Higher Learning with Van Lathan and Rachel Lindsay - Glen "Big Baby" Davis and Colorism In the Heights 

Episode Date: June 15, 2021

With the recent release of 'In the Heights,' Van Lathan and Rachel Lindsay welcome writer Angy Abreu to discuss the claims of misrepresentation by the actual Washington Heights community (7:04) before welcoming Glen Davis to clear the air on his recent comments about Kyrie Irving's injury (46:48). Finally, they cover Drake's new album tease and, more importantly, ask: What’s a true freestyle? (1:02:28) Hosts: Van Lathan and Rachel Lindsay Guests: Angy Abreu and Glen Davis Producers: Trudy Joseph and Donnie Beacham Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Yo, yo, yo, thought warriors. What is up? Higher learning is on. It is I, Van Lathen. And it's me, Rachel Lindsay. Rachel. What, what do you mean? What you mean?

You're about to say something. Just jump in your life. No, I wasn't. I was just adjusting in my seat. You're adjusting to you see. I saw you. You had a good weekend. I saw that.

Did you see that? Mm-hmm. On the old Instagram. Did I? Yeah. I had a good 24 hours. You went to Vegas. Voices.

still recovering a little bit. Yeah, your voice, your voice goes through it when you have a good time. I noticed that. Yeah, I can't do it like I used to, apparently. Yeah, it's tough. It's tough. But I had a good time. Celebrating a friend's birthday.

Brian was with me. I saw that. R&B. Yeah. R&B. R&B. Yeah. Took Vegas on.

What about you? Yeah, a good weekend. It was cool. I flew out to New York Sunday, you know, Saturday I was just chilling. Flew out to New York Sunday. I'm here doing some work with Moul and Scott Young and 50 cent. doing some stuff. I noticed something about your Vegas trip.

What, man? No blacks. It was you out there in the white wilderness. And I was looking at this. And I was like, wow. Rache did it. Rates did it. Okay.

And I made up a song, I'm dreaming of a wild. Vegas Just like the one I used Why didn't they let no black people in ship What's going on? I was attending a birthday party

For who? Strom Thurman Yeah Pretty sure he was one of the senators Who What do they call that? Oh my gosh Dixie crap

No no no no no no No what happened When my dad was Oh my gosh Gosh, what do they call it? He didn't vote for your dad. He dissented? No, no.

My dad had a unit was unanimously put through. Really? Yeah. Everybody voted for the judge? Yeah. He ain't, he ain't Kavanaugh up in here. Wait a minute. So everybody voted for the judge.

You mean telling me. Senate confirmation hearings. That's what I was trying to say. So there wasn't one person that was like, this guy's a little prickly for this for this. Unanimity went through. Man, the judge is so accomplished. I could never have a dad like that.

My dad was a small. My dad was a small business owner And I'm very proud of him But see if my dad was a judge If my dad was a judge I would not be the person who I am today Not at all That's not true

Okay So what do you think you'd be like a PK or something? Yeah If my dad was a judge There'd be no way There'd be no way Damn, I called you You didn't call me back

So what, nigger? Okay, first of all Sam Lazy never does that You're saying, you peasant. You don't talk to me. My father's a judge. You don't speak to me. Listen, this is what you do.

This is what you do before you ask me something because my dad's a judge. This is what you do. You go back to Popeyes, you clock in, and you think about how you lost the genetic lottery. You don't talk to me like that. You know what's funny? I used, especially practicing law

and coming up in my dad's footsteps, I never wanted to say my last name. Yeah, so, yeah, I saw you, you looked like you were having a good time in Vegas. In segregation. Well, I mean, if I was there, isn't that a form of integration? Depends. One drop rule. One rate rule. Listen, I was there celebrating somebody's birthday. I wasn't there to critique how many the representation of the birthday party that was there.

That's a very good friend of mine. I was happy to celebrate her. fully anticipated you pointing out. Isn't it sad that when I take pictures and I was about to post, I fully, I have like your voice in the back of my head. I used to hear the judge. Now I hear Van's voice in the back of my head saying

he'll probably have something to say. Yeah, it is what it is. It looked like y'all are having so much fun, though. We had a great time. We had a great time. She's a good friend, so I was happy to be there to celebrate her. Now, does she give you, When you're hanging out in the party and it's just, do they give you, like, odd jobs to do and stuff?

Like, Rach, could you bring in? Yeah, I remember everybody left early and I was still picking up after everyone was left, like making sure everyone had their stuff together, making sure, you know, the area was clean. Right. Hey, like, and Rach, come over here. Get all of the chocolate off of these chocolate-covered almonds because I only want the almonds. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Like, I definitely played the part.

You know, it's funny. What's funny is that like these jokes this is trauma it is man I overuse the word trauma but this is me looking at those pictures and going damn I wonder if she felt safe

you know because you walk in the room I have a husband with me so that's true yeah R&B but I mean at the same time it's interesting because growing up when I was in school I went to a predominantly white school So a lot of times I was the only black person in the group

And then I got in a high school in college And it was different for me You know my circle was there weren't many white people at all really In the circles that I would hang around And as I've got more in the professional life And the girl whose party it was We became friends we were on the bachelor together five years ago So you know

I was with her group of friends Which were right White people White people hey hey There's nothing wrong with a little little Gratian. Why not I say Gratian? I mean inter.

All right. So look, we have a couple of guests on this show today. The first guest is going to speak to something that's really been a topic on social media these last couple of days. The movie In the Heights, which is, it comes from the mind of Lynn Manwell, Miranda. The film has been criticized for the Iraq. of darker skin Afro-Latino people. Okay. I am not Afro-Latino.

Rachel is not Afro-Latino. But we do have Angie. Angie's a friend of yours, Rach. She's a friend of my friend, Sophia's. A friend of your friend, Sophia. She lives in Washington Heights. Yes. The area that this musical takes place in.

And she is Dominican. And she wants to speak to what she feels like is are, should I say, the actual reasons why what happened within the heights are so egregious. So on the other side of this break, we're going to come back with Angie. The playoffs are here, and you can predict the action all the way to the finals

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When I'm talking about people who are visionaries, you looked at your name and you were like, I could be Angie with an IE, Angie Martinez, so many Angie's out there. You know what I mean? But you were like, no, give me the Y. I have never in my 41 years met somebody that had Angie with the Y. We have Angie with the Y joining us right now on higher learning. Now let's talk about, why we're having this conversation real quick. We're having this conversation because I wouldn't say that there's been a firestorm of criticism, but I would say there's been some very pointed criticism

surrounding a movie that just came out. The name of the film is in the Heights and it takes place where I'm at right now here in New York City. You know what I'm going to say? I'm here in the city, the NYC. And the movies face some criticism from some people about the fact that it doesn't seem to feature any darker, Afro-Latinex, I hope I'm saying that right, performers.

