Soul Boom - R&B Singer Miguel on Ego, Resentment & Hip-Hop Culture

Episode Date: December 11, 2025

SPONSORS! 👇 reMarkable 👉 ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://remarkable.com Miracle Made (promo code: SOULBOOM for 20% OFF!) 👉 ⁠trymiracle.com/SOULBOOM⁠ and use promo code SOULBOOM... for an extra 20% OFF and a free 3-piece towel set! Grow Therapy 👉 ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://growtherapy.co/SOULBOOM Green Chef (50% OFF + Free Shipping + 20% OFF next 2 boxes!) 👉 https://www.greenchef.com/50soulboom Fetzer 👉 https://www.fetzer.org R&B singer Miguel joins us to unpack soul music, resentment, meditation, and what a real spiritual revolution might look like in a country obsessed with money. They unpack his journey from a Black Mexican kid navigating gangs and religion in Los Angeles to a genre bending artist whose new grunge R&B album confronts fear, guns, ego, and hope. Along the way they explore art as spiritual practice, healing family wounds, and how owning your audience can protect your peace in a chaotic world. Miguel is a Grammy winning R&B singer, songwriter and producer known for his genre bending blend of soul, rock and alternative sounds on albums like Kaleidoscope Dream and Wildheart. Miguel kicking off global CAOS Tour in February 2026. Tickets on sale at https://officialmiguel.com/ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⏯️ SUBSCRIBE!⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠👕 MERCH OUT NOW! ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠📩 SUBSTACK!⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  FOLLOW US! IG: 👉 ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://instagram.com/soulboom⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ TikTok: 👉 ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://tiktok.com/@soulboom⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  CONTACT US! Sponsor Soul Boom: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠advertise@companionarts.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Work with Soul Boom: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠business@soulboom.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  Send Fan Creations, Questions, Comments: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠hello@soulboom.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  Executive Produced by: Kartik Chainani Executive Produced by: Ford Bowers, Samah Tokmachi Companion Arts Production Supervisor: Mike O'Brien Theme Music by: Marcos Moscat Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Starting point is 00:00:27 Visit medcan.com slash moments to get started. The world is moving at a pace where I, in some cases, don't recognize myself. On this album, there's a song that wrote itself. You know, like, it was like on my chest and I just needed to get it out. And that's, to me, the furthest away from where I, 14-year-old me, could have imagined myself. I don't trust the world. Do you have a gun? I do. I have several.
Starting point is 00:00:58 Hey there, it's me, Rain Wilson, and I want to dig into the human experience. I want to have conversations about a spiritual revolution. Let's get deep with our favorite thinkers, friends, and entertainers about life, meaning, and idiocy. Welcome to the Soul Boom podcast. Hey, folks, time to keep the lights on. Thank you so much to our amazing sponsors, remarkable miracle made, grow therapy, and green chef. More on them later, but check the links on the screen or in the show notes now for discounts. promo codes, and more. On to the show.
Starting point is 00:01:35 Like, man, to build a character that is so iconic, you know what I mean? And just like, go on, Miguel. Go ahead. Keep going. It just means that there's like a lot, there's a lot there that you can. So is it something that you're like, when you do it once, like, do you, you're like, I got that. I'm good. And I wanted, are you into developing characters? Or it is just so happy. I mean, I would love to do another comedy. But, you know, I don't want to do a mockumentary, number one, because that would be, that would be weird. And a lot of, of people are doing a lot of mockumentaries these days. Do you ever do any acting? Just a little bit
Starting point is 00:02:08 and dramatic, only dramatic, on a professional level, only dramatic once. I did a film called Live by Night with Van Affleck. It was directed by bed. Zoe Saldauna's in it. There's a cast is crazy. So it was, it was. I got to check that out. It's a long film. I played, I played a Cuban nationalist that was essentially the sister, the, excuse me, the relative of Zoe Salada's character. And he's kind of like an artist at hard and he's a photographer and he has this bar
Starting point is 00:02:42 where people come and they dance and it's kind of a central location in the film. Was it a good part? Did you have much to do? Yeah, there's a few little moments. It was really good. It was a great experience, I think, being around all those actors. And also... You should do more, man. Yeah, I'd love to. I'd love to. Maybe after this, it's This is pretty demanding.
Starting point is 00:03:02 You're pretty easy on the eyes. Yeah, I appreciate it. I got to say. You know, it's just been an honor and pleasure to getting to know you and your work. Look at me. R&B. R&B. I knew you were an R&B head.
Starting point is 00:03:15 As soon as I was like, he definitely knows. I started with Luther Van Dross and moved up from there. No. Dungeons and Dragons. Chess team kid, not R&B thing. But you're not just, R&B does not do you. justice at all. I mean, you had those silky tones early on kind of in that. But getting to know your work, you know, over the last several days and listening to it, it's like, you're, it's like,
Starting point is 00:03:43 you're sampling stuff that's like raw. It's like, oh, here's some nirvana. Oh, that's radio head. Oh, this is LeFranc Ocean. Oh, this is, you know, Mac Miller. Everything is just mixed up. Like, what do you call what you do? It's definitely rooted in soul. I think soul music and rock and roll are at the core always. And I think historically, just knowing how the genres have evolved, rock and roll is at the core of rhythm and blues is at the core of all of modern music. You know, it's really stemming from rhythm and blues rock and roll. And I would say I'm a rhythm and blues artist at the core.
Starting point is 00:04:27 Okay. I definitely have a lot of alternative influence growing up. up in the 90s and so you kind of you called some of them out um you know i grew up on the west coast as well so late 80s into the early 90s los angeles is you know going through a lot of um excuse me a lot of gang war i didn't realize i was going to be burping this much on on our show excuse me we welcome all your flatulence great at soul boom that's what the boom means talk about an alternative r and be artists yeah came on with soul burp she's Yeah, I just, I grew up right in the middle of a lot of, like, tension between blacks and Mexicans in Los Angeles.
Starting point is 00:05:11 At the time, the two largest gangs in Los Angeles were the Crips and the Bloods. San Pedro was a stronghold for Crips. And my father and my mother are from Englewood, which is a stronghold for Bloods. And I grew up in both cities going back and forth. So not only was there a lot of tension, between or did I experience a lot of adversity because I was black and Mexican. I also experienced adversity because I was going back and forth between cities that had opposing, you know, they were complete rivals.
