14. Hotter Than July 4th

On this episode of the Big Dreams Show we talk about whether July 4th has lost its luster, an insane start to NBA Free Agency, BET Awards, and "Spend Dat". You can also look forward to Shoutouts to the Homies, Hold Ya Head, and some leftover mailbag questions. Enjoy fam!

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:38

Yo. What's up, y'all? Today is Thursday, July 7th. Took me a little bit. It's not. Fuck. July 2nd. I'm tripping. I'm already in the future. I might not know what day it is, but I can tell you for sure that this is your boy, Jordan. Big Dreams, Jordan. BDJ. The BDJ. BD from the county. AKA I see the game like Romo. AKA I see the game like Lamar. AKA King of the County. AKA. Hey man, little throwback for the y'all who've been rocking with me for a long time. But this is the Big Dream Show. I'm your host. First and foremost, I hope everyone had a happy, a safe, uh, a good a good week. It's the 4th of July weekend coming up as I'm recording this. So I pray that everyone has a safe and happy, healthy holiday. Happy, healthy holiday. A triple H, if you will. And yeah, I hope y'all staying cool. Cause like I said, it's hot as fuck. It's like 100 degrees outside as I'm recording this joint. So I'm a little, my egg a little scrambled for sure, but I'm grateful. I'm blessed that I get to come in here week in and week out and do this show. Not a lot of stuff to plug by way of extracurriculars. Shout out to my guy Jeffrey Holmes, friend of the program. He had an event last week at Stemin Vine. Is that a bistro? I don't know what to describe Stem and Vine as, but a real dope, if you're in Baltimore, real dope space on Charles Street. They got a bar, they got plants and shit like that. I'm underselling it, but it's a really, really great place, fun, fun spot, cool mine. So he had a live event there that I was able to attend last week. So shout out to him and all the good work going on over there. Shout out to Cash, friend of the program, former guests on the program. She got not this weekend, but next weekend. She got EuphoriaCon coming up on the 11th and 12th of July, if I got those dates right. Also, me and the gang, we're throwing a cookout. Shout out to my brother Juan, shout out to Keys, shout out to all the July 10th boys. We're gonna be throwing a cookout on July 11th at Carroll Park. So if y'all want to come through, want to slide, y'all are more than welcome. Just don't pull up empty-handed. Come with come with something, man. Come with something. It could be food, it could be a bottle, it could be uh an extracurricular activity, it could be a board game, whatever the fuck, but just don't come empty-handed. Really excited to throw a cookout. Really excited to, you know, just be with the family. It's always a good time to be around the family. And it's hot as shit, so I'm sure we all spend a lot more time indoors than we uh projected, but it's gonna be a good time to get out, be around the good people, and yeah, just have a good time. Just have a good time, man. So that's what's going on with me. Really, really feeling the dog days of summer, the middle of the summer, the July to August stretch, if y'all remember. I told y'all for me. I know for a lot of folks summer starts on the 21st or starts whenever the solstice is, but for me, the first day of summer is whenever Memorial Day hits. And the last day of summer is when Labor Day is over. So I'm smack dab in the middle of my summer, even though on paper it just started. Really feeling it, really feeling it. Hope y'all are feeling well. Hope y'all are doing alright. It's it's strange times that we in. This is Charles Dickens really cooked when he said it was the best of times, it was the worst of times, because that was that was one of the most prophetic statements ever made. You've been here for a while. You know that I'm just trying to delay the time I have until I gotta get into these ground rules and we get into the real the real meat and potatoes of the podcast. But if you're not new here, the ground rules there, how we govern everything that's going on, kinda your introduction to me. If you don't know what this show is, if you don't know what I'm about, just some some rules of ceremony, you dig what I'm saying. And I say every single week that I'm gonna pre-record them, and then every week the day the record comes by, and I have no time to pre-record them, or I didn't take time to pre-record them, and I got a good excuse every week. Like it's it's really not that bullshit. It'd be stuff going on. I mean needing to need to handle things that come before pre-recording ground rules, but I also know that in me not doing what I need to do to get them pre-recorded, a lot of a lot of y'all take take comfort in my pain every week of reading these motherfuckers out. So without further ado, I don't know if y'all heard my little shitty drum rule on uh banging on the table. Without further ado, the ground rules of the big dreams podcast. Let me take a swig of my coffee. Get get into it. Ah, me, me, me, me, me. Alright, let's get it, let's get it. So, ground rule number one. These thoughts are strictly my own. They do not reflect the views of any family, partners, affiliates, guests, or associates. Ground rule number two. We use vulgar language here. I say bad words. I think I said fuck already. If I didn't say fuck already, I just said fuck just now, and I just said it again, and I'm about to say it again. Fuck. So just so you know, bad words are used here. Also, I throw I throw some ums and things in there. I think in my earlier days as a podcaster, content creator, I was more opposed to it because I was thinking who wants to hear someone say um and err and all the all the strange random noises we make. For the sake of this show though, I do like the ums just because they show that actually thinking about the stuff that I'm saying before I say it. So it's a it's a good little pause. Hey. That brings me to rule number three. So follow me. Follow me, meaning that if you don't pay attention, you'll get lost in the sauce. As you can see already, I kind of started to go all over the place and what I was talking about, it already started. So Yeah, just just have an understanding of that. Have a have an understanding of my brain and my mind go everywhere. So if you're not actively listening and actively paying attention to the shit I'm saying, you may get lost in a in a metaphor or me trying to say some slick shit or or brand some ideas together. So yeah, that's all. Follow me. Not literally, but ideologically. Is that is that the word? Regardless. Number four, on that same token, tell me if I'm tripping. So the mailbag, shout out to last week's mailbag episode, everyone that contributed. And we're gonna do a a mini mailbag at the end of this episode because I got a lot of responses after I already recorded. So I want to make sure that those folks that sent in additional questions, I want to make sure that we address those. But I also got some DMs and some some conversations. It was either Trey or Dre. I think it was I think it was Dre. But someone I made the point last week. The question was asked by Trey about what can what can we do to change the the reality and the perceptions of a lot of the youth in Baltimore because and you know it's in Baltimore, but it's also across the nation, the whole Hawaiian thing, and kids are destructive and this and that, like what can we do to circumvent that? So one hit me on the DM with a a program that the mayor is actually launching to keep kids active, keep kids out of the street, give that give kids something to do. So as much as we want to be critical on not only this platform, but in our lives of the things that were being presented, the things that we're seeing, we also want to be fair and we want to give acknowledgement and respect when we see the shit that we're complaining about coming to fruition or the shit that we don't think is there when we see it actually in action. So want to give flowers for that. I'm trying to think if there were any other mail-bag responses or questions or comments, but the main point being, I'm human just like you, I'm accessible. If you don't know no other way to get in contact with me, in the link to every episode, there is a voicemail link. You can both text that number if you don't, if you're shy and don't want to have your voicemail, or you can call that number directly and leave a voicemail the same way that I did the mailbag last week, and I'm gonna do a mailbag today, as well as in previous episodes where I played voicemails either at the top of the episode or within the episode. Yeah, if you reach out and talk to me, I'm I'm reading, I'm listening, I'm hearing you, I'm responding. And if you got something that you want to say about the show or to contribute towards the show, there are multiple avenues for you to do that. Number five, because we're still on the goddamn ground rules, of course. Number five, help this thing grow. If you like what I'm doing, you support what I'm doing, you support me as a voice, as a creative, like this podcast, share it, rate it five stars, review it, show me pictures of you listening to it, tag me. Also, opportunities. I