Now, there are a lot of amazing performers in the film, but they are on the fairer side of things. And I am not going to speak for Angie here. I'm going to let her sort of talk a little bit about some of the criticism behind this film. Is it simply because of the hue of some of the people, or is it not representative of the neighborhood

where the movie is supposed to take place? Both things, Van. I am a Washington Heights native. I live in Washington Heights. I'm a few blocks from Dykman. I arrived to Washington Heights at the age of five. So I've been living here my entire life and trench in this community.

I know my people, my culture, this is who we are. For those people who have never seen the play of In the Heights to see a movie that is titled in the Heights has been misleading for them. You know, they expect to see, or all the Dominicanisms that they see in Washington Heights, the music, the patelitos, the frio, frio, not the piragueros.

Because if you've seen, if you've seen the movie, there were instances during the movie that were just, that were supposed to be Dominican, but that we caught. For example, we never say the DR, right? We never called the icy card Piragueros. We call them Frio frios. The strong accent, Boricua accent of Anthony Ramos, who I love. I love him as an actor, but he was not the right fit for this.

And on top of the misrepresentation of our Dominicanida is also, the lack of Afro-Latans, Afro-Domenicans in this film. And, you know, I saw the interview that the roots did to the director and the cast members. And for me, it was so insulting to have this director say that, you know, oh, yeah, well, this is, we had Afro-Latino dancers in the background. Didn't you see them? Yeah. You know? Yeah, we should talk about that. What? Like, we're tired of these roles. When are you going to center us, especially within our own stories? Right?

Because Lin-Manuel, yes, he lives in Washington Heights. We need to understand that this movie is made from the perspective of a Puerto Rican man who lives in the Heights. It is not the perspective of a Dominican person. He wanted to celebrate our Latinidad, which I think he did great. He just shouldn't have titled in the Heights because that's, that's what we're. when people start coming down on you and then we start scrutinizing everything else. You know, we felt erased from our own narrative. And in 2021, that should definitely not be the case.

Latinos are not a monolith. We do not speak the same Spanish. You know, Australians and Brits speak English, but they speak English differently, right? Same for Latinos. We are not a monolith, right? And I don't understand why it's so hard for people to get that we could love this film at the same time as we criticize it. Right. We do that with the people we love, right?

We hold them accountable because we want them to change. We want them to do better. And this movie is not beyond reproach. I have a question. I have not seen the play. But does the movie reflect, it's two part. It's two part question. Does the movie reflect the play?

Is the play the same? way? Is it a representative of the movie or do the actors like not represent the entire community as like the film does? That's the first part. And the second part I'm curious too is in the making of this film, did they reach out to community leaders in Washington Heights to make sure that they got it right? Well, we know they didn't. But I'm just curious if they even did their research. To answer the first part of your question, when I saw the play, I saw it at Lehman College and it was performed by the students who were predominantly Dominican. I never saw the Broadway show, but what I've heard is that the Broadway show was also

a mix of Latinos, right? But we want authenticity and we want representation, right? If you're going to do to perform the role of a Dominican, please sell me on it, right? And this wasn't the case in this movie, right? there are some storyline changes in the from the play to the movie because of course you're putting this in film you're making this more marketable for Hollywood right so I know that the writer Kiara Hughes changed quite a few things and so did Len Manuel and also did they reach out to community leaders like myself who has been living here all my life and I'm very you know um entrenched in the community no not that I'm aware of And that was, you know, that was another question that I had. If this was an issue with casting, if it was an issue that you couldn't find Afro Latinos, if you couldn't find Afro-Dominicans, if you couldn't find actors who had SAGS,

you know, tell us. Sad cards, yeah, yeah. Pay it, right? Because if you're intentional about being authentic to this community, you're going to do the utmost to make sure that you get the right people for these roles. And a simple Google search, because I've done it myself, if you Google Afro-Dominican actors or Afro-Latino actors, you will get a long list.

Well, okay, so I have a couple of questions. One is that, so Lynn Manuel Miranda was responsible for the music and the lyrics of the play in the Heights, right? So the Broadway production was basically his production. Am I right about that? Yes. Okay. And so then obviously he's had, he had tremendous success with that.

Then he had tremendous success with Hamilton. And now he's got carte blanche to do whatever he wants. He wants to bring it to the screen. There were none of these same problems in any of his stage productions of it. Oh, he got a backlash for Hamilton. Well, no, no, not Hamilton. Yeah, I'm aware of the Hamilton backlash. And I've got some of that last right here.

But in terms of this particular play with this particular audience, were there any criticisms of In the Heights when it was a stage play? No, not as much as today. You know, today we are hyper aware, Van. This generation is quick to hold you accountable. we will find everything wrong. So I guess my question, my question is, because of that, Angie, if there wasn't as much criticism about it as a stage play,

then it was as a movie, is it possible that Lin-Manuel Miranda thought, this has been around for like 20 years or X amount of years, I think it came out in 2005, so not quite 20 years, everything's okay, everything's all good. Like he has, I think Dash Palanco is in there, and that's what the people, that are pushing back there.

They're all three lines. Right. Right. To push it back there. People are pushing back and saying, hey, is it possible that in this particular situation, he just goes,

hey, we did this, we've been doing this for a very, very long time as a play. We'll make the movie the same way and nobody's going to have an issue with it. Oh, definitely. I think that was his thought process.

But when this trailer came out in December of 2019, he got a lot of backlash because the trailer was a bunch of, you know, white Latin's. And they asked them, about it. And his question was that, you know, his response was that these, we couldn't include

everyone's story, that we shouldn't put an undue burden on representation. And, you know, his, his response was lacking. And we were hoping that with the backlash that he was getting from the trailer, that he would, you know, say, do something about the casting, but that wasn't the case. Angie, for the people who may say, like for those who are responding to the backlash, so for those people who may say, hey, I have representation fatigue, what would you say to that? Representation fatigue. Yeah. Oh, my God. I know it gets, it gets tiring to hear us.

It does. It gets tiring. But we cannot get tired of, you know, of sharing our. grievances of representation. We still have a long way to go. And the only way we could get change is by continuing to speak up. If we don't hold people accountable, if we don't say what we see wrong in film and books and TV, everything is going to remain the same. We're never going to see ourselves on the big screen. Um, so last question. You said something. Well, last question for me.

You said something just a second ago. You said white Latin's. So this is very important. All right. Now, we should talk about the root interview because one of the actresses came back. She said in the audition process, she was asked about this. In the audition process, there was a long audition process. There were a lot of Afro-Latinas in there, a lot of darker-skinned people.

I think they were just looking for the right people for the roles. She said, for the person that embodied each kid. character to the fullest extent. I think we all are very much like our character so much that a lot of times it didn't even feel like we were acting. So she basically said, she should not have answered that question. Well, she's basically, well, her basic thing is. She embarrass herself.

Wow. Okay. Were you personally offended by that response? Of course. Of course, because she basically said they aren't good enough Afro-Latinos to play these roles. Yeah. Right. In so many words.

