The Breakfast Club - MK Asante Interview

Episode Date: May 27, 2015

MK Asante stops through to discuss his book "Buck", civil unrest in Baltimore and much more. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for pr...ivacy information.

Transcript
Discussion (0)
Starting point is 00:00:00 Had enough of this country? Ever dreamt about starting your own? I planted the flag. This is mine. I own this. It's surprisingly easy. 55 gallons of water, 500 pounds of concrete. Or maybe not. No country willingly gives up their territory. Oh my God.
Starting point is 00:00:16 What is that? Bullets. Listen to Escape from Zakistan. We need help! That's Escape from Z-A-Q-istan on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey guys, I'm Kate Max. You might know me from my popular online series, The Running Interview Show, where I run with celebrities, athletes, entrepreneurs, and more. After those runs, the conversations keep going. That's what my podcast
Starting point is 00:00:46 Post Run High is all about. It's a chance to sit down with my guests and dive even deeper into their stories, their journeys, and the thoughts that arise once we've hit the pavement together. Listen to Post Run High on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. As a kid, I really do remember having these dreams and visions, but you just don't know what is going to come for you. Alicia shares her wisdom on growth, gratitude, and the power of love. I forgive myself. It's okay.
Starting point is 00:01:21 Have grace with yourself. You're trying your best. And you're going to figure out the rhythm of this thing. Alicia Keys, like you've never heard her before. Listen to On Purpose with Jay Shetty on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. It's Teresa, your resident ghost host. And do I have a treat for you. Haunting is crawling out from the shadows, and it's going to be devilishly good. We've got chills, thrills, and stories that'll make you wish the lights stayed on. So join me, won't you?
Starting point is 00:01:58 Let's dive into the eerie unknown together. Sleep tight, if you can. Listen to Haunting on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hi, I'm Marie. And I'm Sydney. And we're Mess. Well,
Starting point is 00:02:16 not a mess, but on our podcast called Mess, we celebrate all things messy. But the gag is, not everything is a mess. Sometimes it's just living. Yeah, things like J-Lo on her third divorce. Living. Girl's trip to Miami.
Starting point is 00:02:31 Mess. Breaking up with your girlfriend while on Instagram Live. Living. It's kind of a mess. Yeah. Well, you get it. Got it? Live, love, mess.
Starting point is 00:02:47 Listen to Mess with Sydney Washington and Marie Faustin on iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Real people, real celebrities, real talk. Join the Breakfast Club. Blast off in your head. Weekday mornings, 6 to 10. Morning, everybody. It's DJ Envy, Angela Yee, Charlamagne Tha Guy. We are the Breakfast Club. Got a special guest, an author in the building with us this morning. That's right, my man MK Asante. MK Asante.
Starting point is 00:03:11 Now, I read this guy's book about two, three weeks ago. And it's funny because I had the book sitting up here for the longest. For a long time, right? It's called Buck. But I don't know what made me decide to read it a couple weeks ago. And I really enjoyed it. So I'm like, yo, we got to have this guy up here talk about his book, Buck. Well, explain to us what Buck is. I didn't get a chance to read it. I don't really have much time to read.
Starting point is 00:03:29 You know, I got four kids. As you can tell by the way he writes. He talks. He doesn't read. He's talking about me over there. Now tell us about Buck. Alright, well, first of all, it's really an honor to be here. I watch you guys all the time. So, you know what I'm saying? Much love. D-Riding, bro.
