New Rory & MAL - Season 1 | Cooking with Belly

Episode Date: July 28, 2021

Belly invites the guys over to his house to make some lamb chops and discuss how he got into cooking, childhood memories in the kitchen, his disappearance in music, his battle with depression & drugs, self destruction, needing a good woman, the conflict in Palestine, and much more! Also, can Rory & MAL successfully pitch Belly to hire them as his new managers? Head over to our YouTube for the full footage and watch Belly prepare his signature lamb chops step by step, while discussing how cooking inspires songs, why the hell women keep using alfredo as an aphrodisiac, + more! All things Rory & MAL: https://linktr.ee/newrorymal Like, subscribe, and comment! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. On the Look Back at it podcast. From 1979, that was a big moment for me. 84 was big to me. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a year, unpack what went down,

and try to make sense of how we survived it. With our friends, fellow comedians, and favorite authors. Like Mark Lamont Hill on the 80s. 84 was a wild year. It was a wild year. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Listen to Look Back at it on the Outer. My Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Cliver Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media. Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifers Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with athletes,

creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. So let's get to it. 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. 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, Zoe Spencer, and venture capitalist Lakeisha Landrum Pierre, as they share their journeys from starting out to leveling up. There's an economic component to communities thriving.

If there's not enough money and entrepreneurship happening in communities, they failed. Listen to Eating While Broke from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Man, it's Tom. It is Tom, man. Yes, sir. I don't know what you're getting excited for. Yeah, man, I'm just, you know. He's going to live vicariously through us, sir.

Yeah, I have to. Well, no, you got the falafel, though. There you go. Thank you, sir. What's someone like your earliest family food memories of what was being cooked in the house? I think in Middle Eastern families, we love to do huge dinners and even breakfasts getting crazy. So I think like hummus and falafel, we got something called ful, which is like fava beans.

I think those are like my earliest memories were like, the different cheeses that we got, all that. Like the breakfast be like feasts, you know what I mean? And dinners, like, that's a whole other thing. But I think like the breakfast was really dope when all my aunts and my uncles would get together and just make a crazy feast and the families that get together early in the morning

and just eat. Right. Yeah. Oh, what's up. Yeah, bro, come on, man. Let me know. Let me know if it's that deal. No, I gotta get with with the yogurt too.

Yeah. Oh yeah. And it's a cook for it. I ain't got to share none of it. That's shit, none of my falaf. That's the one. That's it. That's the one. That's the one. Thank you, bro. This is a restaurant. It's a restaurant. It's a restaurant shit. You gotta open a spot. Thank you, bro. Open bellies.

Where the name belly came from? Honestly, man, I've been lying my whole life. I just like make up shit all the time. I swear, I just lied in different interviews and people just started. Yeah, like really, I think. I think the way it really happened was I used to call myself Big Boy. Okay. And then that was when I was mad young, right? So as soon as Outcast popped off and went crazy, I was like, I can't call myself that.

Right. The next obvious name to me was Belly. Okay. I think that's how it came, honestly. Yeah, artists try to come up with some cool backstory of, you know, it's encrypted. and has this deep meaning on the other side. Like, nah, man. Out of belly, and I was like, yo, I'm gonna be belly.

Where, but it was before the movie. I say that. I was belly before the movie came out. Shout out the hype, you know. That's important to state that, though. Because a lot of people ask me if I named myself after the movie, and I'm like, no. I was belly before that.

But that was from a music perspective at that point? It's just a nickname in the neighborhood. And all that, because I was, as far back as I can remember, I was rapping. I was rapping, not for real, but I was rapping and like freestyle and all that shit, you know, even when we were mixed up in street shit, I was rapping and, you know what I mean? Like we would meet up with people and put five, 10 grand on the line and be like, go, go ahead, battle them. You know what I mean?

And Sal will pull up bundles of cash and shit and be like, guy, battle them. Let's see what you can do. It was that type of thing for me ever since I was 12 or 13 years old, you know what I mean? so it's always been in there. I never had to be like, oh, Belly's my stage name, or that's my street name. It was always mixed. It was just the same thing, you know.

When did that start to form it to make an actual record outside of just that one? Especially because you have two different sides of your pen, as far as how you approach music. That are drastically different. Yeah, because you can write beautiful R&B records, and then you can write some super hard, lyrical, lyrical rap. You know what I'm saying? It's like, is there a certain thing you go through from a creative standpoint where it's like you got to be in a certain mindset to write R&B versus writing rap? Or is it just like you can turn it off and on whenever you want? To be honest with you like, first of all, we were talking about this earlier. It's like it's like the multi-faceted human. Right. Right. It's like it's like.

