Today on the show we have Andrew McIntosh (a.k.a. DJ ARM 18) and DJ Cap Cee to tell us what it was like to bring the legendary Chuck D of Public Enemy to Northampton Community College last month. Chuck D spoke for more than two hours and fielded questions from students at NCC's annual Humanities Lecture, organized by Andrew. Your HHMCs were able to meet and greet Chuck D before and after the talk, which was a thrill!

Topics discussed:

• The process behind bringing Chuck D to NCC
• Selecting NCC students to come on stage to ask questions
• Takeaways from "A Conversation with Chuck D"
• Chuck D's impact on all of us
• Behind the scenes of the evening
• Cap Cee spinning Public Enemy before and after the event, even songs with strong lyrics

Also check out:

Lehigh Valley Live: Chuck D just wanted to dance: NCC talk revisits rap revolution and return to visual arts roots

50 Years Down the Line

Cap Cee on Instagram

Credits

Hip Hop Movie Club is produced by your HHMCs JB, BooGie, and DynoWright. Theme music by BooGie. Follow @hiphopmovieclub on Instagram!

Mentioned in this episode:

Disclaimer

This episode contains some occasional adult language.

Welcome to Hip Hop Movie Club.

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One week ago today, as we were recording,

our man Professor Andrew Macintosh,

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aka DJ ARM 18 brought the legendary Chuck

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D of Public Enemy fame to the campus

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of Northampton Community College

in Bethlehem for a discussion.

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This was the capstone event

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theme, 50 Years Down the Line

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A Celebration of Hip

Hop History and Culture.

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Did I get that right?

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That's right.

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Okay. With us also now is our man, D.J.

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Cap Cee who was on the wheels of steel

before and after the event.

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Yes, sir. JB, take it away.

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Yeah. So first off. Holy crap.

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Guys, Chuck D in, you know, blue collar

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Bethlehem, free with meet and greets.

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What a night.

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Thank you, thank you, thank you so much.

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as I was saying, you're making Bethlehem

the epicenter of hip hop.

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I mean, this is on the heels

of a successful event

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with bringing Grandmaster Caz and Cold

Crush Brothers a couple months back,

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and it was the event

where Chuck D was just

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widely attended, and he was so gracious

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to, like, stay behind and meet

and greet people afterwards.

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Pictures

shaking hands, chatting with people.

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So thank you

for bringing him to the masses here.

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listen, 100%. You're welcome.

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Thank you for for being a big part of,

supporting it and spreading the word.

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And of course, of course,

we were fanboys like, oh my God.

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so first question are,

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how did you decide to target

Chuck D as a speaker for this event?

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I was I put together

a list of people, and, you know, I,

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I was bouncing ideas off of,

you know, heads like Cap

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and so on where we would just kind of

rattle off people we knew that

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were on the circuit or we know

would be an interesting interview.

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couple of factors came into

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play and that was like, you know, budget

and so on.

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was first

and foremost kind of drove things.

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I was, I was I want to say that Questlove

was probably someone that I was kind of

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first thinking about, but,

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I learned early on through the,

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the booking agencies

that we were working with that

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his availability is, is, is is nil

and his cost is huge.

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So that was kind of out of the question.

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and we, we kicked around other guys.

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I would I don't know

if you remember those conversations.

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I remember Wolf was in town, right?

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We started kicking around back when,

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when he was visiting and

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I think we were also

thinking about mass appeal to,

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you know, like, there's tons of different,

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performing artists and rappers and MCs

I would love to interview,

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but I don't necessarily know if they would

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like broadly appeal.

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You know.

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Yeah.

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I think, I think we were toying around

with, you know,

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obviously KRS his name came into the fold.

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you know, we were trying to,

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KRS was here

and he actually he was here a while ago.

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he was at Lehigh. And,

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so I think Chuck D,

I think we just kind of basically.

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And I think it was more u than anything,

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that basically was like, you know,

I think he would be the perfect fit.

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and, and you know what?

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And he was

he basically was the perfect fit. So,

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you know, I want to give out,

first of all, let's do this.

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I don't want to say this right now

off the bat.

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like, seriously, I'm going to give you

your flowers, like, because

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in this past year alone, you did so much

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with,

you know, with Northampton on your side

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and trying to get these events going

and you brought me into the fold with it,

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and I helped you out, you know, with

what I could do and be there for. And,

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I just want to I just want to say

thank you for that opportunity

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because that that was just so dope that,

you know, everything came to fruition.

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you know, we did we had to do

we worked through it

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and it just, you know, it popped off.

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So, you know, everything

from the beginnings,

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you know, right to,

you know, Grandmaster Caz and

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you know, and and, you know, and then

obviously with Chuck D at the end.

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So I just want to give you flowers

on that and just, you know,

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and, you know,

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I think overall just the

I wouldn't even say Bethlehem, but just

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Lehigh Valley as an overall,

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you know, they know about us.

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They've been here, they've toured here,

they've done shows out here.

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They know about these places.

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And I think it was just real dope.

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to show them again, like, hey,

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you know,

we're a viable location for them and,

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you know, and a lot of these people,

you know, we've we've, you know,

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we've now, have garnered relationships

with these people.

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And, you know, there is things

there talks for future stuff now.

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And, you know, things that, you know, me

and ARM have talked about now that maybe

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we should, you know, for the future about,

you know, where we're going to go and

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but overall, man, thanks.

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You know,

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I just want to give you your flowers on

that brother because you, you definitely

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you and you went through a lot to like,

you know, personally.

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You know what

I'm going to talk about personal.

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But you did go through a lot personally

and still to, you know,

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come through and persevere

with all this stuff happening.

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I mean, that's it

speaks volumes about you, brother. So,

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yeah, I appreciate you, man,

for saying that and being down

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since day one on this when we were just

kind of kicking around these ideas.

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it's it's a good reminder

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the way that you talked about August

and where we were and where we began.

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It was kind of humble, like we just

we kicked it off with a party,

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you know, Music fest.

And that was really live.

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And it had a really good energy.

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And we, we took

we took that little four elements

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party to our,

you know, Northampton's college campus.

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And I thought those were pretty dope.

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There was that one day you remember it was

like 96 degrees and yeah, like we were.

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So it's like

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we we really did put in the work for it.

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And then, you know, it came to fruition.

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And so I like how, you know,

I know you call it the capstone event.

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That's a good way to put it.

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Chuck came

and kind of tied everything together.

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And I thought, like,

his talk too, was unintentionally kind of

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about the origins of hip hop,

which is kind of

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what we've been focusing on all year,

which was perfect.

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You know.

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So what was that process like?

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So you decide Chuck D's the person.

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How long did it take

before you could officially announce

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that it was in,

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We put in solicitations

almost a year ago at this time.

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And it takes it took 2 to 3 months

to just hear back tour.

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And we got the

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we got the,

we think this could work in early July.

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And we talked with the, with management

and the booking agents in mid-July.

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And then I think it was like right before,

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our first event on

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August 11th at Music Fest,

like the week before,

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we got the message that everything

worked out like schedule wise, etc.

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there was a date that would work,

the price was agreed upon,

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and it was like, awesome.

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And so we could informally tell people,

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yeah, we've got Chuck D coming, you know,

but we couldn't really formally

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do any advertising or marketing

until other things were in place.

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And that wasn't until the fall.

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So it's like,

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you know,

I have a little bit of familiarity

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in this business, but I think we, we,

we all sometimes forget as, as

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we are our fans and consumers,

and we love the culture.

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But, you know, the machine behind

all of this, you know, is

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big and vast, moves slowly

but very deliberately and effectively.

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Was part of it.

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And Chuck is a testament to that.