think that's something I haven't said before, but I'll say it now. And there are opportunities for me that you think will make sense to help the podcast grow or help me to grow personally, whether it be a public speaking opportunity, consulting. Someone wants to start a podcast and you think you like what I'm doing and think I'll be a good mentor for them. Whatever it may be, all of this is about it's about me growing this thing and me growing as much as I can. But I don't I don't see a sense in me doing any of the shit I do, whether it be podcasts, whether it be general communications and media shit, whether it be nonprofit work, whether it be just me getting fly for the day. If ain't it ain't helping no one else outside of myself or contributing towards a a larger goal of black liberation, of self-sustainability, of sovereignty, then it ain't really no point in doing it. So yeah, help me grow, help us grow. Help, let's figure out how we can partner, let's figure out what I can do to put money, attention, love, craftsmanship, whatever it may be. Let me let me figure let's figure out how I can bring that to you, and then in turn, you help me to grow this thing and grow the things I love, and we'll all be better off for it. Last but certainly not least, I bumped the microphone, I hope y'all hear that. Last but certainly not least, ground rule number six, do your research. Do your research, do your research, do your research. Don't let the things I'm saying or anything you hear on this podcast be the end-all be all of where your knowledge on a subject stops. It's cool if it's to start. Back in the day, I'm a little older at this point, but when I was in school, they used to always tell us Wikipedia was not a source. The thought being let Wikipedia be an introduction and learning some shit or getting some information, but also look at the sources within the Wikipedia, look at alternative sources, direct sources, indirect sources, secondary, primary, all that type of shit. Long story short, I know a lot of shit about a lot of shit, but I'm in no way, shape, or form expert on a lot of subjects I speak on. There are folks who spent their whole career, their whole lives learning and studying and speaking on the subjects that I speak on. So if something that interests you or piques your your curiosity in any kind of way, go do more research on it. It's okay. I think that I think that one of the things we lost in this era where we're so focused on results and we're so focused on production and creation, we kind of lost that dream of curiosity of learning something just to learn it because you enjoy it. Or I used to have days as a kid where I would sit on the computer all day, and it wasn't because I was looking at porn, I would sit on the computer all day and sit on Wikipedia or go to different websites and just learn as much as I can about the most mundane shit. I would learn about Mega Man, because I like the Mega Man game, and I would study all the games, and this one came out this year, and then this happened, and this happened with the studio, and I was the creator, and they did that spin-off, and this the history of Capcom that created the prop, like that type of shit. Just for the love of the game and the love of curiosity, I think that and us always trying to put outcomes and end results on the shit that we're doing, we take away a lot of what makes it enjoyable in the first place. So long story short, do your research. For better or for worse, research the shit that you think is interesting, the shit that is cool, and also research the shit that you know is essential to you living as an adult, as a human being, as a as a well-rounded motherfucker in this society. Well that being said, thank you for the ground rules. Let's talk. So I want to start us off this week on something that's a little more serious. The Fourth of July. The Fourth of July. I feel I feel weird. I feel weird this year with the Fourth of July coming out. You might be thinking why or wonder, like what's wrong with the 4th of July? Well it's not it's not necessarily that nothing is wrong with the 4th of July. But it's strange to it's strange to be in this era now where I think previously, I think when we were younger, we were we were more patriotic. And this could be an overgeneralization, this could be just me speaking out of time, but from my perspective, this is the truth that this is the truth I feel. We used to be real patriotic, we used to be real indoctrinated to the American way. I know for me growing up, I loved the Fourth of July. I knew somebody was cooking out. I was gonna have a red, white, and blue polo and some some white showheads. He wasn't gonna stop that. I I to this day I still like a good red, white, and blue polo, but it it was a little more stars and stripesy in the day. But as time goes on, as we learn more, as we become through our research, as we become more familiar with American history, at least for me, from my perspective, it feels harder and harder to celebrate the Fourth of July, Fourth of July in the same kind of way. And the president, he didn't he isn't doing anything to make people like us feel any more patriotic by constantly just attacking and passing laws and t tailing back regulations that that make our standard of living even harder and even worse. See, I'm just I'm conflicted. It ain't the same kind of juice. For single to Mayo, we was up. And when I say up, when I say we, I'm I'm talking specifically about black people. Single to Mayo, we was up, we was outside. You dig what I'm saying? Fucking Juneteenth, of course. We was up, we was outside concerts and cookouts and parties and this and that. So Fourth of July, don't it don't got that same kind of juice to me. It might, if we compare in Independence Days, if we haven't a uh Independence Day off I think number one, I guess technically, is Easter Independence Day and E Independence Day technically, because it's independence from the the sins of man. I I don't know, that might be a little a little too far-fetched, but regardless if you put Easter on there or not, Fourth of July is coming in third or fourth on the on the list of Independence Days, and this is something I've been seeing for years, back in the day. Me, Jack, and Menace, shout out to Menace, one of my one of my favorite rappers from the city, and just a hilarious dude. I hope you're doing well. We did an episode post-Single to Mayo in 2022, 2023. And I remember asking, so is 12th of July was because of Single DeMayo. And that was years ago, you get what I'm saying? So it's even it's even more now. I guess we'll see. If we had a if we had different people leading the country, I'm sure there would be more gas for America turning 250 years old. It is a big milestone. It's also crazy as shit to think that America is only 250 years old. That's not that's not old at all. Like in the grand scheme of shit, when you think about China, for example, who's been a nation around for thousands of years, like literally have errors and dynasties and dictate shit like that. When you think about Yeah, a nation like Iran, which is another ancient nation. It's a lot, it's a lot to grapple with. It's a lot to grapple with. I hope that you take some time in the next couple days to interrogate your your thoughts around America, your thoughts around the Fourth of July, if you haven't already. There's a real good documentary. I think it's called The Thirteen Colonies, I could be wrong, but it's Ken Burns. Oh, it's I think it's called the American Revolution, actually. But it's Ken Burns, who is a famous documentary and famous filmmaker, and he has a documentary on PBS. You might be able to find it on YouTube, but he has a documentary on PBS talking about just the founding of America, the history of America, and a lot of the myths and legends that we're told from Christopher Columbus, who wasn't even a real person. Christopher Columbus, that we know is a fictional character from a fictional story. That's not how we know that's not how America was founded because there are people here already. But the story that we're told, the narrative that also is some shit that hasn't happened or never happened, so shit like that. Interrogating the fact that George Washington had slave teeth in his mouth and that Martha Washington was a a tremendous slave owner that had 300 plus slaves. The fact that Thomas Jefferson was fucking on slave women, and I'm saying fucking, but even that is debated, if you get what I'm saying. I don't want to speak too vulgar and I don't I want to at least you know honor and do justice to the memories of of those ancestors who have preceded us for sure. But yeah, and we learn so much about these founding fathers and so much about fucking Abraham Lincoln who wanted a separate society, wanted to send all the black people to Liberia, only did the shit as a power tactic of freeing the slaves to get one up on the on the on the Confederacy. And then when you learn about post-Reconstruction, that's another documentary I recommend. I think it was called Reconstruction, it was by PBS. And if you don't know, Reconstruction was the time in between the ending of slavery and when did Reconstruction kind of end? Probably in