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Speaker 1: On Theme is a production of iHeartRadio and Fairweather Friends Media.

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Speaker 1: As there are a lot of things that happened this

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Speaker 1: year that were not on my twenty twenty three pop

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Speaker 1: Culture Bengo.

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Speaker 2: Card, like what Twitter changes its name to x.

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Speaker 1: Or Congress holding a hearing on UFOs or UAPs or whatever.

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Speaker 2: They're called, or that her submarine them jokes was flying.

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Speaker 1: All things that got us in a tizzy. But one

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Speaker 1: thing the people have been asking for, clinging on to

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Speaker 1: hope for, was an outcast album and they didn't get that.

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Speaker 1: But they did get new music from Andre three thousand.

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Speaker 2: Yep, his first solo album at that, and being the

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Speaker 2: king of unconventional that he is, there's not a single

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Speaker 2: lyric on the album, an hour and thirty minutes of

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Speaker 2: relaxing instrumental songs.

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Speaker 1: The switch up, the pump fake clearly andres telling everybody

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Speaker 1: to chill the hell out. But seriously, before New Blue Sun,

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Speaker 1: it would have been fair to assume that he moved

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Speaker 1: on from making and releasing his own music, that he,

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Speaker 1: like so many of his musical peers, had gone Hollywood.

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Speaker 2: It's a trajectory that Andre fluted, I mean flouted, but

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Speaker 2: once so many other rappers happily embraced.

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Speaker 3: Today's episode the Rap to Act pipeline.

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Speaker 2: Many musicians keep on keeping on in their music careers,

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Speaker 2: taking the stage well into their later years, but rap

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Speaker 2: is a special beast. There seem to be some self

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Speaker 2: and society impose limits on how long a rapper can

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Speaker 2: keep spitting with integrity and relevance.

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Speaker 4: Sometimes it feels inauthentic for me to rap because I

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Speaker 4: don't have anything to talk about in that way, Like

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Speaker 4: I'm forty eight year years old. And not to say

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Speaker 4: that age is a thing that dictates what you rap about,

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Speaker 4: but in a way it does, And like things that

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Speaker 4: happen in my life, like what do you talk like?

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Speaker 4: I gotta go get a colonostope? Like what do you like?

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Speaker 4: What do you rap about it? You know what I mean?

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Speaker 4: Like my eyesight, My eyesight is going bad.

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Speaker 2: There's all this pressure to keep up with the latest trends,

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Speaker 2: to collab with the hottest acts, and to keep putting

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Speaker 2: out new fire, to feed the algorithm and exploit it

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Speaker 2: to money making models for sure.

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Speaker 1: And plenty of artists have commented on how they felt

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Speaker 1: their rap careers had expiration dates that would come sooner

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Speaker 1: rather than later, similar to high performing athletes contemplating how

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Speaker 1: their bodies aren't always going to carry them to the Olympics.

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Speaker 1: But this thought process isn't always the default for rappers.

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Speaker 1: In a two thousand and nine interview in Xxale magazine,

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Speaker 1: Jay Z said that quote people should make music as

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Speaker 1: long as their heart isn't it.

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Speaker 2: And sentiments have changed over time. Earlier this year, in

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Speaker 2: a men's health Ludacris talked about how hip hop as

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Speaker 2: an art form is young and that aging is a privilege.

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Speaker 2: There's no you're too old, he said in the interview.

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Speaker 1: So true, there's no definitive cap on how long rappers

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Speaker 1: can keep rapping, but a fair few, including Luda himself

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Speaker 1: to an extent, have switched lanes insert fast and furious

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Speaker 1: joke here and made acting their main squeeze. So let's

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Speaker 1: start with Queen Latifa, because so far we've only talked

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Speaker 1: about the man's also ladies first. The Queen said it herself.

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Speaker 4: I've always celebrated the woman because I was raised by

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Speaker 4: a strong black woman.

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Speaker 2: I raised my father who loves women.

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Speaker 1: And she was actually the first female hip hop artist

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Speaker 1: to be nominated for an OSCAR. It was for her

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Speaker 1: role in the movie Chicago. Anyway, I gotta be honest.

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Speaker 1: As a late millennial, I knew Queen Latifah as an

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Speaker 1: actor before.

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Speaker 3: I knew her as a rapper. I grew up.

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Speaker 1: Watching Living Single, So at the time she was Khadija,

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Speaker 1: and Kadija was her depression.

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Speaker 3: Now that's when you sit around.

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Speaker 2: All day and cookie dowing whying at you. Not a

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Speaker 2: Nigro college fund commotions. Now, that's not me.

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Speaker 1: But by the time I was born, she had already

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Speaker 1: been nominated three times for a Grammy for Best Rap

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Speaker 1: Solo Performance, and in nineteen ninety five she won that

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Speaker 1: Grammy for the song You and I t Y A

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Speaker 1: bop with a positive message.

