The Daily Show: Ears Edition - Trump's Iran War Plan Was Dumber Than You Thought & U.S. Indicts 94-Year-Old Castro | Jonnie Park aka Dumbfoundead

Episode Date: May 21, 2026

Ronny Chieng breaks down the Trump administration's original Iran War strategy to reinstall former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad after bombing his house, Trump unseating Republican Rep. Thomas Massie in retaliation for spearheading the release of the Epstein files, and Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry trying to win over Greenlanders with cookies and friendship. Plus, Jordan Klepper weighs in on former Cuban President Raúl Castro's indictment and America’s obsession with gerontocracy. Gen Z's "maxxing" trend has gotten way out of hand. As looksmaxxers like Clavicular hype the benefits of smashing your face with a hammer, and self-described nothing-maxxers achieve new levels of doing jack s**t, Lewis Black can't help but wonder: What the f**k is happening?! Grammy-nominated hip-hop artist, actor, and writer Jonnie Park, aka Dumbfoundead, joins Ronny to discuss his new memoir "SPIT: A Life in Battles." They talk about getting his start in battle rapping at 14 years old in Los Angeles, evolving from freestyle battles to prepared matchups, developing a thick skin as the only Asian in the rap battle arena, dabbling in other mediums like acting in “Nemesis” and writing for season 2 of “Beef,” both on Netflix, and chronicling his story through the different family, immigration, and career battles he’s faced. -- To get simple, online access to personalized, affordable care for ED, Hair Loss, Weight Loss, and more, visit https://Hims.com/dailyshow -- The Daily Show airs weeknights at 11/10c on Comedy Central. Stream full episodes on Paramount+ Follow TDS: YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You're listening to Comedy Central. From the most trusted journalists at Comedy Central, it's America's only source for news. This is The Daily Show with your host, Ronnie. We'll talk about tonight. America's newest diplomat is the Keebler Elf. The Iran War somehow got even more embarrassing, and Lewis Black finds out what a clavicular is,

and he's not happy about it. But first, let's get into the latest, on Indecision 2026. There were six important congressional primaries yesterday, so you know what that means. If you live in Alabama, Georgia, Idaho, Kentucky, Oregon, or Pennsylvania, you forgot to vote. And once again, the big story is Donald Trump

absolutely stomping on disloyal Republicans like Godzilla with slightly thicker ankles. Another round of retaliation for President Trump. He has helped unseat one of his most prominent Republican critics on the hill. Congressman Thomas Massey, who spearheaded the law forcing the release of the Epstein files. Yeah, that'll teach you to try to expose pedophiles. What is going on here? Releasing the Epstein files, they don't put anyone in prison. The guy who got the Epstein files released got voted out. And meanwhile, the Michael Jackson movie made $300 million.

Is America pro-pedophile now? Jeffrey, you killed yourself too early. The tides were turning. But let's move on from Trump meddling in primaries to him meddling all over the world, starting with his war in Iran. And I know people that think that Donald Trump didn't have a plan for the war.

But guess what? Lib Tards and military generals? Turns out he did have a plan. It was just very stupid. New reporting reveals an early objective of the war with Iran involved a regime change strategy that would reinstate former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as the country's leader.

Yes, that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the president of Iran from 2005 to 2013, the man who strongly supported Iran's nuclear program and more. So the plan to stop Iran from getting nuclear weapons was to install a leader who wanted to get nuclear weapons. I love it, no notes. And if you hate this plan, don't worry. That wasn't the part that didn't work.

Ahmadinejadjad was injured on the war's first day by an Israeli strike at his home in Tehran that had been designed to free him from house arrest. So you're telling me that two entire countries thought the smartest way to free someone from house arrest was to blow up his house. Nobody suggested, I don't know, calling a locksmith, maybe sneaking him out in a laundry bin.

What was the thinking here? You can't be under house arrest if you don't have a house. So obviously that plan didn't work. In fact, everything in the war of Iran has been a lot harder than we thought. But this is America. And what do we do when things get hard? Say it with me. We lose interest and move on to other things.

For example, Greenland. Yeah. Remember this shit? It was Trump's original takeover target, and now he's got a new strategy for doing it. Seduce them with kindness. Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry was in Greenland this week, his first trip as President Trump's new special envoy to the Danish territory.

