Previously on the Leupen Roadshow, let me tell you something, brother, from one to another, as you sit there gobbling those treats, why don't you share a piece to your homeboy? Bring me some of that joy. You're not less.

I'm a beast on the poetry side, OK? Don't get confused.

It just flows the loop and ratios to say what media production. That was pretty good.

What's up, y'all? This is Lupe Fiasco, and it's my birthday. Thirty nine years old.

What's up? Your voice to five nine I read aloud. Lupe was only 39 years old, you little whippersnapper. Happy birthday.

And this is Tom. Happy birthday. We are far from having a regular show today. Are we so far that you got to quite the show planned for today to celebrate your birthday, Mr. Lupe Fiasco.

No more.

OK, let me stop before we get into it. Let it happen, OK, before we get into the festivities, we got we got we got to knock out a few. A few normal things do normal things, and we're going to get heavy. We're going to get heavy into this well before we get heavy into that. Sure, yeah. Where where'd you get that shirt?

This one. Yes, I made this one. Is that enough to make it?

So I went online to buy one.

Well, actually, the real the real truth is I asked my dear friend for one, and he said it'd be easier if you just made one than me having to go to the post office and ship. You wanted me to be there.

Man, I wish I would ask my man for my fucking merch on his birthday what I look like. What I look like, I might as well go up in a church smack to remember I'm a cop.

And what we got to say right before we get into this, I want to give I want to give the stage to you for a second. You got to you've got a live concert coming up on March 11th.

Yeah, you do. Tell us a little bit about this idea being of doing the robot, because this that you can't, you know, and I got to do as the Romans do. It's my first it's my first online show and. I partnered up with these with these people, with these really cool people who got, like, all of this really cool, like technology and shit where you can like. You can build out your own stay set.

You can actually, when you perform it, you can actually see. All of the people and. You can put certain people in like a VIP on screens and shit, and when you're performing, you can actually talk to those people. They can you can hear them and they can hear you like crazy. I haven't seen that. It's pretty cool. Yeah, I haven't seen it in person, but but I'm excited about. I'm excited about doing it because I haven't I've never seen anything like that before.

So and I told myself I wasn't doing any shows during a pandemic because I had a whole lot of people offer to, like, come up here and shoot me to do a show on it. I've had somebody challenged me to box. I'm cool on that, too. But this right here, this is like. They moved the goalpost around a little bit with this one, because I'm cool, I can see the people and then I can like.

If it was back in my cheating days, I could put, like, my side right here and be happy, I can have my wife on the other side, that's what Mike Tyson used to do. Yeah. Robin Givens on one side of the arena. They have to have Naomi Campbell on the other side of the arena. This is fantastic.

And this is all going down March 11th, right? Absolutely. All right, Mark, we will still be cramming in all of this grimy energy attached to it. Well, when I first booked the. Initially, I thought the Grammys were going to be in L.A., but they. It's going to be virtual this year, so I'm going just do the show and come home and I will be watching for my computer, but I don't know exactly how to set it up, but it's going to be virtual.

They moved it back to try to do a ceremony, but I guess things didn't knock. I thought things were going to go back to normal and they were let down. We're getting closer and closer to normal. Why do you feel like that? I don't know. I feel like there's hope. There's hope we got back. See, I got I got hope.

My hope is just not making me feel like things are getting closer and closer.

I feel like not like that's not death. Then you ain't got hope. Hope. That's the definition of never that I'm going to get better when it's not when you can you can you rebo.

I got home, I got home that you respect me on your birthday, bro. You write that, you know, what is my birthday? I'm going to respect you. I now, before we what I do have one little interesting tidbit here.

Now, you guys kind of harassed me a little bit last week about giving away a t shirt to a t shirt winner, right?

Yeah. Jaivin I. OK, well, Jay Jaivin, the rapper, sent us something. This week, I would like to play just a tiny little bit of it for both of you to hear, is that a play? Are you ready for this? What's that? You know, it's my phone. Excuse me. I thought was gambling. I am in jail.

I would like to have one. All right. So this is from vote on Tom. Just. You know, Lupe and I are creators, right? Yeah, so you know how like when you eat food. Like, that's like fuel that feeding your body, right? Yes, like music is something that I don't like to, like, throw into my ears. Like, just because, you know, I don't like I don't go around listening to things, I don't, you know, like I don't check out what everybody is up to, you know, I mind my own business.

So I'm wondering, is this music you about to play any of my business?

It's only part of your business because it may or may not reference you in this particular song. That's not good enough.

I don't care about being a reference to the song, and I don't care if it's good or bad.

I really I don't see how we don't anyway get along because it's my birthday.

I just want to get into a whole thing about why I'm not the pariah of the industry when I be nice to people. Rice just clearly decimated this man's chances before he any rice not even interested in hearing this. I would at least give you a people who get the grant. I'm just giving it an excerpt.

Just an excerpt. Just an excerpt.

Stop them before he can even get to it, you know, because if the man was already in here, then I wouldn't have been I wouldn't have said that because I you know, I got respect for the man, you know, what meant to you.

But I'm about to hit play. Here we go. Okay, man, let's let's listen to each week.

I just listen like say I'm the radio before TV was invented. And let me tell you by these people to hear this, I'm a boy to five nine off. And even if I'm not, it's not I wouldn't say it because I'm not a rocket launcher. If I ever reached a skill level, I still wouldn't have a rocket launcher. They six bucks and whateva see an Iraqi flag in a spot on my left, that ship made a hard seatmates drop bar exam for M.O.s three and I got that look to spreading the truth to the veggies and fruit juices.

Could never get you a meal banging at the door to salsa. Like, let me get in a school. These are two artists excellent at making intelligent, cool and successful. And it's time to talk about how ThomasA from a regular dude, even though he is kind of just a regular dude, but don't for a second think that I'm for getting him to do that, to watch out the documentary sound, delivering out the city. I'm going to get the all you got to hit me up anything else.

And you've just got to send me links in. My Lord, I just went overboard. But that's what this sport is for. I know we'll get no more value placed on the door from Detroit. To be honest. I'm the guy that stole the torch. Not bad. Not bad. Right.

I'm a teacher, you I had two problems with that, I was mentioning other. OK. I got two problems with that. One is. The allegation of theft projected upon me unwarranted. Yeah. That's disrespectful and like I got a problem with being accused of having a rocket launcher, that's just inflammatory, but that's disrespectful. These are unfounded claims and accusations from an untrusted source, Leibel, you can't prove I got you all statements from previous episodes of the show, I might add.

Have you seen me with Said Door, which was supposedly allegedly have you? Is that footage of me maybe doing my hand on my shoulder?

I'm trying on different angles. I've never seen you with a door. I've never I've never seen you carrying around a door. I've never in my life. I mean, when you last time you ever seen a loop with a door?

No, but now it is a mission. I uncovered numerous photos of a certain man wearing a flash. Sure. Don't put it by me. It's not fun to go find some photos for you.

You just go out of your way to insult me, man. We're talking about not having a gun in his hand.

All right, fellas, I got so many people in the waiting room now that want to get on this program. Now, we got to start bringing some people on here. So, Lou, we have a three part series tonight. And the first show I just first of how long time? Just so you know, I appreciate that it's my birthday, but don't take this as a as a reason that you think I'm a get behind ten or two hour show.