Starting point is 00:03:44 You know that's what the kids say. Yo, you I'm saying? Much love. D-Riding, bro. You know what I'm saying? You know what the kids say. Yo, you give him props, you D-Riding. You saw Charlemagne D-Riding his book. Now he D-Riding Charlemagne. Well, yo, you read the book
Starting point is 00:03:54 and you were thirsty. So, you know what I mean? I'm thirsty. I'm thirsty. Yeah, exactly. You know, when you show interest, that means thirsty these days. But, you know,
Starting point is 00:04:00 I'm just happy to be here. But, you know, Buck is about the graceful survival against impossible circumstances. Tell us, like what? I'm from Philly. You know what I mean? Young Buck, here. But, you know, Buck is about the graceful survival against impossible circumstances. Tell us, like what? I'm from Philly. You know what I mean? Young Buck, Buck Wild, Buck Shots, Buck Town, Slave Buck, Black Buck, Make Buck, Buck Now.
Starting point is 00:04:13 Buck encompasses all of those things. I chose the title because it really, my life, it's a coming of age memoir. It's my story. It's my journey growing up through Philly, navigating my education, my very informal education, miseducation, reeducation, self-education, street education, the difference in the distance between school and education. That was all me.
Starting point is 00:04:31 And so it's about that journey. It's about my family. It's about my community. It's about how I became, you know, I was someone who got kicked out of every school I went to. Why? He was a bad seed. He was a thug.
Starting point is 00:04:42 And then ended up being the youngest tenured professor in the country. You know what I mean? How old are you? I'm 32 now. You look 19. But when I became a professor, I was 23. And I got tenured when I was 26. You know what I mean?
Starting point is 00:04:55 So I've been at academia for a while. So it's about my journey. Tell us about this journey a little bit. So you're from Philadelphia. As Charlamagne would say, you got kicked out of every school, so you were a young thug. You know what I mean? A little dope. Shout out to all the kids that, you know, are being overlooked right now.
Starting point is 00:05:12 Shout out to all the kids that are labeled bad because they're really- Well, you weren't bad if you were selling dope. No, I wasn't selling dope. Okay. But there is some drug selling that goes on in the book and in my life. What did you do so bad as a child? In my life, you know, I think I was rebellious. I was rebelling against everything.
Starting point is 00:05:30 You know what I mean? I think, first of all, the school system, right? It's redundant. It's boring. You know, rote memorization, regurgitation. I wasn't actually learning anything in school. Plus, my family situation was kind of crazy. My brother, he was locked up.
Starting point is 00:05:43 My mom, I write about mental health issues. My mom was institutionalized. She had severe depression, suicidal. So my mom was in and out of institutions. You know what I'm saying? Your mom and father split? Yeah, exactly. You know what I mean?
Starting point is 00:05:55 So all of these things kind of created a perfect storm. Plus, we had the corner boys on my block. You know what I'm saying? They were always out there, and they introduced me to everything. You know what I mean? So by the time I was 14, it was on. You know what I'm saying? They were always out there, and they introduced me to everything. You know what I mean? So by the time I was 14, it was on. You know what I mean? Like, everything you could imagine, everything you don't want your child to,
Starting point is 00:06:09 your four kids, everything you don't want them to do, I was doing. You know what I'm saying? Now, your brother is locked up. It's two questions I wanted to ask you about. Yeah. Is your brother out now? Yeah, my brother is definitely out. What's up, Uzi?
Starting point is 00:06:23 Ooh-wop, big Uzi. That's my hero. First of all, he has to change his name from Uzi. Ooh, wow. Big Uzi. That's my hero. First of all, he has to change his name from Uzi. Ooh, wow. Uzi. Is that it? How many years did he do? I mean, he was in and out, in and out.
Starting point is 00:06:34 You know what I'm saying? But when he was in Arizona, which is for most of the book, the book takes place between the ages of 13 to 18. Gotcha. And so he was locked up for most of that time when I was coming out. He shot somebody. No, no. In the book, that's what he was like locked up for most of that time when I was coming up. He shot somebody. No, no. In the book, that's what he was in jail for in Arizona.
Starting point is 00:06:48 No, no. Remember? Did you read the book? Yeah. I thought he shot somebody. No, he didn't shoot anybody. You know what I'm saying? He beat him up or something.