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Why? He's

one of the, you know, half a dozen

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to a dozen hip hop artists from that era

that still represents and can like,

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you know, pull up a thousand people

on a Tuesday night by just talking.

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You know what I'm saying?

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because he is

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it's not only the show part he's got down,

he's got the business part down as well,

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you know,

but you'd never guess that because

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I think, JB, you had said it,

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all the credit to the world to Chuck D for

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being a very gracious and kind

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and just an everyday guy like that.

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That was the amazing

and disarming part about it.

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Whether he was talking to someone,

a student, the president of the college,

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US or whatever,

he was always on the same, same level.

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You know?

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Right on.

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What was your biggest takeaway

from the actual conversation with Chuck D?

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I mean, we found him to be

very insightful, engaging, inspirational.

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Like, what was your biggest takeaway?

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my biggest takeaway was that

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Chuck has,

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he gets he's very passionate

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and and sitting next to him,

I could kind of feel the part

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where it was like a casual back and forth,

and I would almost say the first

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15 minutes to a half hour would just real.

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The energy with him was pretty casual.

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And it was cool was, you know,

breaking me in pretty good, you know?

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But then he started talking like

as we got talking about his the history,

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like at Adelphi University where

Spectrum City, the DJ crew he belonged to,

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how they came together, the music

they were playing,

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the early hip hop years.

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He got very passionate.

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You I remember like at one point

I remember he bellowed into the mic

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and I was like,

yeah, this is what it's like to be.

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I felt that too.

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I remember that moment.

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I'm like this, that that's the Chuck

we hear on record and like, it's

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coming out, you know?

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and that was

that was really cool to behold.

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You know, how he,

he kind of regulates and manages that.

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I want to give props to the students

we brought on stage

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who asked a variety of questions

at the end, in particular,

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a student of mine named Andra

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asked him about his graphic novels

and his creative process and his shift.

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His energy shifted and he got very,

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personal as he talked

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about what what went

into the making of that graphic novel?

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I was joking with her afterwards.

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I was like, you know,

I was on stage with him for an hour.

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I didn't get anything like that with him.

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Like, you know,

all all the all the credit goes to her

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for doing some research and,

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you know, about a specific topic

in, in his,

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in his art history,

you know, beyond the music is his graphic

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novel work and some of the ideas

that go into that graphic novel.

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And she, she,

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she had them open, in my opinion,

it was a pretty it was a pretty honest,

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and authentic moment

and cool to to to experience that.

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I want to follow up on that.

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So you picked the students and

they generated the question themselves.

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what was the process

for picking the students?

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They were terrific.

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all four of them dig it.

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you know, I, I just

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higher ed,

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you know, the, the most important

relationship in higher ed and,

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you know, it's it's not the administration

and it's not the faculty chairs,

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and it's just student teachers

that's doesn't

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nothing else goes on

without students and teachers.

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So I always felt like I wanted,

you know, student involvement

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in this event where they were visible,

not just in the audience. And,

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we kind of put out feelers

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with other professors

or I myself in my classroom,

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about students that were kind of a

cut above the rest, you know what I mean?

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Like they just were ready and willing

to kind of take on the challenge

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of speaking in front of a thousand people,

meeting someone like Chuck D.

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you know, they didn't

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necessarily have to be, like,

hip hop heads or like Public Enemy fans.

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I was I was looking for people

who are who were interested in,

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the production of culture and talking

about hip hop music and American history,

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you know,

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and all those students fit the bill,

and they all kind of approached it

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in their own different way.

So it was pretty cool.

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Because that's a tough

that can be tough for people of that age

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because Chuck D isn't of their era,

you know.

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(Right.)

That's that's our music from 30 years ago.

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Thirty years. Ago.

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It would have been like

if I was in high school or college

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and I got to interview

like Smokey Robinson or something.

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Yeah.

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And it'd be like, oh,

I know who this guy is.

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But like I don't, you know, and.

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You know go up to them. Right.

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They didn't grow up with them

and they may not actually know who he is.

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So you know kudos to them

for having some sense of history. And

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you know, American history.

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Yeah. Yeah.

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I mean, in the magnitude of this event

bringing Chuck D,

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I was trying to equate it to sports

because my family's,

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you know, heavily into sports.

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I was like telling my son I was like,

this is like LeBron James

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or a Kobe Bryant or like a Michael Jordan

type figure of hip hop.

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And he knows it like he's like,

this is amazing.

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Like it was just that big.

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Like.

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I'll give you I'll give you another,

I'll give you another player.

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Come.

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Yeah I would say Barkley that's.

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You know, I mean that's a good one.

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Yeah. Yeah yeah.

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Because he's vocal right.

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If he's vocal and he has a presence.

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Yeah. Presence.

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And you know like Chuck has a couple

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platinum albums but it's like it's a it's

a different thing.

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It's not

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I mean when we think about Charles Barkley

we think now we think about

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kind of everything he's done right from

from Auburn to where he's at now.

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And I think Chuck D's similar.

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It's like,

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I mean, if somebody's like,

yo and be honest, like ten years ago,

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you remember Peter Rosenberg on

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hot 97

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was like, yo, Chuck D hasn't done

much for the culture lately.

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And he got, you know, Rosenberg

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got railroaded for saying things like that

because it's like, you don't understand.

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Like, this is a dude that's operating

above and beyond, like, what's hot?

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Like, whatever's the hottest new thing

being released.

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Yeah, he's really expanded his vision

of what

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Public Enemy is

and honestly, what hip hop can be.

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and so that's why I would compare him

to Barkley in that sense.

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Like, yeah, he may not have six rings, but

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I mean, we all know Sir

Charles, Sir Charles, he bald.

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He bald in his day

and he's still doing his thing.

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It's funny

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because Chuck D references

Charles Barkley in Rebel Without a Pause.

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He actually says something

like Slam like Barkley. Yeah.

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you're.

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Yeah, yeah.

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Throw it down your face like Barkley.

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You're,

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I honestly like, I guess

some other voices, like Boogie and Cap.

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Like,

what was your takeaways from the speech?

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Because it was impactful.

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I want to kind of paint a picture

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for the listeners

that may not have been able to attend.

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Like, how impactful was a speech to you?

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Like what was key takeaways.

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Boogie, why don't you go first

and we’ll ask Cap as well?

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So so I was trying to think about

what I would say was my

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my thoughts on his speech,

but I think he was very, insightful.

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And I like how he spoke.

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he spoke not just to the fans,

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but he spoke directly

to the students as well.

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he spoke about the importance

of taking advantage

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of being in a place of higher education.

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Educate yourself

while you have the time and the place

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and the means and the people around you

that are willing to impart

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that knowledge to you,

take advantage of it.

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this this is a time and a place

where you can

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you can grab hold of

yourself and ground yourself.

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and I also like how,

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he spoke also see young people as far as,

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getting involved,

you know, he said, you know,

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you know,

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people have the apathy about,

you know, becoming

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involved in the political process

or the political machine.

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And he was saying how.

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It's okay to, to to want to

to want to be a part of it.

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But it's also up to,

you know, people of our generation

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to make sure that it's okay for them

to, to, to want to do it.

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And if you don't, you're constantly

have you lost and floating along.

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And it's not a good thing.

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You know, take advantage of you know,

where you are

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in your in a stage

in life, in and get involved in, in.

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Don't sit on a side

and then wonder what's going on

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because sooner or later

you'll be in your 40s. Like what happened,

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you know, and I just,

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I just like I just like that,

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you know, I'm always I'm all about,

you know,

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each one teach one

educating youth and empowering them.

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So anytime anyone can use it, always,

you know, take them

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on my little heartstrings a little bit.

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Can you?

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so, I mean,

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a lot of things, actually,

to be honest with you,

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the one that.