Yeah, there were certain things I had to do. I know how to talk about those things because I had to do them. Right. So I experienced it. I know about certain details that unless you were in that situation, you wouldn't know. So you could talk vaguely about the situation, but then when someone starts describing details and you're like, oh shit. You got to live that. You know what I mean?

Right. But not to say that with the R&B shit, you didn't have to live that neither. Right. But I could be like, yo, my whole life, man, you know. Nah, bro. All of us had moments where you had to tell somebody, yo, I love you, thank you, you, help me down. So for me, I turn that into a song

because that's my easiest way to express myself. You know what I mean? Even with this type of shit, it's like, if there wasn't a level of comfort, we in my house and we all, like, me expressing myself openly in these environments, it's not easy for me. That's something I had to really overcome hurdles

to be able to do this, right? So music was always my expressive form. So whether I was talking about love, heartbreak, the streets, drug shit, I've seen it. I've seen all that shit. I've had homies disappear and it made me write songs that were sad that made me like almost want to honor them, honor their memories. And I would write songs. So every scenario in my life always gave me an outlet, right? But it doesn't mean every expression.

that I wrote or everything that I wrote had to go through me as the vessel. You know, some shit, it wasn't supposed to be me expressing it. So I would write it and it would be something beautiful, but somebody else could probably carry it way further than I could. So that's really how the writing thing came about. But I write about everything, though. I don't shy away from shit. As far as the more personal stuff, though, obviously have kept that more in the raps.

I feel like talking more on the depression depression side of things and then kind of disappearing in the way you have as a rap artist and as a writer has been super interesting to be because I feel like and in no way do I want to say that mental health has become like the new trendy thing to talk about because I think that is great I think it should be talked about all the time. Absolutely.

But back when you were just saying of with the street stuff, you can identify with certain people like, oh, I know when you're really going through something, and when you didn't. I feel like a lot of the mental health stuff has kind of become put on front street as a look at me type of way in so many cases. You have talked about depression

and disappeared the fuck away from everything. Like, I don't even want to talk about this type of shit. Yeah. Was that on purpose where you didn't even want to be seen or interview or talk to or become kind of this public figure? Because, I mean, of course you rub shoulders with pretty high artists that you could be looked at photos with or bad events with or be on tour with.

Was this disappearing act intentional for a marketing thing or more of a, no, this is really, I want you to leave me the fuck alone? Well, I wish I could tell you it was on some calculated marketing shit. I really do, you know what I mean? But it was just a combination of shit that happened to me at that time, you know, getting jumped at that festival. things that just happened like around that time just a lot of person. What happened with that?

What was that about? Yeah, I never even got the backstory. You know, God bless. I'm going to be back at Coachella next year. Right, right. We hashed out our differences and everything. I don't want to get into the past, you know what I'm saying? But in general, like just after, it was a lot of incidents like that.

That one just happened to be in the public eye. Okay. Got you. But there was a lot of. incidents to happen around that time that felt this as impactful to me as that. And I just like, you know, I felt like there was a pattern going on of like, why is this, why is this negative shit keep creeping into my life? Mm-hmm.

I was like, I got to check. You got to change something. Yeah, some about my frequency is wrong, right? And I always tell people like, yeah, I believe in like being able to manifest and put a signal out there and receive something, but I believe in that. If your satellite, if your antenna is broken, right, you ain't sending shit out. You're not receiving nothing. Right.

Right. And that's the phase that I felt like I was in. It's like, yo, I got to go sit down and fix myself because a lot of crazy negative shit. It's either a lot of negative shit's happening to me or that's all I can focus on, which either way is a bad. This is a bad thing, you know? So I went, sat my ass down and focus. And honestly, like, just again, to say, like, I wish it was a marketing thing. I really do because that shit put me in debt.

I didn't work for three years. Yeah. Right? So, you know, God bless, I had family and guys that respect me in certain ways that I was still getting work and behind the scene situations, right? But for as much, for the income I was doing, you know what I mean, before? Like that shit just, I just said, I'm done. And I had to just live off what I had for, you know, for three.

almost four years or whatever, that I was really just turning down mad shit, not, you know, I just didn't want to be out there. And I think like there was like an ideology that changed inside of me where I was like positive my whole life about certain shit, being like, yo, you know, you do good, you get good, and this, that. And then all this whack shit happened to me. And I'm like, whoa, wait. What the fuck is it?

If I did all this good, why is this happening? And I had to really sit down. And until I figured that out, and I knew my hands. I couldn't come back to the shit, bro. I lost mad weight. I remember that, right? I was like my, I championed that journey. I gained all of it back.