Starting point is 00:06:55 No, he didn't beat anybody up, but he did beat other people up. He just didn't get locked up for that. Hold on, time out. Slow down. What was he locked up for in Arizona? In Arizona, it was a situation with a young girl, and he was young himself. Oh, he was great. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Starting point is 00:07:07 It was statutory. Got you, got you. You know what I'm saying? But he was young himself. He was 17. The girl was like 14. He didn't know. She was white.
Starting point is 00:07:14 He's black, obviously. And she was a runaway. Her parents found out, and it was just, you know. Right, got you. He got put in the system. So what got you straight? You know, from being on the corner with the D-Boys and being so rebellious, what got you to fix up?
Starting point is 00:07:27 I mean, there was a couple factors, man. First of all, I saw where that life takes you, you know what I mean? Whether it was my brother, whether it was one of my best friends, Amir, who got murdered while I was there. You know, a lot of things kind of shaped me. But also the blank page, man. That's what this book really is about. It's about finding your purpose.
Starting point is 00:07:43 That blank page saved me. America enraged me. The metric paved me. New slaves, old slavery. Grandma told me streets far from holy. Now I'm lonely. My homie's bodies is holy. So basically, the blank page saved me.
Starting point is 00:07:57 That blank piece of paper in front of me. The first time I got a creative writing assignment. The first time I was able to express myself. Things started flowing and I gripped the pen and something shot down my spine and sat me straight up. You know, the pen was heavy like it was made of stone. And that first class, man, that first time I was able to express myself, it changed my life because then from writing, I started reading. I wanted to be a good writer, so I had to be a good reader. And when I started reading, I had an epiphany like, oh, now I realize why reading was illegal for slaves back in the day.
Starting point is 00:08:26 Because I realized that we think in words. We sub-vocalize. So the more words we know, the more things we can think about. And so for me, reading became connected to my liberation. And it helps you transcend your circumstances, too. Because they always say, anything you want to hire from a black person, put it in a book. You know what I'm saying? The information is there.
Starting point is 00:08:43 We just got to give ourselves access to it. Now, you said something earlier about the curriculum of most schools, you know, and you said it's boring and kids don't get it. And I agree with that. And I'm a big, definitely with my kids, where I want to show them life. Like, I like to take them out. I like to teach them what a mortgage is and how to invest money because I think with that they learn more and it's more interesting. Real education.
Starting point is 00:09:06 And I hated school. I didn't get it. I didn't understand it. I wasn't into it. So, you know, during school I always dreamed of what I wanted to do, whether it was music, whether it was play ball or whatever it was. Now, you also said you were a professor. Yes.
Starting point is 00:09:20 Now explain to us how you teach. What makes you different than all of the things you said you disliked? Okay, that's what's up. Well, I'm a professor at Morgan State University, which is in Baltimore, Maryland. Let me tell you one thing about Morgan State. I'm going to tell you why I didn't go. Okay. When I went to Morgan State to check it out, to go on a tour, they were playing dice.
Starting point is 00:09:38 It was too black for that beige, boy. No, no, they were playing dice on the actual dorm steps. And my dad was like, you're not going to go here. This is just like Queens. And I wound up going to Hampton. It was between Morgan just like Queens. And I wound up going to Hampton. It was between Morgan and Hampton and I wound up going to Hampton. Yeah, he went with Pusha T was selling bricks of coke
Starting point is 00:09:50 as opposed to guys playing dice on campus. Pusha T selling weight out to school. But you went with, you didn't want to go beer on the dice, you wanted to be around
Starting point is 00:09:58 the cocaine. Sorry, Pusha, your statute of limitations is up. Well, you know, Morgan is right in the heart of Baltimore. You know what I mean? That's one of the reasons why I love it
Starting point is 00:10:07 and one of the reasons why I teach there, you know what I mean, because it's right in the community, you know? But as a professor, man, you know, I bring that experiential learning that you were talking about. You know, we bring real things into class. So I teach creative writing.
