New Rory & MAL - Checking In With The Kid Mero

Episode Date: August 28, 2025

Rory and Mal check in with The Kid Mero to clown NYC Mayor Eric Adams, reflect on how the podcasting game has changed, and discuss the current state of Hip-Hop. #volumeSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. I'm Daniel Alarcon, and this is my friend. This is much more famous than I am. I wouldn't go that far, but I'm John Green. Co-host of the podcast The Away End with my old friend Daniel. On our podcast, The Away End, we'll share with you the magic of international football, all leading up to the 2026 World Cup.

Together, we'll find out why, of all the unimportant things, football, soccer, is the most important. Listen to the Away End with Daniel Alarcon and John Green on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Will Ferrell's Big Money Players and IHeart Podcasts presents soccer moms. So I'm Leanne. Yeah. This is my best friend, Janet. Hey.

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Twilight Gazebo. What's next? Dead man's grove? Mom, could you please try to be a little bit positive about this? From Kenya Barris, the visionary creator of Blackish, comes Big Age, an Audible original about finding your way in life's next chapter. This audio comedy series follows a retired couple's reluctant relocation to Sunset Gardens, a Floridian senior community that is anything but relaxing.

Starring Comedy Legends Jennifer Lewis, Cedric the Entertainer, and Nisi Nashvettes. Through its blend of outrageous comedy, key party anyone? And touching revelations, Big Age explores what it means to grow older without growing old at heart. go to audible.com slash big age series to start listening today. The volume. It's Craig. Did you get to hear that? Yo, what?

You didn't hear Tyler? On the Lloyd shit? No. On the beat? Oh, my God. Oh, no. I saw him at Prudential the other day. And I was like, damn, I've never seen this amount of white people saying the word, nigga.

Like, like, enthusiasticly. I went to the Kanye West late, I was it late registration tour? Which one has gold digger on it? Oh. Is it late registration? Lay registration, I think, right? I went to that tour at the garden and Kanye said on stage,

hey, white people, this is your one night, you're allowed to say the N word. And when I say it was the loudest, I'd heard anybody rap-a-longed to a song in my life. That's what we paid for.

Nobody screamed that hook louder. That's what they paid for. They wanted to say that. Yeah. All right, we are back on a new episode. Today we are joined by somebody that I felt we were talking like we felt like we met each other. It's our first time actually meeting each other. We're actually,

we went to the same high school, not at the same time. I think he went a year after I did. But a Bronx native, writer, comedian, podcaster, TV host, actor. The Kid Mero is with us today. Yeah, man, thank you. Community activist. You know what I'm saying? Let's fucking go. My fellow Bronx, my fellow Bronx legend. How you feel, man? BX in the building, bro. You went to Clinton. I went to Clint. I went in, I went in 97? I got in 97. I'm class of 01. Class of 01.

I was trying to figure out if that made me dumb or not. I was just like, wait, it was four years. 97, 99, that got cool. You're from the Heights, though?

I was born in the Heights and then moved to the Bronx all over. Like, Throxenck, Kingsbridge, Trimaud of Castle Hill, 174. Oh, if you look on Tremont Castle Hill, you're a Bronx, baby. Yeah, you know what I mean? You're not from the Heights.

You're from the States. You're from the Bronx for real. Come on. I'm Fordham and Cresting. Fresh and a half. Come on, you got Mongo P. He got in his lungs.

You know the guy. You know the guy. This is why I said I'm taking a backseat on this episode. This is the Bronx cash. Y'all can catch up. Figure out, I'm sure you have cousins. Don't even know.

I'm more than sure we got cousins. But it's funny. You're Puerto Rican. Yes, I'm Puerto Rican. But I've never met Merrill, man. And it's funny because we literally from the same area. Never met you.

Do you know what's one of our situation is probably like where you in the same building as somebody? Yeah. But you're moving with some people. Absolutely. That's exactly how it happened. I'm sure we was in the same lobby at some point. 100%. Absolutely.

And I was fucking like, yo. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yo, yo, yeah, my name's Jimmy. This is my Uber. And the big Crown Heights, like, yo, what the fuck? Yo. Y, I got your own police? What?

Well, Eric Adams brought us all together today. It's now finally he could unify. After years of you guys not. I feel like as podcasts, we can kind of gauge when we feel like we see somebody like he's about to get a podcast. Eric Adams is next. He's next up in the queue of a person that's about to have a podcast. Him and Shane and Sharp is on the phone right now. Trying to figure it out.

What you're putting it, playing together. Yeah, that's how he's going to roll it out, club Shayshay. You already know. He's going to do Club Shay Shay, and then he's going to announce his own. Eric Adams is to me out. He's the one person that if you don't think you're living in a simulation, look at Eric Adams. A hundred percent. Like, you can catch him glitching sometimes.

And it's like, yo, this is definitely none of this is real. Doug, all this shit that he says sounds like it could be like a skit on a rap album from the 90s. Absolutely. Like the shit was a host Mac and Cheese 7. Bro, a hundred and Mr. Like, bro, he should be doing a free Maconnie. He's going to be on the top of the new Smack DVD. Free way God.

That's right. You know, we're going to go to a nice risk to ride smokes. Yeah, but it is so crazy seeing Eric Adams like any time he put. I'm like, bro, this is the mayor. Bro, the mayor of New York City. should not be smoking hookah with Nems. Names, I love you. You know what I'm saying?

Mayor, Coney Island. If you're the mayor, if you're a pot, this is what I'm saying. It was a, it was a political sit down. It was diplomatic immunity. About what? I know he was mad about bike lanes and shit like that.

You know what I'm saying? But what the fuck are you talking about? Literally they're about to get rid of Coney Island. I'm sure it wasn't brought up once. Is this a real Eric Adams tweet? Deep down, I think I must be a little. Dominican because we all are in the summer marching down 6th Avenue and the

Dominican day parade just felt like coming home come every time I meet Dominican New Yorkers I'm inspired by their generosity and energized by that pat yeah he's never been he's never been on Sherman and Negro see I never sure my generosity yeah I was like this a 0.05 he said this was a 20 they'll sure too quick on the haze up there at least he'd toned down when he went to Far Rockaway he got there and was like y'all used to fuck mad bitches out here yeah that was crazy I had a shawlty I'm like, bro, you talk like a... It's the mayor. You're the mayor.

You're the mayor. Dog, you're a politician. This is what I'm saying. You don't feel... You don't feel it's relatable? That's what I'm saying. I think he's trying to do that. He's trying to be too relatable.

He's trying to be too New York. He's trying to show that he's really from here. And, you know, he grew up here. But it's like, it's a way to do that. Right. It's a way to do that. Organically, fan. Were you not forcing it and be like...

I shouldn't see the mayor doing pull-ups on the don't walk side when I open up my phone. It's like, bro, we don't need. But we don't need, you don't got to be that New York. I'm just saying that's a New York thing, but you don't got to be doing that. You could be clapping while a dude doesn't. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That's cool. You doing it yourself in a Brooks brother shirt, bro? Or the Van Hewes in non-wrinkle joint? Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. No speaker. Just in your pocket playing. Come on, Doc. Like, just put a Yankee hat on, sit behind home plate and call it a day. That's all the New York mayor needs to do at this point.

Everybody's doing brand deals now. Everybody got his his a free idea. Do a brand deal with next. tail chirp. You know what I'm saying? I feel like he needs a shirt. He's a next-tailed-ass-digger, bro. Eric Adams is a chirp guy. 100. Wow, I want to speak on a knobbuss.

Do a real New York business over the chirp. Like, yo, yo, I need 20 t-shirts. Bro, how long we've been saying t-shirts? Yeah, I got to stop. I need 20 t-shirts, bro. They know what that means. Yeah, they don't know what that means. They're going to lock all of y'all up, man.

Listen, Busby definitely is plotting on a whole RICO for Eric Adams. Oh. I'm not saying it'll be true or not because it's Busby. Some handsy shit. Of course. Bro, he was, he was, it's, Fox News is going to run the headline, touching titty's in Turkey.

They love alliteration. They're going to go with that. Yeah. He did something in Turkey. Yeah. He didn't get a headline. He was out there grabbing tities. Yeah.

