Higher Learning with Van Lathan and Rachel Lindsay - The Latest on Hunter Biden, the 50th Anniversary of Hip-Hop, and Jamaican Massages

Episode Date: August 15, 2023

Van Lathan and Rachel Lindsay discuss the latest in the Hunter Biden drama and quickly look ahead to the 2024 presidential election (31:34), debate the viral Jamaican river massages (59:53), celebrate the 50th anniversary of hip-hop (01:13:55), and more. Hosts: Van Lathan and Rachel Lindsay Producers: Chloe Clark and Richie Bozek Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Yo, yo, yo, thought warriors. What is up? High Learning is on. It is I, Van Lathan, Jr. And it's me, Rachel Lynn Lensing. Do you have sunglasses on inside? I don't really consider these sunglasses because there's see-through. What does that mean?

I mean, I see you with no shade. Are regular sunburn. Can't you see my eyeballs? Yeah, but is that necessarily, are those prescription glasses to help you read? You're not. So the ethos of the question. I mean, I wear these indoors all the time because they're light. Do you understand?

Well, of course you do. So I guess the question would be if the glasses aren't for making you see better and they have a little tint on them. Fine, yes. There's sunglasses. There's sunglasses. Let me ask you this. Do those glasses block out the sun? Slightly.

See what I'm saying? There's a slight tent. Why do we have to not be honest about it? But I just, sure, there's sunglasses. So what, so for today, because remember when I first debuted the pinky ring? Yeah, never forget. And you were like, what's the thing with the pinky ring? And I was like, hey, I explained the pinky ring and what it meant, okay?

What's the thing with the sunglasses and doors? Honestly, I walked in with them on. And then I really wasn't even thinking about it because, again, like I see so clearly. Right. So then you pointed it out and I kind of, you started the podcast and I felt like I should just commit. I'm here the thing. It looks good.

I just was like, I'm just going to commit. You look like Janet Jackson slash Jada Pinkett Smith on vacation, 1996. I feel like with this, I'm kind of giving cousin faith from soul food. Oh, that's not a great one. I know, but the band-ed-ed-out. Yeah, that's one of the most despicable. characters in movie history. And she had absolutely

Fuck the family. The family, the family fucked my husband. I let the family end of the family. Fucked my husband. Cousin Faith is one of the rare characters that has zero redeeming qualities. They didn't finish

Cousin Faith's story. She just came in to fuck shit up and then she left. There was nowhere to go. But that's what Cousin Faith does. Wait, was she at the end when they were all a family together? Uh-uh.

After Big Mom left us? Yeah. Well, Big Mama was already dead when cousin, no, she wasn't. No, I think she was in the hospital. She was in the hospital. Big Mama died, but at the end,

wasn't there a birth? I don't know if there was a birth, but there was definitely a Sunday dinner. It was a Sunday dinner. And Cousin Faith wasn't there and the ex-husband wasn't there either. Michael Beach. He always plays a shady character.

No, don't say you shady now. Because when I tried to point out the thing about waiting the exhale, you guys were like, The guys are waiting to exhale weren't bad. And he was the... He was the quintessential fucknigger. It's a whole song around him.

Michael Beach is a great actor. Very good. Great actor. You ever see a movie called One False Move? Why you do this? You saw a wait to exhale. I'll tell you guys one thing right now. Go see a movie called One False Move.

That's with Michael Beach, Billy Bob Thornton, and Cinda Williams. Cindy Williams was in she had a great career but she was in Mobetta Blues opposite Denzel Washington

Oh Remember it was two ladies that Denzel was in a relationship One was Joalee The other was Linda Williams in that movie I think that I think that Billy Bob Thornton

was dating Cindy Williams at the time Oh Billy Bob gets it Well how was your weekend What did you do The playoffs are here and you can predict the action all the way to the finals with Fandul predicts.

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Sweet. For the first time ever. Ever. Have you ever been golfing? I golf all the time. Do you? Yeah. Are you good?

I'm okay. It's hard. It's a hard. I actually was better. I mean, for never having played ever in life. I've seen you golf. Oh, no, I actually haven't seen you because you didn't come to my birthday. Because I was out of town.

It's okay. I wanted to be there. Oh, she was married to Billy Bob Thorne, by the way. Oh, okay. They were married. Go ahead. Other than like top golf and that doesn't really count because I'm more so socializing. And Pupput, I have never been on.

the green. I have never, I've gone to an event, but I've never played. And I was actually... Took to it. Yeah, for a first timer. Not did it always go straight? No, but I actually could hit it. I was great off the tee. There's a black ladies golf movement that's happening.

Oh, I thought you were going to say there was a club. No, there's like a black ladies golf movement that's happening. I see a lot of the black ladies over on the Instagram and they're golfing. Oh, yeah. There's TikTok's on it. how to get a man. They, wait, what? Y'all trying to get a man from some golf? I'm not saying that that's what every lady's doing, but there is a whole TikTok trend about, like, you know, I'm looking for a man.

I'm just going to put on my golf outfit and go out here. And I will say the men do flock to, I was with a group of ladies and the men do flock to you. Oh, what are you all doing? Oh, let me show you this trick that happens if you hit the ball off this rock and how it, yeah, it's like a whole thing. Hit the ball off of a rock. We were in Laguna. Oh. The ranch at Laguna.

So they were trying to show you guys. And so that's the level that it's gotten to, to where the women are doing the damsel and distress golf situation. They got to get creative out here. They got to get creative. You can't just say it's not just apps, church, the club, friends, however. You know, you got to get creative. One girlfriend was telling me she just goes to the golf store.

That's sad. It's just the men were like, oh, let me help you with this. Let me help you with this. The tops are hard out here. People want to find love where they can, Van, don't judge them. Yeah, but they find it and it's really, they don't know what to do. Some of the sexes prove something to me. We got a lot of work to do.

Well, that's true. Obviously on both sides. I'm not going to deny that. Speaking of relationships and stuff, I watched the show, I watched Survival of the Thiggas, Kaleika and I watched Survival of the Thiggas yesterday. I've heard it's great. I haven't had a chance to watch it. Not great.

It's fantastic. I like that. I like Michelle. It's really, really good, man. Michelle, Tone Bell, Garcel Beauvais, Tasha Smith. All right. So really, really, really great show. So excited to watch it.

You'll like it because she ends up in, I don't want to say it, but there's a guy named Luca. Well, he doesn't sound black. Is that what you're going to say? He's Italian. So you're going to see... Apparently, I like all things interracial. First of all, he don't even look white like that.

I don't know what's going on with Luca. But... He don't even look white like that. I mean, he looks like a southern Italian. Like one of those ones that back in the day where I got kicked in their ass. Get over there, nigger. Like, kind of like a situation like that.

Like in Pulp, not Pulp Fiction. In true romance, do you remember, have you ever heard the monologue from true romance? No. So in true romance, there is a monologue that Dennis Hopper gives to Christopher Walken. Christopher Walken is one scene, he's only a movie one scene, he's a mob guy, is looking for Christian Slater's son, excuse me, for Dennis Hopper's son, who's played by Christian Slater. He's looking for him. He gets there, and Dennis Hopper's there.

he's a cop and he starts telling them how Sicilians are descendant from black people. Of course, it's a Quintranteau movie. So he says niggers. He says, you know, Sicilians are descendant. And he says it over it. It's a really... Is that true? They're a descendant from black people?

Well, what he talks about is the fact that the Moors conquered Sicily. And when the Moors conquered Sicily, a Cicillian, When the Moors conquered Sicily, and La Cozanocia comes from Sicily. So when the Moors conquered Sicily, the Moors were fantastic warriors and brought Islam to a lot of different places. The Moors conquered Sicily, they interbreed it with a lot of people, and they might have changed the phenotypic traits of the Southern Italians. And if you go to a lot of places in Italy in that part of the world, you'll still see statues devoid to Islam. You'll still see statues. There's things, mosques that were built when the Moors had conquered a place.

You know, different places like Venice and all of that stuff. You'll see that. And so Luca could be, if he's a southern Italian, could be, could be, could be like not a Dr. Umar violation. Maybe it goes back further enough in that type of situation. If you watch the show from scratch, and I'm sure there are other places, but this is just what's top of mind, talks about how northern Italians. look down at

Sicilians. They look down at them because they're lighter skinned. Like, wherever you go, the darker skin people catch hell. Like, if you're in Asia, darker skin people catch hell. Right. Of those actors that you named from that movie, True Romance. Which one of them do you think

is a big bachelor fan? I would say Christopher Walker. No. Who? Christian Slater. He loves the bachelor. You know him? I popped up on a junket one day, and he goes, oh my God, Rachel. And I was like, oh, they told him my name.