Starting point is 00:05:48 And that means my relationships, my friendships and all that were, they kind of were contentious. They became contentious. And yeah, I think a lot of that gives me a really. interesting perspective. Just an interesting, lots of opposites, lots of opposing forces growing up. You know, I think it's the juxtaposition of that that kind of gives me, informs my music, which is what makes it gives me kind of like,
Starting point is 00:06:19 have a lot of interest in blending melody, like pretty melodies against like more aggressive, you know, music and vice versa. And that's, I think, what's, made the music stand out overall. What were three songs that changed your life before you're 15? For All We Know, Donnie Hathaway. I don't know that. Sing a little bit. Oh, man.
Starting point is 00:06:45 For all we know, we may never meet again. Before you go, make this moment sweet again. and love me love me tonight tomorrow was made for sun tomorrow may never come
Starting point is 00:07:15 it's a beautiful song it's incredible deep it's a deep song but made a big impact early on I think that's one of those songs that taught me how powerful music can be and conveying an emotion that we don't understand.
Starting point is 00:07:35 Because here I was... You just didn't know 20 seconds. It was like, oh, there's... Yeah. There's a lot going on there. Yeah. In the lyric you're hearing, but, I mean, his voice and the tone and the pain and also the...
Starting point is 00:07:51 There's a yearning. The yearning, yeah. Just the like, but just can we just hold on to this moment for one last time? I mean, for a kid who's never experienced love like that, to feel it deeply, I think, it gave me a lot of insight on the impact of music and how important it is. What else? I would say one of my dad's songs is Bohemian Rhapsody. Sure.
Starting point is 00:08:17 You know? Yeah. My dad was a massive, massive classic rock, like, lover and just, and that was always one of those ones that stood out again, where it was just like, what the fuck? Like, yeah. Can you do that? What? No.
Starting point is 00:08:33 You can have that 11 minute hit song and with 20 sections in it. Hello? Yeah. And go from Baroque to operatic to all of these like, I mean, and it's still just like come in and it's rock and roll. It's crazy, you know? So that song. And maybe another one is like, I didn't hear this before I was 15, but it was,
Starting point is 00:08:57 but it was it's in the music it was in and around the music my dad was playing and it's good thoughts bad thoughts by Funkadelic and that song
Starting point is 00:09:07 those three songs I think are key for me because they say something about the emotionality in music
Starting point is 00:09:18 how powerful music can be for emotion and how possible it is for music to really transmute
Starting point is 00:09:30 and to like, just over time, you're just like, this feels, I just feel this so deeply. Have you heard, have you heard good thoughts, bad thoughts by Funkadel? No, no. What can you share about that? The song is like, uh, I mean, I know Funkadelic. I don't remember, maybe I'm sure I've heard the song, but you've probably heard it.
Starting point is 00:09:50 It's maybe like, it's like eight minutes long. Uh-huh. Or maybe, it's like eight minutes, like first four minutes. It's just guitar. It's just guitar soloing. That's it. That's it. And it's, it's spectacular.
Starting point is 00:10:04 It's incredible. It is like, you can close your eyes and you are transported to a whole other consciousness. And four minutes in, it kicks in. And George Clinton is like, travel like a king. And he's like, be careful of the thought seeds planted in your mind because seeds grow according to their kind. And he's like, he's just saying. It's like spoken word. It's like spoken word, but it's like a mystical.
Starting point is 00:10:34 It's, you know, all of the like dial yourself in and your beliefs and beware of those things and carry yourself with with consciousness. It's a very conscious song. And I mean, I know enough about the show and how, you know, metaphysics play into the journeys, everyone's journeys, you know. and it's a metaphysics kind of song, you know. So that sparked for you like, oh, music can be so much more. So you're talking about emotion. Yes. But then mystical messaging.
Starting point is 00:11:10 Yeah. It's like your beliefs and life and what this experience is about. That's amazing. I want to hear your late 90s early aughts playlist. Man. I did put one together. Oh, you did? Is that on Spotify?
Starting point is 00:11:23 Yeah, yeah, yeah. There's some good ones. Oh, man. Some bangers. Yeah. Some bangers. Yeah. It's kind of embarrassing to admit,
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Starting point is 00:13:35 Hey, I wanted to give a quick shout out to our spiritual partners at the Fetzer Institute. They have just launched a brand new shiny website over at Fetzer.org. That's Fetzer.z,r.org. And it's full of spiritual tools for modern struggles, which is exactly what we're trying to cultivate here at Soul Boom. Fetzer believes that most of humanity's problems are spiritual at the root, and they're helping people plant some deeply soulful solutions. So I urge you to go poke around their new website.
Starting point is 00:14:03 Check out fetzer.org. Thank you, Fetzer Institute for helping sponsor the show and all of the truly amazing work that you do over there. Fetzer.org. That's FetZER.org. I was listening to this podcast. I forget where it was. It was talking about emotion and songs.
Starting point is 00:14:20 And it was talking about how country music is like music to make you cry. And I guess you could kind of say like soul R&B is the same kind of thing. It's music to just make you feel. It just goes right to the feel centers. And a lot of folks, you know, that are working class folks,
Starting point is 00:14:43 they want that from their music. They want it in their car. They want it in the background. They want music that just goes, bam, right here. There's no thought. There's not even necessarily dance or whatever. It's just, you know, rhythm. It's just going right to that feel center.
Starting point is 00:15:00 What I love about country music is that it tells, I mean, some of the best songwriting, hands down, to this day in country music, I think the relatability, it really speaks to this. I love this quote about great, great art and great songwriting. And that is that you find great songwriting is finding yourself. in other people's details. Oh, that's great. I think country music has always done really good at you find yourself in the details.
Starting point is 00:15:32 You know, it's like, you know exactly the truck they're talking about. And it's all very real here, you know, even when you go back to like Dolly Parton and you're like listening to, what's the working song? I'm a working, oh my gosh. Nine to five? Nine to five. Yeah. I mean, you can hear every detail. And you're like, I know that boss.