I'm doing something fucked up. On the Cuomo timing, bro. Like, just bugging. No, but I think Fox News may adopt Eric Adams. I think that might be the move now. He might go full Republican. He might, instead of doing a podcast, yeah. He might do it with Tucker Carlson.

Lisa Evans is on Fox? Is that she's, Yeah, but like, not that Fox. Remember we she, street soldiers on 97? Like, yo, here's community news. I was like, yo, this is crazy. Black people are wilding. I'm like, yo, what the fuck?

What the fuck? That's the story. Black people are wild and out. Yeah, did she in the hood trying to get in the apartment? She was DM and everybody like, hey, can I get a comment on the shooting at Irving Plaza? I was like, no. I fucking know everyone involved. No, no.

We saw you crazy. Yeah. I have to walk in here. Hi. You look to snitch on everybody you know. Yeah. Yeah. Hi.

No, I would not. Doug. Like, I actually, I'm glad to be here. Yo, so, Merro, we, um, now that we're all in this, we're all in this podcasting world, I guess. How much has it changed for the better and for the words as far as you concerned? Because you were, you, you've had television shows. You've had, you know, podcast. Shout out to 7 p.m. in Brooklyn.

Y'all doing y'all thing. Shout out to mellow. Yeah. And cast as well. And cast. Shout to cast. as well. But how much has it changed for the better and for the worst? From your

perspective, like, because you've been doing this for a while. Yeah, man. I mean, y'all too. You know what I mean? This is like, this is like the NBA TV. Like, 90s like, who's the best rebounder of 1995? This is Isaiah. This is Isaiah. And Maddening sitting down, apologizing. Pretending not to hold resentments and try to be

objective. And yo, this is in reality, like, you know, back then, it was like there wasn't such a saturation. You know what I'm saying? Like, now it's like everybody. and your mother got a fucking podcast. And to stand out, you got to do something either absolutely,

you got to have like a gimmick or you got to have like, you know what I'm saying? Like there's like a, or it has to be something really, really well. But you got to do TV now to Tavis and such a podcast. So that's what I learn is it's like from going from like legacy TV network shit where everything is just like, yo, you know what I mean? Like every cross your T's die your eyes. You know what I mean? Apply that to podcast and you'll stand out.

You know what I'm saying? Like I watch our shit and it's like the TV show. Yeah. Like, I don't know. We meant of a certain age. But you remember Howard Stern had the show on E? Yeah. And he had the radio shit popping.

And then he had the TV show. And it was just like, even as a kid, I was like, bro, like, this is. Yeah. You know what I mean? This is fucking brilliant, bro. So you double different. So, like, it back then. I'm from the entertainment vibes with sex buggy.

Yo. Hello. Who's entertainment? Who's entertainment? You all know about who's entertaining. Shorty got a G unit. You know, so he got a G unit. You know what I'm saying?

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. watching all that. But, you know, watching all of those shows growing up, it was always a sense of having your own camera, mic, you know, interview, going around the community, talking to random people. And now what we're doing with podcasting, I guess it's an iteration of that in some sense, but it has to be on a grander scale now to kind of separate yourself. Right. I mean, I felt

like TV even took the podcast model to some degree. A lot of the sports TV, so it's just a podcast. Like, this is not a sports show. It just happens to be on TV. You're doing a sports podcast. Yeah. Right. Most of those shows. And I said, shit, like, I tell them all the time, I'm like, bro, this is a TV show. It just happens to be on YouTube. Yeah. And like, bro, I got four kids, dog.

Like, my kids, we used to come home and be like, yo, channel five, channel seven. Like, yo, family matters is on. Whatever. Boo, boo. Morning, whatever. Now my kids come home and hit the YouTube button on the remote. The remote don't even got fucking numbers on there no more. Yeah.

So I'm like, yo, how are the executives sitting up there being like, yo, we're going to figure out how to revamp TV? I'm like, bro, you're still talking about Channel 28? Yeah. when that shit hasn't been a thing for 10 years, you know what I'm saying? So, like, TV and the digital shit is kind of, like, bled into each other a little bit to your point of, like,

TV is trying to be a little bit more casual and podcasts is trying to be a little bit more polished. You know what I'm saying? And it's like, now we're in a weird space where it's just like, y'all can fuck around and hit up, like, yo, Netflix, I want to license this shit to y'all. You know what I mean?

And then keep this shit going here. Like, what Pat McAfee's doing with ESPN? It's just like, yo, I got my shit. I built my shit. People know who I am, people know who y'all are. You got your audience and then you just leverage that shit, you know, get a little brand deal. Yeah. No, that's organic.

We just like that just like that just happened. We need some more light. I used to be my nightlight, but I'm running to the studio. But that's the nightlight in the room is crazy. It boost my morale, you know. I just wake up. Like it's a demo on there if you don't want to too, like too, you know, too aggressive. Like, dim it a little bit.

Nah. You see, I bring a chick home and I throw on the little boost son. Yeah. You know what time? They give you a boost. Wake up in a morning. And it's orange suits. Like,

citrus? Yeah. Like morning. Yeah. Let's go. Rob and Sean. That's what that is. Ross and grind,

King. Exactly. Boost, we need a raise for that free ad. We just gave you. Come on. Come on. And I'm in it, too. So,

for a free time. Come on. Now, that bad got to be released. Absolutely. So now you have a podcast. As a New Yorker, how does it feel having a podcast with Melo,

man? Because, I mean, as a, you know, as a true New Yorker, that has to be like kind of like a what the fuck like with Brooklyn in the title though yeah well it was crazy because like that was

that was one of the things I was just like but it was like they like you know when you want to build something like you know that's that's a they would try basically wave was just like you're trying to build a brand that's not like stuck to like a person

like y'all are individual brands like together and all your own but like they didn't want to do that in Mello's case because it it makes it so that like you can't build that world out. You know what I'm saying? Like if you bring somebody at first, season one, it was just me and him. Yeah. So it's just like it's,

we started there and then you start to build out the world. CAST comes in. Monica comes there. Rudy comes in. Now it's like a cast. You know what I mean? And it's, I always say like it's like kind of like the bodega boys model. I don't know, man. Like the podcast world, bro, digital entertainment

is mad parosocial. bro, and like, you either lean into it and get paid or you're like, nah, and like you try your best to do what you can do. But at the end of the day, people are interested in what y'all have to say. You know what I'm saying? Like, y'all are very prepared. You know what I mean? You got to run the show. This is not a vibe fest.

Right. You know what I mean? Which I feel like a lot of, to the other point of like, how has it changed. I feel like a lot of motherfuckers just think, yo, we're going to get some mics and some cameras and we're just going to go up there and be like, yo, so what's up? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

And it's like, bro, nah. Like, people want to hear what I want to say. say about music, pop culture, and, you know, myself. So I'm like, all right, this is what we're going to do. We got to come, we're going to sit a week ahead of time. We're going to talk about, yo, what do y'all want to talk about? Yeah. I bet.

Closer to the day of taping, we refine that document, you know what I'm saying, and then we go through it. Like, you know, but like, there's a structure, but this is also that looseness of like, y'all, you just hanging out. It's not too corporate. Yeah, if it go left, you know what I'm saying? Yeah, bro, with Cat Williams was up there talking about, I beat all you

niggas in basketball. All race you I was like, yo, this is crazy. I was like, bro, I'm 42. And I used to be an athlete. I was like, all my body parts are fucked up. And I'm from the Bronx. I got hit my car stab. Didn't properly take care of anything.

Like, ended up at Jacoby a lot. You know what I'm saying? It was like, oh. And that was just before your Kinseera. Do you feel me? That was like, I was 13. Yeah. Like, yo.

And, you know, Jacoby, bro. Bro, you can get shot. Yeah. You go in that motherfucker. You go in that, you go in there. Yo, his emotional. bro, peace, peace be with you. I'm like, bro, this is crazy.

I'm like, y'all got hit by fucking four bro. The old j shit. The old school drink. And then I went to my family doctor. He was just like, yo, here's some perks, motherfucker. And I was like, okay, I was like, okay, this is what I needed for a drug. Yeah, this will do it. This is a word.

This is a word. Yeah. I can walk again. And then I'm just wear off and I'm like, doc it. Yeah. Yeah. Because when you get by Bronco, it's in your whole body. Like not just one.

