Grits and Eggs Podcast

Episode 102 – Gigi Leflair Returns (November 25, 2025)

Host: Deante’ Kyle
Guest: Gigi Leflair
Theme: A vibrant, rollicking, and candid conversation about Southern culture – from fashion and food, to music and migration – featuring storytelling, sharp cultural observations, and a lot of laughs.

Episode Overview

In this high-energy episode, Deante’ Kyle welcomes back comedian Gigi Leflair for her second appearance, making her the podcast’s first returning guest. The episode dives deep into the fabric of Southern life, with a special focus on Black Southern culture, its unique subcultures, the pride and humor of small-town living, and the role of Atlanta as a beacon for Black achievement. The hosts also tackle hot topics like “What is really the South?”, the nuances of reverse migration, intergenerational fashion codes, food splurges, pet-raising woes, and the Mount Rushmore of Southern rap groups and producers.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Southern Identity and Subcultures

(Split across 31:05 – 44:00)

• Gigi and Deante’ unpack the regional, cultural, and behavioral definitions of “the South,” recognizing both the historical Mason Dixon line and lived experience.
• Gigi distinguishes between "regionally Southern" and "culturally Southern," giving Florida, Texas, Louisiana, and New Orleans as nuanced examples:

  “Upper Florida is lower South... Lower Florida is upper Caribbean. That’s a primary culture of immigrant lifestyle.” (33:32)

• The pair highlight subcultures within Southern Black communities: Geechee, Appalachian, Tidewater, and hoodoo traditions.
• They unpack how intra-regional migration and outside influences reshape Southern identity, noting the influx of East Coast transplants into Virginia and North Carolina.
• Chicago and Detroit are acknowledged as cities that, despite not being in the South, still carry strong Southern roots due to Black migration.

2. Southern Pride—Blackness, Community, and Routine

(43:31 – 46:42)

• There’s reverent nostalgia for small-town, intergenerational Black southern life:

  “It makes me happy to know that when I sit on the back of a pickup truck and I eat peanuts out of a bag with a RC Cola can... my mama used to do that. That’s a big deal to you. But culturally, that's culture.” (43:29 – Gigi)

• Extended families with “trailers on the land” are celebrated as a form of luxury and deep-rooted community unavailable in big, northern cities.
• Deante’ shares pride in knowing friends with streets named after their family, noting the community significance.

3. Reverse Southern Migration & Gentrification

(46:16 – 51:00)

• Deante’ suggests “reverse Great Migration”: encouraging people to reclaim Southern roots.
• Gigi critiques northern newcomers lacking respect for Southern customs:

  "We're so welcoming man, that sometimes nobody get–Here we go. Let me go ahead and just get it off my damn chest… They don't give us the same respect to 'when in Rome, do as the Romans'." (47:01)

• Both bemoan the erasure of Black rural communities for “luxury” gentrification:

  "You want to tear that down and put a Starbucks there? … 13 double-wide bricked-in trailers on 13 acres… is luxury down here, bro." (49:04)

4. Fashion, Footwear, and High School Stories

(01:53 – 30:01)

• A hilarious opening riff on the authenticity of “dirty shoe” white boys and the fashion code of Airwalks, DC Shoes, and bargain shopping.
• The duo swaps stories of being roasted for off-brand or unique fashion choices in school.
• Gigi recounts an embarrassing “missing eyebrow” incident from her high school days:

  “I had to continue the rest of the game with no eyebrows...” (19:22 – Gigi)

• Reflections on how fashion choices expose individuality, creativity, and even art teacher/marketing agent stereotypes.

5. Southern Food, Splurging & Pet Tales

(04:00 – 13:20)

• Both hosts draw the line at $100 shirts, but willingly splurge at restaurants, highlighting unique Southern attitudes to food, money, and experience.
• Extended, comedic tales about breeding pitbulls (“blue nose” is like “hitting the Powerball”), community animal care, and feeding dogs biscuits or green beans.
• Discussion about different, regionally-influenced eating habits.

