Speaker 1: Hey, y'all, Hey, what's up and welcome the Legs Red
Speaker 1: Table that. I'm Tracy t Row and I'm Cora Presley.
Speaker 1: What episode listen to? Legendary? How are you feeling about
Speaker 1: Fat Joe and his interview or Red Table Talk? Tracy,
Speaker 1: I feel like I could have listened to another hour
Speaker 1: of Fat Joe. Fat Joe. Let me just tell you
Speaker 1: a storytelling King Fat Joe. When I say I was
Speaker 1: all in, he gave us like visualization of things. It
Speaker 1: was just so rich and not just the storytelling, but
Speaker 1: what he shared it was just good. He's a legend.
Speaker 1: First of all, can't we just say that Fat Joe
Speaker 1: is a hip hop dang on legend. We're tipping our
Speaker 1: hat to you and giving you your flowers while you're here,
Speaker 1: and we appreciate you. Cara. We have lost some people
Speaker 1: in hip hop world. We have rest and peace take off.
Speaker 1: That is new Nipsey. I mean, it's hard, So that's
Speaker 1: why it was it's better sweet to see him at
Speaker 1: the table because I'm glad he's still have living legend
Speaker 1: in here. But on top of it, we just have
Speaker 1: so many that we lost at the same time. So
Speaker 1: we want to just say from our virtual red Table
Speaker 1: to the family, friends and fans of all those who
Speaker 1: have been lost in the hip hop world. Our sincere
Speaker 1: sympathy to you, because we know that they mean a
Speaker 1: lot to us as artists, but we know they mean
Speaker 1: so much more to you as your family members and
Speaker 1: your friends, and so we just want to acknowledge that.
Speaker 1: And I think Fat Joe got an opportunity to say
Speaker 1: that when it came to Big Pon and definitely indicated
Speaker 1: how much of an impact they had on their lives
Speaker 1: and how he still is trending up the next generation.
Speaker 1: I mean him discovering something I didn't listen. He talked
Speaker 1: about so many things we didn't know. Let's talk about
Speaker 1: some others. DJ Keller was a little mind blowing from me.
Speaker 1: Maybe that's just shows how much I don't pay attention
Speaker 1: to hip hop like I thought I did, But you
Speaker 1: didn't know. I like that I didn't know. I did
Speaker 1: not know how to clue. So one of the things
Speaker 1: that I loved about his conversation. First of all, back
Speaker 1: in the day, when you saw a Big Pon, you
Speaker 1: saw that Joe right, it was like it was a
Speaker 1: tool for right. The Terance Squad. They were just they
Speaker 1: were dominating back into day and Remy mall loved her
Speaker 1: to Remy Ma, come on here, yes, please thank you
Speaker 1: for acknowledging you know the queen we got to talk about.
Speaker 1: I just appreciate the fact that he was like, I
Speaker 1: discovered DJ Khalen and he's like a brother to me,
Speaker 1: and I'm so happy for him. And then he was like,
Speaker 1: but now DJ Kalen is doing He's got greater success, right,
Speaker 1: And I was, God, hold on, I thought, let's have
Speaker 1: a conversation here. And I love that he took it
Speaker 1: beyond him having a spiritual connection, right and literally went
Speaker 1: to d J Kalen was like, dude, I just had
Speaker 1: a conversation with God, and I love that he is
Speaker 1: the greatest. God is the greatest, and come on, DJ Kalett.
Speaker 1: But really the anchor that they both have their spirituality,
Speaker 1: because if you look at Fat Joe, for everything that
Speaker 1: he's gone through, he didn't plan any of that was
Speaker 1: all and so much stuff that it was a shot
Speaker 1: in front of his mom left home at fourteen, I mean,
Speaker 1: just smashing a bottle over. Somebody's going to prison, and
Speaker 1: how they put him in solitary confined to keep him safe,
Speaker 1: and he was like, also, how he turned to the arts,
Speaker 1: he turned to the graffiti, he turned to the music.
Speaker 1: And he's still an authentic person, even from the way
Speaker 1: he loves his wife to the way he defended a
Speaker 1: SHUNTI I mean so many things. Okay, so now we
Speaker 1: got to talk about both of those cars. So let's
Speaker 1: take it in the order you said it. Yes, first
Speaker 1: of all, his wife is gorgeous. But there was one
Speaker 1: particular moment when he started talking and it was truly
Speaker 1: like being at someone's holiday table. The red table turned
Speaker 1: into like the cookout table when he was talking and
Speaker 1: Willow was like, oh Willow was right, like she had
Speaker 1: to hinge, like, oh my gosh, I don't want hear
Speaker 1: adults talking about other adults in their body parts, and
Speaker 1: he was, can I just be honest here? And I
Speaker 1: love He shook Willow's arm and her shoulder. He was
Speaker 1: like it was high as it was a fat ass,
Speaker 1: and she was just like, oh that I love those
Speaker 1: stays her ground. But baby, she was not that, like
Speaker 1: it was uncle fat Joe, like it was uncle Joey
Speaker 1: at the table. She was like, I do here it
Speaker 1: is I absolutely loved seeing Willow in that position. It
Speaker 1: was sweet to see like they were family and like
Speaker 1: she was a kid, even though I know she's gone.
Speaker 1: And then I'm gonna tell you the way he stood
Speaker 1: up for a shanty. Oh yeah, necessary, But were even
Speaker 1: him telling the story about how he stood up for
Speaker 1: his wife. First, he has an authentic connection with women,
Speaker 1: and he said that, he said that we are powerful.
Speaker 1: He loves us. Shout out to you, fat Joe, stands
Speaker 1: up for your wife against her ex and standing up
Speaker 1: for a shanty in the middle of the interview controversy,
Speaker 1: even when he said how ev got his face changed?