Starting point is 00:15:50 And I know this. And it's like, yeah, give me a couple, excuse me. with a couple joe and you're like when we wake up and you're you're hearing the details and you're seeing it and it's relatable it may not be exact to what your experience is but you relate completely yeah yeah yeah and the same of like she broke up with me in my truck like you it may not have been your truck or the same woman but we've all been broken up with you in a car before you know we know what that feels like right let me get into the car and let me just get a ride let me or like take it easy by the Eagles like take it easy like that's still you know that's in that it's in it's running the
Starting point is 00:16:25 cusp of that but finding yourself in the details did you ever feel like there's a spiritual connection here did you ever feel like what role did god or a higher power or the holy spirit or some kind of like muse inspiration come did you ever we ever writing songs and like tapped into something there felt like there is a source there is an essence there's a power that so many artists talk about, like they just, they're not writing it, they're just like transcribing it from the ether. Well, I think all of us, I mean, when you give yourself to a practice,
Starting point is 00:17:06 you know, and you spend your time just studying and just really practicing and really rehearsing and working and like dialing your ability in to get to, that moment where in, in that thing that you're doing, you're able to get out of the way and all of the work is there to support the thing coming through. I think that's what, what I'm doing a shitty job at explaining this. No, no, no. I think what you're saying is like you work on a discipline and you have technique.
Starting point is 00:17:43 And you hone it and you study your craft. And then technique, discipline, craft, your work. working it so that something can get channeled. Yes. If you don't have discipline craft and a system, you can't access. Yeah, yeah. You wouldn't be able to deal with all of the pressure
Starting point is 00:18:04 around making that moment true and real. Because there is pressure and it doesn't mean that it all, one of my favorite quotes is, it doesn't get easier, you just get stronger. You know, the world doesn't get any lighter. Your shoulders just become more broad or more, you're more stable.
Starting point is 00:18:22 And in the same way, in creative process, I think whether you're on camera as an actor or you're in the studio or on stage, as a musician or actor, whatever it is, all of your discipline, that's the perfect word, right, is really for you to be able to deal with all of that pressure and still deliver the emotionality. Because I think that's what real art
Starting point is 00:18:45 and why real art is and will always be relevant. Real art gives us emotion, and emotion is human. And that's the part that makes it special. That's why 15-year-old or 14-year-old can go listen to Donnie Hathaway, never experience love or loss or yearning, and feel it so deeply, or why we can go stand in front of a painting and be from a completely different walk of life and find ourselves in the details, the emotionality,
Starting point is 00:19:18 the discipline that was given to be in the moment of the pressure and to deliver the greater thing, you know, that like thing that holds us together. I think that's the... Have you had moments in songwriting where you've felt something transcendent in that process? And do you remember any specific ones? I never... The ones that are the best are the ones that I don't remember. They just sort of happen.
Starting point is 00:19:44 There's a couple times, I mean, there's a song called Adorn. on my second album. That one was a, it just happened. Just happened. Just happened. On this album, there's a song called Near Sight
Starting point is 00:19:58 that wrote itself. It's Near Sight. Oh, yeah, slow it down. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. That was my favorite song. Thanks, man. That song was great. Thank you, thank you.
Starting point is 00:20:11 That one very much felt like it was just, maybe it was like a prayer that I was like holding. you know, like I just, it was like on my chest and I just needed to get it out and... Tell us about that song because it's on your new album. What was it? What's the story there?
Starting point is 00:20:27 What's the lyric? What's the prayer behind it? The prayer is like, I pray I could make peace with the past because tomorrow comes way too fast. But the whole thing is like the world is moving, the world is moving at a pace where I, in some cases, don't recognize myself.
Starting point is 00:20:45 The opening line is, I have stock now and a gun. And that's, to me, the furthest away from where I, 14-year-old me, could have imagined myself. And that's kind of just saying, like, okay, well, I've kind of done the, I've kind of both become, in my mind, is like stockholder people who, you know, had tremendous amount of money and these kinds of things. And so it's really me saying, it's like, I've kind of, like, achieved my, the things that I wanted, but now I'm also, I have a gun, too, you know, it's like, so I've also become, a little, I don't trust the world. Do you have a gun? I do. I have several. You got several guns?
Starting point is 00:21:23 Yeah, hell yeah. Self-defense? Maybe because I've always liked guns. Okay. But yeah, also self-defense. You don't seem like a gun-totter. I know, right? Right? Yeah, but it's the world we live in. And you talk about juxtaposition. It's the world we live in. Yeah. Like this is not a game. People are crazy. And I think also over over COVID, seeing how people are, going crazy for toilet paper, I was like, nah, let it be food. Let it be food. Then we'll see how people start acting. Let people start really feeling the bullshit and it'll get real.
Starting point is 00:22:00 So also, you know, when you have a family, you really start to think different. And I think that's also been a big part of my, you know, my perspective changing. Yeah, so slow it down is, you know, me kind of just looking at. In real, you know, and I'm telling you, the verse is, you know, I got stock now and again, I'm watching TV and the news now, all the summers I got to run. Now I got to do shit. You know what I'm like? I was like, I got to really, I have to really like be a grownup now. This is, I'm older, you know, and I'm, I have to be responsible. And I feel it's very, it's just a part of life. It's not like life changing lyric, but it's real and relatable lyric, you know.
Starting point is 00:22:45 And the chorus is just asking, the chorus is the prayer. It's like, slow it down for me. I may never feel this way again, you know, and really just wanting to appreciate the moments right here and right now because things are moving fast. And they're moving faster every day it feels, you know? Yeah. So yeah, that song's one of those ones that wrote itself
Starting point is 00:23:06 and it kind of channeled through. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, we got to talk about this gun thing, man. No guns for you? No guns for you. I tell you what I'm going to get, though. Hmm.
Starting point is 00:23:18 I'm going to get a pellet gun and kill these goddamn fucking invasive gray squirrels all over my property. Are they all over the place? They eating all my avocados. They're chewing on my irrigation lines. I got a little orchard a couple of acres. Let's go. And they're invasive species of these critters. Is it?
Starting point is 00:23:38 Yeah, these ground squirrels. Okay. And getting rid of them is hard. You have to trap them and kill them, which is great. It's better to just like, bang, pick them off. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You can capture them and, like, go set them free somewhere else. But that's illegal.
Starting point is 00:23:54 We know it to get you for... I don't know. But if you want to bring your Glock out... Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I've got my pellet gun, we can take care of some. All right. I'm happy for a little target practice. Sorry, it sounds humane.