Like a hump or something. Yo, and the doctor was like, yo, you're lucky. It was a bronco because that shit. and you just went like that. Exactly. Like, if it would have been a civic, then you would have been either under that shit or over that shit. Exactly.

Exactly. So by the grace of God, we're here. You know what I'm saying? And my ADHD made me forget what the fuck. I was supposed to go about. I even feel like adding people like you, because I'm not saying Mello,

obviously Mello's good at his job in that regard, but not everyone with podcasting being oversaturated is running to be like, Mello will have the best opinions ever. So having somebody decades into this shit is, because we saw, What's Megan Markle? What's her name?

Most famous chick ever for a year. Peach could get more views than heard right now from his laptop and those headphones. Just because you're famous doesn't mean you're interesting. When you went to Spotify, Amy Schumer, biggest comic, dud. And entertaining and funny, I'm not saying, but Michelle Obama. Sort of famous. Like, we know, you know for it, right? You would think that that would make sense on paper that Michelle Obama's pocket flopped.

Yeah. And that's the thing. I'm like, yo, what do people really listen to podcasts for? Like I know us, like our community is like, yo, I want to laugh, bro. You know what I'm saying? I'm over here slicing oven gold turkey with one air pot in. Like I ain't, I'm just counting down the minutes until I get the fuck out of here. Yeah.

I'm trying to laugh, bro. I'm trying to, yo, what the fuck? What's the opinion on this Joey badass shit? Like da-da-da-da-da-da-da. I want to hear that because that's what I'm talking about with my people's. And I think it's a certain language that we're able to speak because certain people, you're celebrity famous, but you still don't speak the language of. of the people that are probably listening. Or live in reality for that matter.

That part, bro. That's another thing. It's like, bro, you be, like, fam, like, I'm so glad that, like, you know, I got kids and shit and I got, like, bills to pay and shit like that because that should have you focused on like, yo, this is what I got to do. So you don't get distracted with, like, the, oh, yo, I'm going to be cool and go over here and be cool with this motherfucker. Yo, flick it up.

Yeah. Because it's like, bro, there's so much of that that it's just like, bro, what if this resulted me getting paid? You know what I'm saying? You know what I mean? Or adding value to what the fuck I'm already doing. You know what I mean? Like, it doesn't have to be dollars, but it's like value, bro.

Meaning like, am I more visible now? Like, am I on a billboard somewhere where somebody's going to be like, I don't know this dude, but like I'm going to check him out. You know what I mean? Like the gifts, bro. Like, there's so many gifts of me. And that was on purpose. I would tell like production on every show I've ever been on.

Like, yo, if y'all doing social shit and gifts, like, yo, I talk on my hands. I'm mad animated. I'd say a lot of wild shit. just clip everything, bro. And bro, people will approach me in the mall and be like, yo, nigga, you in my group chat crazy. Like, what you be doing? And I'm like, what you be doing?

It's crazy. No, he just be meaning. Like, it's whole, I just do mean. I just do it. I just do it. I did. I make gifts. I just be in my crib.

That's it. Just gifts. Reactions. Yeah, reactions, you know. I'm in a group chat. I miss the group chat. That's me. You know what I do?

I do a custom one for $100 right now. Right now. Like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like free cameio. Okay. I'm not down back that you know what I'm saying we're not down back we're not doing cameos yet you know what I'm saying my son you don't say hey you never know you know I mean I'm never like we had a cameo for a little bit and it started to feel nasty it was like dog I'd be in my DMs and if somebody wants a happy birthday

I'll usually just do the video for free this feels gross now if if shit hits the fan and my two year old needs to eat well we do canos all day dot com backslash this is rory we yeah yeah happy birthday to your Deere and Cheryl. Yeah. Happy 86 birthday. Hey, 86, don't mean you ain't got it. You know what I'm saying? 86, you still take the day.

But cameo, I understand because we did it like for maybe a week and I was like, bro, this is crazy. I was doing that already like four people for free. You know, it's just a drop. The famous Smokey Robinson one. The famous Smokey Robinson cameo where he, the two kids had, Smokey was their mother's favorite artist. Okay.

And she grew up across the street from him. Okay. And she, I guess he didn't know that. So they had smoking. could do a cameo, but short he was Jewish, and it was for Hanukkah. So he's like, I want to wish, uh, Miss Sheila a happy Chinooka. Is it right? Yep.

That's it right there. That's right. That's right. That's right. That's right. Surprise, surprise. Surprise. Surprise.

Yeah. Smokey Raubon. I know you didn't expect to hear from me. But I was contacted by your sons, Jeff and Cher. And they wanted me, they told me that you used to live. Detroit across the street from me and gosh that's beautiful how are you doing again

how are you doing again? Nice talking to you again I guess but anyway you're living in Vancouver now and they want me to wish you happy Chinooka I have no idea what Chinooka is but happy to know what Chinooka is so they said something

anyway God bless you babe and enjoy Chinooka. Enjoy Chinooka! Enjoy Chinooka! Enjoy Chinook! Wait, all right As somebody that is a devout Irish Catholic that was in the No Child Left Behind program, can you pull up how Hanukkah is really spelled? Because I might have said the same fucking thing. No, no, no.

No, it's C-H, right? Bro, it's spelled like eight different ways, boy. Oh, okay. Like, I might have done the exact same fucking thing. Like, that should be fucking me up. Wait, now I'm having a... How is Hanukes spelled? This is like the K and Chick-fil-A because I, okay, now that's how I'm used to seeing it.

Right. But I do feel like, I do feel like, under it. Is it spelled Chinooka or Hanukkah? Yeah. A Jewish lady. I'm, like, I'm clocking it.

Now look, I've seen the CH as well before. I've seen that spelling before. Yeah. But I've definitely seen the H.A. spelling as well. So now which one is correct? Yeah.

Because Smokey might not be wrong. If they sent it, because you know, like with cameos, they'll put like certain things. Like there's a list. Yeah. So if they spelled it that way, yeah, I'm sounding.

it out. Like, I was in space camp. This is one of the greatest songwriters of all time. He can spell, he can pronounce, like, he can read, like, Smokey isn't wrong here. Like, maybe he never wrote down his wrong. Maybe he was on a Fantasia vibe. If he was C-H, then Smokey

isn't wrong. That's why he said, I don't even know what Chinooka is. Now, if you would have put A, he would have said Hanukkah. He knows what Hanukkah is. I'm more than positive Smokey Robinson has Jewish friends. Like, he knows what Hanukes is. But if Smokey gets

C-H-A, he's going to say Chinooka. So Smokey's not wrong. We got to get the legend Smokey Robbins in a path. Chinooka sounds like a town in Long Island. I'm not saying. You know, I've never seen that video before. Doug, it is wild. The first time I've seen that, I was like, all right, book me.

I was like, every time I'm depressed, we're going here. Chinook. I love anything. I don't even know what Chinooka is. He's like, enjoy it. Hey, whatever, nigga. Like, the energy in that shit was just like, Like, hey, dinket, I got a glist of 13 of these motherfuckers.

I'm on number 12. I'm about to be out of here. Like, yo. I never saw that before. But like, to your point, like, I'll rather, if somebody's in this, like, I just did this shit, like, walking here. Some dude was just like, yo. And I'm just like, bro, what's your name? You know what I'm saying?

He's just like, yo, my name. Quazzo. I was like, wow, that's a wild name. Quazzo. Yeah. But I'm just like, yo. And I'm like, yo, bro, I'm doing mixtape drops for niggas with no mixtapes. Like, I'm just like, bro.

Because, like, at the end of the day, people come up to you and be like, yo, I don't want to bother this, that's the third. I see you out. I'm like, fam, I'm off a 500 milligram edible shopping for jeans and Neiman. You're not bothering me at all. Like, this is actually great. I was like, this is great. Yeah.

Because now the salesperson is like, all right, they stop following me around the store now. Exactly. You know what I'm saying? Like they're like, oh, he must be somebody. Yeah, he's cool. People know who this guy. But now I'm thinking this is a great way to steal now. Yeah.

Go ahead and just have a guy with you. I'll pretend like I've never met you. Oh, picture. and then behind there more can go around and stuff and jeans, damn the jeans man, I got these fleece doctor days that way. Come on.