That's what she said. That's what she said. I feel that, you know, I hope that these conversations opened their eyes to see what's wrong with this film. I mean, I think Leslie Grace did mention it during the interview that she said, it took me doing this film to realize that there wasn't enough representation, right? She said something to that liking and that she wants this movie to break the glass ceiling so that she could see, you know, her darker colleagues played these major roles. roles. But I don't know. I'm hoping that people grow and gain more and become more aware

and stop making these really ignorant comments because that's what they sound like. I mean, even the director, he said that he was schooled on representation on the Heights. And I was like, who schooled you? Lynn Manuel? Linn Manuel is not Dominican. And, you know, Lin, Manuel lives on the rich side off Broadway. He doesn't live in the barrio of the Washington Heights. He lives in a multi-million dollar

condo off Broadway. He comes through the heights when he probably has to take the one train on 191st Street. He's not out here. It's not out here with us. So this was my actual question. My actual question was the movie has

right now 97% review rating on Rotten Tomatoes. It's really well reviewed. However, financially, it kind of flopped. I heard. Yeah. So financially, the movie,

and obviously it was available on streamers and it was in the theater, so we don't know how much of the streaming market tickle-day, but I've read articles today, the movie underperformed. Now, there are a lot of people who are going to say that the sort of dialogue

that's being had right now about the film may have contributed to people being less than enthused to see it and that that in and of itself hurts a Latin America, a Latin American, a Latin X product, which then in turn might stop more products like this from being greenlit at studios and being made.

If it were the case that the criticism from people like yourself actually hurt the film, and if it were the case that the film doing low box office stopped other films like this with Latinx people from being made, would you still say that the criticism of In The Heights was worth it? Yes, of course, it's always going to be worth it. Of course.

You know, part of my work is center around uplifting my Afro-Latino community. And that's not going to change whether we're in the box office or not. And I feel that those are valid points to bring up, right? But we also need to remember that, you know, we're still in COVID. People are still not comfortable going into movie theaters, right? And not necessarily spending the money, but going into movie theaters. People aren't comfortable just yet. I've seen the movie a couple of times.

I encourage people to go see the film. Yes, go enjoy it. It is a beautiful film. Just know that is not about. of Dominicans. It is a beautiful, artistically made film. It's gorgeous. You're gonna connect with many instances of the film.

Like I said, are Latino stories that need to be mainstream. But I just want people to know that just because it's named in the heights, do not expect your Dominicanism to be exalted in this film because it's not. My last question, it's another two-parter. Going back to the actress who made the comments about the problematic comments, to plague devil's advocate, do you think that some of these actors are justified in being defensive? Because what she said was completely wrong, but it sounds like she's on the defense because I'm not sure if it was her, but there were two women that were interviewed in that Ruth's interview,

and one of them was saying how hard they work to get this spot. So they seem a little defensive that there's criticism because it feels like there's taking away from their talent in their work. Do you think they're justified in being defensive? And then the second part I have is just to close it out for the next film, because we're hoping that there are many more that can showcase the Latin community. What would you say needs to be done for them to do better and to get it right the next go around? she has all her right to feel that you know to feel defensive because we're basically saying you shouldn't have been in that role right and in her eyes she's worked very hard to be in this role so i get that i totally get that but at the same time she needs to acknowledge the the lack of afro latino representation that's all she had to say that's it you know we're not telling her that she's not a good actress she was just not the best person for that role. And in terms of your second question,

look, there's so many great movies out there who have hit the mark on representation. Dominican films as well, there's Vampires of the Bronx that was written and produced by Oswald, Vegas. There was Delomeo, which is now on HBO Max. There's quite a few films made by Dominican Americans that have hit the mark.

The issue is that many of us, unless we see a big star on the screen, we don't run to support these films. And we have to. No matter how small the budget was, we need to support them. Because that's how we get our foot in the door. Right?

That's how we get more of these films greenlit. But if no one's out there attending the screenings and supporting and talking about these movies, then, yes, big production companies like Warner Brothers and whatnot are going to say nobody wants to see these stories because no one is supporting them. You know, we had one day at a time, which was a great series on Netflix and it was canceled. Right? So it's not that we don't have representation there is.

We just need to do a much better job at supporting it. And I just hope that Len Manuel learns from. from these conversations that we are having and that he continues opening the doors for Latinos and Hollywood. And that he does his homework when it comes to representation of the Afro-Latino community.

Or maybe he just stick to what he knows. Maybe his next movie would be called In the Whites. I don't know that. Some musical about how things are on the Upper West Side. And that's what everybody's pulling the movie now. In the White. Are they really? I didn't know that.

I didn't know that. Right. In the whites. I didn't see that. Wow. All right, Angie, listen. Thank you so much. I don't know why Rachel says she was getting

representation fatigue. I think it's always those to have conversations like this. I like to speak to the other side for those who may say something. So weird. But Angie, we appreciate you. And I think, you know, let people decide whether or not they're going to see the movie. Yeah, well, definitely go see the movie and support it. It's beautiful.

It's a beautiful film. Please go support it. Do not boycott this film. Just be aware. People are also speaking about canceling Limano and Miranda and boycotting the film. No, go see it, support it in the box office so that those numbers go up and so that we get more movies into theaters. All right. Thank you so much for joining us today on Higher Learning, Angie.

Thank you for having me. I appreciate it. Thank you, Angie, once again. but we should say right now that Lynn Manuel Miranda has made a statement. And the statement reads like this. He has addressed the controversy surrounding In the Heights. He says, I started writing in the Heights because it didn't feel seen. And over the past 20 years, all I wanted for us, all of us, was to feel seen.

I'm seeing the discussion around Afro-Latino representation in our film this weekend. And it is clear that many in our dark-skinned Afro-Latina Latino community don't feel sufficiently represented within it, particularly among the leading roles. I can hear the hurt and frustration over colorism of feeling unseen in the feedback. I hear that without sufficient dark-skinned Latino representation, the work feels extractive, extractive of the community we wanted so much to represent with pride and joy. I'm still, I'm trying to paint a mosaic of this community. We fail short.

I'm truly sorry. I'm learning from the feedback. I thank you for raising it and I'm listening. I'm trying to hold space for both the incredible pride in the movie we made and be accountable for our shortcomings. Very, very tough gig to pull off right there. Thanks for your honest feedback. I promise to do better in my future projects. And I'm dedicated to learning and evolving.

We all have to do, to make sure we all have to do that to make sure we are honoring our diverse and vibrant community. Simpre. Sampre. Is it Sempray? What does that mean? Always. Oh, see and pray. See and pray, Lynn Manuel, Miranda.

So that was his, how do you feel like he addressed that? What do you think? Listen, I think he said everything that you should say. I mean, all you can do is acknowledge what is being put out there. I acknowledge what the community is saying. Acknowledge that you are wrong and make a commitment to do better in the future. Because he can't go back and change this movie. It's out there now.