Starting point is 00:10:18 I teach film. And my whole thing is, you know, I found my voice. I found my purpose. And I'm going to write. This is my fourth book, actually. You know what I mean? Really? Yeah, this is my fourth. So, you know, it's the voice. I found my purpose. And I'm going to write. This is my fourth book, actually. You know what I mean? Really?
Starting point is 00:10:25 Yeah, this is my fourth. So, you know, it's the only one that's on the bestseller list. You know what I mean? So this is kind of my most recognized book. Gotcha. But, you know, I've been writing for a while. So my whole thing is helping other people find their voice. You know what I mean?
Starting point is 00:10:37 So I work with students all the time to help them cultivate their own voices so that they can express themselves, you know, in the way that it did for me. Because this stuff saved my life, man. Reading, writing. We need more of that. Yeah. You know what I mean? And what we did, what was so crazy about this project is I didn't want to stop at just the book.
Starting point is 00:10:54 You know, I got the Sundance Film Fellowship to write the movie. So I'm working on the movie. But then what we did was we decided to do something completely different, which was to create a soundtrack for the book. So we created an original soundtrack with original music. That's why was to create a soundtrack for the book. So we created an original soundtrack with original music. That's why he keep busting out in the rhymes. Yeah, yeah.
Starting point is 00:11:13 But how do we get more of us to be professors? Because nowadays, being a professor, being a teacher is not cool. You know what I mean? It's a rapper. It's a DJ. It's a basketball player. I don't really see young African American professors. And if I do,
Starting point is 00:11:26 they're usually teaching gym. Yeah. Gym, yeah. You know what I'm saying? I mean, that's... It's true. No, it's not. You're right. I mean, you're right.
Starting point is 00:11:31 I don't really see that many. You're right. I went to a couple of high schools to speak and a lot of the African American teachers were doing gym or what do they call it?
Starting point is 00:11:40 Physical education. Yeah. A lot of the Spanish teachers, I'm serious, a lot of Spanish teachers were doing guess what? Well, I mean, rappers and DJs have a dope market? It's the truth.
Starting point is 00:11:49 It's the truth. I went to school, and Miss whatever, what do you speak? What do you teach? Spanish. Miss Rodriguez. Miss Garcia. But you know, the thing is, I think rappers and DJs have dope marketing plans. And I think in a lot of ways, for academia, for professors, I am part of the new marketing plan.
Starting point is 00:12:08 I am the new model. I think that a lot of times, and that's why I travel. I've been over 40 countries. I travel all around this country. And I want young people to see me. That's why I wrote a memoir, not a novel, not something made up. A memoir. I want them to see me.
Starting point is 00:12:22 Well, I got a soundtrack to it. You know what I'm saying? Oh, yeah. The only professor passing out the mixtape was the last day of class. That's actually one of my classes. I teach a hip-hop class where we look at the social-political issues that affect hip-hop, that hip-hop was birthed from. We look at the evolution of it. We look at the culture of it. We really study it
Starting point is 00:12:37 analytically. But you know, one of the things I try to do, man, is to let them see me so they can see what a professor could look like. You know what I mean? It doesn't have to be some, you know, some archaic thing that they have in their mind. It could be something new. It could be something fresh. Your professor could be a rapper. You know what I mean? Your professor could be a rapper and could be a writer and could be a filmmaker. And, you know, we I think we live in a world now where we're out we're out of these boxes, man. Like you have to be multi-dimensional
Starting point is 00:13:05 in in this in this currency in this environment and so i think part of it how do we get more you guys having me on you know what i'm saying that's part that's part of it you know what i'm saying because they see like wow like there's so many people young people that i've come in contact with who i've changed their whole model their whole blueprint because they're like oh wow you could do that and you could do i didn't even know I could do that and have access to these things and have the resources and take care of my family and be able to do all these. So it's really like showing them. That's the thing.