I'm leaving in forty five minutes. Just so you know, that's disrespectful to like. Have him on here for like two or three hours because it's his birthday. Actually, he should be out here less than what we usually are on here to do, rice and rice.

And you played that really white beard, if not by the end of this show, Lou is not saying to me, I want more than I will be corrected.

Let's see. That's already going to be.

Oh, I first first to come into the room. We have. We have OK. So we have three segments of our show here. The first one is your pod, your pod life, your life from the past. But six months or so, and so coming up first is a Chicago native, we have a lot of Chicago folks on. He's a stand up comedian. He's legendary for his viral voiceover videos on social media.

And he was our one of our first guests all the way back on Episode 10 of the podcast. Hmm. I am proud to bring on the show the one and only Mr. Tony Baker.

Happy birthday, Leupen.

Thank you, Tony. I appreciate you, brother. Thank you.

Man How old are you? Are you even going to say Mr. Mystery Man, I'm thirty nine.

I'm not full of mysteries. I'm thirty nine when you live.

And were you now that you get to pick up the clues to figure out the way the sun is setting on this wall and then figure out the Orient, triangulate my position, actually nothing to the imagination. It's no mystery at all. MAN three Do you know where he lives? Ruiz. You know, why is this the the topic of discussion right now, the topic of discussion? Because we could we have birthday gifts ready to deliver, but nobody could deliver them because nobody knows where you are.

We don't know what that means.

But either way, I don't classify it as mystery. Like he makes it painfully obvious that it's none of your business that about the wedding.

I know what Tony lives. I had to figure that out. I know where Royce is right now. Tom, you easily, easily findable. There's no fair amount. I mean, there somebody has that you're looking there. Yeah, it's not fair. If we all come together at the table of brotherhood, we got to exchange, you know. Information, goods, livelihoods, you know what I mean? I feel like you got one up on everybody.

I got to keep this partnership. He's like Batman and the Justice League, I have a contingency plan for every one of you, just in case Batman said it, Batman has a contingency plan for everybody in the Justice League.

Batman Batman's a bad man. Hmm. Now, hey, it's interesting you should bring that up, because in my mind, I was thinking I'm going to bring on another guest right now.

And this is kind of like a clash of Batman with with Spider-Man. We're all coming on the show.

This is another former guest of the show, one of my one of my personal favorites. And guess right now, he is known as a great sandwich maker. If that helps you with a clue. Mr. Loop, if you ask, is it a random McDonald T-shirt? It is.

I don't know. CAITLYN Yeah.

Caitlyn Ellis'. Look at this. You guys are now what I like to call regulars on the show, they are two time guys on the show. It up for Kaitlyn Ellis. How are you doing?

It's OK. I'm doing pretty good, man. How you guys doing?

This has become a sausage festival.

At first it was supposed to be like Lupo's partner.

So, I mean, it's not like I'm out of my way.

All right, Kaitlyn, know where Lupe lives, though?

I got all the time. I got no time for no new guys. Well, you stay. I keep it. All right.

Yes, you might be. You shorten that the the the this platform is going to be able to hold. Yes. They is going to bring up everybody I know. Black and now Lupe, the dude you only know hey only know about eight people.

So what will be good. Will be good.

Will be good. No, no. We're in segments here. This is your podcast. Right.

Oh. You put some thought into this. I see we got two more segments coming up here.

So, Kaitlyn, what have you been up to, man. Man, honestly, every day just creating something, just staying inside this room, making making music. A lot of people have been trying to get me to just make a bunch of stuff for him. So I'm just I'm just in the house right now.

He's in the house making money. And I look like modeling. They look like Tony's.

What do you make you clean right now? Tony has a whole cocaine outfit going on right now.

I'm like Raekwon and the only built four Cuban Linx booklet.

He was just cooking it still to make beats. Yes, sir. I do production and I'm a drummer. All right.

Well, I'm going to be the one who going to determine whether they're good or not. So you can play me song whenever you're ready.

Why are you bullying Kaitlynn, man? Why are you bullying? Roy Rogers is intense, man.

So you know why I fell is because I just don't want this guy to think, you know what I mean? He's running my shit. All right. You're you are. He's right. I'm his new partner. OK, all right.

You're on the show for many.

Wow. Roy's getting very territorial. I'm not mad.

I don't know what type of bullshit man I get if I'm just fucking with you. What if I acted like that? I let you do act like that.

What are you talking about? You do what you do.

I do that. I mean, you did just go after our our guy who sent us his nice rap that he sent to us.

We'll go out before he even started. We didn't even hit a song. You talking about the guy who accused me of owning a rocket launcher. Oh, my God.

Who would say such a thing to somebody with a rocket launcher, allegedly? No, they haven't.

It doesn't exist with this on the Internet is a good man. Let me Google is all right.

You will find a picture of me, and that's all you're going to find. Oh, my God. You actually found one.

There's a video on the Benzino joint, huh? Oh, I think it's a man level 11, 2012, allegedly.

People people always trying to make me look as though I don't know how to do that photography.

Oh, yeah. I'm really surprised it isn't. This is new to me. So what are developing? Oh, breaking news. Yo, this is called to duty bro.

I'm only I'm only twenty three. I've really been on the Internet that long so. Yeah. Oh real firepower right here. This is, this is right. This is James Cameron Atlético. Yeah.

Allegedly he got a real player gangster in his hand and I'm really, I'm really hurt that you guys will believe something like this.

Yo believe everything you see on the Internet. That's like saying don't believe everything.

There's been a lot of a legit thing. Royce's speaking of alleged things on the Internet loopier.

I'm curious, how did you come across salt and pepper on pancakes? Oh, man, the great a beautiful accident. I was making some breakfast made with me a pancake right by the plate. I had a paper plate, so it was only so big. So the pancake filled up the whole plate. I did not want to be wasteful and get two plates to have a separate plate for the eggs. So I like you know what? When I whip up this omelet, I'm going to just go to omelet, you know, on top of the pancake space, off to the side.

Right. Then when I hit that pancake, I mean, that omelet, when I hit it with that pepper, then I hit it with that salt. You know, there was some innocent bystander action on that pancake and then flakes of sort of salt and flakes of paper that I engaged on that pancake. Staffers control what you can control when they land. Yeah, it was unbelievable. So now I am a promoter of putting some pepper on your pancakes.

Just just a little bit.

Just a little dash. Wait a minute.

So do you not put anything else about the maple syrup now, man?

You put you put the syrup, you put the butter. Right. Then when you know butter. Listen. Wait, wait. No butter.

Oh, I'm trying to be healthy here.

That's a major component, though. No, I go I go right ahead of butter.

You got to have to put it right this time. Yeah. I talwar syrup.

Maple syrup.

We have in a culture clash here, but what do you guys keep. We're going to do this. Then we must have the proper pronunciation of our terms. OK, syrup.

Zero x y syrup. Oh yeah. Like promethazine syrup.

That's, that's quite all. Oh no butter. That's property. I say surrogate. Sera, sera, sera, sera, I say, sir, say, Tony, bankers with me, I say, Sir, Baker did not say what you said.

You say see rub c, c, c. He says it like this in it. Yeah.

Like I said, are you jumping on board with these guys now to say sir. So this is new for me sir. Sir. Sir.

Sir. About this anymore sir. Now really.

How do I see it. We've got sir. Sir. Sir.

