The Ebro, Laura, Rosenberg Show - 50.) CC Sabathia Talks Jersey Retirement + Lena Waithe on "Trinity" + Family Matters (3/6/26)

Episode Date: March 6, 2026

Today on Ebro, Laura, and Rosenberg - Ebro, Laura, and Rosenberg are joined by MLB Legend C.C. Sabathia in the beginning of the show to discuss the Yankees retiring his number, real life friendship, & his legacy, and then actress and producer Lena Waithe talks about her play "Trinity" and lastly - Issa gets involved in Family Matters, and much more! (3/6/26) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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of month for one Allmess in shopify.s bar records. Just don't call it a podcast. The Ebro, Laura Rosenberg show. Okay. That's Laura Stoules. That's Rosenberg, and I'm Ebro.

You got it on the Ebro, Laura Rosenberg Experian. Fox Friday. Here we are. Like you dream about. We made it. Fox Friday, emails, family matters. And we start the show.

Friend of the show? I mean a friend in real life. No, real life. friend. This is perfect for Fots Friday because he's a real life friend. There you go. Yeah, and he's a Hall of Famer. Yes. I mean, you know what I'm saying? He's a Cy Young Award winner multiple times. The number in Pinstripes getting retired. He's heading to Monument Park. The Hall of Famer, Cecee's So bad they are.

What's happening? Northern California's own. What up, C.C.? Hi, C.C. What's good? What's good? Morning. Morning. So, sir, what are those magnificent trophies behind you? We got to start with this backdrop. We never seen a backdrop like this. Never have I ever. These are Warren Spine trophies.

It's a trophy that's given to the best lefty in the big league. So I think I won it 2007, eight, and nine. I won it three times. It's a pretty cool trophy. They give it to you, they give it away in Oklahoma City. You have to go down there. And it's not really like the Cy Young. People don't vote on it.

It's just the best stats. It's, you know, whoever's got the most win, strikeouts, innings pitch and it's just kind of like, you know, it goes that way. And it's a cool, they have a really big 30-foot statue of him outside of the convention hall where you get this thing. And then they give you a cool trophy. So it's probably my favorite. Wow.

I mean, it was something I'd never said. I learned. I didn't even know this existed. Had you heard of this Rosenberg? The Warren Spawn trophy? Actually, I'm sad to say, I don't think I did. That's amazing, bro. Now, hold on.

What's the actual side? When you win the Cy Young, what do they actually give you? they give you like a little plaque. I wish I had it in here, but it's up in Cooperstown now because they, they came to raided our trophy case to take it up there. But it's like a, it's like, it's not as cool as this.

It's just like a little plaque. Got it. And it's got a, it's got a hand on there with the baseball. But these are, these are definitely my coolest trophy. So I reached out and, and asked the team if you could come on today

because we are on the precipice of them retiring 52, uh, for the Yankees. And so, uh, I wanted to, you know, first of all, just salute you, bro, as somebody who's just a great human being,

somebody who I've had the honor of being friends with in the real world. I know you, I know your family, and it's, y'all are all just great. I know your mom, bro, like, it's crazy. And you're getting your number retired. So I just, that was really all I wanted to have you up here was to thank you for being you and to salute you for all your hard work. And then just hear from you, how does it feel?

No, I appreciate it because, I mean, I think you know, you know, you've been, you and Rosenberg and Laura really have been a part of the journey since we got here in 2008. And, you know, to be completely honest, I think everybody knows the story by now. But I didn't want to come here. Like, this wasn't my first choice. You know, it was so much drama going on with the Yankees and the media drama and everything, you know, that you have to deal with playing here. I just thought it would be easier to play on the West Coast.

I'm from Cali, from the Bay. I wanted to play in Anaheim. or L.A. and just thought it would be easier. And I never gave myself room to thought, to think about what if I succeeded here? What if I, you hear so many stories about free agents coming here and not being able to handle it. You saw Randy Johnson walking down the street and getting into it with the camera guy. And that's all you know is a visitor, you know, outside looking in.

And so I was just like, I don't, I don't want any of that stress. I want to go out and I just want to play baseball. And, you know, having a chance that offseason to sit down with Cashman. And him really convinced me in Amber that this would be the best place for us to raise our family, for me to grow my legacy, and man, you couldn't have been more right. You know, 17 years later, I'm still in the same house we moved in in December 2008 and just super excited to be a part of this organization for the rest of my life

and have my number retired. I mean, when you, like I said, when you come here, you see all the names and the numbers, the Whitey Fours, Mickey Mantle, Bay, Ruth, and you never think that you would be able to live up to being able to get in the monument park. I think you can put up numbers anywhere to get. getting to the Hall of Fame. But to be able to put up numbers and have, you know, the Yankees recognize your number is one and wanting to be retired. It's something that I could have never

thought about. I'm super surreal. So I'm just excited for it. I just also would love to point out to the audience, too, as somebody who also comes from the same area that C.C. comes from. When you move here, there is that stigma, right? Like you think of New York, but I don't think what people are able to articulate until you're here is also the amount of love that people have when you work hard in this city. And if you succeed. Well, even succeed or fail. If they see you working hard and giving it your all,

they might talk a little ish to you, you know what I mean? But there's always love. I don't know, Cici, was that your experience too? No, in fact, I 1,000% feel like, you know, the fans appreciated everything that I gave out on the field every fifth day. And I think that's, you know, the biggest thing I think that they appreciate about me is being a good teammate and going out competing every fifth day. no matter what the result was, I think people understood every time I went out, I wanted to try to win.

I was doing everything I could to win. And like you said, I think you don't see that flip side of the coin, right, when you think about New York and coming from California. And I had played in Cleveland and Milwaukee, two small markets where, you know, when I was in Milwaukee, I lived in a coltacacac and people were dropping cookies off in my front door. Like, it was a completely different, you know, thing that I thought that I was coming into. And, you know, Cash was like, no, we have that here. You can live in a nice community and raise your kids and do all these different things. And he was so convinced that it would work here for me that when we were doing the negotiations, he was like, listen, I'm so, you know, I'm so bullish on this.

And I know that you'll love it here. If you don't like it after three years, you can leave. But I promise you that you guys are going to want to stay here and you're going to love it. And he couldn't have been more right. Now, now, I agree with Ebro's point that people will in New York will respect the hard work. But there is no question that that 2009, championship made it even easier for people to love you like you because we've been talking about this on on on don hon and rosenberg on espn and when we when we talk about you you're the perfect storm like

you have you have longevity there you have the awards you have the championship and then you have that that grit you know that willing to sacrifice a half a million dollar bonus to throw at someone because you need to stand up for your team you sort of have all of those different things how important do you think the World Series piece is, though, with this fan base that cares so much about championships? Man, you know, when you come here, that's all you hear about is the championships, and, you know, every spring training you come in

and you want to win a championship, but I didn't realize how much it actually means. And I remember the night that I signed my contract, I went to dinner, and then that night we went to the 40-40 with Jay-Z, Juan Ho was there, Juan was there. Me and OG got really close during that time. Peck was there. And I

remember sitting there and Juan was like, you need to win a championship right now. And I'm like, what are you talking about? Like I got seven years here. We got a great team. Everybody's in their prime. Like, I got some time. He was like, now I'm telling you, you better win right away else. These people go be on you. They're going to be on you. And, you know, having a chance to get that championship the first year in the new stadium, the ball still be alive. I think it's just, like,

Like everybody said, just took a huge weight off my shoulders and was able to just go out and continue my career. But the championship was something that I was really worried about. I thought for my, you know, my career, I was like, man, you're going to be like Carl Malone or Charles Barkley have all these numbers and never have a ring. That's what I was thinking to myself before I came in New York. And, you know, just didn't know how important that championship would be. How much it means to me. If you're a basketball player, like it's like, and you're a dominant basketball player, you can reason. reasonably say that person should win a championship because they're so dominant on their team.