I live with two Casablanca sets. We should do a whole Chinooka series, like the three of us. Chinooka. Let's do it. The original Jews definitely celebrated Chinooka for sure. We could do it on, we could do it on 25th with the Israelites.

With the black, the black Israelites, bro. That's it. The original man. Yeah, the original. Hilarious, bro, because Eric Adams, put like, yo, I got the support of the Jewish community.

And he, yo, bro, he put, he's like, yo, I got all these rabbis on deck. Like, he put like a list of rabbis and fuck with him. And one of them was like a black Israelite dude. And he just sued that motherfucker in there. Like, I know. One of them was a child molest. I'm like, yo, this nigga just throwing hell marries, bro.

He's just trying to stay in there. He doesn't read it before. He just says the name. He's like, fuck it, Chinooka. We live, bro. Chinooka. Chinooka and hooka might be the new love. Chinooka hooka?

You might need to open a hookah flake. We might need to open a Chinooka Luka. Yo, Kosha hookah. Yeah, kosha hookah. Bless my rabbi, black Israelite. We're getting this shaking. Out of Palestinian. Come on, baby.

We make it happen. That's it. You ever been an episode of Curb with the chicken? What? You're making that shit happen. Oh, man. This is an ideation station right now. Absolutely.

These are all copywritten, by the way. Everything we say is copyrighted because it's been recorded. You told the story a very long time ago, but there's always new fans. And I do want, he would tell Merrill the time you almost got jumped. by 75 bloods in the Bronx. Oh, my God. The same exact shit happened to me, but it was like graffiti related, right? So it was just like Bronx versus Brooklyn on the graffiti shit. Like, and I'm with my man Taze who was like the UN of graffiti.

That nigga knows everybody. So we walk and we get off. Why I feel like I've seen that tag before? Because that shit is everywhere. Yeah. So he's like, yo, he's one of these niggins. Like, yo, what's up? Where's, you know?

Yeah, yeah, yeah. What's good? Y'all shoddy over there. Yeah, yeah. yo what's good baby you know what I'm saying like yo super smooth like Mitch type of dude bro we walking down this is back in the OJ days when you know what you know mean you call people's choice whatever your mama do yeah come through an excurser bro we stop in that we stop in that post and then we go everywhere now we go down to down to Lutlo whatever we go turn the tables

upside down the pianos whatever yeah yeah bro we get in the fucking we get in the fucking car we smoke it on the way there boom we get out the car my man Nace he's like the idiot dude and the crew that just does shit just to do it. He jumps out the car, there's two dudes holding hands walking down the street for no reason. Not homophobia, not. It could have been a dude and it could have been

an elephant walking down the street. He just jumped down the car, just said, ah! In their face, bro. Like, right here. I was like, this is how we saw tonight, bro? Like, I think there was a blunt a dustbeat passing around the excursion, bro.

Like, some shit was going down. So now we walk in towards like 14, like Union Square, whatever, coffee shop over there because I knew a short of there that was bartending the legendary spot. Legendary spot. So I'm going over there and like, yo, I'm going to get us all free drinks. I got us. We start walking and there's another group of motherfuckers with the Steve Techs

and the whole shit and the whole shit. And I was like, Brooklyn. I was like, oh man. I felt like Brooklyn. Yeah, I was like, these are Brooklyn, niggas. Yeah. I was like, they're graffiti nays because they got the North Fischer, but they're not on Bronx things. Yeah. And I recognize him. I was like, oh, that's this one. That's that one. And one of them dudes, I ain't going to say his name. He used to come to

the Bronx just to write fuck the Bronx like and go over people and be like fuck the Bronx yeah it's crazy how that that's a that was a real that's a real level of disrespect like that like war started by yeah like fuck your whole borough yeah so I was just like oh man like I was like I'm like I was like eight of us it's like 14 of them I'm like oh man I'm gonna start throwing garbage cans I'm already thinking like yo I'm gonna start like streets of rage you gotta go yeah I'm gonna throw a barrel thing I'm gonna when you throw the knife I'm gonna come out I'm hit up and it's not gonna go like that Everything in your mind you think I was going to come here.

Not everything is Westside story. I'm going to do my jacket over my head, a nigga in a puddle. And by the way, I've thrown a trash dam for it does not do the damage. You think it's not at all. Does no damage. That works in the movies. All the Ninja Turtles games, street, they lied to us. That means nothing.

It's like the same. It's life generation. You can't just throw project out. All that double dragon shit doesn't do anything. It doesn't do anything. And also eating an apple that you find on the street is not going to regenerate your health. Never. It actually might give you appetite.

You can say, or whole rotis of chicken that you found in the garbage? on a platter that shit ain't gonna work so we walk in and shit and Taze of course

you know smooth man he's just like yo yo Les what up my nigga yeah

and I was just like oh shit thank fucking God because the other dude was like yo yeah

boom then same shit yo yo yo it's like it's all yeah

yeah it's all good yeah that's my man yeah that's my man yo we yo we

BTC we TK we did it was treacherous back then bro like I I drive over there

now and I'm I just shake my head. I'm like, yo, if y'all only knew what this looked like maybe 25 years ago. I'm like, fam, it was, and it was, people talk about New York is a melting pot. Back then, down there was really a melting pot, bro, because I end up in spots like Manitoba. That's like a straight hardcore metalhead club. And I'm in there with gold bottoms and straight backs and a red steep tech, like tagging up the walls of shit.

But it was because it was graffiti dudes in there. So it was just like, bro, you walked out Ludlow, it was pianos. It was like Donnie Brunk and shit, Community 54, all these different spots. And, bro, there was like real, like, shit going on. Like, it was like a real energy going on at that time down there. I feel like now it's just like, all right, bro. The energy is totally, because you got a crumble cookie here now. Exactly.

Like, you said the coffee shop. When I heard that, they was getting rid of the coffee shop. Oh, listen, though. To me, that was like the most depressing. New York, we're losing recipes. Yeah, like the coffee shop? How do you keep rid of the code? That's legendary spots.

But it's interesting. You say, five points. You talk about graffiti when they just gave five points away. Oh, yeah, fuck that. Also, we're going to bust that. like shit and make you drive past this white building you have a tag in 95 points

you tag in the 5 points? Yeah bro it's like a write of passage bro like not nothing crazy like I didn't go up there and do like some crazy vertical piece I would have to do my little tags and whatever yeah because you know it's like it's like a ranking file you know what I mean like if you like a young dude

because it's eighth grade 13 like that's when I was going over there like 12 years old 13 and like everybody else is like 20 years old smoke angel dust and shit like I'm like damn it used to paint trains like I was like Like yo, I'm gonna do my little thing here in the corner. Like I ain't gonna go over nobody.

Yeah. But yeah, nah, that shit, man. Like, all these spots is disappearing, man. Yeah, and even that, what was the movie they did with like a whole bunch of A-list actors? And they shot it at five points. The city got their money. It was like a fucking $100 million contract so they could shoot a scene there. And they were like, all right, we'll just make, we'll make a condos now.

Peace. Yeah, yeah. One of the most iconic graffiti places on fucking earth. Period. It's crazy because I feel like things like that. There you go. People from Minnesota. They need homes.

From Minnesota. They need homes. Okay? The city doesn't need culture. Like, yeah. No, we don't need that. Yeah, let's build overpriced condos with no closet space. Yeah.

A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Clifford Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excited.

to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment, and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast.

It's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So, if you've ever supported me, or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeard radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tap Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs? Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to do with Little Kim? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast.

I'm Sam J. Alex English. Each episode, we pick it here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it, including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill, waxing all about crack in the 80s. To be clear, 84's big to me, not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack on day, but just so y'all know. I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed crack, so I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now, so. Thank you for finishing that sentence.

I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Really? Yeah. For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. American soccer is about to explode. The World Cup is coming. Ramos sending on to Ernie Stewart.

I'm Tom Vogue. I'm Tom Boke. On our podcast, Inside American Soccer, you'll get the real storylines. I'm not worried about Policic. I'm not worried about Balagan. I'm not worried about McKinney. My only concern is what happens in the back. The biggest decisions.