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Speaker 3: Yep.

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Speaker 2: She was all about women's empowerment from the jump. She

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Speaker 2: started singing when she was a child, and when she

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Speaker 2: was in high school she really fell in love with

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Speaker 2: hip hop. Her first album, All Hell the Queen, came

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Speaker 2: out in nineteen eighty nine. On the cover, Queen Latifa

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Speaker 2: stands proudly next to an image of the African continent,

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Speaker 2: flaked by her name and album title in the colors red, black,

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Speaker 2: and green.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, nobody had to ask her what she was about.

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Speaker 1: It was right there in her wraps, on her album

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Speaker 1: covers and the clothes she wore, and in her name.

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Speaker 1: Ever since she first started putting out music in the

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Speaker 1: late nineteen eighties, she's been an inspiration to other artists

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Speaker 1: like Eve, Lauren Hill, and Missy Elliott. But in nineteen

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Speaker 1: ninety one, after racking up some screen time and music videos,

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Speaker 1: she took her first role on the big screen, a

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Speaker 1: supporting role in the movie Jungle Fever. Then came House

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Speaker 1: Party two and Juice and her first starring role, Cleo

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Speaker 1: and set it Off.

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Speaker 3: Fuck you, I know you ain't fitna back down on

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Speaker 3: us now that we need you. I want more motherfucking money.

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Speaker 1: And Set it Off was a hit, not a sleeper hit,

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Speaker 1: not a cult classic, I mean a hit. As soon

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Speaker 1: as it dropped in theaters. Queen Latifa went on to

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Speaker 1: become Mama Morton, Gina Norris, Georgia Byrd, and Sasha Franklin.

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Speaker 1: And those are just some of her film roles. She

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Speaker 1: has her fair share of awards and nominations for her

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Speaker 1: work on TV as well, but a lot of her

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Speaker 1: characters across the board are really on brand for Queen Latifa.

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Speaker 1: Take her starring role as the blues singer Bessie Smith

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Speaker 1: in the twenty fifteen HBO film Bessie, or her leading

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Speaker 1: role as a charming woman with a terminal diagnosis and

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Speaker 1: plans to live the rest of her life to the

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Speaker 1: fullest in the rom com Last Holiday. The characters she

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Speaker 1: plays are often determined, funny, strong willed, loving, bold and straightforward.

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Speaker 1: Now they can be flawed. It's not a positive vibes

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Speaker 1: only situation. She's definitely not the perfect mother or business

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Speaker 1: woman in the Fox show Stars, but the story she

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Speaker 1: chooses to tell usually give ladies first. She's often cast

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Speaker 1: alongside a bunch of other women who would be considered

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Speaker 1: strong female characters. Think of Girls Trip and the twenty

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Speaker 1: twelve version of Steel Magnolia's. Her intentions to uplift women

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Speaker 1: are apparent throughout her art, even when it's not so explicit.

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Speaker 2: I can definitely see that pattern. So what you're saying

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Speaker 2: is that Que Latifah is a crossover connoisseur, a movie maven,

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Speaker 2: a true pioneer when it comes to women in rap

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Speaker 2: and women in rap who took their talents to tinseltown.

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Speaker 3: Yep.

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Speaker 1: And when we come back from the break, we'll get

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Speaker 1: into some other hip hop heavyweights who dove headfirst into

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Speaker 1: their acting careers.

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Speaker 2: All right, Eves, Who's up next? Next up is iced

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Speaker 2: Tea girl, a prestigeal mainstay at this point.

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Speaker 1: I mean, not a scene stealer or show stopper, but

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Speaker 1: a true and faithful detective for sure. He's been playing Fantutuola,

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Speaker 1: a detective and then sergeant on Law and Order Special

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Speaker 1: Victims Unit since the year of Our Lord two thousand.

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Speaker 1: The irony of him decrying police brutality in songs then

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Speaker 1: choosing to play a cop in hundreds of TV episodes

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Speaker 1: is not lost on anybody, not least all the interviewers

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Speaker 1: who got a good chuckle out of bringing it up.

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Speaker 2: But one thing we can't say is that he's not

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Speaker 2: committed to his roles.

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Speaker 1: Okay, iced Tea have been robbing banks, in jewelry stores,

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Speaker 1: stealing car parts, trying to pimp. As he's put it

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Speaker 1: in Split Decision his memoir with his friend and former

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Speaker 1: Rhyme Syndicate member Spike, he says he was a quote

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Speaker 1: career criminal, a player, a hustler, a street dude who

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Speaker 1: felt he had nothing to fucking lose. He only saw

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Speaker 1: himself living fast, and dying young or living slow in prison.