In baseball, you could be a great pitcher. Bro, you pitch every five days. Like, you're going to do the best job you can to do, but it's so easy to be a great ball player and not be able to affect defense or affect offense depending on the player you are. Do you ever talk to, like, Judge, who at this point is so incredibly beloved? And last year in the playoffs, I think really had his best playoff run as a Yankee. but are you ever able to impart anything on to Aaron Judge to kind of help deal with that get a championship, you know, pressure?

There's really nothing you can do. There's really nothing you can say, right? Like, but except winning championship, I feel like the one person that can really talk to him or understand kind of what he's going through is Alex. Like, Alex came here in 2004, put up incredible numbers, won two MVP's, and it didn't matter until he, you know, hitting the playoffs in 2009. and, you know, like everybody says, if he doesn't come up clutch like he did in all of those series,

we don't win. So like you said, Judge had his best playoffs last year, and I think he just needed to continue to hit in October. And one of these years, they'll end up, you know, raising that trophy. But the only person I feel like that can kind of relate to what Judge is going through is Alex. Cece, I know right now we're celebrating you, but I wanted to take a moment to highlight and celebrate all the incredible work. and your wife do with your foundation.

So I wanted to have our audience just kind of get a, get some info from you, like some of the amazing things you guys have done. And what are your plans for the year? Yeah. So me and my wife, Amber, we started, in my mom, really, we started the pitching foundation 2006, like in our living room in California. And just wanting to give back. You know, we started off, wanted to do a field renovation in my hometown.

We always did a backpack giveaway. I think, you know, for me, you know, as soon as I, you know, got drafted and, you know, thinking about my hometown of Vallele and thinking about the kids and just thinking about my situation, growing up in the boys and girls club, I wanted to do something to help kids, you know, that came from, you know, and look the way I looked. So we started the backpack giveaway right away, servicing all the kids in Velael. And then we wanted to expand into giving, you know, baseball fields. When I grew up, the baseball field was the most important thing and biggest thing in our community. The whole crest, the whole community would be out at the park. And I, And I wanted to highlight that and just turn our field around. And that's kind of how it started. We started with renovating that field. And then we've been renovating fields from California, you know, across the country in Ohio, in the Bronx. And, you know, this year we just continue to, you know, keep doing more.

You know, hopefully, you know, we will absolutely, absolutely doing a backpack giveaway. That's one of our staple programs. We do the Christmas caravan. And, you know, whoever needs help with their little league or teams or anything like that, we'll be there to kind of pick up the slide. I'm going to scrape together my nickels again this year and donate like we try to do every year. But this year we got to put the Ebro-Laul Rosenberg show

on the golf carts. Okay. You want to get a sponsor on the golf? Oh, yeah. We got to scrape our little nickels together. You know, take all our little money we get from the super chat. Don't add on the, you know what I mean? On a golf cart.

If I can go up there and shoot 115? I mean, listen, I do like 125. You know what I'm saying? C.C. Now, I saw, speaking of golf, I saw you hobbling around on your Instagram. What's happening with that? Because just a couple of months ago, you was barefoot on a golf course somewhere. Yeah, man, I had a knee replacement surgery at the end of January.

Something that I knew that was coming, something I knew I was coming during my playing career. You know, the doctors would, you know, keep telling me, you know, you keep shooting this thing up. You keep going out and pitching on it, you know, it's going to be wrecked. So, you know, authoritative me, you know, I had been out on the golf. course the last four or five years every single day and kind of just took my toe took his toll on my knee so got to replace um i'm moving around pretty good now this is kind of like my first week back into you know being outside and um excited to just kind of be moving around again yo cc can you tell me a little bit about your relationship with sam allen and any other

negro league players i know like with the players alliance you've been getting to do some cool stuff and i know the the negro league ball players are near and dear to you so what can you tell us about Sam Allen and some of the other players you've gotten to get to know. Man, Sam is just full of personality, man. Anytime he's in a room, he lights up the room. He's so much fun to be around. And, you know, I just love to hear his stories. I love to hear about when he was growing up, when he was a kid, what baseball meant to him.

And, you know, for me, I always, you know, growing up in Cali in the Bay Area, I was always wondering why I love baseball so much. Like, why do I have this baseball IQ? Why can I watch a whole game? why am I so on to Dave Stewart? All these different things, Vita Blue, all these different players. And it's because it's in our DNA. Like I thought the Negro Leagues was some backyard league where these guys were,

you know, the MLB was doing them a favor by integrating. And it wasn't. These were the best players in the world. Satchel Page in the 20s and 30s had a plane where they would fly around and play all over the world. You know what I'm saying? So these were the LeBron James and the biggest stars in the world at that time, you know, playing the game of baseball. And not until I walked into that Negro League museum, did I understand and realize that?

So I feel obligated and I feel like I always need to pay homage to those guys that, you know, paved the way before me. And Sam is just one of, you know, one of those guys in a long lineage that I feel connected to of why I love this game of baseball. And how has the work been going? You and I have talked about this several times because I'm always asking Cece about like, like he said, the baseball fields in black neighborhoods. And, you know, because when I was growing up, it was a little league.

You know, people play baseball. I went to high school with Derek Lee, who, you know, went on and win a chip and do things. And we've watched the amount of American-born black players go down and down. Down and down. What is that? What work is going on there? Because I know that's also something you've been trying to figure out and even working inside the league.

I don't know if you're still doing that work, but what's happening with that? Yeah, absolutely. I mean, you know, Rosenberg brought it up. The Players Alliance is something that's huge. And, you know, trying to make sure our community is. gets back into the game of baseball. I think for me, you know, growing up, like I keep saying, growing up in the Bay, there was no way in this climate today that I would make it in baseball.

You know, you have to have a lot of money to play this game. You've got to be able to travel all around the country. Scouts don't come out into little pockets to see kids anymore. You have to be able to get to Atlanta, get to one of these big tournaments to be able to get seen. And, you know, that probably wouldn't have been in the cards for me. So, you know, with TPA, with the Players Alliance, we're trying to make sure that, you know, people can stay in their community, grow up and play the game of baseball,

and still be able to have a chance. I think, you know, again, I always go back to thinking about my journey. If I would have had to, being a good baseball player now, you have to leave your community as a black kid to go play in different, you know, tournaments or different things like that. I never left Vallejo growing up to play. All my friends played the game. their dads were the coaches. My dad was the coach.

So I think for TPA, we're trying to get back in these communities and have the dads and the uncles and the grandfathers be able to pick up the slack and be the coaches for these kids so they don't have to leave their community to be able to enjoy this game and play this game. So, you know, it's a lot of work that we need to be, that needs to be done. But I think we're on the right track. And if you just look at the grassroots

and the amount of kids, black kids that are playing and have access to the game, you know, through TPA, through some of the stuff that we're doing at MLB. You know, I think we're starting to put a little dent in it. Is there anything we can do as fans? Is there, you know, supporting the Players Alliance or things in local communities? Is there some community outreach that may be reaching out to the Players Alliance

if there's a community watching right now that needs support? Absolutely. Reaching out to the Players Alliance, Players'Lions.org. If there's any little league coaches, any baseball coach, any men that love the game of baseball that want to get out and coach these kids, You know, we love that. I think, like I said, you know, baseball is like a, you need like an older mentor. You need somebody to take you out to play catch.