Do you have a message from President Trump with you? Actually, I do. I talked to him late last night. He said, go over there and makes him a bunch of friends. as many friends as we can. Damn, this male loneliness epidemic is really getting out of control. American middle-aged men are such losers

that we have to need to take over Greenland just to make friends? Yes, Greenland has just been visited by America's special envoy, which for some reason is the governor of Louisiana. And it shouldn't be hard to make friends because any country who has the little circles

over the letters is always friendly, right? Denmark, Sweden, the country in Frozen. So I'm sure it went fine. He wanted to know if you were famous. Oh, I don't know if he's famous, but he's the governor. Yeah. You want to take a picture?

No? This Greenland kid is like, oh, sorry, you said you're the governor of which state? Nah, I'm good. I'm good. Is Kathy Hockel around or someone else? Like, come on, kid, you're not impressed by Jeff Landry? This man is the governor of America's second most illiterate. state. Does that mean anything to you?

But sure, I get it. I mean, phones nowadays can only hold like, what, 60,000 photos? You got to make them count. I mean, Jeff, you're embarrassing us in front of our future colony. Step up your game, okay? Turn on that Southern charm. Greenland news outlets reported that Landry was seen handing out chocolate cookies. You come to the governor's mansion? All the chocolate chip cookies you can Danger, danger! Stranger! Great idea for winning over the people of Greenland. Talk to them like the neighborhood pedophile.

I'm telling you, Epstein, you went too soon, all right? Everything... It would have been okay. So Greenland isn't working out either. But don't worry, there are lots of countries we can still pick a fight with. Breaking news, the Department of Justice filing criminal charges against former Cuban president, Raul Castro. The 94-year-old Castro is the...

brother of Fidel Castro. Holy shit, we're going to send a 94-year-old man to jail. What's the point? Everywhere that guy sits is death row. I mean, look at this guy. He's so old, he needs help walking from another old guy. Where are you going to find a jury of his peers with a Ouija board? I mean, on the plus side, I guess you don't need to handcuff him.

You can just tie his hands together with his. long droopy balls. At least this shows that no one is above the law, even if your pants are above your nipples. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know, I know. It's funny, right? Yeah, it's a good thing none of us are ever getting old.

Anyway, let's hear the charges. The 94-year-old faces criminal charges in his alleged role in ordering two aircrafts to be shot down. back when he was the defense minister in 1996. Oh, man, the charges are from 1996? That was 30 years ago. He was only, what, 64 at the time? I mean, we all do crazy shit when we're young.

For more on America's military efforts in Cuba, we go live to Havana with our very old Jordan Klepper. Jordan, the people love you. Why is America going after a 94-year-old leader? Oh, oh, so now you, like old people in charge, huh? Everyone complains about a gerontocracy, but Trump's the only one willing to do something about it.

Taking out aging leaders with health conditions is what he does best. Raul Castro, Ayatollah Kamani, Joe Biden, you know? Trump's as dangerous to the elderly as uneven floors. So what? We're going to go kidnap Castro and bring him to court like we did with Nicholas Maduro?

Is that really the best use of America's military? Turns out, yes. We're not exactly spreading democracy or winning in wars. The only war our defense secretary has won is the one against dry January. But what the enormous combined forces of the American military can do is beat up an old man.

I'm talking targeted methodical elder abuse. So, hear our message. If your dictator is on a most, soup diet and says things like, in my day, computers used to take up a whole room. And American Justice is on the way, and they are not even going to see us coming. And not just because of their nickel-sized cataracts.

Okay, but aren't we worried about the repercussions? I mean, these old leaders are going to be furious. I mean, what are they going to do? Threatened not to send us a birthday card with a whole $5 in it? And this economy, that's an insult. No, you all tyrants better get your affairs in order because America will be sending you to a slightly early grave. You hear that, autocrats?

No, really? Can you hear that? Turn the volume. I'm trying to threaten you. Okay, do we need to spend tens of billions of dollars to take out people who are going to be naturally replaced soon anyway? Uh, yes. Ronnie, we will show no mercy wherever you are.

We're going to find you. Whether it's in a bingo hall, a model train convention, the penny slots in Atlantic City, and an aquarobics class, a shuffleboard courts, a lemon party, a rascal scooter store, one of those seats that takes you up the stairs, any room that has a TV playing bonanza. Okay, okay, okay, okay, we get it.