the 1920s, 30s, 40s type of shit. I know there were multiple Reconstruction periods, but the long, long and short of it is Reconstruction was the time after slavery where black people were advancing, they were creating societies and creating a way for themselves for the first time. While at the same time, you had the white slave owners, the Confederacy, the people that literally seceded from the United States. So literally separatists, literally traitors, literally enemies of the state. Once the Civil War happened and ended, through the Abraham Lincoln being assassinated and his running mate, I can't think of whose running mate was at the time, who became the president after him. So a more historically inclined person shout to you. Let me I could try to look the motherfucker up, but it's hard to look up shit and talk at the same time. But let's see, who was Abraham Lincoln's running mate? I know it wasn't Jefferson Davis, he was the leader of the Confederacy. Abraham Lincoln running mate. Well, um Abraham Lincoln. Hannibal Hamlin. That's not what that's not who I'm looking for. Hannibal Hamlin. I don't I don't know shit about Hannibal Hamlin. He had a cool name, though. Shout out to Hannibal Barker. If you know, you know. James Buchanan, is that who I'm looking for? James Buchanan. Preceded by, succeeded by. Alright, so I'm still trying to look it up. But the long and the short of it is I just need to know who the 17th president of the United States was. But the long and the short of it was Abraham Lincoln was elected. He was a northerner. You know he's from Chicago, showing and so forth. His running mate was a man from the South. And I'm gonna look his name up. I'm gonna find it eventually. But his running mate was a man from the South because it was thought of Andrew Johnson. Okay, boom. Andrew Johnson. So it was thought of that since Abraham Lincoln was this guy that represented the North, and we're trying to keep the Union together, which is held together by fucking string and duct tape at this point, because half the motherfuckers want slaves, half the motherfuckers don't want to say they want slaves, but they still want some form of servitude, sometime, some form of motherfuckers that gotta follow them. So Abraham Lincoln gets Andrew Johnson, Southern guy is like an appeal to kind of split the vote between the North and the South. Abraham Lincoln gets assassinated. After Abraham Lincoln gets assassinated, Andrew Johnson is now the president. This this Southern guy is the president. And what Andrew Johnson did was he pardoned the former members of the Confederacy. And these men who, again, betrayed the United States, succeeded, starting a whole civil war. When, you know, you always hear it was brothers fighting brothers and fathers fighting sons and shit like that. These men were pardoned. And they were allowed to go back to the South and they were allowed to enact the same kind of power that they had just without slaves. So if you were, I feel like my accident was just strong with that. If you I feel like that shit was just that was out of control there. If you own slaves, right? You own slaves, you went to war, you lost the war, but then you were pardoned and absorbed of all your crimes, and then you came back to your plantation and you seen these niggas building their own shit, having their own, their own life and way, you're not gonna take that well, and you face no repercussions for the gravest sin outside of slavery itself, probably the gravest. In in American history, you're gonna wild out too. So a lot of the things that were established during Reconstruction by these black folks were destroyed, you know, they were lynched, they were murdered, they were raped, they were killed, they were beaten, all these things by just because these these people dared to try to get ahead and dared to try to try to make a way for themselves. So that's the history we're talking about. That's the country we're talking about. And then there was a, you know, there were two reconstructions. So there was another wave, and that's where you hear about places like Orangeburg, Spartanburg, that's where you hear about places like Tulsa. We hear about Tulsa a lot, Black Wall Street. There were actually numerous Black Wall Streets all throughout the country. They were destroyed, they were burned to the ground. So this is the same country was then a hundred years or so later, you got the civil rights movement. And now, what are we eighty or so? Eighty, give or take, years past the civil rights movement, and we're still dealing with the same shit in a different form. So yeah, I'm conflicted. I'm always conflicted. I'm taken back, I'm always taken back to Frederick Douglass. And if y'all don't know about Frederick Douglass outside there, he had a a funky little funny little afro and he said some speeches sometimes. Frederick Douglass at the time of his life was the most famous black man in America. Frederick Douglass at the time of his life, he was real smart and manipulating media, so he made a he made a vow that he was gonna be the most photographed man in America. So his legacy would always endure. Why am I talking about Frederick Douglass? Why does that matter? Because to close out the 4th of July topic, I got I got some some homework for you. I want you to go out of your way and look up, listen to whatever's the easiest Frederick Douglass speech, What to a Slave is the Fourth of July. So that speech is long story short, that speech is about okay, everybody's celebrating, all these white people are happy. It's the 4th of July. It's freedom, it's independence. We're independent, it's independence day, literally, from Great Britain, is what we're calling it. But I'm still a slave. And the same people that are celebrating, lighting off fireworks that are are so turned up and so gung-ho. These motherfuckers want me in bondage. You know what I'm saying? They want they wouldn't they wouldn't care if I was dead. They wouldn't care if I was gone away from here. So listen to that, listen to that speech. Go out your way to to look that up. I know we're gonna listen to you, we're gonna talk about, we're gonna do some ignorant shit, some ratchet shit this weekend. But Fred Douglas, he said it. The 4th of July is yours, not mine. It's yours, not mine. Wood to a slave is the 4th of July. So y'all enjoy that. Y'all enjoy that and really sit and really interrogate what the fuck is the 4th of July for black people in the United States in 2026? What is it? What does it look like? What does it mean? You know, love and respect everyone that sacrificed themselves in hopes of uh of a brighter future and a better day. I pray your sacrifices weren't in vain. I pray that the whether it be that you physically sacrificed yourself and were murdered, we're a victim of white supremacy, or if your sacrifices look like you gotta work 60 hours, 70 hours in a system that's not designed for the success of you and your babies. Like all love regardless. So, yeah. Good old 4th of July talk. Good old 4th of July. Talk another summer tradition. We had the BT Awards. Crazy transition, right? But we had the BT Awards. Shout out to Drusky, Druski hosted. I didn't watch them, I'm gonna be honest with y'all. I was watching, I was watching wrestling. It actually was a weekend where there were four wrestling events in three days. So me and Taji, shout out to Bro. We was locked in. JWE, NXT, AEW, TNA, whole whole bunch of wrestling. A whole bunch of good wrestling too. But I say that to say I didn't see the BET Awards in full. I saw clips. I saw Druski doing some of his skits. I saw Kiki Palmer say I need to be hosting this motherfucker. And I agree with you. I think Kiki Palmer, I think she was smoke hosting the BET Awards. Honestly, hopefully they they run that route next year. And Kiki, if you're listening by some chance and you want to be a guest on the Big Dream show, you're more than welcome. I'm really a fan of your work. But yeah, I wonder. Do we need this might be a stupid question, but do we need more award shows? Like, was y'all rocking with the BET Awards? I would love to hear. Hit the voicemail line to hit some. I would love to hear how y'all felt about the BET Awards. It seemed like the production value was higher this year from the clips I've seen. It seemed like everything was was on point, but it also used to be an event, you know. It used to be some shit where you would look forward to it. A lot of when I talked to my friends about it, they were like, well, we didn't even know it was happening, or I didn't even know it was on, or I don't got no plans of watching it. So, real interested about that. Real interest. I know that there's also been some controversy around the viral, viral single Spin That by Young Miami for my money song of the summer. Love that joint. Real, real big fan. Where all my scamming ass niggas at for sure. But yeah, the controversy is people feeling like kind of the same old argument. And I don't want to say that on some downplay type shit, but the same old argument of is this promoting negativity? Is this bad for our community? Is this poison? Like this song being as big as it is and as important as it is. I know India I re spoke out against