My dad would take me out. My uncle would take me out. So we need mentors. We need, I would love to connect with the boys and girls club and kind of drive, you know, the game of baseball through that. Me and Curtis Granderson had a league through Kipps Bay. That was free. You know, we supplied all the equipment, gave them nice uniforms,

Yankees against the Mets. We played all summer. and then we had a championship, you know, in August. Through the TPA, two years ago, we did Friday night lights where we had a league that was free. The Yankees helped us. It was right across the street from the Bronx in Yankee Stadium, and they played every Friday night under the lights.

So just these type of little leagues where we can make it free and get these kids involved and have the community activists, the people in the community, be the coaches, and be present. You know, I think it's going to make a huge difference. You know, Cece, I know we've got to let you go and we're so excited for you for September to celebrate you. Let's be honest, though. It's been a year of celebrating Cece. We're celebrating this.

There's a year-long celebration from Cooperstown to the Bronx, and it's been a blast to watch, bro. That's celebration of Matthew. Yeah. But, Cece, listen, you and I both have a tough thing that we now both share a thing to deal with. We have to find a way to go to sleep at night. knowing that Phil Mushnick does not approve of us. Are you okay? Who is Phil Mushnick?

I've never heard of this guy until the other day. Never in my life. And I just thought it was hilarious that, you know, he was able to write this art. I didn't even get the chance to read the article because it's not behind a paywall. I don't know who's buying content at the New York Post to listen to Phil Mushnick,

but that shit is hilarious. I think you will be able to sleep. Wait, tell my. I'm not up to the time. I know Phil Mushnik hates him. That's the only reason I know Phil Mushnik. Never even heard the name before. Rosenberg helps market this guy.

So what do he do to CIS? So first of all, he's been hating things for legitimately, I think close to 50 years in your post. Okay. Like he just hates things. Like he hated WWF wrestling. He hated Vince McMahon. Hey, he's just like a, he's a very, he has some moral, he's a moral high ground kind

of guy except his morals are in question. In this case, though, again, I only saw that the headline because I'm not going behind the New York Post paywall either. I just saw what CeC. saw, though, which was like the C.C. Sabathia going into Monument Park shows how low the standards have gotten for Yankee baseball. Based on what?

No, that's trolling before trolling was a thing. No, he's... No, it's crazy. It's hilarious, man. I think he does that to get under people's skin, I guess. Like I said, I've never met that guy. He's never been around the clubhouse. So, for me, I don't have any respect for anybody that can write an article or do or say something to do something that doesn't come in the clubhouse.

That's not around. So it's hard for me to listen to whatever sports radio around here in New York. Then I know that this guy has no information. He has no, you know what I mean? Like it's just him having an opinion. We might as well have a show talking about on WFA and talking about whatever. You know what I'm saying? Like it's pretty incredible how you can just really have no credentials,

never be around a clubhouse and people listen to what you say. Did now, did you, for the. guys that were in the clubhouse, even the ones that you didn't like, because obviously there's some big time Yankee writers always have been. Did you, what was your relationship like with those guys? And did you gain respect for the ones who they might talk nasty, but then you'd see them sitting in the clubhouse the next day? A thousand percent respect for Joe Sherman. Joe Sherman to write something about you and then come stand right next to your locker the next day. You know what I'm saying? That's the guy that you got to give respect to.

Whoever else is writing an article that you've never seen that I've never, ever met in my life before. And I played there 11 years and I'm still around. I still work for the organization. I mean, it makes no sense to me. But like I said, I mean, WFAN is full of those people, which is insane to me. Well, I also don't understand if I come to a town and I'm speaking on behalf of C.C., I come to a town. I give it my whole. I literally give my whole body to this thing.

I get my family. I'm here. And we win games. And I'm in games. I'm reliable. I'm durable. I'm here. And your heart and soul kind of player.

I mean, Frank, I'm in it. I'm in it, guys. I've been looking for C.C.'s heart ever since he left in my head. I'm in it, guys. A hat yank down, sweating through my hat every night doing my thing. And we're winning. We won a chip, guys. Yeah.

I know. We did our thing. What's to not like it? I get it. I get it, though. I get it, though. I understand Yankees' history and the names back there. And like I said, when I first got here, you look at Monument Park,

and you never think that you've, going to ever do anything that will live up to, you know, being in Yankees Monument Park. But, you know, if I look at my career as a totality and if everything was here in New York, then there would be no problem if you're going into Monument Park. If you look at my whole career. So it's one of those things where, you know, I didn't grow up in Yankee, so I understand the frustration from people. But I'm excited because I understand the history and even like just thinking about free agents

that's coming to New York, I think it may be only me and Reggie that are, ones that ended up in Monument Park signing a free agent deal. So that's special to me too. Listen, Cici, we're proud of you, man. It's awesome, bro. Appreciate it. We appreciate you. Thank you for joining our program today.

Send our love to the family, man. And we'll catch up with you soon. Yes, sir. I won't be able to keep up with you anytime on the golf course. No, no, definitely. I am not a retired professional athlete. This whole thing would you be on a golf course every day. when I scroll right past you on Instagram.

Yeah, no, it's too much. What else you're riding the bike, though? I can't keep up with you on. I try that. I can't keep up with you on the bike. It's the same thing. On the bite? No, you can't.

No, that's a lot of, a lot of time on the bike. But you, Peckos, G-spin. No, I'm sick of y'all. Yeah, have fun, guys. Take care. Thanks, C, C.C. All right. Appreciate it.

Peace, love. Listen, man, great guy, man. I love that guy. Who's better than Cici's about you, bro? How are we going to get in the building, though? because I don't want to bother him that day. Okay. But we got to be there.

But he has so many people who are going to hit, like, you know, we're friends with him, but I'm not. I'm not asked. Come on. But you could get the ESPN plug. I think it's more. You could go as press, couldn't you? No.

I can get Kay. Although Kay, but if it's a big day, it may be hard. Like who Kay likes me. K like, oh, no, he'd do it for you. You know what? I'm having you say. He hates you now, right? You guys got beef or something.

It's bad. It's bad. Beef. No, yo, listen. No. No, this is how much of a clownness guy, our friend Rosenberg. What? How are you beefing with a legend Michael Kay?

Michael Kay moves on into his, like, you know, hey day, working the best shift on the radio. Midday, chilling. 10 to 1 or something easy. No, 1 to 3. Showing up at 1 off at 3, dream job. That's probably why he's beefing with him, Laura. It's because you're jealous. You get the day over 3 o'clock.

No, I forget what I said about him. Oh, what happened was, I. I had I worked with Joe Tessator at at at W.E. Tess is a big play by play guy. And I was saying I said in an interview or something, I said Joe Tessitore may be the best point guard I've ever worked with. Like as leading a show. Yes.

So you could be offended too. So many people could be offended. But I don't know Joe and I don't believe you because you just say stuff. So I meant I meant TV. I was really referring to what we, that's kind of specific thing where you're like being hosted at a TV desk. It's not the same as how. I worked with Michael.

It's just not the same thing. Okay. But like when I said it, Kay, either someone wrote about it and then Kay saw it or Kay heard it. I forgot. And Kay just did what he did. Like he,

but he always does. Gets on the radio. Peter's no good and great. Oh, you want to be with Joe Testator. You know, and just made it a thing. Yo, Michael,

I love no good and great. I don't even think he said that. I may have just made that up. And talk, talk your ish. Talk your ish, Mike. And then so I went back at him, and it's just so funny. Like, we work so hard at ESPN New York.