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Yeah, he, you know, Boogie touched upon,

it was the fact of,

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how he, you know, told these students

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the importance of,

you know, what, where you're at

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and how you should take advantage of it.

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you know, I've been to some,

you know, some Q and A's where,

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you know, with certain hip hop artists

where they've kind of downplayed,

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you know, you know,

kind of like schools and stuff like that

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and talk about how to be in a system

and everything, you know.

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But I think,

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I think it was kind of surprising to me

in a way where Chuck actually praised it,

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and said, you know, you, I mean, he,

he use it.

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He gave you two levels of it where

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it's like, learn, you know,

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you're here, learn, but it's also on you.

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Because, remember,

school is a big business.

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And you know, just like,

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yeah, you know,

if you don't make it and you fail

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and you or you leave the next day,

they don't care

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because they got somebody else coming in

right after you the next year.

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So the whole thing,

it's like for him to really put that,

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put it on the student to be like, look,

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you know, this is now on you

because you're paying for this.

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You know what I mean?

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Maybe some of you got scholarships

or whatever, but some of them don't.

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And it's all tuition that they're going

to, you know, be paying for a while.

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So it's like

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if you're going

to be putting all this money into this

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or spending all this money, like make it

something that's going to be worth.

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So you're going to use in the future for

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or viable for your,

you know, for your future.

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And I think that was really dope that

he stressed that I was very surprised,

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to be honest.

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I thought he's going to come out

on some straight up political, you know,

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you know, after system

that Prez, you know, here we go.

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Like it's like, you know, I was like

I was selling I was selling arm.

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I was like, I'm

going to play these schools.

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But that was.

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Like.

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not just.

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Like, you know, but he,

he didn't he that he, you know,

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I think it was dope knowing that

he has a background, you know, and

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and went to Delphi, graduated and,

you know, did what he did.

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So I think that's I think it was also dope

saying the fact that he got

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he flunked out and came back.

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You know what I mean?

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I think it's important

that people know, like, you know,

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you know,

if you first you don't succeed, try again.

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So I think that was dope too.

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That type of message, him being like,

yeah, I, I messed up, I flunked out.

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But I came back and do what I had to do.

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And you know, obviously,

you know, he went from there.

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The biggest takeaway

for me to be real with you is that,

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he was the set up for

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what is known

as the drawing board, for Def Jam.

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That is insane,

because the drawing board is

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basically anything you saw on Def Jam,

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be it from album covers to logos

to, you know, whatever.

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That was all the drawing board.

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So, I mean, me, as I went to school,

I went to High School of Art design,

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and I was,

you know, going to school for art.

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I was doing commercial, art and,

cartooning.

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I was majoring in that,

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knowing that he was a part of that,

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and he was instrumental in the beginning

of that in the early stages of Def Jam

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and then eventually drawing board,

becoming what it was.

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I mean, that that to me was like, wow.

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Because like, from an artists perspective,

that to me was just huge to hear,

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you know, because you know, that that

really got to me because I was like, wow.

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Like, I have total respect

for the drawing board.

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I mean, any album cover

from basically from 88 to 94,

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95, I mean, that was that's

all drawing board, Def Jam and like,

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you know, those are iconic album covers,

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you know, or even details or whatever

was done on the album cover itself.

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And what was dope was when, you know,

I gave him my, 340 fives,

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which somebody told me not to.

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Okay.

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And then it came out to be

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one of the dopest parts of the night that.

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So I had my three.

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I had my 45 of Public

Enemy handed it to him.

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He like freaked out.

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He was like, look, I told you, we got 45.

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It was dope.

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Was he started to break it down to me

and like, look, I designed this.

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This is what I did here.

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Like, you know, just to know

that he designed those,

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those iconic

12 inch or 7 inch covers that I have.

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I mean, that just means like, wow, like,

that's crazy.

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Like he did.

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He did a lot.

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And it's and you know, and it's like,

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and it's so dope to know that somebody

like him like to be real with you.

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That inspired me a lot right now.

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Like, you know, after seeing him,

you know, I actually,

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you know, I ended up, you know, I,

I was at a Comic-Con and I started looking

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at comic books again and started

looking at drawings again and artwork.

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And I came home

and were sketching again and,

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you know, so for me, man, like,

that was just dope inspiration,

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like just coming out of the woodwork that,

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you know, I was just looking forward

to being like, yo, Chuck D, that's it.

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You know what I mean?

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Like, chuck these here and like,

meaning my icon, like my iconic hero.

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And next, you know,

now I'm being inspired again.

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Like a second wind of like, man, like,

that's really dope.

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Like,

I didn't even know to be real with you.

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I'm kind of upset at myself that I didn't

even know he did a graphic novel,

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of apocalypse 91.

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And then Malik's there with it.

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Malik's showing it to me,

and I'm just there like, wow,

448

I didn't even know he had that. So,

449

I mean, it was dope. Dope.

450

That was that was dope that, you know,

he just, you know,

451

like all those

all those things that he has been doing

452

since the P stuff like that

was pretty dope to know.

453

Like it was eye opening

and also like, wow.

454

Like that's pretty cool.

455

Like just getting that vibe from him

and overall real

456

grill,

real real down to earth humble homie.

457

You know what I mean?

458

Like, just I just came off the bat like,

you know,

459

I mean, I'm, you're talking to a guy

that I've seen him all.

460

I've hung out with him all, you know,

I mean, and there's like, maybe,

461

I mean, I could count maybe on both hands

how many have been, like, so humble.

462

And he's definitely one of them.

463

Like,

he was so, you know, so accommodating,

464

so gracious, so very cool with everybody.

465

He was right off the bat

just being you know,

466

you know he could have came in being no.

467

Ten and have no smile.

468

You know what I mean?

469

Like he could have came that way

470

and we would have been like,

yeah, that's cool. That's Chuck D.

471

Like, we ain't gonna say shit to him,

you know what I mean?

472

But he had a smile the whole time and,

473

you know, he was shaking hands

with everybody, hugging everybody.

474

And I was just like,

wow, that's what's up. That's dope.

475

So and you know, somebody in his age

because sometimes, you know,

476

you don't say, you know how they say.

477

And sometimes

you want to meet your heroes.

478

You know what I mean?

479

You know, because you never know.

480

You know, you going to get you know,

you going to be like, oh, man.

481

And I and I've met people like that.

I've met people.

482

But I was like totally disappointed

after meeting him.

483

So but so, you know, and somebody

could have easily landed on that.

484

He could have been, maybe had an off day

and been mad pro political

485

and being like, you know,

like being on some crazy, you know.

486

But he wasn't he was very,

487

very, very accommodating, very doe,

very gracious and everything gracious is,

488

I think, the word that all

489

of us were using, you know, when it comes

to, you know, defining him that day.

490

So and he definitely, you know.

491

You generate any reflections of your own.

492

Yeah. Cap set it.

493

he was inspirational.

494

And I had a similar reaction about like,

oh, I got to meet Chuck D.

495

That would have been like it.

496

But then I got, I went home

with so many notes in my notebook

497

and so many things I think about.

498

And, one of them being

he did, took a question

499

from the student that was about in

what we do about younger artists.

500

And he brought out this prison metaphor

that he was

501

being a prism to shine

light on other people and younger artists.

502

I thought, wow,

503

it like

504

made the prism go off in my head

like, whoa, that's what I'm doing with,

505

you know, whatever things that I'm doing

in, in higher ed and then and the podcast

506

and everything.

507

So I walked away a lot more inspired

inspire than I thought I was going to be.

508

Just meeting my hero.

509

literally hit what?

510

Yeah.

511

If I could share a couple reflections.

512

Yeah.

513

You know, listen, the Public Enemy,

you grow up and it's something

514

you never heard, and it's very militant,

515

you know, with the way they perform

and his crew

516

and all this stuff and.