I say Siringo go to places. You say that now.

You know, I had a I had a maple syrup client for a long time. I have I have so much syrup in my garage and I can feed the world for quite a while.

Do you how do you have. I do have syrup and you go out.

I had a client who who we helped them brand and market their syrup and we would go to food shows and the last few jobs with them was in Baltimore and they didn't want to ship all the product back. So I said, I'll take some of it. And so I took a giant carload full and it's been sitting in my garage. So I go out there when I had my pancakes, my waffles. You can do other things.

Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.

Do you take your pancakes from the house on the plate to the garage and only put syrup on them in the garage, not to take them back to the house?

You leave your plate at the table and walks out to the to the garage to get to see you up.

He shows up in his garage because him and his friend decided that syrup needs to be marketed.

That's what they think.

What they don't understand is either eat pancakes or you're not make market imagist. Throw it up in the store, man. Wait a minute. Now you put it on so you can make I made it.

I made a Thanksgiving turkey one time with syrup was pretty good.

Yeah. Okay, well, one thing you can do a syrup. You put it on your brussel sprouts. That's not. Yes, they're right there that you brussel sprouts it. You can make butter in the white paper right now.

Look, this is one hundred percent maple in that garage. One hundred percent. Yeah. Yeah. Can you send me two.

Oh you're going to like I want a bottle. Yeah. I think I've sent you some in the past.

You know it is Brussels sprouts. Come on. Know my girl put me on. That is amazing.

But Brussels sprouts are up in Brussels. Brussels sprouts there is amazing. What do you get. Brussels sprouts that. How do you grow.

Oh you mean personally or just as a coach in the garden, do you go to, you know, before I go to Brussels, Brussels and pick them out from farmers markets out there, then I'll bring them back.

I was like, man made. Listen, they made me. I think this is Brown, like made from once they told me broccoli was man made. I can't trust nothing like broccoli. Smear me. Stop.

Stop this now Derulo is beginning. Look, I just passed. Tony Royce is thinking about it.

What up, bro? I know your birthday, but you don't get a broccoli garden.

You know, I know you think you're a superhero.

I've seen a broccoli garden. I've seen I've seen where they grow. Broccoli looks great. OK, I'm here. We agree they grew it, but they created the garden.

I'm so torn right now, they didn't they didn't stumble across the broccoli garden. They got me. I'm very torn right now. Wow. God, God did not grant a broccoli all.

Look, you're telling me broccoli doesn't grow in the wild. A little girl I've never seen. Well, if you if you planted. And when we leave, how are you Googling? I'm Googling this right now. Yeah, so it is something that it was Breker would be a friend.

Let it be. If everything's on Google even lies right there.

I mean, I was on Google, though, but I'm trying to I'm trying to find like five different sources so I can make my final statement.

Everything is on Google, including the truth when you consider me as a as five sources. Tony. Tony, when is your birthday?

My birthday is in May, May 17. Reisinger birthday parties, May 16th. Oh, may I see.

Well, we get along well with you to be strong with maple syrup. You know, I'm saying.

All right, that's enough for you to right right away about this focus when your birthday. My birthday. Yeah. It was your birthday July 5th. Oh.

So Kaitlyn was a little after my. Your July four, well, June 9th, about a month.

Oh, that was a big gap that you were cancer, Jimena, you Passacaglia Jemena now may want to it's like make beats with his feet, you know?

So, you know, I got to idea. Good.

July 5th, Leo, I'm a Catholic, OK? Yeah. Every now more here, which I'll be wanting to interview you because I'm a fan. Well, we fans we fans are YouTube now.

But listen though I got two years in this. Oh yea. Yea I resent, I resent when people think you know like deejay Mr. C just did this to me like he thinks because he's older than me that he automatically knows more than me and we just happen to be talking about what do you know.

I don't understand why he don't understand it.

I'm not a student of lyricism. I'm a scholar man you can't do nothing about.

Do you think our fans a the argument the argument is so big that he can't influence Jay-Z and he came before Daisy that Daisy is somehow not capable of being greater than Big Daddy Kane. So he automatically has to be high on the list.

Me as a lyricist, I'm telling you that I hear Jay-Z in a way you're not capable of hearing. JT, what he did with lyricism is he took it somewhere, right? Did it it has not been taken. And I'm telling you, I don't need you to, like, understand it.

Take my word for it, man. I'm a master. He took it somewhere.

We all agree that Big Daddy Kane is better than Jay-Z.

Big Daddy Kane is not better than a picture of Jay-Z. Come on, let's see. Right.

You see, the way you bring home lights, you are just gone. I want to down tonight and we got without the big daddy Kane.

You might not have the Jeezy's is your favorite rapper. Yeah, yeah. But listen, but listen, I'm not I'm not disagreeing with that, saying that it's very difficult to talk about without without it seems like I'm implying things that I'm not implying.

I'm just saying, Daisy, Jay-Z elevated and he elevated anything that he can can think of involving Lucious. I agree with that.

And we also had an argument that, OK, I feel like New Yorkers have New York privilege. Right. And they're very, very entitled when it comes to the culture because they're not going to hesitate to let you know that shit started in the Bronx. OK, so they were talking about Rapper's Delight, right. And Rapper's Delight, I agree, is the nucleus of hip hop. It's one of the songs that's like the nucleus of hip hop. It's a great song.

It's a classic song. I understand why people think that is one of the greatest songs that ever existed. I personally don't think it's a good song, but that doesn't mean that it's not a good song. I don't like it.

So they like they were like that song influenced everything in terms of creativity that exist in the culture. I disagree.

Rapper's Delight, um, hit him. I don't know. That's hard for me to elaborate on because I feel too young to really know what you mean. It's harder for me to follow the trajectory of Rapper's Delight and this influence the artist right after that. No, no.

All artists, everybody right now, everybody who raps is influenced by Rapper's Delight because everyone was like a pop pop culture hit.

What you mean like directly influenced?

Because it can be tied to everything creatively, somehow has to be tied back to one central location in the box and like like like Rabbit Rapper's Delight, there's no way you cannot you could be a rapper and not be influenced by Rapper's Delight.

I'm like, bro, that's that doesn't make any sense. I agree. And here's why I agree. Right. I believe that there were things done in Rapper's Delight structurally that set the tone for the shape of rap that whether you heard Rapper's Delight or not, you definitely learned and referenced rappers who heard rappers who reference and learn from rappers who are rappers and left the group, you know, reference and learn from rappers who were directly influenced by songs like rappers.

So I guess I can see that from even if you weren't aware of it directly, you are indirectly I would say this comfortably. Everyone who raps is indirectly related in one way or another to Rapper's Delight and not just Rapper's Delight.

The message a lot of the early rap songs from 1979 Christmas rap, all of Kurtis Blow, that whole original genre of the real real Ogg's and Grandmasters.

I can comfortably say that indirectly, but directly. I don't know, because I think his rap was probably never even heard that song before.

To be honest, young directly. I think you are teacher's pet, OK? And you better be like you should.

Now, that's a cupcake man, right? That's from all that's from. That's from us. No, not. I didn't buy it.

I took it out of the bag. I took it out of your T-shirt money. That is a giant everything bag. OK.

OK.

Oh sweet man. Literally get the bag. OK. Thank you Tom. You're very thoughtful. Thank you for this.