I was thinking when I read it though And I wish this is a question we could have asked Angie when we had her on Is this the first time that these issues have been Addressed in regards to in the Heights even after that And did but what does she say? Oh no she said the play she said the play was diverse right? Well no she said she said she had been hearing it He had what? She said he had been hearing it

What do you mean? She said that if I and we can do a higher learning rewind. But if I remember her answer correctly, she said that that's not the first time this has been raised even about the stage play. It just wasn't as big of a deal. Okay.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's tough. It's tough. Representation is hard. It is. Yeah, you have to make sure you have to do it intentionally. And I was, you know how I am. I'm always like, why haven't we heard from you yet?

And he responded pretty quickly. And I, and like, that's all you can do. Okay. Well, he says there will be future. They respond over. really quickly. Well, the film came out, the film came out Friday.

The criticism I started, saw over the weekend. And he replied Monday. Thursday. It came out Thursday? Well, no, it started around, it started Thursday, Friday. So, I mean, it's not like he got popping.

And I wonder if he would have responded if the movie's first week numbers would have been better or if he would have felt the need to respond. I'm not saying he wouldn't if I'm just saying that, you know. Absolutely. Absolutely. Of course, Lynn Manuel Miranda. I can't wait to, I like Lynn Manuel Miranda.

I can't wait to see what he does next. And I look forward to seeing how he incorporates that in future projects. All right. Let's take a break real quick. This episode is brought to you by WeatherTech. Everyone knows winter is the MVP and making a mess. You don't need WeatherTech floor liners in the summer unless you hit the beach or go camping. Then you'd want a cargo liner.

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explore what's possible. Ask your doctor about trim fire. Tap this ad to learn more about trim fire, including important safety information. All right. I saw one of my favorite movies. It was down to Mississippi. It's called Revenge of the Whites.

Okay? So this is one of the most interesting stories I've seen regarding high school in a long time because I don't really pay attention what's going on in high school. But look, two white families in Mississippi in a place called West. Point, Mississippi were upset.

They were upset because they thought their kids should have been the valedictorian, salutatorian, salutarian of a school. Okay? Two black kids got these situations. These family, the two black kids were Ikeira, Washington, and Layla Temple, named valedictorian and salutatorian for West Point High School, the 2021 class. They were super excited about it. super excited about it until the parents of Emma Berry and Dominic Borgoly, who were also near

the top of the class, had an issue with it. They demanded after a meeting that the school do a recount, recalculate their students' grade point averages, and after they did this, everybody was named Coe Everything. They added them as valedatorium and salutarian to that. Now, here's the up. The two kids, black kids, that were originally given this honor, had weighted GPAs. If you're in high school and you take a class and it's AP or it's gifted, you get an extra point for it, that'll shoot your grade point average all the way up, especially if you have, if things are tied, you get extra credit for taking harder classes. Apparently these other kids didn't have those classes and they wanted them calculated on the unweighted scale.

Okay. Now, from what I read, and tell me if I'm wrong, Rachel, in the handbook of the school, it actually says that the unweighted scale is the metric that they should use to figure out who the validatorian and the salutarian are. That's what the article said, yes. That's what the article said. Okay, given that that's the fact, given that that's the fact. And it seems as if the school actually was kind of going by the letter of the law and recalculating this, do you have a problem with them doing so? Because everybody is co-now. They had to share the honors. And also something else.

One of the girls whose parents complained, they actually added some coursework for her while she was in there. And there's some talk that one of the families down in Mississippi, has a big name and man if pressured the school into including some of the kids that were left out at first. So given all that information, we're talking about it because I remember I saw the story starting to go around. People were like, okay, well, did they make a mistake or did they not make a mistake? Knowing that they kind of did make a mistake, do you have a problem with everything that happened here? I mean, if that's the rule, then that's the rule. But I have a lot

of questions surrounding it. Like one, with these families, these not, non-black families, would they have questioned it if the two valedictorians were not black? Two, the counselor is the one who calculates the GPAs. Why did this counselor do a weighted great point average? Was the counselor new? Was this the first time they've done it? Has this been done? And maybe this has never been brought to the principal's attention?

Is this something where they said, you know what, it makes more sense to do weighted great point average? because these classes are a lot harder and there should be some type of credit given for that. There just seems to be a lot. And then the fact that they didn't even tell these black families that they were going to be co-valedictorian and salutatorian makes it seem even more fishy. It's almost as if they knew that there was something wrong.

They knew it would be a problem. They tried to hide it and then just kind of have them like learn with everybody else at the last minute. The fact that the families who were at it, the non-black families, when they did get their honors, they posted the two of them and didn't include the other two valedictorians a part of it as well. So there just seems to be some underlying issues with this because it is Mississippi, because this is a city or town that is segregated, there seems to be

something in the water here where I understand why people are saying, hmm, the family is, is determining if they should file a lawsuit against the school. There's got to be some type of basis for the lawsuit. And if this is the handbook, if this is the rule in the handbook, and that's it, then they would have no basis for a lawsuit. So I feel like there has to be something else there.

You brought up some things that I left out and given the 360 of that. Number one is that when they changed this, they didn't tell the kids, like Rachel just said. They, the two prior validatorians and salutarians, they showed up and were informed at the graduation ceremony, which is crazy. Crazy.

They were informed at the graduation ceremony that this was the thing. And so, you know, now they have two extras. And then I guess the vice principal, the guidance counselor, whoever it was, apologized at that ceremony and said, hey, I'll let you guys all down. Here's my thing. If they got the rule wrong, they got the rule wrong. I have no problem with that.

I guess my problem is, I guess my question is, like your question is, what happened the year before? The year before that they used weighted GPAs or non-weighted GPS, the year before that, that they used weighted GPAs or non-witted GPs.

Like you said, is this a brand new guidance counselor? Like, what, because really what happens now is the kids were really victimized. And this is so important. The kids were victimized

by somebody else's era, but they were also victimized by the history of where they live. Because had this happened in a culture, excuse me, in a society or in a place that was more homogenous, like if everybody was white. Yeah. And everybody was semi well to do.

And everybody was doing okay. Then this might not be an issue, right? Because you go, hey, it's in a handbook this way. You do whatever. But because these divisions that we've created so inherent distrust, everybody's looking for a reason why. And I'm not saying that there's not a reason why. I'm just saying that we're trained to look for a reason why something like this

would be happening. Yeah. And the underlying, I mean, the underlay here is, hey, we're black. We couldn't possibly be the valeditoriali and salutary to this school. It has to be two white kids. So let's find out what the mistake was made. Now, all of that might not be true or it all may be true, but we just don't know because we're so fractured as a society.

We just don't know. So that's kind of the whole thing I thought when I said this, but I knew when the article went around though, and I don't know if you felt this way, I did something. that I read the article dispassionately. Because the headline to the article was obviously meant to say, hey, look at this injustice that happened. It was. And so what I want to do in my life is go in and read the flesh of the article

and make my own decision about whether or not an injustice happened here. Sure. And just like you, I don't really know. I can't be sure. Yeah. I have more questions than I have. opinions in the matter of this. But to the two black young women, I hope that they use this, this incident to like, as the fuel, what fuels them for whatever they just go on to do in life.