And he's like, love the season of the bachelor. And I said, oh, my God, Christian Slater. Wow. Mr. fucking robot himself, look at you. When you think about Christian Slater, what movie do you think about? I don't know. You just don't give a fuck.

Look at you. Like, you're like, I don't know. Like interview with the vampire, gleaming the cube. What did I interview him for though? You ever seen The Cube? You ever seen The Legend of Billy Jean? Wait, no, what did I interview for? It was a show.

What have you seen? What did he do? What movies have you watched? It wasn't a movie that I saw him. You ever see Hard Rain, nigga? I haven't even heard of it. What movies of Christian Slate? It wasn't a movie that I had him for.

It was a, it was. You ever see Pop Up the Volume? It was the Doctor show. It was the Doctor movie. I never seen Pop up the Volume. And you know I've never heard of these. Hold on. You ever see Heather's?

No, but I've heard of it. You never watched it. You know, sometimes, don't you think that, like, you get to a point where you've, just gone too far and there's just no point in going back. Dr. Death, that's what I interviewed him for. You go, it's actually really good with Joshua Jackson based on true story. Not interested.

My firm actually represent the hospital where it happened, but, and then I got in trouble for saying that publicly. You weren't supposed to say that? They felt that I was bragging about that, but I was like, no, I work for the firm that represented that hospital. You were bragging about the? No, that's what I think they were. The firm, the hospital?

When I was interviewing Joshua Jackson. and I was like, my firm actually represented the hospital that was involved that hired Dr. Death. And then they sent a message to my former boss. He said something to me. Okay. Anyways, this is a good show. You should watch it. True romance.

You don't know anything about Christian Slater movies. How many Christian Slater movies have you seen? Michael Beach, Christian Slater. You haven't seen these movies. Okay, Michael Beach, yes. I'm the one who started talking about Soul Food. Yeah, you like him. Let's see.

I'm looking at these Christian Slater movies. Give me some. Which ones have you seen? Which Christian Slayer movies have you seen? It's not looking good. Jump into it. It's not looking good. I'm going to...

Come on. Come on. Which Christian Slater movies are you into? You don't get my fuck about him. Zoolander. Okay. I mean, that doesn't really count. But it's fine.

It's fine. Rachel, this is not the thing. Interview with the vampire. Interview with the vampire. I mentioned that one. You see he plays in. Oh, I hear you say that. You know who was supposed to be the thing?

interviewer in that movie? Who? River Phoenix. Oh. Passed away. One of the greatest young actors. According to Bill and Chris Ryan, Chris Ryan, another person who you're unfamiliar with.

You know, it's so funny. Ever since you said that, I see him all the time. You see him where? I was watching, I was working this weekend, and I was like, let me just put on a movie for background. And one of the movies I love to watch in the background is Devil Wears Prada. So I searched it on YouTube TV, and it pops up, and they had a rewatchables times devil wears Prada.

And it was Chris Ryan. And now? Mallory Rubin. Thank you. Mallory Rubin. You don't know Mallory Rubin. No, I do know who she is, but for a second I was questioning her name. What, what?

Name five ringer employees that host podcasts. Name them. Bill. Okay, Bill Simmons. You can't name any of the two people we just, those people are out. Well, no, that's not fair. No, those people are out. You can't name those two people.

You can't name Mao or get off the computer. You can't name Mao or Chris. Okay. So you got to name five other ringer people. This is fantastic. This is amazing to me. This is not even a, by the way, this is not even gay. People can get mad Van Gay Keeper and Chamber Chamber.

This is actually impressive. It actually is. I'm not good with names. For example, I listen to the NFL show all the time. time. Ask me to tell you their names. Yeah. I could hear their voices and I'd be like, oh, yeah, but I'm just not good at names. You're not good at names. You know their names from the Bible.

You know, them? Well, when you learn them from birth all the way. When it's important to you, it's not true. You can look at my library right now and see, oh, what am I? Juliet Littman, Callie Curry, Jody Walker. Okay. That's good. That's, I'm done. I'm done. Because I host two podcasts. So the people that, so you can name the people that you host podcasts with.

I don't host with Juliet. I thought you did morally corrupt with Juliet. She's not on that. But I listen. You know what it's true? I listen to the NBA show. I listen to the NFL show. But I cannot remember names.

In fairness, though, I will say this. In fairness, I do pop around the ringer verse. No. The ringer verse is our podcast, the ringer network. I pop around a little bit more than you. So I probably have more. Yeah, Steve Jomey. I know these people.

Yeah, Steve, Jomey. Name all the Midnight Boys. Oh, dang it. What's the New York guys? Charles. Okay. Okay. It was about to be a situation now.

I'm just not good with Dave. Yes, Charles, of course. I don't know who you host morally corrupt with. That's you and Cali, right? She's one. She's not the only. So it's you, Callie, and Brenda Shob. It's you, Callie, and Trina Anderson.

Stop just saying names. What? I'm not just saying names. These are people. It's you, Callie. and Amelia Wadamire. Okay. She used to, but she doesn't.

And it's Weddemeier. Wetemeyer. All rows, no thorn. I used to watch that during my Bachelor days. Okay. I used to watch that. I used to love that. Amelia's great.

I like the Ringer podcast situation. I'm not doing it with Cali right now. She's not covering the seasons we're covering, but Jody Walker does. And she writes fantastic articles. She actually read her articles. Jody Walker? You ever heard of Jody Watley? Yes.

Singer. You ever heard of Jody Wattley? Do you know who Jody Wadley's sister is? Oh, no. Look that up. Will I be shocked? Well, I know. Look at that up.

Jody Wattley's sister. Look that up real quick. She looks great. Sister. Jody Wiley's sister. Look that up. Midori? Medori, yeah.

Coming to America. Where would I know her from? What was she in? Van. She's in a lot. of stuff. I'm afraid to keep Googling. Just continue to just look at.

Michelle Watley. Michelle Maduri. She's been in, she's a, when I was a great, great talent. A lot of stuff. Let's move on. What else did I do this week?

We go off. Went on a beautiful hike with Whitney. We love Whitney. And then. Oh, go sports? Go sports. And then I did a PSA for breast cancer awareness. I don't know how much I can talk about that.

You just did. Oh, I didn't say who it was with, but I did a PSA for upcoming for breast cancer awareness. And I did it with, um, Kishinaight Pullman. Did you say Pullman? Is that not right? I think it's Pullman. Is it Pullman? I quit on names.

I think it's Pulliam. I quit on names. I quit on names. Rudy. I saw her one time. Where did I see her? I did I do a panel with her? I feel like I did a panel.

Yeah, I feel like I did a panel with her. She's great. She is great. And she's very active and a boss, a true boss. You know what I'm saying? A boss. Yeah, we just talked about fearless fun last week.

Just talked about fearless fun like a boss. Cosby kids doing well for themselves. Yeah. How's your weekend? That was my weekend. I, um, I chilled. Like a lot, I didn't really do much. I, uh, I, I, I try to use the plunge pool at the gym, the plunge, the cold plunge.

Okay. Try to use the cold plunge. Disgusting. Really? Yeah, it's disgusting. How long did you sit in it? I didn't get in it. Oh, because it was, no, it was actually disgusting.

So here's the thing. And I don't, I don't mean to come down on the knocks. I don't mean to diss the knocks because it's not about that. I go to the Knox Equinox. I'm in there. You know what I'm saying? I wouldn't get in an Equinox. So I realized that I can't do that.

I realized that my cold, I bet for the cold plunge at Equinox, too. They didn't put it in because of me, but I bet for it, right? Okay. So I like cold plunge. I realized that I'm not getting in that because I got in there and it was, I went to go getting the cold plunge and I looked and I saw a couple pieces of hair. and then I saw some scum. And that's like if I see not,

and now what's happening now is I'm getting nauseous. So like it is so. I didn't realize you were so sensitive. And so I am. And I saw some scum. And I'm not to the point in my life where I go, hey, y'all need to keep. But I was, I saw Joelle, my trainer, shout out to Joelle,

Katz. And me and Joelle are talking. I'm like, I'm not going to lie, man. The plunge, the cold plunge is disgusting. I can't get in the cold plunge. But I have a co-plunge membership. somebody somewhere else and that cold plunge they clean it after every use the guy says hey we drain the water out of the cold plunge where do you go pause no pause i love that name but i do have a pause

and colica got me some pause stuff but when i go to pause i do the float thing oh the egg yeah they're getting a little egg and you float around what kind of L.A. bullshit i don't know you do it I get in the egg I float around I listen to like whale sounds do you get salty in there a little bit not really that's the only I've never done that. Yeah. So that was Saturday. And then I watched boxing. What else?