Starting point is 00:24:06 It sounds fucked up. It sounds really fucked up. Oh, my God. I don't know that we'll use this, but maybe we will. Yeah, probably not. The audience is going to be like, this is not the kind of conversation we thought we're going to tune in for. What's your spirituality like?
Starting point is 00:24:21 Do you have a spiritual practice? It took a lot of meditation to kind of get to the fortitude, I think, to be able to do this again. Why? There's a tremendous amount. What happened between 2018 and now? 18 and now? Yeah.
Starting point is 00:24:37 Well, before then, I had found meditation and, I think what it did for me was in the moment help refine my vision of what I wanted to experience in life. But I didn't do enough deep work to really fortify where my motivations were coming from and the why
Starting point is 00:25:04 and what holes I was trying to fill, so to speak, you know, what things within myself that needed addressing. And so when I... What are those things? Just a lot of anger with the way
Starting point is 00:25:25 doing what you think is best for your children. And I mean that for the way that my parents did what they thought was best in their own way for their children maybe kept me from really like four, certifying relationships in my life, not just with my parents themselves, but with friendships and all of that. And I think I had a lot of resentment, ironically, to my mom.
Starting point is 00:26:03 And I found that out later in life. And that was a lot to deal with, you know, because you don't, you see your mother. I don't think I've ever said that. I'm glad that I've had the conversation with my mom and we've really had like the kind of conversations that you hope to have with your parents when you say something like that, you know? It's hard to hold those two things in equal measure.
Starting point is 00:26:32 Like I have resentment at you and I adore you at the same time. You hurt me and I would be nothing without you. Yeah, yeah. That is crazy. and no amount of meditation was going to fix that for me. Did you get some therapy around this stuff to help you? Oh, my God. And I didn't, it took, the trippy thing is I was doing therapy.
Starting point is 00:26:56 I also found therapy after I found meditation. So meditation became a big part of my spiritual practice around my third album, an album called Wildheart. And a lot of that really informed the spirit of the album, which is really that everyone should find what they love and let it kill them. You know, classic Bukowski. You know, it's like find what you love and let it kill you. Just whatever it is that inspires you and excites you in this life, like do it.
Starting point is 00:27:29 That's the spirit of that album. I did that and I still found that I felt really empty. And it was and it led to a lot of turmoil in my life. And it was a trip because here I was. I'm like, man, I found meditation, and I feel like I'm really clear about what I want in my life and all these things. And I was still creating a lot of chaos. And so it took some going back to the drawing board. And so I said, okay, well, I need, let me find a therapist and really get to that work.
Starting point is 00:28:01 And man, between that and then the following album, which is probably another two years or something like that, all the way to now, it's only been within maybe the past year, but I've really had been able to have the conversation or even realized that I had resentment with my mother. What's the nature of the resentment? What can you share? This is really deep. This is kind of crazy.
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Starting point is 00:29:29 I love the fall, the season, not the fall of civilization. You know, the air gets crisp, the leaves do their big costume change, and my sweaters do their best to hide my past choices. But that's okay because I can hit Reset with Green Chef, the number one meal kit for clean eating. Their new Heat and Eat Meals are ready in minutes. With over 80 dietitian approved options each week, you'll find something you love. Pick from Mediterranean, my personal fave, gluten-free, plant-based, protein-heavy,
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Starting point is 00:30:26 slash 50 Soul Boom. Green Chef. It comes from her doing the best that she could to protect me from a world. knew that was dangerous. And through that, she, it came sometimes at the cost of my relationship with my father because it was about time. Because the religion.
Starting point is 00:30:53 Joe's witness. Yeah. Was became paramount to me as a child. And when you're a child, you're, you know, you're moldable, you know. and I think the principles were all valid. So don't get me wrong. This is no, I'm not mentioning this with any critique. There's no critique, but I think as impressionable as I was,
Starting point is 00:31:21 a lot of, when it became, whether it was I was going to go to a church thing or a big church thing, or it was time to see my father, there were times where I went to the church thing because I was being told how important it was and that God was wanted it and, you know, and he's more important and these kinds of things.
Starting point is 00:31:47 There's salvation attached to it. There's a whole, and I learned. Was it ever like, oh, your dad's going to go to hell? No, not like that. It was more like, you know, more, when it came to that, it was more about doing the right things would be the example that could move him in the direction to find God the way that he should kind of thing where it really impacted in terms of resentment um was this always feeling
Starting point is 00:32:27 I was being it was one or the other you know and being judged from a very early age was a lot And so when I found that out that I was like, oh, I have a lot of this pressure that I put on myself and all these things, a lot of it comes from always feeling judged, which kind of comes from the religion, which kind of comes from my, it's like a deep thing, you know? Was there any judgment attached to the music that you were making? Because a lot of music you're making is, it's pretty sexual and it's, you know, sensual. my, I think my beginnings as a musician, my professional music career, whatever, was probably me.
Starting point is 00:33:15 That was when I had first left. Okay. And I was like, I'm going to do what I want to do. Okay. And it was very much striking out against. Yeah. It's an active rebellion there. Yeah, definitely an act of rebellion.
Starting point is 00:33:29 But it's taking me all this time to kind of come to the realization that a lot of it's been about resentment for, for the time I didn't get with to build my relationship with my father. And maybe times where I wanted to build friendships that I couldn't because they're with people that weren't a part of the religion. And how that may have made building relationships in my life now more challenging. But all of that's to say it took a lot of, it took some work. So my spiritual practice actually,
Starting point is 00:34:06 it was the beginning of a journey that needed to happen about my personal me. Because I feel maybe I've always been spiritually connected. I think my spiritual practice was always there. And I still feel very aware of my need to be in touch with my spirituality. But, you know, the mind and you know, the mind and the spirit two different things.
Starting point is 00:34:35 The mind is a program. You know what I mean? It's like programs are running and consistently on and meant to compute. And I think figuring out the separation was a journey in and of itself. You know, Hollywood is a crazy business in so many ways. And it's all about ego, narcissism, popularity, one-upsmanship. Like how hot you are and, you know, comparing yourself to others and what's castable and how bankable you are.
Starting point is 00:35:03 And, you know, this runs through everything. And that will just fuck with your mind, spirit, soul, self-esteem, all of it. And it tends to really bring out the very worst in people. Say that. How is that in, I mean, the music world is rough. But then it's got to also be in the R&B world that you're in too.