Right? So I was like back up to even more, like 315, 320 pounds. I was just out the public eye completely. Physically I wasn't there, mentally I wasn't there, and spiritually, especially I wasn't there. I just literally, man, I just sat down and just got myself back. back. It was times that I didn't know I was going to make music again. I really didn't. I was just, I was like, fuck it.

You know, like maybe the end of the road is here. It's cool. I got to find a way to live with that, you know? And God bless me, everything just came back around. As soon as I was just on some let it go shit, everything came back around. Yeah, I mean, we're usually the last to know about ourselves when it comes to that type of stuff. What was some of the things you realized about yourself? Did you think maybe you were thinking positive things that weren't necessarily positive?

weren't necessarily positive. They were more perceived positive or a fake positivity to some degree. Yeah. Because that deems... I love that you said that. That deems a lot of negativity. I've been through that where I'm like,

oh, I think I'm living right, and it's like, oh, wait, all. Let me take a step back. I'm living what I think is correct. And it's not the right way. Exactly. And again, you always have last to know. And experience will teach you sometimes, right?

So, like, you really have an ideology about some or like an idea that something's supposed to go this way and experience to show you a few times that, yo, get the side of your head something different is going on. And I think it's mad funny to me because I looked at all this shit in a completely different way. Every single time that I went through something, I was just like, oh, this is just what I do. I'm just a self-destructive person. I destroy myself to build myself back up.

You know what I mean? And God bless, I got lifelong friends 20 years plus. you know, look out for me and, you know, make sure. So I was always in that. But this time, what felt different to me was like, it was like my abilities were gone. You know, the things that I consider superpowers to me were gone. Right. You know what I mean?

And learning about myself and that situation was the purest time because I didn't have that thing that I could walk into a room and be like, who want to write a 16? I didn't have that no more. Right, right. Right. I had, to me, nothing. That's all I had. So it was like, what do I build from here? How do I make this without that something?

Right. And that's what I built from, bro. I really had to build up from like that kill the ego shit. Kill that like rapper that you've been since you were 12. Yeah, yeah, right? Fuck all that shit. And now let's get to belly the human, right? And then once I came down, I was like, yo, yeah, that fake positive shit, you

you talking about I know exactly what it is. You know what it is? It's when people think that fierceness isn't necessary. Right? It's like, no, I had to learn. Being positive doesn't mean you can't turn the fuck up and be angry and aggressive sometimes. No, as long as the intent is positive, right?

What you're, if you're breaking, if you're breaking through a wall to save some people, you're doing something positive. Yeah, absolutely. But you're still aggressive and fierce. Energy differently. I had to learn all that, because I was always thinking like, oh, you know, positive,

No, fuck that. I had to get fierce again. I had to find a fucking lion inside of me again, that beast. And again, I had to relearn everything. I feel like it was like riding a bike, and then you just didn't know how to ride a bike no more. Or you did. You were just riding it wrong the entire time.

You was riding on the handlebars the whole time. It's like, all right. Or yeah. Didn't realize the training wheels were still on, you know? Right, right. It's funny you brought up superpowers, and I know you were talking directly about your skill set, but I feel like even as men,

we think we have these superpowers of, like, avoidance, like I could avoid all negative shit. I could go away from this. I got the power to just move on and get the fuck out. That's not really a superpower. Like, you sometimes need to face negativity rather than avoid it. Like, I've always thought my avoidance was such a positive characteristic that I had. I'm like, like, I'm just not confronting shit.

Yeah, we have a hard time like just with our emotions as men. We have a hard time. We just usually just, you know, we're either up. upset or happy. And we don't understand the stuff in between it. You know what I'm saying? Either we're great or it's like, fuck everybody. You know what I mean?

I think that we have, as men, you know, whether you're a rap or whatever, you just have to understand, like, it's okay for me to feel these emotions and be sad and cry. You know what I'm saying? You can be vulnerable. As men, we can be vulnerable. Like, you can be a rapper and be vulnerable. That doesn't mean you're not a dope rapper. Doesn't mean you're not a dope artist, a dope writer.

I think you're human. I think you're doper if you're vulnerable. Yeah. When you tap into those. those emotions and that vulnerability, I think that's where, you know, a lot of times, you know, we just lash out and do dumb shit because we don't know how to be vulnerable. We're so busy trying to be macho and everything's good. I got everything under control.

I think, no, you don't. You're fucking everything is burning around. You're like, you know what I'm saying? Everything is going up in flames. Like, nothing is under control. You know what I'm saying? And it's okay. It's okay to recognize that and say, okay, I need to like refocus.