it. One one of the ladies from Browstone, unfortunately, forgive me, I forgot I don't know your name off the top of my head. But Browstone, a legendary RB group, I'm not, me not knowing your name is not in no way discredit the impact that you made, the songs that you created, none of that shit. I'm just a I'm just a young man on a hot day with a lot of coffee and so I ain't gonna always hit 100% from the field. When that being said, I'm not here for it. I'm not here for the spin-net, the spin that controversy. I'm not here for that. Not in this era at least. It seems like the same argument kind of comes up time and time again when it comes to rap and hip-hop, and I I'm not gonna say that that's not valid, of why do we endorse shit that negatively promotes that promotes negative stereotypes in our community? How are the children being affected by hair, like scamming and robbing is the is the place to go. I always land more firmly in the camp of in the words of Jay-Z, Scarface the movie, than more than Scarface the rapper to me. I land more so in that camp. But I'm also a grown-ass man, you know. I've also grown up and not known a time where hip-hop was a thing. But every generation can't say that. So it's a little different for me. I I feel like all these rappers are lying. The ones that aren't lying, I I don't want to be like them. I might I might see things honorable in different aspects of the way they carry things, whether it be loyalty, whether it be getting fly, whether it be getting money, having a relentless work ethic. But yeah, these rappers are not are not role models in these songs or fixture, as far as I'm concerned. I also do wonder if this is some shit that just happens eventually, because in the 90s they were saying the same shit like 30 years ago, when my parents were my age and they were the target consumers and they were Snoop Doggy Dogs talking about 187 on motherfucking cops and people going to court saying that Chupac lyrics influenced them to shoot at people and to do all this shit. You got Uncle Luke and the motherfuckers pop that Pussy Duty Brown just wildin' out, I want to rock right now. So these negative things in hip hop are not nothing new. And I think the same kind of controversy popped up when WAP came out with Cardi B and Meg the Stallion, if you if you forgot. I think the same kind of controversy popped up then, but I'm curious. Again, this is where I want to lean on y'all, I want to lean on my community, I want to lean on my people. Like, is this another instance of that same shit or is this different? Is it I I would love to know the numbers if someone could do a report on the the rate of scamming, why the whether scamming and boosting have have gone up significantly after this all release. Because um, my my big statement, my big thought is is always this, and again, I'm more than willing to be challenged on it. It's always that the music or the art or whatever it is is a reflection of the society that's created there. So I always feel like rappers and just artists, just creatives are holding up mirrors to the shit that they're seeing, they're holding up mirrors to the life that they experience. So it's always harder for me to throw that criticism at the artist versus the society or circumstances that existed to lead the artist to make that art. You get what I'm saying? So but I wanna I want to know. I want to know about it. For me, like I said, for for all intents and purposes, that's that's song of the summer, outside of anything that Drake made. I've been bumping human nature a lot too. I'm not gonna lie to y'all. They got the when you look for it, real, real gym. They got human nature, the live performance on Apple Music. If you got Apple Music, they got the whole 1988 Michael Jackson Wembley Stadium concert on that bad boy. So I've been running that human nature, 1988 Wembley Stadium into the ground, that, a couple Drake songs, Hotel California by the Eagles, and spend that. That'd be my summer rotation right now. For me, I think it's just a harmless song. And me saying it's harmless, it doesn't negate that there is possibly or probably harm being done. So would love to love to hear more thoughts on that. And would wonder what it will look like, what does music look like, or who are artists that we feel like champions the shit that we wanna wanna see and want to hear. I would think Kendrick Lamar is one of them, folks. He he ran into some controversy. Not even he didn't even run no controversy. Lupe Fiasco was talking shit. Lupe said there are hundreds of better lyricists than Kendrick. He said he's not basically more or less he's not that great of a lyricist, but he's a great artist. I don't know if I agree with that. I would think there are hundreds of people who rap better than Kendrick Lamar in the year of our lord 2026. I just don't believe and agree with that. But Lupe, it can be argued, I wouldn't argue it, but it could be argued that Lupe is one of those lyricists that does rap better than Kendrick Lamar. Lupe Fiasco is a great rapper, one of the greatest of all time. I've never taken that away from him. I don't understand the same fascination. Maybe they got long-standing beef that I just I'm just not aware of. But I don't understand, it just seemed like a random shot to take, you feel me? Uh especially because Kendrick been quiet for the most part since GNX, since the Super Bowl, since he's been kind of quiet. So I don't know what all that's about. And again, I can't name a hundred lyricist better than Kendrick Lamar. Unless you want to have the fucking the fucking debate of, oh, some of the best rappers I never heard, I ever heard, or you'll never hear, type shit. Like, okay, bro. I'm sure it was a nigga in Chicago in 1993 who was a better lyricist than you, Biggie, Kendrick, and I don't know, Scarface, Fourth Man, whoever the fuck combined. But that don't really do no good here. I'm sure it's a nigga that hooped better than LeBron. Like, I'm sure that nigga can dribble his ass off. Some nigga in Ohio. LeBron probably like, yo, he was the greatest player I ever seen. Shit, we seen it with uh with Old Boy. We seen it with Lenny Cook. Old Boy, who was a number one high school prospect, and LeBron came in and took his lunch money. What I'm saying is, it's hard to compare people who are not on the same arena and not on the same stage. That's how I feel about it. Cause it's one thing to be the best lyricist in the world, but shit, that nigga, even if he's not in the world, he's the best lyricist to ever perform in the Super Bowl. You get what I'm saying? Like it's it's scale, it's scale involved with all this shit. And we try to ignore that it's not for our favorites. We try to bend rules and act like the nigga who is doing this shit at a at a different level is just as good as the other one, or just as or would be, but when you move up to different levels and you move up to different scales, you got different constraints and you got different things value. That's Jay-Z said He rap like common sense, you feel me? Like being the best rapper is not the same as being the being the best artist and all these things that come into it. So yeah, man, that shit, that shit just really That shit really really took me off guard though, because I wasn't expecting that. I feel like Lupe don't really say shit. So for him to come out and and see that, my hope is that music comes behind it with all that shit for real. Like, I hope music comes behind it. That's the best way to prove the shit, but yeah, shout out to them guys. Another rapper who is somewhat controversial. And we're not gonna spend too much time on it, because I think I talked about last week, I talked about Jay-Z at Target, but with that reasonable doubt, the reasonable doubt re-rock, not the joint from not the joint from Target, but on Apple Music, if you type in Reasonable Doubt, I'm lying. On Apple Music, if you type in Jay-Z, you get Jay-Z no doubt, which is a DJ mixed by a guru, my young guru. And for my money, that's how you handle a 30-40 year old project. That's how you pay homage. So the reasonable doubt, no doubt, the no doubt joint is It's like director's cut. It's like a director's cut of the album. So you got all these different sound bites filled in of different people from different phases of Jay-Z's life and what they thought about shit. Then you also got the samples that are sampled in each song. So you got the sound bites about where different people were at during the making of whatever song it may be. Talk about the impact of whatever that song is, mixed in with the sample that is used in whatever that song is. So it's dope, man. It's a really it's just a really dope listening experience. I was talking to I was talking to Saji the other day, and I was like, hearing this shit, it makes me sad for the states of like Big E and Tupac. Cause y'all see how Jay-Z is going, unless you're living in under a rock, but you're just not a hip-hop hit. Y'all see how Jay-Z is rocking with the 30th anniversary of Reasonable Doubt, from sold-out shows in different countries, to uh the Roots Picnic, re-releasing all his music and vinyl record, CD formats, the pop-ups, and merchandise, to this No Doubt joint that I'm talking