Starting point is 00:35:28 Like, how do you, how did you navigate that? How do you navigate that? How do you navigate that? That eight years that we were talking about, I mean, that's the big going away, or like staying away, I don't know that I, there was a time,
Starting point is 00:35:41 there was a point where I didn't want to do it anymore. I definitely didn't want to do the, the business part of being an artist because it just does, it puts you in, in that you're constantly like, okay, is my shit as big as this now? And you're kind of like,
Starting point is 00:35:59 it's hard not to see what's going on. And, you know, people, when you go away, you also don't have momentum, you know, and it's, for some people can go away and come back and it's like, there's all kinds of, like, anticipation and all these kinds of things. And for me, it's been such a blessing to see who has been there. But it's certainly not like, I just got up and everyone was like, oh, shit, where have you been? We've been waiting for you.
Starting point is 00:36:26 Let's go. It's been like, let's remind them and let's do the thing. Like, it's good a hook. And we got to get up and go do this thing. And like, oh. But I'm, but I'm interested in that dark point. Like, how low does that get 2019, 2020? Valid.
Starting point is 00:36:42 The self-esteem part is the part that felt like I couldn't, I didn't want to come back and risk putting my esteem in the success of my work. I know for me, like, it's apples or oranges here but i know a lot for me like so much of my self-esteem way in a toxic manner came way too much by how much i was desired by hollywood if i was cast if i was paid money if i was desired i felt good about myself and if i wasn't and if i was ignored then i felt like shit that is the that is the exact way that i was beginning. I had inadvertently been trading my esteem, my personal self-esteem, for the approval,
Starting point is 00:37:39 the desirability of the work. And I didn't, it was almost like it was being siphoned without me knowing, you know, I didn't, I wasn't realizing that I was handing it over, handing my own view of myself to the success of my work. I'm happy that I can come in and go. And, go, you know, I don't have this part figured out. Yeah. It also keeps me really vigilant, you know, and it makes me pay more to, again, paying more attention to things.
Starting point is 00:38:13 It's not, there's a tremendous amount of gratitude that I have for it not being, like, crazy. You know, there's that part because I still get to do some normal things, you know, some. And don't give me. wrong, I've had a number one record. You know what I mean? Like we've done we've done some things, right? But um, but the ego is a motherfucker. Yeah. You know, and you start, when you start to compare and then your next one isn't number one and you're like, and it's easy to start looking at it.
Starting point is 00:38:44 So I went away because, where's the single? Where's the single? Yeah. Oh my God. Give us the, give us the hit. You're like, uh, shut the fuck up. Um, you, you really do become, you put yourself at in in a position where you're you're um it it could be a challenge to keep your shit together you know and I didn't know if I wanted to come back for that but what made you allowed you to come back with with chaos you know the the lesson I've learned over this journey in my career is as and that's why I think I love your show not I think I love your show and I love that you are, you own your audience. It's a lesson I learned the hard way because I started and I had radio success.
Starting point is 00:39:39 I had success early as a professional recording artist, but I didn't own my audience. And every album I've been inching closer to having a more direct connection with my audience. so that whichever way I decided to go creatively, they would be there. And I know that I was talking, that we were having a conversation and there was growth that was happening between us and that we could continue to talk about these things,
Starting point is 00:40:08 whether it was through the music or if it was through my ways of communicating with them. Owning an audience, owning your audience, man, I think is the biggest, it's finding your people. finding your people in this life, I think, is for especially for creative, is probably the best and most sure way of protecting your peace because you're no longer trying to satisfy the numbers or someone else's gauge of the success. You're successful in the communication and the exchange and that audience is going to show up for you and for that. And that's one of those things that
Starting point is 00:40:51 And we were talking earlier before we started recording, like that's one thing podcasting does give you. It really does. It really does. There are more people here interested in what Rain Wilson is talking about with guests around spirituality and mental health and transforming the world rather than Dwight fans. Right. You know. Right. And as iconic as Dwight is and will always be and relevant as he will always be, they're not here for you to do his voice and to be.
Starting point is 00:41:21 act and react and all of those things and put on the shirt and tie. And like, they don't, they don't need that from you. Although you're saying that now makes me think I need to do a Dwight podcast. No, you don't have to do it. I mean, if I showed up just as Dwight and he just had a podcast, just with like farmer, like farming techniques, but it was Dwight Shrewd, it would probably get millions of views. You know, maybe, but is it like, is it something that you want to show up every day and do? I don't know, you know, but this, it's in the same way, but you're like,
Starting point is 00:41:50 you can show up and go, I want to talk about these things. You know, I want to get insightful conversations around, like you said, spirituality around mental health and about changing the world and how those things affect change in one's personal world and how that then affects the world outside, right? I had to find that part for me, like what was that thing? And for me, it was, one, having a conversation deeper than, love and sexuality and the things that I think people have found in my music previous to this album and having human conversation about the challenges of change and growth.
Starting point is 00:42:32 And that's what this album is about. More importantly, it was that I'm striking out in my own direction, having deeper conversations with my audience. And then using that to kind of talk through how we support creativity for black, Latino, round artists that are left of center like myself, who have something to say, you know, and I want to talk about more than just the surface level shit because this world is, again, we're trying to slow it down. It's moving too fast. A lot of the changes are happening in a way and in directions that feel like
Starting point is 00:43:06 they're out of our control and they're not. Talk about that being at the center of, you know, black and Latino artists or mixed race artists that are also trying to do stuff. you know, out of the box that you can't quite put your finger on. So many of the songs on this new album, you're like, I don't know what kind of music that is and I love that.
Starting point is 00:43:28 Word, thank you. Yeah, that's like going back to the conversation about finding ourselves and others' details. I think the stories that we need told now are, they have details that we didn't know we could find ourselves in. And I think more often than not, we're seeing the same stories told,
Starting point is 00:43:47 you know, whether it's in Hollywood or whatever, in music. It's like, let's tell some fucking new stories, man. And that's where we find more of the humanity and the, and again, the emotionality that brings people together. I think that's, I could spend my next 10 years doing that, you know? Nice. I could do that. I could wake up and be like, all right, well, I'm going to get up and I got to go, son.