Find that fire, like you said, find that inner me and stay in that and then move forward and create. Now your mind is open to other things to let things in, to receive blessings, and to put blessings out into the world. Absolutely. So, I mean, even on the show, like, when the first time we spoke about you, you know what I mean, that was literally me because the night before I remember, I just fall into these rabbit holes on YouTube. And I fell into a rabbit hole of belly. And I'm like, I'm just looking at the visuals and I'm listening to the music and the lyrics. And I'm like, what's up with belly? Like, where is he at?

Because it's like when you're an artist, right, I just feel like people should always just know or see what you got going on. Because you're just, to me, you're that type of an artist. Like, you're just super dope. Thank you. So when I fell into this rabbit hole, I looked up and I was like, damn, it's been a while since Belly put something out. And then when we did the show, that's when I brought it up. I was like, yo, listen, man, you know, because I started seeing a couple interviews. I know you were dealing with, you know, depression, mental health thing.

And I was just like, we had never met. And you can attest to this. We didn't know each other at the time. And I was just like, yo, listen, man, as just as a fan, as somebody that just knows a person that's like-minded and not can tell

he's from that type of cloth, I just hope that he's good. You know what I'm saying? It wasn't about the music. I'm like, yo, whatever belly's doing, I hope he's good. I hope he's happy. I hope he's, you know what I'm saying?

You know what I saw that. You know what I was a real thing? Because it was literally the night before. I was on YouTube for two hours just watching your shit. And I'm like, yo, where's belly at? Like, what are you doing? What are going on? That's incredible, man, because the timing of shit like that, it shows you, like, when people are really tuned in because the timing of that was perfect.

Because it was like me coming out of some crazy shit. And then actually seeing people check for me and shit, I was like, oh, shit, maybe I was wrong about me against the world, Tupac type shit. You know what I'm saying? Right. Maybe, you know, there's people out here checking for me. These people that love me. I had to really look around and be like, yo, I really got a good support system. You know what I mean?

Ego and arrogance too. That mentality of me against the world or people don't fuck with me, like, if you strip that ego and you realize there are people that really care for you, it changes things drastically. And I feel like we push them type of people away, especially when you have a self-destructive personality, you're going to push them type of people away as much as you can because you don't want them to give you that. You don't want them to see the real you. Even that energy that they give you, it's almost like subconsciously you're getting away from that. You don't even want to feel that love. It's an addiction to chaos and it's insecurity in a sense of like, why would you even love me type of thing? Yeah, it's a very uncomfortable feeling.

Sometimes it's, you know, it's all them things. So really just learning that I had a bunch of whack behaviors, you know. Being honest with yourself. Not for real. There's a lot of, you know, and I was never flaw in the way of, you know, crossing people. Yeah, your character was just, you know what I'm saying? It was in my character. It was just things about.

the way I carried myself and did certain shit in my life that I was like, yo, this isn't. It's not beneficial. You know? And you go through a point where your brain just be on autopilot, right? So it's like these are just the natural responses now until you stop and you like, yo, hold up. Let me cut this shit off right now, like a fucking tumor. Let me cut this shit off and sit down and start from zero.

And that's why I always refer to the Phoenix, you know. You guys, you're right? And even in my music and my interviews and shit, because that's what I always think back to. It's like, this is a mythical bird doesn't exist. Right. It's not like I'm like the eagle. You know what I mean? It's like this shit doesn't not exist.

It doesn't exist, right. But just the analogy of everything of it is so beautiful. It was like, you know, it had to rise from the ashes, right, to become again. And I feel like as humans, we go through that so much, right? Throughout your life, you're not just going to be rising. You're going to have pitfalls and places where you're going to have to stop and reassess yourself. And I feel like the people that are into. are the people that upgrade the program.

And the people that stay stagnant and have glitches and the system don't load us fast. They still trying to run on them old programs. You got to upgrade. And that's honestly, them three years that you guys are talking about, that's really what I did. I had to just upgrade my mind and upgrade. You know, I was telling you out earlier, hard liquor, cut it out, hard drugs, cut it out. Psychedelic saved my life, right? The closest I go to drinking anything now is this white wine.

I'll eat some food and drink some white wine. Like, I really had to just think from a clear mind. Yeah, absolutely. And that's where we're at now. How much of that do you, because again, congrats on your engagement. How much of that do you attest to having a strong woman by your side? That's everything. Because, you know, in our culture, we think it's fly to have a bunch of women.