If you're going to look at stats and numbers, he has no shot at making this World Cup team. And the truth about the U.S. national team. It wouldn't be a huge surprise if our team ends up in the quarterfinals or potentially a great run into the semifinals. The World Cup is almost here. Experience it all with us. Listen to Inside American Soccer with Tom Bogart and Tab Ramos on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, wherever you get your podcast. I feel like it was a little bit unbelievable until I really start making money.

It's Financial Literacy Month, and the podcast, Eating While Broke, is bringing real conversations about money, growth, and building your future. This month, hear from top streamer, Zoh Spencer, and venture capitalist Lakeisha Landrum Pierre. as they share their journeys from starting out to leveling up. If I'm outside with my parents and then see all these people come up to me for pictures, it's like, what? Today now, obviously, it's like 100%.

They believe everything, but at first it was just like, you got to go get a real job. There's an economic component to community striving. If there's not enough money and entrepreneurship happening in communities, they fail. And what I mean by fail is they don't have money to pay for food. They cannot feed their kids. They do not have homes. Communities don't work unless there's money for.

flowing through them. Listen to Eating While Broke from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. I'm John Green. You may know me as the author of The Fault and Our Stars, and now I guess also as the co-host of the away end, a brand new world soccer podcast. I'm Daniel Alarcon, a writer and journalist, and John and I have known each other since we were kids.

My first World Cup was Mexico 86. I was nine years old. I watched every game and I fell in love. On our new podcast, The Away End, we'll share with you the magic of international football, all leading up to the 2026 World Cup. For us, soccer, football, is a story we've shared for over 30 years since Daniel was the star player on our high school soccer team. Very debatable.

And I was their most loyal and sometimes only fan. I love this game. I love its history, its hope, its heartbreak, and above all, it's beauty. Together, we'll find out why, of all the unimportant things, football, soccer is the most important. Listen to the away end with Daniel Alarcon and John Green on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. So now, Merrill, we had the whole Joey Badass versus the West Coast moment.

As New Yorkers, you know, me and Rory sat here, and I'm not going to lie, I was surprised at the way Joey handled himself. We know Joey could rap. Yeah. The performance that he put on in that moment surprised me. but at the same time it's like I was happy because it was kind of like, okay, there's a kid from Brooklyn who understands what hip hop is and understands the moment and is representing a certain part of the culture that,

you know, to some people feel like it's kind of dying, like that era of battling and keeping it just battle. Yeah. Not turning physical, not turning like this is a battle, this is hip hop. How did you feel in that moment seeing Joey Badass, being a hip-hop baby put on a performance like that in this era.

Bro, it took me back to like, like you're saying, bro, with motherfuckers were battle. It's just like, yo, GUN got beat for D-Block. D-Block got beef

for Rockefeller, whatever. I, whole freeway fucking, the young, everybody that's on Rockettell is going up to flex. We all gonna freestyle

and we're gonna take shots at you on the radio prime time. Like, bro, we're sitting around the radio like this is TV. Like, this is like, man,

we're in the car. Yeah. We're in a car. bro, we, we, smoking, drinking, like, yo, oh, like you off your high hole, it's Tonto. I was like, bro, oh, oh, oh, shit. Bro, the styles peeve, yo, you better not wait my shoes, size eight. I was like, dang it wear size eight.

It was a small ass foot. But all that shit was just like, it was like appointment viewing, but for music. Yeah. You know what I'm saying? And I feel like that's something that's really getting lost on the culture. It was like, yo, like, damn, but like these crews getting together and going up to these shows, going up to Clue, going up to Flex, going up to, you know what I'm saying?

And like, like you said, battling, bro. Like, who's the nicest? You know what I'm saying? Like, you know what I mean? Like, like, my kids, my son's 14. My oldest is 14. And like, what is he listening to? Bro, he's listening to like,

like, like, John Caramatic is, is, is curating his shit. You know what I'm saying? It's just like the newest, like, like, Cardi's not new, but like, you know, Playboy Cardi, like that type of shit. It's just like, like, Ian. I was waiting for you to say that.

Because that's, that's, the one name. The Rolling Loud. Like, yeah, Playboy Cardi is the one name that I always hear from 14, 15 old. And I'm just like, I recognize Playboy Cardi's talent. But the music, from the everywhere from, I can't get into that, that music. I had to do it by osmosis. So I'm in the call with the kids and shit. And I'm like, I'm listening to the first two albums. Dial it to me. When I first heard out, I was like, all right, bro, what's going on here? And then I was like, as I'm sitting in a car with my son, I'm like, okay, like, I understand what this is for. You know what I'm saying? Like, you know what I mean? Like, if I want to laugh, I'm not going to go watch fucking Grey's Anatomy.

You know what I'm saying? Like, I'm going to watch a Martin stand up or some shit like that. So I'm like, I get what this is for. This is just like, yo, I'm fucking lit. Because like, bro, I'll fucking eat like, you know what I mean? Like a, like a two fucking, I don't know what the fuck these sheds are called it. I don't know how much milligrams it is, but they shrooms and they come in like a little waffle cone. It's like a little chocolate shroom. You don't know what the fuck you eat. I'm not. Boom, boom. I'm back like two of them

shits. And then I'm just like, I understand it. Yeah. It opens the portal. I open the portal. Now I understand. I'm doing backflips into the pool. Like, what? You know what I'm saying? Like, now Cardi's the greatest lyricist of all time. I get it. You know what I'm saying? Like,

yeah. Like, yeah. Like, yeah. The pukyooo. Yeah. All that shit makes perfect sense. And it's just like, it's like to me, you know, like that, like, I don't know who said it. Somebody's definitely said this before. But the rapper on the track is just like another instrument on the track. So it's like, we are hip-hop baby. So we expect a certain standard of like lyricism and like, what are you saying? Yeah.

I feel like the new generation is it like, how does it sound? Like sonically. Like, what is it like? It's more about the music. That's all they care about. We cared about lyrics. The music matters. No, of course.

We were more like, yo, what is he saying? Right. But even when it got like melodic and less lyrical, I still understood it because the melodies were cool. Now, does Cardi even have them? Like, he just goes, uh-huh, uh-huh. It's like ad-lips. Yeah.

And that's what emotions. Like, I don't know who. And to me, the producer of that record should be like primary artist. That's it. To me. Like, if Cardi was producing all that himself, I'd be like, yo, I get it. Hey, you got it. Because I listened to the last album just because we have a podcast.

I wouldn't have done it if we didn't. If we did it. And the whole time I was like, yo, these beats is hard as far as, fuck, but this is awful. I don't know what you're doing. Why is the producer, not the artist on this? And the crazy shit is it's like he, I don't know if he just keeps changing up his flow or what he's doing, but he's maintaining that relevance and that age group.

Oh, no, he's a super. He got him in like a full Nelson, bro. And I'm like, what else do you listen to? So my kids listen to all different shit. Like my daughter is eight years old and listens to nothing but fucking King Vaughn, bro. And like Chicago, like, I don't know. Like, I, bro, I do not understand. Everything I had in the house.

I don't understand it. Yo, you got to stop eating shrooms at home. Maybe be a better parent. I don't know. I'm like, I'm the one parent. You know, niggins don't give a fuck. I set up the time limits. All that shit.

I'm like, oh, yeah. At this time, this time, this is turn. You have to be off at APM. You know, at APM, you not sliding. Nowhere. Okay. All your hops better be dead by seven. By seven.

At the end of day. All your eyes better be. Stets. Okay? You know what I'm saying? Because you got gymnastics at 6 p. Yeah, you got to get up early. You got that chill in to practice tomorrow.

63 better be toast by that. Crazy. And it's so wild because I'm just like, where did this come from? And it's right. But it's not crazy though, like knowing the life that you had how you grew up in the city. And now you have to be like a real dad. It's like, you know, who gave me kids? Yo, and it's bugged out because I'm like, I try to tell them.

I'm like, bro, we're in Jersey now. It's a different environment. You try to create that year. You don't have to go through what I went through in the city. And like, I talk to people all the time. And King Vaughn is still blasted the house. Still blasting in the crib, bro. Through the Bluetooth.