Yo gift giving is a skill that I'm not good at. But coming up with like a gift off the top, you got to tell me directly what you want. But if I got a created just from, like, you know, piecing together little clues and I'm trash.

Well, that's OK, because you got the most important job in the world. You're a comedian. That can be funny.

While I'm fumbling with the lackluster gift giving you, you have to come up with things to say that make people happy. I'm not good at that.

And even when you're when your gift goes south, you can tell a few jokes and get it back. I could turn into material. Yeah. So I got the gift right.

You know, I can't make this up to your whole bit, so really I'll have to come up with anything to raise anybody's spirits. We can come up, we should make people said no, I'm going to matter so long to make himself look every every every birthday for the past few years.

What I do is I normally just go hang out with my mom. All right?

And I reenact the first moment that, you know, not the first like when the first moment you saw the first one, I saw my mama and I just go back and hang with my mom all day.

And that's what I do love, because so, you know, you the only only baby in existence of the world who remembers the first time they saw that?

I thought I was adopted when I was little. I was like, wow. I was like, I know baby pictures of me. I'm not in this family. I have to be adopted.

So when you were first born, when you first came out, you don't remember? I don't remember seeing my mom.

And the first first first glimpses of my mom, I think was like vivid memories of like getting a kiss from her before she would go like to school. And I was like a shorty shorty. My momma left me in the house when I got I think I got left a few times.

They forgot me anyway.

They didn't forget you. They didn't forget you did. That was for your own good. You you're a brutal man, right.

And that's like throwing you know, that's like choosing violence and not knowing how to swim.

You know, you used to catch Arrow when you had that happen to your brother. So I can't even catch an arrow at 43, nor am I going to try.

So, yeah.

So what I do now is because of covid everybody's birthday, we do face time. Happy birthday cake with the whole family face like fourteen people on faith and sing happy birthday.

So yeah. So that was my birthday and my family. That's, that's fantastic. So back to what I was.

Do you have a cold. He's right. So the cold is over man.

Let me go. Trick trick junior right here.

So cold in the demon. No no no. Don't give me the glory. See that's the problem. Like he's doing these New York guys, they want all the glory for everybody's creativity.

Right. Different things are brilliant from different things just coming from different places, man.

Like if you just think about, like the trail movement or like the what was that thing they doing in Houston?

What they do what they do is slow down what they call screwed.

I'm screwed. Yeah. Light bulb, light bulb, just think about Bong Bong is not influenced by Rapper's Delight.

I'm sorry to let you down, but have you ever been to Ohio? Yeah, I've been there.

They give a fuck about Rapper's Delight. No, I will strike you as well. Do I strike you as is even slightly, slightly, slightly influenced or inspired to make first of the month by.

Listen, I got to listen. I got a hot take. I got a real hot take. I'ma say that bone somehow some way. Now, this may not be true.

Chadbourne I lobar was influenced by the theme song for W.K. Arpey because that was definitely in Ohio and it was saying, oh, come back IRP in Cincinnati and you come on, walk with me intellectually.

Walk with me with no never you klp in Cincinnati. Those harmonies, it's no it's no profanity.

It was definitely around the trash can with the flame in the singing here and then that morphed into you know with the are you with me and thuggish rogas you know.

Saying It could. It could. Onward to the next stage of Lou's life. All right, we're flying to try to keep you under you two hours. We got another guest. I got things no, he didn't say two hours. He said 40, 45 minutes.

I guess we got another guest coming up. Now, this guy, another Chicago native, a rapper, a singer songwriter. Let's hear this. Better be Kanye. This ain't gonna say I'm gone.

No, it's not on yet. But, hey, this guy is trying to get a phone.

This guy has been wildly inspired by you, and I'm excited to bring him on.

Veck, welcome to the show, we're saying, wow, isn't this The Invisible Man? Oh, snap.

I is the one and the only.

The one and only Vic Mensa. Look out. Look how happy this guy Lupe is.

I know I'm happy. I'm like I get to sing several to my favorite rappers.

I know you are our favorite rapper on that.

We don't let you guys come on here and tell us. You could imagine this guy is his birthday, but you're the man.

What's up? What's up, brother?

I say I follow you thoroughly on the on the Instagram and I see you. And you are one of the most stylish, one of the most internationally adventurous.

One of the most one of those punk. Right. One of the most positive but also provocative brothers putting on for the city and for the culture. Man, so good to see you.

We just came back from Ghana. I was just thinking just now, when we talk about about Kilimanjaro, join, I was like, I got a mountain. Yo yo, bro.

My favorite my favorite two moments from you is the Funk Flex. When you wrap it in a loop, come on, man, and even the inside, even first of all, first of all, realize it ain't even dear Funplex the way that they was doing Funplex.

I was doing Funplex biffo, a fun Fleck's freestyle even meant anything. It was just you went up to and just wrapped. But I know it was going to be a competition and people don't take it seriously. But don't worry. I'll see in the future. Don't worry about me anyway.

Go ahead. I apologize. He moved. He moved the goalposts on your no. And the other one is the other one is you are the only person who actually figured out how to handle D.J. academics.

And I don't know why it's so difficult to people. Yo, I know how he got it. He's difficult.

But the culture culture man, you know all Skip Gates, you can't focus like this. I think it's just representative of the place we are as as culture. You know, hip hop is representative of that that, you know, is that sensationalism in that clip. It doesn't matter how corrosive it is. I mean, it's like I mean, look at six academics. It's all one idea. Mhm. Yeah I agree. I agree. I mean but I think.

I think is a place for it, as long as we we identify it is that and keep it in that place and we set like boundaries, you know, I mean, because we're not going to stop people from being intrigued by certain elements of our culture that they, you know, that they wouldn't survive in or they wouldn't understand, you know, I mean, like, I really just those guys just they admire you in my yard and they don't know how to react to your culture.

So I think, like, you put them in this place, but you educated him, you know, I mean, like you didn't treat him like he was like an outsider in the culture. You educated him. I think he was a better man after that. I think about 11 a.m. don't resort to don't be putting your hands on people, man. Just put their hands on, you know. But you didn't you didn't have you didn't have to because he didn't have to.

Because he gave him so much information in such a calm way. Hmm. You know what I mean?

That is because you are prepared for that.

I want to speak on your behalf. But it's just the observation from the external. That's the way Vic is always carried himself, you know, as a as a as a composer activist when it's time to act, but when it's not time to act on and just chill, you know, and really be intentional about his moves and how he moves and the way he moves and in every facet from whether, again, whether it be fashion, maybe to music, maybe to activism, et cetera.

I always appreciate that. And just my my heart, I can't say his condolences, but my heart goes out to I heard that your charity got kind of bamboozled a little bit a little while ago. A man did you did you come back from that stronger? Well, you know, it's like it's always going to be setbacks. When I was I was in Ghana at the time and I got a phone call from my people telling me that they didn't work for the storage unit, for the charity will keep all the things that we were giving the kids on the warm supplies for the homeless school supplies.

And it was like it was a set up, you know, and I kind of know what people are saying about who did it, but it's kind of like a funky situation. It's like annoying. Get it back. The place where I was, that is a relationship that matters to me. And I find that every time I myself go out and I have some food in the way that I know how to handle it, it costs me about me.

