical consciousness about the issues. So
I guess that's what we need to do. Remains to
be seen if it will see it, But we can
only hope. The only hope it only man. I would
(30:06):
kill to go to see like a hip hop show.
I would kill because like I've been seeing online that
like Bernie is having these like yeah yeah, and like
I would love, I would love to see, you know,
Cardi B is probably gonna do. I would, I would,
I would go see Cardi B. And Bernie Sanders. That's
the thing about like hip hop and politics. It's just
(30:27):
like so much of the music doesn't like match, doesn't
those hand in hand. It's fine. I think the more
we encourage people to see that, like you can turn
up and twork on the weekend and fulfill your civic
duty and vote like it doesn't have to. It's not
like you're not that kind of personal, that kind of
thing because you are into a certain kind of music.
(30:49):
It's been too long that like we've carved out this
space in between those identities were like, oh I am
that I go to the club. That other ship is
not for me. We need to start normalizing, like both, yes,
twere your ass off, get down and go fucking vote.
I agree, I agree, it's just funny. I'm just saying, like,
(31:10):
no one can say that it's not funny, Like it's
not funny. Well, by the time you guys are hearing this,
um there's no telling. But it could be. It could
be either on the eve of this ship popping off,
or it could be while the primaries are still going on.
But vote, you know what I'm saying, or at least
at least speak up. You know what I'm saying. Ship, Yeah,
vote and be a vote multiplier. Tell your roommates, tell
(31:32):
your friends. I don't know where squally are the roommates
stands politically about it. You bet your ass. I'm gonna
get his asked to go vote. So let's let's maybe
get into talk about some of these pre two fifteen references.
One of the earliest mentions, as we kind of touched
upon earlier, was um BC Boys track Johnny Ryo of
(31:52):
the album Paul's Boutique. But I think Donald Tramp was
supposed to be like some like comic coal version in
the song, so he's talking about Johnny Ryle running around
just doing crazy ship He's lives in the street. It's
a rockabilly star for the days of old. You just
have teeth off field with gold um. But then they
(32:16):
talk about Donald Trump and Donald Tramp living in the
men shelter. What are bread bag shoes and singing helter
skelter he asked for? Don't let you know what's for?
Man Botley always needs more. So, I mean, I don't
really it's not really clear what It's not really clear
to me what Donald Trump is doing in this song
other than the fact that the Men Shelter is um
(32:37):
okay homeless shelter in Brooklyn that provides temporary emergency housing
for um single men who are diagnosed with mental illness
and substance abuse, which I think those two uh qualifiers
might have applied. I think in that context is just
as a pop cultural figure, just pop culture bigger. Yeah,
(33:00):
I mean I want to read too much into the
like I mean a lot of these are because of that.
I mean, I don't think it's I don't think it's
something that doesn't lend itself to be read into you
know what I'm saying, Like, I definitely think there's room
to read into it too much in a good way though,
like in a way that we should be reading into it.
But on their end, like I said, Donald Trump has
(33:23):
been at this point and this is what's so fucking
sad about it. And I'm glad that we're getting this
episode out of the way so that we don't something
about truple. But it's just like, as a figure, Donald
Trump has been present and constant in American life for
so long, you know what I mean, Then it just
makes sense that it's just like he comes up as
(33:48):
a default thing that you think of when you're trying
to make a certain point when you're a lot of
these rhymes, they don't have a very like they don't.
They're not like talking about him at length any of
his qualities or qualifications as a popular, powerful person. That's it.
That's all. That's all the only context. Yeah, scarface and
money and power jobs in nigger rolling haunts back in
(34:12):
paper like uh you g k pocket full of Stones
that I love that song dicking lick just to get
up bump black Sea. The Niggers called me black Trump.
No one calls you that. First of all, no one
calls you. Then I like, okay, the coup, work yourself,
(34:34):
this collection day, break yourself Trumps collection. The coup isn't that? Is? That?
Is that Boots has been? Um I think so I
do think that's Boots Riley's band. Yeah, so okay, so okay,
the coup, Well here's that. Break yourself Trump, It's collection day. Okay, listen, No,
(34:55):
so we have our first example of a negative Trump. Ryan,
let me hear it. Now the oozy that we're once
used to kill each other are now used to serve
and protect the brothers and as sisters because they're packing
forty five and nine were down for revolution and not
just for their behind. Because the word is heard across
the Bay in l A and New York, New York,
Chicago and Atlanta, GA. We give a fox if you've
(35:17):
got money in the billions, because I'm because, motherfucker, we've
got possets in the billion to break yourself Bush, It's
collection day, Break yourself, Trump, It's collection day, Break yourself. DuPont,
It's collection day. You stole the ship from your grid
from my great granddaddy. Anyway, So yeah, I mean but
look at who that is. It's the Coop. I mean,
it's the cool Yeah. So it's like that that makes
(35:40):
all the sense in the world. Okay, that's cool. So
who is the Coup? Just for a little bit of background,
it's an Oakland, California based hip hop group that UM
has frontman Boots Riley. As you may know from Uh
Sorry to Bother You fame. UM they have you know,
a lot of the music has a critique of capitalism,
(36:01):
American politics, white patriarchal exploitation. The only reason I'm just
not as taken aback by it, it's just because it's expected.