I worked out. I was going to do the cold plunge. I watched boxing. And then Sunday, we was just hanging out at the house. You know what I mean? Catching up on rest. Watching survival of the thickest,

Bozeman got a haircut. So it was like a very family-oriented. It didn't really do too much. Oh, you know what show? I started watching, hijack. Oh, I saw that. It's good. Did a podcast on it.

Oh. The podcast, I want to hear on the Ringer Podcast Network. On, what's that called? What's it called? For something. Nica, it's called the Prestige TV. Oh, my God.

They're laughing at you in there. They're laughing at you. Come on, I had three letters right. I was about to, I kept wanting to say Premiere TV. Premier. And that's what was messing me up. I've done Prestige TV before. Oh, what did you do?

Which show did you do? Insecure. Okay. Okay. I still think that we should do Amma Virgo on Prestige. I want to really get that show on. That's a great show. What's that on?

That's on Amazon. Okay. That's on Amazon. Do you pitch the show that you want to do on? Like, how do y'all decide which shows you're covering on Prestige TV? I'll get a podcast. I'll get a text from someone that goes, hey, man, you watch this? And then I'll be like, yeah, it's great.

They stopped doing that to me. And they'll be like, oh. Okay, cool next week. They stopped doing that. I love talking about shows. Me and Joanna Robinson did that. We did hijack. We did hijack.

There's only two episodes, or two episodes of Prestige TV because we did all four episodes of hijacked and we did another. Hyjack was good, though. Did you like Hyjack? I'm not done. We're not finished with it.

I'm on episode like four. Okay, it's a good show. Yeah. Yeah, Brian and I watched it. He just Elba. What does Brian think about hijack? He likes it. He likes it.

I was like, somebody told me this was good. I don't know who. What kind of shows is Brian like? Does he just watch Beach Body infomercials all day long? That and he likes the Jack Ryan, those kind of shows. Like heavy, heavy, right-leaning shows. Is that a heavy-right-leaning show? That's a show for motherfucking concerns.

I can't get into the new season. Like Jack... I like the first two. Like Jack Ryan, let me tell you some real, real cold world. Jack Bauer? Jack Bauer is basically... I'm sorry, it's Jack Bauer. You know, 24?

I never watched it. Yeah, I didn't really watch it. that much either, but Jack Bauer, that's for Americana right there. Jack Bauer, they know what I'm talking about there. They know. Jack Bauer is a proud

boy's dream. He really, he is. When you think about Jack Bauer now, because it was a post-9-11 situation and it was coming out. Oh, is that when it came? Yeah, and it was, you know, the president, and me and Joanna talked about this on the thing. The president

was black, so it was like, oh, the show has got black president. Who played him? Jack Bowers. The president or the president? No, I know Kiefer. Dennis Haysburn. Okay.

Okay, yes. Allstate. Waiting to exhale. Again, piece of shit. And waiting to exhale. He wasn't as bad as Michael Beach. He wasn't as bad as Michael Beach. So the Jack Bauer just literally,

he just ran around torture and brown people. That's what he did. He was a counterterrorism guy that would torture the shit out of... And how many seasons? was 24? How many seasons to 24 go? Jeez. What was it?

How many seasons is the 24 go? 24 might have went, but you know, it was like, it was actually an hour of the day. The show was an hour. It was in real time, though. What do you mean? So the show was in real time. Oh, yeah. So the show was an hour, and it would be an actual hour.

Okay. And then it was a whole day. Yeah. Oh, oh. That's why it's called... What? Now, that's not a big thing. If you don't know much about the show.

No, all I know is is Keith for Sutherland. Yeah. Actually, am I right about that? 24 was in real time, wasn't it? It was in real time. How many seasons did it run? Nine. Nine seasons of torture and brown people on 24?

Nine seasons of torture and brown people kind of terms of? With all the stuff that people bring up on social media about how this was okay then and not okay now, how is nobody talking about 24? I don't know. It's a good question. Nine seasons, somebody was, well, we know who was watching it, as you just said. Brian, like 24? No, I don't know if he watched that.

I bet he watched that shit. Don't start that rumor. Don't start that rumor. No, he likes the action, kind of like Mission Impossible type shows and stuff like that. But he watches, he'll pretty much watch whatever I watch, except for housewives. He doesn't watch Housewives? No, he can't get into it. We lost some people this past weekend. I know.

It's very sad. two people that in varying different ways meant a lot to me. First one is Magoo. Now, people say whatever they want about Magoo. They always just talk about Magoo and how he rapped in his style. I always liked Magoo. Loved him. Always liked them, right?

And that era of music, Timberland, Missy, McGoo, Genuine, Aaliyah, Static Major, Player, all of that stuff, is so ingrained in my mind. It was the radio music of the end of high school, beginning of college for me, and it was like almost a musical revolution that was coming out of Virginia, not just with Tim, but also with Farrell and everybody, all of those people, the clips, Clips a little bit later. Clips was more like 2000, they came out. But I guess, yeah, whatever, same thing.

And then, you know, all those people who are fruit off the tree of Teddy Riley, that entire, entire movement, I loved it. I loved the music. And they were like a family. I wanted to be a part of them so bad. They come out with their music videos. They'd be dressed alike. And they just seemed like such a cool group. I wasn't really.

So if that was high school coming in the college. college for you, that was junior high coming in a high school for me. So now, you know, I've told my stories before. I'm just now stepping into an era where I'm listening to this type of music or I'm allowed to. And I want, they, they were just the sound, the memories, the videos, the, like, the style, the way they sounded, the way they, like, everything. I wanted to, I loved, loved Magoo. Magoo might have been my, like, top two in the group. Top two in the group.

In what group? It was just Timbaland and Magoo. No, like, that. That whole thing. That whole deal, yeah. Yeah. Young man, cause of death, still unknown. Young man, Melvin McGill Barcliffe.

He was from Norfolk, Virginia. He had been with Tim and been, you know, developing that sound with him since 1989, you know, Timberland and Magoo. They had been together for a long time. So everybody in the swing mob, everybody that was, you know, around in that era with them. my condolences go out to them and just in the hip hop in general. Hip hop in general lost somebody that we were really familiar with and really loved. Now, also I'll say that that crew in it of itself has really suffered some losses.

You know, Magoo, Alia, static major over the years. And young. And young. And young. And young. And young. So it's really sad that he passed away. Young man.

And just this morning, Claire, it's Avon. announced the death of Clarence Avon. Clarence Avon has passed away, you guys. I'm not going to even attempt with words to contextualize or sum up the life of Clarence Avon on the podcast. Because there is absolutely no amount of words I could say on the podcast that would adequately demonstrate the amount of influence, adequately described. should I say, the amount of influence or the amount of importance that Clarence Avon has had in his life. There's nothing that I can do to do that. In places, in spots that you wouldn't

have even expected him to have made a difference. This man made a difference. And he did it in a way that was not about self. Not about self. He was a mover, a shaker, a connector, a producer, a gift giver, a wise wizard of culture and of empowering people. He's 92 years old. He passed away. There's a documentary on him called The Black Godfather on Netflix. I suggest that you guys all watch it. As a matter of fact, it's homework if you're listening to the podcast right now.

I didn't even know. Truly, until you just said that, that's why I was like, wait, what? I know, I mean, I truly learned who he was because of the documentary. I remember seeing the previews to the documentary. And even the trailer for it, it was like they were speaking of this person as if he wasn't even real, the way he's had his hands on all these different things. And I'm like, who is this person that they've talked about? Surely I've heard this name before.

And I had not. So I feel like I went down a dark hole trying to understand who he is and his influence. And 92. Yeah, I did not know that this morning. I mean, I know that his family has had tragedy over the last couple of years. Yeah. Is it two years ago? Yeah, lost his wife and a home invasion.

Primarily music, but politics, television, film. Really, if you came into this industry and you were young and you were black and you were trying to plot your way out, and trying to figure things out. There was always one voice that if you could get to him, that would be there to tell you how to leverage your talent into something bigger than you. Did you ever meet him? I talked to him once.