Speaker 1: He was telling him, this is my sister. But there's
Speaker 1: so many people out here who lie and may be
Speaker 1: fairy telling us y'all come on here, y'all be lying
Speaker 1: to us, and we people just don't believe. Oh there
Speaker 1: are some people who actually still respect with me. Yes,
Speaker 1: And he meant it like that's his sister and he
Speaker 1: loves her and protected her. And I'm grateful that he
Speaker 1: stood up and spoke the truth about that and called
Speaker 1: her gotty out. But it was about a shanty, And
Speaker 1: can you imagine how seen affirmed and loved the shanty
Speaker 1: felt in that moment? That part. Listen, somebody said a
Speaker 1: shanty might be at the table, so come on here
Speaker 1: because we can't wait. We're gonna have to see I
Speaker 1: cannot wait. Love her. No, this was a great episode.
Speaker 1: I'm grateful he came to the table, and I'm gonna
Speaker 1: tell you something else. It was nice to have someone
Speaker 1: who still had trauma, who still went heartache, but the
Speaker 1: way that he shares it, there was still so much
Speaker 1: light in it, and I think for this season it
Speaker 1: was necessary to be able to have a moment where
Speaker 1: we could see, right, just a good positive episode. Not
Speaker 1: that the others aren't positive and informative, but this was
Speaker 1: a nice, lighthearted episode. I'm excited about his memoir and
Speaker 1: I'm excited about just what's next. Now it's time to
Speaker 1: share what our online Red Table Talk community has to
Speaker 1: say about this episode. Amy Perry said, so amazing. I
Speaker 1: love to hear his stories and his way of telling us.
Speaker 1: It's so captivating. I said he was a storyteller, and
Speaker 1: I'd seal the table and save it. Don't touch that
Speaker 1: table again, add I love that I do too, Amy,
Speaker 1: I'm with you, and we are happy to also hear
Speaker 1: from Leslie Shade. Lastly, said, this was really an amazing interview.
Speaker 1: I'm so glad that Joe decided to let his hair
Speaker 1: down and allow fans and everyone to see the man
Speaker 1: he has become. Appreciate these r t t s great interview.
Speaker 1: It really was a great interview. Yes, they had done
Speaker 1: a part two with him, you know, he could come
Speaker 1: on back. I love it. Okay, And last, but not least,
Speaker 1: Tiffany Spencer Gert said, I met Fat Joe about fifteen
Speaker 1: years ago and a teeny holding the Wall Italian Restaurant
Speaker 1: in Little Italy in New York City. He was with
Speaker 1: his crew, but was super cool and took a picture
Speaker 1: with me. Seemed like a humble guy. You know, I
Speaker 1: love a good story. I love a good behind the scenes.
Speaker 1: I totally see him being like, yeah, come on getting
Speaker 1: this picture from that. You know, I totally see him
Speaker 1: doing that. I love that. I mean you can feel
Speaker 1: his genuine humbleness from him being at the table and
Speaker 1: just the way how he loves women in his life,
Speaker 1: and you know how he talked about his daughter and
Speaker 1: his wife. I mean, he's just I really like Fat Joe.
Speaker 1: Thank you guys for sharing your fantastic comments for us
Speaker 1: on the Red Table Talk community to keep them coming.
Speaker 1: We love hearing from you. We're gonna take a quick break,
Speaker 1: but when we get back, we'll be joined by our
Speaker 1: incredible guest. UM super excited to welcome Radio Blitz or
Speaker 1: just Radio B to the virtual Red Table. He is
Speaker 1: a friend, MC songwriter, platform builder, fashion designer, and so
Speaker 1: much more right here from my hometown of Richmond, Virginia.
Speaker 1: Radio B is joining us because he is a rap
Speaker 1: artist like Fat Joe, and he's going to share what
Speaker 1: he calls Fat Joe a pioneer. So welcome to less
Speaker 1: Red Table. That Radio be welcome. Thanks for having me.
Speaker 1: I appreciate it. YEA not a problem. I can't wait
Speaker 1: to get into this one. Super excited like you had
Speaker 1: the one like one of the best bios ever, Radio B. Right,
Speaker 1: you had to take a good long breath to get
Speaker 1: all that out that. I love that. This is a
Speaker 1: part of the show where we reveal which moments made
Speaker 1: us pause, rewind and listen again. It's time for Wait
Speaker 1: What Wait? I love o wait What segment. It's one
Speaker 1: of my favorite seconds in the show. We had a
Speaker 1: lot of good ones with Fat Joe bringing to the
Speaker 1: dog on Red Table, but let's see the first one,
Speaker 1: Fat Joe revealing his first nickname and the story behind
Speaker 1: how he got it. Okay, Joey Crack, where did that
Speaker 1: name come from? Joey Crack. The way I got Joey
Speaker 1: Crack was before the drug crack, when the teacher would
Speaker 1: ask me to go to the chalkboard and write something.
Speaker 1: I always had like sweats like I'm wearing, and the
Speaker 1: crack of my ass was shot, and so the girls
Speaker 1: would be like, good, Jeey crack, Joey, and it just
Speaker 1: stood my name. I had it. I made it my
Speaker 1: graffiti name, and then it turned into my rap name. Okay,
Speaker 1: Joey Crack had me rolling, y'all, Joey Crack. I ain't
Speaker 1: see that, Okay, I honestly would have never guessed that
Speaker 1: a kid would have been named Joey Crack unless he
Speaker 1: was selling crack number one. That's what I was going, okay,
Speaker 1: And I think everybody thought that right that It was like, Okay, yeah,
Speaker 1: it's because you're selling crack, But it was because they
Speaker 1: saw the asset crack. Hello, let's it's hard. Let's it's hard.
Speaker 1: Radio Beat. Listen, you have a nickname, Radio Beat? How
Speaker 1: do nicknames really play a part in hip hop nicknames.
Speaker 1: It's a part of our culture, just especially Black folk
Speaker 1: culture in general. Just be good for a nickname. But
Speaker 1: they stick or they don't stick. But the ones that stick,
Speaker 1: it doesn't really matter why you got it, it's there
Speaker 1: for life. Got so and don't you find that the
Speaker 1: nicknames are usually somebody making fun. Yeah, for sure, especially
Speaker 1: when it comes to family and family giving you a nickname.