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Speaker 1: But he eventually realized that he was garnering too much

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Speaker 1: fame to stay in the game, so he abandoned his

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Speaker 1: street life and his debut album, Ryan Pays came out

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Speaker 1: in nineteen eighty seven.

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Speaker 2: And he's an og when it comes to political rap,

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Speaker 2: gangster rap, and rap about life in the hood. He

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Speaker 2: had a lot to say about South Central and violence

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Speaker 2: and his everyday struggles.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, he called it reality rap in a nineteen ninety

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Speaker 1: four interview with Terry Gross. All In all, he released

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Speaker 1: eight solo rap albums, but at the same time he

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Speaker 1: was breaking into the rap scene, he was also breaking

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Speaker 1: into Hollywood with Well the movies Break In and Break

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Speaker 1: Into Electric Boogaloo in nineteen eighty four. Acting work really

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Speaker 1: picked up for him in the nineties, and ever since

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Speaker 1: he's been earning his chops as a screen and voice

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Speaker 1: actor in movies, live and animated TV shows, and video games.

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Speaker 1: Ic Ty has released some singles recently, but he hasn't

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Speaker 1: released a full length solo rap project since two thousand

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Speaker 1: and six. That said, he is still consistently putting out

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Speaker 1: music with his heavy metal band body Count. They even

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Speaker 1: want a Grammy for Best Metal Performance in twenty twenty one.

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Speaker 2: Hip hop really seemed to be a pathway for a

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Speaker 2: better life for him.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, he gets into the finer points of his transformation

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Speaker 1: and his memoir, but he definitely views his evolution from

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Speaker 1: crime live to musician an actor as a come up.

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Speaker 1: It's right there in the title of the book, Ice

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Speaker 1: a memoir of gangster life and redption from South Central to.

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Speaker 2: Hollywood, an influence for so many people in rap and

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Speaker 2: a model for the rap to act pipeline trail blazers.

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Speaker 2: Speaking of who else you got in the short list?

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Speaker 1: Now, this last person on the list is undoubtedly the

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Speaker 1: most controversial star we'll talk about today, and he has

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Speaker 1: some of the most questionable wrap tracks in his ouvra.

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Speaker 2: Let me guess ice Cube.

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Speaker 3: Nope, but good guess.

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Speaker 1: Because he's had a lot of acting roles and folks

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Speaker 1: love to talk about how he put his thing down,

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Speaker 1: flipped it, and reversed it from gangster rap to feel

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Speaker 1: good comedies. He definitely could be on this list, but

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Speaker 1: he didn't make the cut. Plus one, Ice is good enough,

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Speaker 1: fair fair, Okay, I'll give you a hint, but you'll

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Speaker 1: have to wait till.

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Speaker 3: After the break.

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Speaker 2: Okay, we've all been waiting. What's the hint?

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Speaker 3: How come he don't vote me?

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Speaker 2: Man Will Smith exactly?

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Speaker 3: I mean, do I even need to speak?

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Speaker 1: On the expanse of his acting career, That scene with

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Speaker 1: his dad and uncle Phil and the fresh Prince of

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Speaker 1: bel Air was one of many iconic moments to come.

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Speaker 1: We got bad boys and men in black, all of

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Speaker 1: them Independence Day, while Wild West, which he took over

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Speaker 1: playing Neo in the Matrix, I robot, I am Legend

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Speaker 1: the Pursuit of Happiness, King Richard. Okay, I'll let the

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Speaker 1: numbers talk here for a second. Though he holds the

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Speaker 1: record for the most consecutive films to make over one

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Speaker 1: hundred million dollars at the US box office, and films

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Speaker 1: he's start in have grossed over nine billion dollars worldwide.

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Speaker 2: He said that he told his manager that he wanted

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Speaker 2: to be the biggest movie star in the world, and

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Speaker 2: he's not the biggest based on stats, but nobody can

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Speaker 2: deny his stature and impact. Folks make roles for him,

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Speaker 2: Folks go to see movies because he's in them. Of course,

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Speaker 2: it hasn't always been this way though.

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Speaker 1: Nah, definitely not rap is where the story starts. DJ

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Speaker 1: Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince released five albums together

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Speaker 1: from nineteen eighty seven to nineteen ninety three. Will Smith

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Speaker 1: made a lot of money, and then he spent a

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Speaker 1: lot of money, and then the government took a lot

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Speaker 1: of his stuff because he owed a lot of money.

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Speaker 1: Then he met Benny Medina and Quincy Jones, and and

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Speaker 1: he landed a whole television show based on his own

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Speaker 1: rap persona.

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Speaker 2: As a solo artist, Will Smith released four albums from

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Speaker 2: ninety seven to two thousand and five. But by the

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Speaker 2: time he even started making solo music, he was already

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Speaker 2: starring in films, and actually his first single, Men in Black,

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Speaker 2: was a vehicle to promote a film that helped catapult

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Speaker 2: his status as a blockbuster phenom.