517

You, you kind of.

518

You don't know what to expect.

519

You're like, is he going to come out

like that? Like you said, cab.

520

And then it's like, man,

what a renaissance.

521

He's like a Renaissance man,

522

you know, he he's done

the graphic novels, he's done emceeing.

523

I would never think

524

he would mention Pilates and like, his

his spiritual journey a little bit.

525

That's how. He got.

526

You know. Yeah.

527

I was like, well, what's this all about?

528

It's probably like the Rick Rubin effect,

you know, the Zen master.

529

But it was like all these little,

530

bits of inspiration and,

531

these nuggets and gems of wisdom.

532

I was like, wow.

533

Like, this guy is like, unreal.

534

I just when you think it's just like,

all right, is it a hip hop legend?

535

He's inspiring kids to, you know,

take advantage of the facilities.

536

He's, you know, go to library.

537

He's talking about when he grew up

and Bill Russell story, who was his hero

538

and how he fell in love with libraries

go there every single day.

539

And he talked about

scholars are the people

540

that that read everything,

not just what their what they like

541

and have and be a citizen of the world

and like have a friend in another country

542

and like, think bigger and get out

of your comfort zone and all that stuff.

543

And I'm like, wow, this,

this is amazing for like, you know.

544

Inspirational. Yeah.

545

Yeah.

546

Exactly.

547

Yeah.

548

There was one.

549

There was one more thing though,

that that really touched me about him too.

550

And it's not even about what he said,

551

but it was at the end when we were

all lined up to take our pictures,

552

and I knew that there was a long line,

so I wasn't trying to hold up the line

553

or anything like that.

554

And we took our,

you know, we we took our picture wisdom.

555

And I know my brother, man, I wanted to

get a all picture and I think he heard me.

556

He's like, come on, let's do it.

557

I'm like, what? How what?

558

Like and I actually got to take a picture

with him, like,

559

because I mean like

chug the like for me like

560

he the lyrics made me.

561

They reinforced my, my desire to learn

562

because if you like listening

to the lyrics and he's name dropping

563

his name in different situations,

different instances, different,

564

atrocities as things like that

have happened throughout history.

565

And you hear him,

you're like, well, what is that about?

566

So immediately, like,

I'm trying to look up these,

567

these, these things or whatever

he's talking about.

568

So I'm learning about this stuff,

like some of this stuff

569

is, you know, the teachers taught

and some of the stuff he was never taught.

570

But it's funny because like, now

as an adult, like some of this stuff that

571

I hear people talk about like,

yeah, I've never heard about it.

572

I'm like, man, I heard about that

when I was like eighth grade or something.

573

And it's because I heard sugar

mentioned it in a wrong.

574

I ran and looked it up

to see who he was talking about.

575

You know, what situations

the things he was talking about.

576

So, you know, it was

it was like, you know, that was

577

that was very meaningful

for me to to have that.

578

He was just like, well, okay,

come on, let's hurry up.

579

Let's do this, let's do this.

580

And he was like you said, the humility

and the humbleness.

581

You know that, like, all right, man, God,

I go here, you go like go ahead.

582

He's like, come on. No, no, let's do this.

You know that.

583

That touched me, man.

584

The music historian, American historian,

585

black culture.

586

and he was like self-deprecating humor

a little bit, too,

587

which was awesome because he was like, I'm

a country guy.

588

And I was like, I didn't even know why

I had two turntables.

589

Maybe one's a backup

in case the other one breaks down.

590

Like, I'm like, are you serious?

591

Like, that was Elvis alive?

592

It was a backup.

593

Amazing. It's amazing.

594

Yeah, that was a true.

595

Yeah, but.

596

So have you, tap or have you got.

597

Had either of you guys

met Chuck D before last week

598

in any.

599

I met him when I was 15,

at Lincoln University at a at a okay.

600

At a an event in a,

601

you know, an auditorium,

probably 100 people or what have you.

602

And that was that was that like fear

of a black planet time and, you know,

603

and also I just another thing is like hip

hop was on the margins at the time.

604

So it wasn't like

605

it wasn't like he was a

606

marquee name,

so to speak, the way that he is now,

607

you know,

608

it's like you had to know

about Public Enemy,

609

sort of like Boogie was saying,

like you had to go learn about this stuff.

610

You know, that's what I think, that

hip hop of that era was,

611

was really great

at was it, it required you

612

to kind of dig in and,

613

he, he was there with Harry Allen.

614

That's that's why I met.

615

I mean, I met him, I got his his autograph

and it was, it was,

616

he was in it.

617

You know, it's interesting

618

hearing you guys say, like,

which persona was going to arrive.

619

When I think back to that,

620

Yeah. 90, 90, 91,

621

like the, the Chuck

622

S1W like, showed up like it was a pretty

623

it was a pretty like,

624

I don't know what the word is for it,

you know, like,

625

I don't want to say confrontational,

626

but, like, you know, it was also Lehigh

in the, like, early 90s.

627

So, like, I remember somebody heckling him

or whatever.

628

And like, he was like, you know what?

629

You know, I've spoken enough.

I'm gonna turn it over to Harry Allen.

630

And Harry Allen's also like,

you know, we think of him as the punchline

631

and don't believe the hype,

but like, is it he's a established

632

journalist and historian

and he's also very adept at interviews.

633

And he took over the the end of the talk.

634

And, kind of people,

635

it was kind of wild, you know,

they that, you know.

636

So, yeah, that I had

I had a little bit of experience before.

637

Before. I don't know, cap.

638

Had you come across some that.

639

I never came across Chuck at all.

640

I actually I think

the closer that came at Chuck was actually

641

I threw a party with, Flavor Flav.

642

that was kind of it. So,

643

so, I mean, you know,

finally got the connection I got.

644

I had slave threw a party with me,

and now I have.

645

And I'm deejay and a Chuck D, Q

and A, so I mean, that was the connection.

646

but not, I definitely didn't have it,

647

with him and stuff. but.

648

Part of the reason why I picked him,

though, is that he has developed

649

a reputation of being approachable.

650

And in all of our conversations

651

about what we were with, with management,

about what we wanted to

652

do, like the access part was a big deal

for me, you know, like,

653

I just wanted to demystify,

if you will, a little bit like, you know,

654

these people are human beings.

655

They're just like you

and I like and create some connection.

656

It's like finding the right artists

who can convey that.

657

And Chuck D was that dude.

658

And that's it's my understanding.

659

That's kind of how he's been rolling

for the last ten years or so, maybe more.

660

But like, no doubt, the last ten years,

he's he's taken on a, a role as,

661

like an ambassador sort of for Public

Enemy, for hip hop, etc..

662

And he's the perfect guy for it.

663

He seems to have the right temperament

for it.

664

You know, he's seen lots of things,

and now he can be the elder statesman.

665

Statesmen for sure.

666

So what was your biggest takeaway?

667

Just hanging out with them

behind the scenes was that guy like.

668

you know,

he was largely like very similar.

669

I mean, like, it was it was cool that,

670

you know, have a couple private moments

with him.

671

You know, before the events began

and in the green room and so on.

672

I, I'd say the,

673

the only moment, you know, the militant

Chuck came out was when I started popping

674

pop and junk about the Knicks

and my and and the best

675

and he wasn't having it.

676

He was just

he didn't want to hear it, you know,

677

he said something really interesting.

678

I was like, man, you can't front.

679

And Jaylen Brown man, not only is

he a great player but look at that look.

680

The way he uses his platform.

681

And Chuck shot back at me.

682

He was like he's

just doing what a man's supposed to do.

683

I was like word up all right.

684

And it's, you know, tail bounce.

685

Like one of the few NBA stars that

will take and like, take certain stances.