Throughout the house. I'm like, how did you figure this out? How did you figure out? I was like, I couldn't figure this shot. When I went to go see the crib before I bought it, it had the speakers through the house. I was like, how did you figure out how to use the shit before me?

She's like, what the fuck is going on here? And why did the speaker test with Vaughn? Yeah, the first time you get a new car or a new soundball. whatever. You try to like, what's the first record I'm ever going to play? I'm like, yo, what the fuck? Whoa. Where's it coming from?

Vonn and surround sound is crazy. It's nuts. I'm like, he's here. The spirit is alive. That's when your boost moment of night light. Come on. Like, what's going on in my house? She comes out.

She got locks on this. Yeah. Whoa, whoa, whoa, what the fuck? What's going on? You know, that is hilarious. But they all got very different music. It's like my oldest is like Cardi and he's like a little bit of indie rock, like the Yadi shit. Yeah.

Tyler, he loves Tyler. We went to go see Tyler and Yadi opened. And like my, so 14, 12, 10, and 8. 8-year-old is on King Vaughn. She's my only daughter. She's on King Vaughn all day. And X, and X, X, X, X, X, and X. Yeah.

I was wrong about him, though. Because I was scared of that whole shit and I was being too much of an old head. When he passed, I started listening to his music. I was like, oh, no. Oh, I get it. This guy is fire. Yeah, yeah. He's so dumb.

And that's what is. I prejudged and I shouldn't have. Same fire. Same shit. I did the same shit, bro, because it was, that was the top three. It was Juice World, King Von, and who the fuck did I just say? X, X, X, X. And I was just like, bro, you're an eight-year-old girl.

Like, what the fuck? And it was the 10-year-old started listening to Juice World. Yeah. I'm like, is Juice World, they all, Tupac? Because I remember when they asked Bronny like, yo, you chose the number nine. Why did you choose the number nine for your jersey? In my mind, I'm like, yo, my dad's a six, so I'm going to be nine or nah, juice world. Yeah, you was thinking way too close.

You thought it was a Drake lyric or something. No, no, no, no. Yo, but Juice World was super, super talented. That's what I'm saying. First of all, was that the ghost of Vaugh? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah. Like, you were kicking the dog.

Yo, you were in the egg. Yo, you said, y'all come up in the apron. I'm coming down. You know, I'm going to get. Vaughn came to slide. No, we weren't saying anything bad, bro. You don't know. I actually totally understand why people like Vaughn.

I like Vaughn when he was alive. It was just a little too authentic for me because I knew he was telling the truth. Like, that's what was. the scariest part about Von. I was like, nah, he's telling the truth.

He's telling the truth. He's telling those wrongs. He's living those wrong. I shouldn't be enjoying like actual crimes like this. Right. And like again, to like the 90s hip hop babies.

It was like all that shit was like crime. Yeah. Nas Escobar like Joe Crack. You know what I mean? All this shit. These motherfuckers just say this shit in like plain English. Like they used to at least like to kind of like disguise it a little bit like with like rhymes and

like schemes and shit. Now it's just like yo, I took a perk 30. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Perth 30 is it. And the song is called Perk 30. You know what I'm saying?

And when you go to find out on Spotify, it's 18 Perk 30s. And then you're sitting there on a Perk 30 like, I get it. I get it. Yeah, I'm going to listen to Olies journey. I can't move my limbs. My Perk 30 playlist. I can't move my lips. I can't reach the phone to get to Spotify.

But I will say that is an insane three for an eight-year-old mind to have. And I'm like, yo, you're going to be dangerous in the future. A depressed demon. You know what I'm saying? But I think that we were raised, I think that it helps, though. Like, I don't have children yet. But I think that it helps because when I was, when we were growing up, I had to sneak to listen to Snoop dog. My mom wouldn't let me listen to doggy style.

Like, it just wasn't not something my mom was let. And it's funny now because my mom is the hugest Snoop fan. Like, I love Snoop. I used to have to sneak and listen to that shit. Like, you used to, you would almost beat me. If you open the door and I'm listening to Doggy style, now, you're like, yo, I love Snoop. I'm like, there's a difference between Martha Stewart Snoop and welcome to the jackoff hour.

No, no, my mom, she loved the music, though. She just, you know, growing up at that time, she just didn't want me to find and hear that because, you know, people say the music doesn't influence. It does. I didn't know what the 40 ounce was before. No. No. You know what I'm saying?

But you would have just like, they weren't going to really, you would eventually find out when you went to the studio. Yes, but my mom didn't want me to find out when I was 13. Right, right, right. You know what I'm 40 ounces at 13? No, that wasn't a New York thing. I was drinking 40 ounces at 13. I'm also 10 years older than you.

So now in 2001. Okay. You know what I'm saying? Yes. Like, you would be, you know what I'm saying? Well, 2003. I appreciate you. 2003.

Yeah. Yes. Oh, 40 ounces is not that popular back then? No, it wasn't a New York thing. Nah, not back then. It was like, that was a very West Coast thing. Yeah. Like, Minnesota.

Society was like, why that beer so big? Yeah. 40s was crackhead beer. Yeah, no, listen. Yeah. It was like Valentine's and shit like that. When I was like that, this thing is a head.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. The fuck, bro, you're thinking drinking Ian Jane Ballard. Then that's the exact. That was alcoholic shit. Snoop-in-made it cool. Oh, no, no, for sure. No, we were drinking high gravity still reserved shit in 0304 and it was not crackhead shit whatsoever.

It was just, it was cheap. Right. And my brother's younger than me and they was doing that in college. He was like, they were doing the like, fucking having contests and shit. Like, yo, who could guzzle the, I'm like, bro, that's crazy. Yeah.

I was like, I thought I was bugging because we was taking the 22 of Heineken and then putting fucking cough syrup in the shit and then drinking that. I was like, oh, this is crazy. Y'all doing even craziest shit up there. And the crazy shit is, like I was saying, like being a dad now coming from our generation, you know, you listen to Vaughn's lyrics worse than what Snoop was saying. Oh, yeah. Like, it's not even close.

I'm not even from openly. You know what I'm saying? But now as a dad, you understand it because you're like, this is their era. it's the artist they like you know what I couldn't listen to Snoop but I probably would let my daughter listen to Vaughn because I understand like it's the energy it's the I don't want her to go out and do what she's hearing but it's like I can't take that away from her

because that's just they're just generation that's it that's what they like you know what it is what it is you could either you could try to stop them as a parent you could try to stop them from doing the thing they're gonna find it yeah you know what I'm saying it's more accessible than ever now bro with the answer that forget it bro we were was growing up and it was like very limited yeah like if you gotta download some shit you really had to want that shit yeah yeah and then half the time it would trick you

and be like oh shit oh shit that ambitious as a ride a remix with DMX jZ naz for snoop dog yeah i'm like this can't be real yeah and then you download it and it's a fucking porn oh yeah yeah yeah like you're like it's a fake bill clinton right right like you don't remember that drop off napster and shit you download the wrong one and it would be a someone doing a bill Clinton impression yeah yeah but crazy i'm with you on that style parents again it's only been two and a half years but i'm already thinking of like when she gets older of course i'll be a fucking paranoid not helicopter parent or whatever words they use now but kids are gonna find this shit whether like like i keep you shouldn't stop because they're just gonna do it behind

your back like that's the worst thing ever but they're gonna find it no matter what they're gonna find no matter what and it's just like the happy you got to find like the happy medium as a parent of like yo i bro like don't be big bro yeah i started smoking weed at third 13, I ain't stopped. Right. You know what I'm saying? So I'm like, I'll be a hypocrite if I was just like, yo, bro, like, nah, y'all can't do this, y'all can't do that.

My shit is, like, more like alcohol. You know what I mean? Because I'm like, yo, bro, like, when y'all, we in Jersey, y'all are going to eventually be driving around. Yeah. You know what I mean? Like, so easy with the drinking. You know what I'm saying?

Like, because we didn't go make you do nothing but sit somewhere and play Call of Duty. You know what I'm saying? You're going to be way crazy and dumber shit on alcohol than they are any type of weed. You feel? me? And I know because I'm like the smoker and my wife is the drinker. So I'm like I'll be having to, I'm driving home. Watching Carmelo Anthony obviously over the years, I will say I've always felt like mellow

was well spoken, articulate, you know, one of the smarter athletes and, you know, did a lot of dope shit away from his sport. But to see what y'all are doing now, I am, it is dope to see mellow in that space having those conversations with athletes of today, the younger generation guys look up to him. Yeah. How has it been working that close to him? And what are you most surprised about in working just close to Mello?