Speaker 1: With him, I think that nickname hadn't evolved meaning over
Speaker 1: time if you know anything about Joe. But it's interesting
Speaker 1: that he had enough confidence to actually take what nickname
Speaker 1: came from someone joking on him and owning it. That
Speaker 1: was dope. I think he was still owning it because
Speaker 1: I don't know if it's saw it, but he was
Speaker 1: still showing a little bit of the crack of his
Speaker 1: assets at the take. I missed that. You said it
Speaker 1: was in there. I didn't see that. I'm telling you
Speaker 1: go back. I was like, Okay, Joey Crack, you're still
Speaker 1: living after this? I see there you go, bless It's hard.
Speaker 1: He's had a heck of a journey though, I mean
Speaker 1: he's told a lot of stories. This goes into our
Speaker 1: next Wait, what his story about standing up to his
Speaker 1: dad and leaving home at fourteen because of it. One
Speaker 1: day my father went to hit me. We was eating
Speaker 1: and I court it boom, and then he went to
Speaker 1: kick me. I grabbed his legs. I had him like
Speaker 1: hanging upside down. So I was a big four teen
Speaker 1: So I tell him in Spanish, you can't put me
Speaker 1: no more. You can't put me no more with this
Speaker 1: kind of experience, Have you leaving home in fourteen or
Speaker 1: do you know anyone who's experienced that radio I was
Speaker 1: kind of young for me to even think about. I
Speaker 1: can't say that that type of experience would have me
Speaker 1: leaving home. I can say that I've related to those
Speaker 1: types of experiences, and I can say that it can
Speaker 1: lead you to wanting to leave home. What I thought
Speaker 1: was interesting about that was he didn't leave home because
Speaker 1: he was forced to, you know what I mean after
Speaker 1: that incident. It was more so like the respect that
Speaker 1: he had for his father. You know what I'm saying,
Speaker 1: even amidst the circumstances as they were, was just like,
Speaker 1: you know, I crossed the line and I'm embarrassing. I'm
Speaker 1: shamed by that, and I just need to know that
Speaker 1: way for it. Yeah, right, this episode was super transparent.
Speaker 1: I don't think I expected the story that he was giving,
Speaker 1: but when he did say he ran out and well
Speaker 1: after he confronted his father, and I've experienced that with
Speaker 1: my son. They buck up at you because they're trying
Speaker 1: to they're in a moment of survel or I gotta
Speaker 1: stand up for myself, but they're still kids in their hurt.
Speaker 1: So I appreciated him being that transparent. So we could
Speaker 1: hear that absolutely. When he decided to leave home of fourteen,
Speaker 1: he started getting exposed to a whole another world of things.
Speaker 1: That's how he found out that the world is cold.
Speaker 1: He ended up having the whole experience and really his
Speaker 1: nickname Joey Krack went from cracking the but to crack
Speaker 1: something else right, A right, like you cracked that glass
Speaker 1: across that guy's head. It was a lot, and so
Speaker 1: it made him. It was a turning point for him.
Speaker 1: I think it was a really pivotal moment in his
Speaker 1: life when he left home because he had to fend
Speaker 1: for himself. He went from being a fourteen year old
Speaker 1: child to being in the position where he had to
Speaker 1: become a man. Radio. Why do you think as far
Speaker 1: as young men who transition into music used situations like
Speaker 1: confronting their parents or even the story he told about
Speaker 1: his heart turning cold. I often thought about those parts
Speaker 1: in different men's life, like how does that truly impact you?
Speaker 1: Do a lot of men have a moment where they're like,
Speaker 1: this is it, I'm no more nice guy? Right? Yeah?
Speaker 1: The loss of inno sence I think happens to humans
Speaker 1: across the board, right, men, women, I think with men,
Speaker 1: because we have pride, we have ego, we're taught that
Speaker 1: we have to be able to be strong and defend
Speaker 1: ourselves and not to be weak. So it kind of
Speaker 1: puts you at these forks in the road where it's
Speaker 1: either I handled this way or I go another direction
Speaker 1: and go at my own I think it's important to
Speaker 1: kind of consider what time period that was. And this
Speaker 1: is New York, and this is really the eighties, right,
Speaker 1: like the eies, so people were growing up really fast.
Speaker 1: If you listen to any of the rap music from
Speaker 1: that time period eighties early nineties, you wouldn't believe Nas
Speaker 1: was like eight seventeen, eighteen years old, right. Just the
Speaker 1: way that he's telling the stories and what he's seeing
Speaker 1: and the knowledge and wisdom that he's applying to this.
Speaker 1: A lot of people were raising themselves during that time frame.
Speaker 1: So for him to feel the need to say, Okay,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna leave and go out on my own wasn't
Speaker 1: really boring. It was I'm in that generation. I'm in
Speaker 1: the same generation with fat Joe. He was born in
Speaker 1: seventy I was born in seventy one. All of us
Speaker 1: gen xers, for the most part, had some moment of
Speaker 1: being feral, right, where we truly were in a position
Speaker 1: where we were raising ourselves, where we had to fend
Speaker 1: for ourselves. Not that we left home at fourteen like
Speaker 1: that Joe did, but that we were left to our
Speaker 1: own devices, and so our level of maturity and survivalship,
Speaker 1: the loss of innocence, as you said Radio B was
Speaker 1: far more advanced and happened way earlier for us than
Speaker 1: generations after, right, And so I think because he fourteen
Speaker 1: was different then, and when we think of fourteen now,
Speaker 1: it's like you're just a baby in the seventies. I
Speaker 1: remember being fourteen fifteen, I had responsibilities, right, I had
Speaker 1: stuff I had to do, and so fourteen then in fourteen,
Speaker 1: very clearly he was a big guy. Right, So that
Speaker 1: also plays a part psychologically for you, because you get
Speaker 1: treated already like you're older than what you are, because
Speaker 1: you're bigger than everybody else. Right. So I'm sure all
Speaker 1: of that played a part. I'm sure in his mind,
Speaker 1: if I have the strength to disarm my father, then
Speaker 1: I must be strong enough to go with alone. I
Speaker 1: felt the need to tell my father what he could
Speaker 1: have couldn't do, even if that meant you can't put
Speaker 1: your hand is on me. I'm of age to go
Speaker 1: and handle this by myself, right, go it alone. So
Speaker 1: if I can handle that, I can handle everything else.