I'm like, what if I love this money right here? And then I get on on film, you know, I know what that's going to cost me to do. So I'm kind of like, you know, so, you know, one door closes for another one to open. That's the way I look at it, that's for sure. I think about some of what you just saw was when I was I was just traveling and I was like, you know, I was thinking about hip hop and hip hop exist as like, obviously this reality.

And it's always come from a place of horrible reality, just like reality. But it's also like this American fantasy. You know, why people fantasize about this violent, you know, criminal black man, why people fantasize about the danger coming back to them. It's like hip hop. Sometimes it feels to me like like it's like it's like violence. Porn is something for the suburbs if I like an extremely high value attached to our trauma. Exactly. I mean, so they get like not only are they selling us back our culture, they sell us back our trauma, you know, so as long as we understand it and we understand it has value there and we place value on it.

And we kind of control the narrative and we're not like falling prey to everything that's associated with we're selling our trauma to the public, you know, I mean, like we're not allowing them to tell our story for us.

I think it would be all right.

You know, I mean, like, I don't have as much of a problem with academic as I do with Vlad. I don't like Vlad. Yeah, you know, I mean, like I think I think academic can be of value if he understands how to work with us and we try to understand how to work with him.

I don't think Vlad I don't think Vlad is capable of being an ally at all.

Yeah, that's all I ask people. We know about the particulars of both open criminal cases.

And it's like, you know, we got to hold ourselves responsible to a degree, you know? I mean but we also got to understand, like, if if somebody has a platform that that they built on the backs of our culture, you know, I mean, like, we have to demand that they respect us. So it's like you automatically don't get to do things like purposely misquote the minister and then tell us you're not apologize. You know what I mean?

That's what it was.

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

He he he retracted the statement, but he didn't apologize. And then when they demanded an apology, he didn't said not. So I did like a video telling him because I had a relationship with him but. I just did a video saying, you know, like I'm not speaking for everybody, I'm just speaking for me, like, if you can't if you can't respect the minister in our culture, you can't have a relationship with me. So I need you to apologize respectfully.

And he called and we had a long conversation about why he wasn't going to apologize.

And I said, OK. And as it. To me, it's like that's your opportunity to show how much respect you have for the culture and when you're in a position where nobody's going to attempt to make you apologize, we're going to give you an opportunity to do it because you want to do it, you know? I mean, so if you if you don't take that opportunity to make that right, in that sense, everything I is everything that I need to know.

I never had a problem. Apologize and I apologize to Lupe all the time for wrapping him.

I have no problem with it. Here we go, man.

You know the minister, man, you know the ministers. He's so brilliant and so polarizing that often times it seems like I mean, we know the truth in what he says and we see it clear as day. But he's like one. He's just one of those enigmas that the other ministers. That's why people on fire, like they they literally can't do the same is truth to point and to shock. That way, and so they deal with it with disrespect, they often follow.

Yeah, he was he was triggered, to say the least, like when I was talking to him. The minister says something, he was speaking in parables, and he was he was a he used a metaphor like. Something like knocked it, knocked it. I don't want to misquote them, not to try to take a stone, take the stone of truth and not do something. It was something about taking a stone and hitting some the head of the truth for something along the lines of basically debunked and debunking, like falsehoods, like just being about the truth, you know.

I mean, and he just took like a piece of it. And then it was like the comment was like a. Take take a stone and bash the heads of, like white people or the devils or some shit like that, just like Oprah. First of all, that's not even how this man speaks. I've never heard him even use profanity. First of all, you know what I mean? And like when I was talking to Blair Blair, I was like, listen, OK, I know I fucked up and I misquoted him.

But he has said other things in the past that I didn't like about, about Jewish people. So I'm not I don't feel comfortable about that. No one to talk to him. I've seen a couple people speak to it in, like, intelligent way. And he has one gang in the way who say, gang, I'm not in a gang. I was a school teacher. Yeah. I mean, if you if you if if people learn how to use the platform to get whatever message across they're trying to get across, then that's cool.

I just don't like people thinking because he has a certain amount of subscribers and then they go do interviews on there. And then the interview does a certain amount of use. I don't want people to misconstrue that be for them, you know. I mean, that's viewers for him. That's like you are going and giving him views. That's how you got to look at that. You know, I mean, like, if no other than that, there's really no upside to going on that platform at all.

If we just stop going. And why would I want you to stop going and that's it then. Or, you know, like what you said a second ago is creating the narrative for our culture. Like, that's always been something the Pop struggles with saying is black music in general is being in control of the narrative. And I think sometimes about about hip hop and in general breakdowns as opposed to rock and roll music. I mean, how much confusion there is there, because it's like you don't compare Led Zeppelin to Green Day and to even Nirvana, like all those things are dudes in separate life.

I mean, because they were given their own distinction. Hip hop, we're in a place where it's like we're still comparing or people are forced to compare because of the lack of control and breakdown of genre. People will begin to luczywo me when it's like these are literally different. Thorbjoern, what do you do? Are you familiar with Rapper's Delight? So I met the guy to play the bass a long time ago. Yeah I do. You are you, are you creatively influenced by that whole.

Not a live with me either but I do, I do think that it's a great song for, for what it is like. I think the impact that it had on whoever it impacted and I'm happy for whoever likes the song. I really don't want it. I really don't want to like, talk it like a Rapper's Delight. We're still talking about Rapper's Delight just brought up something rather than I think the novelty of Rapper's Delight, despite what we talked about, was this vague roid rage.

You just don't like the song, right? Rose don't like the song. Oh, so I don't hate I don't I say you hated it.

I'm just saying I like it. But it's somebody that is exactly the same voice somebody in New York was like at the block party. Yeah, but I don't disagree. I don't disagree with that. But me personally, I can't listen to it and I can't listen to that. That's not that like, I can't go back that far. Like, you know, I actually I got what I actually can. And this part is part of the social media safety problems.

But it's what we do at the absolutely not. We do that as Selzer likes to study the classics because it's something so stop a bomb or whatever it is. Some is some about the archaeological aspect of it.

You know, so folks look at the past, right. And want to go back and investigate the past. Not saying that the past is going to be super complex. That is going to be super inspiring. But for some folks, there's some value to go back and look at the roots of where you came from, because people who ain't who possibly never heard, like I said, never heard Rapper's Delight, never heard some of these old records.

And it's interesting to see people when they go back and listen to it, especially people who who who, you know, Melley mail like for real. For real on some real rap lyricist type situation is top five of all time. And people I should say that because you got cannabis and you got this and you got that, as I will, if you go back to the times when it was only a few rappers, literally just a few wasn't a thousand dudes, it wasn't no Eurail.

It was like you had this group and Melley Male was doing shit back then that people struggled to do now that even the most mid tier or low tier rapper doesn't even do now, with thousands of reference points and all types of different beats and all type stuff, you have somebody like Manly Male in the in the in the primal age of hip hop who was accomplishing things that rappers today still can't do.

And even if they can do it, say lyrically, it's from a performance standpoint, like he was such a full kind of complete package when it comes to rap that he transcends a lot of stuff.

And he's sometimes a lot of his stuff get made, get lost in the songs. So you may just think about the message of whatever. It may not dig into those crates when you open up those crates and let people see that there's a certain level of if it's not inspiration, it's a higher level of appreciation for what rap is even way back then we're doing and we're capable of. And you can pay it to a lot of rappers today and rappers today don't even have that type of level of skill.