And, you know, it's kind of like we don't realize that we, it's draining energy. That's a real thing. You've got to entertain a bunch of different women. It's a draining energy thing. Swapping crazy energies too. Yeah. And when you have one woman that you really tap into and that you really, you know, I think we need to talk about that more just as men. Like how important that is.

Like it's fly. I think it's super fly to have one woman. Oh, me too. That you just like, this is my best friend. You know what I mean? It's like, it's like you can't, you, look, if we're going to be like, y'all, you know, for, you shouldn't even be saying that. Right. If you want people to consider you a real one, right?

Right. You gotta go by what you go by with everybody. You can't be like, y'all, I'm loyal to my dogs. But not. But I'm a dog to my girl. Right. Loyal to my dog with a dog to my girl. You know what I'm saying?

You really can't be like that. You gotta be like, yo, I stand on loyalty. I'm loyal to everybody I love in my life. Everybody. Right. So me, I would not commit to my fiance right now. I would have never committed the way I did it. Even the last few years, the way I could.

is the way I committed, I stay loyal. If I commit, I'm gonna tell you, yo, I say, yo, it's one-on-one. It's me and you. Yeah. Loyal. I'm loyal. I got no shame in saying that. People try to make it this big thing. There's phases for everything.

You know what I mean? Go through what you want to go through. But the day that you find somebody like, when I found Dina, you find somebody like that, you find somebody like that, she was a big part of me, like, being able to look in the mirror and realize what was going to be. on because she was like, you know, coming from a doctor standpoint, she'd be like, yo, you know, if you do this for 10 years, you know, your liver function will be down to something. I'm like, shit, like, hold on, you know what I mean? And she was never the type to like, ah, trying to force shit on me.

She would just, she would just give me, she knew I was smart enough to give me, give him the information and he going to know what to do with it. Right, right. And she would just give me that. She's, I give her, man, the majority of what I came through was because I had her. She was my fucking, you know, my saving grace in a lot of those moments. You know what I mean? Yeah, real shit.

Even outside of just the physical stuff with your health, there's only certain things women can tell you. And vice versa. There's only things men can tell women and women can tell men. Like, you need that woman perspective and that friend partner in those types of times. Because we only see shit through our male lens to some degree. So your friends can only take you so far through your brain capacity of looking at something with a point of view.

Women look at this shit differently, and you need that point of view through a lot of shit, especially with your friends too. Like, I feel your friends. They have your best interest, but you guys are all looking at this the same way.

Yeah, you need that woman, that woman lends, and especially a good woman. You know what I mean? And we was talking. I attribute a lot of loyalty, like you said. You know, I see a lot of my homies,

you know, they got, they lady, and it's like, yo, but you out here doing your lady so dirty. And it's like, like I told you, I look at that a different way. Like, if you could cheat on your woman, I feel like you could snitch on your homie. That's just me. That's the way I think. Like, if you're not loyal to your lady,

you can't be loyal to your homies. Look, I feel you, I feel you on the point because the point that you're making is, you got to stand on it. Whatever the fuck it is, stand on it. You're going to say loyalty? It doesn't change because the person changed. Like, fuck out of here. If you're going to be like, yo, I hold you down. Right. Right. You could be as close as you want to your dogs or whatever the fuck, right? We all believe in energy or frequency and, you know, you waking up and sleeping beside another human, another force, right?

And you're waking up and sleeping beside this person every day. This person has your best interests of heart. This person is trying to make you a better person and all this. They deserve your loyalty. If not first, just as much. Right. Yeah. But a lot of that comes from shit.

And it's not a crutch, it's not an excuse by any means at all. A lot of that shit comes from unlearning as we were kids. Because we was always taught be loyal to your friends, your guys. That's always, always. Be loyal to your girl, but it's okay to you. It's okay to have other women around. Like, as long as you're treating her well, as long as she's publicly looking out, you're fine. But that was a simple mentality, super simple mentality.

Like, always loyal to your dues. Just don't embarrass your girl in public. And you're good. Like, cheating's not really loyalty. You can hold it down without cheating. That's just something we were all over. I don't even care what your culture is. That's, that's across the board male thing to some degree. I just, I just couldn't, man. I feel like when you actually, like, get with that person that you're in tune with and you guys are really, really vibrating at that same frequency. Like, I can't even look at other women the same. You know what I'm saying? Like, it's not, it's weird to me. Like, I'm just like, I can't do my dog. Like, that's my, that's my, that's my role.