about, to sit down interviews, and now he's about to do an eight-part series with Rick and Ripman. He's he's running he's running a masterclass on how you build the legend behind a piece of work and build the legend behind a career. He he's running a master a masterclass. All my all my marketers out there, all my artists out there, all my content creators out there. I hope that you're you're taking notes and studying. But the shit that was fucking me up was We know how, we see how Jay-Z is giving it up for 30 years of reasonable doubt and 25 years of blueprint. I'm upset with the estates of Chupac and Biggie, because all lies on me, Chupac's uh double disc album, is also 30 years, 30 years old this year. So it'd be cool to have some of that kind of content coming out on behalf of the estate outside of uh what the what's the biggest shit I've seen him do? Oreo's Chupac Bobblehead. So shit like that. Same thing with Biggie. Not this year, but Life After Death, his double disc album that released around his death. Sorry for laughing. That wasn't a yeah, that wasn't a laugh like it's funny. That was a laugh like y'all niggas talking about death and then y'all die. Y'all gotta chill. The power of the song is is real. But yeah, it's like ah, these estates are not gonna do the shit the way Jay-Z doing the shit. And it's dope as a Jay-Z fan to see all this behind the scenes and all this like honor and tradition being being created. But as fans of other artists who were popping, who were important, who had large impacts during that time, it sucks to know that that level of quality is gonna be reserved for that artist. And that these other guys are not gonna get there due. I would love to see an All Eyes on Me documentary. I know we got the Darren Mama joint on Hulu with Tupac and a Fanny Shakur. One of the greatest documentaries, not just music, one of the greatest documentaries I watched, and I'm biased, of course, but Matt, Tupac the Resurrection, like there is there's stuff. But just to know we're not gonna get a All Eyes on Me with the director's cut and the behind the scenes and the this and that, or no new, no new shit, or it just sucks. It sucks as a fan. And maybe that's maybe that's maybe that's one of the places I love capitalism where I'm asking for a man who two men who've been dead for 30 and 29 years respectively. I'm asking for new content on their behalf, but I feel, at least from my perspective, it's not necessarily a capitalism in me. It's more so I want these great moments and these pillars to have the the love and respect that their craft deserves. Maybe we'll see it, maybe we won't. Who knows? And other news, holy shit, we had a lot of NBA shit go down. I spoke about it last week. I spoke about some guys who were potentially on the trading block. I don't remember if I spoke about the LaMelo ball trade. I think that happened after I finished recording, but just to run it down, right? We had Jalen Brown traded to the Philadelphia 76ers from the Boston Celtics for Paul George. Two first-round draft picks and two second-round draft picks. I'm not looking at it directly. I think that's what the haul was. We had Kawhi Leonard traded to the Raptors, so he's back in Toronto. We had Jabba Rat traded to Portland. We had LaMelo Bar trading to Minnesota. We had LeBron James announced that he will not he will not be returning to Los Angeles. Fuck. We had LeBron James announced that he won't be returning to the Los Angeles. I can't say Los Angeles. LeBron not going back to the Lakers. Shit. LeBron not going back to the Lakers. It's been said that he's looking at the Warriors, the Sixers, the Spurs, the Heat. But I want to talk about this real quick. It's a conspiracy theory. Everything I'm about to say is rule number one. Merely my thoughts, my own thoughts. Also, it's parody, if anybody gets to invest in it. But I'm noticing a trend with our boy Luca Donchis. I'm noticing a trend. I'm noticing that when he goes to places, these these these whites and these Europeans, they they tend to follow. The Lakers just traded for Walker Kessler, center from the Utah Jazz. That's never gonna not gonna make me laugh, the Utah Jazz. They can't even listen to jazz in Utah, I'm sure. But with the trade for Walker Kessler, they signed another, another brother. I can't another brother. They signed another, another white boy. Can't think of what his name is. And they also they already got Austin Reeves, you know, big AR 15. They got Luca. And I'm just noticing a trend with Luca. I'm noticing a trend. And at first I thought it was a Mavericks thing. I thought it was some shit that the Mavericks did, where they just always tend to get these non-black people. But now Luca moved to LA. LeBron is out of there. And that lineup is looking is looking very Boston Celtics. Celtics-y. You get what I'm saying? So I'm not saying, I'm just saying. I don't I don't know. I I I would like I'll be curious to know. I'll put it this way. When Luca Donchez isn't on an NBA court, I would be curious to know what the makeup of his group chats look like. And what what topics they cover in there. That's all I'm saying. I I don't want to say too much. I don't I don't know who might hear this. I don't know where this podcast might go. I'm a I'm a fan of I'm a fan of the guy. I appreciate his game. He's a he's a bucket getter, been a bucket getter. Uh the Slovenian bad boy. But all I'm saying is when Luca come to town, their start lineup started to look at they start to change a little bit. That's all I'm saying. They start to change. Take from that what you will. Jabberat to Portland. Let's let's go through some of these other news though. Jabberat to Portland. I don't I guess. They got a lot of fucking guards in Portland. They ain't they not really gonna win shit up there. I guess he's the best dunker, the most exciting player they had since Clyde Drexler. I know they had Brandon Roy, but Brandon Roy, that wasn't really his game, being above the rim like that. I don't know. We'll see. I think that's one of them temporary deals. You know, in the NFL, when you got a motherfucker like Deontay Johnson, where he was on the uh Panthers, and then he went to the Ravens, and then from the Ravens, he went to I want to say the Eagles. Or the Texans, one of them. But he long story short, he ended up on a lot of different teams, was very talented, but has a reach's full potential due to some personal things that may be going on. So I I hope that this is a best case scenario. I hope that Ja is the air apparent, the Dame Lillard in Portland, and he's able to take the franchise by the horns and make them a destination. But in real life, it's just a nasty random trade. It's just who want me, who got the mando for me. That's all that is. So yeah, we'll we'll see how that saga plays out. I don't think I talked about LaMelo ball to Minnesota, but if I didn't, if I did, then fuck it. I'm excited for that one. Just cause. I'm excited to see Lamello in a different Lamello ball in a different circumstance, a different different situation where you are expected to play winning basketball when you do have one of the best players. In a game next to you. But also, they both goofballs. Like they they make poor decisions. Maybe it's youth, maybe it's just being rich, maybe it's being lit since you're a young nigga. I don't I don't know. I'm not in a position. I I do a podcast, I'm a humble man. But I'm excited to see how that dynamic plays out. At the bare minimum, we're gonna get some hilarious shit. Just some funny post-game press conferences. One of my favorite Lamello ball moments, not even related to basketball. But y'all know I'm a wrestler fan, duh. He was on Monday Night Raw, him. I think it was him, Jell-O and LaVar Ball. They was on Monday Night Raw on Day Day one week. And Lamello just kept yelling, beat that nigga ass, beat that nigga ass. And it was not censored. It wasn't, it's not that kind of show where you can just yell out shit like beat that nigga ass. But Lamello kept yelling out, beat that nigga ass, beat that nigga ass. And it was one of my favorite moments. It was hella endearing. So shout out to LaMelo Ball. Shout out to Ant. Always good for some ignorant shit. A real Atlanta nigga. Zone 6. I still think he ends up in Atlanta at some point. If not Atlanta, I think he ends up leaving Minnesota. But shit, the Timberwolves price were the same way. So they said, shit, we gotta get Julius Randle out of here. We want to keep you for the long haul, bro. Let's get Julius Randle the fuck up out of here. So I'm noticing. Kawhi to the Raptors is kind of crazy because that's the only place he didn't burn a bridge at. Kawhi was hooping last year when he wasn't hurt towards the end of last season. Kawhi Leonard was looking like Kawhi Leonard. And the Raptors are a good team, a good young team. Real excited. Real interested to see how a conversation between him and Scottie Barnes would go. But other than that, they they definitely are a contender. The Raptors move and Jalen Brown to the Sixers for Yo, that Sixers just starting lineup. I don't know who about to be there for. But that lineup of having fucking Maxie, VJ, Jalen Brown, and then a beat at the five when you got him. That's