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Speaker 1: As true as t Pain is a rapper turn sanga,

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Speaker 1: Will Smith is a rapper turned actor. So what do

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Speaker 1: we have to learn from all these reinventions? I think

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Speaker 1: Will Smith is interesting. It's l al that you said

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Speaker 1: he's the most controversial. Do you disagree with that he's

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Speaker 1: the most controversial on this list?

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Speaker 2: No, okay, but it is interesting that you say he's

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Speaker 2: the most controversial, because I think he goes out of

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Speaker 2: his way to be the least controversial.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, he always tried to clean stuff up.

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Speaker 2: Yeah. I remember he was beefy with Eminem's talking about, oh,

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Speaker 2: I don't have to curse in my rhymes, and like

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Speaker 2: he at one point was like dissing gangster rap because

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Speaker 2: that was a big thing. He's like, I don't cuz

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Speaker 2: like I rap about loving my son and stuff like that.

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Speaker 3: But I'm sorry.

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Speaker 1: It just made me think because I think it might

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Speaker 1: have been in that the one the interview with jay

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Speaker 1: Z that I brought up where he actually brings up

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Speaker 1: Will Smith and because the interviewer asked him about his

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Speaker 1: kinds of raps and he was like, yeah, I'm not

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Speaker 1: dissing party rapping everything, but I don't do that stuff

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Speaker 1: Will Smith.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, it went back.

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Speaker 2: It was like he wanted to set himself apart. I

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Speaker 2: feel as like this safe black person to work with,

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Speaker 2: and of course in recent years that has gone off

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Speaker 2: the rails a little bit because of his personal life.

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Speaker 2: But I think in his rapping and his acting, like

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Speaker 2: his you know, clean rap aesthetic and persona helped him

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Speaker 2: get all the acting gigs. So he's the type of

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Speaker 2: actor who he's very clearly black, but he doesn't always

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Speaker 2: play black roles. He plays Will Smith like how Ojay

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Speaker 2: was like, I'm not black, I'm OJA.

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Speaker 3: Well, I'm not black, I'm oji.

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Speaker 2: I feel like Will Smith has been on that tip

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Speaker 2: a little bit.

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Speaker 1: Well, he did straight up say that when he was

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Speaker 1: trying to create a formula when he was talking to

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Speaker 1: his manager of the types of movies that he would

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Speaker 1: choose to be in, because those are the things that

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Speaker 1: were going to propel him to start them. So they

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Speaker 1: had to have a certain certain elements, like they had

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Speaker 1: to have a love story or a love interest, and

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Speaker 1: they had to have some sort of monster, they had

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Speaker 1: to have a certain amount of CGI and this was

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Speaker 1: the formula that they were following to be able to

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Speaker 1: choose the next roles that he was going to be in,

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Speaker 1: and those were going to be the things that would

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Speaker 1: help prop his career up. So he definitely was intentional

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Speaker 1: about it. So I don't know. I can't speak for

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Speaker 1: Will Smith, but I wonder if he would cop to

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Speaker 1: that and say, yeah, I did it.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, Because you think about it, rap hip hop is

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Speaker 2: a predominantly black genre, and then acting isn't. And there's

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Speaker 2: a lot of like black famous actors, and I think

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Speaker 2: he was very intentional about not being black famous, so

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Speaker 2: going from this majority black art form to acting, but

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Speaker 2: also making sure that you are the leading man, right

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Speaker 2: because like, when you think about it, Hitch didn't need

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Speaker 2: to be a black person. Hitch could have been any race.

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Speaker 2: But they have Will Smith. He's this, you know, international superstar.

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Speaker 2: A lot of his roles are like that, but they

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Speaker 2: did make him play slave after he slapped Chris.

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Speaker 3: Rock in Emancipation.

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Speaker 1: Do you think that's the case for the other people

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Speaker 1: that are on the list, like they could their roles

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Speaker 1: wouldn't necessarily need to.

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Speaker 3: Be black people.

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Speaker 2: No, because Queen Latifa from the movies that I've seen

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Speaker 2: with Queen Latifah, like bringing down the House at Last

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Speaker 2: Holiday Beauty Shop too, she's black, like you need to

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Speaker 2: be black, you know what I'm saying. And of course

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Speaker 2: Will Smith is also a much bigger actor than she is.

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Speaker 2: But yeah, I feel like Queen Latifa, like you said,

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Speaker 2: she stayed in the Ladies first lane in a lot

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Speaker 2: of her roles, but she's also stayed in I don't

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Speaker 2: want to say black empowerment because a lot of them

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Speaker 2: are just like feel good movies generally, but like the

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Speaker 2: black comedy you know, bag. But I'm trying to think

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Speaker 2: of a role that she's done where any race could

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Speaker 2: play it, and none is coming to mind for me.