I can't do not. Like, that's flaw. Like, I'm not going to do that. Like, I wouldn't do that to my best friends that I grew up with and all that. I wouldn't do that to them and I wouldn't, I'm not going to do that to, this my, this my, this my, this my, this my road dog, like, you know what I mean? I'm not doing that shit, man. And most of the times your male friends are doing you dirty and your girl's chilling

holding you down. No, your girl will tell you like, I don't think he's your friend. Like, I see the way he looked at you and you can look at you with a little hateful eye. Like, the women always see things from an angle we would never. ever be able to see things Trump. Yeah, absolutely. You know what I mean? So when you find a good one, obviously you know,

it's just you gotta hold it forever, man. Yeah, hell yeah. You gotta hold it for ever. It's just like I said, man, if you can look at the start of a relationship, year one, and then, you know, we're about to be a year five. And you look at that time and you'd be like, yo, how much growth did I experience? And like, I could really pull up pictures from five years ago. And to see it.

With fucking shrooms hanging out of my mouth in the dead. are lost up for four days, sweat. Looking crazy. And I don't even remember the pictures. Like, when did this happen? You know what I'm saying? And it's cool. I'm happy I did it.

I'm happy I went through it and I got the pictures to prove it. You know what I'm saying? But it's like the growth since then till now, I feel much better, bro. I'm more secure in every single angle of my life. And it's like things I did for myself or things that she did indirectly. All ended up to me growing and becoming a better person, a better man. So, you know, that should always be the greatest experience to me. Where are you at with the kid conversation and where you see that?

Because that's the next step of the maturity, I feel like, and a whole different part of your brain. Once you figure out the wife thing and can get through how you was raised and become a better person in that capacity, that next step is like, all right, my wife is, an adult and can understand my actions. This kid is going to be a brain is going to be a sponge. Every last thing I do is going to affect this kid.

That's a terrifying thought to me. Oh no, I keep that shit in mind. Like, I'm terrified by that. I really keep all that shit in mind. And you know what? Like, I'm glad that, you know, me and my fiancee come from different sides of shit, right? I'm happy because it's like the kids that God willing that we could have one day are going to have have balanced type of thinking. They're going to have, you know, me telling them certain

stories that she can't tell and her telling them stories that I can't tell. Which is, you know, something that is incredible. And, you know, I just, I just really, whatever happens, happens, man, like, we don't really, and the thing is, like, she's so cool about shit that we don't really even talk about these things. Everything that's happened for us in a good way has just happened naturally, you know what I'm saying? And we've never had to be like, yo, this is what we I got to do, like, never. That's why she was shocked when I proposed to her. She was like, why did you, we didn't have to do all this.

You could just gave me the ring. The house in the crib, yeah. That's one of the first things you said to me. It's like, yo, this is crazy. You could have just gave me the ring. I was like, yo, that's why I married you. That's why I do all this shit, you know what I mean? Right.

That's fire, man. Yeah. That's fire. Happy for you, man. I could tell that that was something that, you know, was beneficial to you in a way of way deeper than you probably even recognize right now. Like, I know you know she obviously is, like you said, she's the reason for a lot of your more growth on the way.

Yeah, but I think it's deeper than you, you know, even know yet. Yeah, I agree. You know what I'm saying? It's like, you got to experience it more to be like, damn, I didn't, she's the reason. And I think in our culture, man, you know, in hip hop and, and, you know, coming from the neighborhoods we come from, I think it's important for us to really, you know, it's okay to have one lady, man. It's okay to be loyal to your ladies. I like that shit so much

more than any other experience. I think they shifted in pop culture at least. I mean, you know, obviously probably not as quick in the neighborhood that it has, but I think within if we're talking hip hop to some degree, that's changed drastically. Like, now it's cool to do that shit. When I was growing up, that was

the most uncool shit in the world. Everything got some, like some, some era that it's necessary for. Right. But either way, kids, don't look at rappers for your example of how to live. Exactly. It's like, I don't want to make this that type of thing. They're human too.

No, but, but yeah, man, it comes back to experience, man. You're going to experience everything in life that's going to bring you to that person, but you have to experience shit. So don't go sit there and be like, oh, I got to be loyal to this one person. Like, nah, make sure that's the right person to be loyal to. Being loyal to the wrong person is worse than all that shit we were just talking about cheating and all that shit. If you're loyal to the wrong person. You know what you're doing to the wrong person.

wrong person, that's what starts to cheating. Exactly. You find that right person, be loyal to that person, man. But, I mean, it's going to take a lot of failure to get to that right person. Exactly. But I know he's talking about, you know, your Palestinian culture and the Palestinian food.