Yo, honestly, with the speed with which he picked up, like the media game. Okay. You know what I'm saying? Because it's like, bro, that trip. Outside looking at it, it was crazy. Do you know what I mean? So it's like, y'all know how to do this. Like, y'all are professionals.

Like, I've been doing this. I'm a professional. Mello's been dropping 50 for the last, you know what I mean? How many years. It's a whole different, like, space for him. It's a whole different, like, space. It's like telling me tomorrow. like, yo, fam, we're going to teach you to be a heart surgeon

tomorrow. And I'm like, alright, bro, but like, fuck it, if you got something, if I got the number one heart surgeon in the world next to me, you know what I'm saying? I'm not saying I'm that. Right, no, somebody that's experienced and it's like, yo, we're going to do this, we're going to do that. And also just like, instilling like the, like the atmosphere

of the show, you know what I'm saying? Like, bringing that culture of like, yo, when you come over here, or this shit is, we vibing, bro. Like, this is his studio. Like, you know what I'm saying? This is his shit. Like, you know what I mean? Like, it would, like, it would It ain't rented.

Like, you can do what the fuck you want here. Bro, if you were a smoker come in here, have your little hell before the interview, whatever. We chop it up like this, like, before we even got cameras rolling. So by the time we get into the interview, we already been chopping it up for at least half an hour. You know what I mean? So that's something I learned, like, along the way, like, at MTV. I call that shit, like, fucking TV Community College because it was like, it told me how to do camera stuff.

Yeah. Like, yo, if you got something really impacted, like, yo, straight to the single. You know what I mean? Or like, open up to campus. camera, this type of shit. The advice was like, yo, how do you produce a show that people actually give a fuck about I don't want to watch? And how do you do that every day? Which is one of the most difficult things on fucking earth. You know what I'm saying? Like, and to hold people like to that retention shit is so boring, bro, because it's like, yo, views, yeah, no doubt.

Myforks click through your shit for 10 seconds and onto the next. Retention. If I got you, if I have a half an hour show and I got you to lock in for half an hour, I got people tweeting like, yo, I'm coming to the crib to watch this. I got five episodes of this shit on the DVR or whatever. You know what I mean? Like it's, you know, but to the mellow thing, it's like seeing him get into that space so comfortably so quickly. Yeah. I was just like, bro, this is, yo, you built for this champ.

Like, you know what I mean? And now he's doing the NBC thing where it's just like, bro, now, and I told him I was like, now this is a different game. This is like a, this is this? Yeah. Polished. You know what I'm saying? Like, you might have to, yeah, this is a little more corporate.

Like, you know what I mean? Like you, you know, the language that we use on here, you might not use over there. But it's just really just like a, it's like a dial, bro. Like, I'm marrow all the time, bro. But I know when I'm on Disney Channel, I got to be a little bit more turned down. When I'm on Roeroy and Mount, bro, I say, what the fuck I want? You know what I'm saying? Like, it's just different.

And I say you learn how to be a professional. And he learned that shit very fast. Yeah. Yep. This Andre 3000 Bar always sticks in my head off blonde when he said, Dan, was I working too hard? I love our long form content. But I do, I'm jealous sometimes of TV people.

and the corporate gigs that they have where you need to speak for fucking one minute and then go to commercial break. And you getting paid the same. And I'm sitting here for fucking six hours. And you know what's crazy? It's not a complacent. It's like, damn, all right.

That's such an easy. You're giving me a script. I just have to sit here like this, do that and move the fuck on. And I don't even got to sound natural. I got to do the, tonight. We're going to be talking about Rory and his two and a half-year-old child.

And now she listens to King Vaugh in the crib. Yeah. Next. Goodbye, Ms. Rachel. Hello, King Vaugh. You know what I'm saying? Like, and it's crazy, bro, because I'm like, I work so hard at, like, taking that, what's in that pramtha

and making it sound like we talking like this. Yeah. You know what I mean? And I'm like, yo, that's where entertainment is headed, bro. As you can see, like, Colbert's out of here, like, all that late night shit is dying. Yeah. Like, fam, like, that whole shit, like, it's, like, played out. You know what I mean?

It's inauthentic. And that's why it's, like, falling flat. Yeah. That's why I think that, you know, with guys like Mello, you know, getting hired by NBC and going, you know, I think that's where it's headed. I do feel like we are close to having hearing, watching the game and hearing sideline reporters curse. I think they want to get close to as close to real, real personalities, real emotions, reactions. I love seeing what Jamal Crawford is doing in the space now. That's my dog, man.

Mello, Taylor, Rooks, like all of these young, just the young energy, this new vibrant energy that they are putting on television because, like, yo, these are the people that we know, they speak the way we speak, they speak, our language, they understand the things that we do. And it's good to have a player like Mello or Jamal Crawford talk about the game because, one, they played at that level, but these guys that are playing looked at them, like, yo, Mello is. He's him. He's God.

You know what I mean? So it's good to have that, that real, you know, Just look over on the sidelines and see somebody like Carmelow now, NBC having Michael Jordan and, you know, people like that. Crazy. Like the most insane thing ever. Yeah, I don't know what they plan on doing. I don't think, my guess is I don't know, well, NBC has a lot of money. I don't know if they can afford Michael Jordan for full time.

A full season. Absolutely not. I do think it will be playoffs, finals. I can see them doing something in the finals where, you know, whatever teams in the finals, they sit down somebody like, let's say like a Janice. He's in the finals. he would sit down and talk to Jordan before game two and say, yo, you know, what do I have to do when I go in there? And Mike is like, yo, go in to be yourself, be who you are, that type of thing.

I don't think we're going to see Michael Jordan. Saying up there like Chuck and Ernie and him? No, no, no, no. He's not doing that. NBC got a lot of money. Well, not enough because Bill Cosby was going to buy it. But, I mean, that's why they get there. Yeah, come on.

That's how they kept the money. They don't have that much. They were affordable. He was buying low. He was buying things. Not enough. They got mellow and. Mike now, hey.

Yeah. But it's gonna be dope to see that though. I would love like yellow-eyed crash-out Jordan to just be a part of it. I would love that. But NBC is like, we can't have that. Yeah. Because, but to your point, like if it was a digital show, bro, it would be like the most.

Yeah. Craziest. Bro, fuck Mr. Beast and whoever and like the top three people after him. That would catapult out of this world, bro. Yeah. Well, let me ask you out this because how close do you think we are to a world where what Peyton and Eli do with the games is going to be the norm, where they are podcasting the whole game.

Shut out to Paul Pierce and KG, they do that. Yeah. Like how close do you think for like regular on TNT when you just turn on the game, it's going to be the norm for that. I don't think we're that far away from. In 10 years, I could see it being completely like that. 100%. Because these younger consumers, we grew up with regular announcers, this and that.

Bob Costas. Yeah. But these younger kids. kids listen to content the way we do content. Sports is going to end up being the same fucking thing. Doug, like, it's sports, music, everything. Like, with the sports thing, I think it's a little bit more complicated because of all the rights and shit like that.

Like, yo, we got the rights they or this game. We've got the rights to the air of that game. Which is fucked and crazy to me because it used to be like, I'm 42 years old. Yeah. When I would fucking turn the TV on on a Sunday, every game is there. And if I wanted to fucking go to my man's crib, or like use my man's college email to get Dish Network, whatever,

and get Red Zone and all out of the shit, I could do it. It's all in one spot. Now it's like, this game's on Amazon, this game's on this channel, this game's on this channel, Netflix. I'm like, bro, what the fuck are we doing?

