Episode 94 - Who Did The Body ft. Monaleo

Summary

Grits and Eggs Podcast – Episode 94: "Who Did The Body" ft. Monaleo

Host: Deante’ Kyle
Guest: Monaleo
Date: October 19, 2025

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Episode Overview

This lively, unfiltered episode sees Deante’ Kyle joined by rising Houston rapper Monaleo, delving deep into themes of Black culture, music, personal growth, grief, legacy, and unity across the African diaspora. Featuring unguarded conversation and genuine chemistry, they explore her recent music, the meaning of “Sexy Solon,” and the Black experience— all through the unique Grits and Eggs lens of humor, honesty, and cultural pride.

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Key Points & Discussion Highlights

1. Setting The Scene: Vibes, Gifts, and Community

[00:04–06:18]

• The tone is immediately intimate and celebratory—Monaleo is gifted custom journals, coloring sheets, and a cozy setup that underlines the show’s commitment to mental health and creative expression.
• The importance of community and mutual support is established. Monaleo shares:

  “I wanted to align with who I feel like is in my community or who shares the same sentiments that I share.” – Monaleo [04:01]

• Flowers, snacks, and tokens exchange hands, setting a new “standard” for guest appearances.
• Monaleo emphasizes the podcast felt “mandatory” for her, recognizing its unique place in the culture.

  “This felt mandatory for me.” – Monaleo [06:27]

2. Black Culture, Personal Roots, and the Grits and Eggs Theme

[06:18–13:27]

• They unpack the importance of the podcast’s theme song, written by a close friend/barber, and how it captures “street, churchy” Black culture.
• Both host and guest share their backgrounds—North Carolina, Atlanta, Houston—and family histories, underscoring how regional Black culture shapes identity.
• Monaleo discusses her ongoing pursuit of a mortuary science degree alongside her music:

  “Before I was a rapper, I was going to school for mortuary science. ... I want to continue pursuing that degree ... it’s important to me now.” – Monaleo [12:03]

3. Creative Independence, Label Deals, and "Sexy Solon"

[22:37–26:02, 26:20–27:55]

• Monaleo talks through her journey from independent artist to signing with Columbia—and doing it on her own terms:

  “I still own my masters, even with my major label.” – Monaleo [24:03]

• She laughs about the politics of her song "Sexy Solon"—especially the implication of making “white execs” market a record with unapologetically pro-Black messaging:

  “Imagine being white. ... having to put out a song by this Black artist, young Black girl, bright pink, ‘Sexy Solon’ ... all the non Blacks need to go to the back.” – Monaleo [24:06]

• The importance of building leverage and staying authentic is discussed at length:

  “You have to build if you want to maintain some sort of control ... build your leverage and make people want to buy into what it is you’re selling.” – Monaleo [23:24]

4. Grief, Ancestry, and Honoring the Dead in Black Culture

[29:10–34:01]

• Deante’ notes how rare it is in hip hop (especially among women) to see candid discussion of real-life loss, grief, and naming the deceased.
• Monaleo details her intentional naming of lost friends in her music—highlighting their stories and refusing to let them be forgotten:

  “I wanted to name them and make sure that their name never dies.” – Monaleo [31:41]

• Conversation turns to ancestors and ancestral reverence, examining why the term “ancestor” can be a cultural trigger for Black communities:

  “When you hear the word ancestor, you think African.” – Deante’ Kyle [34:01]
  “Anything you connect to blackness, you see it as an automatic negative.” – Deante’ Kyle [34:21]

• Both agree on the power of veneration and the false stigma around Black ancestral practices.

5. Cultural Authenticity: Being “Pink,” Inner Child, and Branding

[15:00–18:23]

• Monaleo declares her lifelong obsession with the color pink, tying it to inner child healing, artistic authenticity, and refusing industry pressure to rebrand:

  “All I want to wear is pink. ... That’s my life. ... That is my non-negotiable.” – Monaleo [16:47]

• Deante’ draws comparisons to Larry June’s orange branding: “Mona, Leo, Pink, man. ... It’s synonymous.”
• Both stress the power of embracing what comes naturally, not gimmicks.

6. Black Love, Support Structures, and Community Growth

[19:07–22:56, 46:18–47:59]

• Warm, joking conversation about wedding invitations and mutual admiration flows into real talk about the joy of seeing Black love and community succeed.
• Monaleo openly admires the growth of the podcast, noticing the jump in production value and quality over time.
• Deante’ gets candid:

  “Six months ago, I’m driving a truck ... I bring this as a full business for six months.” [22:26]

• Insightful discussion about the importance of real friends, boundaries, accountability, and Black women anchoring the people around them.

7. Diaspora, Unity, and Rejecting Xenophobia

[61:00–70:09]

• Deante’ pushes for nuanced unity within the diaspora:

  “Being xenophobic doesn’t help anybody ... I’m not combating hate with other Black people.” [63:19]

• Monaleo details her intentional inclusion of all diaspora flags in her visual imagery for “Sexy Solon,” stressing shared experience over division.
• Both critique the rise of American-born exclusivity (FBA/ADOS), arguing that it isolates African Americans and ultimately mirrors white supremacist logic.
• They joke about the “only difference” in the Black world being “a boat stop.”
• Monaleo asserts:

  “Promoting black unity, black community, and black love. If you disagree with that, I don’t know what to tell you.” [72:07]

8. Criticism, Vulnerability, and Growth in Public

[80:00–84:10, 104:07–108:22]

• Monaleo, at just 24, discusses handling internet criticism, learning in public, and the emotional toll of being targeted for “doing the work,” especially as a young Black woman:

  “I may not have everything correct ... and I shouldn’t have to at 24.” – Monaleo [80:35]

• Deante’ brings up his own journey from self-destructive to activist, the importance of honesty, and being vulnerable:

  “I’m a 35 year old man ... I got three children.” [60:07]
  “I’m honest about [drug addiction, sexual assault] because I’m so tired of just keeping it to myself.” [104:02]

• Both emphasize that growth only comes with experience and time, and that increased visibility doesn’t grant wisdom overnight.