Starting point is 00:13:33 I think our whole generation is about visuals, right? Instagram. So we have to show, right? When you show, it resonates. And I think right now people will probably say, well, he don't look like a professor. Well, the question you should be asking is, what does a professor look like? Exactly. But you know what?
Starting point is 00:13:48 But that's what most people think. Now, I was thinking to myself when he said he was a professor, I was like, damn, does he wear that t-shirt and hat in class? Why not? Yeah. I think it would be dope. Definitely. This is exactly how I dress in class.
Starting point is 00:13:58 You could ask all my students. I come in fitted, snapbacks, Timbs, whatever, because that's who I am. You know what I'm saying? And just, you know, when you become whatever profession you are, it doesn't mean you take away who you are and your core essence because at the end of the day, that rebellious 13, 14, 15, 16-year-old, that's still me. Right.
Starting point is 00:14:16 You know what I mean? And so what I've done in a lot of ways is, and that's what Buck really is about, that whole notion of Buck now, I've become a lot smarter. I used to be, I think, a rebel without a cause, and now I'm a rebel with a purpose and a cause. You know what I mean? So the rebellion is still there.
Starting point is 00:14:32 I was in Baltimore. I was out there with him. You know what I'm saying? That's part of my spirit. So what did you see out there? You live in Baltimore now, right? Yeah, I live in Baltimore, and I live in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. What did you see out there as you were down there for the Baltimore riots?
Starting point is 00:14:42 You blew up some cars. The reason I say that is, you know, me and Charlemagne, Charlemagne believes, he doesn't agree, but he said he understands what a lot of the people are doing out there. Yeah, I believe in cause and effect. I believe you can't keep pushing somebody and expect somebody not to push back. I may not agree with the riots, but I understand why they're happening. And I feel like a lot of times when we get those riots, we hurt ourselves in the lower. We hurt our own community. We hurt the stores and the places that we shop at that we own or purchase or have to do with.
Starting point is 00:15:14 And I think we kind of hurt ourselves at the end of the day. At the end of the day, I hate to see us get arrested and get felonies on our record. And then when we try to get a job, we can't because of a mistake or something that we did, foolishness or that we shouldn't have done. But the problem is they can't get jobs right now anyway, regardless of that. See, what we saw in Baltimore was like we saw the crazy what happens when you underfund the school system. Right. When you invest in the prison industrial complex. Right. When your schools are criminal, when you don't invest in neighborhoods, we saw all these things coming out. And so we got destitute poverty in Baltimore, right? We got underdevelopment. We got, like I said, an educational system that takes money, hundreds of millions of dollars out of the school system every year. And they put that money into
Starting point is 00:15:58 prison industrial complex, right? And so we see now the illustration of what happens when you do that to a community, when a community is constantly beat and beat and beat and oppressed and oppressed and oppressed. We see what happens. And so I'm actually surprised that it doesn't happen more often. You know, but every city in America has the potential to do that. You're right. We tore up our communities. But it's not our communities. Let's be for real. We don't really. We don't own. We shop. It's where we do. We drive to the next town over. You know what? We're not going to be welcome's really not ours. We don't own none of that stuff. But it's where we shop. It's where we do business. We drive to the next town over.
Starting point is 00:16:26 You know what? We're not going to be welcomed to the next town over. And a lot of people can't drive to the next town over. We're not welcome there now. But it seems like the things that they care about was they cared about them Baltimore Orioles and that game. They made sure that stadium was safe. Oh, yeah.
Starting point is 00:16:37 And you really got a chance to see the classism in Baltimore and in America with the, I don't even call them riots. I call them rebellions. And I feel like these rebellions. I call them non-peaceful protests. I feel like these rebellions have been happening since 1619, since black folks basically got here in America. If you look at the history, it's cyclical. Every 10, 15 years, you see these huge, what they call riots,
Starting point is 00:16:57 what I call rebellions in the urban cities in America, and they always are related to race. And this is historically, you can go back to the 18th century, 19th century, you see these same things happening, whether it's Miami or Philly or Cleveland or Detroit or L.A. or Watts or Baltimore. It's always the same thing. Newark, right? And so for me, it's a continuation of that.