But just a titan, just an absolute titan, an absolute titan. So our condolences to his family. our condolences to his daughter who, you know, he is survived by and really cultural condolences to everyone. And his son. And his son. Cultural condolences to everyone.

Just a titan and a life well lived. A life will live. On the other side of this, someone who's not really living his life that great, is Hunter Biden. We got to talk about it here on Highland. episode is brought to you by Sweet Green. The date doesn't ask for permission.

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Then you'd want a cargo liner or road trip goes sideways, ketchup goes rogue, ice cream drips. Yeah, you'd be pretty happy about those weather tech seat protectors. So just to be clear as the mud, you're inevitably going to step into the summer. You don't need weather tech unless you plan on doing summer. Visit weathertech.com today. All right, special counsel. You should have been a special counsel on 100. That would be so funny if they appointed you.

Why would that be funny? I have no qualifications to be special counsel other than the fact that it should be somebody who is not a part of the Justice Department. That's the only way I qualify. Oh, so you are against this. Attorney General appoints a special counsel on the 100 Biden probe, David Weiss.

now he's the U.S. attorney in Delaware. Yeah. And now this man is originally appointed by President Trump. And this is something the Republicans that wanted for a long time. They had wanted special counsel on Hunter Biden for a couple of reasons. One, they wanted, I guess, a more robust investigation into Hunter Biden and his international business dealings. But also, the appearance of a special counsel is probably as important to the right as the actual appointee of the special counsel.

is in and of itself because that type of investigation and that type of prioritization by the Justice Department is something that you can use as political capital. And, you know, we've seen this happen before. However, they're not quite happy with this. Well, are they ever? They're not happy. You would think that they would be, right? Because really, I bet I can ask most Americans what Brezma is, what Hunter Biden is

alleged to have done who Victor Shokin is, all of that stuff. And they probably couldn't tell you, right? This is more about the appearance of political impropriety, in my opinion, and what kind of political capital that buys you. Because they've wanted a special counsel for a very long time, they got it. And now a lot of the people on the right are complaining because they don't like David Weiss anymore because of the plea deal that went wrong with Hunter Biden a little while ago. So now you're hearing a lot of people saying the appointing of this special counsel, is actually another move by Biden's Justice Department to derail a serious inquiry into Hunter Biden's overseas business dealings. Let me ask you this.

Well, when we put this in the group chat about that there was going to be a special counsel appointed, it was going to be David Wise. You said good. Why did you say good? Because, well, two reasons. One, I want to get to the bottom of what either happened or didn't happen with the Hunter of Biden. scenario. I am completely agnostic about Hunter Biden in this situation. Sure. I happen to know or believe that he certainly

used his proximity to Joe Biden in order to enrich himself. All right. In China before Ukraine. My dad's the vice president. If you want to meet my dad or if you want to, if I want to make it appear that someday you might meet my dad, and then that enriches me. That is a tale as old as time, okay? They do that all the time. So it would be stupid of me not to believe the Hunter Biden in some way was involved in influence,

apparently. What is less clear, and everyone has said this, I'm not breaking any new thoughts or any new ground here. What's less clear is whether or not Joe Biden was a willing, participant into the influence peddling that his son might have been doing. And that is what's been directly alleged by people on the right, when Donald Trump. So I'll just say second part of that is, so look into it. If it's the investigation to under Biden started back in 2018.

Yeah. Under David Weiss. Under David Weiss during Trump's presidency. And it was just something that was kept under wraps, right? So look into it. If you feel like that there's something there that's been proper, go ahead and look into it. Secondly, another reason why I appreciate that the special council was appointed is because in a lot of people's eyes, that levels the playing field in terms

of the Republicans being able to say that the Department of Justice is weaponized. So at this point, so that that dies, that narrative dies, investigate everyone. Investigate everyone. They're not going to, They're not, the, the house is not going to govern anyway. They're going to do this. They're going to engage in score selling the entire time they have the house. Investigate them. What's the worst that could happen? So my follow up then is, do you think that David Weiss should be the special counsel?

That's less, that's less important to me. See, I guess if I'm Merrick Garland, and I understand David Weiss has been on this for the last five years. And yes, that started under President Trump. But there have been so many claims, whether they're true or not, right? But enough to where there's suspicion, especially with the judge rejecting the plea agreement that Hunter Biden had with the prosecutors for the case, for the tax charge, and for the gun charge. There's, there are antennas that are being raised. So why would you appoint David Weiss to be the special counsel and not do someone outside of the Justice Department who there's like a statute that says you should, when you're appointing a special counsel,

it should be someone that's not a part of the Justice Department because it takes away any type of implications that, you know, the Justice Department is telling you what to do because you technically work for the Justice Department because that's a claim that the Republicans are making. It also takes away this claim of political interference, which the Republicans, I'm not saying it's true, are saying that David Weiss has been influenced by the Biden administration now, which is what the whistleblowers are saying that came out. The IRS whistleblowers. Yeah, the IRS whistleblowers is not the one who is being, my gosh, indicted. Not the one who is indicted. The IRS whistleblowers are saying that there was some type of interference in regards of, or from the Biden administration, as if David Wise is not able to do this in an, in an important. partial way as a special counsel should be. If I'm Merrick Garland, and I do want to, and I agree with you, let's appoint a special

counsel. Let's figure this out because to your point, the whole thing is, and even the way they phrase it, they don't just say Hunter Biden and Joe Biden. They're like the Biden crime family. They're trying to paint this picture that the Bidens have this crime family of this and there's all this corruption there. So if you want to get down to the bottom of it and you feel that there's really nothing there, then why not appoint somebody else who has no ties to this, who's

and seem clean in all of this. I'm not saying David Weiss is dirty, but he does have some suspicions around him where I can see why people would say, I'm not sure if he's the guy that should be appointed. Are those suspicions legitimate, though? Well, I mean, the judge did reject the plea agreement. And when you do hear people talk,

it's like it's almost wild that the defense thought that he would not be, you know, indicted or investigated, I should say, at all after this. Once he signed this agreement, he would not be investigated in the future. That's a huge thing. There is an explanation that was given, though. Okay. The explanation that was given, as I've seen it, is that they wanted this to be the end of the Hunter Biden investigation.

Sure. And that's because whether or not this is plausible or not. But that's because they wanted him to be protected from being targeted by Donald Trump. I get that. In case Donald Trump wins the presidency. And then we have to do this Hunter Biden thing all over again. That doesn't mean that legally it makes a lot of sense. And setting that precedent is really crazy.

But it seems as if they were saying, hey, we're copping to this tax evasion, lying about a gun when you were under the influence when you bought the gun, and we want this to be the end. And then the judge was like, well, I can't really do that. I don't know what Weiss's motivation to do that would be. That's a Trump-appointed attorney. I'm not sure, I mean, the level of corruption that people are alleging with him now, but he's in some way being compromised. I mean, he's a Republican now.

He's a Trump-aported guy. I'm trying to figure out what that would be about. I mean, no one's really said that. They haven't said why or how he's been compromised, just that they believe that he has been. So to that end, I'm like, to me, I'm agnostic about it being wise or it not being wise. Weiss has wanted to be special counsel. And he's asked for special counsel powers before and Merrick Garland didn't want to do it. They're doing it now. The question is why. And the question is, well, so he can bring charges in any jurisdiction. Right. And so he wants to bring charges

in any jurisdiction. What I'm saying is the, what has happened between the falling through of the plea agreement and now, that has made it, that has risen this to the level of war, Mayor Garland has decided that now is the time for a special counsel. Because they've been investigating him for a while. Right. And they've, in all of their investigations with the clear appearance of impropriety, right? Did Devin Archer's testimony, like, give them something new to you on?

I mean, when you look at Devin Archer's testimony, and I'm not in any way sheilling for the Bidens, it's not a lot there in terms of implicating Joe Bollinger. Biden. They made it seem like that. Everyone went with that narrative. But if you actually look at what Devin Arsher testified to, there's not anything there that makes it seem like this was a clear operation between Joe Biden and Hunter Biden in order to use the power of the vice president's office or the power of the administration to then enrich the Biden family. Another thing I saw, and I'm not, and correct me if I'm wrong, is that

I guess the mandate that Wise has to investigate Hunter Biden is only focused on Hunter Biden and not on the inclusion of President Biden in regards to this investigation. Like they're only allowed to ask Hunter Biden about Hunter Biden and not about his, the connection to his father. I mean, that is preposterous. And if that's what I read. Yeah. If that's the case, that's also a problem.