9. Spirituality, Black Church, and Hoodoo

[89:01–93:03]

• Monaleo shares being “super Baptist,” with family deep in church and youth ministry, but also finds resonance in Hoodoo and traditional Black spirituality—often stigmatized:

  “Anything threatening the idea of white supremacy ... they started thinking about that Haitian Revolution ... slow these down.” – Monaleo [92:01]

• They critique Christian hypocrisy and affirm that Black spirituality is both resistance and healing.

10. Social Commentary: Homelessness and Capitalism

[94:07–98:48]

• Monaleo’s song “Spare Change” is highlighted as a rare hip hop track exploring compassion for the homeless.
• She and Deante’ reflect that most are just “a paycheck or two away” from being unhoused, and how capitalism fosters separation and shame:

  “Do you know how many people was having their way and had a mental break? ... Just one thing.” – Deante’ Kyle [97:46]

11. The Power of Therapy & Black Mental Health

[98:48–101:08]

• Both credit mental health support, therapy, and honest conversation as crucial for Black resilience.
• Deante’ shares personal experiences with therapy, alcoholism, and family trauma, noting:

  “Vulnerability is a superpower.” [96:17]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the Unified Diaspora:

  “If we not connected, what is the difference? Besides a boat stop, what is the difference?” – Deante’ Kyle [65:05]

• On Grief and Honoring the Dead:

  “I wanted to name them and make sure that their name never dies ... I truly miss them.” – Monaleo [31:41]

• On Branding & Authenticity:

  “All I want to wear is pink. That’s my life. ... That is my non negotiable.” – Monaleo [16:47]

• On Spirituality & Ancestors:

  “Why do you feel like the word ancestor is such a trigger in a black community?” – Monaleo [34:01]

• On Criticism & Black Creativity:

  “If you disagree with black unity throughout the diaspora ... fuck you.” – Deante’ Kyle [72:28]

• On Black Love & Weddings:

  “You burning some flowers – two hour. ... 30 minute interview if you come empty-handed.” – Deante’ Kyle [05:43]

• On Legacy & Responsibility:

  “I’m never scared of my responsibility and my liability. I am who I am.” – Monaleo [74:45]

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• [00:04–06:18] — Opening, gifts, mental health in hip hop, setting the community vibe
• [13:27–14:17] — Mortuary science and artistry
• [22:37–24:03] — From indie to label; owning masters and defining partnership
• [24:06–26:02] — Reactions to "Sexy Solon" and industry politics
• [29:10–34:01] — On grief, loss, and naming ancestors in music
• [61:00–70:09] — Diaspora, FBA/ADOS critique, and authenticity
• [72:07–73:09] — Internet criticism and the price of Black unity activism
• [94:07–98:48] — Homelessness, capitalism, and social commentary in hip hop
• [98:48–101:08] — Therapy, generational trauma, and healing

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Podcast Structure & Audience Engagement

• The hosts and guest repeatedly promote the Patreon community, showing deep audience involvement:

  “Patreon, $8. Go support Black.”

• Direct engagement through fan questions, with Monaleo enthusiastically answering even questions from Deante’s daughter—moments that show the down-to-earth, familial atmosphere.
• The show closes with Monaleo and Big Cat gamely performing the “official” podcast sign-off, sharing ways for listeners to support Black creators tangibly (via CashApp and Patreon).

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Tone & Language

• The conversation bounces between rowdy humor, piercing honesty, and cultural reverence.
• The language is deeply Southern Black, blending everyday talk with academic insight: “do the knowledge,” “put some cream in the street,” “Locked in,” “Ow!” and other recurring refrains.
• Both participants are unapologetic, using culturally specific language and inside jokes (“if you ain’t black, stay the f**k out the business”) that transform the podcast into a protected, intentionally Black cultural space.

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Conclusion

This episode of Grits and Eggs is a freewheeling, loving celebration and interrogation of what it means to be Black in America and across the diaspora—right now. Through laughter, tears, and moments of musical and spiritual affirmation, Deante’ Kyle and Monaleo model honesty, accountability, unity, and joy, making this an essential listen for anyone invested in the next chapter of Black creative life.

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Note: For further fan questions, hot takes, and end-of-show banter (including more about feet, family, and R&B dream collaborations), tune in to the full episode or join the Patreon for bonus content!

Transcript

[Mona Leo]

Yeah.

[Deontay Kyle]

Woke up in the morning and to God be the glory Thankful for another day to tell my story Put my opinions in the universe and let them orbit I'm from the dirty soul with a dirty mouth My knee orbit, miss things Things on me like a Norbit had to refuse them cause my bitch no rest Fusion she gorgeous as I d my sons up and kiss my daughter forehead Tell them we gonna get this money to my pockets Mor.

[Mona Leo]

Remember living in apartments now?

[Deontay Kyle]

We playing mortgage. You can record all this too? Yeah, you can just start. You can start. Yeah. So. So, you know, so, okay, so this is so, you know, basically, you know what I'm saying? Suki, she be doing Knowledge, so she know, like, early in your career, you was talking about how journaling and music really helped you. So, like, we got you the journal. That's also the idea behind that. Let's Music club Journal.

[Mona Leo]

Okay.

[Deontay Kyle]

Right there to the right.

[Mona Leo]

Which one? This one?

[Deontay Kyle]

Yeah, so that. So that is the homegirl, Lauren Brooks. So this is literally a music journal. So you review albums, do everything right in there.

[Mona Leo]

This is so fire.

[Deontay Kyle]

Yeah, so we knew you would, you know what I'm saying? We know you would with that so much.

[Mona Leo]

I'm a journal. I'm big on journaling.

[Deontay Kyle]

So, like, think about your favorite album in a way that you ain't never listened to it before, and then you go back and you really like what y' all adult ears and whatever.