We get it. That's just the beginning, Ronnie. Old autocrats everywhere will be living in fear. that at any moment, naval seals were repelled down into their bedrooms. Gently wake them up, hand them their glasses, find their walker, retrieve their slippers, know their other good slippers, and get their pillbox. Tell them that grandkids are not really an option right now. I know you want them, but I'm just not in a good financial place right now.

It's just a different world from the one you grew up in, God damn it. The point is nobody over the age of 70 is safe from us, and I mean nobody. Oh, okay. Well, what about Vladimir Putin? No, he's safe. All right. Jordan Cleper, everybody. When we come back, shit, so don't go.

Great news. The federal EV rebate is back. Eligible customers get up to $5,000 with the federal EVAP rebate on select 2027 Volt and 2026 Equinox EV models. Visit your local Chevrolet dealer today for more details. The story falls through a cracks. Lewis Black catches it for a segment we call Back in Black. Black.

Hip, gen Zing TikToker, like me, you probably know we're obsessed with our looks. I've got a full beat and I'm low-key serving k-khy-servin' k-ha. Now, for the oldies who don't know what I'm talking about, neither do I. ...is the Gen Z has decided to pull the vape out of their ass and take obsessing over their appearance to the next level. Looks maxing. It's an effort to maximize your looks, often, taken to the extreme. The goal to achieve what looks maxers call ascension or what they consider the

optimal measure of beauty. Controversial looks maxer, clavicular, says he went to extreme measures to achieve his desired looks. I've done a lot of things like fat dissolvers. Like I've injected liposis agents into my face. Wow. They've done it. They've invented an unfittable personality. The name is clavicular. Sounds like he's planning an attack on the ninja turtles. Whoa, clavicular is releasing gas into the sewers. Cowabunga, dude. But take it for me, looks, Maxers.

It's a lot more fun to destroy your body than preserve it. The only thing you should be injecting is heroin into your dick. It makes me feel like Grace Skis. Kelly. I may not be the princess of Monaco, but I am king of this Starbucks bathroom. But if you think these carved and plump douchebags are idiots, wait until you see these literal numbsculls. Bone smashing has become increasingly popular. Do you guys know about bone smashing? People taking massage guns or even hammers to the face. Smash the balls, baby! All to cause minor damage to the bone,

in hopes that it will heal in a more pronounced way. Jesus Christ! What the f*** is happening? Don't get me wrong, it's nice to see kids doing some manual labor for once. But smashing your face with a hammer and hoping it heals correctly? What kind of shit-righting plan is that? I hope I come out of this looking like George Clooney and not like a I just gave oral to a Mac truck.

And back in my day, you didn't break your face to improve your appearance. You broke your legs to get those sweet handicapped spots. Enjoy the long walk to Costco, Polio Paul. But of course, since there is no God, maxing doesn't stop. We just looks. It now applies to everything.

Sleep maxing. Millions of young adults now prioritizing their sleep routine. The trend is called fiber maxing and it's shorthand for gaining a ton of fiber. Non-a-maxing, a slower, more domestic lifestyle. Friction maxing. Designed to put time and space between your phone and your wallet. Even yogurt maxing.

Yogurt is not a phase. It's a lifestyle. Is yogurt? You can't come out to your parents as oycos. Jesus Christ, why does everything have to be labeled maxing? Just cause. Call it what it is, compulsively doing something to fill the sad, empty void that is your life. Pretty catchy, if you ask me.

Still, it turns out these morons can do anything to the max, including jack shit. It's called nothing maxing. Content creators making the deliberate decision to unplug, giving their brain time to do absolutely nothing. 20, 30 minutes in, and you kind of feel a lot of your muscles, let go. Your thoughts are clear. You're leaving space to have that clarity. Good news, everyone. I'm just nothing maxing.

I don't need a prescription for clinical depression. And soon, I'll be bed sore maxing. And to be clear, this video doesn't even count as doing nothing, okay? Still recorded it and posted it. My neighbor's Cheryl. Now, she knows how to nothing, Max. Last week, they found her body

being eaten by her 12 indoor cats. Ah, ha, ha, yeah, that's what I said. And she didn't move a muscle. Now, that's what I call chillaxing. But the more I learn about these maxing trends, it only gets worse. China maxing features people from across the globe claiming to be Chinese, while sharing lifestyle habits like only drinking warm water,

wearing house slippers indoors, and making boiled apple tea with goji berry. My hot water with my goji berries, some lemon, some apple. These days, if you ask the internet, no matter where you were born, you too can be Chinese. I've been Chinese for about eight years. For the love of God, China already has a billion people. I don't think their leaders are like,

hey guys, we could really use an extra Caitlin with a Y. I can't believe I need to say this. But boiling a goji berry doesn't make you Chinese. You know what does make you Chinese? Big fucking Chinese! I can't try. Just wake up and go, who, I'm feeling a little Mexican today. Maybe I'll treat myself to a nice quinceaniera.