And so I think I'm seeing people being frustrated with Merrick Garland. And I believe, I'm just going to say this. I believe there should be a special counsel. I believe there should be an investigation so everybody can just shut up one way or the other. Because I've said it multiple times, I'm tired of talking about Hunter Biden. I'm tired of like creating something that we don't even know if it's there or not. Let's just get down to like, is it there or is it not? Did Joe Biden know about this or did he not?

fine. But I think the one way to shut down the Republicans, because we know they're never happy. Now they're not happy with Weiss. Now they've said that Weiss has been basically contaminated. Now it seems like there's some type of political interference. And they argue that Weiss, they're also saying that Weiss is now the special counsel. And if they want to call him in the house to testify that they won't be able to because he can say, I can't do that because I'm special counsel in this situation. So they think that this is some high class political chess in order. order to, number one, give Hunter Biden a special counsel that's favorable to him and take this guy out of circulation if they need to talk to him.

So if I'm Merrick Garland, why not just appoint somebody else? Well, I mean, you tell me, is an answer to that question potentially that this guy has more knowledge and a better understanding of the investigation and a better hold of this case since he's been on it for so long than anybody else? Prep the next prep, prep the special counsel. I mean, this is all we're going to go. lot longer than what it was now that we're into these. Like just prepare the special counsel on it. Like that would be my thing. Cases get turned

over to other people all the time. So you think that there is a little bit of daylight? I think that it gives, I don't know if I believe that there's daylight, but I think that I can see why someone would say listen, maybe this guy five years didn't find anything, gave this

sweetheart deal as they're calling it, which it was, if the deal was what the defense thought it was, that is a really sweet deal. The judge rejected it. And the judge rejected it. But for some reason, that's what they thought it was. Then bring somebody else in who you can say, okay, this person's coming in, we hold clean hands. There's nothing tied to them either way. And they're going to investigate this case just to shut everybody up. I would love to hear why Merrick Garland didn't do that. Just curious. So as to whether or not Hunter Biden use his

father's name and who his dad is to enrich himself, once again, I believe 1,000 percent. It happens. What's going to happen now, what I've seen start to happen now is people are looking more intently into Jared Kushner and the staggering sons of money that he was able to kind of get from people in the Middle East, namely Saudi Arabia. And they're looking into that. MSNBC. I know.

I saw the chart. Over $3 billion. Directly on behalf of the administration. He did a whole thing in the jury. So it's probably not going to be the best situation for the litany of progeny out there and people that have close ties to people in power that do this all the time. They're probably going to be looked at a little bit closer now as this is kind of wobby back and forth like a political football. But once again, I think Hunter Biden did that.

I think Joe Biden knows that Hunter Biden was doing that. Like use the Biden name. Of course, right? I think that he knows that Hunter Biden was doing that. But the question is, did he participate in Hunter Biden doing that? And anything short of that, I couldn't care less about. But I really don't care. I care more about...

You mean did he participate as in show favor to those countries? The allegation is that Biden, who was the running point on... you know, foreign relations with Ukraine when he was in the administration. Right. Is that Biden held up aid to have the Ukrainian prosecutor general Victor Shokin fired because Victor Shokin was investigating Burisma, which is the Ukrainian oil and gas company that Hunter Biden sits on the board of, right? That's what the Trump administration and other people are saying.

They're saying, hey, this situation happened because this guy was looking. looking into Burisma. He actually doesn't say looking into Burisma. Trump says that Victor Shokin was looking, was investigating Burisma and Hunter Biden. And because of that, Joe Biden said, Joe Biden held up aid to Ukraine to have him fired. Ukraine fired him. They got their aid. They depend a lot on aid from the West. And that tells you right there that these two people are in. Yeah. Yeah. If you look into this story, Shokin was considered. to be corrupt by a lot of people. And there were all kinds of different countries in the EU.

There was like 11 or 12 countries that wanted him gone. And Biden did in fact say, hey, get rid of this guy. You're not going to get the aid. But the question is, did he do that on behalf of his son and Burisma? Or did he do that because the foreign policy said, hey, this guy right here can't have this station if we're going to do, if we're going to give you aid? Right. That led directly to Joe Biden, excuse me, Donald Trump years later, asking Zelensky to investigate that in exchange for $400 billion of aid that they were due to get anyway.

So all of this stuff is connected. And the question is, is there intent from the vice president at that time and the president now to be in cahoots with his son to make his family rich or is there not? That's the only thing that matters materially to the American public. If Hunter Biden goes to jail for the next 30 or 40 years, he doesn't have any political power. He was never in the White House, that Jared Kushner was. He was never in the White House. He never was in it. So it's just this has happened before.

Like I think it was President Carter. His brother was taking like bribes from Libya. or something like people do this. This has happened before. These people go to jail. They don't go. It's funny. Whatever.

It doesn't mean anything. The only way that it matters is if it can be traced right back to the administration. Yeah. Also, I will say this, and this might not be popular. I do think that I do think that the Democrats shouldn't run Joe Biden. Solely off of this. No, not solely off of this. But think about what you're saying.

It's not solely off of this. And I want to hear what else. It's not solely off of this. But it's a part of this. And I want to know why. Because think about what you're saying. It's August, 2023.

Yeah. You think that they should run someone. The only other person up right now is RFK Jr. That's not what I'm saying. I'm not saying that it's RFK Jr. It's Cornell West. I'm saying that it's somebody else. Well, Cornell West has jumped to another.

He's a third party guy. But what I'm saying is a lot of the left would, look, fair point about Cornell OS. I'm not saying that it's RFK. I'm saying that's Kamala Harris. I'm saying that's Gavin Newsom. I'm saying that it's somebody else. I think it's too late.

I don't think it's too late at all. And I think it shows a weakness in the party. If at this late in the stage, you put up somebody else, it's like a ticket, a golden ticket for the Republicans to be like, see, they think that there's something wrong with Biden too. That's why they're putting up somebody else. But there is, though. there is though

So Joe Biden is a weak candidate for president in 2024 Some of that has to do with things beyond his control And some of that has to do with things that are Just realities It's interesting because sometimes you come on the podcast And you be like we got to talk about the things We can't act like Biden's not doing anything

Right Biden is doing things And you talk about that and you've read it off the White House website. But then, and we acknowledge that the things, the black community is remaining, those needs haven't been met. And majority of them haven't been met because Congress is, you know,

utilizing their power to hold it back. But now you're like, it shouldn't be Joe Biden. The things that are happening, they aren't translating to the American consciousness. People aren't, he's a weak candidate. He's a weak candidate with a lot of smoke around him. Some of the stuff he can't control, but he can't really even speak to it,

if we're being honest, because the virility and the energy for him to speak to it doesn't seem to be there. They asked President Biden a little while ago about the fires in Maui, which our hearts and prayers go out to everybody in Maui, and he said no comment. I'm not in any way. I'm not in any way judging President Biden.

I'm just saying he's not a strong candidate. What else? What else? First off, that's terrible if that's what he said. Has he not released any type of statement out? I'm not, I didn't see anything else. I know that they, I'm sure they've said something, but they asked him and he had an opportunity to speak to it right there.

And he said no comment. Now, I don't know. Was he getting on the plane? I don't know if President Biden didn't have. have the words to speak to it at that particular point, or if he wasn't really up on what's going on. Right. But this is what I'll say.

I'll say that everything that we can talk about, and the country's in a good spot, relatively to where we were. Yes. The country's in a good spot. We've talked about this. We've talked about gains that have been made on the economy. We've talked about things that the Biden administration has been able to do.

What I'm talking about is right now, between Joe and Donald Trump, it's a dead heat. and I feel like he's losing steam as a candidate in 2024. And I also feel like that there are people waiting in the wings right now in the Democratic Party that could actually capture something in Americans. I think that Kamala Harris is one of them, even though she herself doesn't have the highest approval rating. I think if they let her go, though, and put her out there a little bit more. I do not think so.

I think that she could be a viable candidate. And I definitely think that Gavin Newsom could 1 million percent. But I liken this back to, and this is the last thing I'll say, I liken this back to what I said about Ruth Bayer Ginsburg. The best thing for Joe Biden to do right now in this position, he's the president of the United States, he's become the president of the United States.

The best thing for him to do is to not run in 2024. Like for whatever reason, It's not resonating with people in terms of popularity and what people believe. If you give him a binary Trump between Joe Biden and Donald Trump, Joe Biden very well may win. He probably will win. But then you have four more years of a president that is clearly in decline. I'm sorry. Well, if you love Kamala, then she's right there.