We try to put on a good show every day. If WFAN Farts, it gets an article in, like, you know, the New York Post, the different places that's... Legacy media. Legacy media. Right, right. We're new. And when we do stuff, the only thing that gets written about is me and Michael K having a Fugazi beef. Article after article of us going back and forth.

Literally, I'm seeing him, you know, I was like, should we take a picture together now? You shouldn't be saying that it's... How did you got said it was Fugazi? I said it was Fugazi at the time. I said, you guys are idiots for covering this. It's not Kay Fabe, it's real. We're not even, we weren't even really pretending for it to be real. It just is what it is.

He's like an old. Michael Kay hates Rosenberg and that's all there is to it. Our next guest on the show. It'll work. Our next guest on the show, Lena, can you hear us? You are on the Ebro Laura Rosenberg show. Make sure we can hear Lena too. Hi, Lena.

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do you know what's what's up, what's up I hear you y'all

Hey, hey, hey, hey, what's happening fan. Hi, Lena. Everything. How are y'all? Really the question, what's not happening, fam? I know, I know. I mean, look,

I'm in Baltimore. I'm doing a play. Yeah. That's what's happening. That's what matters. Well, let's get right to it then. Let's talk about your new stage play. Your playwright, stage play, taking debut. Baltimore's center stage. It's called Trinity. Talk to us about it. Yeah. You know, Trinity is an experience for sure. I know y'all in New York.

We only train right away. You know what I'm saying? I highly recommend. I like that train. Penn Station's light work. You said what? That Baltimore Station is light work. Baltimore, the Penn Station of Baltimore is easy. I love how they say in this right now,

cut to by the time the 15th roll around it, like, yo, we weren't able to pull up. You know, it's all right. I couldn't make it. They're like, that's easy. You know what I mean?

You're like, that's easy. That's light. I got a toddler at home. It's tough to me. Yeah, we got toddlers out here. You know, Leah. We got kids. You know, exactly.

That's why y'all should cut. It's like, I'm childless by choice. Right? And there's a scene in the play where you go get to play with these things called What Ifs? Like, what if we had a baby? And it's something that we thought we wanted. And then we realize it's nothing that we wanted.

It's something we thought we were supposed to do. Oh, that's facts. And it's a very, there's a lot of laughter. That laughter is sometimes very uncomfortable because of the truths that we're talking about while holding a fictitious baby that's crying. Yeah, but Trinity is really about how. how our platonic relationships, our romantic relationships are directly affected

by how we were raised. And it's about going back to the beginning and figuring out what our mothers and our fathers taught us about love and how we should show up in it and how we decide to be loved. And it's about those three different relationships, those parental, platonic, and romantic relationships. That's the Trinity.

I love this conversation. I love that. And I love challenging people. A lot of people get very uncomfortable and don't want to walk into that conversation. So I love that you're doing this in a stage play version. What's been the feedback? The feedback has been quite amazing, you know, people.

Because the thing is, it's hard for people to know what they're walking into. So every day we do a show, we always say, oh, another unsuspecting audience, not realizing they walk into it. It's a bit of a therapy session, but it's funny. It's entertaining. There's really great music. I handpicked all the songs. We have a Trinity playlist.

It's like a Stevie Wonder song that very few people have heard or know about. There's some Kay Lani in there. There's some Leon Thomas. There's some Elmean. There's some Duke Ellington. It's a lot of, you know, music helps us tell the story, as you all know. And there's projections and there's lighting and it's a very futuristic stage. There's only three people on stage.

It's myself, an actress Courtney and other actress Fetna. It's a three-hander. That's it. Just the three of you. This is interesting. Wow. How did you end up? Why did you decide to go back on stage and to Baltimore?

Like, how did we actually land on this decision for where you are right now, all the success and in television, film, et cetera? Why this now? Well, I appreciate the question. First of all, I've never been on stage before. This is my on stage debut. Wow. So this is my first time acting on stage.

It's my first time writing a play. And I think that really speaks to the fact that I have done television. I'm continuing to do it. Season 8 to the shy, our final season is coming out this summer. We're filming right now. So we're transitioning out of that era, that journey. And obviously film has been really good to me as well. But, you know, I think with everything with all the screens and everybody, so there's so much happening and so much going on.

In theater, pulling out your phone is like pulling out a cigarette on the airplane. Yeah. It is ill-advised. Right, right, right. And so that's something I really appreciate. That's what I love about theater. Like, you literally have to turn your phone all the way off because you don't want to be that. person in the middle of a long, like dramatic monologue and your phone goes off.

So, uh, you have to be present. And I think theater is, it's something that's always been to how we've told stories. And it's always been how we've kind of come together as communities. And so the cool thing about theater is that it forces us to gather. It forces us to turn our phones off and it forces us to be present. And so that's why we're doing theater. I'm just finding a new mountain to climb. Lena, talk about the hard work because every day you got to get on that stage and give

100%. It's not like, you know, when you're shooting a TV show, you wrap up the scene, great, everyone, move on. No, you have to give a hundred percent. And that person who bought a ticket, sat down, is expecting, you know, for the first time. They're seeing you for the

first time, but they're expecting their money's worth. So I just want to, I want you to talk about that pressure. No, I appreciate that question. And the truth is, it's 80 minutes, no intermission, and we're on stage the whole time. And so it is, It's interesting because when we had our, you know, you have previews and you have open the night and then like critics come and then artists and directors of New York theaters come.

People always say, by the way, Debbie Allen came, you know what I'm saying? Carrie Bay Williams came. Yeah, I was going to shout out some of the names that have slid through this spot because the celebrity list looking nice. And even the celebrities who bought tickets for the community, that's amazing. Correct. Shout out to Gayle King. Yeah.

Appreciate her very much. Shout out to Jada Pinkett. Appreciate her. Corey Booker pulled up as well. And also as well as the mayor of Baltimore. I just talk to the governor as well. He's pulling up too. You know, it's just been really a beautiful thing.

But the truth is, it doesn't matter if there's three people in the audience. Or if it's like, you know, a person, you know, for a congressman, a governor, a critic, it does not matter. Everybody's the same. No one is above. No one is below anyone. And so for me, I have to give it my all because the work to, it's so, it's just, I'm on an assignment. It's mission work. Like when y'all get up every day and come do this and y'all not took it to YouTube, y'all like, no, this is, we're not going to let somebody tell us no.

That's right. And so I'm not going to let nothing deter me from giving just my all. Like, and I am laying myself bare. We say there's emotional nudity in the play, and there is. We're getting very vulnerable. We're getting very real. So I'm not going to hold back. I'm not going to give it my everything.

The same thing goes from my two castmates. So it doesn't matter what day you come. You matinee open the night or the last night. we're going to give 120% every single performance because we are worthy of that and so is the audience. How much of what's happening on this stage and in Trinity,

because often I've heard seen playwrights, we've had a good relationship with Lynn Manuel Miranda throughout the years and watching him even early days when he came and rapped Hamilton raps to Rosenberg and we was like, why is bro rapping about Alexander Hamilton? It sounds crazy.

And then we went to the play and was like, wait a minute, this is, kind of fired. This was the rap he was saying in the hallway. But a lot of times y'all are working through material and this is helping you form other things while you're doing this live thing. Is that also a part of this process

for you? Well, yeah. I mean, right now the script is frozen. We've been we workshopped it. We weren't going to for like two years. So we workshoped it, you know, in Baltimore. We did a workshop in New York. We had two new workshops in New York. And then obviously during the tech and rehearsal process here, we cut things, we edit things, we move things around. And now

we're at a place where it's like, oh, this is the show. This is airtight. It feels right. The reviews have been really beautiful. Like literally, these are some of the most beautiful reviews I've ever read and that there's not only because they get the work, but they're seeing things in the work that I didn't even see.