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Speaker 1: So do you think there is a respectable way to

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Speaker 1: do the rap to act pipeline in an unrespectable way

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Speaker 1: to do the rap to act pipeline?

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Speaker 2: I say, get it how you live like. It's worked

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Speaker 2: for both of them in their different ways. I mean,

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Speaker 2: there's a lot of things about will Smith that it

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Speaker 2: makes sense that Hollywood would pick you to be like

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Speaker 2: the raceless leading man in some cases, you know, like

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Speaker 2: you are capable of well he did play Ali, true,

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Speaker 2: but you know you're tall, you can be fit.

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Speaker 1: But it's easy to do when it's a biopic. I mean,

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Speaker 1: you gotta be a black you gotta be a black man.

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Speaker 2: I don't know because they had Zoey sound out and

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Speaker 2: playing Nina Smount.

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Speaker 1: Oh yeah, we're talking about skin color though there right.

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Speaker 2: Well she be hollering that she not really black too.

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Speaker 3: Well, there's that cut that it's been enough shade in

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Speaker 3: the episodes.

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Speaker 2: No, but I mean, I think there's a lot of

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Speaker 2: different ways to do it. We've seen literally three different ways,

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Speaker 2: from Queen Latifa staying in her black Lady's first lane

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Speaker 2: to Iced Tea kind of being like the working man's

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Speaker 2: actor playing you know what, does he play a detective?

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Speaker 2: A cop? And then Wilsonith being like the superstar and

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Speaker 2: kind of quote unquote transcending race and a lot of

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Speaker 2: his that's the way to put it. A lot of

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Speaker 2: his and in a lot of his roles.

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Speaker 1: So yeah, yeah, yeah, I mean it's clear that I

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Speaker 1: don't know these people personally and why they made the

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Speaker 1: decisions that they did. But there can be a range

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Speaker 1: of decisions as to why a person goes into acting.

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Speaker 1: It can be because it's something that they've always wanted

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Speaker 1: to do and they knew that and we didn't know

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Speaker 1: that because they don't share their hopes and dreams with

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Speaker 1: us from jump. Or it can be something that they

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Speaker 1: realize that they are drawn to once they start rapping,

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Speaker 1: something that they realize that they're good at something a

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Speaker 1: different way they want to get their message by. So

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Speaker 1: here on one thing, we talk about all the different

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Speaker 1: modes of black storytelling, and so it can be really

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Speaker 1: inspiring to see people try different things in different avenues,

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Speaker 1: regardless of whether or not they're good at it, regardless

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Speaker 1: of whether they wanted to do it in the first place.

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Speaker 1: I think seeing all these different elements, in all the

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Speaker 1: different ways that the people we talked about chose to

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Speaker 1: move forward in their acting careers, I think just gives

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Speaker 1: a little bit more visibility to the kinds of breath

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Speaker 1: that the black storytellers that we look up to half

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Speaker 1: in the work that they do and what we are

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Speaker 1: capable of and what we can be willing to do

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Speaker 1: and learning.

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Speaker 2: I do think it's telling that they don't play rappers

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00:19:14,200 --> 00:19:16,680
Speaker 2: or like anything really adjacent to them. Besides, you talked

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Speaker 2: about Will Smith The Fresh Prince was based on his

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Speaker 2: rappers ona, yeah, but after that, it doesn't really come

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Speaker 2: up for any of these former rappers, right, yeah. But

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Speaker 2: I do think it has to do with the age thing,

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Speaker 2: because you know, they're all at this point middle age,

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Speaker 2: so it wouldn't probably ring too true if they were

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Speaker 2: playing rappers or kind of any in the vicinity of

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Speaker 2: rappers too, because like you said, the people who are

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Speaker 2: you know, the young adults who are going to see

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Speaker 2: them in the movies, are streaming their movies, probably don't

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Speaker 2: really know about.

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Speaker 3: Them rapping like that I was thinking about.

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Speaker 2: So it would be like, wait, what is Will Smith doing?

379
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Speaker 2: What is what is the queen doing right now?

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Speaker 1: Well that's a good point too, like the serving as

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Speaker 1: models of being able to do the thing that so

382
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Speaker 1: many artists want to do if they feel like they've

383
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Speaker 1: been pigeonholed into a certain stereotype or a certain lane

384
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Speaker 1: doesn't even have to be a stereotype if they've been

385
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Speaker 1: pigeon holed in any way. This gives them the opportunity

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Speaker 1: to distance themselves easily from the other thing that they

387
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Speaker 1: were doing. And so I think that's another reason why

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Speaker 1: they may not play rappers like they did before, because

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Speaker 1: it's like I've moved on, yeah, and not saying that

390
00:20:31,000 --> 00:20:33,359
Speaker 1: they don't care about music anymore. That's the thing about

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Speaker 1: all these people we talked about today, Like they might

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Speaker 1: still make music tomorrow, they might come out with another

393
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Speaker 1: rap album and that's up to them. But it is

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Speaker 1: like a redefinition I think, and that I guess that

395
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Speaker 1: can be pretty empowering too.