Starting point is 00:44:12 I'm going to go spend my time. But I'm going to spin it in trying to help tell some stories that matter. matter. I'm at hopefully bring people to the table to talk about the things that we have in common. And also address the things that we don't so that we could come to some kind of like agreement. Because right now there's a lot of this dividing and separation. Yeah. Let's talk about that. Let's start with Bad Bunny and this whole Super Bowl thing. Let's talk about it. Yeah. What do you think anyone's turning in for that alternative, all-American?
Starting point is 00:44:44 Oh my God, with Lee Greenwood, God. bless the USA concert or something, like, give me a break. Are you kidding? You're gonna tune in for bad money. What's happening in our country right now? What happened to this? E pluribus unum, what happened to the melting pot? And, like, diversity becomes a dirty word.
Starting point is 00:45:04 Like, this is what made our country great. The fact that I'm sitting down with a black Mexican soul singer who's doing out of the box, like electro production rock shit at the same time. And we're talking about Bad Bunny. This is what makes America great. It is. Not again, it makes America great. Yeah, keeps America great.
Starting point is 00:45:31 I mean, I think we forget that that was cutting edge. You know, this is a cutting edge idea. Someone sent me a tape of Ronald Reagan talking about how everywhere you go in the world, you're not, you can move to Germany, you're never going to be German. You can move to Japan and live there. You're never going to be Japanese. You move to America.
Starting point is 00:45:53 Right. You can become American no matter where you come from. Like this is a great human experiment. It's not working. Yeah, it's definitely not working the way that it was. We want to. Yeah. But, you know, and Bad Bunny, hello, he's America.
Starting point is 00:46:08 He's from Puerto Rico. That's America. I say that. That's right. He's one of the top, I mean, I don't get to start. Global artists. Global artist. One of the top global artists, man.
Starting point is 00:46:20 And good. I mean, the music. There's some global artists that would be like, yeah. He's feeling a little manufactured here. Yeah. Look, I think money is not culture. And I think the country has been about money. and I'm not a, I'm definitely not a historian.
Starting point is 00:46:44 I'm not a, I'm not a sociologist. I'm not a, any of those things. I'm not a politico. I don't know all the shit. So listen, I'm, what I have to say is coming from, like you said, black and Mexican, I made a grunge R&B album called Giles. That's, I'm telling you how I feel. I think the culture here is money.
Starting point is 00:47:06 Money is not culture. It's not a safe culture. And the more we pretend that anything is going to move for anything other than money, the more we do ourselves a disservice. So my personal opinion is that understanding that the machine is fueled and the culture here is about money, all change should be and will be affected by money. The more you understand how to affect money and how it flows where it goes, the more leverage you have.
Starting point is 00:47:39 And I think that's pretty much where the rest comes down to, again, coming to the table, organizing, deciding how you want to direct and redirect or not direct your money. The more clear we become about that and organize a way to really push what we want in that direction and spend money in those directions. soul boom were about a spiritual revolution. Word, word. So a transformation, both personally and
Starting point is 00:48:14 societally based on universal principles. And yeah. Well, if you ask me a question about this country, I don't think that's a spiritual question at all. But if you're talking about transformation, again, I'm not a spiritual guru, but what I do know is that over the past eight years, what I've done in terms of getting myself together has changed and transformed my life more than any successful song or album that I put out in the past. I know that my relationship is,
Starting point is 00:48:49 my relationships across the board, but with my mother, with my father, with my friends, all of my relationships are so much more impactful and fruitful and supportive and clear than they've ever been. So I don't, I don't, I think I have a very small role in, in, in what requires a lot of effort, a lot of spiritual effort. And I think that has to do with individual. Individuals getting in line and getting us getting, as within and so without, as above so below kind of vibe, you know.
Starting point is 00:49:32 your previous guests too, I think, have all spoken to getting their shit together and their turmoil. You know, and going through these challenging times where they're clarified who they are and having to do it against odds. I mean, I know if I didn't realize that like you had been through, you know, your bout with addiction in certain instances in life. And we could have never imagined that. I would have never known that looking at you. And so you look at that and you go, look at everybody out here. Everybody's dealing with something, something that no one else knows about. I didn't even know that I was dealing with all of this resentment, you know?
Starting point is 00:50:14 And it was mine. And so I say all about to say that, I think it's more about really clarifying in the chaos who we are and what we want and how we want to feel and figuring out what's, what's blocking that and doing the work. It's just hard work. It's hard work. But I think to tie this all together, you know,
Starting point is 00:50:40 I think you do the work, whether it's mental health, addiction, you know, therapy, finding your balance in this incredibly chaotic world so that you can affect positive change in the world and reduce the suffering of others. That's. So you do that work,
Starting point is 00:50:56 not as a be all and an end all, but then you get to carry, that forward. And you can help, it can be in a small way. It can be with siblings in your family. It can be in your, you know, in your, in your, in your cul-de-sac or at your church or whatever. But that's, you, you can, you can spread that. And as an artist, you have a charge to spread that. To valid. In your, in your music. In your work. We do the clarifying with them, right? and you strengthen and you stabilize everything that helps you hold the weight up. And the stronger we become, the more weight we can carry.
Starting point is 00:51:39 And I think it is that, you know, it's a little bit of inch by inch kind of thing, right? It's the more clear I've become my vision and what I will wake up and show up for is about supporting others, right? And you hope that that ends up kind of continuing on. Yeah, that sort of spreads virally. And you get to bring that to Angel? That intention, man. Yeah. Angelito, yeah.
Starting point is 00:52:06 That's what we're hoping to do for sure. Yeah. You hear the word soul. I mean a lot of different things. What does it mean to you? Soul to me is the absolute knowing and connected voice and motive that we're born with, the thing that knows exactly where it's going and what it needs and what it wants.
Starting point is 00:52:40 And as all of the principle and all of the humanity, all of the, all of the goodness, to me, I think the soul carries all of the knowing and the connectivity that we deserve and we yearn for and the experience and all of this experience. and it's what it's what carries us through in the moments where we don't have the answer it's the something that's like underlying the driving thing um that's to me what the soul is all right all right i like that i like that coming from a soul singer how do you think the word soul intersects with soul music deep emotion and deep emotional connection i think soul music is meant to again really convey feeling.