[Mona Leo]

I'm big on, like, encapsulating and being able to have little time capsules type for my offspring.

[Deontay Kyle]

So you feel me? That's gonna be perfect. And then this is gonna. That's a coloring sheet. So you know.

[Mona Leo]

Oh, my God.

[Deontay Kyle]

A lot of our be like. Like, a lot of stuff is like, mental health for it. We thinking about, like, therapeutic, you know what I'm saying? So like journaling, coloring books.

[Mona Leo]

Exactly.

[Deontay Kyle]

You know what I'm saying? We got, like, real, like, real metal bookmarks, so your ain't getting flimsy and all that. Good. You feel me?

[Mona Leo]

Get money. Let me get $1.

[Deontay Kyle]

You getting all the money, man.

[Mona Leo]

I need $1.

[Deontay Kyle]

You getting all the money, man.

[Mona Leo]

Oh, my God.

[Deontay Kyle]

We ain't doing too much. We just chilling this.

[Mona Leo]

I've never been more excited for a podcast interview set up like this in my life.

[Deontay Kyle]

Swear I.

[Mona Leo]

When I. When Alex told me, well, I told her, I was like, hey, I want to do grits and eggs shot in the dark. For real. Because you never know.

[Deontay Kyle]

Come on, cuz. That's not Shot in the dark. No, it is I ain't gonna hold you. Like, this might be the easiest part to get on. No, no, no. Real. No real, real rap, though. Like, if I with you, you gonna know it, because as soon as you reach out, I'm letting you know, because hella people, bruh. So many people every week try to get around.

[Mona Leo]

I wasn't sure, like, if I fit in the space. Yeah.

[Deontay Kyle]

Oh, yeah. Big K, you want to take our bag?

[Mona Leo]

Can I get my Sprite? I can take the bag.

[Deontay Kyle]

Not. You need a chaser.

[Mona Leo]

I'm not 35. Heard about you.

[Deontay Kyle]

You know a little bit too much about me. God damn it.

[Mona Leo]

You know a little bit too much about the pot. I'm a true fan. I don't. I'm not like, no. I don't consume.

[Deontay Kyle]

Yeah.

[Mona Leo]

I don't watch tv. I don't watch nothing. But this is one of the things. I do my makeup to this podcast. I go to sleep. Sleep to the podcast. So it was just like. Even when I messaged you, I was like, maybe. Maybe I could do a debut a sexy soul on.

[Deontay Kyle]

On the new music.

[Mona Leo]

That was the song.

[Deontay Kyle]

Listen when you said. So listen when you said, like, oh, we're gonna do something music music Monday. I'm thinking, like, maybe she's saying this in Jess, but I'm dead ass. Like, send that. Send that through. If we the debut sexy so long, man, we would have been so turned. Yeah. Have been so turned.

[Mona Leo]

I wasn't sure.

[Deontay Kyle]

First of all, that's the most out song ever.

[Mona Leo]

It's actually so out.

[Deontay Kyle]

It's a song for a out podcast. Like, what are we talking about?

[Mona Leo]

I'm telling you, it would have been perfect here. That was the.

[Deontay Kyle]

Yeah, you, you, you. All right, we back. We back. We in the media now.

[Mona Leo]

Let me hold on.

[Deontay Kyle]

We back.

[Mona Leo]

I need a deep breath. I mean, we rolling time I open my eyes, I've been, like, hustling, bustling, and this is what was priority for me. So I want to make sure that I'm overly settled and aligned for this, because I feel like everything else, it was like we were behind schedule. So we, like, bounce from interview to interview, and now I'm like, no, this was. Alex will tell you. I didn't give a damn. No shade to anybody else. I didn't give a damn about doing anything else other than this. Like, I wanted to align with who I feel like is in my community or who shares the same, like, sentiments that I share. And it wasn't anything else other than this. So when I realized I had other things to do before this. Them flowers been sitting in that car for hours.

[Deontay Kyle]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Mona Leo]

That was the first thing we did this morning.

[Deontay Kyle]

I heard you. The flowers is lit, though.

[Mona Leo]

Read the note. That's from me and son. I'm gonna get these. I don't know how y' all are about Brandon.

[Deontay Kyle]

Yeah. My baby had gave you her chips, man. She was thinking. She was thinking. She was talking about that all day. Thank you.

[Mona Leo]

Grab this for me, Alex.

[Deontay Kyle]

Keep putting the cream in the street. Hold on, hold on. Thank you for doing the knowledge. Keep putting the cream in the streets. Oh, shit. With love, Mona, Leo and Stunna. Oh, man, they got a little pumpkin on this shit hard man.

[Mona Leo]

For everything.

[Deontay Kyle]

Hey, look. Get ready for the fall, you guess niggas. Step your fucking cookies up, nigga. All right. You niggas that call yourself a guest ain't never get nothing from you niggas. All right. New standard. You come empty handed, you walk out.

[Mona Leo]

Hey.

[Deontay Kyle]

Huh? 30 minute interview. That's all you get in and out. We going to ask you about your little album, ask you about your little. You working on. And we get you the up out of.

[Mona Leo]

Get out.

[Deontay Kyle]

You burning some flowers. Two hour. You know what I'm saying?

[Mona Leo]

I need my full two hours.

[Deontay Kyle]

No, you got that.

[Mona Leo]

Don't skimp me.

[Deontay Kyle]

N. You good. You almost got now.

[Mona Leo]

I know. Yeah, we covering the fee, whatever it cost because we were OD late.

[Deontay Kyle]

All right, we just go. We're just gonna go two and two.

[Mona Leo]

We got two and two.

[Deontay Kyle]

All right, Because I'm not gonna let you do all that. All right. So welcome to the Chris Next podcast. We got them. Got you. You know what I'm saying? You Houston native in here.

[Mona Leo]

Yep.

[Deontay Kyle]

She putting you down and I put you on.

[Mona Leo]

Hello.