a squad. That's a squad that can really do damage in the East. The East is is I was about to say low-key. He's not even low-key hockey. The East got it right now. The East is tough. The Knicks are the Defending Champions, and they hooped. They just they lost Mitchell Robinson. I saw they re-signed Landry Shamit. And I I'm sure they made some other moves. I think somebody signed an extension. Either McCal or OG. I think one of them signed an extension. But long long story short. Short short story less long. This is this is a crazy fucking free agency. And LeBron, the big Joker, the big, the big Domino. Domino's got size. The big whatever the fuck, the big homie. Yeah, it's we still don't know when LeBron is going. There's still a mystery around that. We still don't know when LeBron James is gonna be playing basketball at this time next year. That's crazy. That's crazy. Even at 40, what, 42 years old? Even at 42 years old, he's still one of the greatest players of all time, and he's still one of the best players in the league. He he's not on that top end, top tier. He's not LeBron where he can come in and single-handedly make you a finals contender. But we seen it with the Lakers, and we're gonna see it again wherever he goes, I assume. LeBron as your second, third option, it's hard to beat that. He don't gotta be number one. You know what I'm saying? He don't gotta be going in every night putting up 30, 10, and six. Like he don't gotta do that type of shit. But LeBron is your second option, able to fill in, or your third option, or off the bench running with the second unit, or whatever it may be. Because he said this, he said this play right here is all about being happy. This play right here is all about lifestyle. He said it's not about the same kind of shit it was about before when you're trying to get the most money or chase the biggest bag, because for all intents and purposes, I don't even know how much a ring at this point changed LeBron's legacy, because that takes him to what five? He got two with the Heat, one with the Cavs, and one with the Lakers. So I would put him at five and we got another ring, which would tie with Kobe. Now, if he goes to the Warriors, that's a little bit of a different scenario because then him and Steph's their legacies kind of cast each other out after this point. Not to say they have even legacies now, because LeBron is LeBron is different. LeBron's different. But to say that a lot of the debates kind of get mucky if they team up. I think it would be cool to see though, and I don't I don't think they would get a ring. But it'll be cool to see LeBron and Steph Curry on the same theme. I can see I don't know if I see LeBron go back to the Heat, because I know the Heat demand a lot out of you in terms of your body, in terms of your your fitness, your nutrition. I know LeBron is one of the best, if not the best, we've ever seen at the the mental and the outside the arena part of the game. But at 40 something, 41, 42, I don't I don't know how much you want to hear from Eric Sposter. I don't know how much you want to hear from Pat Riley about what you need to be doing, what you don't need to be doing. So I don't know about the I don't know about the heat. I can see the Warriors for sure. I can see the Sixers forcing it. Because I I said earlier, I don't know, gonna play four for them. Shit, LeBron can play that. I don't know. That feels real super duper ring chasey and real clout chasey. Him going to OKC would be nasty. I wouldn't like that. That would feel super clout chasey to me. Spurs would feel a little clout chasey. But also that would just be crazy to see. I don't think he goes to the Spurs. Yeah. We'll see. Cleveland, of course, is always a possibility. LeBron going home for LeBron going to the Cavaliers for a Thursday, ending his career, the storybook way of the king returns, and we got a good team in the East. We actually might be contenders. James Harden probably telling him, yo, pull up. We'll see. We'll see. Hopefully, I think this is gonna come quick. I think that last time he said he was going to the Lakers, it was like July 4th or July 5th. It was around this time, so I don't think he drags it out too long, but hey, who knows? He's LeBron fucking James. He can kind of do what he wants at this point. So yeah, that is your Big Dreams NBA talk. Perk, big perk, holler at me, Steven A. You don't gotta holler at me. You won't try to talk over me. But yeah, shout out my real ball knowers out there, man. Where all my ball-knowing ass niggas at? Putting that stat putting them stats in your bag. Let's get to it. Let's get to it. Hold your head for the week of July 2nd, 2026. We got quite the list of people that need to hold their motherfucking head. Sticking with the NBA. Let's go to Malik Beasley. Malik Beasley is in the process of being indicted. Yeah, I hope I said that right. For gambling charges where he was betting on his he was batting on himself. Footage has been dropping since this news came out of him just flagrantly acting in his own interest against what was going on with the team. Like this nigga going out grabbing rebounds when no rebounds need to be grabbed to hit the line and a lot of a lot of fulgited shit like that. So how'd you hit a Malik Beasley? You guilty as fuck, bro. I'm sorry. I never want to see a black man go down. I don't want to see a black man become part of the system. Like, I don't know, no, not under no circumstances. Cause if you you out here raping and killing and wild, no, you you gotta go. Like you gotta sit down. But most interesters, I don't want to see nobody end up a part of the system. But Malik, you you guilty as shit, bro. You guilty as shit. I remember when you was playing, like actively playing, and you was doing the wild shit that you're doing, niggas was like, yo, Malik Beasley gotta be putting money on the games. Cry to find out you really was putting money on the games. And you was in a group chat with it. Uh shout out to group chats being the downfalls of many men. Pooh Shicey, hold your head. You already in jail. We already spoke about first day out dropping, and then you proceeding to rob Gucci at gunpoint to get released from your deal. The group message leaked for Pooh Shicy. He said he needs six thirties, six certified steppers to handle Gucci man, and niggas, niggas, niggas put their hand up in an abundance, like somebody asked him to lead the snack line in elementary school. I never seen no shit like that. Young niggas, yo, please don't throw your life away. Please don't crash out on no dumb shit. Like, like please, I know crash out will become a colloquial term now. I know it's been co-opted, and people, nigga, get a fucking hangnail or stub they toe, and it's like I'm about to crash out. Like, I'm not talking about like that. I'm talking about the real deal. I'm about to throw my life away type shit. Yo, please don't. Please don't. Pull shicely, man. Fuck man. You hate to see it. You hate to see it. Hold your head, pull shicty. Still a great first day out, but goddamn, poor. Hold your head to B2K. Legendary early 2000s group. B2K. Y'all had a great run. I was a hater when y'all was out. I'm not gonna lie to y'all. I ain't I I think I was a little jealous because I wasn't no singing dancing ass nigga. And I was hating on the singing dancing ass niggas. But in in reality, shout out to the singing dancing ass niggas. They was they was doing their thing. Except for this instance. Because B2K, from what I seen from the clips and what I heard from the homies, y'all boys got spanked. Pretty Ricky did their thing on y'all. Pretty Ricky said, hey, hold up now. I'm about to show y'all something. So shout out to Pretty Ricky. Hold your head up to B2K. Pretty Ricky definitely had some joints back in the day. B2K had some joints too. I ain't gonna say they didn't, but pretty Ricky, Pretty Ricky definitely had some joints. The way people was talking about it, the way the friends and family was talking about it. Next time the Millennium Tour came around with one of them motherfuckers, I might gotta get tickets. Just uh It ain't really my crowd, no. That's the thing. I don't really want to. We'll see. We'll see. But hold your head to B2K. Hold your head to Omarion. Maybe back oh. Omarion, please don't show up on those streams, bro. I know that things are starting to go downhill. I know things are starting to shift for you. You're getting older. But you you know, you you're still a legend. So don't don't go on a stream. Hold your head to Ray J. He got the fight coming up with Orlando Brown. Hold your head to both of them brothers. Ray J got knocked out previously by Super High Fire. Ray J was on some streams getting talked crazy too and saying some crazy things. He had a press conference with Orlando Brown. Yep, like that Orlando Brown from That's Soul Raven from Major Pain from Family Matters, like that Orlando Brown. And the crazy thing is, in like 19, not even 19, let's say like 2004, 2005, if you found out that Ray J, even oh six, if you find out Ray J and Orlando Brown were about to have a boxing match, you would be like, yo, that's that's crazy. That's some shit I kind of want to tune into. I want to see, just see what happens. But