Because this is a big moment, you know? And maybe that it'll, you know, like encourage them to do something else. I don't know, fight for, you know, justice or equality or civil rights. Who knows? But they definitely have a story to tell after this. But I hope it doesn't discourage them or make them become jaded in life along the way. So this is something that's going to interest you a lot. The Democrats are looking at a quote-unquote patriot tax. I love the name. It's a patriot tax.

So the patriot tax, so everybody out there is doing pretty well like Rachel and Brian are, I listen to this. The patriot tax would be a one-time surcharge of 2.5% on wealth between 50 and $100 million. So that's Rachel. And a 5% tax on wealth above 100 million bucks. Wealthy people will be able to pay the tax over a five-year period. Okay. Research by the Democrats that are looking into this,

the Ways and Means Commission that Representative Susio is the head of, or he sits on, should I say, says that over the course of its life, it could raise about $450 billion. And one of the reasons why Susio says he's looking into this is because he's exploring ways to sort of look at the fact that wealthy Americans were affected far less by the pandemic than poorer Americans.

And this might be a way to maybe close that gap a little bit. one time tax on the rich, not even one time tax on the rich. Let's just ask a question more broadly. Taxing the rich out the eyes for simply being rich is Rachel for or against? I am for it.

You like it? Well, first of all, it's called the Patriots tax, which I just love. Come on, be a patriot. Get taxed. You know, like do it for your country. The red, white, and the blue. I'm for it.

Listen, it's interesting what they say in this article because billionaires pay little in taxes when it's compared to their wealth gains. That's important. So they keep making money off of because of their wealth, right? Not because of necessarily what their check is, what their salary is. And the United States federal system is, or tax system is based on income, not the wealth gains. So they keep getting richer and richer. and you posted a very interesting post on Instagram that shows how the rich keep getting richer

and nothing is changing for everyone else. So my thing is, if you're making that much money, a one-time tax really isn't going to hurt you that much. And I know I shouldn't speak on people's money or what they have or what they don't have, but the disparity and the wealth gap is getting worse and worse and worse and there's nothing to make it better.

My only concern is I would want to see how this money is allocated. So what I posted on Instagram is this, this is from the desk of Bernie Sanders. The 400 Riches Americans' wealth in 1991, $288 billion. The 400 richest Americans' wealth in 2021, $3.2 trillion. Tipped minimum wage in 1991, 213 an hour. Tipped minimum wage in 2020. 21 to 13 an hour.

So if you're a fucking server busing your ass, working basically on tips, you don't deserve to make more money in America. But see if you got a billion dollars, you get to watch your wealth go up five times, 10 times maybe. And that's

fair. Listen, here's the thing. And look, I hope to have enough money to be comfortable one day. We're all existing in the capitalist system, right? So either you know, either you make money or you want to make money. All right?

Some people figure out a different way and I enjoy those people. All right. But I guess my thing is this. The Patriot Tax, calling it a Patriot Tax is actually the most apt thing to call it. Chomsky writes, seriously, Chomsky writes that if people met what they said about being patriots, they would celebrate on Tax Day. This is what I love. I love the name.

Yes. Like they would celebrate on tax day because tax day would be a day where you come out and you pay money to get. Now there's a couple of reasons why maybe they don't. I don't think most people know or have any clue I know that I don't know where their tax money goes. Yeah. I think if people knew, if people have more faith in government that their tax money was going to something that they could believe in and that was making things better, then they would be, they would be. You think so? No.

No. No. No. No. No. Because I, you know, I'm saying that I don't know why I'm regurgitating Joe Rogan fucking talking points. That's bullshit. No, they wouldn't. Yeah, they totally would.

But I think a lot of Americans would be more content with if they have more faith in the government and paying taxes. But the rich of the rich, of the rich of the rich would still try to find a way to not do it because it has nothing to do about economics at that point. It has to do about greed and winning. You just want to have the most money. You want to have a bigger bank account than Gates or you want to have a bigger bank account than Buffett. It's about how much of the world that I can. control. Yeah. And people are so inspired by that type of hyper wealth and I get that. But I am more horrified by homelessness than I am inspired by Jeff Bezos. And that type of America is just not

it's not enticing to me. So yeah, if you can pay a little bit more and you can help some people out and if we have the right people in some of these structures to help some people out and build some more safety nets in this society, why the fuck not? We're the richest country in the world

and we have income inequality that's really disgusting. That's so true what you say about Jeff Bezos versus seeing the homeless situation. And I'm saying that from being new to L.A. and seeing it in a way that I've never seen before. You don't see it? I know homeless this is everywhere,

but you don't see it like this in Dallas, Texas, where I'm from, and I didn't see it like this in Miami. The way I see it here, you can't escape it. So, yeah, like, I think about it all the time because it's right here. So, yeah, I totally get that. I'm all for the Patriot Text. How can we support this?

How can we support it? I'm sure they'll be drumming it up right now. Boy, the remembrance of it. Republicans go flambed. I mean, we know this is not going to go anywhere, but it's nice to dream, right? Like, isn't it fun? The Republicans have a base that thinks themselves rich for some reason.

The Republicans have tricked people in Middle America, and in Appalachia, parts of Florida, the parent-handled Georgia. They think that all of that shit's going to work for them. God damn it. I'll tell you what, man, racism is a great, great blinder of society. Because I'm telling you, man, if not for those divisions that don't even matter,

the proletariat of this country could be so unstoppable. But we just don't understand what it is that we have in common. Oh, we got a very special treat on the other side of the break. My cousin's going to be on a podcast. Glenn Big Baby Davis from the Celtics. He's going to talk about some things that he said about Kyrie Irvin. some things that people think are inappropriate and all fucked up. And I can't really argue with that.

And they are. I can't really argue with that. But we're going to have Glenn on the other side of this when we come back. This episode is brought to you by Prime. Obsession is in session. And this summer, Prime originals have everything you want. Steamy romances, irresistible love stories, and the book to screen favorites you've already read twice.

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Well, it's about damn time. Hold up, Cud. Hold on a second, Cud. Hold on for a second. He'll be late and put us on home. He's about to put us on home. Higher learning audience, we're checking in with a member of my family,

my cousin. first cousin, Glenn Big Baby Davis, formerly of the Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Clippers. Glenn has put us on hold and now we're not looking at some sort of logo. But it's important that we talk to him because he's in the middle of some some controversy right now, Rach. Yeah, he is. So I'll tell you guys what happened before Glenn gets back on. no. So Kyrie Irvin

twisted his ankle. Kyrie Irvin is a basketball player point guard for the Brooklyn Nets. One of the most... Hey, Cubs. What? Hey, Cubs. What they're tall?