6. Atlanta’s Black Excellence & Rural-to-Urban Pathways

(57:00 – 61:32)

• Atlanta is described as a city where Blackness is assumed and celebrated:

  "Atlanta reminds you that you're Black, LA helps you forget it." (61:32)

• The city’s role as a beacon for Black artists, entrepreneurs, and the “celebration of the hustle” is explored:

  “[In Atlanta] Everything's attainable to an Atlanta kid because they see it around and they...” (60:01 – Deante’)

7. Mount Rushmore & Dream Teams: Southern Rap Groups and Producers

(64:05 – End)

• Fierce debate and reverent nostalgia for great Southern hip-hop collectives.
• Rules are clarified: Cash Money and No Limit are set aside as too “goaded” to include in regular categories.
• Notable lists offered:

Top Five Southern Groups (Agreement List—88:14):

1. Outkast
2. Clipse
3. UGK
4. Three 6 Mafia
5. 8Ball & MJG
   Honorable Mentions: Goody Mob, Field Mob, Crymob, Nappy Roots, Dirty, Lil Jon & the Eastside Boyz, YoungBloodz, PSC

Quotes:

• “Master P showed you in real time. I’m gonna make sure that my brother go with me wherever I go.” (72:54 – Gigi)
• “Florida got a whole bunch of little groups and like that, that’s super local—but that’s Florida.” (90:46 – Deante’)

Dream Southern “Supergroups”

Various “create-a-group” combinations, e.g.:

• Lil Wayne, Juvenile, T.I., Missy Elliott (Timbaland producing)
• Pusha T, Andre 3000, Big K.R.I.T., Bun B (Mannie Fresh producing)
• Megan Thee Stallion, Big K.R.I.T., Project Pat, CeeLo (Zaytoven producing)
• Trick Daddy, Pimp C, Jeezy, Fantasia (David Banner producing)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Stop saying ‘trying’—trying is for people who ain’t really out here doing.” (28:44 – Gigi)
• “Six blues. And then one of them was a brindle blue. I’m talking about blue body with the Carolina stripes on, man.” (07:03 – Gigi)
• “If I see a white man with clean shoes I’m like this up. Get him out of there. He appropriate in culture!” (01:35 – Deante’ & Gigi)
• “You grow up with a different mindset when you are a Black child growing up in a Black city, for sure...” (57:21 – Gigi)
• “If Master P had have been from a big city, they would speak with more reverence about him.” (74:04 – Gigi)
• “They don’t show you me and you… a lot of the south looks like me and you.” (52:30 – Gigi)

Episode Timeline: Timestamps

• Chopping it up about Southern white boys/fashion: 0:05 – 4:43
• Food, spending habits, authenticity in clothing: 4:43 – 6:13
• Pitbull breeding tales & dog care: 6:21 – 13:20
• High school eyebrow and shoes stories: 15:01 – 22:00
• Rituals, routines, family stories, and community: 43:31 – 46:42
• Gentrification, rural values vs. urban newcomers: 46:16 – 51:00
• Music, Southern rap debate: 64:05 – end
  • Top 5 Groups: 72:13 – 89:50
  • Supergroup Draft: 91:52 – 98:50
• Atlanta as Black Mecca: 57:20 – 61:32

Tone & Style

Playful, fast-paced, deeply affectionate for Southern life, and unashamedly full of vivid language and honest storytelling. The episode is both laugh-out-loud funny and sneakily insightful, seamlessly mixing anecdotes, social critique, nostalgia, and Black Southern cultural pride.

For Listeners New and Old

This episode is a treasure trove for anyone who wants an authentic feel for contemporary Black Southern life—from the everyday to the cultural icons, from the personal roast to the communal uplift, all delivered with the love, cleverness, and humility that marks the Grits and Eggs Podcast.