WEBVTT - Civic Cipher 102420 ft. Thadd Shade 0:00:00.160 --> 0:00:04.320 Yeah, that's right, y'all. Welcome to another episode of Civic Cipher. 0:00:04.360 --> 0:00:07.280 I'm your host, Ramses Josh, call me Q Ward and 0:00:07.480 --> 0:00:11.960 uh yeah, today's another special show that we have for 0:00:12.080 --> 0:00:14.920 You've got another special guest. 0:00:15.880 --> 0:00:17.520 Extra infhas is on special. Yeah. 0:00:17.560 --> 0:00:21.680 Man, he's the Man of Man, the Man of the decade. 0:00:21.720 --> 0:00:25.239 I want to say, now, you're being kind there's kindness 0:00:25.239 --> 0:00:25.560 in there. 0:00:25.840 --> 0:00:26.079 Listen. 0:00:26.200 --> 0:00:28.720 If you know who I'm talking about, you know exactly 0:00:28.720 --> 0:00:31.840 why I say that. You know, for a lot of 0:00:31.880 --> 0:00:36.280 folks who listen to the show who are not based 0:00:36.320 --> 0:00:40.760 in Phoenix, Arizona, it's very important that I paint a 0:00:40.800 --> 0:00:46.639 picture of today's guest on the show. He goes by 0:00:46.680 --> 0:00:49.640 the name of Thad Shay. So, first off, welcome for being. 0:00:49.479 --> 0:00:51.760 On the show. Thank you for having me. Thank you 0:00:51.760 --> 0:00:54.080 you and Q I appreciate you. Thank you very much. 0:00:54.960 --> 0:00:57.440 And I want to tell a personal story just to 0:00:57.440 --> 0:01:00.360 give you an idea of who he is, and then 0:01:00.400 --> 0:01:02.880 I'll let you know why it's important that we had 0:01:02.960 --> 0:01:08.040 him up on today's episode. So for those that know, 0:01:09.520 --> 0:01:12.080 I used to do a show called Friday Night Flavors, 0:01:12.200 --> 0:01:15.520 later change the name to Ready Said Radio. Later changed 0:01:15.560 --> 0:01:17.680 the name to Ryman reason later changed the name to 0:01:17.760 --> 0:01:21.679 Radio Sostice. You might know the story. And somewhere along 0:01:21.720 --> 0:01:30.800 the line, I met an artist's name Uncut. 0:01:30.040 --> 0:01:33.839 Based on his Twitter handle. 0:01:33.920 --> 0:01:35.640 This was back before Instagram was out, it was just 0:01:35.640 --> 0:01:41.160 Twitter at the time, and he had a song that 0:01:41.360 --> 0:01:45.200 I loved. Well, I'll sing the President this song as 0:01:45.200 --> 0:01:48.040 long as I'm able to. Yeah that I didn't time, 0:01:48.080 --> 0:01:49.960 I won it all record. 0:01:49.760 --> 0:01:52.400 Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah yeah. 0:01:52.240 --> 0:01:56.280 And as I could yeah yeah. 0:01:57.520 --> 0:02:04.240 Anyway, a prolific voice, an extremely talented artist, and you know, 0:02:05.160 --> 0:02:07.360 being in that position, you're not really in a position 0:02:07.400 --> 0:02:08.200 to play favorites. 0:02:08.639 --> 0:02:09.359 But since I. 0:02:09.280 --> 0:02:11.520 Don't do that anymore, I just let everybody know I 0:02:11.560 --> 0:02:14.720 was definitely playing favorites because that song wasn't my favorite. 0:02:16.000 --> 0:02:17.800 I was very much looking forward to all your new 0:02:17.840 --> 0:02:21.000 releases and all that sort of stuff. I did not 0:02:21.080 --> 0:02:23.320 know that, man, Yeah, man, absolutely, I'm I'm glad I 0:02:23.320 --> 0:02:23.880 got to tell. 0:02:23.720 --> 0:02:26.919 You Whendy's number three on me. I appreciate you. 0:02:27.000 --> 0:02:28.160 Man, It's all worth it. 0:02:29.840 --> 0:02:33.280 But you know, things change, you know, as they do, 0:02:33.760 --> 0:02:37.560 and uh, you know, we we're all looking for, you know, progression, evolution, 0:02:37.680 --> 0:02:42.240 the next step in our careers, and you know, fad 0:02:42.360 --> 0:02:47.600 Shade went from uncut A or uncut rather to uh 0:02:48.120 --> 0:02:53.760 Fattius Shade. This was when by by now Instagram had 0:02:53.800 --> 0:02:55.920 come out, you know, all these sorts of things, and 0:02:55.960 --> 0:03:00.520 he had, because of his ability to know at work 0:03:00.680 --> 0:03:05.480 to inspire people to get people to like him. You know, 0:03:05.680 --> 0:03:10.160 just a very likable person, a large, huge personality, uh, 0:03:10.360 --> 0:03:13.320 extremely funny, just the sort of person everybody wants to 0:03:13.360 --> 0:03:15.880 be around and you know, be close to party with 0:03:17.280 --> 0:03:21.519 that energy all the way through and through he ended 0:03:21.600 --> 0:03:26.480 up finding himself around a lot of promotions promoters rather 0:03:26.520 --> 0:03:27.720 than doing a lot of promoting. 0:03:29.080 --> 0:03:30.799 And I love to see this evolution. 0:03:30.880 --> 0:03:32.560 I watched it, you know a lot of it from Afar, 0:03:32.680 --> 0:03:34.760 but you know, of course I monitored it over the years. 0:03:35.560 --> 0:03:39.120 And his humor, he was one of the few people 0:03:39.560 --> 0:03:42.560 early on who was able to translate his personality and 0:03:42.600 --> 0:03:46.320 his humor through his social media. As a result of that, 0:03:46.440 --> 0:03:53.760 he was able to build a huge organic following on 0:03:53.840 --> 0:04:02.520 social media across various platforms, which further established him as 0:04:03.200 --> 0:04:06.120 in my opinion, based on what I know, I would 0:04:06.160 --> 0:04:11.520 say the premier promoter in Arizona in terms of your 0:04:11.600 --> 0:04:13.600 in terms of at least in terms of your capacity 0:04:13.640 --> 0:04:14.760 to get the word out. 0:04:14.760 --> 0:04:16.280 To many thousands of people. 0:04:16.720 --> 0:04:18.840 And I don't think that that's really something that anybody 0:04:18.920 --> 0:04:23.040 could really argue because I'm talking about numbers. With that said, 0:04:25.440 --> 0:04:30.800 today's episode, we're going to talk about the discrimination that 0:04:31.480 --> 0:04:37.320 a lot of times black folks find in nightlife, in 0:04:37.520 --> 0:04:42.640 entertainment in various cities, not just in Phoenix. You know, 0:04:42.960 --> 0:04:45.719 all of us have you know, moved around quite a bit. 0:04:47.240 --> 0:04:51.080 But I happen to know that you know, Q has 0:04:51.080 --> 0:04:55.280 spent a lot of time and a significant part of 0:04:55.320 --> 0:04:59.080 his DJ career in Arizona and Phoenix and on the 0:04:59.080 --> 0:05:02.599 West Coast DJ and of course Dad Shade you know, 0:05:02.680 --> 0:05:05.440 as in my opinion or at least based on the numbers, 0:05:05.839 --> 0:05:12.640 the premiere the largest UH promoter in Arizona. You know, 0:05:13.000 --> 0:05:15.600 it felt like having these two voices at this table 0:05:15.680 --> 0:05:19.839 to have this conversation was appropriate. So once again back 0:05:19.880 --> 0:05:23.400 to the show. Yes, you know Q, obviously, you know 0:05:24.080 --> 0:05:27.640 I got I got plans for Q. But but today 0:05:27.680 --> 0:05:29.719 we're gonna make it about you, mister Shade. 0:05:29.839 --> 0:05:30.479 Well, thank you. 0:05:31.120 --> 0:05:33.719 So, you know I told a little bit of the story. 0:05:33.760 --> 0:05:36.159 Is there anything that I missed in terms of you know, 0:05:36.200 --> 0:05:39.599 getting into the game, uh, the promotion game, and and 0:05:40.080 --> 0:05:42.919 you know, getting really established in in old town Scottsdale, 0:05:42.960 --> 0:05:45.760 which has a history of really not letting black folks, 0:05:46.600 --> 0:05:48.240 you know, take take rout out there. 0:05:48.520 --> 0:05:51.640 Well, first of all, Man, thank you for the kind words. Again, 0:05:54.000 --> 0:05:57.280 I don't do a lot of shows, you know what 0:05:57.320 --> 0:06:02.120 I'm saying. I've gotten asked, and I don't for one 0:06:02.160 --> 0:06:04.720 reason or another. I uh, you know, dip and dodge 0:06:04.760 --> 0:06:06.920 or whatever the case may be. But I did really 0:06:06.960 --> 0:06:11.480 want to come because listen, I was Uh, I was sleepy, Man, 0:06:11.960 --> 0:06:12.599 I was sleepy. 0:06:12.839 --> 0:06:14.480 Let me just say that I was. I was sleepy. 0:06:14.520 --> 0:06:16.320 I was talking to Dave Youn on the phone. 0:06:16.839 --> 0:06:19.200 And I was like, Man, Ramses is my guy. But 0:06:19.240 --> 0:06:22.200 I'm looking through my live book, you know what I'm saying. 0:06:22.839 --> 0:06:27.560 Oh can I say that my bed, I'm looking through 0:06:27.600 --> 0:06:28.000 my lives. 0:06:28.080 --> 0:06:31.240 I'm like my black lives. How about that Black lives matter? 0:06:31.560 --> 0:06:31.680 Right? 0:06:32.920 --> 0:06:33.840 Black lives matter? 0:06:34.560 --> 0:06:36.960 And uh, but now I was like, man's Ramses, I'm 0:06:36.960 --> 0:06:40.080 gonna I'm gonna get it together to go so I 0:06:40.120 --> 0:06:42.919 don't get a chance to hear people actually kind. 0:06:42.720 --> 0:06:45.040 Of Uh, it's gonna. 0:06:44.839 --> 0:06:47.800 Sound bad, I guess kind of acknowledge, Uh, you know, 0:06:47.960 --> 0:06:50.440 I consider myself a billboard, you know what I'm saying, 0:06:50.480 --> 0:06:53.599 So uh Fresh maybe doing something. You may be doing something. 0:06:53.600 --> 0:06:55.040 If you send it to me, I feel like I'm 0:06:55.040 --> 0:06:57.000 a billboard. Like people will get a chance to really 0:06:57.040 --> 0:07:01.880 see it, as far as like homere's your question again, man, Well, 0:07:02.560 --> 0:07:03.800 first I remember, don't worry about it. 0:07:03.839 --> 0:07:05.280 I'm just messing with you. Now, go ahead, go ahead? 0:07:05.279 --> 0:07:06.080 What was it? Well? 0:07:06.120 --> 0:07:07.919 Okay, first off, I want to make sure that that 0:07:08.080 --> 0:07:11.240 I acknowledge a couple of names that you mentioned. One 0:07:11.280 --> 0:07:15.360 was Daveon. He's just another one of the uh the 0:07:15.600 --> 0:07:20.760 the the bigger promoters in this town. And then fresh Maker, 0:07:20.880 --> 0:07:23.480 although I don't consider him a promoter, is certainly a 0:07:23.560 --> 0:07:31.560 champion of the black agenda, and here is among the 0:07:31.600 --> 0:07:34.160 bigger promoters he in my opinion, he's more of a 0:07:34.240 --> 0:07:37.360 DJ and a host and so a very important part 0:07:37.760 --> 0:07:40.160 of the nightlife scene. And there's some other folks too. 0:07:40.200 --> 0:07:43.280 There's a VIP Enterprises with Corey, and there's you know, 0:07:44.600 --> 0:07:49.280 uh uh Black I know it was one of them, 0:07:49.320 --> 0:07:52.040 Mike Cooper, Trees, Yeah, Micha Laurie. A lot of folks 0:07:52.080 --> 0:07:54.040 and if I'm forgetting your name, it's just because you know, 0:07:54.080 --> 0:07:56.560 I'm on the spot. But it's important to establish that 0:07:56.560 --> 0:07:57.080 that there are. 0:07:57.000 --> 0:07:59.160 A lot of black folks. 