Starting point is 00:17:19 You know what I mean? And you saw the classism because if you went to the harbor, you saw a whole different story. That's when you saw the big guns. You know what I'm saying? The tanks and all of that. And, you know, whole foods, nah. None of that happened in the whole foods.
Starting point is 00:17:35 They were protecting all that. They were protecting all of that. You know what I mean? And so, you know, they value, we realize in this society that property is more valued than people. In a black person's life. In a person's life. Because they're talking about violence in Baltimore with the protesters, but actually the only violence really that we saw was violence against Freddie Gray. And that's my thing.
Starting point is 00:17:53 He broke his neck. The media can make it seem like it's so bad to riot. How about make it seem like it's so bad for police to kill? To kill. And on black men. Or just kill people, period. All the time. And we just saw
Starting point is 00:18:05 in wisconsin he just you know no charges right right robinson yeah tony tony robinson yeah yeah now uh just a quick little segue um the girl needed in the book yeah are you still smashing that you just kind of let that go in the book like you was in love with her i just want to know i'm like so what happened did Did they get married? Yeah, you know, I mean, I got to say, you know, like any brother out there that's doing this thing, shout out to the queen that's holding him down or, you know, because that's so important for me. When I was young, this book is A Coming of Age.
Starting point is 00:18:37 So this is between the ages of 13 and 18. When I was young, there was a girl named Nia and she really held me down. She actually helped deter me away from some of the negativity. She asked questions. She questioned me, you know what I mean, in ways that I hadn't really been questioned. You know, what are you doing? She really showed me a different side,
Starting point is 00:18:54 and I always appreciate that about her. We're not together, you know what I'm saying? That was a long time ago. So you got your life together and didn't go back to get her? I found somebody else, you know what I mean? Later on in life, she found somebody else, too. She's good. We together and didn't go back to get her? I found somebody else. Later on in life, she found somebody else too. She's good. We're both good. That's still my friend. She's a psychologist
Starting point is 00:19:11 and she's for the Navy and she's doing her thing. How's your mom doing? Because in the book you talk about your mom's mental health issues. Yeah, what I do in the book is I intersperse my mom's journal. I used to read my mom's diary back in the day. We didn't talk a lot. Is she still alive? Yeah, my mom's still alive. And so I used to read her journal. And in the book, I actually put her actual journal entries in the book. So your mom clear this?
Starting point is 00:19:32 Yeah, yeah, yeah. In fact, my mom, it was her idea because she struggled so bad with severe mental health issues. She felt like the black community, we don't talk about depression and stuff enough. You know what I mean? So she said, because said because she talks about depression suicide all this stuff in her journal entries and she said you know when i was writing my book she was like you should use it because even though it's personal and i don't want like i don't want the world to know all my problems he said it might be helpful in starting a dialogue and creating a conversation because a lot of times we just like oh it's all good it's all good but it's really not all good and we self-medicate but we don't really like when i first started understanding about what mental health issues
Starting point is 00:20:07 are, like all the different, I realized that every single person I grew up with has a mental health issue. Absolutely. Everybody on the block. Yes. Needs help. So when you just pull out a gun and start shooting, something is clearly wrong with you.
Starting point is 00:20:20 Something is clear. And we, you know, we might be like, yo, Scoop crazy, man. Yo, Scoop be wilding. But Scoop really crazy. We need to start using the clinical terms. Scoop's really bipolar. Scoop really is psychopathic. Scoop's really a sociopath.