Speaker 1: Another part of this weight would waste Graffiting the Red
Speaker 1: Table after the credits. Oh my gosh, I absolutely love legendary.
Speaker 1: What's doing He's gonna do graffitios? Yeah, he really did
Speaker 1: make history at the Red Table, like he said he would.
Speaker 1: I want to know, do y'all think they're gonna use
Speaker 1: that table going for I hope so. So I liked
Speaker 1: it and he signed it. I feel like they need
Speaker 1: to put put some what is it, Polly or whatever.
Speaker 1: I feel like they're gonna keep it. It's classic. They
Speaker 1: might have to buy another table. They got a few
Speaker 1: tables at the house. They got a bigger table, smaller table.
Speaker 1: So are we fanning out? Okay, Radio B, if you
Speaker 1: had a table that Fat Joe had tagged, I wouldn't
Speaker 1: do anything at it. I would You can't its own space?
Speaker 1: Who else has Fat Joe's text? Okay? So now, Radio B,
Speaker 1: what did you think about this? I loved it. It
Speaker 1: was some some stories I had heard because he's had
Speaker 1: like a short doc, so I'm very familiar with Fat
Speaker 1: Joe's story. I was born in the Bronx, so I
Speaker 1: have a respect and love from that standpoint. My parents,
Speaker 1: my family is from the Bronx, so I did not
Speaker 1: know that. So I was so, yeah, I have a
Speaker 1: guy love for Fat Joe. Yeah. Why do you think
Speaker 1: he's a pioneer in the hip hop world? Between him
Speaker 1: Turn Squad. Yeah, it's just he was one of those
Speaker 1: few that kind of played the executive role and played
Speaker 1: the rap star role. But also out of those guys
Speaker 1: except for maybe Jay Z and a few others, he
Speaker 1: could really rap. And I just think the way he
Speaker 1: approached a lot of things just there's only one Fat Joe,
Speaker 1: and he always had a way of coming up with
Speaker 1: a hit still to this, Like he can still put
Speaker 1: a hit together. So it's a multifaceted talent for me.
Speaker 1: And maybe he saw his tagging skills. He was doing
Speaker 1: that back in school. But then of course transition to
Speaker 1: the music and like you said, even that executive part
Speaker 1: of his life right, Like, he's leaving a clear legacy
Speaker 1: in several ways as a rap artist yourself, Radio be
Speaker 1: with legacy? Do you hope to leave? And I'm just
Speaker 1: gonna add this real quick before he answers. Radio has
Speaker 1: a whole mural in Richmond, Virginia. Okay, So I need
Speaker 1: you to know the legacy is already being laid and
Speaker 1: I love that for him. But what do you want
Speaker 1: to truly leave on? Man, that's a layered question. I
Speaker 1: think just for the things that I do, and I
Speaker 1: guess my purpose and why I do it is I
Speaker 1: really want to enrich are an empower artist from here.
Speaker 1: I'm really a hip hop head. So that's one of
Speaker 1: the reasons I rocked with Fat Joe so heavy, is
Speaker 1: because throughout all of the hits and everything like that,
Speaker 1: Like he's a hip hop head to the floor, you
Speaker 1: know what I'm saying. Core, Like he still cares about
Speaker 1: people that can really wrap and just making sure like
Speaker 1: that element of hip hop is represented. And I do
Speaker 1: it for those people. I do it for lyricists, the
Speaker 1: people that really have something to say, really put craft
Speaker 1: into their lyrics. So for me, it's giving people opportunities
Speaker 1: that were not laid out for me when I was
Speaker 1: in that position. We're also giving the ability to help
Speaker 1: develop artists in a way that keeps them pure to
Speaker 1: what's been important in the essence of rap, whether that's
Speaker 1: battle rap, whether that's just that MC aspect. I just
Speaker 1: really want to keep that alive. And so a lot
Speaker 1: of the things that I do are focused in that respect.
Speaker 1: We talked a little bit radio about what you do,
Speaker 1: but how do you do what you do? Give us
Speaker 1: an example of how you create the platform for the
Speaker 1: people that you're helping to lift as you climb. So
Speaker 1: I have two platforms right now, which are South Pall three,
Speaker 1: but South Pall Battle Coalition that started for in about
Speaker 1: two thousand fifteen, two thousand and sixteen, which is a
Speaker 1: battle league. If anyone's familiar with like Smack you r
Speaker 1: L and seeing those types of battles, that's the format
Speaker 1: in which South Paul takes place, and we've been able
Speaker 1: to really set some trends and make some impacts in
Speaker 1: and out of the city, and that led to me
Speaker 1: being able to figure out and facilitate my next platform,
Speaker 1: which is RBA Rapidly, which we just finished our fifth season.
Speaker 1: It's a monthly event where we have thirty mcs that
Speaker 1: compete in the cipher would acts as a league. Really,
Speaker 1: it's not like a one off situation. We track statistics
Speaker 1: throughout the season and we have an m v P s.
Speaker 1: We have a champion every month. So we want people
Speaker 1: to get their songs off and the music that they're
Speaker 1: working on, we want that to be presented properly. We
Speaker 1: want people to get their bars together and be focused
Speaker 1: on that and get that off. We want the producers
Speaker 1: to have a space to express themselves and the connect
Speaker 1: with the artists and hopefully build those relationships. So we
Speaker 1: do those things, but then we also have systems in
Speaker 1: place that make sure that the journalists and the podcasters
Speaker 1: and the people that cover from a media standpoint are
Speaker 1: plugged in. So need we know that Fat Joe had
Speaker 1: an opportunity to discover fresh new talent, one of them
Speaker 1: being DJ Khalid that's phenomenal, and so you are in
Speaker 1: a position where you will discover your own DJ kality Qui. Yeah,
Speaker 1: there's definitely the opportunity. And there's a bunch of incredibly
Speaker 1: talented artists that come through the platform and are doing
Speaker 1: some wonderful things. So I expect that there will be
Speaker 1: some great origin stories that will come from RBA rapidly.