0:07:58.920 --> 0:08:01.840 Who, at least in the city where I'm from and 0:08:01.880 --> 0:08:03.560 a lot of the cities where I do this sort 0:08:03.600 --> 0:08:09.840 of work, really have a tremendous amount of business sense. 0:08:11.000 --> 0:08:11.240 You know. 0:08:11.480 --> 0:08:14.440 The promotion game is, you know, it's it's just kind 0:08:14.440 --> 0:08:16.280 of a tough game and it's a shady game, but 0:08:17.760 --> 0:08:19.800 people who are able to make a go of it in. 0:08:19.840 --> 0:08:20.720 Terms of entertaining. 0:08:21.400 --> 0:08:25.360 The thing is is that it wasn't always this case 0:08:25.760 --> 0:08:28.240 in old town scott Stille where there were black voices 0:08:28.280 --> 0:08:30.200 at the table, and I know that that was an 0:08:30.280 --> 0:08:33.480 uphill battle. So originally what I was asking is, in 0:08:33.559 --> 0:08:36.840 terms of your getting established, do you recall, you know, 0:08:37.080 --> 0:08:39.360 did I leave anything out of the story? You know, 0:08:40.480 --> 0:08:43.040 in terms of you getting sort of your legs under you. 0:08:43.080 --> 0:08:44.880 Oh, okay, As far as like starting to promote and 0:08:44.920 --> 0:08:49.960 stuff like that, One thing I learned early was to 0:08:49.960 --> 0:08:52.720 be a comeleion of faces like I prefer like to 0:08:52.800 --> 0:08:57.520 be in the crib are comic books, you know, looking 0:08:57.559 --> 0:09:01.160 at Bruce Lee videos and you know, and watching old 0:09:01.240 --> 0:09:03.280 nineties Sitcomps's where I prefer to be. That's why I've 0:09:03.320 --> 0:09:05.680 always wanted to be right, just be chilling, you know, 0:09:05.760 --> 0:09:08.120 making some dollars chilling and enjoying those things. 0:09:08.520 --> 0:09:10.439 But early on. 0:09:10.440 --> 0:09:12.200 I really learned that, man, you I don't really have 0:09:12.360 --> 0:09:15.720 a lot of different uh faces, just you know, being 0:09:15.760 --> 0:09:18.760 able to adapt on on spot to who you're dealing with, 0:09:19.320 --> 0:09:23.800 uh up front and in front of you. Kind of 0:09:23.920 --> 0:09:29.680 uh picking that up from you know, I'm from Kansas City, Missouri, 0:09:29.800 --> 0:09:34.240 so picking that up uh street wise was something I 0:09:34.360 --> 0:09:38.199 always uh something that something just I just kind of 0:09:38.200 --> 0:09:42.160 gravitory gravitated to. My brother was a hustler and that 0:09:42.480 --> 0:09:45.720 linked down to me. So everything I did was uh 0:09:46.080 --> 0:09:48.120 just learning how to sell you whatever you needed. 0:09:48.320 --> 0:09:48.520 Right. 0:09:48.720 --> 0:09:50.520 So now that fast forward all that so I'm going 0:09:50.600 --> 0:09:52.680 through all the old man stuff, I will fast forward 0:09:52.679 --> 0:09:53.120 all that to. 0:09:55.000 --> 0:09:55.360 Music. 0:09:56.160 --> 0:09:59.800 So when I was doing music, being able to take 0:09:59.840 --> 0:10:03.320 that sharpie and didn't take a you know, ah you know, 0:10:04.040 --> 0:10:06.920 blank desk, handwrite my name on there, and I ain't 0:10:06.920 --> 0:10:09.200 got I got handwriting. I got doctor's handwriting. So my 0:10:09.480 --> 0:10:12.160 trash being able to write my name on there and 0:10:12.200 --> 0:10:15.640 then go down to the local gas station or the 0:10:15.679 --> 0:10:16.439 gas station down there. 0:10:16.400 --> 0:10:18.040 Where ain't number ain't number of brothers. 0:10:18.280 --> 0:10:21.559 I can't because you told me you almost ain't number brothers. 0:10:21.600 --> 0:10:23.960 You got box Chevies and monies and everybody a d 0:10:24.080 --> 0:10:26.880 boy they got. You know, this is real, real street, 0:10:27.760 --> 0:10:31.520 real street stuff, right. Being able, Yeah, I'm sorry, it's 0:10:31.520 --> 0:10:33.880 gonna make it easy. Yeah, yeah, street stuff. So being 0:10:34.040 --> 0:10:38.400 able to sell somebody some scribble was something I was 0:10:38.440 --> 0:10:41.640 heavily impressed with with myself. Do you understand what I'm saying? Like, 0:10:41.679 --> 0:10:43.840 I got music on there, but I ain't got no 0:10:43.920 --> 0:10:45.960 decorations on here. I ain't got no pictures. I ain't 0:10:45.960 --> 0:10:48.240 got no artwork on here, ain't no farm animals, nothing 0:10:48.280 --> 0:10:50.640 on here. I'm just gonna write my name on here, 0:10:51.760 --> 0:10:54.560 decide decide my name of this album, and I'm gonna 0:10:54.559 --> 0:10:56.679 scribble it on here, and I'm gonna walk up to 0:10:57.040 --> 0:10:59.360 you know what I'm saying, the Thuggies and Thuggies and 0:10:59.400 --> 0:11:01.240 I'm like, brother, you know what I'm saying, what's up? Man? 0:11:01.280 --> 0:11:02.600 This is what I'm doing? Da da da da. 0:11:02.679 --> 0:11:04.560 You could put it in check it out if you 0:11:04.640 --> 0:11:07.080 need be. And I was selling. So when I realized 0:11:07.080 --> 0:11:10.280 I was able to do that, that really ran and 0:11:10.360 --> 0:11:11.120 I got out here. 0:11:11.280 --> 0:11:13.000 I got out here when I was like twenty one 0:11:13.280 --> 0:11:14.280 or like twenty two. 0:11:14.720 --> 0:11:21.959 And I wasn't ooh it was you know what I'm saying, Bro, 0:11:22.160 --> 0:11:22.640 I'm old. 0:11:22.679 --> 0:11:27.160 Bro. It was two thousand. 0:11:29.520 --> 0:11:34.400 Four approximately five, oh you know what, like two thousand 0:11:34.720 --> 0:11:36.440 full five. But I take that and I'll take that, 0:11:36.960 --> 0:11:40.680 and I just brought that with me. So when I 0:11:40.720 --> 0:11:44.400 got out here, now, listen, I had never you know, 0:11:44.520 --> 0:11:47.720 me and planes and I'm I'm Kansas City. Everything I 0:11:47.800 --> 0:11:50.600 did was it was, it was. It was in the slums, 0:11:50.600 --> 0:11:52.280 it was in the hood. I moved around, I did 0:11:52.320 --> 0:11:55.280 things that would you know, product of environment type stuff. 0:11:55.320 --> 0:11:57.680 So when I got out here, I was like, oh, 0:11:58.360 --> 0:12:00.880 oh this is this is nice. You know what I'm saying. 0:12:00.880 --> 0:12:05.640 The weather is nice, the palm trees, the women he's nice, 0:12:05.760 --> 0:12:09.000 and you know, the women's is nice. And the roads 0:12:09.080 --> 0:12:12.119 is paved. You know what I'm saying. It ain't potholes. 0:12:12.160 --> 0:12:12.520 And so. 0:12:14.040 --> 0:12:15.960 I really enjoyed the first time I came out here, 0:12:16.040 --> 0:12:16.640 but I didn't stay. 0:12:16.640 --> 0:12:18.120 I would go back and i'd go forth because I 0:12:18.160 --> 0:12:20.080 was just having a hard time leaving your fami. 0:12:20.120 --> 0:12:20.760 You know what I'm saying. 0:12:21.000 --> 0:12:23.040 When I got out here, I think I got I 0:12:23.080 --> 0:12:24.800 made that decision. I know, it's a long wind to 0:12:24.840 --> 0:12:27.840 stick with me, folks. I got out here and it 0:12:27.960 --> 0:12:31.559 was like seventy five and it was around Christmas time, 0:12:31.559 --> 0:12:33.800 and I was sold because I don't know if y'all you. 0:12:34.320 --> 0:12:38.560 You know Detroit, yes, you know my story, y'all would think. 0:12:40.640 --> 0:12:42.320 Y'all would think I was just like I read his 0:12:42.640 --> 0:12:44.440 script and just reset it. 0:12:44.440 --> 0:12:47.360 It's almost identical. Yeah. Man, it wasn't Christmas. 0:12:47.360 --> 0:12:50.040 It was February, but it was seventy five degrees and 0:12:50.120 --> 0:12:53.440 everything just did what I said, all that nice, every 0:12:53.480 --> 0:12:54.360 category of nice. 0:12:54.360 --> 0:12:57.480 He just said me too. Yeah, one thousand percent. 0:12:57.520 --> 0:13:02.760 Man, not having to snow and you know, ice storms 0:13:02.840 --> 0:13:05.520 and branches breaking and all types of stuff. 0:13:05.559 --> 0:13:05.719 Man. 0:13:05.760 --> 0:13:08.040 I just I just was sold, man. And plus I 0:13:08.120 --> 0:13:10.280 was doing some back home. My mom's was out here, 0:13:10.320 --> 0:13:15.040 my uncle's out here, right. Sorry, Oh man, you know 0:13:15.400 --> 0:13:19.360 I got you. Man, I'm I'm i'ma don't cuse okay, 0:13:19.400 --> 0:13:20.640 cool and anyway. 0:13:20.720 --> 0:13:22.960 Man. So when I got out here, it was the 0:13:22.960 --> 0:13:24.600 first club I ever I was sorry about that. First 0:13:24.640 --> 0:13:25.040 club I. 0:13:24.960 --> 0:13:28.760 Ever went to was a club next right, And I 0:13:28.800 --> 0:13:30.640 had to do that through new times. At the time, 0:13:30.720 --> 0:13:32.719 I was opening up new times, like see what hip 0:13:32.760 --> 0:13:33.720 hop clubs I had because I. 0:13:33.679 --> 0:13:36.040 Didn't know how to you know, figure out, you know, 0:13:36.600 --> 0:13:38.400 to reach anybody. 0:13:38.640 --> 0:13:40.360 I knew that I knew how to sell some stuff 0:13:40.400 --> 0:13:43.440 and I could hustle my way in there. But I was, man, 0:13:43.480 --> 0:13:45.800 I was like three thirty at the time, and I 0:13:45.840 --> 0:13:49.240 was wearing like five XT's and like fifty ways June 0:13:49.320 --> 0:13:50.840 I was back, you know, clothes a baggy. 0:13:50.920 --> 0:13:53.600 So I was baggy and I didn't know that. 0:13:53.800 --> 0:13:57.480 You know, I was coming up Scottsdale and it was 0:13:58.440 --> 0:14:01.720 it was real white and you know that wasn't the thing. Brother, 0:14:02.000 --> 0:14:03.040 How do you know? 0:14:03.120 --> 0:14:03.640 What do you know? 0:14:04.040 --> 0:14:05.559 You know what I'm saying. We can't have you come 0:14:05.600 --> 0:14:07.760 in here like that. You know what I'm saying. Look, 0:14:08.679 --> 0:14:10.360 I got like fifty dollars on me. I can't have 0:14:10.400 --> 0:14:12.160 you take that from me. That's really what you know 0:14:12.160 --> 0:14:13.720 what I'm saying. The energy that I felt, right, So 0:14:14.880 --> 0:14:19.160 I just I managed to get past folks by talking 0:14:19.640 --> 0:14:23.320 you know what I'm saying, and being able to once 0:14:23.360 --> 0:14:26.120 again adapt to how they were talking to me. 0:14:26.320 --> 0:14:27.880 You know what I'm saying. I had to bring their 0:14:27.880 --> 0:14:28.440 guard down. 0:14:28.480 --> 0:14:31.120 That's the one thing black folks is, believe it or not, 0:14:31.440 --> 0:14:33.960 We're really good at de arming people, you know what 0:14:34.000 --> 0:14:37.040 I'm saying, like like just bringing yeah, whenever you need 0:14:37.080 --> 0:14:39.760 to like you, You when when you're in front of 0:14:39.760 --> 0:14:42.560 somebody who's not black and you can tell that they 0:14:42.600 --> 0:14:45.120 are uncomfortable, we have a way of like, come on, 0:14:45.160 --> 0:14:47.560 it's all right, all right, you know what I'm saying. 