686

And, you know, you use his, his, his

687

prestige and power

to kind of make political points, etc..

688

And Chuck was like,

I'm not impressed, you know, like,

689

but like, yeah, but if he was a nick.

690

Yeah, he was a.

691

He's a.

692

Play for the Celtics.

693

And it was. Funny.

694

I mean, those conversations,

I thought those conversations

695

would be fun to have with him.

696

Like when we were in the green room

and like, he wasn't having it.

697

He was like, yeah.

698

He's like,

I don't want to, you know, stop.

699

Stop making jokes about the Knicks.

Not funny.

700

You know, like. I was like, all right.

701

We haven't even stepped on stage.

I don't want to. I don't want. To get.

702

Sour.

703

No, I started with this.

704

Well,

705

you know, he was pretty.

706

You said something like.

707

He was like, well, listen, when we lose,

I know it's been a good season.

708

I was like, there's your problem.

You're saying that they lose?

709

And he got mad about that.

710

He got mad.

711

He was, We got mad.

712

He's just like, you don't know what

it's like to be a knick fan.

713

I don't want to hear

you've had a championship.

714

They're beating Sixers now, so.

715

Yeah.

716

Yeah, yeah.

717

Mixed feelings are hilarious.

718

So you got spike Lee Harris.

719

Oh, right.

720

Because it's all my shit. Yes.

721

Yeah. Give me a,

722

I have it.

723

I wear a regimen of it.

724

You know.

725

You really like this year?

726

I said welcome to. Rocky

with a Michael Jordan jersey.

727

Funny, I thought he.

728

I thought it would be, like, funny,

you know, but, yeah, you know,

729

he didn't play about that. It was.

730

I guess he takes the sports

seriously funny.

731

And it's not.

He didn't really want it to be.

732

Hey, he was like I was like,

you know what? I'll give you this.

733

I was like, the NBA is better

when the Knicks are good.

734

Like Madison Square Garden,

the whole nine.

735

It's exciting.

736

He was like, I don't care about that. Yes.

737

I just want my Knicks to win.

738

classic.

739

it was cool to see.

740

You know, like,

that's that's. Where that's.

741

Good about, you know, and and know

anybody who's a sports fan know this,

742

that there's a certain irrationality

to our sports fandom.

743

And that's part of the fun of it. No

744

that's funny.

745

The Knicks haven't been in the finals

for a million years.

746

So I'm sure he's sold 20.

747

2025. Is that right.

748

2520. 25 million.

749

You know who's counting. Yeah.

750

I didn't know yourself.

751

This fan I don't know

I mean this is, this is difficult

752

to hear.

753

Is over just

754

Macintosh this forever.

755

I the.

756

This 50.

757

Years

I don't write I or 70 Sixers fans book.

758

Is it Bulls fan.

759

Cap who who who you prefer.

760

I Texas fan.

761

Success. Yeah. Yeah.

762

Well they got they didn't

they did get job by the referees.

763

There's all these things coming out like

the last two minutes of all these games.

764

I think they're the league

765

salty about the process, how they tanked

all these years, trying to get.

766

I don't know.

767

Listen as. Long as the Lakers moved.

768

They treated they treated Maxey like like

769

They they rolled up on him quick.

770

They took that ball.

771

But listen yeah I don't know what

the other four sixes were doing.

772

There was like

they were like standing around watching.

773

That's the those last.

774

30s that, that was very Doc Rivers. Yeah.

775

I mean I think we would, you.

776

Know, you know why?

777

I'm just like I was you

seeing the aftermath and being like, yeah,

778

I know how this is going to end.

779

So it doesn't even matter.

780

Well.

781

Just as long as the Lakers are out,

that's all about.

782

Yeah, it's all about

783

sports.

784

Sports is a great

unifier. Yes. Or divider.

785

well, on that note, you you you

786

you kind of got into with me

a little bit with the Knicks, but

787

didn't make you nervous,

or were you already nervous

788

to do the interview

and all the conversations stuff?

789

I mean, yeah, for sure.

790

but a lot of work went into this.

791

I mean, as we talked about

in the beginning of this podcast, like it

792

ideas about this began a year ago.

793

And then, you know,

I had time to sketch it out.

794

you know, early on and just kind of

bounce ideas off of people I could trust.

795

And, and then most importantly,

I just, I want to give a huge shout out

796

to the people I worked with at NCC,

particularly the vice provost, E-Bug.

797

Now that. E-Bug was, was, was

798

an executive,

799

you know, an executive administrator

at the college that,

800

essentially, you know,

801

anything that I was envisioning

or thought we needed or what have you,

802

she was like, okay, I'm gonna look into

see if we can get that. And,

803

and then in turn, like,

security and facilities and,

804

variety of other parts of our college,

the library,

805

I want to give the library

a big shout out, like,

806

they gave me a lot of the materials

to help

807

set up the display and like, oh, cool.

808

it was just it was cool.

It was a group effort.

809

So a lot of planning went in,

and I'll be honest, like,

810

the nerves were sort of like, wow, like

a lot of people here, this is rolling.

811

But I felt comfortable

with our plan, you know,

812

I felt comfortable with who I was working

with.

813

It's part of why I want to cap as a DJ.

814

We've been working together

for, for over, you know, I think 25 years,

815

like 98, 99 is when we met and like,

816

when,

when we were running late to be, you know,

817

if there's somebody else,

if I'm, if I'm texting with a sound man

818

or I can't communicate with them

or another deejay or whatever,

819

I know who's on the other end and who's

buying me time, and I trust them 100%.

820

And so when we were running a little late,

I wasn't worried in any kind of way

821

that like, we, you know, that

what we had planned was going wrong,

822

because I knew cap cap knew what

the plan was and knew how to improvise

823

in the time that we had

to kind of make up.

824

So, I was,

825

I'll be.

826

Yeah, I'll be honest.

827

I kept joking with people like,

you know, you know, bring the smelling

828

salts or like, I pass out,

you know, just run up on stage.

829

I was ready, man.

830

Like, ready?

831

Yeah. You know what I'm saying? But,

832

I actually felt really good.

833

And some of it was just from the

get go from the jump.

834

Chuck was just like,

what do you want me to do?

835

You know, like, that's that's like,

836

I think that's a quote, like,

what do you want me to do? I'll do it.

837

You point me in the direction

of what you want me to do today,

838

and we'll we'll make it happen.

839

And so when you're working with

someone like, like that,

840

it puts you at ease, you know? Yeah.

841

It was a good.

842

It was a good plan.

843

We had a good plan.

844

All in all, good plan. Good job.

845

It was a great event just

846

from start to finish.

847

Great event.

848

phenomenal.

849

You know what you could tell,

You know what

850

I'm going to be I'm going to tell you

right now, you got to give it up to arm

851

two for the music,

because he, you know, the music.

852

As much as I'm getting now a lot of credit

for that night with the music,

853

he should get a lot of it too,

because it was actually a playlist

854

he put together of all the songs

that he wanted

855

to play in coordination with the night.

856

so he gave me lists for,

you know, and time and time stamps

857

for when he wanted this certain thing

and this certain thing played.

858

And then when they came in

to play a certain song and then,

859

you know, when it was done. So,

860

you know, as much as I,

861

you know, people are giving me the credit

for being like, yo, cap, you,

862

you know, you know, you killed it,

you killed it, you killed it.

863

I mean, that's all I've been getting,

you know, since that night.

864

I've been getting a ton of,

you know, messages and stuff about that.

865

But in the end, like, arm

866

was the one who actually, like,

put that in sequence for me.

867

I mean, he made he gave me the list.

868

I had to just come up with the,

the flow of them, you know what I mean?