[Deontay Kyle]

Round of applause.

[Mona Leo]

I'm in Atlanta at the most important podcast that I can. I can't wait till y' all are syndicated. A radio show. I see it for you. Yeah, I just see this is so important. It's so necessary in our community. So needed. I cannot wait till every artist is coming on Coming through Yalls podcast to get their off and talk about their projects, their songs, whatever it is that. That they debuting. I can't wait for y' all to be that stop. That's mandatory. Because this felt mandatory for me.

[Deontay Kyle]

Absolutely. Well, I mean, I think so naturally, when you reached out, we is already here. You know what I'm saying? Like I be. I. I'm knowing all the new shit that's going on. Okay. Either that come through my children or like the part my Partners, my home girls, whatever the case may be. But nine times out of 10, you could add, bro, like, I'd be discovering the most eclectic ever. And I'd be like, bro, this the next.

[Mona Leo]

And they were like, man, who's singing the. The theme song?

[Deontay Kyle]

Okay, so who's.

[Mona Leo]

I mean, who's rapping it?

[Deontay Kyle]

That's self made cool.

[Mona Leo]

Okay. Fire.

[Deontay Kyle]

Yeah, he hard. He hard.

[Mona Leo]

He's freeze. Fire.

[Deontay Kyle]

He went crazy.

[Mona Leo]

He's. He. He OD'd.

[Deontay Kyle]

So I ain't gonna lie.

[Mona Leo]

I With him. Whoever that is, shout him out.

[Deontay Kyle]

Something cool. You know who else he is?

[Mona Leo]

Shout out to you, bro. My bitch. No. Rasputia. She gorgeous. I don't know how I felt about that. Let's check. I'm gonna start my pod, and you the first on my pod. Let's talk about that line. Are you fat phobic? Let's talk about it.

[Deontay Kyle]

Little fat phobia in that line.

[Mona Leo]

Shout out to bro. He ran that.

[Deontay Kyle]

Nah, he went crazy. This the story behind that, though. So started apart. I'm really, like, editing everything myself. I don't got no situation where it's like, I figured this out. I just know when we start doing visuals, I need an intro, and I need something that's, like, not some. I just pull, like, free sounds or nothing like that, right? And this my dog, so I'm like.

[Mona Leo]

Bro, you know him?

[Deontay Kyle]

I know him.

[Mona Leo]

Yeah. I grew up together, or just so we've been friends.

[Deontay Kyle]

We was kind of doing our little business. You know what I'm saying?

[Mona Leo]

Fire.

[Deontay Kyle]

So. And then he my barber, too. So when you be seeing the super duper crispy, when that makes me at a 90 degree, your.

[Mona Leo]

He be cutting your shirt. St needs a haircut. He's coming out here. He was like, I need my.

[Deontay Kyle]

Say that. Say, listen, All I got to do is make that connection. That's easy.

[Mona Leo]

That's all.

[Deontay Kyle]

But so I'm like, look, bro, I had ran, like, a little promotion. Like, y' all can do the intro to the podcast. Cause I'm already, like, big on.

[Mona Leo]

How long ago was this?

[Deontay Kyle]

This last January. So January 2024. So we had just moved into the spot. I had moved here from Alabama. And then I'm like, all right, so I need an intro because I want my. I don't want my to just start like, hey, welcome to the Grizzly, right? You know, I need my to have a little flavor to it.

[Mona Leo]

Yeah.

[Deontay Kyle]

And I called. I'm like, look, bro, you my. You know me. I want you to make the intro about me. But do it your way, right? He know them soul samples. Love that.

[Mona Leo]

Yeah.

[Deontay Kyle]

So I'm not even peeping. Like, when we in the studio, he ended up wrapping it. I'm like going crazy. And then he was. I keep that blitz with me. We like grits and meds. I said, I ain't gonna hold you. Real rap crying for real. Real way. Had to leave.

[Mona Leo]

Wow.

[Deontay Kyle]

Couldn't like. Couldn't contain myself.

[Mona Leo]

Yeah.

[Deontay Kyle]

Like. Because that was special.

[Mona Leo]

Yeah.

[Deontay Kyle]

Because it's like you go through the whole intro. That's my life. That's everything about it.

[Mona Leo]

Yeah.

[Deontay Kyle]

So it was like. But it's like this one of my best friends.

[Mona Leo]

So of course that is just like a staple. I feel like for the grits and.

[Deontay Kyle]

Egg pot, it is, bro.

[Mona Leo]

This is like every time I. It's like I've learned the song. I don't even have to stream it down. I probably should, but I hadn't down. I didn't even look. It's just like. I know the lyrics.

[Deontay Kyle]

It's my favorite.

[Mona Leo]

When you click the pod, all you see is. All you hear is that intro. And I feel like it's like I really. And I was thinking about this the other day. I was like, I really. With the fact that he has this theme song. Cuz it's like, it's just like black culture for real.

[Deontay Kyle]

It's very churchy.

[Mona Leo]

Very churchy. It just gave me.

[Deontay Kyle]

It's like a street, churchy vibe.

[Mona Leo]

Street, churchy vibe. It gave me like. What's the. It just gave me sitcom theme song. And I was like, I fuck with this. And it's like you kind of just smiling and laughing through the intro. And it's like. It's fire.

[Deontay Kyle]

Yeah.

[Mona Leo]

It's like black culture. I feel like you bleed black culture when you know that intentionally or not. I feel like you Obviously you do the knowledge and you put out a certain rhetoric and certain information, but I feel like you embody what it is to be a part of the black culture in a very natural way. And I feel like this. That theme song is part of the reason why I feel like that. Because it just feels like super black.

[Deontay Kyle]

Yeah. I mean, this a nigga from Mobile, Alabama.

[Mona Leo]

He's from Mobile.

[Deontay Kyle]

Yeah.

[Mona Leo]

And you're from Mobile?

[Deontay Kyle]

I'm from. I grew up in Wilmington, North Carolina. Very historical black history.