0:14:47.560 --> 0:14:50.080 I almost like being hugged by Beyonce on a on 0:14:50.160 --> 0:14:52.960 a Sunday Sunday afternoon. You know what I'm saying. Just 0:14:53.000 --> 0:14:54.800 got done giving you a glass of lemonade. She gave 0:14:54.840 --> 0:14:55.400 you a big hug. 0:14:55.440 --> 0:14:56.680 You know what I'm saying. We able to make you 0:14:56.720 --> 0:14:58.080 feel good, you know what I'm saying. 0:14:58.080 --> 0:15:00.640 And so once I did that, man I got in 0:15:00.720 --> 0:15:04.400 with the manager there and the GM there. He would 0:15:04.480 --> 0:15:06.800 let me come in there, and man, I would I 0:15:06.880 --> 0:15:09.920 sell CDs in there inside the club in Old Town? 0:15:10.040 --> 0:15:10.440 I would. 0:15:10.800 --> 0:15:13.040 I got a chance to talk to people, meet people. 0:15:13.400 --> 0:15:16.000 That's how I linked up with Swiss Beats. I mean, 0:15:16.480 --> 0:15:19.600 everything that has happened to me out here was you know, 0:15:20.040 --> 0:15:22.880 was from that moment and being in Old Town to 0:15:22.960 --> 0:15:29.880 watch now for doing music shifting that into promotion. Those 0:15:29.920 --> 0:15:32.800 go hand in hand, believe it or not, Because if 0:15:32.840 --> 0:15:36.520 you're an independent artist, you got to be a better 0:15:36.600 --> 0:15:38.400 marketer than the labels. 0:15:39.400 --> 0:15:42.240 You know what I'm saying. You have to know how to. 0:15:42.200 --> 0:15:44.240 Market yourself better than the labels. You gotta be able 0:15:44.280 --> 0:15:46.280 to talk better than what a label manager can talk. 0:15:46.720 --> 0:15:48.800 You got to be able to spit the game, right. 0:15:48.840 --> 0:15:50.240 I think that that's. 0:15:52.000 --> 0:15:57.320 Very important, especially when you consider the climate of two 0:15:57.360 --> 0:16:04.080 thousand and five Scottsdale, Arizona. And I'll even fast. 0:16:03.840 --> 0:16:04.360 Forward a bit. 0:16:04.600 --> 0:16:06.800 I'm I was a winded right there. 0:16:06.840 --> 0:16:09.040 Oh no, no, no, you're good. You're good good, That's what 0:16:09.080 --> 0:16:15.280 I wanted to hear. So how about this, When there 0:16:15.360 --> 0:16:17.480 was a time a little more than ten years ago, 0:16:17.600 --> 0:16:25.840 we'll call it eight through maybe two thousand and twelve ish, 0:16:26.400 --> 0:16:30.840 And it wasn't just Scottsdale, Arizona. It wasn't just Phoenix, 0:16:31.360 --> 0:16:34.240 It was Vegas. 0:16:34.560 --> 0:16:37.240 I would dj in Vegas. It was La. A lot 0:16:37.280 --> 0:16:40.360 of the clubs in La, you. 0:16:40.320 --> 0:16:43.560 Know, And and there was a lot of cities that 0:16:43.760 --> 0:16:49.360 really caught onto this wave of EDM music. 0:16:51.560 --> 0:16:53.280 And I'm gonna say this real quick, just because a 0:16:53.280 --> 0:16:54.320 lot of folks might know it. 0:16:55.120 --> 0:17:01.680 EDM music comes from house music, house music from black 0:17:01.720 --> 0:17:04.399 people in Chicago. If you do your research, you understand that. 0:17:04.440 --> 0:17:07.080 So that's still black music. You go, you'd be hard 0:17:07.119 --> 0:17:08.879 pressed in this country and most of the countries on 0:17:09.200 --> 0:17:09.520 the earth. 0:17:09.560 --> 0:17:12.000 Most of the songs I think was a little bit 0:17:12.040 --> 0:17:16.439 in there too, right, But you know, yeah, but in 0:17:16.480 --> 0:17:19.240 the development you know, So y'all know what I'm saying. 0:17:19.680 --> 0:17:24.720 In any event, uh, I recall at that time in 0:17:25.440 --> 0:17:28.639 at least Scottsdale in Vegas, because I spent I had 0:17:28.640 --> 0:17:31.320 a residency at Planet Hollywood in twenty ten, so I 0:17:31.400 --> 0:17:32.400 was there on the. 0:17:32.320 --> 0:17:38.200 Strip every Sunday night that hip hop music. If you 0:17:38.240 --> 0:17:40.600 played hip hop music, people were worried that it would 0:17:40.600 --> 0:17:44.320 bring the wrong crowd. And you have these cryptic uh 0:17:45.200 --> 0:17:51.159 words and phrases crowd. And then here in Phoenix, you know, 0:17:51.400 --> 0:17:55.720 there's a group at the time it was called EEG 0:17:56.160 --> 0:18:00.840 Evening Entertainment Group by a couple named less than I Am, 0:18:00.880 --> 0:18:03.400 who are known racists. 0:18:04.560 --> 0:18:07.359 And you're gonna put me okay, all right, go ahead, 0:18:07.359 --> 0:18:08.720 now you're going you're right, because. 0:18:08.520 --> 0:18:12.159 Well I'm not. I'm just telling you what I know 0:18:12.359 --> 0:18:15.080 to be true of my experience. No no, no, no, no, no, 0:18:14.880 --> 0:18:17.880 me and you were on the same page. I got 0:18:17.880 --> 0:18:19.280 to go back to work in Skoy'sdale. 0:18:19.359 --> 0:18:19.680 So good. 0:18:21.080 --> 0:18:25.239 I don't have that problem, so let me tell it. 0:18:26.800 --> 0:18:31.520 But these people would uh you know, and they've had 0:18:31.560 --> 0:18:33.880 many night clubs over the years, and this is I'm 0:18:33.880 --> 0:18:37.520 picking on them, but this, this sentiment is prevalent not 0:18:37.560 --> 0:18:40.119 just in old town, but I experienced in even more 0:18:40.160 --> 0:18:42.159 global cities. Like I said, Vegas was really where I 0:18:42.160 --> 0:18:45.720 spent a lot of that d M where Edim was 0:18:45.760 --> 0:18:50.320 sort of peaking musically in this country. And during that time, 0:18:51.240 --> 0:18:55.840 I recall myself having to wait in line, you know. 0:18:55.840 --> 0:19:00.760 I'd be invited places by you know, who ever is 0:19:01.280 --> 0:19:03.560 you know, the GM of the club, you know, but 0:19:03.600 --> 0:19:07.119 the security is so trained to keep anyone with brown 0:19:07.200 --> 0:19:13.280 skin at the door facts, you know, and to discriminate. 0:19:13.320 --> 0:19:17.359 They're taught to discriminate. I remember hearing the phrase non swimmers. 0:19:18.480 --> 0:19:23.200 I remember hearing the uh someone this is I think 0:19:23.240 --> 0:19:26.280 it was Less himself had gone up to a friend 0:19:26.280 --> 0:19:30.640 of mine in Radio j Philla and mentioned to him like, wow, 0:19:30.680 --> 0:19:33.080 it's a dark knight in here, isn't it, referring to 0:19:33.080 --> 0:19:36.080 the that there was heard too many black men and 0:19:35.560 --> 0:19:38.320 there's a ratio established at the door. So in a 0:19:38.320 --> 0:19:42.960 lot of cities around the country, there has been established 0:19:43.680 --> 0:19:45.280 this idea. 0:19:45.320 --> 0:19:50.800 That if you wear tennis shoes or George but tennis shoes, 0:19:51.160 --> 0:19:51.639 and it. 0:19:51.560 --> 0:19:53.480 Was almost very specifically Jordan's. 0:19:53.920 --> 0:19:57.159 But here's what I'm what I'm going to say, you know, 0:19:57.200 --> 0:19:58.960 because once upon a time, it was like, you can't 0:19:58.960 --> 0:20:01.639 wear a plain T shirt. Then it became well, you 0:20:01.680 --> 0:20:04.159 have to have a collar, and then it became well 0:20:04.200 --> 0:20:05.880 you can't have a chain on, and and all these 0:20:05.880 --> 0:20:10.959 sorts of things, which truthfully only applied to folks who 0:20:11.040 --> 0:20:13.520 had brown skin, who were those clothes in such a 0:20:13.520 --> 0:20:17.520 way that it looked a little bit different from what 0:20:17.600 --> 0:20:20.359 they were trying to establish in those clubs. And they 0:20:20.400 --> 0:20:25.560 would tell their bouncers to embarrass us while we stood 0:20:25.600 --> 0:20:30.000 in line, to discriminate, and it you know, standing in line. 0:20:30.000 --> 0:20:32.280 And I don't think this gets said enough. And I 0:20:32.280 --> 0:20:34.360 think it's important to say names. I think it's important 0:20:34.359 --> 0:20:37.600 to say the names of institutions because at present in 0:20:37.640 --> 0:20:41.400 this country, we're going through a time of reconciliation, we're 0:20:41.400 --> 0:20:44.719 going through a time of healing and understanding what it 0:20:44.840 --> 0:20:49.280 is that it's like to be us, and these subtle traumas, 0:20:49.280 --> 0:20:52.480 if you will have subtle impacts over time, and then 0:20:52.800 --> 0:20:56.320 it boils, it boils up, and then eventually it boils over. 0:20:56.480 --> 0:20:58.679 Now then you start to feel like, well, the world 0:20:58.720 --> 0:21:01.679 hates me, you know, And I don't think that that 0:21:01.840 --> 0:21:02.800 is a healthy. 