Like if we if we should come across like a
dead press you know, I don't know if it's in here,
but if we should come across the dead press one
and it's a negative one, that would make all the sense.
I'll be surprised if it's like your master P has
(36:24):
like a you know what I'm saying. Oh wait, my
own master up. Yeah. See like now if Master P
has said fuck you Trump, fuck you Bush, I got
a top cocktail. Yeah, I think we could have made
a difference. Um what do we got? Uh? Ray Kwan
(36:51):
in cars rated scarface cool g wrap mafioso and I
said the eight can't stop. You're stopping. I gotta cuss
off the Trump plub not a lot of people talk,
A lot of people talking about wanting to be to
stay at the City Hotel. I'm in the Trump in
(37:12):
the Nationale thirty floor is up, Kim, shut up, bitch.
Two thousand five. Wait, yo, I'm in the Trump in
the National Dirty flows up paying. Yeah, that's perfect. Kanye
West two thousand ten, spawn Donald Trump taking Dallas for y'all.
(37:35):
These are these are the ones that I'm really interested. Okay,
it's the ones that occur after two thousand ten? Whoa
waite on tas Ball, after I ain't trying to stand
I'm gonna fighting my blood like down ther Trump? Maybe
only in reference to the Apprentice? When was that? That
was two Okay, yeah, that is a reference to the Apprentice,
(37:57):
But still still right is it's like two thousand twelve
Obama's running for his second tour. Yeah, the year before
Donald Trump comes out wild racist birtherism ship right, And
still we're getting positive references to Donald Trump, like ray
(38:26):
k the chef, the chef chef take over the world.
When I'm on my Donald Trump ship Mac Miller Rest
in Peace two thousand eleven, And I remember watching the
first birtherism interview, at least one of the first ones,
Like I was like, I remember avidly watching it on TV,
(38:49):
is like, oh word, this thing is racist, you know
what I'm saying. But again, to me, it's just that's
just what really solidifies it in my mind that I
think the visceral reaction to seeing him come down the
escalator running for president and like kicking off the whole
(39:10):
thing with like, oh, by the way, the Mexican you
know what I'm saying, Like, I really think that that
it was just like the switch of like, oh, yeah,
we're not fucking you, you know what I'm Yeah, so
Vader has said then the official end of the era
of positive Donald Trump references was with how do you
(39:33):
say this race? Shrimmer, single single up like Trump, which
was really just before Trump announced his campaign and was
am positive, What was it? Like? Donald Trump? Okay, I'd
(39:57):
like Donald Trump. You know, here we are two tho fifteen,
Donald Trump is running for president. Suddenly there's the escalator moment,
as you you know noted, and then things then that's
when you get Kendrick Lamar Black Friday, two thousand fifteen
of the paget knit that get your did you better
(40:17):
you put Donald Trump cross free Enterprise? Alway? Is it
because of rich? And I know what painting is sas
Nick Trump like M Simmerman. No, Donald Trump ain't safe
on my block? Got your wife Atyehop Davis? Yeah yeah,
I not my actual favorite though I didn't. I didn't
(40:38):
know who said that, but like, as I was reading it,
I was like, oh, this is a New York grapher. Yeah,
claim you're quicker than yeah, yeah, yeah, no, that's like
I think Trump had uh had probably won the primary
by that point. I do remember that. I think LP
(41:01):
has the illest Trump bar. Oh yeah, that's I mean,
I mean, unless we're going for positive no, no, If
it's just a reference to Donald Trump, that is the
coldest bar. Likelier tumble, I like that, that's probably yeah.
And then of course there's Donald Trump. I y g,
he's too rich. He got the answers. He came out
sing his Couch, which was purportedly inspired by Hustle's positive
(41:26):
experience working with Mexican immigrants the US. I didn't know that.
Um as many probably know, as includes some sound bites
of several black protesters who were rejected from a Trump
rally down Strode from US in Baldosta, Georgia, and they
actually got called in the secret service to his label,
def Dam and Lions got blanked out of the song
(41:49):
so that they could include it on the final coude
of the album. Yeah, it was definitely an affirmation, you
know what I mean, like a statement type of song.
It was kind of like a it was it was
just like a summer jam kind of in the sense
of like people really real when you can say something
a phrase and then like just naturally f d T
(42:11):
is like you know what I'm saying, write ft T.
Everybody instantly knows what it stands for. It's like you
did it. You need strong song writing behind making something
like that happened. And do you think they brought it? Um?
You know what I mean. It's personally it's not like
my favorite song, to be honest with you, um, but
it's not because of anything that they did on the song.