But they're also being really kind. One of the reviews called The Work Generous. And that to me is the kind of compliment I want in my career. And I think that's because it is that. There's no ego. I'm listening to the village. If somebody has a better idea than me, then so be it. You know, if I'm like, what about this?

like, no, that's wrong, or I'm nervous about that, but let's try and see what happens. And that's really what's happening in theater. You know, there's no, it's not about, oh, how do I keep everybody's attention from their phone, but I am keeping your attention. It's swift. It's like you can't be misaligned, you lost. So it's the kind of thing where you really got to be locked in and people have been so present with us and so vocal and so just a part of the journey.

The audience is another cast member for us. That's beautiful. Lena, we've been a part of, you know, honored to be a part of your journey and know you since you first came on the radio show for the shy, man, when this whole thing started, you know, ramping up for you. And now the shy's ending. Can you talk about how that feels as, you know, this is one of your original babies?

Yeah. I know, I know. It's so interesting. I mean, you guys know something about transitions. And I think, you know, our tagline is the shy says goodbye season eight. And I think, you know, and I've never done, like, a last season of a show before. I've never written the last episode.

I've never filmed the last season. And so I'm off to go back to the set and touch the set and give that speech that you kind of need to do. But I think for me, I just in a space of gratitude to have been on for eight seasons, to have grown so much over the course of the series, and to have watched these actors grow so much. Robert Townsend is currently directing an episode of the show,

805 right now. So it definitely also feels. There's something about when the legends and the icons come, whether it be to the set of the shy or to the play, for Debbie Allen to come to the play and be so impressed and so moved for Robert Townsend to come to direct. We were just on the table, read with him,

and for him to say, I've been a fan of the show, and I'm so honored to be here. There's something about that for me. I think you guys can relate to that and that we are people that know we aren't new. That's right. We know that what we're doing

isn't something that we've kind of pulled out of our hat. And I do know it in the hip-hop world, there's sort of like, I did it first. I'm the first one. Nobody's done this before. And in my space, I'm the opposite of that. It's like, I have done nothing first. There have been so many people that have come before me,

that are the reasons why I am here right now and why I do what I do. So for me, I just want to pay homage to, you know, someone like Felicia, who did Soul Food, the series on Showtime, where we wouldn't be here, we're not for that show. I wouldn't be here, we're not for Debbie Allen. So, or Susan Fells Hill, or Shonda Roms, or the event Lee Bowers, or Marlbrockett Kills. For me, I'm just really grateful to them for doing what they did, for me to come along and have a show that can run eight seasons and for me to have the career that I've had with the show. But the show is something that will never be forgotten. it'll always be with me and I'm grateful to the audience that has just the shy family that's rocked with me since day one well and she'll never forget because after eight seasons that means that checks lost in forever time you know what I mean

how can you forget I mean I don't know man look look I don't know if I need the the fireboggles on that because like the money's different now they go real like the syndication is different though like I'm telling you like it might be you plagued yourself because the truth is like I you know like seriously it might be you play with them because with the street you and whatnot. And like the syndication checks aren't what they used to be. It's not like, oh, your show airs on TBS now or oh, you get paid for reruns. It's not that kind of party. I still got to go to work. I may be on YouTube with y'all. Listen, we hit. We got space. And by the way, it's a great place to be. I ain't going to hold you. With the way the landscape is changing and the way things is the, we are honored to be in this space and have an audience. And I was listening to the names you were rattling off that,

you know, made it possible for you to have a eight season. on with the shot. And what I found myself thinking while you were saying that was just about the ability to withstand in a world where either saying unpopular things, telling unpopular truths, and doing things like a maverick like you've done, it's hard. You know what I mean? And it's because people came before you and created some space. I think we feel the same here, too. And thanks for acknowledging that transition that we're in right now because, Just continuing to show up to a space with people you love and have an audience is super valuable. And even what you're doing in Baltimore, right?

Where you were just talking about West Moore coming to the show and the mayor of Baltimore coming to the show and having that community embrace you. And that's also a community in transition. Like a lot of people, if you haven't been paying attention, what's going on in Maryland, what's going on in Baltimore, you know, for you getting out there and engaging with that community and bringing them out with their families and then talking about trauma and triggers of parenting on stage. in a catharsis kind of way and an invite like that's all powerful stuff and to have community responding to that you know it's got to feel beautiful and salute to you for that no i appreciate it and it does it's amazing it's been phenomenal and i love like watching y'all here on this platform on youtube because where i do watch little stuff now you know so i had no issue following y'all over here and joy hearing y'all talk about your families and what's going on you know rosenberg mad at his apartment

You're talking about you talking about. We have updates. You know what I mean. Lino, listen, stop by the studio one day and just hang, man, for no reason. Yeah. Pull up. Happy to. That is.

Thank you, thank you, so much. Thank you. I appreciate you. Y'all check for that play. Make your way down there to Baltimore if you can or if you're in the area. March 15th. There it is. It's called Trinity.

Go look for it. Sounds dope. Take care. That sounds really dope, man. Now, listen, speaking of family, you want to get the family matters? Shopping to Lina Waith. It's Tom. Yo, we haven't replaced the

Oh my God He just sent the new ones Hang on It's a rare condition This day and age Reading a good news On the newspaper page And love and traditions

Of the grand design Some people say It's even harder to find That ever seen Bow bow bow bow This bootleg is crazy I got to know when he just gave it to me during the show You have it now

It's importing right now for the outro We're not how you feel Love an outro Speaking of Family Matters Issa in the studio today Over there sleeping board on the board on the job You want to bring her on? Is she saying hello or are you Can walk on? Issa you want to say hi? It's up to you

I already got a picture of her dead of sleep I tried to tell her to go lay down and there She could sleep but you know she had a day off school Hi Hi Issa I was so happy I was like Issa is here

So how was the football experience Can you tell us It was great It was really good So we were in Florida And it was a world tournament With different teams

Some from China The Bahamas Mexico Oh wow All over the world Yeah So they were like 10,000 players

What Just in my age Division There were 32 teams Wow So from different places. So the first, it was a two-day tournament. So the first day, it was like pool play.

So we had four pool play games. My team ended up winning three out of four. Okay. So that's what advanced you to the next round? Yeah. And it kind of ranked us. So we, I think, our overall rank, we were like sixth. And then the championship day, we had four playoff games.

And then we had the championship. game, which was live on ESPN. We saw. We saw. We show clips. Yeah, yeah. So that was good, but it wasn't like too overwhelming because the cameras weren't like all up in your face. Right. They were kind of like from afar.

Okay. So you didn't feel extra pressure or anything. No, not really. But it was a fun experience with the team and everything. So yeah. Wow. Young Issa. So that's what she's been on. We missed you at Salasi's birthday. Yeah. But it was for a good reason. But we were celebrating you. We were so happy watching on TV. Nice. Nice.

It's going to be tough the next few years. It's the same time every year. So at Salasi's birthday. Well, you know, listen, we just got to get her back for five big? Five is big. Five is big. Three and four is what I think you celebrate before and after. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

So this is family matters. I do want to ask you, now that Salasi is two years old, she's very, very cute. She reminds me of you when you were little. You were a very cute child. However, we're not with the child every day. Yeah. When you're around, does Salasi starting? to annoy you at all.