396
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Speaker 2: And might still be rapping, just not letting us hear it.

397
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Speaker 3: They are amateur rappers again.

398
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Speaker 2: Yeah, the fir Love. One thing I was thinking about

399
00:21:06,680 --> 00:21:09,680
Speaker 2: was Queen Latifa and set it off is how it's

400
00:21:09,840 --> 00:21:14,680
Speaker 2: referenced in our culture. And the one line I have

401
00:21:14,760 --> 00:21:16,880
Speaker 2: to givebout is Drake saying about to set it off

402
00:21:16,880 --> 00:21:19,639
Speaker 2: in this Bitch Queen Latifa. But I feel like I

403
00:21:19,680 --> 00:21:21,159
Speaker 2: always say that, like if I say it like I'm

404
00:21:21,160 --> 00:21:23,800
Speaker 2: about to set it off, it's Queen Latifa. Mind you,

405
00:21:23,840 --> 00:21:26,520
Speaker 2: there were many other people in that movie setting it off,

406
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Speaker 2: but Queen Lativa did her thing. She set it off,

407
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Speaker 2: you know what I mean? And like that being such

408
00:21:32,320 --> 00:21:36,520
Speaker 2: amazed day in Black culture and just like Black vernacular,

409
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Speaker 2: it's like, are people referencing her as a rapper more

410
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Speaker 2: now or as an actor? You know what I mean?

411
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Speaker 1: I think that people are referencing her more as an

412
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Speaker 1: actor just because at this point her body of work

413
00:21:53,440 --> 00:21:55,600
Speaker 1: and acting is much larger than her body of work

414
00:21:55,600 --> 00:22:04,080
Speaker 1: and music is. And I think maybe I think they

415
00:22:04,119 --> 00:22:06,280
Speaker 1: are like you and I t u y, that's something

416
00:22:06,320 --> 00:22:09,600
Speaker 1: we still say a lot. But just because of how

417
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Speaker 1: much work she does have in the acting realm, there's

418
00:22:12,480 --> 00:22:15,600
Speaker 1: so much more, so many more flashpoints, so many more

419
00:22:15,760 --> 00:22:19,440
Speaker 1: big moments to pull from that are memorable. I think

420
00:22:20,160 --> 00:22:24,280
Speaker 1: that can become memes in ways. I think maybe it's

421
00:22:24,440 --> 00:22:26,920
Speaker 1: acting at this point. For Queen Latifah and.

422
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Speaker 2: For Will Smith, he had the goal of being the

423
00:22:29,800 --> 00:22:34,040
Speaker 2: biggest actor in the world, but he also produces movies,

424
00:22:34,800 --> 00:22:36,639
Speaker 2: and he produces some of the ones that he starts in,

425
00:22:36,680 --> 00:22:38,960
Speaker 2: but then also produces ones that he's not in. So

426
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Speaker 2: I think as far as like the storytelling aspect of

427
00:22:41,280 --> 00:22:45,879
Speaker 2: going for rapper actor and producer, having more of a

428
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Speaker 2: say of what stories are getting out there is interesting

429
00:22:50,080 --> 00:22:52,840
Speaker 2: for Will Smith. So can you guess some of the

430
00:22:52,840 --> 00:23:00,119
Speaker 2: movies he's produced? Hitch, Yes, King Richard, Yes, Aladdin. I

431
00:23:00,119 --> 00:23:01,600
Speaker 2: don't see that one on this list.

432
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Speaker 3: Okay, that's all I got.

433
00:23:03,400 --> 00:23:07,560
Speaker 2: There's some more that he's been in so Bad Boys.

434
00:23:07,560 --> 00:23:08,600
Speaker 3: Oh, okay, that makes sense.

435
00:23:08,680 --> 00:23:14,719
Speaker 2: Yeah, Emancipation okay, the First Suit of Happiness. Okay, this

436
00:23:14,720 --> 00:23:17,560
Speaker 2: one might be surprising. Atl Oh, I.

437
00:23:18,040 --> 00:23:18,919
Speaker 3: Don't think I knew that.

438
00:23:19,440 --> 00:23:21,560
Speaker 1: I guess there also might be a subsect of people

439
00:23:21,600 --> 00:23:24,280
Speaker 1: who have been on the wrap tag pipeline, but their

440
00:23:24,440 --> 00:23:27,600
Speaker 1: acting roles aren't huge acting roles that maybe we would

441
00:23:27,840 --> 00:23:28,320
Speaker 1: know about.