Obviously something that's not new at all, but still somewhat of a very, very big global event. Sensitive on both sides with the Palestinian and Israel conflict. that's happening now. I can speak personally that I'm not even fully aware of everything that happens on both sides. Even the full history of what it is, how much it affects both cultures. How has that been affecting you probably your entire life, but as a reason as well?

I mean, it's obviously hard to see. I mean, no matter what country it is, right? So it's hard to see civilians, kids die and stuff like that. It's hard to see that shit no matter where it happens, you know, but especially for me being from there, it obviously hits, you know, a different type of... Connection. Yeah, it's got a different type of connection for me. But I will say, man, like, I think a lot of...

A lot of people are getting things misconstrued in terms of support. for Palestine. Like my support doesn't mean that I hate anybody. Right, right. And I think, I think,

it's not, like I'm sure there's people that can speak on it's so much better than me. I just happen to be Palestinian and know, you know, some of the details but there's people

that can speak on are much better than me. I just know that you got one side that's, you know, oppressed, man. Like, it's this, you don't need to, you could watch anything you want or, you know, read stuff from Amnesty International, whoever you want, you know, you can see this aside to suppress. That doesn't come down to the people.

Doesn't come down to me hating people. It comes down to government policy, crooked politicians, corrupt governments, and right-wing administrations, right, to me. So somebody else might have a different opinion. To me, that's where it comes from, right? You change that, you change the regime, then you have a chance to change everything else. As long as you have these type of tyrants, you know, in power.

You're going to continue to see the same thing you're seeing. If we want real change, we've got to commit to real change. And those type of guys need to be out of office. and we need to really work towards a future that we can integrate and be happy, all of us in one place. You know what I mean? But in the way it is, and the policies, in the way they're run,

I don't think that's the case. I don't think that there's equal rights or even human rights a lot of times for Palestinians. That's what it comes down to me. So I don't want to get into the politics of it. I'm not a politician, but... I'm going to just say, man,

It always comes down to the politicians, make some crazy decisions, and the people suffer. Yeah. They're the only expense is the people. Exactly. You know, so, again, this has nothing to do with people, me hating nobody. This is me loving my people. Right. And hoping for change, man, hoping for better for everybody, you know.

You still have a lot of family over there? Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. I've seen some of the post, some of the protesters and the people that were over there, they were holding up signs of some of them. of your lyrics and some of your words. I know for you that had to like shake you and like really touch you in a different way,

in that moment that they would attach some of your words to the fight and the injustice that they were suffering and going through like that has to on a human level just shake you differently. I mean, of course, man, like that hits me, man. You know what I mean? And I think it makes me emotional a lot of times. But I always knew that I was part of speaking, like speaking those words, I always knew I was part of like a righteous resistance.

Because I'm not, I'm not for any type of civilians dying. I'm not for none of that, right? I'm just for somebody that preaches that we got, we should have the power as people to change whatever the fuck we want. Mm-hmm. And governments and these fucking powers of B, that's, that's who the real problem is. are. And I want the people to understand that us, we could find a solution. We don't need them to sit down in some camp to figure out the solution. We'll figure it out. Let us figure it out and just get evil motherfuckers out out of power. And we the people have that power to do that.

And that's what I always preach, man. You know what I mean? I love everybody. I'm always have love for everybody. I don't want to see no innocent person die, period. I don't want to see nobody die, honesty, period. You know what I'm saying? I just want to see like an equal future for everybody. Equal chances, equal opportunity, and equal quality of life. That's it, man. I think that's basic. Nobody's asking for thrones and castles.

At the core of it, you just want people to be a good person. Like, I think at the core of everything, like, you know, I tell people, no matter what happens, just be a good person. Yeah. I think if everybody walks around with that, like, I could be having a shit. shitty day. But if I'm just a good person, I think I've done my part. Absolutely. You know, absolutely. Shit adds up. Yeah. I agree with you, bro. I think just being a decent human being, just wake up. I try to do something for somebody every day, bro. Right. I really do. If I'm driving and I see somebody that looks like they're down and out going through something, I'm always

try to offer some kind of help to them. Whatever it could be, whatever I could do, I'm always try to offer that help, you know? And I do that on a daily basis. And it's not like I'm doing it to be like, no, you know, all my story and all this. And it's like, nah, bro, like I really want somebody to really feel good. Like, yo, I pull up to the fruit stand. The other day I pulled on my block. It was a fruit stand. I bought the whole fruit stand. I was like, how much for the whole fruit? He's like, what do you mean the whole fruit stand? Every case of this. Yeah, give me the whole fruit stand. He was like, all right, cool. Gave me the number. I gave him the money. And then left the fruit.