in the year of my Lord 2026, it's it's real washed, it's real nasty. I think Orlando is getting paid to take the dive because Ray J got knocked the fuck out by Super High Fire, Amy looking crazy on the streams. So I think this is a PR move to you know engineer yourself, get some get some good faith from who and and what fans are like, oh shit, Ray J knocked out Orlando Brown, that's lit. The fans that are feeling that, uh I don't know if that's who you want, but you know how you live. I told you we got we got a bunch of them this week. Hold your head, the little Wayne. Lil Wayne was set to open a concert, he was set to open a tour. I think the show was in Massachusetts. He knows shows, said he didn't feel well, but then footage came out of him at Michael Rubin's white party. Michael Rubin, you know, owner fanatics, famous also for making meat meal hop like a bunny because he lost the bet on camera. All white party, you know, you know Michael Rubin. If you don't, do some ghouls, but yeah, that's not a good look. That's not a good look, man. You can't play victim and cry about you didn't get the Super Bowl and you don't get the love and the respect that you deserve, and then when niggas actually pay money to see you in concert, you not there, and then it's one thing if you're sick or you actually can't make the concert, but you at the party, bro, you with Michael Rubin, bro. Like bad luck, bad luck, big bro. Bad look. And last but not least, hold your head to present present 49ers wide receiver, possibly future Washington Commanders wide receiver, maybe future XFL, USL, DC, what's my DC team called? DC Guardians wide receiver, Brandon Ayuk. IUK has been very vocal about wanting to get traded from the 49ers. And it probably would have happened if he was less vocal about it. He's been saying he wants to go to the commanders. He's been posting random videos on social media of him just looking kind of kind of not all the way there. I'm not a professional, I don't deal in mental health, but if I were to make a diagnosis, it's some wild shit going on with Mr. I mentally. So yeah, he's looking crazy. Deal probably would have happened if he didn't look crazy, but since he's looking crazy, no deal was happening. But hold your head, because you you costing yourself money right now. And I don't know if you see it, or I don't know if you're just so rich you won't give a fuck, whatever it may be, but right now you gotta chill, bro. You gotta chill. You could have been you could have been on the team by now. So yeah, that's how hold your heads. Last but not least, our last segment of the day, we're gonna do shout out to the homies. A little different, because I got some homies to shout out for sure, but also we got some leftover mailbag questions from last week, so we're gonna get into that and close it out. The first homie we got shout out is is one shot Mars. Bow Wow, formerly Lil Bow Wow, Bow Weezy, Prince of the Old Town. I don't remember what his name was in Johnson Family Vacation, but I know in that Tyler Perry movie he was Byron, you feel me? Shout out to Bob Wow on the tiny desk. It's I like I I say on this podcast again and again, and I probably will repeat it. I like when my legends act like legends. I like when people did great shit or of status. I feel I like when they carry themselves in that way. It got a little ugly for Bob Wow where it seemed like he was going into that Ray J. Orlando Brown Soldier Boy territory of becoming a parody of himself. So to see him get his props for the BT Awards, I think he performed at the BT Awards. I told y'all I didn't watch it, but I think he performed at the BT Awards, Mr. 106 and Punk. To see him get his flowers for his tiny desk performance, and then to really listen and hear, like, nah, Bow Wow really did have hits. It might have fallen off for him around Adulthood. But Bow Wow, Bow Wow had hits, he had a lot of shit. And I didn't necessarily appreciate it as well as I should as a kid, because I was a kid, like he was appearing to me, so I wasn't really looking at this nigga in that in a critical eye, but to do all that he did and accomplish all he did before the age of 15, 16, and then today to still be able to tour off of that music and to still be able to make a viable way for yourself. I can't do nothing but respect it. So shout out to Bow Wow. If you haven't already, check out his tiny desk. I would highly recommend it. A lot of hits, a lot of shit from Bow Wow. I always thought that if Bow Wow, and I don't know how much of this has to do with ghostwriters and shit like that. Like, I don't know how much of his shit he wrote, but if he was writing his shit as a kid, now we know he wasn't, JD and the Brad was, but theoretically, if he is writing his shit from a kid to now, then he should have been the best rapper of all time, just off of like putting them reps in. So he didn't he didn't meet that trajectory. Oh, I think they like me versus it. Definitely seemed like he was heading towards that trajectory, but he ain't hit that, but that it makes him no less remarkable and no less worthy of praise. So shout out to shout out to Bow Wow. Well, I said prayers up to Chris Johnson, CJ2K, former running back of the Tennessee Titans. He also played for the Jets, he also played for the Cardinals, but we don't really talk about that. For my money, maybe the fastest player I ever seen in the NFL. Able to just go zero from 100, take a carry, and take it 80 yards, 90 yards in the blank of an eye. He unfortunately announced that he was diagnosed with ALS, also known as Luke Garrick's disease, and it's just a dehabilitating disease, if I'm not mistaken, it's a disease that attacks the nerves in your body and makes it so that you can't use you lose control of your body for real. Your mind is still intact, your mind is still good. But when he was on Good Money America, he was speaking by directing his eyes to a keyboard, and it's just so startling. He said he showed no signs of the illness. Only thing that happened was his arms got weak, and he got weak, he had weakness in his right arm after being uh like one of the best athletes for his whole life. He had sudden weakness in his arm, kind of looking at it as nothing, and then he was diagnosed with LS, it just ended up progressing through his body to where now he's wheelchair bound. Again, he can only speak using eyes directly at a keyboard. And it's sad, man. It's sad, it's tragic, it's tragic. We hold these these guys up for what they do. Well when the bill comes through and and it's like this is the tool the toll that it takes on you, and I'm not saying that everybody's gonna get ALS, but no one knows what the cause is, but it has been directly linked or theorized to be linked to repeated head trauma. Yeah, so we you know we we hold these guys a high regard for what they do on the field, what they do at the peak, the legacy that they create for themselves. Without I think always fully rationalizing that if you're an athlete, even if you're one of the best athletes, by 35, 40, your best days are behind you pretty much. So that other 20 to 30 years is a lot of times mentally, physically, emotionally, fuck financially, paying for what you did during your playing days. So Yeah, man, just pray just spurs up. Just spurs up for for that, man. Everyone else suffering from ALS, because I know about it from him as a former Ravens player, OJ Bergantz, who have has ALS or had ALS. I'm not sure if OJ Burgantz is deceased. I think that he's still alive. I hope he's still alive, but I'm not sure. I think Steve Atwater is another famous person. I think his name is Steve Atwater, he played for the Saints. He was famous because in their first game after Hurricane Katrina, he blocked a kick that won the Saints the game. And, you know, churned the city up because they had something to rally around after such a collective tragedy. But yeah, man, just prayers up. Just prayers up. So another shout out to the homies who left mailbag questions. We're gonna move it to the end of this here and move to close on our episode. Thank y'all for rocking with me so far. I see the whole stretch. So from DJ from my cousin, cuz oh, like you, bro. He said, I want to hear you speak about enduring family curses and not perpetuating the cycle. So that's a heavy question. And like I said, it's my cousin, so this is something that we actually we talk about a lot. What does it look like to try to change the trajectory of our family? What does it look like to try to lead by example? What? All that type of shit. So I think number one is not, it's gonna be counterintuitive, but not going into any situation or anything in life with the mindset of I'm gonna be the one to change my whole family or change my whole legacy or shift the whole shit. Cause I think that while you have to inherently know that, and you put that kind of pressure on everything you do, you kinda you end up limiting yourself and you end up moving out of fear of that destiny not coming true instead of moving in whatever your God-given shit is to bring it forth. So I say that, not putting it all on yourself to change the legacy. Awareness is a big one. So understanding that shit that you grew up with, shit that you grew