0:21:02.520 --> 0:21:03.120 Thing to do. 0:21:03.280 --> 0:21:05.399 And so while we have this platform, it's very important 0:21:05.440 --> 0:21:07.000 for us to talk about it. But I will say 0:21:07.040 --> 0:21:10.880 this in my own experience, I've been made to stand 0:21:10.920 --> 0:21:12.720 out in front of the clubs. Now, I'm the person 0:21:12.720 --> 0:21:16.640 who's from the radio, primetime, I'm on TV, and yet 0:21:16.680 --> 0:21:19.600 these security guards, these bouncers are making me stand out 0:21:20.000 --> 0:21:22.320 and then someone has to come down. I have to 0:21:22.359 --> 0:21:24.960 text somebody standing there looking stupid after nobody stood in 0:21:25.000 --> 0:21:27.879 a line, and then wait my turn for someone to 0:21:27.920 --> 0:21:33.640 come and rescue me from my own black and say, oh, 0:21:34.000 --> 0:21:36.240 he's one of the good ones. And you have to 0:21:36.320 --> 0:21:39.400 understand how humiliating that is. And I think it's important 0:21:39.480 --> 0:21:43.679 that all of us kind of have these sorts of 0:21:43.720 --> 0:21:47.080 conversations so that we know that it's not just happening 0:21:47.520 --> 0:21:49.920 to me. And if you're listening to my voice right now, 0:21:50.119 --> 0:21:53.520 that you recognize that this is not happening just to you, 0:21:53.680 --> 0:21:56.880 or if you're an ally to black folks, or brown folks, 0:21:56.880 --> 0:21:59.000 because I do recognize that our brown brothers and sisters 0:21:59.080 --> 0:22:04.399 endure these sorts of of things as well, that you 0:22:04.560 --> 0:22:07.720 understand how to be a better ally to folks who 0:22:07.800 --> 0:22:10.600 might endure these sorts of things, you know, and then 0:22:10.640 --> 0:22:12.399 we all again I say this a lot, but we 0:22:12.440 --> 0:22:16.040 all take a step forward as brothers and sisters. So 0:22:16.400 --> 0:22:20.399 in these clubs where you know they're playing black music, 0:22:20.480 --> 0:22:23.800 I don't care how much you want to whitewash it. 0:22:23.960 --> 0:22:28.640 Obviously nowadays and you know, you know, twenty twenty era. 0:22:30.040 --> 0:22:31.720 I can't say twenty twenty because no clubs have been 0:22:31.760 --> 0:22:33.200 open in twenty twenty, but you know, in the past 0:22:33.240 --> 0:22:35.639 few years, and I would imagine in the coming years, 0:22:36.359 --> 0:22:39.960 hip hop has you know, regained its center stage definitely 0:22:40.119 --> 0:22:45.960 status musically and in terms of nightlife. And it's interesting 0:22:46.160 --> 0:22:48.680 to know that a club will and I want you 0:22:48.760 --> 0:22:55.960 to speak to this Q, A club will hire a 0:22:56.000 --> 0:23:02.840 black DJ two gives some authenticity to their hip hop 0:23:03.000 --> 0:23:08.040 night on Saturday. And my understanding is where you were DJing, 0:23:08.119 --> 0:23:12.120 was the biggest club in Arizona, or least the most 0:23:12.160 --> 0:23:18.520 expensive and not let black folks and or at the 0:23:18.600 --> 0:23:20.680 very least give them a hard time when it came 0:23:20.720 --> 0:23:21.720 to coming in. 0:23:22.359 --> 0:23:24.960 It just reflect your experience, so. 0:23:25.080 --> 0:23:26.080 Very very interesting. 0:23:26.320 --> 0:23:31.320 My perspective similar to that and maybe similar to yours 0:23:31.359 --> 0:23:34.280 as well, as I wasn't introduced to this city or 0:23:34.320 --> 0:23:37.680 to this space as a DJ when I met both 0:23:37.720 --> 0:23:40.160 of you guys. I was a rep for a very 0:23:40.200 --> 0:23:45.720 successful French luxury brand that has an alcohol in spirits division, 0:23:45.840 --> 0:23:50.280 Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy, and we were introducing to the 0:23:50.320 --> 0:23:53.080 market for the first time in almost three hundred years 0:23:53.160 --> 0:23:57.000 a new mark of alcohol from that brand group, and 0:23:57.040 --> 0:24:01.640 it was called Hennessy Black. One of the most successful 0:24:02.560 --> 0:24:07.800 reps in the United States, highest sales conversion, most new engagement, 0:24:07.880 --> 0:24:10.560 most cocktails soul per night, however you want to measure it, 0:24:10.920 --> 0:24:14.480 I was tops in the country and a lot of 0:24:14.520 --> 0:24:19.680 the first meetings that I went to, and it's even 0:24:19.720 --> 0:24:21.920 really difficult to say this out loud now, I think 0:24:21.960 --> 0:24:28.960 all of us are hypothetically revolutionary. If anybody ever steps 0:24:28.960 --> 0:24:32.199 to me with some racist stuff or challenges me in 0:24:32.240 --> 0:24:34.600 that way, I'm going to respond. This way is how 0:24:34.640 --> 0:24:39.560 we all hypothetically think until the way that we make 0:24:39.600 --> 0:24:44.119 a living and feed ourselves and our families are adjacent 0:24:44.240 --> 0:24:49.239 to that hypothetical revolutionary. So I'm trying to introduce a 0:24:49.359 --> 0:24:57.000 new cognac to Arizona at large, but Scottsdale specifically, and 0:24:57.040 --> 0:25:02.240 the word Hennessy in two thousand and eight, and Scott'sdale 0:25:02.280 --> 0:25:04.399 really really wasn't the word that you want to step 0:25:04.400 --> 0:25:08.960 into these meetings with because I got to be put 0:25:08.960 --> 0:25:14.600 in the position of exceptional negro. I'll say, you know, 0:25:14.640 --> 0:25:17.239 if you've ever seen the movie Django, the way that 0:25:17.280 --> 0:25:22.680 DiCaprio's character speaks about the exceptional negro, the one in however, 0:25:22.760 --> 0:25:26.640 many that's different because he speaks better, because he presents 0:25:26.680 --> 0:25:31.400 himself as more put together, because he's friendlier or disarming, 0:25:31.800 --> 0:25:34.520 as my brother said earlier in the interview. So I 0:25:34.520 --> 0:25:38.159 had people tell me to my face, Q, we love you, 0:25:39.960 --> 0:25:44.880 but we don't want your crowd, and like I'm shaking 0:25:45.000 --> 0:25:48.919 saying it now because it's so overtly insulting. But in 0:25:48.920 --> 0:25:52.080 those meetings, I didn't get mad and storm out. I sat, 0:25:52.200 --> 0:25:54.879 finished my meeting, finished my pitch, and had to figure 0:25:54.880 --> 0:25:56.840 out how am I going to come back next week 0:25:57.240 --> 0:25:59.359 and get these people to buy this liquor from me. 0:26:01.280 --> 0:26:03.600 They didn't even say we don't want the product. They 0:26:03.640 --> 0:26:07.160 tasted it, they thought it was great. But like the 0:26:07.200 --> 0:26:09.080 worst of us are going to show up and destroy 0:26:09.160 --> 0:26:12.480 their business if they if they put Henessy behind the bar, 0:26:12.640 --> 0:26:15.119 the worst of us, because I'm not I'm not the 0:26:15.160 --> 0:26:15.600 worst of us. 0:26:15.600 --> 0:26:19.920 I'm exceptionally. They loved me. But if they bring Hennessy 0:26:19.960 --> 0:26:22.440 in here, especially Hennessy Black. 0:26:24.359 --> 0:26:29.000 Then the worst black and brown people, the worst, the 0:26:29.119 --> 0:26:32.560 non exceptional negroes are going to show up and destroy 0:26:32.720 --> 0:26:33.400 our clubs. 0:26:33.560 --> 0:26:35.160 I want to say that we can't have that. 0:26:35.240 --> 0:26:38.840 You did get that off uh in downtown Phoenix, which 0:26:38.880 --> 0:26:40.960 is has a different culture than. 0:26:41.640 --> 0:26:43.920 At least at least at that time at the time. 0:26:44.520 --> 0:26:48.400 But I think that's important that you mentioned that because, 0:26:50.440 --> 0:26:55.720 as I stated earlier, not only have you thad been 0:26:55.760 --> 0:27:00.919 able to sort of overcome that climate, but you've also 0:27:01.320 --> 0:27:04.240 been able to thrive. And my understanding is that out 0:27:04.280 --> 0:27:09.320 of your promotional efforts, you've been able to get many 0:27:09.440 --> 0:27:16.440 successful nights with many partners all working together. From where 0:27:16.480 --> 0:27:19.800 it from where from where I sit, it doesn't look 0:27:19.840 --> 0:27:21.600 like you take a lot in the way of L's 0:27:23.440 --> 0:27:26.520 in terms of your the nights you promote, and then 0:27:26.520 --> 0:27:29.119 you've been able to parlay that into other efforts, in 0:27:29.160 --> 0:27:33.400 other words, a successful black owned business. And I'll share 0:27:33.440 --> 0:27:36.680 a quick story with those listening. I had a chance 0:27:36.760 --> 0:27:40.919 to recently sit down with you and and and a 0:27:40.920 --> 0:27:43.359 lot of your the folks you work with, your team, 0:27:44.320 --> 0:27:48.919 and based on some miscommunication, some misunderstanding, you know, I 0:27:49.000 --> 0:27:50.800 kind of warranted the meeting. But the one thing that 0:27:50.840 --> 0:27:52.280 I was able to say, and I'll say it again, 0:27:52.400 --> 0:27:54.760 is that I'm very very. 0:27:54.560 --> 0:27:56.200 Proud of you, all of you. 0:27:55.960 --> 0:27:57.840 If if the rest of you are listening to this, 0:27:59.359 --> 0:28:01.840 and and then I'm also proud of anyone in any 0:28:01.880 --> 0:28:04.840 other city as well who has managed to make a 0:28:04.840 --> 0:28:08.119 go of this because they do recognize that the discrimination 0:28:09.200 --> 0:28:15.520 of black folks while using black culture to make money 0:28:15.800 --> 0:28:20.840 is something that is prevalent. And as a black person, 0:28:21.480 --> 0:28:24.280 to know that your culture is good enough, your music's 0:28:24.320 --> 0:28:27.080 good enough, the way you dress and the way you talk, 0:28:27.560 --> 0:28:30.440 and you know, everything about you is cool. 0:28:30.480 --> 0:28:33.399 Your athletes are cool, everything about you is cool. But you, personally, 0:28:33.480 --> 0:28:36.400 you the individual, the human who is endowed with consciousness. 0:28:37.359 --> 0:28:41.080 I would rather you didn't involve yourself to any significant degree. 0:28:41.120 --> 0:28:42.680 I just want to take all the good parts of 0:28:42.720 --> 0:28:44.760 you over here in party and everything that makes you 0:28:44.800 --> 0:28:45.360 who you are. 0:28:45.600 --> 0:28:48.920 Please keep that on that side. That's to me, seems 0:28:48.960 --> 0:28:55.960 like an attack on a character and your integrity. And 0:28:56.240 --> 0:28:59.000 to have to endure that to make a successful go 0:28:59.600 --> 0:29:01.920 at some thing across the board, or to even have 0:29:02.000 --> 0:29:03.480 to endure it to just go out and have a 0:29:03.480 --> 0:29:03.960 good time. 0:29:04.440 --> 0:29:06.640 You know, even if this isn't your your career path 0:29:06.720 --> 0:29:07.000 or whatever. 0:29:07.040 --> 0:29:10.440 If you're just a person who works a job and 0:29:10.480 --> 0:29:12.840 you know, once a month or once every three months, 0:29:12.920 --> 0:29:14.080 or you get to go out and have a good 0:29:14.080 --> 0:29:19.200 time and you get held up at the door discriminated against. 0:29:19.280 --> 0:29:21.200 You know, I really. 0:29:22.560 --> 0:29:25.160 I have this platform, and I wanted to make sure 0:29:25.160 --> 0:29:28.240 that I said that this is not an experience that 0:29:28.360 --> 0:29:29.200 is exclusive to you. 0:29:29.240 --> 0:29:30.440 It happens to a lot of folks. 0:29:30.720 --> 0:29:35.360 The world is getting better, And if you have any 0:29:35.400 --> 0:29:38.720 residual traumas from that, that's okay, because I clearly have 0:29:38.880 --> 0:29:43.520 them myself. Should never have endured them myself. Now, because 0:29:43.560 --> 0:29:47.840 you are a business owner, a successful promoter, and obviously 0:29:47.880 --> 0:29:51.120 you've established your own culture, your own brand, your own 0:29:51.200 --> 0:29:56.880 name in a city known for its discriminatory practices, what 0:29:56.920 --> 0:29:59.480 were some of the things that you recalled during early 0:29:59.560 --> 0:30:01.960 on to reach out to black and brown folks to 0:30:02.040 --> 0:30:04.320 let them know, Hey, this is a place that's safe 0:30:04.320 --> 0:30:06.760 for you. How did you go about cultivating an environment 0:30:06.800 --> 0:30:09.240 where folks felt welcome and so forth? 