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00:23:29,200 --> 00:23:29,399
Speaker 3: You know.

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00:23:29,440 --> 00:23:31,919
Speaker 1: I think that's cool too that people can still do

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00:23:32,000 --> 00:23:34,119
Speaker 1: it in these ways where they don't have to be

445
00:23:34,760 --> 00:23:36,960
Speaker 1: the biggest actor. They don't have to be the loudest

446
00:23:37,000 --> 00:23:39,720
Speaker 1: one in the room, but they're still doing a thing

447
00:23:39,720 --> 00:23:42,000
Speaker 1: that maybe they love or that feeds their family at

448
00:23:42,000 --> 00:23:45,679
Speaker 1: the end of the day. And I know, in an

449
00:23:45,720 --> 00:23:48,800
Speaker 1: episode before, you talked about how rapping is a job too,

450
00:23:50,040 --> 00:23:54,240
Speaker 1: and acting is also a job, so in a way,

451
00:23:54,280 --> 00:23:59,080
Speaker 1: it's still it's like, yes, it's an artistic and creative job,

452
00:23:59,160 --> 00:24:02,439
Speaker 1: but it's just like all of us other working folks

453
00:24:02,440 --> 00:24:05,760
Speaker 1: who have switches in our careers and choose to change

454
00:24:05,840 --> 00:24:10,080
Speaker 1: up because honestly, I feel like there's a lot of

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00:24:10,359 --> 00:24:14,240
Speaker 1: I don't know if it's hostility or negativity when people

456
00:24:14,280 --> 00:24:17,480
Speaker 1: talk about rappers who turn to actors.

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00:24:17,280 --> 00:24:19,440
Speaker 3: It's not always the most positive thing.

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00:24:20,000 --> 00:24:23,480
Speaker 1: Like when we're in discourse on the internet, you know,

459
00:24:23,600 --> 00:24:26,439
Speaker 1: or in conversations with people, it's like can they.

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00:24:26,320 --> 00:24:27,000
Speaker 3: Even do this?

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00:24:27,520 --> 00:24:29,560
Speaker 1: Or why are they doing this? Or they're just doing

462
00:24:29,600 --> 00:24:31,000
Speaker 1: it for a check, as if that's.

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00:24:30,880 --> 00:24:31,600
Speaker 3: A bad thing.

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00:24:31,960 --> 00:24:33,560
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think one of the things that is so

465
00:24:33,640 --> 00:24:38,399
Speaker 2: different about rapping, or the perception of rapping versus acting,

466
00:24:38,920 --> 00:24:40,880
Speaker 2: is rapping is supposed to be like from the heart,

467
00:24:41,000 --> 00:24:44,760
Speaker 2: like so real, like so authentic, and then acting you're

468
00:24:44,840 --> 00:24:48,920
Speaker 2: literally making up something, so it's like you're being fake

469
00:24:49,000 --> 00:24:53,160
Speaker 2: right now, And that's like a cardinal sin in rap

470
00:24:53,320 --> 00:24:56,159
Speaker 2: is like, oh, like you ain't shooting them guns you

471
00:24:56,160 --> 00:24:58,159
Speaker 2: said you shot, Like you don't got the bodies you

472
00:24:58,200 --> 00:25:01,840
Speaker 2: said you got, you know, and then acting is like, yeah,

473
00:25:01,880 --> 00:25:03,200
Speaker 2: I'm lying right now.

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00:25:03,840 --> 00:25:07,639
Speaker 1: That is such a fair and astute point because people

475
00:25:07,680 --> 00:25:09,399
Speaker 1: make a big deal out of people not writing their

476
00:25:09,440 --> 00:25:11,760
Speaker 1: own wraps. You got to write it yourself or see,

477
00:25:11,760 --> 00:25:13,840
Speaker 1: you're not the MC. You know, you're not the lyricist,

478
00:25:14,480 --> 00:25:17,919
Speaker 1: and acting is people literally writing your words for you.

479
00:25:19,480 --> 00:25:20,320
Speaker 3: And then you'd being like.

480
00:25:20,280 --> 00:25:23,920
Speaker 2: I got telling you how to move your body, what

481
00:25:24,000 --> 00:25:26,760
Speaker 2: intonation to use for a certain lines. So it's just

482
00:25:27,200 --> 00:25:30,879
Speaker 2: you are a different thing, or it's perceived as a

483
00:25:30,880 --> 00:25:34,640
Speaker 2: different way because I mean, I imagine there are rappers

484
00:25:34,680 --> 00:25:37,400
Speaker 2: out there who people are writing their lines, people are

485
00:25:37,400 --> 00:25:39,679
Speaker 2: telling them how to deliver them, how to move and

486
00:25:39,720 --> 00:25:43,040
Speaker 2: all that. But it's with this veneer of like, oh

487
00:25:43,080 --> 00:25:44,240
Speaker 2: that's all mem.