[Mona Leo]

Grew up in North Carolina.

[Deontay Kyle]

Yeah.

[Mona Leo]

Crazy.

[Deontay Kyle]

And then.

[Mona Leo]

So you're familiar with Stunning.

[Deontay Kyle]

Yeah, for sure.

[Mona Leo]

Okay.

[Deontay Kyle]

Yeah. And then I moved here when I was 13, so I've been here the whole time. Yeah. But my Mama from Atlanta. My grandma from Thomaston, Georgia. Speaking of.

[Mona Leo]

Okay, I need the whole. I need the full.

[Deontay Kyle]

I'm gonna give you something. I'm the full backstory now. Who did the body?

[Mona Leo]

Okay.

[Deontay Kyle]

We wanna talk about bleeding black culture.

[Mona Leo]

Yeah.

[Deontay Kyle]

The Trice Funeral Home in MO In Thomaston, Georgia. That's who. Family body.

[Mona Leo]

Oh, wow.

[Deontay Kyle]

Yeah. So when I heard that, I said, oh, she talking about the traces. Right? You know, I'm already knowing. So then I know that you had a brief background in mortuary science.

[Mona Leo]

Yes.

[Deontay Kyle]

Is that like, what.

[Mona Leo]

That's still something I'm pursuing. I'm still pursuing a degree in mortuary science. I have resumed it. But before I was a rapper, I was going to school for mortuary science. PV first, and then I transferred to a school in Houston for mortuary science. Wanted to be a funeral director. While I was pursuing that degree, I was making music on the side. Little hobby.

[Deontay Kyle]

Yeah.

[Mona Leo]

Little chill shit.

[Deontay Kyle]

Yeah.

[Mona Leo]

And then it was nothing too crazy. Nothing too crazy. And then it picked up and I was like, fuck it. I have to. I have to run with this. But now, as an. I feel like an established artist, I want to continue pursuing that degree in mortuary science because that's something that was important to me then and it's important to me now. And I feel like it's the right timing.

[Deontay Kyle]

No. So I was curious about this because outside of it just being something that's like, extremely black to say, like, I wonder who did the body, nigga. What? Cause only black people talk like that. Who did the body?

[Mona Leo]

Who did the body?

[Deontay Kyle]

Who did the body? You know what I'm saying? Cause I done heard it out. You know what I'm saying?

[Mona Leo]

Right?

[Deontay Kyle]

Nothing too crazy. Nothing too crazy.

[Mona Leo]

You are one of the only people to hear the project that crazy. You can see on the link who has heard it. And it's only. It's me. It's Alex. It's my A R. My manager is like, I don't have. I haven't sent that project out to people. Not for any particular reason, but it was just like, I didn't need any external validation from anybody else.

[Deontay Kyle]

Correct.

[Mona Leo]

When I got deeper into yalls pod and just consumed a lot of what it was that y' all were putting out, I was just like, I feel like I would care about their opinion on something like this.

[Deontay Kyle]

Yeah, for sure.

[Mona Leo]

And I told Alex, I was like, listen, deontay Kyle the project and let's just see what he thinks about it.

[Deontay Kyle]

Yeah. I just sat with it. I had. So I went to New York right before the day she had sent it. I'm like, I'm just check this out on the flight.

[Mona Leo]

Yeah.

[Deontay Kyle]

And then. Cause you know, Delta, they be having a little wi Fi. So I'm like, yeah, we. We running this on the flight.

[Mona Leo]

I don't keep with Delta. I ain't going to lie. I flew Delta. How could you not to come into Atlanta yesterday? And they had me a little care package. They wrote me a note.

[Deontay Kyle]

They doing they over there.

[Mona Leo]

They doing they.

[Deontay Kyle]

You know what I'm saying?

[Mona Leo]

They be kind of be.

[Deontay Kyle]

Y' all being a little stingy with the food.

[Mona Leo]

They be kind of be. But sometimes they'll cancel a flight while you on that.

[Deontay Kyle]

Like a connector.

[Mona Leo]

I didn't been on a flight thinking, I'm getting ready to go to where I'm going to. And they didn't cancel that. And I've never had that experience with anybody else other than Delta.

[Deontay Kyle]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Now they really.

[Mona Leo]

But also they're really big on hospitality. No, I be with a little Southern influence.

[Deontay Kyle]

You did like I. With the Biscoff cookie. So, like with the cookies. I'm with that Biscoff cookie. I ain't.

[Mona Leo]

And they got pink lemonade for sale.

[Deontay Kyle]

And who doing that?

[Mona Leo]

Who's doing that?

[Deontay Kyle]

As a complimentary type.

[Mona Leo]

It's all right. I with Delta.

[Deontay Kyle]

Hold on. Before we get into this album, you was like, you. You are pink, basically.

[Mona Leo]

Yep.

[Deontay Kyle]

You are pink.

[Mona Leo]

Yeah, for sure.

[Deontay Kyle]

There was an artist named Pink. She's irrelevant. You're pink.

[Mona Leo]

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[Mona Leo]

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[Mona Leo]

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[Deontay Kyle]

You're pink.

[Mona Leo]

You supposed to be keeping him in line?

[Deontay Kyle]

Nah, you pink.

[Mona Leo]

Why would you let him say that because he's right.

[Deontay Kyle]

You are pink. You pink.

[Mona Leo]

I am pink.

[Deontay Kyle]

We rewrite history, nigga. Y' all do it all the time.

[Mona Leo]

They do. Listen, all these revisions, we rewind European. I need a revise. Yeah, yeah.

[Deontay Kyle]

When you open the Source magazine, pink is her. It's her, nigga. You feel me? I'm putting you down.

[Mona Leo]

I'm putting you on.

[Deontay Kyle]

All right, so check me out, though. Like, this some shit that just always been your aesthetic.

[Mona Leo]

Always. My whole life. I feel like it's something. It's a way that I can connect to my inner child. So it's like something that I wanted to implement as an adult with adult money. Free will.