Come on. So, look, let me ask you a question, look, Cose. Let me ask you a question. Seriously. Wait, wait until the signal gets better. You're frozen, Glenn. Glenn, okay.

Glenn, you back? I'm frozen. Yeah, you froze. But you're back now. You're back. Stay in one place, though. You see me? Yeah, we see you.

Stay in one place, though. All right, so I got to ask you something. Now, people mad at you, man. They say that you made fun of Kyrie Irvin's injury. So, like, this will happen. Kyrie Irvin seemingly stumped on the Celtics logo. Glenn is a proud Celtics player. And when Kyrie hurt his ankle, all right,

Glenn came out. you said is at the same ankle he stomped on Lucky with. Were you taking, were you having fun with the fact that Kyrie heard himself? I was having fun. We don't want nobody to get hurt because, like, you know that. Like, yeah, we want everybody to be healthy. But God damn, like, can I make fun of it now? You stumped on Lucky, right?

You stomped on his eye, and he came back. Not the eye. And he got his get back. Glenn! Glenn! This is a third time. Clint, you can't say that, bro. You tweeted it.

Then you made a video. Now you on the podcast. Have you seen my Instagram? Have you seen the people and what they're saying to me? What are they saying? Go look at my Instagram. You, you piece of shit, you fat fuck.

These are people who've never played basketball in their entire life. They're telling me what the fuck I've done. I'm an overachieve a cut. Tell her what we're from. We ain't posted making. We're not. Baton Rouge Louisiana. You know what I'm saying?

So like whatever they talk about, I'm an overachieve where I'm from. So they don't like, all that, all of them, them words and stuff, they don't, they don't bother me. But at the end of the day,

I am standing for, you know, the right shit. No bullshit mentality. And that's what it is. Like, I'm just saying my peace. Like, I think it's,

I think it's, I think lucky it's just funny. He's a funny guy. But, but Glenn. Are you, don't you have anything else to say that Kyrie heard it? No, I don't have nothing else to say. I don't, I don't have nothing else to say.

Why would I have anything else to say? What? Do you apologize? Do you apologize to Kyrie Irvin for saying what you said about Lucky and stomping on the logo? He's stomp on Lucky's eye. What I got to say to him, I don't hope he's better. You know what I'm supposed. Right, but then that's what you get.

We're stomping on Lucky. Like, God damn, you ain't have to do that. and I think you treat those like you want to be treated, right? And I don't care if it's a logo. Imagine, you know, how they feel about, imagine how people feel about the American flag, right? Like, it's a flag, but it represents something. It doesn't just, it's not just, oh, something,

they just wave, present something no matter what you say about. You know what I mean? And at once a point of time, I would go over and beyond for that thing. And that's what it feels like, when you win a championship. When you, like, it's not just that year. It's the history. It's everything that that's a part of that thing.

And like, as basketball players, we have a job to stay within our lines and represent ourselves the most positive way. Stepping on a logo is just showing your immaturity and that the fact that you don't understand that this game of basketball is bigger than self. It's not just that moment. It's everybody that stood for that moment, that you know, that team. So, you know, I said what I said. Like, you know, karma's a motherfucker. Like, you know, you treat those how you want to be treated no matter what it is. A logo, a sign, a symbol, like, it's crazy.

So here's the deal. I guess this is my last question. You said you don't want people to be hurt. Everybody hear that. My little cousin says he doesn't want anybody to be hurt, all right? But this is what I'll ask you. What has to happen now for Lucky and Kornombo. to be straight again.

Like, how can Kyrie squash it with Lucky? I'm asking a question. It's a serious question. Because look, the reality is that if Lucky got these type of powers, I happen to love Kyrie Irvin. I adore watching the play. I think he's a great athlete. Think he stands for stuff.

But I don't want to see him at odds or beef him with Lucky. What does he have to do to squash this with Lucky? All he has to do is be Kyrie Irving. Stay within his lines of who he is at the end of. individual. When you go and go beyond and step on a logo, you're doing something that that's just different, like you're not staying within who you are and your purpose. You know, you're such a, you're such a philanthropic, this philanthropist person, whatever you say, whatever, he wants to change the world in so many ways. Like, that's not how you do it. And I don't care if you feel like it was

little or like you are a person of your figure and every little thing matters. I don't care, you know, how the way you drink your straw, how the way you eat your food, Kyrie Irving, everything matters and you have to understand that. And so for him to do that is just, for him to get the curse off him, he just has to stay in his lane

and be who he is and, you know, and respect of this. He'll be okay. I got a serious question for you. I got a serious, I got a fun question for you. Okay. Serious question.

Maybe not everybody had the same experience in Boston that you had because Kyrie has been outspoken about racism that he faced while he was in Boston. So maybe the experience that he had was a little justified. Maybe he feels a different way. So do you feel like, oh, go ahead.

You know what? When are we going to stop using this racism thing as an excuse, right? Why couldn't it be just the fact that a passionate Celtic fan, you know, he loves his team. And, you know, it's not like we don't know what nobody's saying. We don't know. Kari could be just saying that. Nobody knows.

I just know my experience. You think he would lie about that, Glenn? Bro, bro, at the end of the day, now, like, why would you even say some shit like that? If you have no proof, my brother. Like, if nobody can justify or say anything, like, why would you even put that kind of connotation on, we're trying to get past this?

Like, you know what I'm saying? Like, that's my thing. I've never experienced no, no, no racism in Boston. ever in my life. No white person that's came up to me and told me this or that it could, you know,

I'm just thinking it's an emotional fan that's, that's, that's, that's, in his feelings about how the way he did his part in Boston. And that,

and that was some, some shitty shit. Because at the end of the day, we all know he was trying to get KD to Boston. Boston was the destination because it, they ultimately wanted to be a Lakers and a Celtics. Well,

so, like, your experience may not be the same as Kyrie. Just because you didn't experience racism doesn't mean that Kyrie or another player didn't experience it. You just don't like Kyrie. No, it's not that.

It's just the fact that like, just be real. Don't be fake. You know what I mean? Don't be fake. Like, you know what I'm saying? Like, he has an issue with Boston and that's what I'm saying. Like him stepping on the thing. Like, come on, he has a total issue with them.

They're fans. They're the best fans in the world. They're going to be emotional. They're going to be tired of it. you know, we don't know what they said, but if there's racism, yeah, shame on you, Boston, but at the end of the day, we don't know. So let's move forward. Let's put the steps to move forward. That's something in the past that he was talking about. And he didn't even have to speak on. Like, you know what I mean? Like he brought that up because

he has an issue with Boston. You know, Boston don't have an issue. Yeah, we have an issue with him now, but Boston never had an issue with him. They wanted him to be there. Like, he's one of the greatest point of us to ever play the game. Like, why would they throw back? You know what I mean? Like it's just a fan in basketball that's just tied together. And, you know, we got to get the emotional stuff out of it, you know? Glenn, Glenn. Now, you can speak to something that we can't speak to because, you know, we're not,

we're not Van's family. We didn't grow up with Van. But he refers to it multiple times on this podcast. What kind of basketball player was Van? Van was solid. Yeah. You know, he was in a, he would be killed, you know, he was in a bottle. Yeah.