0:30:10.520 --> 0:30:16.360 The reconstruction I work at Club International. Now right there, 0:30:19.360 --> 0:30:22.760 you we pretty much had to tear it down, not 0:30:23.320 --> 0:30:26.520 physically but mentally owner wise. 0:30:26.640 --> 0:30:29.120 Tear them, tear them down, and then rebuild them back up. 0:30:29.960 --> 0:30:34.120 Because much like you said, they wanted the music, they 0:30:34.160 --> 0:30:37.120 want the athletes. You know what I'm saying, Uh, they 0:30:37.160 --> 0:30:38.959 want the dollar. And most of the time when they 0:30:38.960 --> 0:30:40.960 come knocking on us, they're in the red. Their their 0:30:41.000 --> 0:30:43.840 club is struggling and they need some some some help. 0:30:43.880 --> 0:30:45.840 They need like a couple of couple of floatings or 0:30:45.880 --> 0:30:46.920 something like that. 0:30:46.920 --> 0:30:49.640 That's how it works. They in trying to get back 0:30:49.640 --> 0:30:55.800 to the black man, and uh, that was the situation. 0:30:56.120 --> 0:30:59.680 And so you gotta tear them down, man, You gotta 0:30:59.680 --> 0:31:03.640 you gotta tell them like yo, you can't. You can't 0:31:04.000 --> 0:31:07.080 want everything else. And then I want the people and 0:31:07.760 --> 0:31:09.800 joins is hip hop. That's the culture. You know what 0:31:09.800 --> 0:31:12.800 I'm saying. No, believe it or not, hats is the culture. 0:31:12.880 --> 0:31:16.880 You know what I'm saying. Uh, the jeans, the T. 0:31:16.920 --> 0:31:19.560 Shirts that we rock, that's all that all belongs. That's 0:31:19.680 --> 0:31:22.720 our style. You can't deny them access you. 0:31:23.280 --> 0:31:23.880 This is you. 0:31:23.880 --> 0:31:25.640 You want to go hip hop, this is what it is. 0:31:25.720 --> 0:31:27.600 This is the people that enjoy and they love it. 0:31:27.680 --> 0:31:30.560 Black brown they even what. Let me tell you something, 0:31:31.720 --> 0:31:39.800 please please. Hip hop is extremely diverse, bro. You know 0:31:39.840 --> 0:31:41.920 what I'm saying. Everybody can come into the hip hop 0:31:41.960 --> 0:31:43.400 spot and enjoy themselves. 0:31:43.840 --> 0:31:44.440 Everybody. 0:31:44.760 --> 0:31:47.520 You rarely see folks in the country, black folks, black 0:31:47.560 --> 0:31:49.680 brown folks at the country bars or you know what 0:31:49.720 --> 0:31:52.440 I'm saying. But hip hop, you can come in. You 0:31:52.480 --> 0:31:56.760 can enjoy yourself, man, super diverse. Everybody can come in it. 0:31:56.920 --> 0:31:58.040 You like you like. 0:31:58.040 --> 0:32:01.600 Luda, enjoy yourself, you want Drake, enjoy yourself. That's really 0:32:01.600 --> 0:32:03.720 what it is. But it was it's just a it 0:32:03.760 --> 0:32:08.160 was a wild start because they really didn't want Jordan's like. 0:32:08.200 --> 0:32:10.880 They didn't they didn't want the hats, they didn't they 0:32:11.000 --> 0:32:12.760 you know, you got to put them in the button up, 0:32:12.800 --> 0:32:14.360 you know what I'm saying, And not saying that we 0:32:14.400 --> 0:32:16.960 can't get all dressed up and you know, and in 0:32:16.960 --> 0:32:19.560 the Sunday's best and come shine. But a lot of 0:32:19.560 --> 0:32:21.600 the culture. Man, we'd like to put stuff together. That's 0:32:21.600 --> 0:32:23.200 we got to coordinate. We like to put stuff now. 0:32:23.280 --> 0:32:26.640 But now look, yeah, that's gonna be flying, you know 0:32:26.680 --> 0:32:29.400 what I'm saying. And that was that was a real 0:32:29.480 --> 0:32:32.880 challenge inside the building. And I mean it was a 0:32:32.920 --> 0:32:36.480 tug of war. It wasn't like you know, overnight. This 0:32:36.720 --> 0:32:42.360 was inch by inch inch by inch, inch by inch. 0:32:42.640 --> 0:32:43.560 They finally gave. 0:32:43.440 --> 0:32:44.000 A little here. 0:32:44.240 --> 0:32:46.880 We got to give a little bit. Then we had 0:32:46.880 --> 0:32:49.040 to get a little bit here. You gotta give a 0:32:49.040 --> 0:32:53.600 lot more. And then they gave a little bit and slowly, surely, 0:32:54.320 --> 0:32:56.240 now you can come in. You know what I'm saying. 0:32:56.320 --> 0:32:59.520 You can be yourself. And that's crazy when you think 0:32:59.520 --> 0:33:02.360 about it, because it's a hip hop club, you know 0:33:02.400 --> 0:33:06.280 what I'm saying. And you know, I mean starting an 0:33:06.280 --> 0:33:08.800 international We was dealing with police. The police didn't want 0:33:08.880 --> 0:33:10.280 us there. They didn't want us, say at all, it 0:33:10.320 --> 0:33:13.240 was pure harassment. Then you can go with fire marshals 0:33:13.280 --> 0:33:16.280 constantly coming in. I mean, you name it. If it 0:33:16.400 --> 0:33:18.840 wasn't honestly, if it wasn't for us being in the 0:33:18.880 --> 0:33:20.720 corner where we're at, well, like we're in the heart 0:33:20.720 --> 0:33:23.720 of old town, like we're in the herd of old town, 0:33:23.720 --> 0:33:25.960 but we're on our little we We got our space 0:33:26.040 --> 0:33:28.320 down there, you know what I'm saying. But if we 0:33:28.360 --> 0:33:31.320 was if we were inside you know what I'm talking about, 0:33:31.320 --> 0:33:33.760 where you got mind, you got high fired autumn spots. 0:33:33.520 --> 0:33:35.760 Like that exact, that wouldn't exist. 0:33:35.840 --> 0:33:38.280 We wouldn't exist there. They can't have that, you know 0:33:38.320 --> 0:33:41.440 what I'm saying. They can't have that. They're this is 0:33:42.280 --> 0:33:43.920 this is the thing that I think they fear most, 0:33:43.920 --> 0:33:48.160 which is wild. Our club we don't have fights like that, 0:33:49.240 --> 0:33:51.920 We don't have shootings. You know what I'm saying, This 0:33:52.000 --> 0:33:55.040 is this is wild. A lot of these other bars, 0:33:55.080 --> 0:33:58.160 these country bars, and I would say predominantly white bars, 0:33:58.200 --> 0:34:02.200 these hop have way more fights in us, way, way, 0:34:02.280 --> 0:34:04.680 way way more fights. And there's this big fear is 0:34:04.680 --> 0:34:07.920 that they can't. So when I when I'm in this, 0:34:08.000 --> 0:34:10.040 when I'm in this and we're talking about it, you 0:34:10.200 --> 0:34:14.680 learn that white security really feels like they can't handle us, 0:34:14.960 --> 0:34:17.200 you know what I'm saying. And there and there's there's 0:34:17.200 --> 0:34:18.880 some truth in that. We don't surround you know what 0:34:18.920 --> 0:34:20.200 I'm saying. You put a little here to see in 0:34:20.200 --> 0:34:27.360 the oh, my Atlanta. 0:34:26.560 --> 0:34:29.440 Proceed. Please you put a little here to see in us. 0:34:30.040 --> 0:34:32.080 We're not gonna be easy, you know what I'm saying. 0:34:32.520 --> 0:34:35.480 You a couple of a couple of white folks, they 0:34:35.520 --> 0:34:37.120 might get some beers in them and you can just 0:34:37.120 --> 0:34:40.279 push them on out, you know what I'm saying. But 0:34:40.360 --> 0:34:42.600 we're really not looking to do that. There's too many 0:34:42.600 --> 0:34:44.400 women in the spot, you know what I'm saying. And 0:34:44.440 --> 0:34:47.160 I for years after years after years after years, just 0:34:47.160 --> 0:34:50.440 a stereotype, by international stereotype about any black club is 0:34:50.480 --> 0:34:53.040 that there's just all these fights and this is this 0:34:53.239 --> 0:34:58.480 constant shooting, these constant just just just just this aggressive environment. 0:34:58.560 --> 0:35:00.839 And that's really not the case, you know what I'm saying, 0:35:00.960 --> 0:35:03.200 not saying that stuff don't happen. I'm not saying we perfect. 0:35:03.200 --> 0:35:05.560 Ain't no, ain't no spot perfect, But that's really not 0:35:05.640 --> 0:35:08.719 the case. And I could just remember, like there'll be 0:35:08.760 --> 0:35:11.640 moments where you would look up and there's been times 0:35:11.680 --> 0:35:13.920 we've had an artist I ain't and you know we 0:35:13.960 --> 0:35:15.880 can I don't. We could pick any artists. We had 0:35:16.080 --> 0:35:19.080 a grip of artists, right and all of a sudden, 0:35:19.640 --> 0:35:22.640 fire marshals is there. They just sitting chilling, you know, 0:35:22.680 --> 0:35:25.560 all the other clubs down that way, they packed busy line. 0:35:25.640 --> 0:35:30.480 They just fire marshals, just chilling, you know, just chilling. 0:35:30.520 --> 0:35:33.080 I don't know what y'all doing. Everything good, looks nice 0:35:33.080 --> 0:35:35.799 in here. You got forty people and it looks good, though, 0:35:35.880 --> 0:35:37.799 looks good, y'all. Keep y'all forty people in there. 0:35:37.680 --> 0:35:40.600 And they just and then you know, Ben being Ben, 0:35:40.600 --> 0:35:42.680 and then they finally just leave and we can get 0:35:42.680 --> 0:35:45.560 back to businessman. But that's a constant thing that we've 0:35:45.680 --> 0:35:48.640 really really had to deal with. And it's wild to 0:35:48.800 --> 0:35:55.560 think that we, uh, just by being us, we cause 0:35:55.640 --> 0:35:56.200 so much fear. 0:35:56.200 --> 0:35:58.200 And I'm like, bro, oh, we we're just trying. 0:35:58.040 --> 0:36:01.520 To party like everybody else. That's really it. That's that's 0:36:01.560 --> 0:36:03.560 all were trying to do. Come out and have a 0:36:03.600 --> 0:36:04.360 good time. 0:36:04.400 --> 0:36:05.040 You know what I'm saying. 0:36:05.560 --> 0:36:07.359 Women trying to see some men, Men trying to see 0:36:07.360 --> 0:36:09.800 some women, you know what I'm saying. And that's really 0:36:10.520 --> 0:36:11.920 that's really what it is. Man. 0:36:12.000 --> 0:36:14.400 I've seen and experienced so many things. 0:36:14.400 --> 0:36:17.359 Man, it's not to say because it's not to say that, 0:36:17.480 --> 0:36:20.800 you know, you know, there's we got some great sheriffs 0:36:20.800 --> 0:36:22.440 that work for us, you know what I'm saying, And 0:36:22.480 --> 0:36:25.720 they they really do understand. They really really really do understand. 0:36:25.800 --> 0:36:28.560 Let me be very clear, I'm friends with these shrifs. 