869

But, you know, I mean, it was

and it was crazy because, you know,

870

he put on songs there

that I had to get that, you know, from,

871

you know, because I,

you know, I'm going to be truthful, like,

872

I didn't, I wasn't really

873

checking for a P after he got game

soundtrack, basically.

874

So it's just like.

875

You know, I never I yeah. Yeah.

876

I, you know, I slept on.

877

Yeah I slept on those albums and then,

you know, me and arm got one together.

878

One day we're driving around.

879

He's playing me like all these new joints

that I've never heard.

880

And I was just.

881

Like, it's

good to be. Good. Yeah, they're good shit.

882

So I mean, the whole thing was like,

all right, cool.

883

Like, you know, so for like a whole week,

you know, after he gave me

884

the list of all the songs,

I put all the playlist together,

885

you know, I was listening to him.

886

So I mean, because I had it,

you know, how to listen to him.

887

You know, I'm not just gonna throw a song

on, like, I had to feel him out, so.

888

And, that's where all that came out.

889

So, I mean,

890

you know, and I told him, okay, well,

this is kind of how I want to make it

891

play out.

892

Also, the good thing about P with their,

893

you know, their beginning

894

skits of every song and kind of like,

that's kind of how I wanted to make it.

895

I wanted to, you know, it kind of made it

where I could break down everything.

896

You know? I didn't have to really mix.

897

I just kind of could throw them in,

898

but it's that they couldn't

even flow with everything. So,

899

the last set

while you guys were all standing in

900

line was actually, you know,

901

a joint effort where, you know,

he said, you know,

902

maybe we should stay with the conscious

tape, don't play anything,

903

you know, don't play like, you know,

all the 90s, you know, blah, blah, blah

904

that we hear all the time,

you know, play a lot of conscious stuff.

905

So I actually had to

go on my conscience bag and

906

bust out some joints and

907

stuff and, you know, and that's, you know,

I'll be really honest with you, though.

908

I mean,

909

but I was playing some of these songs.

910

I'm like, damn, man.

911

I mean, I, you know, he got board members.

912

There, he.

913

Got all these people and,

you know, been saying some shit.

914

And I'm like, oh, man, I like.

915

But, you know, no one came up to me

and said, stop playing it, you know?

916

No, nobody said nothing.

917

So I said, I can't wait

till my last set that I was

918

because I was like, I got Paris, I got Ice

Cube ready, I got all this stuff.

919

So, you know, I went in on that. So and.

920

You're going to have.

921

To hear state of the Union

when there's all these like,

922

you know,

college like administrators in there like.

923

Yeah. Wow. Exactly.

924

That's going to be like that.

925

This could be you know,

I was when I was that's very.

926

I was the security or one of the.

927

Board members a couple of people like.

928

Cut it off like I was wait,

I was waiting like I was.

929

You know, like, pulling the plug.

930

Yeah. I was waiting for somebody to be.

I was waiting for the sound man.

931

I if I heard my volume go down,

I mean, like, yeah, I know, right?

932

Yeah.

933

Like okay.

934

So yeah, I mean, but that's, that's my.

935

Cap was the right deejay for this because,

you know, not many deejays I could go to

936

and say, listen, I'm not trying

to micromanage what you, you know,

937

play this song,

this song, this song, in this song.

938

But here's here's the bag, right.

939

And stick to this bag however you see fit.

940

And he was willing to do that

and make it his own.

941

So it wasn't like he felt constricted.

942

He was like, okay, like

how how do I make this work, you know,

943

and that that I think speaks to his he's

kind of his talent and his ability

944

to kind of see like, okay, this event,

it's not just about like, you know,

945

what C

946

does when like he's killing it off

for Friday night on a dance floor.

947

And like not not every DJ can do that.

948

Like and do it in a way where you own it

and people

949

then coming up to you being like,

yo, you killed it, you know what I mean?

950

And that's that was dope.

951

And like the part where you mentioning

like, you know, what are we doing?

952

What are we doing here?

953

Like that was, that was very

that was that was very purposeful.

954

That was another thing about that.

955

It was appealing to me about Chuck D

for a lot of the reasons, like Boogie

956

said, about what he represents to me

is as I came up as a hip

957

hop head, as a as a scholar, etc.,

958

I wanted,

959

you know, I in 50, you know, hip

hop was getting this long in the tooth.

960

It's 50 years.

961

It can be it can be watered down.

962

I mean, it's it's crazy to me.

963

But you could play a lot of, like,

964

rah rah like,

you know, gap busting, drug selling stuff.

965

And it sounds way

safer than when you hear Chuck and Flav

966

talk about brothers

going to work it out there.

967

And I mean, and

and you got to think about that, right?

968

That we're more comfortable

with genocide and juice

969

than we are hearing about fight the power.

970

And and so I've definitely wanted

971

that in the mix to kind of play with that.

972

That's a that's kind of a part of

like what we've been trying to do.

973

We did it.

974

You know, we did a hip hop

event in historic Bethlehem, you know,

975

and around all these colonial houses,

these white spaces.

976

And I'm I think it's the,

977

the idea is that,

you know, we're trying to shine light,

978

you know, a little

bit into these places that,

979

generally play it safe and just kind of,

980

play upon that a little bit

when people get together

981

and it's feels like going into it

like, oh, what's about to happen?

982

But in actuality, I have this big trust

983

in hip hop

and the people that growth comes from it.

984

Like some of that, like

985

some of that,

like tension is actually diffused

986

because we actually come together.

987

You know,

that's the great thing about hip hop

988

is you come together and it's like,

okay, all right, I get it.

989

I, you know, when I, when

990

I was not solving the world's problems,

but we could break bread.

991

Oh yeah, I could.

992

I'll definitely say that.

993

I mean,

994

now you could definitely throw

an old school jam

995

and not worry about anything happening.

996

And everybody's now a legit, you know,

we're all adults now and we're all grown

997

and we all got families and we got kids

to come home to and things like that.

998

So I think that's the

the whole easiness of, you know. Yeah.

999

Back in the day.

00:48:12,333 --> 00:48:15,208

Yeah. We, you know, you can't

you can't really deny it.

00:48:15,208 --> 00:48:15,375

Yeah.

00:48:15,375 --> 00:48:19,208

There was violence at shows and there was

I mean they say it themselves too.

00:48:19,208 --> 00:48:21,833

And they were touring,

you know, there was freaking the

00:48:21,833 --> 00:48:23,875

the Bloods came in the rolling 80s

came in.

00:48:23,875 --> 00:48:25,416

They, you know,

they were shooting up the place.

00:48:25,416 --> 00:48:26,916

You know, they went into Detroit

00:48:26,916 --> 00:48:29,916

dudes already shooting before even

one song got played yet, like,

00:48:30,166 --> 00:48:31,375

that's how it was me, you know?

00:48:31,375 --> 00:48:34,375

But now I think, you know,

with this whole 50 and,

00:48:34,916 --> 00:48:37,750

you know, the culture and us, you know,

look at us ourselves.

00:48:37,750 --> 00:48:41,458

We're, you know, we're we're,

you know, we're brothers, we're families.

00:48:41,458 --> 00:48:42,625

We're, you know, we're dads.

00:48:42,625 --> 00:48:45,000

We're, you know,

we got responsibility, ease.

00:48:45,000 --> 00:48:46,791

Now, we're no longer just,

00:48:46,791 --> 00:48:49,958

you know, teenagers with, you know,

smoking blunts and drinking 40s like.

00:48:51,041 --> 00:48:53,000

And I think that's what makes it more

00:48:53,000 --> 00:48:56,666

I think everybody could be more calm

with everything that we're doing.

00:48:56,666 --> 00:49:00,875

And I think I think even that even

with the music that I was playing in that

00:49:00,875 --> 00:49:04,500

I don't think, you know, in my mind I'm

thinking it's affecting people in a way.