So I think that's one aspect of it. Go on back and revisit in the classics and just seeing what people were doing in 79, you know, like 80, like this is what people were rapping about and the level that they was rapping at the first conscious record, all on the books, the first conscious record, the first conscious versus first time you heard about prison industrial complex. First time you heard about police brutality on a rap recopy. It was a rap about the name of sweet female emcee.

She was 15 years old, rapping in nineteen seventy nine. Right.

Like taking you through the prison system, in the court system, in the police, in the streets, in less than a third. And it was considered to be like kind of on racket, at least in terms of released music, you know, like commercially released product. And this was in seventy nine. Right.

Like a right amount of time where you get you get Rapper's Delight, you get, you know, the message, you get Kurtis Blow and it's the right. In the midst of that you get conscious rap. Right, rap metaphors and similes and all these pieces. But people don't know about it. You know, it's like just a history is law. So that's why I brought it up is an archaeological aspect to kind of dig back into the classics of our craft.

And I think even most high skill rappers would be surprised. That's my case.

Well, you're also a very fact based person. I like facts, you know what I mean?

You a person and you're you're very artistic. But what people need to understand is that everybody is not a history buff.

I know everybody's not interested in that. You know what I mean? Like, it doesn't it doesn't take away from the greatness of it.

It just means that is not it's inspiring everybody.

But I do understand why it's interesting to people, you know, I mean, really, I just I can't go further back than rocket.

That's as far back as I can go, man. You got to get anything.

But I can't I can't get you smelly mail, man. Any rapper that calls himself a lyricist and is not up on e-mails.

Early work I don't have to get. Yeah, you do. Yes, you do. But but I respect Milenio. I respect my email, but I don't have to listen to this man. There's no prerequisite in the handbook that says I need to lose my head if I had my way and rapid would be.

That's what I'm trying to be the best of all time. Yeah, man. With your appearance. So you make everybody be like you, Vick.

You know what? You know the you know, one of the best things why my levels of Vick just layer and build and build and build. We just happen to be on clubhouse. And it was just a random conversation about solitaire. And Bombi just happened to pop in and Vick pop to pop in and Vick just went on him. And Bunde just got into this about 20 minute conversation about how much Vick loved writing Dirty Just Love Around Dirty. I'm just going to and U.S. Bonds is sitting there.

And in your mind, you thinking like. Wow, you know, like that's some real, like, legacy from a generation that you would think would be completely disconnected from that body of work, but it's actually deeply ingrained in terms of the appreciation and spit in the versus back. And I was just sitting there watching like, damn, this shit is one of the craziest things. One of the craziest moments I have a say in hip hop was to see Vic Mensa speak to Bombi about random.

You're listening to Lupe and Rochelle with Lupe Fiasco rise to five nine and top ranked. The Lupe and Roy show is a production of say, what media have you thought about hosting your own podcast but don't know where to start working with?

Say what media is like having your own personal producer, editor, audio engineer and distributor all in one place from equipment recommendations to engineering and distribution. Say what media handles the boring details so you can focus on saying interesting stuff.

Get started to say what that media you're listening to and really show with Lupe Fiasco rise to five, nine and top. Right. I'm going to bring somebody and we both know. You know you know her a little better than I do. OK? But coming on to the stage now is the only one and only this massive Asia that is your sister.

I know the sea.

I took you so long to get here. We had we had a lot of people saying a lot of words, and they just kept going, oh, no problem.

Yeah. So it is your brother's birthday. Yes, it is. Happy birthday. Thanks again. This is my sister, Aisha. Aisha, this is right.

Hi, how are you doing? Nice to meet you. Oh, good. How are you?

I'm doing well. I heard nothing but great things about you. Same with nothing but good things to say about her. What did Tom say about me? No, this was prior to the time I came, I didn't say anything good about now.

Asia has a special guest that is with her that I'm going to let on. And I should maybe you could set this person up for us.

Sure. So this is somebody from your childhood from Crown? Hmm. Yeah, our elementary school. The last teacher you had there.

We're going way back to your fifth grade. Hey, what's going on?

How are you? I'm fine. How is how's things? Things like this and how are you doing?

Oh, thank you. How have you been? I've been good. I think I go I think I'm smarter than I was in fifth grade. I feel like I feel like my my elementary school years was a disaster intellectually for me was a genius thing because you were pretty smart in elementary school.

Oh, wow. How are you? How are you doing? First. First. Thank you. Thank you for guiding me so carefully and with so much grace in class. As a young black man growing up in the ghettos of the west side of Chicago, being a bastion for intellectualism and a scholastic achievement.

And I want to thank you for that. It made me the person that I am today. So thank you very much, White.

Well, that warms my heart and you make my job easy.

Hey, I work, you know, easy with these when you're not doing homework and it's easy.

Just get that at an F plus bleak.

You know what? I don't remember that at all. What I remember is that you were eager.

You were curious and so you made my job easier. Mm hmm.

And so I am so happy and honored to be here with you.

Oh, thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Miss Whitehead, this is Royce, the five nine. He's a he's a rapper from Detroit. Nice try here. You can just call me Royce.

I want the rest of our nine in fifth grade who pays far too high. And if I was in your class, I would have made your job even easier.

Oh, I don't know about that, Tom. We're talking about Miss Miss Whitehead. What have you been up to?

Oh, well, I'm retired now, so I've been up to a lot of things. But, you know, I look fondly back on those memories with you guys. You were the best you are were the best of the best. Let me tell you and I'm really serious when I said you made our jobs easy because I remember you being self directed. And I remember you being self-motivated and I remember your family. You all had family support and I couldn't have asked for anything better.

And I'm really I'm just I'm not amazed, but I'm just honored how you turned out. I am so and I'm so honored that I was asked to be a part of this. You don't know how how that warms my heart to see how you turned up. Not that I'm surprised, but to see that you're the young man that you are. Oh, thank you, think I'm getting a little bit I'm not young as I used to be the five years now that you talk, how many of us did you teach?

Did you know of how many other Jagels of the Perkins' that they came to you through your arms? And you know what?

I don't I don't. Let's start with two. I'm not even sure, OK, we had this mock OK gang up.

And it was he was he rapping by any chance?

You know, I don't remember him being a rapper. As a matter of fact, mostly I remember you being pretty to yourself. Being really studious. Being really kind of quiet. Now, our school was a fine art school, so everybody was encouraged to be artistic or creative, and so that was nothing out of the ordinary for him to be creative. And so I'm not surprised that there. Oh, well, you know what, you saying that just now.

And immediately, all of the pieces of the school just started to kind of build back up in my head. Was a fine art school because I the that was my first introduction to theater. That was we have music. Yes.

I remember we had all of all those like pianos we had. Yeah, we did. We had art.

Yes. Music. Yes, I went to public school, but I went. But but but but it was a public school. It was a public school. Public school. Yes. I just once just what she said was fine arts.

I was thinking like it was a fine art school.

We did have like a half the curriculum was kind of pointed towards the arts and a lot of artistic endeavors.

Wow. Yes. So and all of our children were exposed to that.

Mm hmm. I can't see him as a quiet kid in class that you can.

But now remember, I had him in fifth grade. Mm. So, you know, at fifth grade, you know, the kids are just coming into their own, you know, their, their personality is developing and they don't really need you so much. And they're they're branching out on their own. They're letting their personalities show through.