[Deontay Kyle]

Going crazy.

[Mona Leo]

Like, real free will. Cause I feel like we have free will, but when you under black supervision, it's not always free type. Nothing is free, actually.

[Deontay Kyle]

Absolutely.

[Mona Leo]

But as an adult, I feel like I've really been able to express myself the freest way possible. And I just decided one day, you know what? All I want to wear is pink. That's the only color that I want to wear. My car is pink. Room is pink. Everything is pink. That's my life. That's what I embody. And I won't deviate. People have tried stylists, people not. That's my girl. Shout out. Nya Ashley. She is super Atlanta. Even though she's not from here, she's so Atlanta. We got Nyah Ashley in the building. She styles me. And she knows I'm very adamant about wearing pink. My team knows other stylists. I work with, my hairstylist, y' all know pink is my thing. I will not deviate from that. That is my non negotiable.

[Deontay Kyle]

So I had asked her, like, I was like, so you stylist, how much pink garments you sitting on right now? Like, J hella pink. She's like, oh, pink. Everything's pink.

[Mona Leo]

Don't do that.

[Deontay Kyle]

She ain't do that.

[Mona Leo]

That's how y' all do it.

[Deontay Kyle]

I put some extras on.

[Mona Leo]

I gotta do pink. It's. I can't do nothing.

[Deontay Kyle]

But it's hard, though, because, like, if you think about it from an artistic perspective, the first thing I thought about when I seen that is like, Larry June and orange juice. Exactly like Larry June, orange juice. It's synonymous.

[Mona Leo]

It's synonymous.

[Deontay Kyle]

Mona, Leo, Pink, man.

[Mona Leo]

It's synonymous. And it's not. It wasn't even intentional branding. It's just like, no, that's you. That's how I carry myself as an adult.

[Deontay Kyle]

Before I started. I don't think we should be picking up gimmicks we shouldn't like.

[Mona Leo]

And because I feel like the most. My most authentic self was me as a child. Me pre social media, because that wasn't influenced by. But other than what was around me. And that's truly what I gravitated towards. And people try to deter me, and it was something that I stuck with. So as an adult, I hear that, and I'm like, you know what? That's your thing. And I'm rocking with that. And I'm supporting that. I'm just supporting my inner child, literally.

[Deontay Kyle]

Let's talk about the having, like, a wedding that we wasn't invited to. Oh, was we invited to the wedding? Cause you remember the day I called you? I was like, bro, Mona Leo, trying to get on New Miss Monday. I'm on that. Yeah, Yeah.

[Mona Leo]

I was like, you don't even know.

[Deontay Kyle]

We geeking behind the scenes.

[Mona Leo]

Because that's what I'm saying. You play shit. That's your problem. You play shit too cool.

[Deontay Kyle]

How?

[Mona Leo]

I didn't know how cool. Cool.

[Deontay Kyle]

Can you send a message?

[Mona Leo]

Listen, it gave, like, cool. You know, you send your through like.

[Deontay Kyle]

Man, let go check.

[Mona Leo]

No, that's what I'm saying. It'd be. I don't know. I'm an overthinker, so it'd be hard to feel how people.

[Deontay Kyle]

Me too. I'm like, damn, bro, she don't really with us like that.

[Mona Leo]

It's like, it'd be hard to tell how people feel. So it's like. But I'm telling you, had we done this interview prior to the wedding, you would have been there front and center. You would have been hosting.

[Deontay Kyle]

Matter of fact, I'm saying, y' all just gonna have to run the wedding back. Yeah.

[Mona Leo]

Vowel renewal.

[Deontay Kyle]

Yeah. Next year.

[Mona Leo]

Yeah.

[Deontay Kyle]

Y' all doing it every year.

[Mona Leo]

No, I was gonna say, y' all.

[Deontay Kyle]

Get all that money. Way too much money for me.

[Mona Leo]

Exactly.

[Deontay Kyle]

I ain't gonna lie. The little ring. I ain't gonna lie. I was with it. Like, I'm like, bruh, this is a gorgeous wedding. You know, I'm. I ain't gonna lie. I'm openly showing the wedding so much love on. On the Internet.

[Mona Leo]

I saw that.

[Deontay Kyle]

But this not even, like, thank you.

[Mona Leo]

For that, for speaking out on your platform, because I feel like I saw a lot of good things. We'll get into that.

[Deontay Kyle]

Yeah. But. Nah, I ain't even gonna hold you. This ain't had nothing to do with you. It's just black love, bro. It's like real rap. Like, this is a beautiful ass wedding. But then, so I'm cool. Like, I'm not even thinking about being invited, but I'm seeing, like, ring a bell and get tequila. That's when I was like.

[Mona Leo]

That's when you're like, oh, I should have been there.

[Deontay Kyle]

That's up.

[Mona Leo]

You know, I wanted to invite you, but part of me feels like I be too parasocial with people. It's like, you know how you watch somebody. I feel like I have been tuned into Yalls movement and I feel like a weirdo by. If I would have extended an invite, it would have felt like, you don't fucking know these people.

[Deontay Kyle]

We would have been on a private journey.

[Mona Leo]

I know y' all would have been.

[Deontay Kyle]

We can't even afford that. We can't even afford that.

[Mona Leo]

We never know.

[Deontay Kyle]

We blew the whole monthly bag just to come up like it Big cat. We're gonna be broke next month. It's straight.

[Mona Leo]

We up the way me and stun are, we would have got y' all out there type shit. No, like, all expenses paid. We would have got y' all just to have y' all in the presence covering, bro.

[Deontay Kyle]

We would have did color commentary, other reception. It would have been so turned up.

[Mona Leo]

I should have done that. It's all right, though.

[Deontay Kyle]

It's okay. We going to.

[Mona Leo]

We here now.

[Deontay Kyle]

Y' all going to get remarried and it's going to be fine.

[Mona Leo]

Exactly.