He was at the bottom. You know what I was in the bottom. I was in the bottom. I was in the bottom. I wasn't in the bottom. You know what? Ask the other basketball players. Asked call us about me.

Asked the guys in my age group. I remember. I remember you was solid. Solid. You know, they were solid. Yeah. Play the game. That don't sound good.

Wait, whoa, hold on for a second. But hold on for a second. You're talking to a guy that went to the fucking NBA. Was like, was one of the best players. an LSU history. I didn't ask him to compare. I'm not comparing you. I asked him.

He said you were solid. See what I'm talking about? Not good. Not great. Not solid. Let me tell you something. Let me be honest with you. He had his days.

He had his days. He had his days. So he was inconsistent. I had my days. All right. Because we're going to let you go. We appreciate you. Hey, tell everybody what you're up to right now.

Tell everybody what you're doing. Hey, you know, I got the big baby podcast. Coming to y'all too. Oh, gosh. I got some movies coming out. I just did the Lincoln Lawyer. That's dope. They're doing like a show series on Netflix for that.

You cause doing that. And by the way, because I'm so fucking proud of you, dude. Thank you. I'm so proud of you, because, bro, I'm so proud of you, brother. Like, for what you've been doing and just standing on your two feet,

getting away from the motherfuckers and going there and get that motherfuckering on their motherfucking end. It's so cold. You understand me? That shit was so cold, Couged. I love you, bitch. I love you, too, little cuss. I love you, man.

All right. We're going to let you go. We're out of here. Appreciate you, bro. Bye. Bye, good. All right. There he was.

I feel like you doubled down. I'm not going to lie. No, no. He tripled down. I feel like he doubled down. I thought we were going somewhere when he started off talking about. I was just having fun. But then he's hit the same thing.

that he's been saying on Twitter, on social, on his Instagram and the media, yeah. So, I mean, we don't agree. We don't agree. Love my cousin. Yeah.

Love my cousin. But I mean. Is somebody ringing my doorbell? Hello? We wouldn't know that, man. Hello? Sorry about that. If anything, you knew that,

which I find very interesting. We heard him say what he said, and I think we both didn't agree with that. So, credibility was pretty much lost when he tried to stand by your basketball skills? I can play basketball. Well, we don't know. Listen to the things

he said in that conversation. I can play basketball. Why believe him? Why believe him on that when he was saying the other stuff? I mean, he talked about Lucky, like he was in y'all's family as well. Lucky Lathen. Lucky Lathen. Lucky Lathen. Can you imagine if a four-foot

white dude came to the family reunion dressed up like a left one. Have you ever seen? In the black leprechaun thing? Oh, I don't like it. I don't like shit like that, man. Like, I don't, I don't. Remember when they thought they had the leprechaun in the tree?

You're talking about, listen, Rachel's laughing. It's none of that. It's the sketch. That's what got me in the whole thing when they had a sketch of what the leprechaun look like. And this was all local news. So you guys, so here's a deal. This is what Rachel's doing. So this is, this is, this is, I'll tell you guys real quick.

Yeah, we should, we should. I'll tell you guys real quick. The most epic time of the internet wasn't now. Now everything on the internet is contrived, right? So if something goes really viral, most of the time, people were trying to go viral, right? It's a whole art. Right, right. But early on in the days of the internet, just crazy.

Like, it was a, it was a great moment in viral history, like Afro Ninja. the fucking, the, the, the, it's a, it's a manny mall that commercial with the guy, Oklahoma trying to sell the furniture, a bub rub and little sis out in Oakland with the, with the special tires and this one. And hide your kids, hide your wife. That's all. Hide your kids. Hide your wife.

The whole nine. They're raping everybody. And this one. Okay. There was also one that happened actually not too long ago where, you know, he, It wasn't, it was like some years ago. I just, it's so funny to me. And so there was a guy, they were, they were interviewing them in Philly.

And they were talking about this guy in Philly that was going around, like robbing people and hurting people. And they were like, and he said to the camera, he goes, well, I hope you don't try that on me, because I keep that thing on me. And he will get clapped. And I was like, oh, my God. Oh, my God. And he will get clapped. But no, they were talking to these black people. I don't know where this was.

And they thought they had a lepercon. They had a leprechaun that lived in their neighborhood. They thought so. And they kept talking about the leprecha. These people were serious as fuck. And then they drew the leprecha. And they drew the lepercon. And if you go watch it right now, I feel like.

Please put the picture up right now of what the leprechaun looks like. This was on the local news reported on the local. This wasn't a YouTube thing. No. It was reported on the local news. Right. Yeah. And he, and not only was he there, he also, they were looking for the pot of gold.

Let's just be clear. Right. So it's just, it's not one of, you know. It's like, it's just fucking funny. It's just fucking funny. That local news should be ashamed of themselves. And I'm pretty sure it was in Mississippi. Yeah.

And by the way, they knew what they were doing by doing that. Yeah. Okay. We got a couple of the, we got a couple of the topics here, but we only can really hit one. I don't want to do the South. Carolina situation with the lawyer family. We'll do that Thursday because I feel like we're going to have more information. That story is just super deep true crime type of stuff.

Yeah. I do want to talk about Drake. Yeah. About what? Drake. It's Drake. Okay. Go ahead.

Go ahead. Talk about Drake. You remember when we saw Drake at that party? I remember him being there. Remember that? Yes. He acknowledged you. And he acknowledged.

you, Van. He said, what's up? Not by name, mind y'all. Not by name. He said, what's up? Let me ask you a question. Which is a very Hollywood thing. Was there a handshake? I don't know. I didn't see it. Allegedly this happened. There was a handshake. Calica said it. I didn't see it. And who's, and who extended their hand? I don't know. I didn't see it, Van.

Okay. Wow. Well, go ahead. My good friend Drake. My good friend Drake. Oh, that was my lamest time. And that was the lamest night. That was the lamest time of 2021. Both my biggest win and my biggest loss came in 2021. It's okay. You were feeling yourself.

You had won an Oscar that night. One an Oscar. So like you couldn't be stopped. I won an Oscar. Saw Drake went to just loop around so he could see that Drake knows who I am. And we speak when we see. Unclear, though. Unclear.

Oh, he definitely. He definitely. I've seen him multiple times. So we thought this Drake, nigga. He says he confirms that certified lover boy. is dropping by the end of the summer. Are you super excited about Drake's mom? No, I didn't co-sign this topic choice.

I have nothing to say about it. Listen, I like Drake's music. When it comes, it comes. It could come at the end of the summer. It could come at the end of the year. I'll be happy for when it drops. I am not waiting. I'm not like anticipating it.