488
00:25:45,000 --> 00:25:46,719
Speaker 3: Yeah, that's a really good point.

489
00:25:46,920 --> 00:25:49,320
Speaker 1: And there were some other artists that we could think

490
00:25:49,359 --> 00:25:51,640
Speaker 1: of that could really fit the wrap to act Bill

491
00:25:52,040 --> 00:25:55,919
Speaker 1: for example, Eve or fifty cent, and we love to

492
00:25:55,960 --> 00:25:57,919
Speaker 1: hear some of the people that you can think of

493
00:25:58,280 --> 00:26:01,359
Speaker 1: that followed this route, So let us know on Instagram

494
00:26:01,400 --> 00:26:04,000
Speaker 1: at on Themeshow or email us at hello at on

495
00:26:04,080 --> 00:26:05,560
Speaker 1: Theme dot Show.

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00:26:07,440 --> 00:26:09,280
Speaker 2: And now it's time for role credits, where we give

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00:26:09,320 --> 00:26:11,920
Speaker 2: credit to a person, place, or thing that we encountered

498
00:26:12,000 --> 00:26:12,720
Speaker 2: during the week.

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00:26:13,000 --> 00:26:17,080
Speaker 1: Eaves Takeaway Today, I would like to give credit to

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00:26:17,880 --> 00:26:21,840
Speaker 1: Black nature poets. I have been reading a book about

501
00:26:21,880 --> 00:26:25,919
Speaker 1: Black nature poets, and you know how I love to

502
00:26:25,920 --> 00:26:28,480
Speaker 1: be out in nature. I'm always thinking about what nature means,

503
00:26:29,200 --> 00:26:32,520
Speaker 1: what it means in relation to blackness in the United States,

504
00:26:32,520 --> 00:26:37,640
Speaker 1: specifically in the South, specifically, what my relationship to nature

505
00:26:37,680 --> 00:26:39,960
Speaker 1: has been over the course of my life, and Black

506
00:26:40,040 --> 00:26:42,200
Speaker 1: nature poetry has been a way for me to connect

507
00:26:42,320 --> 00:26:44,119
Speaker 1: to it in a way that I connect to nature

508
00:26:44,160 --> 00:26:48,240
Speaker 1: in real life, like just the feeling, the touching, the imagery,

509
00:26:49,280 --> 00:26:54,199
Speaker 1: the depths, and the resonance of black nature poetry and

510
00:26:54,240 --> 00:26:57,359
Speaker 1: how I actually experience it and have been thinking about

511
00:26:57,400 --> 00:27:01,240
Speaker 1: it in the world. I want to give credit to

512
00:27:01,280 --> 00:27:04,840
Speaker 1: Black nature poets today because I really value and respect

513
00:27:04,840 --> 00:27:06,560
Speaker 1: the work that they do and I love it.

514
00:27:06,720 --> 00:27:07,120
Speaker 3: That's cool.

515
00:27:07,119 --> 00:27:10,040
Speaker 2: I'm going to check out some black nature colature. Yeah,

516
00:27:10,160 --> 00:27:13,440
Speaker 2: I would like to give credit to cousins. It's a

517
00:27:13,520 --> 00:27:19,480
Speaker 2: nice relationship It's like extended family, but sometimes like siblings.

518
00:27:20,359 --> 00:27:23,359
Speaker 2: Be anything you make it. That's very true.

519
00:27:24,000 --> 00:27:24,439
Speaker 3: I love that.

520
00:27:25,320 --> 00:27:27,479
Speaker 2: And that's all for this week. See you next time,

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00:27:28,119 --> 00:27:31,840
Speaker 2: Bye bye.

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00:27:33,480 --> 00:27:37,399
Speaker 1: On Theme is a production of iHeartRadio and Fairweather Friends Media.

523
00:27:37,960 --> 00:27:41,080
Speaker 1: This episode was written by Eves Jeffco and Katie Mitchell.

524
00:27:41,400 --> 00:27:43,840
Speaker 1: It was edited and produced by Tari Harrison.

525
00:27:44,400 --> 00:27:45,120
Speaker 2: Follow us on.

526
00:27:45,080 --> 00:27:48,479
Speaker 1: Instagram at on Themeshow. You can also send us an

527
00:27:48,480 --> 00:27:52,880
Speaker 1: email at hello at on Theme dot show. For more

528
00:27:52,920 --> 00:27:57,639
Speaker 1: podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or

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00:27:57,720 --> 00:28:00,440
Speaker 1: wherever you listen to your favorite shows. Fo