00:49:04,500 --> 00:49:07,500

But I probably wasn't

because I think everybody

00:49:07,500 --> 00:49:10,916

that was in

that crowd is a true, was a true P fan, or

00:49:11,250 --> 00:49:14,291

grew up with the music around them,

with their friends listening to it,

00:49:14,291 --> 00:49:16,000

and they were just like,

you know what? This is?

00:49:16,000 --> 00:49:16,916

This is what it is.

00:49:16,916 --> 00:49:20,625

You know, we're not going to have anything

pop off here, but this is educational.

00:49:20,625 --> 00:49:23,625

I mean, and the p

everything they said was educational.

00:49:23,916 --> 00:49:26,916

All those songs, as much as they even

cursed it or whatever,

00:49:26,958 --> 00:49:30,333

that was educational music, you know,

just like you said, you know, Boogie,

00:49:30,375 --> 00:49:31,000

you had to, like,

00:49:31,000 --> 00:49:34,000

go and look at books and stuff

to find out what they were talking about.

00:49:34,375 --> 00:49:37,625

You know, that's kind of why I love,

you know, the hip hop that I grew up in.

00:49:37,625 --> 00:49:38,333

You know what I mean?

00:49:39,500 --> 00:49:42,416

not only, you know, with P, but you know,

with,

00:49:42,416 --> 00:49:44,875

you know, with even people,

you know, like, even like people

00:49:44,875 --> 00:49:48,208

like Paris and Ice Cube and, and and,

you know, X clan

00:49:48,208 --> 00:49:51,250

and, you know, random man

and all of them and stuff.

00:49:51,250 --> 00:49:54,625

I mean, you know, Brand Nubian,

I learned, you know, I got into,

00:49:55,125 --> 00:49:58,625

you know, 5%, you know, not,

you know, knowledge and stuff and,

00:49:59,166 --> 00:50:03,208

you know, so it's it's,

you know, the educational part of it.

00:50:03,208 --> 00:50:04,583

I think that's what's dope in that.

00:50:04,583 --> 00:50:07,666

You know, we could

we could do that now in this day

00:50:07,666 --> 00:50:10,916

and time, we could come off that way

and bring somebody like a Chuck

00:50:10,916 --> 00:50:14,791

D to come through and, you know, and,

and educate us, you know what I mean?

00:50:14,791 --> 00:50:18,916

With his personal, you know, you know,

with experiences and stuff and everything.

00:50:18,916 --> 00:50:22,166

So I think overall I just it's come

full circle, you know what I mean.

00:50:22,416 --> 00:50:25,375

But whatever thought you know, you know,

somebody said to me,

00:50:25,375 --> 00:50:28,208

somebody asked me like, cat would you ever

if you know, when you started

00:50:28,208 --> 00:50:31,625

or anything or ever think

that you'd be doing a Q&A with Chuck

00:50:32,291 --> 00:50:35,125

J and added, I'd be, oh hell no.

00:50:35,125 --> 00:50:36,625

You know,

I would never thought that in, you know,

00:50:36,625 --> 00:50:38,000

a million years, you know what I mean?

00:50:38,000 --> 00:50:39,791

But it's happening and it's it's here.

00:50:39,791 --> 00:50:41,875

So I think that's dope.

00:50:41,875 --> 00:50:43,583

And I think that that speaks volumes.

00:50:43,583 --> 00:50:47,333

So and then who knows the, you know, stuff

that, you know, me and Ahmed

00:50:47,333 --> 00:50:49,791

throwing around right now,

who knows anything could happen,

00:50:49,791 --> 00:50:50,833

you know, the next year or two.

00:50:50,833 --> 00:50:53,458

So let's see where it goes. So.

00:50:55,500 --> 00:50:56,500

Anyway, for all.

00:50:56,500 --> 00:51:00,541

You guys raising the bar, let's say

the bar, the bar has been raised so high.

00:51:00,541 --> 00:51:03,291

Like.

You know what? The bar has been raised.

00:51:03,291 --> 00:51:04,583

You know what? And I'm you know what?

00:51:04,583 --> 00:51:07,166

And here's the thing like,

00:51:07,166 --> 00:51:09,666

and you know me and I'm talk about this

all the time.

00:51:09,666 --> 00:51:14,375

You know, we have doing doing the things

that we've done in the past

00:51:14,375 --> 00:51:17,458

year, you know, and I'm definitely

leading the whole thing.

00:51:17,458 --> 00:51:17,916

You know what I mean?

00:51:17,916 --> 00:51:21,000

Like, you know, let's, let's, let's,

let's get this done and stuff.

00:51:21,000 --> 00:51:23,750

And we did it.

You know, it's been done. It's done.

00:51:23,750 --> 00:51:26,250

So now it's like, what are where

are we going in the future now with this?

00:51:26,250 --> 00:51:30,291

But the bar has been raised

and I think a lot of people out there,

00:51:30,291 --> 00:51:31,333

you going to try to do something.

00:51:31,333 --> 00:51:34,541

You definitely got to, you got to

you got to take it up the next level.

00:51:34,541 --> 00:51:36,250

Now you're right.

00:51:36,250 --> 00:51:39,625

I mean, you know, the debating on

who would be the next.

00:51:39,625 --> 00:51:40,166

You know what I mean?

00:51:40,166 --> 00:51:43,166

I mean, if should we say should we say,

should we say,

00:51:43,708 --> 00:51:45,666

should we say who

we think we should do it with?

00:51:45,666 --> 00:51:47,416

I, I personally, you know,

00:51:47,416 --> 00:51:51,375

well, I'll say it because I brought it up

and I think, you know, should I say it?

00:51:51,375 --> 00:51:52,583

Sure.

00:51:52,583 --> 00:51:54,000

Of course. Why not?

00:51:54,000 --> 00:51:56,208

I personally think. It's. Yeah. No.

00:51:56,208 --> 00:51:59,750

I personally think I personally think

the next one, honestly,

00:51:59,750 --> 00:52:00,708

we should bring common,

00:52:02,958 --> 00:52:05,541

here because, Common does.

00:52:05,541 --> 00:52:07,458

He does college.

He does colleges, you know.

00:52:07,458 --> 00:52:10,208

Know you know, he performed as well.

00:52:10,208 --> 00:52:11,750

He performed a great.

00:52:11,750 --> 00:52:15,625

You know,

he was in Moravian like 15 years ago.

00:52:16,333 --> 00:52:20,625

So yeah, he was at Moravian and stuff,

but that was he performed at that one.

00:52:20,625 --> 00:52:21,833

That was a no Q&A or nothing.

00:52:21,833 --> 00:52:24,833

But I think now where he's at,

00:52:24,875 --> 00:52:27,875

you know,

and you know what let's talk about,

00:52:28,500 --> 00:52:31,500

you know, why I came to that conclusion,

that conclusion of common

00:52:31,500 --> 00:52:35,291

is the fact of like with these Q&A is

you got to find someone

00:52:35,291 --> 00:52:39,083

who, you know, is the overall like,

who's it going to be?

00:52:39,166 --> 00:52:41,666

Is it going to appeal

not only to our age group,

00:52:41,666 --> 00:52:45,375

but is it also going to appeal

to the younger crowd who's it going to be?

00:52:45,916 --> 00:52:48,833

You know, is this person

going to be insightful in certain things?

00:52:48,833 --> 00:52:50,708

And I think common

00:52:51,708 --> 00:52:55,125

from the way I see common is the fact

that, you know,

00:52:55,125 --> 00:52:59,083

he literally has grown in our eyes

from every single.