Speaker 1: Kalid discovered and an artists also from from Virginia Red Rum.
Speaker 1: So and see it just contchangues. That's what I was
Speaker 1: talking about lifting as you climb right, you see the
Speaker 1: that is cyclical and in the way the fat will
Speaker 1: discovered DJ Kalett and then DJ Kalett discovered someone, rev
Speaker 1: Rum will discover someone, and so it continues to pour
Speaker 1: back into the community, which I love that because it
Speaker 1: dispels the myth that we don't work in community, that
Speaker 1: we are not connected, and that we are siloed and selfish,
Speaker 1: and that is not true. And so I'm so grateful
Speaker 1: that you are demonstrating that not through one, but several
Speaker 1: platforms and organization structures that you have. We're gonna take
Speaker 1: a quick break and when we come back, we're gonna
Speaker 1: have a more conversation with our fantastic guest Radio B.
Speaker 1: You talked about words and making sure they get their
Speaker 1: words out and that they're the lyrics are good, So
Speaker 1: now we got to talk about that. But there's some
Speaker 1: lyricism that's been on the hot table and then the scene.
Speaker 1: Come on, let's talk about it. Let me tap into it.
Speaker 1: An aspect that has not been a positive about Fat
Speaker 1: Joe's legacy is his use of the N word, which
Speaker 1: is it's interesting, I can't wait to tap into this.
Speaker 1: He used to defend it, and he's saying he was
Speaker 1: raised with this term and he means no disrespect on this.
Speaker 1: I really think intention is a big factor, so let's
Speaker 1: talk about it. In a recent interview, he said, first
Speaker 1: of all, my project, I'll give you eighty percent black
Speaker 1: still so I'm Spanish. I knew I was allowed to,
Speaker 1: you know, but the whole time I thought I was black. Anyway.
Speaker 1: So my mom lives there forty years before I was born,
Speaker 1: in this project that I'm born, blonde hair, green eyes.
Speaker 1: She brings me there. The first thing is they go, oh,
Speaker 1: look at this little and word Joey. He got green eyes.
Speaker 1: The minute I'm walking the guys in the building, Like, yo,
Speaker 1: look at that little in word Joe, fat little Joe.
Speaker 1: That's all I knew my whole life, even before elementary.
Speaker 1: It's a part of our culture and some degrees, I
Speaker 1: understand his intention and where it's going with it. Radio,
Speaker 1: what's your take on this? I've been so I don't.
Speaker 1: I don't view many questions as being hot seat questions
Speaker 1: for me, but this one I kind of do. And
Speaker 1: maybe because I'm from New York and because I've known
Speaker 1: of fat Joe and people like fat Joe my whole life.
Speaker 1: You know what I'm saying. And I've never questioned it
Speaker 1: nor had anything to say about it before, So for
Speaker 1: me to act like it's a problem now would be
Speaker 1: a little hypocritical. I mean, I guess I could say, oh,
Speaker 1: we unlearned things. Yeah, I haven't unlearned, using the term myself.
Speaker 1: So I get that he is not black, But man,
Speaker 1: I don't like Puerto Ricans. Puerto Ricans black. They like
Speaker 1: the same thing. They're the same thing. I mean, people
Speaker 1: could I know some people are gonna be mad at
Speaker 1: me for saying that, but this this just the same thing,
Speaker 1: you know what I mean, We we we we were
Speaker 1: up in it grew up same projects, there were the
Speaker 1: same racism, deal with the same cops, get killed by
Speaker 1: the same cops and the same gangs. You know what
Speaker 1: I'm saying. The people that are doing the oppression make
Speaker 1: no distinction between They don't distinguish it that part. It's
Speaker 1: been white and everyone else. A lot of times you
Speaker 1: can't tell between Puerto Rican kid and a light skinning
Speaker 1: kid and that same project. So that's why they didn't
Speaker 1: probably know if he was black or not. You know
Speaker 1: what I'm saying. It's been plenty of like ambiguous looking kids.
Speaker 1: I can't say because some of them are Puerto Rican
Speaker 1: in black, some are you know what I'm saying, you
Speaker 1: don't know, so I don't know. I'm not here to say, Okay,
Speaker 1: let me who your daddy, who your mom? Right? Mad
Speaker 1: at me for that? Right? Whoever? This is yeah, exactly,
Speaker 1: And I'm not even mad at you about it, because
Speaker 1: I really think that there's an assumption amongst the culture,
Speaker 1: and then there's a perception that's given to others. So
Speaker 1: we assume we're non white. That's all we know. Like
Speaker 1: we're gonna go ahead and wrap about what's going on
Speaker 1: day to day. What is what But the perception is
Speaker 1: you could be perpetuating that narrative to the other white Okay,
Speaker 1: so that's what I'm saying, But that's don't understand that
Speaker 1: not any environments. They're not really any environments, and they
Speaker 1: don't understand the culture Radio be and Cora. Here's my
Speaker 1: take on it, Okay, and listening to and seeing his
Speaker 1: words right, knowing if you especially like you said the bronx,
Speaker 1: but it's any neighborhood, it's any hood. I'm gonna use
Speaker 1: these words very distinguishedly. Okay, long ago and far away,
Speaker 1: my father told me that nigger has no color. Okay,
Speaker 1: anybody can be a nigger by definition of the word. Now,
Speaker 1: when someone in the neighborhood and the way that they're
Speaker 1: talking about little Joe, if we read this again and
Speaker 1: he said, I'm born blond hair, green eyes, she brings
Speaker 1: me here, the first thing they say is, oh, look
Speaker 1: at this little nigga, Joey, he got green eyes. This
Speaker 1: man are not walking the guys in the building like, yo,
Speaker 1: look at that little nigger Joe, Look fat Joe. They're
Speaker 1: not saying look at this little nigger. They're saying, look
Speaker 1: at this little dude. It's an adjective, it's a descriptive word,
Speaker 1: and the intention is to look at this guy, look
Speaker 1: at this little man. They are using that word interchangeably
Speaker 1: and for someone who I do not use the N
Speaker 1: I G G E R. We'll tell somebody nigga. If
Speaker 1: you don't shut your ass up, let them know. Tracy
Speaker 1: say to my family, real talk, real talk. It's listen.