I'm not going to listen to it immediately when it comes out. Okay. The question is this. Okay. Has there ever been a time when you've been excited about Drake? Yeah, all summer 16. All summer 16. Okay, so let me ask you this.

This is the question. Do you feel like people are as excited for Drake to drop music now as they have been? Or is this the album that will decide whether or not Drake is still where he was or whether or not he's taking a step back? Okay. Okay. do I think that this do I think people are anticipating this as your first question?

Still is excited now he just dropped a handful of songs and the songs went to like number one two and three so obviously people still like Drake and they always do but like yeah they were listening to them they were curious I listened to them right but no

like when views came out it's a big deal we were ready for that like I still listened to that one I don't know Yeah you know Comes on the iPod I listen to it iPod I don't even know I said that's iPhone

Jesus Christ I don't have an iPod I still pop it in the tape deck Every now and again Um Listen I don't I think that's a very good question to ask

That I don't have the answer to I think the only time will tell When it comes out How will people be feeling? I think Drake does a good job of spacing out his albums though where there is a lot of anticipation and then telling us

it's going to drop at one point and then it doesn't. So he's very good at building up the anticipation. So regardless, it's going to be there. He drops music all the time, though. See, so let me ask you this. Not albums, not album. Not albums, but little collections of albums.

That's what I'm saying. He drops music all time. Let me ask you this. Do you think that do you think that Kendrick Lamar, who's rumored to be dropping this year, which album do you think is more anticipated?

Kendrick for sure. Yeah, because when is the last time he hasn't been Kendrick? But high expectations, will he meet them? I'm a big chance the rapper fan. When Chance dropped his album, it didn't meet expectations. And we were waiting a while for that to drop. Yeah. Not as long as Kendrick, though.

Kendrick just like disappeared. But Kendrick is the type of artist that doesn't have to drop all the time because his music is so important. No, I was watching the Quincy documentary and Kendrick was in it. And I was like, man, when is Kendrick going to give us some music? I'm ready. Oh, so you're definitely... I feel like we see Drake all the time.

We really see Drake, like you said, he drops a song here and there. He definitely is always featured on somebody's music. He's always in a feature. Every week, he's on a feature. Migos just dropped Culture 3. Drake is on it. Ooh, Culture 3 was good, man.

Yeah. You didn't, you weren't fucking with Culture 3? Let me ask you a question. Let me ask you a question. Sure. Sure. The video clip has been going around of Migos freestyling.

you know, to promote their new album. Was that or was that not a freestyle? So a freestyle doesn't have to be off the top of your don't. See, to me it does. Okay. When did the definition change? Well, so a freestyle could be you giving like a written verse over a different view or whatever, whatever. And I don't know if that's a common, I don't know if that's a common knowledge.

Because what makes a freestyle go hard is that you came up with that on the spot. Like what otherwise, it's a fucking song. Wait, wait, wait, if you freestyle, well, no, sometimes you'll wrap a freestyle verse. Oh, remember when Drake used to freestyle off of this Blackberry? No. You know, anyway. But like, you can drop a freestyle verse like over a beat. Or you can, but if you freestyle off the top of the dome, like, off the top of the dome, like, that's a free.

Even when people go on sway all the time. When people go on sway, a lot of those, most of those are written. I don't like that. I name you a couple of guys. I'll tell you a couple of guys that always freestyle off the top of the dome. Devante Hitchcock, Lupe Fiasco, actually Childish Gambino freestyles off the top of the dome a lot. King Lose, always off the top of the dome when King Lose. Always off the top of the dome.

I mean, there's some other guys out there too, Oswald Benjamin, like there's some other guys out there too that when you know when you go on there, they're going to give you something like off the top all the time. Okay, well, we need a different name because I'm tired of watching the clip and it's like, oh, you know,

takeoff went off on this freestyle. It's a song. Right. But a lot of people... It's a song. He wrote it down. You know, even Jay-Z used to do that. I remember Jay-Z on a radio station one time and he did this.

Run a time verse. Say they rap diverse. It's confusing to me because I'm watching it and I'm like, take off stop and Cuevo picked right up where he left up. This is a song. They just gave us a song off Culture 3. Stop calling it a freestyle.

That is so frustrating to me. Roy Safile down freestyle off the top of the dome. Other guys like that freestyle off the top of the dome. You know, so a lot of guys freestyle off the top of the day. I'm not impressed. I'm not impressed by that. I'd rather watch a while and out rap battle. Tyler the creator.

Like, you know, some of those, I'm missing so many guys. No, yeah, yeah, yeah. So many guys, Eminem. I'm missing so many guys. Obviously, Nause. Like, a lot of the guys give you freestyles off the top, off the rip. But, yeah, a lot of guys, they go in there and they write, they got verses, you know, that sound good to beats. And they go in off the verses.

So next time, Sway, when they come on your show, be like, you got a verse for me? No, face. No, no, no, he does that. So he goes, you got a verse. You got a freestyle. He goes, he says, you're going to kick off the top of the dome or you're going to kick a writ. He actually asked Loupe Fiasco that.

He goes, he goes, he asks Lupe fiasco, he says, you're going to give us a written? No, you're going to come off the top of the dome. And Lupe went, no, you say freestyle. Like when you say freestyle, to me that means, that's what Lupe said. Thank you, because he's right. When is the definition changed?

Let's have catering to these rappers. Lupe, Lube murdered that freestyle. E. Leupé do, do, do. Lupay killed that freestyle. All right, listen. No van's very serious question of the week.

We've had two guests and Van has been shooting all day and van is exhausted. So, Rach, what are you, what are your, since we're not doing very serious questions of the week, what are your hopes and dreams for this week? Wow. I'm just trying to make it. I'm just trying to make it. Mm-hmm. Honestly, I'm just recovering This lash is still in Vegas

This one came to work today That's what happens when you That's what happens when you party like a white star Like when you come back with missing the lash They go hard Who was? I had a whole different group I'm a God I can't speak I had a different group of friends

That were there And they were like, where are y'all? It was a different type of Vegas they saw, I don't even know who they saw one night. I was like, so-and-so's here, we saw. Boys to men. We saw Steve A-Oke. They saw, I don't know who was at their day party.

We saw chain smokers. Is it totally different things? Chain smokers is hot, though. Before you leave, before we go. I was actually very impressed. How was Vegas? Was Vegas open? Man.

All my fears really came true. People forgot. we had COVID. It is as if, like, I could never have been out in the crowd. We were with the DJ. I could not have been out in the crowd with the masses. It was hot. People were packed together on each other's shoulders.

It would have given you anxiety to look at it. People had their phones up so we could see the crowd because we couldn't see it from where we were. The world is open. The world is open. And tomorrow, or as this drops, the mask mandate drops in L.A. or California tomorrow or today.

15th. All right. Taything caps off. We do not stop learning. That's all for how I learning today. I am Van Lathen. I'm Rachel Lindsay. We out.