So he will I can remember you were always doing something.

You were always writing something. You were always scurrying about, you know.

So, yeah, he wasn't I don't remember you really being that outgoing.

Now, Aisha was outgoing, but I don't think you were as outgoing in fifth grade as she was. Mm, no.

He was a nerd. He had a select few friends. Right? Uh huh. Yeah. His first girlfriend at the time, which is awful. And she was also a nerd. Come on. The suit was a six. He was in sixth grade though so you know what I'm saying.

Oh yeah. Because obviously I don't remember a girlfriend Certina. It was upstate.

But you remember Aros by any chance.

Here we go. You used to catch arrows, he told us he used to catch arrows from his dad, I said with the arrows that I mean, he'd catch them.

I said, Yeah, that's that's true. And our dad came to our school during a career day. She said, Of course he did. I sure did. Yeah. So we were up there breaking balls and breaks like that area.

I remember that now that you mention it. Yes, right. Yeah. And I've heard all about your dad.

All about this guy. I'm sure the school was sold out day. Yes. And right about now, with all the snow on the ground, we would have to run barefoot on the fresh snow around to get acclimated to defending yourself and different climate. So we would have been out there ready for a few miles.

That makes it all right. Yes.

Yeah, I remember I remember you when you said that that came to my mind. Miswired, what was what was your what was your favorite part of of being a teacher? Her. I think. You know, my really my thing was reading, and I really enjoyed exposing you guys to different books. My favorite thing to do, and I'm sure I did it back then, was to read to you guys. And I hope that I instilled in you all a love for literature, a love for reading, a love for books.

And I think that's one thing that I really motivated you all to, to want to do better, to be better and to be self directed and. Everybody always says, you know, like like teacher, like students. And so I kind of prided myself on the fact that I was able to instill in everyone that I came across a love for reading and a love for being the best that they could be.

Now, what's your favorite thing about not teaching Nomo that I can sleep late?

The good one. And I don't have to do lesson plans anymore.

Oh, wow.

They try this white hat. What do you think about like currently? I don't know if it's in Chicago or not, but like my kids there have to be at home and they're doing everything over the Internet. I mean, what do you think of that? Is that helping kids, hurting kids like. I don't know.

Well, first, let me say that I think teachers are doing a phenomenal job with that. Personally, I think I would have had to I'm not sure what I would have done because I'm not really technology savvy. So and but I know kids are. So I would need a lot of help from the students. But having said that, I really believe that kids do best in the classroom. They do best when they have a teacher present. They need that interaction with the teacher and also they need that interaction with their friends.

So I agree, parents, parents are doing a good job. They're doing the best that they can. But they didn't sign up for this. And I think the students, even though they're they're home with their parents and the parents are doing a great job, they are going to be doing so much better. When the kids go back to school, kids need them. And so I'm hoping that we can get things and get them back in school so that they get back to you know, I know kids are resilient, but they need that structure that being in the building will give them.

Yeah. Now, Miss Whitehead, I have one more guest I'm going to bring on, and this is the big this is kind of the big finale, I believe you know her as well. OK, so I'm going to bring her home right now. OK, the one and only. Hopefully she'll pop. Oh, no. Oh, no.

Why would she go west when she goes, Mom?

Wait, there's more. Hello. Hello, welcome to the show.

What's happening and watching that movie, Joe? Man, I like believe you said.

How are you doing? I'm fine, how are you guys raise mom? We are right, we try to we're trying to get this guy to give him a nice, healthy birthday a to. Meantime, feel like Albertans are going to one day come along. We got it, we got we got to rise, raise the bar and we want to be coincidence.

These guys look right. My mama has been on your head behind the scenes.

I just want to let you know that she'd like to let were Roissy. Better watch that show. I've been hit. I'm trying to talk about Lliana. He need to go and hear why she's been cheating on you. He had cheated on me about getting on you, about watching it.

So I knew I liked her. Yes. Well I'm watching it but I'm not going to lie.

I didn't watch it before because you didn't tell me to watch it. They told me to watch it. I don't have to listen to them, but I'm going to figure it out.

It was because I said watch it. And I was going to watch and I didn't want to watch it. And he was just like, oh, my God, I love you. You got to see it. And I just like, oh, I got to watch it. So I went to YouTube and watched the first episode and then Showtime and now it's on. Did they tell you to make me watch it? No, they did this guy since I wanted to discuss it because I was a little to tell you, don't you?

You got to watch it. He was going to discuss it anyway. And then you could either, you know. Take a break while we discuss it and come back or look at the whole thing for you as we well. That's what I told. I'm an excellent improviser.

Check it out. I'm having it all together, you know.

No problem. No problem. This is easy. This is easy. This is easy work. Don't worry about me. The most important thing is the wonderful student. The loop was in fifth grade. Well, that's what I'm taking away from this. That's what you got to himself.

You know, he wasn't he wasn't really outgoing, OK? But he caught arrows with his hands, bare hands. I can't. I can't. I can't wait to meet your teachers and the people from yoga.

I have a whole list of intriguing penetrating questions to ask.

I can't wait. We're going to have to dig deep to find that teacher.

But let me tell you something. You talk to my fifth grade teacher. It's not going to go.

Anything like this actually might be the exact opposite. Like, she may just be like you make my job very difficult. You're a good kid. But she made my job very difficult.

Mama, do you do you remember any of my. I remember I remember when I stopped having birthday parties and I think is when I moved out there with my dad, but then I always have birthday parties. Was that always the thing in the family? Because I don't really remember. I remember at, like 11 years old, a 12 year old birthday parties were done.

Well, I'm like, well, you've grown since I had I have five children. Two to three were born in February. So they I think one day and I made a big cake and everybody had to board in June and I picked a date and we had, you know, so mean. That's my favorite, basically. Yeah. But when you went to live with your father, we still did some stuff. You see, you just got to eat something.

Yeah, but he and I remember the cakes just stopped. It was like, Dan'l, what you tell I was there, no cake.

We didn't have a little cupcake or something with a little candle. My dad my dad was cool. He would, he would, he would put on something. We would do some. But you just think that you get structured when you're looking to add the liquid pot is the key. Pot is in one day it stops. It's like now in the milky pot is grown up pot. Isn't that you own your own boy. You're you're an old man.

Now, Mama, I want to thank you for the best birthday present that you could give to anyone, and that is life. So thank you, Momma. And I always appreciate every time these days come around, I get to project that back upon you, that appreciation for bringing me into this world. Thank you. Appreciate you, man.

You are mine. Now, there may be some questions about the other war. God save Iraq, which is the day that you were born. I you know, I didn't do prenatal because I you know, I did my own thing, I did it, you know, sparsely. So, I mean, not doing that when I went into labor, we went to the hospital and the delivery room was under construction. So therefore, there were no they were not delivering babies there, but since I was my third and, you know, I was kind of fast, they had to go on, let me deliver it to you in that hospital.

And you were the only baby in the hospital on that day. You and I were the only people up there in the mother baby thing. But you didn't meet any kids in the in the nursery. It's just you and I had me and my mama telling me you were the only person adverse effect on it.

Yeah. The only person born on that day in Chicago at that at that hospital.

Yeah. You didn't know there was. No, I literally went into the room.