Starting point is 00:20:36 That's what you start doing. Yeah, so my mom is doing a lot better now. I realize that a lot of the things that me and my brother were doing, just, you know, we were wildin' out. It kind of affected her. You know, depression is chemical imbalance, so it's not just what somebody does, but we were exacerbating the problem
Starting point is 00:20:51 by some of the things we were doing, you know what I mean? So my mom's doing a lot better now, you know. Do you think your father left her because of the mental health issues, or did they really just grow apart? Um, man, I think, like, he doesn't really understand mental health. You know, I think some people in our community, we still don't really like just snap out of it you know what I'm saying but we don't
Starting point is 00:21:10 really stop acting crazy yeah yeah stop acting crazy but we don't really understand so I don't think he understands like the gravity of the situation you know what I mean what's your relationship like with him now um you know it's always been turbulent my whole life so right now you know what I mean it's it's pretty much we don't really have, it's not really popping. You've got to be proud of, you know, because I mean, in a lot of ways, when I see you now and read about how he was in the book, you are him. Yeah. To me.
Starting point is 00:21:35 Yeah, well, no, I mean. Very pro-black, very conscious, you know what I'm saying? Well, yeah, and that's a lot to do with my mom, too. Like, my mom, I mean, both my parents, I was born in Zimbabwe. Like, my parents, you know how at the end of the belly, Nas mean both my parents, I was born in Zimbabwe. Like my parents, you know how at the end of Belly, Nas is like, yo,
Starting point is 00:21:47 we should move to Africa. My parents actually did that. My parents are from America. They, way before Belly decided to move to Africa, they changed their names. So I was born in Zimbabwe,
Starting point is 00:21:58 in Harare, Zimbabwe, you know what I mean? During the revolution, you know what I mean? And so then they eventually moved back and then I grew up in Philly.
Starting point is 00:22:05 You know, Philly is like from age three on I was in Philly. But so they both instilled that in me, so I always had that, you know what I mean? But, yeah, you know, I think with me and him, I think the thing about life is you never can really judge a man until he's in the grave. You really don't know how things are going to happen. I didn't know I was going to be here.
Starting point is 00:22:25 I used to see my book right in the back over here. You know what I'm saying? I was like, yeah, I got to go on there one day, man. But you never really know what's going to happen in life. So with that situation, I just try to do it day by day. You know what I mean? And, you know, I think with all of our parents, we try to be better than they were. You know what I mean?
Starting point is 00:22:41 And you see their weaknesses, you see their strengths, and you try to be better. And so that's what I'm trying to do, really. And what is Talib Kweli doing with this soundtrack? Talib Kweli is doing everything, man. This dude, he's a big part of the book, just in the sense of when my transformation started to happen as a writer, as a thinker, as a person, I started, that was around the time
Starting point is 00:22:58 when Blackstar was coming out and Raucous, and, you know, I was hearing lines like, at exactly which point do you start to realize that life without knowledge is death in disguise or lines like these cats drink champagne and toast death and pain like slaves on a ship talking about who got the flyest chain and that like I never heard someone rap like that you know I mean I was always into Pac and and Nas but he he took it to another level for me and so um the first song I ever did as a rap artist, as a hip-hop artist, was called Gods in the Hood. Razzcast reached out to me.
Starting point is 00:23:29 Taleb Kweli was on the track. And that was my first song. And we killed that joint. You know what I'm saying? And so from there, me and Kweli developed a relationship. And when I told him I wanted to do the soundtrack and sent him some of the music I'd been working on, because I'd been working on music.
Starting point is 00:23:43 Because really, to me, I want to use all mediums. You know what I mean? So to me, all of these things are languages. Like writing a book, that's a language. Making a movie, that's a language. A poem is a language. All these different things. Music is probably the most universal language.
Starting point is 00:23:57 So when I told him, I sent him the music. Actually, he's selling the book, this book, on his website, Kwaleeklub.com. He called me one day. He was like, yo, how much is the book? Da-da-da-da-da. We started talking about the book. I'm like, actually, was selling the book, this book on his, on his website, quality club.com. He called me one day. It was like, yo, how much is the book that I always talk about the book. I'm like, actually I got music. I sent him the music and he was like, yo, like I got to get on this. Like what? So his company, Javoti media is actually officially presenting the soundtrack. Um, he's been involved like, I mean, every day, just, you know, building strategic. We were just in Baltimore.