0:36:28.560 --> 0:36:31.920 These these guys that I bet at myself. Listen, I 0:36:31.960 --> 0:36:33.200 bet at them. I put them in the thing, but 0:36:33.239 --> 0:36:34.160 I put the spotlight of them. 0:36:34.239 --> 0:36:38.160 I said, what y'all do? So these are really. 0:36:38.000 --> 0:36:42.480 Legit guys and they understand, like man, you know, especially 0:36:42.600 --> 0:36:45.279 you'll see some of the younger sheriffs come in or 0:36:45.320 --> 0:36:48.080 got the sheriffs that haven't worked the night, and you can. 0:36:47.960 --> 0:36:51.960 See their little edgy there's a lot, you know what 0:36:52.000 --> 0:36:52.440 I'm saying. 0:36:52.640 --> 0:36:58.040 And but it's funny because within you know, maybe that 0:36:58.080 --> 0:37:01.040 first night as a Friday, they work by Sunday because 0:37:01.080 --> 0:37:06.799 we're opening Sundays by Sunday. It's cool, good, same, what's 0:37:06.840 --> 0:37:09.160 up to people talking to everybody because that's not we 0:37:09.320 --> 0:37:11.719 there the party, have a good time. We're not looking 0:37:11.760 --> 0:37:14.319 for problems, man. And it's so it's it's crazy how 0:37:14.400 --> 0:37:17.279 we're so feared and it shouldn't be that way, man. 0:37:17.320 --> 0:37:23.280 We just you know, every sheriff needs to experience swag surf. Definitely, 0:37:23.400 --> 0:37:27.520 it was dead everything. Definitely, Definitely swagsurf could make the 0:37:27.560 --> 0:37:30.799 bloods and the crypts do. But that does to the 0:37:30.920 --> 0:37:32.680 room if you're a sheriff and you ain't never been 0:37:32.680 --> 0:37:35.520 in it and you see that the unity, Yeah, that's 0:37:35.560 --> 0:37:38.440 expressed when that song comes on. Yeah, I think we 0:37:38.640 --> 0:37:39.640 did a lot of that fear. 0:37:39.719 --> 0:37:41.600 For those that don't know, the Swag Surf is a 0:37:41.640 --> 0:37:45.520 song that is a it's a black song, but it's 0:37:45.560 --> 0:37:47.640 it's a song that everybody is real. 0:37:47.520 --> 0:37:48.440 Easy to get with it. 0:37:48.600 --> 0:37:51.680 Yeah, and it provides it's a beautiful thing. It is. 0:37:53.360 --> 0:37:59.960 Before now, uh, I wanted to ask you something please, 0:38:01.680 --> 0:38:04.960 because obviously this is not the first time there have 0:38:05.040 --> 0:38:10.360 been complaints about the way black folks are treated in 0:38:11.320 --> 0:38:13.280 as far as like nightlife is concerned. 0:38:15.000 --> 0:38:19.319 And I do recall recently there was a resolution that 0:38:19.480 --> 0:38:26.080 was proposed to try to address some of these racist 0:38:26.360 --> 0:38:34.719 practices that these companies either have a very cavalier attitude 0:38:34.719 --> 0:38:41.000 toward or are willingly undertaking so as to you know, 0:38:42.080 --> 0:38:48.160 acquire the precise ratio of you know, white to brown 0:38:48.200 --> 0:38:50.560 to black in their clubs so that it has the 0:38:50.640 --> 0:38:54.520 aesthetic that they feel fits, you know, their business model. 0:38:55.200 --> 0:39:01.160 And this resolution, well, first off, you've seen it. 0:39:01.239 --> 0:39:02.759 I know you've seen it. How do you feel about it? 0:39:05.120 --> 0:39:07.960 I think that it was very very well put together, 0:39:10.040 --> 0:39:16.080 you know, resolution resolute to resolve, that the intentions of 0:39:16.160 --> 0:39:21.759 the document are very well articulated, and if it was 0:39:21.840 --> 0:39:29.400 given proper attention, would be something really really awesome. Except typically, 0:39:30.040 --> 0:39:33.560 and I'll use a company like Nike for instance, even 0:39:33.600 --> 0:39:36.560 if they don't love us, even if they actually don't 0:39:36.600 --> 0:39:41.800 care about us, they absolutely respect and appreciate our dollar. 0:39:43.800 --> 0:39:47.600 So if the best athletes in the world who Nike 0:39:47.719 --> 0:39:50.759 represents came to them with the resolution, they would take 0:39:50.760 --> 0:39:54.000 it very seriously. They care about their business partners, people 0:39:54.040 --> 0:39:57.200 like Lebron James. They care about their business partners. Even 0:39:57.200 --> 0:39:59.560 if they don't care about Lebron James the human, they 0:39:59.600 --> 0:40:03.080 care a whole lot about that twenty three in that crown, right, 0:40:03.160 --> 0:40:05.560 that LJ and that crown, they care a lot about that. 0:40:06.000 --> 0:40:08.839 So that would be given the proper attention, taken into 0:40:08.920 --> 0:40:11.719 actual consideration, and some action steps would be put in 0:40:11.760 --> 0:40:17.880 place so that their partners and their consumers would feel respected, appreciated, 0:40:17.920 --> 0:40:23.120 and comfortable continuing to give them their money. The problem 0:40:23.160 --> 0:40:26.880 with the audience that this document was intended for is 0:40:26.920 --> 0:40:28.120 that they don't care. 0:40:29.239 --> 0:40:33.080 You mean, the club owners would not care about a resolution. 0:40:33.520 --> 0:40:37.600 Why they don't. They actually don't want us there. I 0:40:37.640 --> 0:40:39.040 look at the camera and say that, hold on, let 0:40:39.080 --> 0:40:42.000 me fix my ad. They actually don't want us there, 0:40:43.520 --> 0:40:48.320 So there's no real reason to take such a document serious. 0:40:48.960 --> 0:40:52.840 I told you guys, those meetings I went to. Eventually 0:40:52.840 --> 0:40:56.640 I got Hennessy and all those clubs, all of them 0:40:56.680 --> 0:41:00.600 in surplus. But do you know why the market crashed 0:41:01.840 --> 0:41:06.399 and their typical consumer stopped spending money. You know who 0:41:06.480 --> 0:41:10.759 was still doing bottle service when the market crashed? Yeah, 0:41:10.800 --> 0:41:16.440 I got that swash. We were in there so because 0:41:16.560 --> 0:41:21.239 our people were the only people really spending money. When 0:41:21.280 --> 0:41:24.720 people whose wealth and well being was tied to the market, 0:41:24.760 --> 0:41:29.640 see ours wasn't. But when people whose security, sense of self, 0:41:29.680 --> 0:41:31.719 sense of well being was tied to the market and 0:41:31.719 --> 0:41:34.680 it crashed, those people got scared. They started liquid their nassets, 0:41:34.880 --> 0:41:38.080 selling golf clubs, et cetera. We were still going to 0:41:38.120 --> 0:41:40.280 the club because we just worked all week. We can't 0:41:40.280 --> 0:41:43.279 wait to go out this weekend. We just worked all 0:41:43.320 --> 0:41:47.319 week so we could go out this week, right, so 0:41:47.360 --> 0:41:49.600 we are Please give me two tables, y'all. Ain't nobody 0:41:49.640 --> 0:41:52.480 in there give me that whole? Give me that Fox 0:41:52.520 --> 0:41:55.880 and five, give me that whole section over there. So 0:41:55.960 --> 0:41:59.920 then they call like, hey, hey, Q about that henness 0:42:00.640 --> 0:42:03.840 that hennessy black right, can we do a couple of. 0:42:03.840 --> 0:42:05.680 Cases of that this weekend? See how it goes. 0:42:07.200 --> 0:42:11.680 And that got us back in the door. But as 0:42:11.760 --> 0:42:15.279 soon as they were able to float without us, the 0:42:15.320 --> 0:42:20.239 same practices that always existed, like really really random, strange, 0:42:20.320 --> 0:42:23.800 unrealistic dress codes, came right back into play. 0:42:23.960 --> 0:42:28.799 Okay, okay, okay, so let me jump in right here. Well, 0:42:28.800 --> 0:42:32.440 first off, if you're just tuning in, you're tuned in 0:42:32.520 --> 0:42:33.200 to Civic Cipher. 0:42:33.200 --> 0:42:34.359 I'my host Rams's. 0:42:34.080 --> 0:42:36.240 Jack called me q Ward and that just so happens 0:42:36.280 --> 0:42:38.160 to be my actual name. 0:42:38.360 --> 0:42:44.560 Special guest today, Dad Shade, Promoter extraordinaire Nightlight. 0:42:45.920 --> 0:42:54.120 Yeah, thank you, and an absolute genuinely good person, which 0:42:54.160 --> 0:42:56.120 means more than all the other stuff that I just said. 0:42:56.320 --> 0:43:00.600 OnlyFans dot com Chocolate Warrior it, Oh yeah, you go 0:43:00.760 --> 0:43:04.400 up this plus so listen up. He made an excellent 0:43:04.440 --> 0:43:08.040 point and I think that. 0:43:09.960 --> 0:43:13.760 At some point, and I'm not just saying this because 0:43:14.040 --> 0:43:16.680 of who I am, and I guess I'll just say it. 0:43:16.680 --> 0:43:18.759 I won't say any names, though, but for folks that 0:43:18.960 --> 0:43:23.680 know me personally, you may know that I actually own 0:43:25.080 --> 0:43:28.280 a couple of night clubs and myself I can't promote 0:43:28.280 --> 0:43:31.920 them for obvious reasons. But if you want to, you know, 0:43:32.000 --> 0:43:33.879 do a little research. It's not hard to find out 0:43:33.880 --> 0:43:39.719 for yourself. In an event, I think it's at some 0:43:39.760 --> 0:43:41.239 point in the future we do need to have a 0:43:41.280 --> 0:43:45.960 conversation about supporting black owned businesses. 0:43:46.040 --> 0:43:46.200 Now. 0:43:46.239 --> 0:43:49.280 To be fair, there haven't always been black owned clubs, 0:43:50.000 --> 0:43:54.040 and up until I think me and I think the 0:43:54.120 --> 0:43:59.560 Worthies who came after me, there was no black ownership. 0:43:59.600 --> 0:44:03.360 But there was the next best thing, which was effectively 0:44:03.360 --> 0:44:06.239 what you were doing with Fresh and Dave Beyond and 0:44:06.280 --> 0:44:11.040 everyone else, and then taking those dollars and then investing 0:44:11.040 --> 0:44:14.239 them in barbershops and hair stons and so forth. I 0:44:14.360 --> 0:44:16.520 was so proud of you for doing that than you 0:44:16.520 --> 0:44:18.560 so I will always be proud of you. That's amazing 0:44:18.560 --> 0:44:23.600 to me. I think that at some point we really 0:44:23.640 --> 0:44:27.319 need to have a conversation if UQ are able to 0:44:27.400 --> 0:44:32.600 say that we were that excited to go as a people, 0:44:32.840 --> 0:44:36.160 that excited to go and spend our dollars and cents 0:44:36.800 --> 0:44:39.600 with people who were openly racist. 