up seeing, experiencing, that you thought was normal or was normalized, really understanding like, nah, that's some shit you went through. That's some fucked up shit that you went through. That's some fucked up shit you're seeing, or even if it wasn't necessarily fucked up, like there are better or different ways to do this. So understanding that the way that your family raised you, the ways that you came up, the things that you saw, the way that you spoke, they don't necessarily have to be true to who you are or who you seek to be in the future. Love is another big one too. Moving out of a place of love, moving out of a place of understanding, let people know and understand that the love is not conditional. Letting people understand that the love is not conditional. Letting people understand that no matter what they do, as long as they're putting their their heart into it, as long as they try their best to do this shit, you good. You good with me. Like I don't I don't expect nobody in my family to be anything but who they are, for better or for worse. But I'ma still love you all the same. Now, the actions that you take or the things you do may impact what our individual relationship looks like, but if you fulfill and you feel like you're doing your shit, if it lines up with me, all good. If it don't line up with me, well fuck it. We don't need to we could have a different kind of accord, and a different kind of rapport, but it's still love at the end of the day, and it's still hope. So yeah, you just gotta be real clear and be real intentional. One thing I appreciate about the conversation that me and Jeffrey had a few episodes back outside of financial shit was he he had a piece about visualizing. He had a piece about being very clear and very intentional. This is what I want my life to look like, this is how I want my wife to show up, this is how I want my house to look like, this is how many cars I want to own, so on and so forth. So you need to be have that same level of intentionality with your relationships, I feel, and with your family, I feel. And if and coming to the shit where the vision that you try, the way that you're moving and the vision that you have for yourself is contradicting with how someone sees you or their actions are putting that in jeopardy, yeah, it's time to it's time to re reassess. Ironically, too. So, Corey, shout out to Corey Lowry. You got I gotta get you on the show too. I'm gonna be seeing you soon, though, for the the secret project that we're working on. But Corey also said reevaluate your friendships. And I think it's the same kind of thing. I don't think that we give ourselves or the people we're in a relationship with, whether it be family, friend, romantic, professional, whatever it may be. I don't know if we do a good enough job of checking in and re-evaluating how people change. Now, for me, the relationships that I tend to gravitate towards and the ones that I hold close are the ones that feel effortless throughout different seasons and transitions in my life. But also being very clear that it may be a time where I transition into something else. Like I'm in a different position, a different role. I live somewhere, I do something different, whatever it may be. I don't smoke, I don't drink, whatever the change may be. Evaluating that when I make those changes and them shifts in me or in my lifestyle to become a better version of what I perceive as a better version of me to get to where I need to go, it still needs to line up in that same kind of effortless way. It still gotta be the same love, encouragement, support, and friendships, family relationships. So understanding that, understanding what's serving you, earn your leisure. They talk all the time about assets and liabilities, and I look at the relationships in my life as assets or liabilities. So whatever my risk profile is, whatever liabilities I'm willing to take on, theoretically are gonna change as I get older, as I learn more, as I move through different spaces. So the same way you would balance a stock portfolio, or you would balance a checkbook, or look at your bills at the end of the month and be like, why am I spending on this? Why am I spending on that? The same way I look at my family, my friends, my relationships. Like, if we still pouring into each other, we still good, no matter what the season and time look like. Well, yeah, let's rock out. If it's conflict, if it's not effortless, if it's not easy, and it seems that no work or conversation or shared goal, shared vision, whatever it may be, is gonna bridge that gap, then it is time to look differently, and it is time to move a little different. Alright. The homie Rachel, live from South Carolina, I'll be South Carolina. I hope I didn't mess that up. But her mail-backed topic that she wanted to hear about is me. I don't really know what to do with that, you know. You good people. I know you like a good uh sizzling meal at the Chili's. I know that for sure. You like a good sizzle on the plate. I know you ride hard for for the soccer, hopefully having a good time in the the FIFA World Cup. But yeah, shout out to you, homie. You you good people. Like I really I really appreciate you. It's been a minute since I seen you, and I hope that you're an active listener, because uh when I when I I get shit in the mailbag, I really do speak to it. But yeah, just save me a spot down Myrtle Beach. I gotta I gotta get some B sign in before the end of the summer. So save me a spot down Myrtle Beach, you feel me? Put me on with a good food at, with a with a good motion at, with a with a vibes are strong at. I just hope you're doing well. I see you're getting your masters too. Shout out to the masters guy. Alright, last but not least, we got my brother, Mr. Six Bricks, aka Chris Cassius. Chris asks, is Don Tolliver a rapper or an RB artist? So I'm gonna I'm gonna be that guy. I'm gonna be that guy. Fuck it. I think Don Tolliver is neither a rapper nor an RB artist. Oh yeah, I know niggas' hairs just exploded in the motherfucking career. Like, oh, what you say? Like Clayton Bisbee when they seen he was he was a black man, just hairs explode, like, oh fuck, BD. So, Don Tolliver is an alternative artist. He's alternative, bro. He you can say he's a rapper, because he do do rap shit, but he be real melodic like an RB singer, and he kind of weaves into both. So that's fucking alternative music. That's that's the genre right there. Let me see if there's an actual let me look at the definition of alternative music. Because he is, he's alternative. Because he he blends so the he blends the genres so cleanly that it fits into that. So uh alternative music, a broad umbrella term for styles that originated outside of the musical mainstream. Alternative is now defined by boundary pushing attitude, introspective, or abstract lyrics, and a reliance on independent production. So I would say that Don Toliver fits the criteria. Boundary pushing attitude, yeah. Introspective, kinda, sometimes. Abstract lyrics, absolutely, reliance on independent production. I don't know who we producing Don Tolliver's shit. But hey, and that's just in time. We just hit the buzzer. Help y'all enjoyed episode 14 of the Big Dream Show. I'm always grateful to come in and do this thing, man. Today I was like, I don't know what I'm gonna talk about. I was like, my energy. I feel like I'm not gonna be able to come with a real good episode. It's gonna be short, so on and so forth. But once I got into it, it's one of my favorite episodes. Every episode is one of my favorite episodes, but for different reasons. We'll talk about it on the behind the scenes someday. But yeah, shout out all the homies. Shout out to everybody that contributed to the mailbag. Hold your head to everybody that gotta hold their head. Have a happy, safe, healthy 4th of July weekend. I hope you can get whatever you need, whether that be a fucking good book to read or a plate on the grill or some time at the beach, whatever do something that's gonna feed your soul and keep you going. Because it's a it's a motherfucking marathon out here. Love always.

SPEAKER_01 1:11:06

Like I told you, like before I was freestyling, then I had to go to writing. When I first started, I was writing, I wrote my first song. And now it's like a mix of both. Like one day I might just go in there and just freestyle, just catch it. Another day I might just write some more all I need, it's to the point now, all I need is words. Like, I feel like like if I tell you to give me some words while I rap, I feel like you'll run out of words before I mess up my rap. That's how I feel right now. Try me. In jail with a lock in the sock. I'm just I can just go, you know what I'm saying? I can just go like give me another word. Fireplace. With this Draco, you try to run, you can't escape. Ain't no way, ain't no games, ain't no plan. I'm a man, I'm a grown man, I stand on business, I aim it with precision. Glock on me, shoot till it's empty. Glock on me, shoot till it's ticking. Richard Millie, you know what I'm saying? I just can go like it just, it just is a mindset thing. Took a lot of practice though. Then you got me laughing, so if we was serious, we would have done something.