Starting point is 00:53:31 And that's, again, my understanding of art and my appreciation for art has so much to do with the emotional, the emotionality of it. It's the thing that's like, it may not be a word.
Starting point is 00:53:43 It's the feeling that came through the note. Note may not even be perfect or right. It could be completely wrong. Yeah. But it's the feeling in it. And it's that connectivity that, I think soul music is why it's been so impactful.
Starting point is 00:54:03 Yeah. It's emotionality. Give me your testimony on D'Angelo. We will forever celebrate funk and soul and innovation in the spirit of rock and roll in the cathedral of voodoo. and Black Messiah. Because he really built a world that no one else could architect
Starting point is 00:54:43 in the short amount of time that he did. And he did it so uniquely and so profoundly that the loss, I think, is one, we won't be able to understand for a long time. I don't think that we'll just culturally, we just won't have it.
Starting point is 00:55:09 So we're going to celebrate in that cathedral, man. Is there a track or a moment from his work that really speaks to you the deepest? Different ones for different things. I think Africa, I go back to every Sunday. His cover of Africa, I can go back to that. And just it's a, it's transformative. the sound of it is ethereal
Starting point is 00:55:37 and ancestral you know and beautiful and there's so much hope in that song I think I'll always go back to the charade
Starting point is 00:55:53 for the homage and for the message I think that drove his soul I think freedom there's a lot of freedom in the DNA of his work. Also his connection to God, I think you can find in that.
Starting point is 00:56:11 And there's a, I could be wrong, but I think that his awareness of the human experience is in the charade and the struggle to remain human in a world that's becoming less and less humane.
Starting point is 00:56:27 And to remember that we are really souls having a human experience, you know? I think that's where I go to go to him for. So D is going to be the world. I keep saying this, but the world will never sound the same. Happy holiday, Soul Boom, fam. I am feeling so festive this year,
Starting point is 00:56:47 mainly because I'm wearing our brand new Soul Boom holiday sweater right now. And it is absurdly cozy. It's got the perfect mix of cheer weirdness and spiritual energy. And if you are hunting for gifts that don't feel generic, Our merch store makes it so easy. We've got thoughtful, beautifully designed shirts. We've got hoodies. We've got mugs.
Starting point is 00:57:07 We've got sippy cups. And yes, this gloriously ugly holiday sweater all made to spark conversation and remind people what Soul Boom is all about, meaning, connection, and looking good. So if you want to give someone a gift that actually says something thoughtful and doesn't look so last minute,
Starting point is 00:57:23 go to Soulboom.com slash store. That's soulboom.com slash store. Grab a hoodie, a mug, or this delicious holiday sweater. before I buy all of them. Happy holidays. You've done all this work of the last eight years.
Starting point is 00:57:36 You've come out with a new album about this struggle. Got some balance in your life now. You're a dad. What does a spiritual revolution look like to you right now? We're so divided in this country. Mental health epidemic is so insidious
Starting point is 00:57:52 and pervasive with young people. There is what they call now a hope deficit. Like young people at a level of like 40% do not believe that positive change is possible in human society. What does a spiritual revolution look like to you doing, you know, a grunge R&B album coming back out as a musician as an artist? Because can't artists lead this charge? You know, think about the 60s and early 70s in the countercultural revolution. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:58:28 you know, and the civil rights movement and the Vietnam War and how the arts were just center. And they don't seem to be that involved in like some very deep social transformation right now. What do you think? Well, what does a spiritual revolution look like? There's a lot of instances most that you've mentioned that had, like you said, the arts were reflective of the time in a way that gave voice. to the change that was that needed to be made. Exactly. But it wasn't without a lot of organizing that those songs, that those artists, that the events
Starting point is 00:59:13 that were put together, it wasn't without a lot of organization that those things would have just been shouts in the madness. Yeah. Sometimes we look at the photos of revolutionary times and we think it's all about the front line and people are raging and, you know, Molotov's thrown and people are at, you know, we shall overcome and the, yeah, they forget that it took a lot of organization. It took a lot of communication, took a lot of phone calls and a lot of, and at the time, it was without the internet. It was so much harder, you know, getting people to show up at the same time and do the thing.
Starting point is 00:59:55 I'm just reading this new biography of Martin Luther King and like mimeograph, like sneaking into the school and into the church basement to print off the mimeograph just to get the note out. Putting them on people's doorsteps of like, here's when the bus boycott's going to be. You feel what I'm saying? Yeah.
Starting point is 01:00:11 So this is so much bigger than just artists leading the charge or giving voice to the people, so to speak. However, it's important to, I do subscribe to Nina Simone's, you know, her point of view here in that, you know, an artist should be reflective, their work should be reflective of the times that they live in. I don't know if that's my age or my being a parent or being, you know, feeling like I'm an adult now and it's my responsibility to do something about what I don't like here. But I do know that if there is to be a spiritual revolution of any kind, that it's going to require the coordination of a lot of people who are with the same intention. There has to be a
Starting point is 01:01:10 systematization somewhere in there. It can't just all be feeling. It can't be. There's just know in a world now where it's even hard to decipher or distinguish the truth. Just the truth. Like, is that the truth? Is that a fact now? I have to check like four different sources now to figure out whether or not someone got bombed or not. Or if they're still, it's like, it's it's a lot going on. So even more so now there has to be real organization. It has to be so coordinated and it's not in it's not impossible it just means that it can't be a
Starting point is 01:01:50 shout in the void and just an emotional expression it has to be with real holistic consideration and I think if it's going to be done here there's a tremendous
Starting point is 01:02:06 amount of money involved so I don't know I don't know if this place this is my own perspective man, I don't know if this country in and of itself is the place primed for a spiritual revolution. And why does it have to be? It may need to happen someplace else. It may.
Starting point is 01:02:27 Import it? You know what I'm saying? Again, my thing is I look at this thing and the last thing this country cares about is spirituality. They use spirituality and wield it when it's for their cause. but in a lot of the ways that it is actioned in policy, in spending, oh yeah. Don't reflect a spiritual consideration. Not at all, not at all.