(42:32):
I just feel again, it's the whole Trump thing. And
even when the song came out at that point, it
was like, yeah, it's like for me just personally, it's like, yeah,
the guys obviously bad so so so the song had
much more of a like, yeah, I agree guys. The
(42:53):
speeds though, you know what I'm saying, we need protest anthems,
We need stuff for people to rally around. Culturally, I mean,
I think that's one of the link linkages between hip
(43:13):
hop and like revolutionary culture polytics, because we can rally
folks too. I don't know, feel a sense of optimism
about our political situation or you know, have this Catharsis
around songs like that, even if their content can be trite.
The only problem with songs like that is just I
(43:35):
feel in a way they kind of lend power to
the figure that they're about. It's like it's like increasing
right name recognition through positive the negative reference. So like
the if you hear, like you know, if you hear
someone got arrested for stealing, they just gotta you know,
(43:55):
but they're later acquitted all your members that they got arrested,
and so in your mind at the criminals, even if
the one is negatively referencing a figure, gives that figure
rent free in your head. Yes, yeah, that is true,
all right. I have a sense that there's forces behind
trump Ism and maga Ism that are like big and
(44:18):
diabolical and evil and all that ship. You know what
I'm saying, all everyone's fucking worst live nightmare of what
the fun is going on behind those scenes. Like, but
then there's also an element to it that's like extremely
incompetent and like stupid and dumb, you know what I'm saying.
So there's like an aspect of it that's like damn,
(44:39):
you know, like if Mussolini had us all under his thumb, damn, Yo,
fuck Mussolini. I gotta make a song about this motherfucker,
you know what I'm saying. There's an element of like
how goofy the Trump is that just like seems like
man that don't deserve no song about him? Okay, So
(44:59):
I mean I think we gotta end this, like we
end everything. Let's kick it. I feel like, all right,
let's do it. Hey, can we gotta beat uh yeah
yeah yeah uh like fun Dom Trump like fuck Dom Trump,
(45:21):
Yeah yeah it domond Trump's like yo buck Donald Trump, Yo,
funck Donald Trump and the other man like the government
and Republicans. I come through motherfucker's tho. I'm smother the
ring and you know I'm on the board and I'm
hover ringt Yeah, you know I eat a nice meal.
I'll show you motherfucker's green new deal. I'll show you
motherfucker's how I mean you feel you're coming up. But
(45:43):
your motherfucker's just wearing teal you like a seal hunt
you for your blubber. I like these motherfucker's just jiggle
like they flubber. And every time I keep my shirt,
I'm not usher. I'll put you in a trap like
he wasn't goes buster up, won't trust us not. I
just go and bust until the whole machines busted, rolling
real cool deeper than the three hundred. Every time I
grabbed the ship, got a dope sandwich. The needs mustard.
(46:04):
He's mustard. You must not trust them. They's the government
and they're coming for your brethren, coming for your mother
and other other kids. Everybody know that those people in
the government ain't looking out for you. Instead, they're trying
to ignore EI. This other exploit you trying to take it,
and you go to the toilet. Everybody know that they'd
be toilet. And if you're trying to take your fucking
soil Everybody wishes that they could get like this rhyme,
(46:24):
but they cannot because they do not have the zest
of that line. Little freeze up on the spot on
my sandwich. Everybody wishes they can handle it, but they can't.
Bitch there. You have to have to understand it otherwise
I'm gonna have to can it, and I'm going on
the planet like not yo. Some makers marking a weather
take apart your protection. That's the start of a lesson.
I think you are second guessing drink in front of
(46:45):
the reverence. That's why I have no adversary. Can't compare
me to these cherries with their bat vocabulary, want to
limit what I say. I remember that nickel snap, don't
care if you're straining over democrat you fake your demo's whack.
Wait until I get a crack whereever tracks in the
back of places with better crap. By the way, what
constitute discussing? I am too discussing when coming through percussion?
An effusive husband, and I'm a dude when busting. You
(47:06):
want to hear rhymes and I'm the dude you love it,
I'm the future cousin. You hardy could rhyme Marty mcflod
couldn't even see a part of my time. I was
dope when all of y'all was watching Party of Five.
Not a ladies man, but I bet your daughter with
grind mom the library skin color. Noble looks folded like
tiger wings under his over wire, then retired with yes,
smiling as I passed him as I go to smoke.
It's my fact, wonder where why the We're the only
(47:26):
one who's up in Florida. Human novels stacked around. That's
how what heaven could have faded? I am here the
only brown wants to be bounding the town that an
emancipation erab population was white and black people had sharp up.
It wasn't like we left the area. Terror of shas
trying to scare us off with other came of it
when never were about the heart of her to misery.
That's all the earth, the bitter Greek up, the licker
off Trump Ya, I'm doping with Franka. We're waiting on reparation.
(47:56):
Hurry up, see you guys next week. Peace. Waiting on
Reparations is a production of I Heart Radio. Listen to
Waiting on Reparations on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,
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