Speaker 1: Cultural competencies. But now, if you are literally white, don't
Speaker 1: come and say that to me. Yeah, I don't care
Speaker 1: what and I don't care what environment, So then the
Speaker 1: environment situation doesn't play that I distinguish it. There's there's
Speaker 1: something to think. If you white, I can't give you
Speaker 1: that past. Don't care where you grew up, and you
Speaker 1: should know that. And if you're white and you grew
Speaker 1: up in this environment, you should know that. You should
Speaker 1: have enough respect for the people you grew up around
Speaker 1: to know you're not supposed to be using that word.
Speaker 1: It only stanks when I hear other people singing it
Speaker 1: that are not in the culture. And then I'm like,
Speaker 1: you don't have sense nothing, sense of yourself. I mean,
Speaker 1: I know there's an argument there too, and I have
Speaker 1: I'm going through a through radio, you know, I want
Speaker 1: to eliminate it. Get that how. I address this in
Speaker 1: a poem some years back, But I was like, but
Speaker 1: I'm just I'm in the same space. Yeah, I would
Speaker 1: like to. It hasn't happened yet. That is a conscious
Speaker 1: It is conscious, and if you're purposeful and mindful about
Speaker 1: it and when you use it and where you use
Speaker 1: it and how you use it and see for me,
Speaker 1: I know the difference and what the intention is. That
Speaker 1: challenges that There's so few people now who sing songs
Speaker 1: with the word in it. They don't understand what they're
Speaker 1: really saying, and they think that they're just saying you're black.
Speaker 1: That it's just a part of dialect for right. Yeah.
Speaker 1: My brother jokes often because he has to clean my
Speaker 1: music up, and he says, I used that word more
Speaker 1: than anybody. Not more than anyone, I mean, even as
Speaker 1: I grow, like in my twenties, the word was every
Speaker 1: other word for really every other word. As I'm older,
Speaker 1: I don't necessarily need it as often. I mean, but
Speaker 1: I understand it in the creative space. That's why I
Speaker 1: like rapidly though, and why I come to them. It's
Speaker 1: a rhythm thing for me. Okay, I got it. It's
Speaker 1: not part of my regular vernacular. I can tell you
Speaker 1: that I know how to use it. That's not part
Speaker 1: of my regular vernacular because so few people understand what
Speaker 1: it means when they hear you say it. And I'm
Speaker 1: sure the people on Pop's gonna be like Clutch the
Speaker 1: Pearls and Tracy's saying, Okay, have I said it? Yes?
Speaker 1: I said, do I use it? And is it in
Speaker 1: my complete playlist? Absolute? It's all over the place. But
Speaker 1: it's interesting to me that this is such a topic
Speaker 1: because like even Jay Z and Oprah Winfrey had a
Speaker 1: huge debate about this right that it was literally one
Speaker 1: of their hot seat conversations where he was like, I'm
Speaker 1: not trying to change it. I won't ever stop using
Speaker 1: it again. New York native was like, it's part of
Speaker 1: who he is, and they said it there was what
Speaker 1: he heard. It was like all in his whole entire
Speaker 1: life before our elementary school. So good luck Radio B. Yeah.
Speaker 1: I used to stand on it a lot harder in
Speaker 1: the sense of I remember and I've been into podcast
Speaker 1: with some folks other folks, and to like that be
Speaker 1: the discussion, I just me personally, that's what I would
Speaker 1: stand on before, and I'm not gonna say I don't
Speaker 1: stand on it now. I just don't feel it strongly
Speaker 1: about it. That is a word that we take can
Speaker 1: ownership of, and you can't just use it, you know
Speaker 1: what I mean? Over there, you can't do you can't
Speaker 1: use it. And I'm one of the things I said
Speaker 1: to them, I say, when we have ownership of more things,
Speaker 1: maybe we'll be able to release that word because it
Speaker 1: won't be like the only thing that we have ownership
Speaker 1: and think that you don't have ownership of. Right. So
Speaker 1: now let's talk a little bit about how the ownership
Speaker 1: of words and lyrics that are used in hip hop.
Speaker 1: There's this other long standard debate readio B about how
Speaker 1: hip hop lyrics are used to describe women, if they're
Speaker 1: complementary or degrading. Now you know what I'm talking about. Okay,
Speaker 1: So now who you're calling them? Come on with people. Now,
Speaker 1: how do you think lyricists can stay true to their
Speaker 1: experiences while also uplifting the people they're writing about. I
Speaker 1: don't think the derogatory term for women needs to be
Speaker 1: used at all. I feel like that's something in that
Speaker 1: once again, now I may use the N word in
Speaker 1: my music. I also use it in my regular language,
Speaker 1: but I don't use the B word in my regular
Speaker 1: language to refer to women, So therefore I'm not going
Speaker 1: to use it in my music either. So I think
Speaker 1: people do it because they say it in real life,
Speaker 1: and I think they also do it because they find
Speaker 1: it to be entertaining, like they feel like that's what
Speaker 1: people like to hear. I just don't think it's I
Speaker 1: don't think it's necessary. I get that it's part of
Speaker 1: the culture. I just think it's disrespectful. So I don't
Speaker 1: need that word. Well, I appreciate that, because I'm gonna
Speaker 1: telling you now there's a line I draw, and I
Speaker 1: don't want to be called a bitch? Would it be?