[Deontay Kyle]

We going the 10 years, everything. I mean, in 10 years, we going to be so lit. We going.

[Mona Leo]

I don't even know if y' all going to answer the phone for us.

[Deontay Kyle]

In 10 years, we pink wed. We on a pink wedding and a pink man.

[Mona Leo]

The pace that y' all are moving at, y' all are doing at one y' all doing y thing. You see? You feel that?

[Deontay Kyle]

Yeah.

[Mona Leo]

You doing that thing?

[Deontay Kyle]

Yeah.

[Mona Leo]

I'll be watching, like, even 11 months ago, 12 months ago, I'll watch older episodes and I'll hear the difference. No shade my quality. Yeah.

[Deontay Kyle]

So peep game, though.

[Mona Leo]

You sound like a spoon. And I listen to it now and I'm like, these are getting money for real. We got two different camera angles switching around, and it just.

[Deontay Kyle]

Now we stay. Now we, like, we growing with it. You know what I'm saying? So, like, that's the thing. It's like, I think a lot of people would think because of what you see online, like, there has to be some question about how to perceive me for sure. Especially with, like, success. And then we know how people act with success and shit. Like, that. But like, I be telling, like, bro, six months ago, I'm driving a truck. Bro, I'm not thinking about this like that.

[Mona Leo]

See, this was six months ago when I.

[Deontay Kyle]

When I stopped driving. Yeah. I've been. I bring this as a full business for six months.

[Mona Leo]

Wow.

[Deontay Kyle]

Yeah. You feel me?

[Mona Leo]

Wow.

[Deontay Kyle]

Wow.

[Mona Leo]

Y' all going crazy.

[Deontay Kyle]

So y'. All. A lot of people didn't know I was still working. Steady work. Thank you so much.

[Mona Leo]

Congratulations.

[Deontay Kyle]

Thank you. And congratulations. This is what, your third studio album?

[Mona Leo]

Yep.

[Deontay Kyle]

Stomp down. Come on, let's talk about it.

[Mona Leo]

Stomp it down. All over in the south, everywhere, globally. I'm on top of heads. And they next you.

[Deontay Kyle]

This is like industry talk. Industry talk, industry talk. Little Columbia Records collaboration just dished our deal type.

[Mona Leo]

No, I just signed with Columbia, so I've been independent my entire career.

[Deontay Kyle]

For sure. Stop now.

[Mona Leo]

Exactly. Prior to. Exactly. They were managing me prior to probably about March, April this year, I got to a point where I was like, you know what? I feel like I've done what I can do independently, and I'm ready to take this to a different level, a different stage, and I'm ready to partner.

[Deontay Kyle]

We just see it.

[Mona Leo]

Keyword, partner. Because you have to. What people don't understand is you have to build if you want to maintain some sort of, like, control over your operation, some sort of. Yeah, exactly. Autonomy over your. You gotta, like, build your leverage and make people want to buy into what it is that you're selling. So that was part of the reason why I stayed independent for all these years, because I wanted to build my leverage, put out song after song after song, grow my fan base in a genuine, authentic way, and eventually partner with a major company to take my brand and my business to the next level. And that's exactly what I did. So I still own my masters, even with my major label.

[Deontay Kyle]

Do the knowledge.

[Mona Leo]

Yeah, do the knowledge.

[Deontay Kyle]

Get that bag, though.

[Mona Leo]

Imagine. Imagine being white. Imagine owning a predominantly white company and you having to put out a song by this black artist, Young black girl, bright pink, sexy solon.

[Deontay Kyle]

And.

[Mona Leo]

And in the song, she's detailing about how all the non blacks need to go to the back. Imagine having to buy into that. I. I wish I could be a fly on the wall when they played that song for the first time at the label.

[Deontay Kyle]

Oh, I bet they was in that bit.

[Mona Leo]

I know they was like, but see.

[Deontay Kyle]

This the difference, though. Like, God damn it, that's the difference.

[Mona Leo]

I know they was like, so she crazy.

[Deontay Kyle]

Before we enter into anything, you gotta create leverage. Like if you not gonna put in no legwork yourself, then you gonna be subject to whatever they want you to do. So if you. If you don't do the stomp down, if you don't drop two albums before that, if you don't get your name ringing, ain't no sexy so long.

[Mona Leo]

There is no sexy so long.

[Deontay Kyle]

They gonna be like this tripping.

[Mona Leo]

What you got to understand is I always. I've always had this vision. I always had a plan, need a platform, type needed the platform. So it's like I always knew in my mind what my mission was and what it was I wanted to promote and put on the forefront, but I needed to build my leverage up into a certain point. And you got to shake a certain amount of hands and kids a certain amount of babies to get to a certain point.

[Deontay Kyle]

Yeah.

[Mona Leo]

And here I am in the door and the first. The first one of the first singles I'm coming out with is this. And it's like, it's very unapologetic. And I feel like it's a message to not only myself, to my label and to everybody else, like, yes, I partner with this company, but it's because they believe in me as an individual, not that they're trying to put me up to do some. Some certain type of. It's like I came in this building as myself. One of the first things before I signed, I told them, I want to remain a human being. I'm not a robot. I'm not here to be controlled. I just want to push my message the way that I want to do it. And I don't need anybody. I don't need anybody sitting in my studio session. I don't need anybody coming in and write a certain song for me to articulate us. This is me. You either take it or you leave it. And they was like, it. We. We with it and bought into it.

[Deontay Kyle]

You going crazy, though. I mean, the thing is, like, it's not like some luck, you work for it, but also people fuck with you. Like, we fuck with you for real. I ain't gonna hold you. Like, if I had to create a tagline for my podcast, it would be all the non blacks to the back. That's like literally what my podcast is. You feel me? So it's like when I heard that for sure, when I heard that, I was thinking about like, okay, of course.

[Mona Leo]

Thank you.

[Deontay Kyle]

Now we gonna have influx of conversation about what it mean to be so long, because I even wrote this.