That chica is muicaliante. But it's time to step aside, you pseudo-Bajiginbo's. There's a hot new trend on the talk called Lewis Maxing. Let me show you how. sup, Louis Max and Easter. First, brew a nice cup of tea. Second, tattoo, do not resuscitate across your chest. And third, hits your heroin dick with a hammer until it's yogurt.

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Prescription required. See website for details and important safety information. Sildenafil is a generic version of Viagra. Viagra is a registered trademark of Vietra's specialty LLC. HIMS is not affiliated with or endorsed by Vietras. Welcome back to a Daily Show. My guest tonight is a Grammy nominator whose new memoir is called Spit, a Life in Battles. Welcome, my good friend, the one and only, Johnny Park, aka Dumb Founder.

The old white people stood up. Everyone suffered. The American Dream. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, thanks for coming on the show, man. Thanks for having me, brother. Yeah, I've known you a long time. First time we've been able to get you on the program.

Yeah. You're, I'll say so you don't have to, you are a legendary battle rapper. Wow. Folk hero among many Asian Americans and even black people. They had. Yeah. Like I said, the American Dream. The American dream.

So how did you get into battle rapping? I was 14 years old. That's when I got the name dumbfounded, which hasn't aged too well as I turned 40 recently. It's like all first email addresses. Yeah. But you know, I was a scrawny, you know, kid from Koreatown, Los Angeles, and I feel like, you know, I was good at roasting kids in high school, in middle school, in high school, and, you know, in rhyme form, I was even better.

And it felt like when Spider-Man bit Peter Parker and he turned to Spider-Man, I turned to dumbfounded. You know what I mean? And I kept going with it. I just loved the craft. I loved hip-hop, you know, so. Right. And you are obviously entering, people don't know, but you're 40 now. Now they know. No, I'm 40 now. I guess my point is that you came out here and it's like battle rapping, but this was, I'm talking, this was like back in the day. You know, people think you just

did it yesterday. This is like you were doing this 30. Yeah, I mean, it wasn't like Curtis Blow and the Furious Five. I ended up. But it was quite a while ago. I mean, literally when I was 14, and I started making a name for myself in battle rap when I was like 17, 18, and until my 20s, you know, was doing rap tours and all of that.

Now I'm doing book tours. So that's the age that I'm in, yeah, yeah. You went from soju and rapping to hot tea. Yeah, hot tea in books. Yeah, yeah, exactly. But, yeah, you age gracefully, man. Thank you, man. But what was that like entering those kind of environments?

Because this was back before the Internet. Yeah. This was, you were probably a minority, among minorities as well. Sure. I'm guessing that you're not black. Yeah. And there were a lot of black people rapping.

I mean, I got the Asian jokes, obviously, in this arena where nothing is off limits, you know. But what I realized in rap battles, everybody has something. You know, the overweight kid gets the overweight jokes. The Latino kid gets that. And obviously, I got the Asian jokes. But I remember the first compliment I got in this open mic, which was, damn, Jackie Chan can spit. And I was like, I cherish their kids. every moment of that line, you know?

I looked around, I was like, oh, he's talking about me. Okay, cool, right? Yeah. But what was cool was that, I mean, battle rapping isn't just self-expression. It's a battle. So you're saying awful things about other people. They're saying awful things about you. Sure.

One thing I loved in the book was that you were saying how, because, you know, correct me if I'm wrong, but because they won a lot of Asian battle rappers at a time, when you showed up, people would just come at you with some very generic Asian shit. And it was almost like eight mile. You're like, oh, yeah, this is, you knew what was coming and you, you managed to overcome it. Well, I feel like that's when you get to know the general knowledge of what people think about Asians, you know. You hear the typical stereotypes and you get called the only three Asians they know, which is usually like Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan and Jet Lee. The fourth one is like a wild card.