0:44:39.920 --> 0:44:42.680 You know, like out loud with it, you know. 0:44:43.080 --> 0:44:46.680 And you know, I've just never heard the insult non 0:44:46.840 --> 0:44:50.920 swimmers and stuff. How in the world. And this is 0:44:51.440 --> 0:44:54.880 the people that owned access and radius. You know, I 0:44:54.880 --> 0:44:57.319 think that's less than I am. But they're not the 0:44:57.360 --> 0:44:58.920 only ones, you know. 0:45:00.360 --> 0:45:00.560 Well. 0:45:00.760 --> 0:45:04.080 But in any event, it pains me to know that 0:45:04.120 --> 0:45:07.040 we were that excited to go back and spend our 0:45:07.120 --> 0:45:10.560 money to buy bottles from these places that hated us, 0:45:11.360 --> 0:45:14.680 changed their minds when it was fiscally convenient for them, 0:45:14.760 --> 0:45:16.919 and then as soon as what they could get back 0:45:16.920 --> 0:45:19.680 to their the base that they wanted, all of a sudden, 0:45:19.840 --> 0:45:24.120 Hennessy black is too black again, and we are relegated, 0:45:24.239 --> 0:45:27.680 as you said, to the corner where we can throw 0:45:27.719 --> 0:45:30.040 our little parties and still get harassed by far and 0:45:30.160 --> 0:45:34.080 fire marshals and the sheriffs that don't know you and 0:45:34.120 --> 0:45:37.560 haven't been vetted by you. And I think that at 0:45:37.600 --> 0:45:41.319 some point we all need to have a real conversation 0:45:41.400 --> 0:45:43.239 about what it is that we want. Do we want 0:45:43.280 --> 0:45:47.920 to be accepted by them or who hate us? Or 0:45:47.920 --> 0:45:49.920 do we want to be accepted by us? And I 0:45:49.960 --> 0:45:52.640 think that no matter who you are, you have to 0:45:52.719 --> 0:45:55.040 love yourself first. You have to come to terms with 0:45:55.120 --> 0:45:59.360 who you are in the world and determine and decide 0:45:59.360 --> 0:46:05.520 your own value. If you expect anyone else to keep 0:46:05.560 --> 0:46:09.880 that energy around, have that energy around you. So I 0:46:09.920 --> 0:46:13.879 think that that bears saying, at least in this conversation, 0:46:14.680 --> 0:46:17.240 not to take anything away from anybody who's doing anything. 0:46:17.239 --> 0:46:19.080 And I certainly, you know, I've been doing this for 0:46:19.120 --> 0:46:20.960 a very long time. I far be it for me 0:46:21.000 --> 0:46:24.600 to promote my own interest, But it just is something 0:46:24.600 --> 0:46:26.799 that needs to be said. It's long overdue. Perhaps this 0:46:26.920 --> 0:46:30.280 is the first time, at least for me, that something 0:46:30.320 --> 0:46:31.400 like this has been able. 0:46:31.200 --> 0:46:32.839 To be said out loud. This is this. 0:46:33.040 --> 0:46:35.719 These sorts of things were happening in the nineties, you know, 0:46:35.800 --> 0:46:38.000 from what I recall, I you know, I didn't have 0:46:38.040 --> 0:46:39.920 anyone who went to party in the eighties, so I 0:46:39.960 --> 0:46:42.359 didn't know if the practices were as a discriminatory way 0:46:42.400 --> 0:46:43.680 back then or if the nature. 0:46:43.440 --> 0:46:46.320 Of course I bet I bet it was. 0:46:45.520 --> 0:46:48.440 You you know what I'm saying, But before I was 0:46:48.480 --> 0:46:50.640 old enough to go to a night club, there was 0:46:50.680 --> 0:46:55.280 discriminatory practices. And here we are a solid thirty years 0:46:55.280 --> 0:46:59.359 into the future. And my understanding is that you know, 0:46:59.800 --> 0:47:03.480 with the one notable exception Old Town is still very 0:47:03.600 --> 0:47:05.480 much what it's meant to be. And then all the 0:47:05.520 --> 0:47:08.240 other old towns quote unquote, and all the other cities 0:47:08.280 --> 0:47:10.320 in this country largely. 0:47:09.880 --> 0:47:10.879 Behave the same way. 0:47:11.000 --> 0:47:13.359 That's from Miami up to Seattle and all the way 0:47:13.360 --> 0:47:15.200 well Seattle's kind of cool, but all the way down 0:47:15.239 --> 0:47:18.560 to La Yes, of course, you know New York has 0:47:18.600 --> 0:47:21.480 you know, there's parts of New York where they will 0:47:21.520 --> 0:47:23.799 definitely hold your color, your the. 0:47:23.840 --> 0:47:25.000 Language you speak against you. 0:47:25.680 --> 0:47:31.280 So you know, again that's something that really I wanted 0:47:31.280 --> 0:47:32.560 to make sure that I was able to say. 0:47:32.960 --> 0:47:34.600 Now question for both of you. 0:47:35.080 --> 0:47:39.479 Well, first off, mister Shade, that shade you spend any 0:47:39.520 --> 0:47:43.440 time ever in church? Ever been to a church in 0:47:43.480 --> 0:47:43.839 your life? 0:47:43.960 --> 0:47:44.160 Yeah? 0:47:44.280 --> 0:47:46.920 Man, yes or no? 0:47:50.239 --> 0:47:52.440 I want to ask both of y'all, what do you 0:47:52.440 --> 0:47:55.880 think is more segregated. It's just because they go together. 0:47:55.920 --> 0:48:00.120 You know, Saturday night you had a club, you know 0:48:00.160 --> 0:48:01.879 where you go Sunday morning where a lot of people 0:48:01.880 --> 0:48:03.600 go Sunday morning. Sometime they were to the same clothes 0:48:04.000 --> 0:48:07.760 to the church. And you know, my father was a minister, 0:48:07.840 --> 0:48:10.680 His father was a minister. I grew up around church folks. 0:48:12.920 --> 0:48:15.279 One of the things that I noticed when I was, 0:48:15.760 --> 0:48:18.360 you know, little all the way growing up, you know, 0:48:18.400 --> 0:48:19.920 I used to be a royal ranger. I went to 0:48:20.000 --> 0:48:24.120 Valley Cathedral, which was a predominantly white church, and I couldn't, 0:48:24.120 --> 0:48:25.960 for the life of me figure out why the preacher, 0:48:26.000 --> 0:48:28.799 although he was a Pentecostal preacher, was a white man 0:48:28.840 --> 0:48:30.560 in there. For what lots of white folks went there. 0:48:30.560 --> 0:48:32.080 I was one of the only black folks that went 0:48:32.120 --> 0:48:33.880 to that church. It was probably over a thousand people. 0:48:34.719 --> 0:48:37.800 And then, of course Black church is very segregated. But 0:48:38.840 --> 0:48:42.600 the same thing is true, I think artificially so with nightlife. 0:48:42.760 --> 0:48:44.920 But if both of you all have been in churches, 0:48:45.440 --> 0:48:49.080 you know, what do you think is more segregated nightlife or. 0:48:50.480 --> 0:48:50.760 Church? 0:48:51.640 --> 0:48:51.960 Church? 0:48:52.360 --> 0:48:54.560 Church? And it's not even close. It's not. Yeah, it's 0:48:54.560 --> 0:48:55.160 not even close. 0:48:56.120 --> 0:49:03.000 So I feel like, but I think they do run. 0:49:03.640 --> 0:49:06.160 I think that just me being able to say that 0:49:06.239 --> 0:49:08.760 suggests that the problem is of course a lot larger 0:49:08.800 --> 0:49:11.640 than you know. They're holding us up in the in 0:49:11.680 --> 0:49:14.080 the lines at the clubs, and they're not giving us, 0:49:14.440 --> 0:49:16.040 you know, the dignity that we mean. 0:49:16.280 --> 0:49:18.279 There's there's been I just want to say this, man, 0:49:18.280 --> 0:49:23.200 there's been moments. Man, I've established myself. You know what 0:49:23.239 --> 0:49:26.160 I'm saying doing this, And I've went to some of 0:49:26.200 --> 0:49:28.600 the other spots and I've been turned away for not 0:49:28.719 --> 0:49:30.719 being old enough. Look at my eydis Oh you're not 0:49:30.760 --> 0:49:33.120 old enough to get in. And I'm like, man, look bro, 0:49:33.440 --> 0:49:36.600 you know, but like, uh, but I avoid all that. 0:49:36.640 --> 0:49:38.920 I don't even deal with them spots like that was 0:49:38.960 --> 0:49:41.920 like my last jart. I was some years ago and 0:49:41.920 --> 0:49:43.479 there was a hi Fi, you know what I'm saying, 0:49:43.520 --> 0:49:46.000 and do tell me I wouldn't old enough to get in? 0:49:46.280 --> 0:49:51.480 And I look, I've in my time, I've scared some 0:49:51.480 --> 0:49:55.600 some doorman because at the moment, because you can only 0:49:55.840 --> 0:49:57.279 sometimes you just not for it. 0:49:57.560 --> 0:49:58.080 You know what I'm saying. 0:49:58.080 --> 0:50:01.160 You're not for the board, so you're not for the 0:50:01.239 --> 0:50:02.800 you're not for the you're not for the stuff. 0:50:03.239 --> 0:50:04.879 You know what I'm saying. 0:50:05.480 --> 0:50:08.560 You know, I feel so bad, but you're not even 0:50:08.640 --> 0:50:13.680 for it. So you have these moments where you just 0:50:13.840 --> 0:50:15.640 you just let it out. And I've let it out 0:50:15.680 --> 0:50:17.560 a couple of times and then you just kind of learned, Man, 0:50:17.560 --> 0:50:20.200 don't even don't even put yourself in that. But I've 0:50:20.200 --> 0:50:23.719 been turned away for Halloween night. Oh you got on 0:50:23.880 --> 0:50:26.640 Oran it's Halloween. I've seen people come in here butt naked. 0:50:27.040 --> 0:50:29.719 It's Halloween. You've got little I'm for real for I'm 0:50:29.760 --> 0:50:30.040 not just. 0:50:32.360 --> 0:50:36.320 Right, and and guys wearing weird g stream crap whatever. 0:50:36.520 --> 0:50:38.960 But you got on Jordan's. You came, my boy, my 0:50:39.000 --> 0:50:41.520 boy Craigs with me. You can't get in? You got 0:50:41.560 --> 0:50:44.680 you got on Jordan's. It's Halloween, bro, This is like 0:50:44.719 --> 0:50:46.360 the one night that I feel like I could dress 0:50:46.400 --> 0:50:48.080 like me and y'all not supposed to be tripping. You 0:50:48.080 --> 0:50:50.520 know what I'm saying like, I'm basically what you're going 0:50:50.520 --> 0:50:53.799 out is some somebody dressed enjoys hip hop. 0:50:53.880 --> 0:50:55.920 That's what I'm going out in. That's can I Can 0:50:55.960 --> 0:50:57.960 I get in? You know what I'm saying, like, But no, 0:50:58.120 --> 0:51:02.640 I've been. I've been. It's it's it's it's insane. 0:51:02.239 --> 0:51:07.600 Man, that area and why we like to be in there. 0:51:07.640 --> 0:51:09.520 But that goes to it. You could talk to that's 0:51:09.520 --> 0:51:11.759 a that's a bigger issue behind that, man. It's something 0:51:11.760 --> 0:51:15.160 about you know, getting money and then moving to an 0:51:15.160 --> 0:51:18.240 area like that. We've always wanted to be in areas 0:51:18.280 --> 0:51:20.640 where we were not really wanted to be wanting. 0:51:21.800 --> 0:51:24.880 Science behind it isn't complicated right, the same way that 0:51:24.920 --> 0:51:26.879 I'm placed in that position of exceptional. 0:51:27.280 --> 0:51:30.719 That's why we want to go party there. Right. 