I was I didn't want to be in shock when I showed up in my room. I was. I'll call a doctor. What are you doing here? Well, I didn't know what else to do is call. I didn't have the, you know, the whole delivery stuff. It was like having him down south in the back room. The midwife.

Yeah, they get a calls via Paris that it's V.I.. It was a VIP birth. Yeah.

Yeah, I know. Nobody everybody I knew he was going to be special. So you you were special from the beginning. Yeah. This is why it was put Mazwai here. It was putting other babies out of the hospital. It is like these babies got to go.

So you got to go. That's right. I miss my head. So we need. Hi, how are you. It's good to see you. You as well use me. We need one good embarrassing story about this whole time.

Y y y you got one really good man. I need one. Any one good one. I should. I know you got some. I know you guys well.

No, I don't really have any embarrassing stories ma'am. I have some. You know, when you were there she she left you at home once. Got everybody I got, I was you know that was really well I don't know if it's embarrassing or what, but here we go. I was visiting a friend, you know, she had about four kids and about five for four because he was the baby. So we were getting our kids ready. We were going to another friends of mine knew that we lived on the west side and we were going to the hundreds on the south side.

So we get all the kids together. And I dressed him first and he fell asleep. So I put him in the bedroom so they couldn't wake him up while he was sleeping in a dress. And everybody has dressed and they rush in and let's go. We run out. Everybody get in the car. Now I'm feeling like I'm leaving some. But this thing done. And I mean, so we get in the car, we get on the highway and we go darn near to our destination.

Then I was my baby. So we turn around and go back to the house. Are you still asleep? Still in there sleeping.

I remember we sat in space heaters in the house and the person and the we had to live around kerosene heaters in the house and we lived this way.

We lived. And I remember I guess I didn't know no better. And I set down on it and it burnt my boy.

Oh no. Yeah, yeah. Was part of being a kid.

That's how you learn. You learn all your valuable lessons by sitting on now.

And his dad dad was a joker, you know, they would always do karate demonstrations and stuff and he would always do the cutting edge techniques with the swords. So one day they came home for one night they came in from an exhibition. So what's a little they came he had this huge bandage on his hand. I mean, huge. I was like, oh, my God, what happened is that long? Tell me that is his hand was cut off, that it wasn't in there.

You know, it was an accident and his hand got cut off. So and if the blood on the stuff is stuff, he had been injured. So that wasn't the case, though. They had been coming back from the demonstration and he was sleep in the car and the soldiers slid off the sheet and he hand went that way and he sliced off the thumb, the palm part of his thumb. He did use mouthful of the scar. He said, OK.

So stuff like that. I love your father's consumer one one night, you wake up in the middle of night to go to the bathroom. So I woke up, you know, I felt restricted, you know, trying to move so I couldn't. So I finally opened my eyes and focus and he had to look like, would you tie the chicken, the cord that you thought of chicken that he had tied all of us together. He tied my wrists to the baby and the baby ankle to harvest the nerve to that wrist so I could move.

I saw. So I broke it and got up, went to the bathroom and I looked in the mirror and he drew like glasses and mustaches on our faces and everything. He was practicing to be a ninja. So he was trying to be, you know, very and not meticulous and not wake anybody else. And he didn't wake me up when I tried to go to the bathroom or try to get together my ankles and arms. You know how incredible the story is.

That's my dad. He's lost a little bit.

I know about that one. Me with my head ls my dad. My dad was my dad was my daddy doing. Yeah. You would probably die.

But I will say most of your creativity and ability to be a visionary is all from what came from home between dad and mom crown. You know, every place that you went and you always knew what you wanted to do, you know, at a certain point when you decided you wanted to be a rapper and we were like, yo, you supposed to be a scientist, a physicist. You know, you kind of became that with words and just with the power to manifest and kind of create the life that you want at once.

You made your mind and you never strayed from that. So to me, that that's the most impressive thing to see, a consistent thing to see in your journey. So hats off and your thirty nine year for creating a life. Yeah. That you saw for yourself.

Hmm. Thank you. Listen, thank you, Miss Whitehead. Appreciate you. Enjoy the rest of your retirement. You've done an excellent job of Mission Accomplished, as they say. Isha, much, much love to you as well. With all the big things going on West Side United speaking, you speak to a little bit about what's a United Nations, the work that you're doing for the folks. Sure.

So, you know, we're working here in Chicago addressing some of the historical issues that have been present for the last one hundred years, plus here around the life expectancy gap here. So basically, if you live downtown, you're going to land to about eighty two. If you come west where we grew up, that our community where we grew up actually have the lowest life expectancy of about sixty seven. And that's just not here in Chicago. But that's and you know, other urban centers, Baltimore, Detroit, other places where you see some of the similar things.

So I'm working with six health care institutions here to address that by focusing on hiring local from the West Side, getting businesses in the hospital supply chain. There's a billion dollars in spending capability that's never been redirected to the West Side. So helping to organize a lot of that. And again, just from what our parents instilled in us to make our communities better than we found them carrying a lot of that into that work to focus on the economic vitality, health care, access for West Side neighborhood and the physical environment.

And in the education component, there's really a spin off of the work. We started with our philanthropy on the South and West Side that just in another platform.

Beautiful and mama, mama. Long story short, family's awesome.

In case you didn't have a mama, what about voting me to see what I'm doing?

The artist is just a kind oh, black flower pot.

Did you buy the pot plants in? And I had found some bamboo shapes that someone was getting rid of. I am what a recycler. So I covered the pot.

Make sure I'll be on the lookout for Sierra Jayco, my sister Aisha Jako and the work that she's doing on West Side United and her poetry and a dance move me so many things in this white head, even though she's retired.

If you need to learn some books you want to read, check.

I read.

Continue with my sit in, if you're interested in getting some of my mama's bamboo recycled potted plants, boxes, bags, jewelry, you want to get some sushi also Cadeaux, you know, she might have to connect you with Mamadu.

I love and I make vegan ice cream. I make vegan ice cream as well. Sounds good. OK, I'm so down on those down. Thank you all for joining us.

This this this was a wonderful birthday edition of the show. Special thanks to you for helping me set everything up.

This was the one that I ever thank you for, including me. Yes. Thank you for being here. Doo doo doo.

What are you going to tell me? That you didn't expose the whole world to my family.

Thanks. I got it all out there. That was your life like a happy, happy thirty ninth birthday. Thank you, brother. Thank you. Out of love.

That was really thoughtful of you know, I'd love to have saved it for the film so I could have made some money off of it, unlike just putting it all on the show where we make zero dollars. But it's cool, Tom.

And I don't know what time he's going to say it's a teaser for the film.

I want to say thank you for putting this together. Royce, thank you for being a part of this man. I really deeply appreciate it. And I will be returning the favor to each one of your birthdays. We don't go deep. Thank you. I appreciate it.

I'm already searching for that fifth grade teacher for Royce. It's going to take a while. I'll find him. So you want me to. Yeah, this is Lupe Fiasco and I'm thirty nine and a day goes to five, nine and I don't age.

And this is Tom Frank, I will find every person in your past when the time has come.

We are out. That's our show for the week.

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Leave us a review and tell your friends to listen to Luban Rose, a production of Say What Media is Recorded and Mixed by Clyde Jennings, our head writer Lauren Sloat. Tom Frank and our theme music is by who else? Lupe Fiasco is the father.