00:52:59,125 --> 00:53:03,916

If you really look at his collection

of music alone, I mean, he went from,

00:53:04,541 --> 00:53:07,708

you know, being a, you know,

and he admitted he went from being a total

00:53:07,708 --> 00:53:12,291

drunken, blunt head

to, you know, where he's at any, any.

00:53:12,416 --> 00:53:14,833

And he shows that in every album

you could see the growth

00:53:14,833 --> 00:53:17,291

and the pattern of it

in every single album.

00:53:17,291 --> 00:53:20,541

You know, obviously resurrection

was like a straight up 180 from,

00:53:21,041 --> 00:53:24,041

from his, you know, can I borrow a dollar

and then obviously then,

00:53:24,625 --> 00:53:28,166

you know, he did,

you know, like water for chocolate

00:53:28,708 --> 00:53:29,208

and then,

00:53:29,208 --> 00:53:32,291

you know, then he did Electric Circus,

which is still his most left

00:53:32,291 --> 00:53:33,500

field shit ever.

00:53:33,500 --> 00:53:36,625

And then it's like, but then he came back

with beanie, and then,

00:53:37,083 --> 00:53:38,833

you know, you can see his growth.

00:53:38,833 --> 00:53:42,916

And then obviously becoming an actor

and being a successful actor at that.

00:53:42,916 --> 00:53:47,125

I mean, shit, you know,

where he's at in that position and stuff.

00:53:47,125 --> 00:53:49,000

And then you've also a bestselling

00:53:49,000 --> 00:53:51,208

writer and,

you know, the books that he's put out

00:53:51,208 --> 00:53:55,166

and the message that he still drops in

every single album is so universal.

00:53:55,166 --> 00:53:57,416

It's all about love. Now for like,

00:53:57,416 --> 00:54:00,416

everything he does, you know,

and the last couple of hours so dope.

00:54:00,416 --> 00:54:02,250

I personally think they were great.

00:54:02,250 --> 00:54:04,958

You know, some people might think

they were a little too late to talk.

00:54:04,958 --> 00:54:06,000

I think they were dope.

00:54:06,000 --> 00:54:07,791

And you know, he does this thing.

00:54:07,791 --> 00:54:10,416

He's still doing this, you know, to me

personally, still doing his thing.

00:54:10,416 --> 00:54:13,000

And he's still like he's dropped

freestyles

00:54:13,000 --> 00:54:16,083

lately on leakers and stuff

and he's killed it always killed.

00:54:16,750 --> 00:54:19,791

So I think common

would be like the perfect,

00:54:20,750 --> 00:54:24,000

fit of somebody that we should,

you know, try to bring out here

00:54:24,125 --> 00:54:27,750

as an as a cute

now ahm took it to that real next level.

00:54:27,750 --> 00:54:28,125

He's like,

00:54:28,125 --> 00:54:31,916

well, I just don't want to do a Q

and A, I want to do a Q&A and performance.

00:54:31,916 --> 00:54:34,333

And I'm like, well, yeah, hey, why not?

00:54:34,333 --> 00:54:35,041

You know what I mean?

00:54:35,041 --> 00:54:37,833

And I think common would be that, dude,

it'd be like, yeah, fuck it, let's do it.

00:54:37,833 --> 00:54:40,583

Let's do a Q and A in a performance.

I'm down, let's go.

00:54:40,583 --> 00:54:43,416

So I think comment

would be the perfect fit.

00:54:43,416 --> 00:54:46,791

So I think to get at like JB's

general question

00:54:46,791 --> 00:54:49,791

about raising the bar is like,

00:54:50,166 --> 00:54:52,583

you know, I, I mean, I've been doing

00:54:52,583 --> 00:54:56,750

since I was nine

and it's like I've been a part of like,

00:54:56,791 --> 00:55:01,166

you know, club scenes or like part of hip

hop groups and ciphers and so on.

00:55:01,166 --> 00:55:01,416

Like,

00:55:03,583 --> 00:55:04,250

I think

00:55:04,250 --> 00:55:08,583

all of those things, they're like

the bedrock of hip hop culture and

00:55:10,500 --> 00:55:12,791

I've been done doing them, and I'm cool.

00:55:12,791 --> 00:55:14,541

I'm cool with them,

and I'm gonna go visit them.

00:55:14,541 --> 00:55:17,416

And so but like, that's not where

I'm trying to show improve anymore.

00:55:17,416 --> 00:55:21,416

Like and it's not it's

just like I'm interested

00:55:21,791 --> 00:55:26,750

in things that bring

a, a wide group of people together.

00:55:26,750 --> 00:55:29,750

Because one of the things

that kind of like

00:55:30,625 --> 00:55:34,166

coming through this,

I would say I'm most proud of,

00:55:34,333 --> 00:55:39,375

so to speak, is that as best as we could,

every event we did somehow

00:55:39,416 --> 00:55:42,416

marry the four elements of hip

hop together.

00:55:43,250 --> 00:55:45,833

You know, sometimes all four,

sometimes just two.

00:55:45,833 --> 00:55:48,083

Whatever it was.

00:55:48,083 --> 00:55:51,791

And I think it's kind of

00:55:52,458 --> 00:55:56,750

that's when hip hop is its most dynamic

and most powerful when those things.

00:55:56,750 --> 00:55:59,333

I mean, think about how cap was sharing,

00:56:00,750 --> 00:56:01,791

where these

00:56:01,791 --> 00:56:05,333

words about being a graphic design

artist was so inspiring for him.

00:56:05,541 --> 00:56:06,833

You know what I mean?

00:56:06,833 --> 00:56:10,166

Where it's more than just rapping,

it's more than just like

00:56:10,333 --> 00:56:13,333

when these things get atomized,

they become weaker.

00:56:13,333 --> 00:56:16,333

And so I'm very much interested in

00:56:16,666 --> 00:56:19,541

in like developing

00:56:19,541 --> 00:56:22,375

platforms and spaces and events

00:56:22,375 --> 00:56:25,375

where we're experiencing

these things together.

00:56:25,416 --> 00:56:27,291

You know,

00:56:27,291 --> 00:56:29,791

everybody throws around that like,

you know, hip hop's a culture

00:56:29,791 --> 00:56:31,166

and it's like, yeah, that's right.

00:56:31,166 --> 00:56:32,250

You got to tend to that.

00:56:32,250 --> 00:56:34,166

Like it's a garden,

you know what I mean? You can't just.

00:56:34,166 --> 00:56:37,958

Yeah, it's not just like just words,

you know, like you're

00:56:38,125 --> 00:56:39,916

you have a responsibility to.

00:56:39,916 --> 00:56:44,000

And I think a big reason why,

you know I absolutely we

00:56:44,000 --> 00:56:48,250

we cap and I like sought you guys out

because we saw that you guys found

00:56:48,250 --> 00:56:52,583

something that you had a love

and a passion for hip hop and movies,

00:56:53,208 --> 00:56:56,291

and you were you were gonna,

you know, you weren't just it

00:56:56,333 --> 00:56:59,333

wasn't just a one off kind of thing,

like you were going to, like,

00:56:59,583 --> 00:57:02,583

explore that as as deep

and far as it can go.

00:57:02,666 --> 00:57:04,791

And that's, that's the kind of thing that,

00:57:06,291 --> 00:57:07,958

I'm down to kind of keep pursuing.

00:57:07,958 --> 00:57:10,708

I was like,

oh, this is happening in my backyard.

00:57:10,708 --> 00:57:12,416

I don't even know about it.

00:57:12,416 --> 00:57:15,416

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

00:57:15,541 --> 00:57:16,375

Capsule.

00:57:16,375 --> 00:57:18,833

Oh, I

00:57:18,833 --> 00:57:21,375

it's like I do it too, as far as you.

00:57:21,375 --> 00:57:22,833

Know, in new Jersey. That's crazy.