I took one case of mangoes with me. And I left all the fruit. I was just like sell the fruit. You know what I mean? Like I'm going to do that every day. I'm going to find, I know driving around the city doing dumb errands and shit, I'm going to find something or somebody or whatever. That to me is like as good as as probably better than receiving.

Absolutely. Because you get to a point in life where like you've kind of received, especially God bless me. I've been blessed to receive things that I know. never thought I would get to my life. I'm not gonna lie to you and be like, yeah, I always knew. Nah, there's some things that I've gotten to in my life that I'm like, how?

Is this real? Right, right. There's no way. Right. Me? Yeah. Like, I've had those moments. I'm not, you know what I mean?

And I feel like if we're blessed enough to have that and have that type of life, it's like, yo, bro, whatever. You gotta pass it on. Whatever I could turn around and do. The smallest shit sometimes, bro, be the biggest shit to somebody else, bro. Especially when you were there and you weren't and now you able, it's like, oh yeah. I used to pump, I used to pump gas in the cold.

This break room. I really used to pump gas in the cold. One of my first jobs, I worked at a gas station, pump gas in the cold, Canada, three feet of snow. Different cold, different cold of the day. You know? Right. And people will come, and I'm working at the graveyard shift.

So people are pulling up, I'm coming out, pumping gas, no tip. I'm like, yo, you guys are fucking crazy. Right. I'm out here in sub-zero weather. Right. Y'all don't got a fucking... A dollar?

Like something, bro. I'm out here until 8 in the morning. Y'all don't got nothing for me. I learned. So that's why now I'm like, if I'm in that position, I pull up, somebody pumps my guy, you're getting $100, bro. I'm going to make you smile all day.

Right, right, right. Because nobody did that for me. Right, right. You know what I'm saying? I got to tell somebody else. In our video about my karma is beautiful. and that was just, you know, because I know I'm conscious of stuff like that. Like I make sure that any interaction I have with somebody, it's always a positive interaction.

You know what I'm saying? It's because I believe what you put out comes back. You know what I mean? That's a real thing to me. Like, you do good things. It's going to come back. Somebody somewhere is going to always remember like, he's a good guy. You know what I mean?

Like he's something like no matter what it is, if you're a good person, you could have I have a billion dollars and be a shitty person. Like people who just despise being in the room with you because the way you make them feel, you know what I mean? But when you're a good person, people will go above and be on for you. And me saying my karma is beautiful was just that. I can be broke. I can be financially, have zero in my bank account.

But if my karma and my energy is beautiful, I'm one of the wealthiest men on the planet. Absolutely. You know what I mean? Absolutely. Yeah. I agree with you 100% on that. That's that. Bro, that's really wealth is being true.

So true to yourself that you're just like, yeah, okay, good, I'm cool. The ego's dead. The pride is dead. Let me take a breath and not know me. That's the realest feeling on earth. Especially if you believe that this isn't just it. Earth is not just it. There is another place where money is not going to matter.

It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter now. And honestly, the realest shit I ever heard was, you know, they say, I heard this quote. I'm probably going to butcher the quote right now, but happiness will bring you money, faster than money will bring you happiness. Right? So, like, if you're actually genuinely happy on the inside and your vibes are good, your end. And money is what you want.

The money will find itself to you. If I find its way to you, right? But if you fucking angry all the time, bitter and shit like that, that shit will literally repel to you like two magnets, bro. Absolutely. That shit is getting away from you. Money is even more bitter. Absolutely. So I feel you, man.

Until you're rich on the inside, it's hard to be rich money-wise, you know? It's hard to be rich in that way if you're not rich in this way already. Absolutely. You know? Absolutely. Yeah. All right, well, let's get into some music, man.

Let's go to the studio. Those were actually lyrics from the album, guys. You've heard the entire thing. Yeah. an interactive interview. It's the first music video. That's right, guys. Genius is going to put all the lyrics right here.

On the look back at it podcast. 1979, that was a big moment for me. 84 was big to me. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a year, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it.

With our friends, fellow comedians, and favorite authors. Like Mark Lamont Hill on the 80s. 84 was a wild year. It was a wild year. I don't think there's a more important. important year for black people. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your

podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Cliver Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media. Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Cliver Show.

This is a place for raw, unfilled conversations with athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. So let's get to it. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart 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. 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 Zoe Spencer and venture capitalist Lakeisha Landrum Pierre, as they share their journeys from starting out. to leveling up.

There's an economic component to communities thriving. If there's not enough money and entrepreneurship happening in communities, they failed. Listen to eating while broke from the Black Effect podcast network

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