Starting point is 01:02:56 So I say all that to say, you know, I don't know, I definitely don't have an answer on what it would take for a spiritual revolution. But what I will say is that music and art are spiritual practice. there is spirituality in the work. And I'm so happy to be able to have a small effect on bringing people together. We see it at shows. I think that's why we love going to festivals
Starting point is 01:03:26 and feeling music and going to see great art and going to a great film or watching a great show. It brings people together. I do think that there is validity in saying that art can have a big impact on bringing people together in the way that we should be at this point. Putting out into practice on this album
Starting point is 01:03:46 is one of the most, I'm the most proud of doing that on this album. But I'm also extremely aware now of how much more it needs to be done. So, you know, I hope that there's more of these younger emerging artists that are really aware of their impact and how powerful it is.
Starting point is 01:04:11 to use their art to bring people together and to the table, to have hard conversations. Because it's the world that they will inherit at some point in time. And that they have an ally, you know, that I'm here with you. And we want to find the solutions and we want to help do the growing
Starting point is 01:04:32 that needs to happen. So, yeah. I mean, what do you think, though? Just even off, like, what is, what is spiritual revolution even look like at this point. It hurts my heart to the core to see how Jesus has been co-opted. I read the Bible a lot.
Starting point is 01:04:51 As a Baha'i, I study the Bible. A lot of Baha'is don't, but I do. And man, the heart of Jesus, like there has never been a greater walking this earth. It's staggering, the depth, the level of love and wisdom. and that he brought to planet Earth is like nothing before or since. It's astonishing. Those stories are,
Starting point is 01:05:19 and those parables are so beautiful. And people in his name spewing hate and calling other people like names. I just saw this video about some top, like Christian political influencers who would say that they're born again Christian, calling people little bitches, like online. Like how can you possibly... Pretend. Yeah, how can you justify that?
Starting point is 01:05:50 So I don't know where the answer is there, but that's poison the other side against Jesus and against the truth and beauty of the Bible. So I too, by the way, like I still, still am, like I still read the Bible and still find all of, His, all of Jesus, his story, the story of Jesus, all of the instances of his learning, his growth, his teaching. Yeah.
Starting point is 01:06:19 The ways that he taught extremely impactful in my life. And I'm like, and I'm like wanting to make sure that I teach my son as well. The things that I learned, they, I agree. I agree. Yeah. One of, it's, it's a trip that, again, we're seeing. It leveraged in ways when it, when it's to the benefit, but then in action, people, people are not acting like they are Christ. You know, not, I don't want to say Christ-like, but you know what I'm saying?
Starting point is 01:06:50 Yeah, they're not acting in Jesus's name or example. As they profess to believe. Yeah. Which is. And there's a big problem with that, theologically, which is like, you don't need to act like Jesus because he's the son of God. We can never act like Jesus. He's God walking on earth. So why even try?
Starting point is 01:07:12 If you have faith in Jesus, that's enough. So there's a whole debate around that. But isn't there a script that's like faith without works is dead? Yeah, of course. Very good. Absolutely. Is it true? Again, I'm not a big theological debate there.
Starting point is 01:07:24 But like, yeah, faith without that. It's a good idea to add some good works there. But we can never possibly be like Jesus. So why even emulate him? It's interesting. And there's just a giant disconnect. Yeah. Jesus talks about how he teaches and,
Starting point is 01:07:39 parables in metaphors, you know, he starts the gospels talking about, hey, I'm going to be teaching in parables. Right. So if you're really wise, you're going to be able to get the levels of what I'm talking about here. But if you're not as wise, you're going to only see it at a surface level. Right. And then he throws in Gehenna, which gets translated to hell. Hell is an old Germanic word for like the, you know, it's a very like Viking kind of evil place, but the word hell. is not in the ancient Greek or Aramaic. And he talks about Ghana, which is where they used to burn the garbage.
Starting point is 01:08:16 Right. And it also has other. Is there also a word like Shihil? Shio, yeah. Sheo, yeah. It's kind of like that. Yeah, it's very similar. Yeah.
Starting point is 01:08:24 And Shio is an old testament for the place you go when you die. That's all. And this got translated into like, into hell, disbelievers, unbelievers, people who masturbate, are going to this place. where for all eternity they're going to burn in hell.
Starting point is 01:08:42 I'm going to hell. Shit. There's our clip. Right. He's like, Miguel masturbates. That's it. That's the whole.
Starting point is 01:08:51 Myelabail, click bait. But the... They're laughing. They're like, that's it. That's our fucking, that's our... That's it. Slane. There's your headline right there.
Starting point is 01:09:04 Complex. Yeah. There we go. But, you know, it's so obviously a parable about suffering and disconnection from the divine is like being in Ghana where the garbage is burned. And then hell is used for centuries
Starting point is 01:09:20 to kind of leverage fear. And it's like it's going against exactly against the spirit of Jesus's teachings. It makes zero sense whatsoever to be talking about a loving God and then a place where billions of people for eternity are going to be tortured? What kind of asshole does that? I certainly don't want to believe in that God.
Starting point is 01:09:44 Doesn't seem indicative of a kind, loving. That's just an example. I don't know. I think it's finding points of commonality together. Like I do a lot of work in environment stuff, you know. And for the left, the environment is, you know, we need, you know, global warming is going to kill diversity of species and it's going to hurt that the, the,
Starting point is 01:10:08 planet for for on hell angel and our and our offspring and we need to pass legislation to fix that from the political right it might be like stewardship of the land or being conservative it's like conservation right like let's conserve it but let's be stewards of the lord of the lord's beautiful creation right it's not extracting resources out of it but stewarding it and conserving it There's ways to kind of find language. But you can't use the word climate. It's really triggering to people on the right. You say the word climate.
Starting point is 01:10:44 It's like it's like DEI. Yeah. They'll blow a gasket. So how do you find commonality? We've got to we've got to find commonality here around issues that we can all get behind. Without the rhetoric, huh? Yeah. Get past it.
Starting point is 01:11:04 So you need a country music, R&B music festival. It's coming. Rain Wilson and Miguel shooting squirrels. They never knew that it was like something they should tune into. That's the next, that's the actual podcast. We just go shoot squirrels. Squirrel shooting. Yeah.
Starting point is 01:11:21 To you by Soul Boom. They're all shooting. It's going to be called Shooting the Shit with Rain Wilson and Miguel. Yeah. Thanks brother. Thank you so much. Thanks, brother. The Soul Boom podcast.
Starting point is 01:11:33 Subscribe now. on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever else you get your stupid podcasts.

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