Starting point is 00:24:23 We went to a whole bunch of places in baltimore he was in the community reflection eternal barbershop you know what i mean so he's just been a big part of like helping me like shepherding me into hip-hop um to the musical side of it i wrote a book called it's bigger than hip-hop which is um you know used in hundreds of colleges and universities about about hip-hop and you know kind of like examining the social political aspects of it. But, yeah, he's just been like, he's been a big brother, really, in this whole situation. Well, we appreciate you joining us, man.
Starting point is 00:24:51 Yo, I appreciate y'all, man. This is amazing, man. Is it hard not to smash any of the chicks that you're teaching? Never mind. Don't worry about that. You know, it's not hard, man. You know what I'm saying? It's discipline, man.
Starting point is 00:25:02 He's young. Discipline, man. You know what? Don't even ask. This guy here. saying? It's discipline, man. He's young. Discipline, man. You know what? Don't even, this guy. Where can they get Buck, man? They can get Buck at mkassante.com,
Starting point is 00:25:10 at kwaliclub.com, Amazon, Barnes and Nobles. It's a, it's a best, been on the bestseller list for two years now. It's available everywhere. Anywhere books are sold,
Starting point is 00:25:20 man. You know, they can get the soundtrack kwaliclub.com, mkassante.com It's streaming on DJ Booth. It's that OK Player. It's just everywhere, man.
Starting point is 00:25:30 And it's free. And it's free. And shout out to Dupree Miller, Jan Miller, Nina. You know what I'm saying? You ad-libbing for them?
Starting point is 00:25:39 My people too. All right, that's M.K. Asante is the Breakfast Club. Good morning. Had enough of this country? Ever dreamt about starting your own? I planted the flag.
Starting point is 00:25:50 This is mine. I own this. It's surprisingly easy. 55 gallons of water, 500 pounds of concrete. Or maybe not. No country willingly gives up their territory. Oh my God. What is that?
Starting point is 00:26:02 Bullets. Listen to Escape from Zaka-stan. That's Escape from Z-A-Q-a-stan on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey guys, I'm Kate Max. You might know me from my popular online series, The Running Interview Show,
Starting point is 00:26:21 where I run with celebrities, athletes, entrepreneurs, and more. After those runs, the conversations keep going. That's what my podcast Post Run High is all about. It's a chance to sit down with my guests and dive even deeper into their stories, their journeys, and the thoughts that arise once we've hit the pavement together. Listen to Post Run High on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. As a kid, I really do remember having these dreams and visions,
Starting point is 00:26:56 but you just don't know what is going to come for you. Alicia shares her wisdom on growth, gratitude, and the power of love. I forgive myself. It's okay. Have grace for yourself. You're trying your best and you're gonna figure out the rhythm of this thing. Alicia Keys, like you've never heard her before. Listen to On Purpose with Jay Shetty on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hello, my undeadly darlings. It's Teresa, your resident ghost host. And do I have a treat for you.
Starting point is 00:27:33 Haunting is crawling out from the shadows, and it's going to be devilishly good. We've got chills, thrills, and stories that'll make you wish the lights stayed on. So join me, won't you? Let's dive into the eerie unknown together. Sleep tight, if you can. Listen to Haunting on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Starting point is 00:28:02 Daphne Caruana Galizia was a Maltese investigative journalist who on October 16th, 2017, was assassinated. Crooks everywhere unearths the plot to murder a one woman WikiLeaks. She exposed the culture of crime and corruption that were turning her beloved country into a mafia state. Listen to Crooks Everywhere on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or
Starting point is 00:28:19 wherever you get your podcasts.

There aren't comments yet for this episode. Click on any sentence in the transcript to leave a comment.