Okay. If you, I mean, I actually don't agree. This isn't a dista Kamala. I like Kamala. I just don't believe that America does. I mean, I sat on Dan Abrams show, and the first question, one of the questions he asked me is, what's up with Kamala and why are the Democrats trying to act like she's, like, like she's equipped to be vice president.

I'm so paraphrasing what he said, but that's kind of what he was insinuating. He was talking about putting up different speeches of her talking, saying that she's like, not equipped to talk about certain things. And he's like, the people, she doesn't have a high approval rating. And I, you know, combated him and told him certain things that, Kamala has spoken out against and what she stands for and what she represents. And I was like, you're just showing the bad part of her. There's so much more to her than that.

But I think that the way he thinks about her is how a lot of Americans think. So I do not think that if Joe Biden stepped down and she stepped up, that she could beat Donald Trump. I don't think that at all. Sadly, this country, the way that they continue to talk about Kamala Harris, as if she just happened to become vice president. Do you think Gavin Newsom could be Donald Trump? Yeah. I think he's the best one that you mentioned. I, I, but Joe Biden would have to say,

I wouldn't want to see him go against Joe Biden, not at this, not on August, in August of 20203. I don't think that any, I don't think it's a good idea of primary Joe Biden. I don't. I do think it's an idea for Joe Biden not to run for president in 2024. Okay.

What else? Because again, you've kind of said like, hey guys, we got a, we got a comment, not comment, but we have to recognize the things that the Biden administration and stuff. You say they need to get better with their messaging, but we can't act like they haven't done anything. That has been your message throughout.

No, that hasn't been my message throughout. It's been my message when I've seen upticks in economic development of the country after COVID. That has been your, as of late. Well, as of late, the latest stuff that came out is inflation is a little bit up, a little bit up. Okay, as of late, for the most part. For the most part.

So if I, when I ask you, and I say, is it because of what's going on with the Hunter-Bider investigation, you said, no, that's not just it. What else is it other than his declining age? What else is it that makes you think he, that we should position somebody else to run in August 2023? The polling.

So it's, it's, the Hunter Biden thing is noise, right? It's noise. It's loud noise for some people, but it's noise. I don't think it means very much about the president. It's a part of something that's a negative to him, for sure, okay? the economy and jobs growth and inflation slowing, it's going back and forth or whatever, that's something that they can actually hang their hat on

depending on the way you look at the numbers, people are going to spend numbers different ways, whatever. But I personally think that there's been a lot of improvement. I think that it bears out if you look at it. If you look at jobs growth, if you look at, you know, for the most part, the fact that inflation is slowing, if you look at the Chips Act,

if you look at a bunch of different things, there is some evidence, a lot of evidence, that they're good for the economy. Now, for the things that I care about, addressing mass incarceration, the Justice Policing Act, voting rights, all of those things. We haven't seen a lot of movement,

but I also understand the obstructionists on the other side that lay in the middle for that. I get that, okay? But when you look at the fact that he is so incredibly unpopular despite this stuff. And then when you look at the fact that he doesn't seem capable of

making his case to the American people, it's an issue. I'm not ready to say that yet. And so I am saying it. He doesn't seem capable of making his case to the American people. It's an issue. And

if there weren't other people there that I think can make a case and could make a case, about like what's going on in the country and might have the opportunity to build coalitions. But let's be honest, Joe Biden has a lot of baggage coming into this.

You know, he's a lot of baggage coming into this. Thankfully, he's going to be running against someone who's got more baggage. And I would like to have a candidate that I'm super excited to vote for. I get that. Because this is the, we just had an election in 2020 where we felt very similar, right?

We weren't excited about Biden. we weren't excited about Trump. So I understand that sentiment. This was August 2022. I'd really want to delve into this and have this conversation. But I feel like right now, the way the polling is, and that there doesn't seem to be a huge, like, Trump, Biden, they're kind of neck and neck.

So did he? Neck and neck. We need to be advocating against Trump. And that's the only way. And that's how I felt in 2020. That's how I felt in 2020. Did you know how we talk? So we're not going to...

It's not advocating for... We're advocating against Trump. So we can't... We've lost our ability to in any way before anything. We can't think about the American that we want. I don't want to do it again, though, is what I'm saying. But what is our option?

It's so sad. I agree with you. I hate that we're in this position again four years later. I just say, and I think this is where maybe the Gavin Newsom's come in, which is why he hasn't put his... And I don't think he should this time. Gavin Newsom is not.

going to primary Joe Biden. That will never happen. So I think the Democrats are like, let's just ride it out. Like, pray for the best, prepare for the worst. And just keep it going. You're right. That's why I think the patriotic thing to do for President Biden would be to not run.

You should have said that to him in November or December, whenever he declared that he was running. It's too late. Did you know about one in three people with plagiarism, psoriasis may also develop psoriotic arthritis, which causes joint pain, stiffness, and swelling? Does this sound like you?

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have seen this. Did you guys see these videos? I sent them around. No, you only sent one and the rest have been banned. I went down. Sadly, my search engine is going to be in YouTube, Twitter, TikTok. Ritchie, did you see these videos? It all says booty massages, Jamaica. Hey, you guys look it up in the, um, I want you guys to look it up. Most of them have been deleted, guys. Look it, look it up on Twitter. Everybody in the control room.

Chloe, did you see the videos? Everybody look it up and look up the Jamaican booty massages in the raft. Find the banned one, please. They have bamboo river rafting and full body massage tours in Montego Bay, Jamaica. And it's a romantic tour on a 30-foot bamboo raft down the lethe. I don't know. Shout to all my Jamaica homies. On a leaf bamboo raft, the Leith River, on a Leith Baboo raft,

going down the river, the local guide, educated about fruit trees, the surrounding areas. Shut up! Stop! And showing a sample of natural remedies. It's great. Then the most favorite part of the tour is when the guide stops and massages your feet and body with the limestone that lets your skin feel smooth after washing it off. And are you guys seeing this in the room?

I want everybody to see this. Ritchie's taking a drink. Richie's getting hot in there. Ritchie's getting hot in the control room. Ritchie had to take a drink real quick. Chloe, jump on the mic. You're on this one. By the way, to let you guys know,

Donnie is off today. Ashley, are you there? Oh, they're both gone. Oh, Ashley's gone too. Donnie and Ashley are intro days in Sweden. So, Chloe is here. I want to know what, as you as women, what you as women think about the Jamaican booty massage phenomenon?

Like, what do y'all think? I feel like I wouldn't do that because it's like why is a random. guy rubbing on my ass like that. He's not just rubbing on it. He's getting in that thing. That's what I'm saying. I mean, they removed it from one of the videos from Twitter. Well, they removed one video on Twitter where the guy took his penis out and was rubbing it on the woman's vagina. And then he was about...

Did she see it? She was down for it. And he was about to put it in. And she said, don't put it in me. You got to get a plastic bag or something. That sounds like she's done that before. That's facts. For that to come out of your mouth, you've done this before. Yeah. No judgment, but judging. Anyways, this is disgusting to me.

The Jamaican booty massage is disgusting to you. Yeah. Why? The whole thing. What you described, fruit trees surrounding the area. Linesome. And a history and shown, what was it, a sample of natural remedies. This looked like they had them in some dirty river and on the side.

They weren't even floating. I didn't see any of that. It gets one thing to be on a raft. You're going to call the Jamaican River Dirty. You don't want to call the people River Dirty. Shout out to Jamaica, man. I'm not, don't make it seem like I'm talking about. It just sounds.

Chloe, I want to call a river dirty. Where they were stopped, it didn't look scenic. It didn't look beautiful. I'm not saying, I've been to Jamaica. I've been to Montego Bay. It is a beautiful country. It is a beautiful city.

Yeah. Right. Where they stopped and we're giving those massages look terrible. terrible. And there were all these other people around. It just seems such like such a violation. How could it be a violation though when the women are voluntarily getting the booty massage?

Yeah. But like it's just and like the woman who's tooted up that doesn't even seem like a comfortable position for me. She got that thing, that thing, that thing, like laying down maybe like listen, a booty massage feels fantastic. You like it. But I'm just can't get down. But you do.