It's like Lucy Lou maybe. I don't know. Yeah, yeah. In 2026 it'd be Ronnie Chang. Or like Simu. Or like Simu. They would call me like a Timu Simu or something, you know? Like, yeah.

No, I'm always happy to be anyone's slur. So, don't fear you use my... What slur are you talking about right now? But like, so you are going in there. What do you mean? No, I'm saying if you call an Asian guy, Hey, Ronnie Chang, I'd be like, that's awesome. Yeah, yeah.

I mean, it would happen in 2026. For sure, it would happen. All right, right, well, yeah. I'm happy for that happen. Let's get that slur started. Yeah, so you will go in and can you tell us a little bit of the mechanics of battle rap? Yeah, I mean, you know, when I started, it was all freestyle, off the dome. And now I think in the modern era of battle rap, it's, you know, prepared, written.

And they pair up two opponents, like almost a boxing card. You know, you know who you're going to battle like a month ahead. You prepare for each other. And a lot of people think that's like cheating almost from the original way we would come off the top. but actually people come with way more thought-out rhymes against each other. And it's a lot more brutal than freestyling and you're talking about someone else's shoes that they're wearing on the spot. You know what I mean?

So back in the day, it was very much impromptu. You sign up and you don't know who you're going to get paired up with and they call you on stage. Like, you know, similar to 8 Mile, which you've seen on with. Sure, yeah, yeah. But now you're saying people kind of, they research, they looked on LinkedIn, they hide. They're pulling up your IMDB or your carfew.

Fax, a Ford Focus. I see you. Yeah, yeah. No, they're pulling up everything. They go on Zillow and look at your house. It's undervalued, fam. No, but they are. You know, police records.

Like, I've seen it all. I've seen it all. Your hospital records. Yeah. You had chlamydia three months ago. It's crazy. Right. Okay.

That's not me, by the way. Another opponent. Yeah. You fix that. Yeah, but like, so you're one of the old, like, you know, in the book you say how you're kind of the uncle now. When you started, you're the young kid and you're your uncle. Sure. And you're one of the rare kind of OG uncles.

You're actually not shitting on the modern game, it sounds like. No, I love it. You know, I feel like sometimes being 40 feels like being 60 and rap years. You know what I mean? And I started so young. And I think now there's plenty more rappers at an older age, you know, because I feel like lyricism is that era had a lot of lyricism. is that era had a lot of lyricism that people still want now.

So there are a lot of rappers past their 40s, and that's amazing to see, you know. But I embrace all, you know, new genres and new forms, new types of rappers that are delivering new styles as well. So I love it. I'm a fan, so. Right. And why, you know, you're someone who, like, Drake and Anderson Pack

has called out as, they've called you out as, like, they've credited to you as this kind of legendary figure. Yeah. Well, Anderson Pack, who wrote the forward in my book, you know, he's a good friend of mine, We came up in the music game together, sleeping on couches and all of that. And, you know, just learned a lot from that guy. He learned a lot from me.

And he just came up together. And you wrote a nice blurb for the book as well. I wrote a nice blur for his book, too, yeah. Yeah. It's in Chinese. I can't understand it. But it's, no, no. It says Koreans people can be cool, too.

That's what it's. Yeah, yeah. We've had a little beef, you know, little Chinese and Korean beef. There's no beef. Yeah, no, there's no beef. You know, what's cool about you is when I first came to America, in 2016, I first went to L.A. Because our mutual friend is Aquafina.

She introduced me to you. And you were always cool to me in L.A. You were always very nice to me. And I don't understand why. I feel like you... You have a battle rapper energy to you. Do I? I can't fucking... I can't...

I have a battle wrap energy wearing a suit and tie. These are the theatrics people who have in battle rap now. Wear a suit and tie. I got police records here. No, but you're on a tour right now that's almost like a rap battle. You versus Hassan, you know, that's the tour. I'm shooting on Hasan Minaj, but yeah.

But we're not, you know, it's so much harder. You guys are like, you have to like make it rhyme. I just, I just have to be racist. Like, it's way easier for me. Definitely a lot of racism in battle rap, for sure. And so, and that's the other thing that happened to you in battle rapping is like, you have all these people saying the most awful things about you. But your energy from ever since I've known you

is you're a very positive guy. And I don't know whether you... Yeah. Someone is applauding. They're like down with battle rap. Let's keep the positive. Good thing you didn't succumb to racism. No, there's different styles in battle rap.