We back to cable. Yeah, and I mean, but everything, again, in business recycles itself, I can see because of the TV rights, personalities podcasting during games being important. There'll be a higher TV. Like, if Peyton Manning and Eli are coming with a huge fan,

base that podcast during a game the whole time and then let's just for example they sign just to fox fox now has leverage with tv rights with the owners like i think it's going to go back to how podcasting was or even when streaming started when we just had chance on so much chance exclusive first album deal you can only listen to it here you're coming with an audience i think that's where it's gonna go that's where it is bro like it's it's there already yeah just it's just like i feel like the legacy tv guys are trying to figure it out and they they have an hard time because they all 75 and taking ginseng, you know what I mean, to try to remember

shit. I could see a world where you and Mello are sitting there, you guys are the commentator. I don't necessarily need somebody to tell me who's passing to who all the fucking time. Sometimes I need real banter while I'm watching the fucking game. Like, yo, this dude's about to do this. Like I did, so shout to my guy saying my

playback. So playback is this new thing, it's like Twitch, but for sports. And when I was at NBA All-Star, he was like, yo, we just got the license for NBA. And we We got the lights for NBA. We just got the license for MLB. So I did like a little like run, like a little running games with Delen Bittances from the Yankees.

And it was that. It was like, yo, I'm in a window. He's in a window. Like it was Boston Reds. It was Red Sox Yankees. Brought Katie Nolan. And she's from Boston. We all talking straight about each other's teams.

He played the game. So he's talking like insight. Like, yo, in this, yo, this count right here. Aaron Judge is going to be looking for a fastball middle. If he gets it, he's going to hit a home run. Watch. And then he hits a home run and everybody goes crazy.

Oh shit. And Katie's like, oh, fuck y'all. Yankee fans, move on. So it's just like you said, like it's a different type of than just,

Brunton, that's all the Bridges, Bridges, shoots three. I love because I grew up on it, but I know these younger kids. They want some different, bro.

It has to be personalities that they relate to that speak the way they speak. And, you know, that's just what it is. Like Snoop, Snoop did something at the Olympics,

I think. Yeah, all the shit is happening. I'm saying it's going to be the norm. amongst the big parent networks at this time. Like, it's not just going to be the Twitch thing. It's going to be.

I see a world with baseball where they switch commentators with innings. Third inning, the three of us come in, and we just do the third inning. Yeah. And it's like, yo, because y'all from New York, you're for the, yo, you're a Yankee fans. You're there with one expert. Yeah. It makes sense. Everyone has to get creative with the shit.

Apple did it when they did their baseball coverage and, like, they didn't go well or whatever. But I'm like, yo, you got to give shit like that runway. It's got to take time. I said in 10 years, I think it'll be. You know what I'm saying? And I'm like, if you give it runway and like, yeah, you take an hell financially like the first two, three years, write that shut off. Bro, you're a huge network. Yeah.

You're Apple. Like, listen. You're the only people without tariffs right now. I'm like, yo, listen. Like, look, I just, I just peaked over at the PR. Yeah, you're about to start slandering networks. Oh, no, no, no. I'm not about to touch.

Listen. Yeah. Hey, same. But the same. Straight up. My thing is this, I as a TV guy, writer, person, like any of the advice I have for people that are in that world or creating stuff, or if I want to go to a network and be like,

yo, we want to bring our show to a network. Go somewhere that makes things. Yeah. And what I mean by that is like, you know, there's certain studios that all they make is content. Yeah. If you Sony, bro, I know you got money, motherfucker, because you're making a billion PlayStation.

Right. So you can't cry broke to me. You know what I'm saying? Like, Amazon, like, yo, bro, you sold a thousand Bibles this hour.

Right. You know what I'm saying? So like, I know you're not broke. Right. You know what I'm saying? So like, I think that's really where entertainment is headed where it's just like,

yo, we're gonna bet on these dudes because, or the people that are willing to bet on like original ideas and not just like, yo, the new Marvel movie is companies like that because they got money and they can be like, you know what? If we take hell, we take hell,

but if we don't, we look like fucking genesis. Yeah, just came up with the next succession or whatever, you know? But I mean, shit, that's entertainment one-on-one to me because shit, even in series, you don't make any money until the second or third season when it's proven. Like, you've got every single TV show or anything that goes out.

You're going to lose in the first. I don't care who the fuck you are. Don't matter. Like you said, it could be stuck. And now it's switching where everybody's, like you said, like, if you have a fan base, if you have like numbers, that's, man, I'm sure y'all are tired of this shit. Pitch decks. Yeah.

Pitch decks with analytics. Yes. That's all, like you, a one sheet. Yes. With pitch decks and analytics, you bring that shit to motherfucking Verizon or whoever. And they're like, I bet, bro. We'll sponsor your shit for five years.

Like, that's where, that's what we're at. You know what I'm like, yo, I'm Tom Cruise, bro. That's enough. Like, nah, bro, it ain't. Yeah, it's not. Like, you got to sell something, bro. Like, you got to go sell something, do a Snapple commercial, motherfucker. Like, do something.

Like, everybody, your favorite person is in an ad doing something. Absolutely. Like, that's what we are. Merrill, let them know where they could catch you at, bro. Yo, you know what I'm saying? It's at the camera on all socials, no spaces. You know what I'm saying? No funny shit.

I don't try to get cute. T-H-E-K-I-D-M-E-R-O everywhere. The YouTube channel is at according to the kid. There's ad according to the kid that's on there. You know what I'm saying? That's just me talking about an old man, you know what I mean, being mad about things, like these stupid dating shows and like, you know, people taking their shoes off on planes.

There's Victory Light, the Illustriots podcast with Liz Bell O'E's and Rainier, you know what I'm saying? My calls. and 7 p.m. in Brooklyn, of course, you know what I'm saying, with the guard, Carmelo Anthony, and my guy's Kaz, Monica, Rudy, the whole gang,

you know, and working on this book, a collection of essays on fatherhood, you know what I'm saying? I'm like, Ben Greenberg, I ran the house, you know what I'm saying?

Because that's, I feel like I'm there. You know what I mean? Like, my oldest son is going to high school, so I'm like, all right, bro, like I feel like I know enough. Yeah.

Oh, yeah. You know what I mean? You have a bid in. Stories to fill a motherfucker fucking absolutely. Yeah. 10 fucking holy texts, you know what I mean? So I'm ready.

Yeah, love it. Appreciate you for coming through kicking it with us, Merro. That's the kid, Mero. I'm that nigga. He's just ginger. Yeah. I'm Daniel Alarcon, and this is my friend. He's much more famous than I am. I wouldn't go that far.

But I'm John Green, co-hosted the podcast The Away End with my old friend Daniel. On our podcast, The Away End, we'll share with you the magic of international football, all leading up to the 2026 World Cup. Together, we'll find out why, of all the unimportant things, Football, soccer is the most important. Listen to the away end with Daniel Alarcon and John Green on the IHart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Will Ferrell's Big Money Players and IHart Podcasts presents Soccer moms. So I'm Leanne.

Yeah. This is my best friend, Janet. Hey. And we have been joined at the hips since high school. Absolutely. A redacted amount of years later, we're still joined at the hip. Just a little bit bigger hips. This is a podcast.

We're recording it as we tailgate our youth soccer games. In the back of my Honda Odyssey. With all the snacks and drinks. Why did you get hard seltzer instead of beer? Oh, they hit a bogo. Well, then you got it. Listen to soccer moms on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And here's Heather with the weather.

Well, it's beautiful out there, sunny and 75, almost a little chilly in the shade. Now, let's get a read on the inside of your car. It is hot. You've only been parked a short time, and it's already 99 degrees in there. Let's not leave children in the back seat while running errands. It only takes a few minutes for their body temperatures to rise, and that could be fatal. Cars get hot, fast, and can be deadly. Never leave a child in a car.

A message from Nitsai and the Ad Council. Now everybody over here? Oh, it's one of my other favorite places. The Twilight Gazebo. Sunset Gardens. Twilight gazebo. What's next? Dead man's grove?

Mom, could you please try to be a little bit positive about this? From Kenya Barris, the visionary creator of Blackish, comes Big Age, an audible original about finding your way in life's next chapter. This audio comedy series follows a retired couple's reluctant relocation to Sunset Gardens, a Floridian senior community that is anything but relaxing. Starring Comedy Legends Jennifer Lewis, Cedric the Entertainer, and Nisi Nashvettes. Through its blend of outrageous comedy, Key Party Anyone, and Touching Revelations, Big A. explores what it means to grow older without growing old at heart. Go to audible.com slash big age series to start listening today.

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