Say it. Yes. Okay. I just say it Richie's face is getting red Richie Oh my God Richie

There's a reason There's a reason these women are flocking Like it feels good But I just would not want my The guy who's massaging me To have been touching on a bunch of other booties I think it's just something About like

But okay so And it's public And people are filming it Okay so let's let's look at this in a very specific way Okay. Chloe, you still there? All right.

This is, this is for the sisters. This is for the women. Or the half-sister. And what's romantic about it? Okay. Why is it? Okay, so let's look at it this way. First of all, let's take out consent because the women are definitely consent to the wood of the mother-masy.

No, they are consenting. I don't want to make it seem like they're not. All right, let's take out even the slyly white supremacist framework of the river being dirty. Oh, my God. Stop. That's not white supremacist. Okay. Let's, let's, um, did that look like a little.

Chloe, did that look like a little. a scenic view to you. No, I'm going to be honest. I did not look. Thank you. Y'all stuck up. All right, so, and let's take off the fact of the guys' hands being dirty because I would imagine that these guys will wash their hands between booty massages, right? I would imagine it's limestone. You can't massage my booty and have been on 30 booties earlier in the day. I don't want it.

Do you get a massage from the massage parlor? Back. Okay. So what I'm saying is... The booty is different. But they massage a bunch of people. before you come in to the things. What's different?

They massage a lot of people. I'm saying, is the fact that the booty massage is wrong? I don't think it's wrong. You don't think it's wrong. No. Is this too sexual? Is this a sexual thing?

When it's being publicly recorded, if you got a booty massage and, like, if they had like tents and you were floating on the water, and that is what you want to do. do and you want to pay for a booty massage, I have no problem with it. I'm not against the booty massage. But this was so public, this was not romantic. They were allowing people to record

them. You had kids jumping on the raft, dancing to the music. It's a different culture. It just seemed like... Discussing to you, Chloe? I want to say disgusting. It's just a bit off.

It doesn't seem as advertised. How about that? How many women do you feel like are going down there getting fucked by the Jamaican booty massage men? I don't know if they're – I don't know if they're having sex with them. I can't speak to that. Well, I know. We saw it. Well, I didn't.

It was removed. But I would imagine a lot of women are going down there to get booty massages. Okay. A lot. So let's do this. Because they feel good. Okay, so let's do this. Rachel, you're going a little bit hard with how much you like the booty massage.

You're putting people in your bedroom. I'm not – I'm just saying, I understand why somebody would want a booty massage. I don't understand why they would want it like this. So, all right. So is this exploitive? Is it, because we talk about the passport bros, right?

You guys have heard about passport bros? No, I kept seeing that reference. I meant to look that up. You know what passport bros are? So the passport bros are guys that exist here in America, right? Or not just in America, but in other, what's say, developed nations, whatever. And they

are password bros because they go to places Thailand, the Dominican Republic, places like that, to have sex with women. And it's basically they're sex tourists, but they go to places to where women are

Brazil, where women are specifically attracted and looking for American men because it represents something different economically for them. They like, if you go to Brazil. It's like, oh, you're in America. And these women consent. It's like a thing. It's consent. It's consenting, but they also get a bad name because, you know, number one, they'll make videos and be like, oh, this is why we should come to the Dominican Republic and blah, blah, blah.

And it also looks pathetic to people that they have to engage in tourism to go find women because it seems like they are praying on these women that come from poorer countries. Is this not the same or not, don't we have another example of women? being horny and exploitive as fuck with the booty massage phenomenon. That's what I've been saying. No. It's the same thing.

This is a service. These people are offering a service. They got their asses tuted up with the thongs. This is the service. They're literally paying for service. The women in other countries are offering service. It's the same thing. This is where I don't think it's quite the same thing

from the way you described it. But the difference is you were talking about them making videos and like this is why you need to come to the Dominican because you need to basically have sex with these women. Okay. I'm looking at this guy who stopped his girl. But wasn't that like planned? Yeah, it looked like he stopped his girl from getting his,

like he didn't want it to get the Jamaican booty massage. It's a skit. Listen, the whole issue to me is that it just seems to be, if that's what you want to do, fine, it's just so public and the filming of it. It just takes it to another level when it's the filming of it. Yes, it seems exploitive when I see it that way. Last question.

If you are a guy and your girl goes to Jamaica to get the limestone booty massage, did she cheat on you? Yes. Chloe? I'd say so, just because it's, I feel like it's just an invasive act. It's totally an invasive act. Like, if they were giving a full box. body massage because like you go to Europe and they do actually massage your butt.

It would be like, oh, this is a full body massage. You like that shit. But they're specifically saying, I'm just here to massage your booty. And I don't know why they're throwing feet in there, but I guess I never saw them touch anybody's feet. I only saw the booty. And the thing is, is they were working it, right? Like they were in there, in there.

It just was too much. It was too much. And it was being filmed. And were the girls okay with the film? They're in the videos. But there's one that's from a distance. And there's one, the girl is, you can't even see her face. I don't even know if she knew she was being recorded from her.

It was just too much booty. Her booty was in the air. Yeah, I don't even know if she knew she was being recorded. That's the thing. Does this, you know, description that you gave from Expedia also say you will be subject to recording? I bet they knew. If I was single, I can understand why a woman will want to go down there and get some valid attention. So if you were single.

If you were single, you would go get the booty massage. I wouldn't do it because it's too public. But, okay, how about this? If you were single and no one was going to know and it wasn't, they weren't going to see. Maybe. Maybe. I think about it. You think about it. You think about it. From a windston. I think about it.

Winston, man. Yeah, you like that shit. You liked how Stella's got a groove back. I did like how Stella's got a groove back. I'm glad that we did this because I'm glad that we now know about what goes on. Because you just expected me to be like full, prude. I didn't expect that. I mean, I am disgusted. You are disgusted.

You're disgusted. I didn't know. I didn't know. But nobody asked you whether or not a booty massage felt good. You just, you just. Well, I understand what the women are doing. I see why you married a chiropractor now. Because you know how to.

That's probably what happened in the fantasy suite. Oh my God. Whoa. Did Brian give you a booty massage in a fantasy suite? He did not. Brian is a limestone expert. He did not give me. That's what I got to watch that episode because I'm still working my way through.

I got to watch the Fantasy Suite episode. I got to see if Brian. I had hand cramps after. Stop. Where are you? No, I'm not telling you. I'm just going to, me and Donnie have a whole plan. I don't like it.

Jump in. I'm watching, I watched a couple of this past weekend. I watched a couple. By the way, I like it. I like your season. Where are you? I'm not going to, I'm not telling you, I watch one on Saturday and I watched a half of one on Sunday. Okay, just tell me this.

Other than Brian, because you know him, which and Eric, because you knew him before, which guy have you. you taking a liking to. I haven't taken a liking to any of them. I think you had the worst pick of niggas. I swear to God. I think you had the worst pick of niggas ever. Because people were really upset when I talked about some of the black men, not all of the black men, I talked about how I could tell, and I told the producers this, that several of the black men on my season don't say black women. And they thought it was the most fascinating thing ever and wanted me to explore that more. And I was like, that's actually, no, I was like, that's actually traumatizing.

that you brought men on this season who don't date me. Wow. Anyways, glad you're enjoying it. But I'm surprised. You know, take a like in to some of the others. I like The Bachelor. I do. If you want to sit down and just watch,

I like The Bachelor. I like the Bachelor. There's nothing not to like. I don't like soup kitchen. It turns my stomach to have to see him. But I like The Bachelor. It was fun. It's fun.

You are so different, though. Am I different to you? It's so different. If we're going to go out, we're going to have a nice time and do it. I'm like, that's not Rachel. That was me in that world. Nah, man. Nah, man.

You was, that's a co-switch. That was a co-switch. That was first Baptist, Rachel. You know what was going on this weekend as well? Hip-hop. It started out in the park. Shout out the hell of the first. Hip-hop.

It started out in the park. It was the 50th anniversary of hip-hop. Live at Yankee Stadium, man. Everybody was out there. Run DMC. Little Wayne, Snoop Dog, Eve, Wiz Khalifa, Lauren Hill, Naz, comment to you out,

Lil Kim. A bunch of recap videos. Shout out to Carrie Twig and everybody that's working over there at Culture House because they had ladies first a story of women in hip-hop. It's a four-part docu-series.