There any times when you go, all right, Salasi, I know you want to be with me every second, or is she just cute and adorable all every second? Sometimes, like, when you first see her, and she's like, Issa, and gives you a hug, you want to spend time with her? There's times when I'm like, can I have a hug? She's like, no.

And she doesn't want to hug you or like. And you feel rejected, right? Yeah, but then when you're just like chilling, watching TV, she wants to come cuddle up with you sometimes. So she, like, picks and chooses when she wants to. to be nice to you and not. And sometimes I'm trying to like just go and chill in my room

and she wants to follow me. Sounds like what Kenzie used to do with you if I recall. They're like, give her some personal space. Like let her breathe. And then she finally wants to hang out with you. So sometimes it's like she just picks and chooses. So when you want to hang out with her,

she doesn't want to hang out with you. And when you're trying to do your own thing, she wants to follow you around all the time. But it's not really that. It kind of sounds like her dad. I'm gonna be honest with you. You wanna hang with Ebro, he's gone, can't find him, don't know.

But then you might see him to think, he might cling on to you and be with you the whole time. What's going on? What's going on? What's going on? Because he feels uncomfortable. Now he's up on you. Is it awesome though?

Is it been just cool having a sister? Because you were an only child for so long. Yeah, it's cool. It's different because now I'm getting older and I have stuff I'm doing, so I'm away from the house a lot. So like, if we were born closer in age, I probably would have like more time.

and be able to, like, relate with her. But now I'm getting older. She's, like, playing with her toys. And maybe sometimes it's not, like, fun for me all the time. So we just have to, like, find the balance of stuff we're doing. But we, like, watch family movies and dinner. So that's, like, how we... Yeah, that's how we, like, spend our time.

Aw. I wonder, so what? The age difference is eight years? No. Nine. Nine. Yeah. Nine years.

So the catch-up will be at, like... 20 and 30? even earlier. I mean, because honestly, even like by 25 and 16, they're still like, they're different, but like it's a different kind of hang. Like, she'll want to bring her, like, oh, it's my 16-year-old little sister, but they can still hang, you know? I gotta keep an eye on that.

Even when she's like 19, she'll be able to take her place. Take the mic there, Laura, go ahead. I said that even when he says 19, she'll be able to take her places because she's not hanging out with a baby anymore. Yeah, 19 and you could take a, like, that'll be taking someone your age right now around. Yeah. So that could be meant when, you know, college you,

but by then, She's going to be like an Olympian. You know what I mean? She's going to be an Olympic flag football player. At that point, flag football icon. You know, that's a- Trailblazer. Trailblazer.

Yeah, we'll see. Oh, that's really great. How far do you want to take this flag football thing? Okay, so it started as something like I was new. I've been seeing it. It started to like go viral. So I was like, oh, this is cool. And everyone was like, what do you want to do?

I was like trying to find a sport. I was like, I'll try out flag football. It started being a thing just on Sundays for rec. And as like I started to do it, join teams, develop friends. I think the level I'm in now, I could keep going until like high school, like 17. But I don't know. I'm not sure if I want to like go to college for it. I like it, but I still want to find like a backup, like a corporate job.

So I'm not like. That sounds like half a bro. So I'm not just focusing on like. Sports, because it's a risky business. It doesn't go right. I also have a backup and something I love to do. Wait, so. What do you love to do outside of flag football?

Okay, so I'm very artsy. Like, I love arts and crafts. I've been to, like, into bedazzling things. We love bedazzle. Def, not a career. It's not a career. Yeah, I know. Maybe on Etsy.

You can bedazzle on Etsy. Yeah, I like paint nails sometimes. Okay. Issa's going to be a nail tech. No. Nell tax is a great career. It could be. It could be, but that's one of those risky jobs.

Yeah, you don't know. Yeah. It's a good hustle, though. I ain't going to hold you. It is. It's a good side hustle. Like if you could build a clientele, you could. Hello.

Laura, how much you're paying for that set you got on right there? No, this one's a light one, but you can charge up to like. But how much did you pay for this light one? This one was 100. Hundreds. Hundreds still real money for nails. But there is, sometimes people charge up to like $300 for really cool nails. Yeah.

So, um, I like, I dance, I sing. I do like a lot of different, I've done a lot of different sports that my dad has signed me up for. Tennis. I want to try out volleyball. Everyone's saying I'll be good at volleyball.

Yeah. I've done like swimming. So I... A lot of athletic creative going on over here. Yeah, very creative. So I like cooking. Yeah. Maybe it'll be a chef?

A chef. That's another. It's a risky business. Yeah. It is. You got to move around a lot. Yeah. It's hard.

It's hard, but it's fun. You watch the chef shows, don't you? I watch, I watch those baking shows and the chef shows, but it's also a risky business. How was, I'm sorry. How was the concert the other night? Sky, Sky, last weekend. Frey and Sky. Okay, so Fray of Sky, she's great.

She just starred in the summer in Zombies Four. Okay. It's like a little movie that all, like, the tweens are watching. Okay. It's kind of like a fiction. It's not like a real thing. Really, you don't say zombies. No, real zombies is what you're saying.

So, Kenzel right now is obsessed with descendants and zombies. So she's into it. Already? She watched descendants for a hundred years. She wouldn't stop watching it, but I'm not. Everyone in my age, we're off descendants now because so the original cast in the first three movies, the original cast, everyone loved it. Yeah.

And sadly, Cameron Boyce, one of the actors, died. And they tried to do another movie without him and without the original cast. So now they're like still doing the franchise of descendants, but it's not as good. So people bailed on it. It doesn't have the original cast. So we're all like we're kind of off it. Okay. So that's why we're on zombies.

So you're part of the descendant's hive. Is there a hive? Apparently she said we're off it. Yeah. So that implies there are people. Yeah. So zombies now, it's like fictional. Apparently in zombies five, they're supposed to be like mermaids or something.

Don't tell Kenza that. And they're like casting a mermaid or so. She started that and my friends were like, oh, who is she? Because she was like 14, 13 at the time of filming in the movie. She was young. And then everyone found out she had some albums out. And everyone started to go listen to that. And then she just put out a new one that started going like viral everywhere.

And then everyone's like, oh, she's going on tour. So everyone wanted to go see her tour. tour. And she kind of has like those like poppy songs. This Frank Sky you talk about. Right Sky, yeah. Yeah. And she's kind of like Taylor Swift, like giving like first Taylor Swift vibe. Giving early Taylor Swift. Yeah, a little bit.

But like, you know how. Shake it off vibes. A little bit. Okay. You know how Taylor Swift had like some of those guitar EPs? Sometimes she has some of those but she also has some of the like poppy with the drums and the bass and stuff. Okay. And then she has like her slow songs. So it was a nice vibe.

A little vibe. So you're not obsessed, but it was vibe. Do you want to, so it was at Manhattan Center. Mm-hmm. Tamerstein to you and me. The Hammerstein, to you and me. The Hammerstein, to the regular folks. And so, you know, it's general admission.

We just had to take it's GA. You know what I mean? We didn't have no special balcony, nothing. Right. You're not used to that. And so Issa's with her two girls. One of her friends, Zoe's like a fray, a super fan. She's the one who's in.