Speaker 1: I don't need to be called a garden tool. I
Speaker 1: don't need any of that in my life. I don't
Speaker 1: need to sing about it. I don't want to hear that.
Speaker 1: I grew up listening to snoop though, but it's it
Speaker 1: didn't it didn't influence me. So I mean, seeing I've
Speaker 1: sing along to it, you know what I'm saying. Because
Speaker 1: if you listen to the doggy style, that's all it was.
Speaker 1: Back then, it was like super crazy. So I don't
Speaker 1: even think people use the H word that too much anymore.
Speaker 1: I don't hear that in music as much, the word
Speaker 1: not like how it was, right, Oh yeah, because back
Speaker 1: in the day, I hear more specific actions. To be honest,
Speaker 1: I feel like they have just yeah, I feel like
Speaker 1: I've I started hearing more. But your girl gonna it's
Speaker 1: a whole lot of that. Like it it's gone to
Speaker 1: a mother because I was gonna say, who wrote the
Speaker 1: whole song about it? You know You're You're rock three
Speaker 1: different after every joke, Okay, yeah, right. But now as
Speaker 1: I'm getting older, I have a different perspective. I actually
Speaker 1: saw a video before we came on about a little
Speaker 1: scrappy and he was talking to his mom about how
Speaker 1: he was raised in a horhouse and I actually didn't
Speaker 1: even know about this part of his life, but he
Speaker 1: saw some negative things, and for the first time I
Speaker 1: realized again got those rose color glasses on Tracy. For
Speaker 1: the first time, I realized some of the things that
Speaker 1: rap artists may go through truly do impact their music
Speaker 1: in the way. I mean, not that before. What I'm
Speaker 1: saying is to radio bes point. Earlier, I thought some
Speaker 1: people really just saying you thought they were just making
Speaker 1: just wanted the dollar. I mean, and there actually are
Speaker 1: people who do just make up stuff. But I'm realizing
Speaker 1: more that it's really truly a lot of experiences. You
Speaker 1: mentioned Snoop Dogg earlier Radio b the whole idea that
Speaker 1: what they called gangster rap, that was them talking about
Speaker 1: what they had experienced in their life. Definitely get it.
Speaker 1: Shout out the n w A. I mean, just you know,
Speaker 1: we had not heard that right. They were literally just
Speaker 1: talking about what was going on in their day. I'm
Speaker 1: private school kids, like growing up, private school kids listening
Speaker 1: to rap. I'm just excited about the music and the
Speaker 1: culture and following my book, the problem didn't start while
Speaker 1: you were listening to it. It was when your white
Speaker 1: counterparts start listening to it it became a problem. That's
Speaker 1: when Chipper Gore went cuckoo for Coco Puffs and all
Speaker 1: these sensors had to come to play, right, See that
Speaker 1: it wasn't a problem if they were influencing you and
Speaker 1: your can in your neighborhood negatively to say, okay, we
Speaker 1: want to embulate what we hear. When Buffy and Tipper
Speaker 1: heard right, and tiny Tim to radio. Do you think
Speaker 1: hip hop artists need to experience types of traumas in
Speaker 1: life and death situations like fat Joe overcame to to
Speaker 1: write powerful lyrics. I feel like I know the answer
Speaker 1: to this, But how do you think everybody deals with trauma?
Speaker 1: Not nearly at the same level, not nearly, not nearly
Speaker 1: to the same extent or frequency, however, enough to express
Speaker 1: themselves in a way that conveys emotion. I think it's
Speaker 1: a matter of being able to tap in with those
Speaker 1: emotions and figure out how to communicate and convey them
Speaker 1: in a powerful way. So there's just all sorts of
Speaker 1: perspectives in life in the world that need to be
Speaker 1: told that millions of people resonate with. So I don't
Speaker 1: think that you have to go through the extent of
Speaker 1: Joey Krack's life in order to be able to tell
Speaker 1: a powerful story. You just have to be able to
Speaker 1: understand your story enough to convey it in a way
Speaker 1: that people can feel it. Can you also have a
Speaker 1: vivid enough imagination and still be authentic in the storytelling
Speaker 1: that you don't have to have lived it in order
Speaker 1: for it to be authentic. There's plenty of people who
Speaker 1: do that, but a lot of times they're called out right,
Speaker 1: they're called out we've seen we've seen that because it
Speaker 1: wasn't true. Yeah it's true for someone, and many times
Speaker 1: they are, and many times they aren't. Most times they are.
Speaker 1: We're real pc swits Switzerland right there at radio being
Speaker 1: you're like somemar, some are I feel like radio sees
Speaker 1: a lot of it, right, Yeah, I mean, I'm just
Speaker 1: saying there's plenty of people that are telling other people's stories.
Speaker 1: There's people that are on a block but ain't in
Speaker 1: the block. Okay, so they see it but the window
Speaker 1: around it, but they're not in it. But that's okay.
Speaker 1: So even if even in that, that's fine. They're not saying,
Speaker 1: all I shot this person. That's exactly yourse watching it
Speaker 1: because you can get PTSD from watching a period, you
Speaker 1: know what I mean. So that's still way closer than
Speaker 1: the person that's telling that story from the suburbs. They
Speaker 1: there's people from the suburbs telling them same stories that
Speaker 1: they wasn't even in the window for so okay, So
Speaker 1: that's what I'm talking about. If someone from the suburbs
Speaker 1: is telling the story and making it a first person experience,
Speaker 1: is it inauthentic for them to share that if it's
Speaker 1: something they envisioned it, I mean it's inauthentic, But it's entertainment,
Speaker 1: and it's the entertainment business for all intense purposes have
Speaker 1: at it. Just hip hop is a little different though.