There's the aggressive energy, but I'm a little bit more witty and funny, and it's hard to be gangster when your name is dumbfounded. You know what I mean? But you're kind of using human. to deflect, I guess. It is, it is.

And that's how comedians do as well. You know what I'm saying? People get roasted. You have thick skin, and I got a lot of thick skin growing up in the neighborhood that I did and also being like the only Asian in this kind of arena.

Yeah. For sure. Yeah, and so I guess my question is how did you kind of take, I feel like a lesson for everybody, especially all these f***ing people on the... No, no, no, not you guys. All these fucking people on the internet

watching right now. Yeah, this fucking go fucking cells. Can't stand you guys. Stop. Get off your phone. taking a shit on the toilet walking away. So the lesson I feel like is this idea that you're able to take all this abuse

and not take it personally for some reason in battle rapping. Or maybe you did, I don't know. No, I mean, there's things that hurt me still. There will be a comment under this clip that'll hurt me for sure. No, no. These comments, in comments, go f***ing some.

No, I'm saying, I'm saying, I'm talking to comment, I'm saying like when you're battle rapping in that community because you're still kind of like you're one of those guys who you love the art form and you love that community. Yes. Despite what I assume was horrible things said about you. So how did you kind of? I think there's something about that arena you appreciate in the actual craft itself of rhyming. So even if you get hit with some racist bars, you're like, that was a clever racist bar. You know, you could appreciate it still. You know what I mean? We leave that arena, shaken hands and it's a sport, you know, and that's how I took it. I mean, everyone,

anyone else take it like that? Well, there was like a bit, a comedian did where they said that, when they heard like some dudes say something racist on stage, that's when he realized it was 80% comedian and 20% of whatever race he was. Oh, yeah, yeah, this was the Michael Richards. Yeah, Michael Richards and Dave Chappelle, yeah. And I think. And that's what I felt.

I feel like I'm 80% battle rapper and 20% Asian sometimes in that arena. No, that's you, but other people didn't take it that way. I'm, I cry on the inside. You know what I mean? Never show it. Never show your tears. Is that to the internet? Yeah.

And your videos are kind of like, again, you're kind of like this folk hero on the internet. Like people have been passing your videos around of you battle rapping. And I guess the question is like, why did you, you know, you kind of stepped away from it? Like I know you said it's because in your book you talk about how you kind of feel like you were getting older and it was time to. No, I still love battle rap and I'm sure I can still do it. But going in that arena and thinking about another man for a whole month preparing for this, it's tough. You know, it's not good for my mental health. I mean, yeah, yeah.

But yeah, I mean, that's the thing. I mean, I always, I've been, because I know Mr. MC Jin, who's the, who ever's the East Go, sorry, MC Jin. I've been trying to get you guys to fight each other for around me. Because what's interesting was that he was always

on the East Coast, and you mentioned him in your book as someone you kind of was looking up to at the time, and you were always on the West Coast, and you guys built these careers battle rapping and making music, but you guys never met in the middle, in Chicago. And shout out, you know. So, we never met before.

Before, you know, he had kids now, he has a family, he's a good Christian man. I just don't want to step in that arena with him, you know what I mean? No, he told me he can't, he can't dig deep enough to do it because he's a nice guy now. He is, he is. He unfortunately found Jesus or something, you know, and then he, and then now he says, no, but he's saying that he can't dig deep to be mean anymore. I, I, man. Whereas you still can't.

I still can. I'll give him some Jesus bars, you know what I mean? You know, MCJN is that he's a great rapper. He came to my birthday, he just, he made fun of my birthday cake. Alleged. Yeah. But no, he was rapping about, he's like a genius freestyle. I always wanted you guys to meet up.

That's still a little soft if he's rapping about your birthday cake, you know. No, because he's a nice guy now. That's a double layer? That's weak as hell, no. That's great what he said. He made fun of my sugar-free cake. I'm going to mess up the bar, but yeah. But yeah, and you stopped battle rapping.

You kind of moved into other projects. Like you were writer on beef season. to, thank you. I only dabble in beefs, rap beefs, the show beef, yeah. But it's, you know what it is? It's like I've always wanted to, you know, dabble in different mediums, writing, acting,

all of that. So I'm never going to leave rap battles alone. That's a subculture that I love. And I always, you know, my origin story will always be that. You know what I mean? And it taught me so much. They gave this young Asian kid from L.A.