We are not getting paid to do this. We're just saying it's a big, deal. Quint Latina for Rhapsody. Lotto. Lotto. Lotto. Sweetie. Roxanne Chante, everybody was on it. Hip-hop 50th. 50th anniversary of hip-hop. 50. 50 years of hip-hop. They celebrated. You've been seen it everywhere. It's been some controversy. Uncle Luke feels like Florida hip-hop. Wasn't recognized? At the show? At the show? Well, it was heavily New York. It's heavily New York. I mean, they really didn't have a lot of, I mean, like, Snoop was west, South was like T.I. And Lou Wayne.

If you look at this, T.I. Lil Wayne. Common is not from New York. That's Chicago. But a lot of it was New York. But a lot of it was New York. As a matter of fact, but the list of artists that I ran down, the only artists that are from New York on here are Lil Kemp run DMC and Nines. You had Wu-Tang. You had-So Wutang don't deserve to be there?

No, I understand. I mean, it started in New York, 50 years. to the day they're doing it in New York. I understood there would be a big New York presence, but I also understand, if you're talking 50 years of hip hop, you're talking about the evolution of hip hop, and the evolution of it is throughout the country.

And so I understand why Uncle Luke was like, I mean, Uncle Luke was huge. Luther Campbell is one of the most important hip hop artists of all times. See? There's no doubt about it. So I understand. And I'll say it again, Luther Campbell, the two-life crew,

is one of the most important hip-hop groups of all time. One of the first cases we study in IP law. Took on the government and won. First cases. What two-live crew did for hip-hop? What two-live crew did for expression in America? We talk about now these free speech, absolutionists and everybody that's

talking about rolling your sleeves up and going to war with the American government over what can and cannot be said over what is or is not decent. That is one of the biggest moments in hip hop history and a moment to me that is severely under-discussed. So to not have Uncle Luke, the two live crew, and really the Miami-based movement that came out of that as a part of any discussion of the history of hip-hop

is sorely lacking because we could talk about in songs that were important and they have songs that are important. We could talk about movements that are important and obviously the whole movement of South Florida is important. But when we talk about American history, there is not too many things that have occurred in hip-hop that are as important, that are as history-making

is that protected hip hop as much as that court decision did. For you guys who don't know. I'm telling you, it was one of the first things in law school for people who weren't even familiar with who Luther Campbell was. They were reading about that. It should be known that this was just a live show that they did to kind of commemorate what's been going on all year.

They've been celebrating 50 years of hip hop this whole year. So there has been a discussion at some point. of Miami-based music, Florida music there, but it wasn't represented at this show, which is what he was talking about. So I don't want to discredit because they really have been celebrating hip-hop all year at award shows, performances,

documentaries. It's been a lot. Six-member jury found Campbell in a group not guilty of obscenity charges. Henry Gates testified. No, there was a different case. There are a couple of different cases. Obscenity charges they had on,

but the one that went to the Supreme Court was a parody case. Okay. So here's the deal. You talk about obscenity, which Luther Campbell was beaten court. You're talking about the parity case,

the right to express themselves in the way they did, they went all the way to the Supreme Court. It was a fair use case because they used the pretty woman song. Use pretty woman, right? So all of that stuff are in the beginnings of hip hop, not now when you have a bed of money to rest on. Those were true rebels, two live crew true rebels.

All right. Did a lot for hip hop, man. Did a lot for hip hop. Uncle Luke did a lot for hip hop, man. And we talk about the South. I am obviously from the South. Yes. Same.

Don't. Same. I don't ever think that the South gets enough credit for what it's done for hip hop and the fact that it's been running hip hop for as long as it has. But I will say that what I enjoyed about the celebration of hip hop in its 50th birthday is the recognition of the culture. And I feel like in most cases, what we've seen is an attempt to understand just what a creation, a complex and beautiful cultural creation hip hop is. And I've learned more

about the creation of hip hop. I've learned more about some of the pioneers. I knew a sizable amount, but I've learned more. I've learned more about just how much it's meant in the lives of so many different people. And really, I've learned more about kind of where some of the pioneers are now, and that's not always something great to learn. A lot of the people that did a lot of the heavy lifting for hip hop early on are not in places where I feel like they should be. Whose fault do you think that is? There's a couple of different people's faults, right? So it's not any one entity that you could blame that on.

Like you come into the NBA and at first you're working a job part-time and then playing basketball on the weekend. You got a job during the offseason if you play in the NFL. So at first, the money doesn't come in, right? It's not there for you. And then after a while of doing it, it saturates, gets out into the culture at large. And then just like we've seen NBA contracts go up, we've seen rappers make more money. This is what I would say, though. And this is something that we should discuss when we talk about hip-hop.

culture. If hip hop is a business, then the pioneers of hip hop, we don't owe them anything. Like, we don't owe them anything. It makes sense. If hip hop is a business. If hip hop is a business, if rap music is a business, we don't owe the pioneers anything. But the moment that you use the term culture, shared values, a creative ecosystem, like something that we're doing together that we've joined hands in. If you define hip hop as a culture, if you're saying it is the culture, it's a culture, a cultural movement, then you absolutely owe the pioneers of hip hop more than what I feel like they're getting right now.

Interesting. If it's a culture, if it's a way of life, it's something that we all share in, draw life from, we put into, we pull out of, like when I look at my culture, you know, I look at the elders in my culture. I look at the women in my culture. I look at the people in my culture. And the reason why you do certain things is because you feel like you owe these people

because we're in it together. It's fucked up to see the pioneers, some of the pioneers of hip hop culture, not having when some of these rappers are out here making these ungodly sums of money. Well, that's what I would say. I think there's a divide in what hip hop is. I would say if you're talking culture and business,

I would say the way it was originated, the way, what it represented, the community that it was, the way that it was an identity, the way it was about expression in certain forms, whether it was dance, whether it was art, whether it was theater, whether it was rapping, whether, you know, DJ, whatever it was, it brought, it gave, it spoke about communities, it spoke about people, it gave a voice, you know, to black people in a way that they hadn't had it before and to do it in such a creative way. in all forms. I wouldn't say that that's necessarily what's happening currently when you look at where

hip hop is today. I'm not saying it doesn't exist, but I would say that a lot of people look at it just as a business more than what it was rooted in when it started 50 years ago. Does that make sense? It makes a ton of sense. But what I'm saying is I always look at things from the standpoint of culture and community. And when you're looking at them in that way, you know, I see MC.

Shan who's out there and he's upset at some people about, and he's an incredibly important figure in the beginnings of hip hop. He's upset with some people about not being recognized as he should be recognized, right? But I think we got to take better care of him. I think I'm not in the position to know whether or not Shane has a point or not, but I think we got to take better care of him. I think we got to take better care of Cool Herk, Metley, Meil, all of these guys. got to take better care of Kit Capri.

Guys, so the term DJ, when I was first looking at the greatest DJ in the world, Kit Capri, I'm looking at all of these different people, and I want to make sure that they good. For what these men and women, like, what they built, what they contributed, they should always be good. They should always be good. You should have to pay into some kind of fund. I'm serious.

You should have to pay into some kind of fund. to take care of the old rappers. You should. Like a specific group, you should have to pay into some kind of fund when you're making all of this money. You should have to pay in some kind of fun

so motherfucking cool hurricane Melly Mill could ride fly. They should never be fucked up. Like the guys who started this and what this has done, they should never be fucked up. And really, people who should be doing this

is the record companies. I'll tell you something right now, bro. Oh, wow. I'll just, I'm being something. The record companies, we talk about what we owe the culture. My question is, are the record companies that are involved in this?

Are they paying their fair share back to the culture? No. Haven't multiple artists had to sue these record companies for how messed up these contracts were? No. Hip-hop pension. I love it. Hip-hop pension.

None of the older rappers should be fucked up. They did too much. I'm for it. I'm for it. All right, we got to go. Chloe, a lot of people are going to be upset with you about the whole booty massage topic.

Why is that? Because you and Rachel came off as judgmental towards the booty massages. See, they're used to doing that to me, Chloe. Now you're going to get looped in with it. Welcome. Chloe and Donnie and Ashley right now are in Sweden. Donnie definitely getting the booty massage.

He's getting a sweet booty massage right now. Donnie definitely. He's probably so happy he missed this topic. Donnie definitely getting the booty massage. You know one of them guys out there doing the work calls himself Sweet Booty. You think so? I know so.

Like sweet booty? Yeah. Like sweet booty. Like sweet booty got the best hands out there. Sweet booty. Donnie, I think Donnie definitely gets a booty massage from his wife. You don't think so? You don't think so.

I don't think so. All right. Take 10 caps off. Do not stop learning. I'm Van Laketon Jr. I'm Rachel and Lindsay. Bye guys.