0:51:31.000 --> 0:51:33.680 If I can get in there, I'm doing like that 0:51:34.080 --> 0:51:37.800 for most of us. I heard somebody doing an interview 0:51:37.800 --> 0:51:41.440 with It was jay Z or some very very astronomically 0:51:41.480 --> 0:51:45.040 successful rapper, and they were asking them how they're able 0:51:45.120 --> 0:51:48.600 to still have a fan base when the content of 0:51:48.640 --> 0:51:53.680 their music has moved into such an exceptional space. And 0:51:53.719 --> 0:52:01.760 it's because they become our avatar. Right for three hours 0:52:01.800 --> 0:52:05.120 on Saturday, I can be ditty, I can get a table, 0:52:05.600 --> 0:52:08.480 I can get bottles. There's lights, there's sparklers, the music 0:52:08.560 --> 0:52:11.279 is crazy, there's girls around. I've been working at the 0:52:11.320 --> 0:52:16.359 post office for three years every day, but at International 0:52:16.480 --> 0:52:20.239 on Saturday, it's my birthday. I hit that shade in 0:52:20.239 --> 0:52:22.080 his DMS. He said, here, gonna look out for me. 0:52:22.920 --> 0:52:24.520 He's gonna give me to buy one, get one on 0:52:24.560 --> 0:52:26.959 the bottles. He gonna give me an extra bottle because 0:52:26.960 --> 0:52:29.480 it's my birthday. He my man, he's gonna put my 0:52:29.520 --> 0:52:33.239 picture on the hitdie for that night. The reason why 0:52:33.280 --> 0:52:35.439 we trying so hard to get this because they said 0:52:35.440 --> 0:52:39.120 we can't. They keep telling us we can't or we're 0:52:39.120 --> 0:52:41.840 gonna get in. We're gonna kick it. We have the 0:52:41.920 --> 0:52:46.719 audacity that we're gonna go where they very very flagrantly 0:52:46.760 --> 0:52:50.719 don't want us. Right, you talk about downtown when I 0:52:50.800 --> 0:52:54.840 when I had Hennessy, I had Downtown cracking. There shouldn't 0:52:54.880 --> 0:52:58.080 have been a soul in Scottsdale because downtown embraced me. 0:52:58.080 --> 0:52:59.879 I'm Stodamre, Bobby. 0:52:59.600 --> 0:53:03.879 Wade, everybody at PHX, everybody at Start of Myers. They 0:53:03.920 --> 0:53:06.600 made me feel like family. And not only did they 0:53:06.600 --> 0:53:09.120 embrace me, they made a lot of money selling my product. 0:53:09.160 --> 0:53:13.960 I know, I saw the numbers. We still we fought 0:53:14.120 --> 0:53:16.160 to get into these spaces that told us they didn't 0:53:16.239 --> 0:53:18.360 want us. But it's that feeling of it we like. 0:53:18.480 --> 0:53:21.800 We want to feel special, that feeling of exceptionalism and 0:53:22.239 --> 0:53:26.360 wanting to be in the space where, for lack of 0:53:26.400 --> 0:53:28.319 better everybody else can't go. 0:53:28.560 --> 0:53:32.560 That's true. We like the stunt. If Instagram would have 0:53:32.560 --> 0:53:33.680 been around back then. 0:53:33.640 --> 0:53:38.719 Oh, because I had the corporate card, I didn't even 0:53:38.800 --> 0:53:40.240 have to have no actual money. 0:53:41.200 --> 0:53:43.319 And I'm coming here. I got twenty five girls with 0:53:43.360 --> 0:53:45.200 me and we skipped a line. 0:53:46.719 --> 0:53:49.920 And then afterwards, I'm gonna sit and talk to specifically y'all, 0:53:49.920 --> 0:53:52.719 to outside of the street for two hours and just 0:53:52.760 --> 0:53:54.439 talk about how good of a time we had. That's 0:53:54.480 --> 0:53:58.440 literally how I became close with these guys because they 0:53:58.480 --> 0:54:01.879 treated me like family right when we met. And after 0:54:01.960 --> 0:54:04.880 a night of spending my company's money at these clubs 0:54:04.920 --> 0:54:07.680 that a lot didn't want us there, we just sat 0:54:07.719 --> 0:54:09.400 and we caught up, and we talked about life and 0:54:09.440 --> 0:54:14.000 love and really really positive things. But that somehow we 0:54:14.120 --> 0:54:16.799 have to look at that. It's just like with relationships. Man, 0:54:17.360 --> 0:54:22.680 I'm a DJ. I get to see girls fall on 0:54:22.719 --> 0:54:26.279 their face over guys who treat them like crap. That 0:54:26.320 --> 0:54:28.080 doesn't make any sense when you're looking at it, like 0:54:28.719 --> 0:54:31.239 why is she going so hard after a dude who's 0:54:31.280 --> 0:54:34.280 made it very very clear she has no value to him. 0:54:34.320 --> 0:54:38.279 It's the same thing, bro, these clubs treat us like crap. No, 0:54:38.440 --> 0:54:40.360 you can't get in. Your shirt and your shoes the 0:54:40.400 --> 0:54:42.080 same color, man, I'm sorry, what. 0:54:44.560 --> 0:54:47.560 We gonna go change clothes? You know how crazy that is? 0:54:48.080 --> 0:54:49.719 Your shirt and your shoes are the same color. Man, 0:54:49.719 --> 0:54:50.120 I'm sorry. 0:54:50.120 --> 0:54:52.399 You can't get no problem. I take off my hat, 0:54:52.560 --> 0:54:54.680 I change my clothes. Can I get in? I buy 0:54:54.719 --> 0:54:58.680 a table, can I get like, yes, we don't have 0:54:58.800 --> 0:55:01.120 enough time to have the large Yeah, he really needs 0:55:01.200 --> 0:55:05.520 to be had. But you know, brothers like y'all specifically, 0:55:05.560 --> 0:55:08.240 who have taken this industry and take like literally taking 0:55:08.280 --> 0:55:11.160 it and made it your own. You have to find 0:55:11.200 --> 0:55:14.200 a way to be able to turn that attention and 0:55:14.239 --> 0:55:18.000 those dollars that we generate into something for ourselves because 0:55:18.040 --> 0:55:20.920 we are, by our music, by our culture, and by 0:55:20.920 --> 0:55:26.000 our presence creating life changing generational wealth for people who 0:55:26.160 --> 0:55:27.640 rather not have us in their space. 0:55:28.400 --> 0:55:30.840 Hip hop. That's crazy. Hip hop will never like. 0:55:33.200 --> 0:55:37.239 Hip hop influences so much on just it just influences 0:55:37.239 --> 0:55:39.920 so much. And I know it's got to be frustrating 0:55:40.719 --> 0:55:45.759 to other genres to how we just dominate, just dominate, 0:55:46.200 --> 0:55:49.400 We control fashion. You know what I'm saying. Attitude, you know, 0:55:49.680 --> 0:55:53.319 uh TikTok. You know, I mean we we just I 0:55:53.320 --> 0:55:57.279 mean and I and I when I hip hop is 0:55:57.280 --> 0:56:01.200 is for you know, it's it's a black thing. But man, 0:56:01.239 --> 0:56:03.840 I tell you something, man that the hip hop community 0:56:04.320 --> 0:56:08.439 is everybody and we like we really just we own it. 0:56:08.880 --> 0:56:09.120 Now. 0:56:10.360 --> 0:56:13.080 It was it was this is my moment. I was 0:56:13.160 --> 0:56:15.640 outside at the time. It was a p c L. 0:56:15.840 --> 0:56:17.959 I can't say. Now, I can't say her name. Ain't 0:56:17.960 --> 0:56:20.160 that Ain't that something? And because you know the name 0:56:20.200 --> 0:56:21.719 of it, but now I'm acting like I can't say 0:56:21.760 --> 0:56:23.520 the name right. And I've been. 0:56:23.440 --> 0:56:26.239 Yeah and there, yeah, yep. 0:56:26.320 --> 0:56:29.200 And they had a Marie Stodamar waiting outside and I 0:56:29.239 --> 0:56:32.000 mean he was he was regular like me, and it 0:56:32.040 --> 0:56:32.960 was in his heyday. 0:56:33.040 --> 0:56:36.319 This is this is this is Nash, this is Rojah Bell, 0:56:36.560 --> 0:56:39.000 this is this is Mary Stottamar, this is. 0:56:39.000 --> 0:56:43.840 Dan Tony System, this is heyday. Stuck outside with me? 0:56:43.880 --> 0:56:45.840 How you doing, bro? You're good? 0:56:46.160 --> 0:56:48.400 Yeah, I'm gonna go get this two dollars back of chips, bro, 0:56:48.440 --> 0:56:50.320 because when I get back, you're still gonna be outside 0:56:50.360 --> 0:56:50.560 with me. 0:56:50.640 --> 0:56:52.960 You want something? Man? You're good? No, you're good? All right? 0:56:53.160 --> 0:56:56.439 Had him waiting outside, man waiting outside man, same thing, 0:56:56.920 --> 0:56:57.439 same thing. 0:56:58.080 --> 0:57:01.920 Well, I think that if and just so you know, 0:57:02.239 --> 0:57:05.440 the voice you just heard is that of Bad Shade. 0:57:05.719 --> 0:57:10.040 That is Shade uncut aka uncut it. 0:57:10.080 --> 0:57:14.960 If you go back some years, and at least for me, 0:57:15.160 --> 0:57:19.240 I think that if we're going to have some sort 0:57:19.240 --> 0:57:24.280 of resolution moving forward, it starts with the understanding of 0:57:24.320 --> 0:57:28.080 the optics of these dynamics here understanding that. 0:57:29.680 --> 0:57:30.520 Some of these. 0:57:30.320 --> 0:57:35.440 Places absolutely would rather us not be there, and if 0:57:35.440 --> 0:57:37.600 they have to bite the bullet because they need our 0:57:37.680 --> 0:57:42.840 dollars and they're not really fans of you know, celebrating 0:57:42.880 --> 0:57:46.400 our culture with us, but rather you know, taking parts 0:57:46.440 --> 0:57:48.360 of the culture that they can make money from and 0:57:48.440 --> 0:57:53.200 leaving us the people on the curb quite literally, then 0:57:53.240 --> 0:57:55.360 I think that we really need to take a strong 0:57:55.400 --> 0:58:01.680 look and reevaluate our position and our priority as a people. 0:58:03.440 --> 0:58:08.320 I will say it, you know, to anybody listening. Support 0:58:08.400 --> 0:58:11.440 black businesses that goes not just for black folks, but 0:58:11.480 --> 0:58:14.520 that also goes for allies of black folks that understand 0:58:14.520 --> 0:58:16.439 that even though you might be able to get into 0:58:16.440 --> 0:58:20.120 these nightclubs, your friends, you know, may not be able 0:58:20.160 --> 0:58:22.600 to get into those clubs. And therefore you should make 0:58:22.680 --> 0:58:28.320 some very uh informed decisions in terms of how you 0:58:28.320 --> 0:58:33.400 spend your money. And with that said, we're probably going 0:58:33.440 --> 0:58:36.680 to have to wrap it up here. So for more information, 0:58:37.160 --> 0:58:39.919 uh you be sure to check out civiccipher dot com. 0:58:39.920 --> 0:58:42.960 You can go there and submit questions suggest topics. If 0:58:43.000 --> 0:58:44.520 you want to donate to the show, of course we 0:58:44.600 --> 0:58:47.760 do the show for you. Your donations are always appreciated. 0:58:47.800 --> 0:58:50.240 You can donate once again at civiccipher dot com. All 0:58:50.280 --> 0:58:52.960 our social media is at civic Cipher. You can follow 0:58:53.040 --> 0:58:55.600 q ward I am q War. 0:58:55.720 --> 0:58:58.680 You can follow that Shade at Shade, and you. 0:58:58.600 --> 0:59:01.160 Can follow me at Rams's Job. Until next week, you'll 0:59:01.200 --> 0:59:01.920 take care of yourselves.