So much confidence to step into these rooms, like the writer's room of Beef Season 2, feeling confident with these. from Severance and Game of Thrones, and I'm in there like, I'm a high school dropout, you know what I mean? So, yeah. Don't encourage that. Don't encourage that.

It's all dropouts. It's all dropouts here, yeah, yeah. Don't do the, stay in school. Yeah, and so I guess, I don't know what, because you're also making music, and now you're acting in, nemesis. Nemesis. On Netflix.

Yes. You kind of transitioned into, I don't know, the way rappers transitioned into becoming, but I want, You know, let's get the music. Where's the music, man? Well, you know, I'm always pitching projects that are mixed with, you know, music and music heavy. So that's in the works.

But, you know, I'm grateful for all these opportunities to jump into these other, you know, realms. Like, writing is great. This new Netflix show, Nemesis. It's like action crime dramas. Number one on Netflix right now, by the way. I just want to say it. I haven't got number one in anything in a while, Ronnie. Please.

Let me just have this moment real quick. It's been a while. And we're on a rival network, but okay, yeah. Watch all that. It doesn't, it doesn't, nothing matter. If you believe it, you don't believe in free speech, okay? We're not bleeping anything. Someone said, in the second act.

Did you see that? I did. Dude, we don't bleep, man. Yeah, so I guess, like, this book, I did read it. It's very well written. Thank you. Super easy to read. I don't mean that in a bad way.

No, it's easy. There's pictures in there. There's pictures in it. There's pictures in it. There's, like, comics that you, The drawing of your rap lyrics, but I just made it easier reading that it's like, it's your story, but it's written in sections. Yeah. You know, you kind of divide it up.

It's almost like for... That's how books are written, Ronnie. Come on, man. No, no, no. But it's called Spit a Life in Battles. It rides. It's like Dr. Seuss. It's different battles I've had in my life.

Like, there's a battle between me and my father. Oh. That's a battle between you and your father. than the first two pages, that's for sure. Yes, yes. I think a lot of Asian men have certain issues with their fathers. They could be very cold in the household. I wasn't encouraged to kind of have this free speech

that I have now, I guess, in the house. I didn't feel seen there. So I found a second family in hip hop in South LA, Project Bloade where I come from, and this open mic, you know, like a rap version of CBGB or, you know, comedy store. So it was that for me. Hip hop was that for me.

Right. And, you know, this is crazy because I don't want, I don't get too into this because we could talk about your book for hours, but it's like you also came across the border as a, as the illegal, I don't know what. I don't know. What can we say illegal? I don't know, legal, yeah. I don't want to get you in trouble here, but let's just say you came across the border

without a passport. Let's go that way. Because you were born in Argentina. We had a Trump gold card, I swear, we had one. No, no, no. I'm kidding. I'm kidding. You're born in Argentina.

No, I was born Argentina. And you came... My mom, she carried me when I was three years old, and my sister was one years old through the Mexican border illegally with coyotes through the Mexican border. And imagine this Korean woman at that age, you know, for 10 days with two Korean kids

through the Mexican border, and we ended up in L.A., and that's where I've been since. Right. And so, yeah, you... From my mom! Yeah, so, you know, you'll rise from that into the kind of world-respect of bell rap. It's a super-interesting story that everyone should check out in this.

And I hope one day, you know, I'm hoping that I'm just trying to get into one of your rap lyrics one day. Oh, yeah. Yeah, if you, I've always tried to feature in. Okay, let me, let me see if I could spit something for you. You said you wouldn't make me dance like this. Come on, man. Ronnie Chang, I love to see you shine like a diamond ring from Johnny Dang. And I wasn't going to spit any crazy flows, but maybe pros.

But I'm glad you're on the daily show because without you, we would have to. have any Asian folk. Our life in battles is available now. Johnny Park, everybody. We're going to take a quick break, but we're right back after this. Let's go. Did you like that? You rigged vote in California.

You have all the mail and ballots, everything else. It's very hard to win because the elections are very dishonest. If we had Jesus Christ come down and count the votes, I would have won California because I'd do great with Hispanics. Explore more shows from the Daily Show podcast, Universe. by searching The Daily Show, wherever you get your podcasts. Watch the Daily Show weeknights at 11, 10 Central on Comedy Central, and stream full episodes anytime on Paramount Plus.

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