Eva and Issa were kind of like, we'll go with Zoe. And the dad's, of course. course were like, oh, we'll support. We're in for support. So we just, the dad stood in the back by the bar. And we let the girls figure out. Do they open the bar for a show like that? Yeah, they definitely had the bar

for adults. There's some adults. Adults were camping. We're hanging out of the bar. Okay, okay. But so there's a whole room of thousands of kids and some parents. Issa's friend, a couple of friends, ain't as tall as he said they couldn't see. So what did you guys do, Issa? So they were like, we want to go to the front. So Zoe had a sign

and everyone was putting up their signs. We're like, okay, let's go put it up. You want to do that. I'm down, but I had to, like, pull them through the crowds because they didn't want us to get lost and separated because that would be a whole thing. So I was, like, holding onto their hoodies, like, making sure we didn't get lost. We tried to go in this space and it was open, so we're like, we'll go here. But it was the fire exit. Uh-oh. So the security was like, you can't stand here.

Like, I'm going to need you to clear out. So we're clearing out, and we ended up standing in front of these two girls. And this girl's like, we're standing here. And I'm like, I'm so sorry. but obviously there's people. Like, can you not see that? So she started to get an attitude and I got an attitude back. It's right.

And I'm like, you are like 16 years old. Calm down. That's right. Calm down. You ain't even supposed to be in. You're too old for this anymore. Literally. Turn up.

And this whole grown woman with her child was like, why are these kids standing in front of us? Because you're not in the front road. There's going to be people in front of me. Just talk to them, Issa. I started getting mad. Yeah, people, but don't get. Well, I understand.

How did it resolve? What happened? The girls... Wait, wait. So what happened? Yeah, how did it end? No, so we ended up moving to the side. That's okay.

That's good. And then there was this grown man seeing in front of me. And so I just let my friends have fun. I was like sacrificing my fun because they were standing next to those girls and this grown man like my dad's height was like standing in front of me so I didn't see anything.

And then we ended up like, should we just go to the back? So we went to the back with our dad. so we could still see the stage. It just wasn't as close, but it was a better view. Got it. So we got to the back, and I was sweating, and it was like I had my jacket and my hoodie and my jeans.

So I took off my jacket and my scarf, so I was like, we need to end. Give me all the details. We need to, like, spread out. All right. So we ended up going to the back. And then I was, like, all tired, and then we ended up. So, and then Eason says to me,

I'm not okay. I'm not bad. Being an adult is hard. That was a quote Yes I was like Pushing through all these grown adults At a concert for like teenagers And getting into arguments with an adult

And a teenager It's exhausting me so I'm like I see why y'all stood in the back But yeah but no that is true That is why I often like the back But you may I think you handled it well In the end you stood you stood your ground Yeah

But then when you realize these people are being silly Ultimately what are you going to do You move off to okay watch the concert. Well, not only that, but, but truth be told, they got there early, which is why they were in the front. Right. Those girls that were arguing with us got there after us.

Oh, so you, so then you're right to maneuver in front of them there. Exactly. If they got there after you, they don't have a kick coming. That's right. As they say. But there is a thing I noticed, because when I was at Disney Paris, and we wanted to watch the fireworks, there is an annoying thing with the parent, with taller parents wanting to be places with their

kid. Yeah, you got to move. Because like, now you're there with your kid and I get it, but you're blocking all all the other kids and a shorter parent. So now we can't see anything. Well, as a taller parent, you are supposed to try to do the right thing, which is, hey, this is my kid right here, but I'm going to move to the back. Y'all got me, like, help me keep an eye. There's supposed to be combos happening with the parent.

Right. I don't want to be in the way. That's been my experience. Right. Where parents supposed to be like, yo, I know I'm blocking you all, but it's my kid right here. So I'm a move. So, you know, we work together. We're supposed to work as a unit parent.

Right. Because they're all parents at this point. Exactly. So, wow, Isa. That was a great adventure. Yeah, I was very adventurous. It was snowing. Some parents, like, you could see them.

They were standing out to the side doing their right thing. Like, you could tell their kids probably, like, in high school with her friends, vibing, and they were off to the side. Right. Some parents, there was a lady standing to my left, like, but when I was staring behind the man, she was to my left, and she was, like, looking for her kid, and she was, like, shining a flashlight in my face, and she lost her kid. She didn't know where her kid was.

So you got to, like, keep control of your kids. kid but then also not being in a way of other kids because it was annoying with us and I was trying to make sure my friends were having a good time because I wanted to spend time with my friends because I haven't seen them because I've been in Florida right but then I was getting into arguments with high schoolers and a woman and her kids it's a lot it's a lot I understand that's a lot isa how old are you 11 when was your birthday um August so you're turning 12 in August? Yeah. So what can we do about you slowing down the aging thing? Can you stop? I mean, I'm doing my best. I'm like, I'm like getting everything done in the time that I can. Yeah, that's all you can't do.

I'm trying to take it all the experience. No, I can't take it. You're doing a phenomenal job, young lady. And we're so proud of you and I hope you're proud of yourself. Thank you. I'm very proud. We need the drop of Issa. He's a nice man. Oh, yeah. That's a old school drop. That was the first time on the radio. Do we have the video the first time Issa was interviewed? Now should we do a side by side but you have it it's somewhere oh I think you meant you like thought about it Oh no no I didn't think about it till right now we brought it up do you remember when I went and we had to do Issa's movie reviews Yes that was fine how about this how about this shot of Issa oh my god that's a classic You got show it to the camera that he got well oh here we go here you see it's a classic Yo this is a child this is a little baby right here that's her that's her you do yeah oh you want this way oh there you go oh good

Yeah, she's a little tiny baby. And it's still in my iPhone. Like that's how recent it is. That was her first birthday. Yes. Is that you remember the outfit? Yeah. Well, because I had that photo.

You had a photo with it. She had a photo with Laura that day. Well, here's another birthday. Always Issa here. Switch that again. That's the Mawanna birthday. I'm dressed as Maui. Yeah, there's Evo dresses.

Here, look over my shoulder, Bascom. Go back to over my shoulder. Wrong angle. There you go. Okay, there you go. There it is. I was dressed as Maui. Yo, Ibro, you look good with the long hair thing.

No, it's a vibe. No, it is a vibe. Relax. It's giving. What's it giving? I don't know what it's giving, but it's giving something. Another one.

It's giving like dreads. Oh, when I had long hair. There you go. What's Issa doing? Issa and Bear at another birthday of Issa? No, that's a pool party? That's Passover.

No, this is a pool. That was at the pool party, Jerry's house. No, that might be Laura's house. My house? No, no, that's not. Oh, that was Jazz. That was at Jazz's house. And that was just a couple years ago.

How many years? What year was that? These are 2019. 2019. July 2019. Well, Issa, you've done a phenomenal job storytelling today. Give it up, Isa, one time. Issa!

Family Matters. Do we have more new family matters or that's family matters for today? I mean, we've done a lot today. I know. I do want to give a special happy birthday. Happy second birthday to Griff's little one. Wait, is that today? Tomorrow.

Happy birthday. Yay, happy birthday hunter. But the party's not for a couple weeks, right? Oh, because they double up the party. Yeah, yeah. Wow, two already? I know. Both are two, you, both.

He has two-year-olds who aren't twins. Yes, two-year-olds. And talking about having more kids, y'all need to relax. Talking about more? What is, yo, people, what is it with people? You got rest. You got Rassan over there Well, he's out of control

Well, his wife is doing any day now Any day Any day Any day? I don't want And Rassan swears he's still showing up to work I'm like, how about? Yo, I mean looking at it I told him, I was like, you better be there for her

Well, hold on, hold on, he's saying that But also Joe is sitting here looking over his shoulder So my guess is By force, by the way, by you? By you? By you're like, no, you're going to, Joe's going to keep learning So we're prepared to keep rolling? Yes. Yo, man, I just

I guess that exponentially it just has to get somewhat easier. Like one seems so hard, then two's hard, but then by three it has to start going the other direction or something. No. It has to. My girl was two kids.