Speaker 1: See in this generation, it's like, why does everybody care
Speaker 1: if somebody helped write or if somebody's telling a fake
Speaker 1: story or this, that and the other, because they're not
Speaker 1: understanding that hip hop was built off of the purity
Speaker 1: of the experience, right, So it's a there's a there's
Speaker 1: a real life street element to hip hop, even when
Speaker 1: it's not violent, right, Like it's about the people, so
Speaker 1: it was. And it's also it was created by poor kids,
Speaker 1: right right, that needed a voice. Right, that's the purpose
Speaker 1: of hip hop. Kids that could not afford instruments, creating
Speaker 1: music from turntables and a microphone, right, so plugging into
Speaker 1: the light poles at the park, and not being able
Speaker 1: to go into the clubs because how they dance, how
Speaker 1: they dress. You couldn't get into clubs because they were
Speaker 1: doing the disco. It was dressed up, so like where
Speaker 1: could you go to party? So going to the wreck
Speaker 1: calls and you're going to the parks to party because
Speaker 1: that's the place that you could come as you are
Speaker 1: dance how you want to dance. And you know what
Speaker 1: I'm saying. So it's that I think people forget that,
Speaker 1: you know what I mean? But do you have to
Speaker 1: have that in order to be authentic? Now? In order
Speaker 1: to be successful? No, in order to be authentic, I'm
Speaker 1: not saying that you have to be from you have
Speaker 1: to be poor, but you just got to tell your story. Okay,
Speaker 1: you know what I'm saying, because like respect the origins
Speaker 1: at least, and I think if you use those origins
Speaker 1: as pillars to your creativity, then you'll be authentic because
Speaker 1: you'll have enough respect for it that you're not just pretending.
Speaker 1: So then what's your message radio be? Because we're saying
Speaker 1: a lot about this, and I think that there's an
Speaker 1: opportunity here for you to communicate a message you'd like
Speaker 1: to convey to the people outside of your immediate reach.
Speaker 1: What do you say to an artist that's up and
Speaker 1: coming that's not really sure if they don't have the
Speaker 1: quote unquote poor kid or PTSD trauma neighborhood, what do
Speaker 1: you say you don't need that. You don't need that.
Speaker 1: You just need to tell your story. Just really get
Speaker 1: to know yourself, and not only just your story, but
Speaker 1: your style, how you presented. Don't copy anybody else's style,
Speaker 1: you know what I mean. This generation is way too
Speaker 1: comfortable with sharing their sauce. Like they're too comfortable with
Speaker 1: sounding like the next exactly like the next guy, to
Speaker 1: the point where nobody's even nobody even questions that anymore.
Speaker 1: I mean, what do you say to that, or even
Speaker 1: trying stop stop? I love it. I love that though,
Speaker 1: I mean because the reality is we are evolving as
Speaker 1: a culture, so everyone's not as poor as we were
Speaker 1: back in the day. Right, but like we all sto
Speaker 1: have our troubles and struggles. Like I said, there's millions
Speaker 1: of people that can relate to any of that. That's
Speaker 1: hip hop, right, Like in hip hop, don't be a biter.
Speaker 1: That's one of the main rules of hip hop always
Speaker 1: has been. Like you used to get beat up for that,
Speaker 1: you know what I'm saying, like being a biter, but
Speaker 1: like being a biter now it's not there that the
Speaker 1: word doesn't even get circulated anymore. Like you can literally
Speaker 1: just do whatever, like this guy made a song like that,
Speaker 1: then other big star in the game could come out
Speaker 1: and make a song using his flow, same type of words,
Speaker 1: same beat and everything, and everybody will still ride with that.
Speaker 1: It'll be like, oh, yeah, this is good too. And
Speaker 1: it's like, wait, you think social media contributes to that? Yeah,
Speaker 1: social media does contribute to that, because what it is like,
Speaker 1: at the very least, even if you didn't have the
Speaker 1: integrity to be unique in your own style, at least
Speaker 1: you had the style of where you were indigenous too,
Speaker 1: because that's what you heard around. Now because of the Internet,
Speaker 1: it's like everybody from everywhere, you know what I'm saying,
Speaker 1: So there is no oh, this is the sound that
Speaker 1: comes from New York, or this is the sound that
Speaker 1: comes from the West Coast, so this is the sound
Speaker 1: that comes from the South. Like everybody here, like everybody
Speaker 1: from New York are just as influenced by Atlanta. Everybody
Speaker 1: doing trail or everybody doing this or that, you know
Speaker 1: what I'm saying. So it's it's just a big you
Speaker 1: gotta find your own heart beat. Though I feel that
Speaker 1: even in the middle of the met even like to
Speaker 1: call it a melting everybody's hands in the likes it's
Speaker 1: a grab bag. That's what it is. A grab This
Speaker 1: has been a heck of it. What you're talking about.
Speaker 1: Oh my gosh, and I wish we didn't have to
Speaker 1: end it. But I've enjoyed talking to you so much.
Speaker 1: Thank you so much. I appreciate you all. Thank you
Speaker 1: for making me feel successful. Absolutely, Yes, we want to
Speaker 1: know how you're feeling about this new season of Red
Speaker 1: Table Talk. We're open to talk about any and everything
Speaker 1: with you, so please send in your questions at Let's
Speaker 1: Red Table That at red table talk dot com or
Speaker 1: don't forget. You can also leave us a voicemail at
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Speaker 1: us amazing podcast. Visit speak pipe dot com, slash Let's
Speaker 1: Red Table That. Yes, thank you so much for listening.
Speaker 1: We are so happy to have you with us, and
Speaker 1: make sure you subscribe on I Heart Radio app and
Speaker 1: please rate this podcast on Apple Podcasts. Y'all rate us
Speaker 1: a five? Okay, we want five. We'll be back next
Speaker 1: week for another episode of Let's Red Table That Special.
Speaker 1: Thanks to executive producers if Jada Pinkett Smith, Valan Jethro
Speaker 1: and Ellen Racketon. Thank you to our producer Londiru and
Speaker 1: our associate producer Yealanda Chow. And finally, thanks to our
Speaker 1: sound engineer Stephanie Aguilar, Hey, let's table that. Let's let's
Speaker 1: let's red table that