She is in shambles all the time. She has two. She has to stay at her mom. So it's like she has to deal with the pressure all day. I think it's when you go to three and four that it starts to get like, now your brain doesn't even process what's going on anymore.

You're just letting go at this point. Jazz and I were talking about another the other day. Oh, really? We were having a combo about why I don't think it's a good idea. Okay. But when you get down to actually talking about scheduling things, see, because you can be enamored by the joy and the beauty and the whole thing of just being in the bubble of the baby and the, I mean, it is a beautiful, let's call it,

let's get you 24 months. Let's get you 24 months of cuddling, beauty, and all of the things. Yeah, I mean, you're skipping over a lot of other stuff. I don't look at it that way. Yeah, that's a lot. I hear what you're saying. No, but that's how people. brains remember it they remember all of the mornings waking up they remember all of the

cuddles at night they remember all of the little baby in the cute clothes right that was another thing because we had storage wars last weekend so the conversation of what are we getting rid of an older clothes and all this stuff but people forget all of the scheduling and all of the things you had to sacrifice so that you could enjoy what you enjoyed now if you're willing to keep sacrificing like you have no other stuff that you want to do for for yourself, whomever you are, man or woman. You don't have any professional aspiration.

Everything is family, family, family, and that's it. You want to be locked in that space of driving people around, getting them to their things, going to other people's things, right? Because your kids have friends, and then they have friends, and then birthdays, and this thing and that thing, and the holidays and figuring out vacate. If you're willing to give up all of the stuff that you want to do, and that's your life, I could see how you go, I don't mind having another. Yeah, some people really enjoy that.

Some people don't. Some people like me and other women in my life just want to go back to being able to do the things they love to do. And it's not selfish. Some people are like, oh, that's a bit selfish. You know how many curse people out? I'm like, no, it's not. I mean, it's either not selfish or you're villainizing the word selfish.

It's that you want to have a life for your... Is it selfish to want to have a life? It would be selfish if you were abandoning your responsibility. responsibilities as a parent and only focused on having the stuff that you want to do. That's not what you're saying. I could actually argue if I wanted to. If I was going to be that guy, I could argue it in some ways it's selfish to go the other way. What do you mean?

Just continue. And I'm not talking about Bascom. I mean, you guys, everyone's situation is different. But like, sometimes people just want to keep having kids because it seems so fun to have kids. But by the end, it's like, are you giving, are all the kids getting the best thing? Or are you being selfish? That's what I'm saying. Right.

You're saying the same thing. You're not, that's not the other way. I'm saying for someone like Laura who's saying, hey, I need to have stuff for me so that I could be the best version of me for my child. Right. So that when I spend time with my child, I'm locked in, we're rocking and rolling, and then I need stuff for me too so that I can be that person. Of course.

That's not selfish. That's just knowing what's for you. Correct. It would be selfish if you just keep having kids because you like a certain phase of baby, you don't riddle. But then when they get to, when they need you to drive them around and give them experience, and take them to be with their friends and have a friend group, you ain't got no time for none of that.

Well, like, we had T.I. on this week. And when T.I. was talking to us about his kids, you realize that with his older kids, all of us are parents and none of us know what he's talking about. 17, 19, 21. All of these other levels that none of us have gotten to yet. Yeah. That people just act like they know they're all going to be good.

Everything's fine. Like, there are people that when their kids get to be high teenagers are so difficult and they spend every weekend night, especially if you're like my insane parents, to spend every weekend night waiting for their kid to get home. My dad never slept. Like while me and my brother were in our partying phase more of like going out, especially with my brother where he knew my brother was probably drinking and being dumb.

My dad didn't sleep on Saturday nights. Not until he heard that door slam. That was my mom too. That's it. But there's some parents who they're not sleeping ever again. Like they've, but there's an acceptance. that they've had.

Like, I have children, and their children are 40, and they need to know that their children are okay. I know people like them. Yeah. That are like, in their 60s, in their 70s, like, yeah, I never really went back to, like, you lay down at night and everything is just, all good.

Unless all the kids are in the house. That's why they'll love the holidays so much. Like, if they have Christmas and their whole family's there, they could finally go to bed being like, my kids are downstairs. And their kids are downstairs. Everyone is in my house. Yeah. So some of that is you have to,

to lean in for people who have multiple children like Rassan or thinking about doing it like Dawn and Griff. Don and Griff have leaned all the way in. Yeah. Like this is what they're doing. Right. They are raising these children thinking about having more. They work their jobs.

They have their home. And this is it. And we're rocking for the next 20, 25 joints. I just, I will need, we're talking about it and what a timeline would look like. But as we're having this conversation, I'm literally. time having the thought that I'm like we can't have a serious conversation about that until we firm up like our living situation. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

100%. There's no way. There's no way. Not until we truly know like what comfortable, because we're not mentally comfortable right now. Well, and are you sure while you guys are having this conversation, you know, first time moms, that first two years is topsy-turvy of them becoming this new person, right? Because they're a mom now. And they still want, like Laura's articulating, there's still this desire to get back to a thing.

So Natalie deeply has that desire, but I think what she wrestles with is, should I just take the step soonish before I'm all the way back? Because am I going to want to do it again? Am I going to want to work my way all the way back? And now we're pregnant. And Griff says that's what dawn's type of time. And then I'm doing it again where she's like, maybe we should just think about doing it soon. and I can make one comeback and that's my one.

I hear her. I can't tell her what the answer is. You know, I can't. It has to be her choice. I just know I have to firm up our other stuff. That's your job. That's my job. Her job is.

But you have a job in this too. That's important. Who's that? You. And you. And you. We need to make this motherfucking money. So all of these things need to be firmed up so we can feel good.

That is the ELR. show today. That was busy. Cc Sabavia, Lena Waite and Issa. No, the surprise guest, I don't even want to, yo, it's it. And the title, like, when we post this, because the live title can sometimes change. I wonder if we should include

ESA in the live title. But that's the surprise. Or that's the surprise when people get there and they're like, oh, because they're going to, you know, they love, our hardcore Foss love the family stuff. They love, I mean, Natalie, Natalie came through with that one. She's the one who came up with family matter. I mean, I love giving

credit for that because she really just like said the words she was like family matters that works yes give it to her no no no I give it to her give her everything until we get to cease and desist then we're blaming you man yeah yeah it wasn't too dope then have a great weekend y'all yo listen make sure y'all subscribe and share and do all

the algorithm hustling we need the EL Army big up and maybe next week because I know Laura's been in the trenches we can get a merch update because we've been busy this week yes all of the all of the we got plans sure should be shipped out if you have any issues with anything.

E-L-R-Murch at gmail.com. By the way, we didn't even mention it on the air how annoying E-BRO is. Last week, Laura sends us a text message at night. I mean, she's like, oh, I'm tired. She sends us a picture of her literally in the trenches shipping shirts. Now, I literally didn't know this was happening to like a week ago. When E-BRO says a merch director, I literally assume like everything else. It's something he's just making up.

No, no. No, no. I thought he just makes saying words because he says words. You know, she says us the picture in the trenches. And she's like, my back hurt My response Oh man, great job Ebro's like, yo, you still in the gym?

My man, shut the, yo. Can you just? Are you still working on your back? I'm like, she's bending over But what exercise does she do it for this? My man, shut up. Don't follow the podcast.