[Mona Leo]

Let's do a shot real quick. I don't Know if we can shot on the pod.

[Deontay Kyle]

Yeah, we can do whatever. It's my.

[Mona Leo]

I gotta preface this, because this is when I tell you I haven't spoken on this, and I wanted to speak about this on your podcast.

[Deontay Kyle]

You got the fire one. Show them the. Show them the shotguns. Show them the giphy.

[Mona Leo]

Make sure y' all get this type. Here's an egg podcast.

[Deontay Kyle]

This was made by one of the. The cousins. So the Patreon. You know Patreon?

[Mona Leo]

Yes. $8.

[Deontay Kyle]

$8. Go ahead and do a little promo real quick.

[Mona Leo]

Make sure y' all get the grist and egg podcast on Patreon. It's $8.

[Deontay Kyle]

That's 2. That's 2. She got your whole shit down. No, you really be fucking with.

[Mona Leo]

Replace me. Replace him with me.

[Deontay Kyle]

Yeah, she said. I said do the Patreon promo. She talking about something.

[Mona Leo]

$8.

[Deontay Kyle]

It ain't number $8. Ow.

[Mona Leo]

Ow. Get the Patreon for real support.

[Deontay Kyle]

Let's do a quick. Let's do a quick. I'm gonna do a quick, quick, quick, quick, quick. Criticism of the King, bro. You ain't have to do all that. We thought you was gonna retire. Why the did you do all that to say you going Henny vsop. You could have did that on IG Live. My. Yeah, we ain't need all that. We was gonna drink it anyway.

[Mona Leo]

He don't play. He's working.

[Deontay Kyle]

He working. He.

[Mona Leo]

Look, he's working first of all, too.

[Deontay Kyle]

I'm get on y' all ass. If that shit with AI, we gonna have a problem. Because I ain't gonna lie. When I checked it out today. Look a little.

[Mona Leo]

AI it look AI.

[Deontay Kyle]

We just gonna say South Memphis like that. All right, so check me out, though. So a common theme in hip hop is death, right? So you had me a little shook with the intro. I'm not gonna lie. I'm like, what we doing? Okay, okay. We can't be doing the Biggie. You know what I'm saying? We can't be going Tupac. We just gotta. So I'm like, where's she at right now?

[Mona Leo]

Right?

[Deontay Kyle]

What we got going on? But then I'm thinking about, okay, background mortuary science. Maybe. This is just conceptual, right?

[Mona Leo]

It is.

[Deontay Kyle]

And then, so the concept going into it comes from your background in mortuary science.

[Mona Leo]

Absolutely.

[Deontay Kyle]

But to be able to tie in something that is personal to you as far as, like, your studies and then something that you interested in outside of something artistic and turn it super duper black, for sure. But also, like, stay on this Theme. Is that something that was like, how. How thought out was that process? Like, is it. Are you one of the creatives? Because you could be just creative like me, where it's just like. Just start making sense.

[Mona Leo]

Yeah, I think a little bit of both. So it was something conceptually. I started developing, like, almost two years ago. And then it was like, as I'm fleshing this. These ideas out, it's not that I was specifically trying to put together a project. It was just like, this is where I'm at in life. I'm talking about my own mortality, the mortality of people, people around me, and just realizing that life is fickle, is fleeting, and we not here forever. So as I'm trying to figure out how can I make that appeal to my current fan base, I feel like the project started developing in there, so. Started falling into place. But it didn't start off that way. For sure it didn't.

[Deontay Kyle]

Yeah. Because there's a connection. So I would say it as like a common theme or like a trope or like just kind of slick old to hip hop. Right. Cause you got like, Scarface, first album as a undertaker type shit. Life After Death by Biggie. We got some songs on here. Like, we got some real hip hop shit.

[Mona Leo]

Some real hip hop shit.

[Deontay Kyle]

Nah, I ain't gonna lie. That's some NWI spare change is. That's real hip hop.

[Mona Leo]

But we.

[Deontay Kyle]

We ain't there yet. We ain't there yet.

[Mona Leo]

We ain't there yet. We'll get there.

[Deontay Kyle]

I'm gonna. We don't see women in hip hop really touch on, like, losing loved ones a lot.

[Mona Leo]

Right.

[Deontay Kyle]

That's some. You know what I'm saying? Always want to talk about they dead ones. So I think. I think. But the way you framed it wasn't like on some. You know, because I think the tough thing to do is lose a friend to gun violence and shit like that. But I think you talking about is. Is this, like, real? Is this a real based on a real situation?

[Mona Leo]

When you talk about based on real situations.

[Deontay Kyle]

Yeah. So, like, open the gates. What the thing behind that and the friends you mentioned in that, These are people that have passed on.

[Mona Leo]

Yeah, they've all passed on. You hear me mention my homegirl, Xavin, she passed away. Gun violence. You hear me mention my homegirls, Darian. She fell from her apartment, and that was a whole thing. You hear me mention. Enchanting. She was a really. She was a staple in female rap. In the female rap community. She was doing her thing. She passed from Like a drug overdose. You hear me mention my homegirl Yana, she passed away from a drunk driver. Which is why you have that song about the drunk drivers on there.

[Deontay Kyle]

Correct.

[Mona Leo]

These are all real situations. And I feel like my homegirls, like, they really. Our relationship was. We were so close. We were so close. So I feel like I wanted to do something to. I wanted to name them.

[Deontay Kyle]

Yeah, I felt that too.

[Mona Leo]

I wanted to name them and make sure that their name never dies. And I'm so excited to go on tour after people hear the music, to hear people call their names out, because that's something that's really important to me. And I. I really missed. I truly miss them. And it was a way that I can, like, put a more. Because I feel like when I think about them dying, it makes me so overly emotional. And we were never really like that in our dynamic. Like, we were emotional from time to time, but for the most part, we had a good time. We turned up and they were the ones that I called when I was feeling down. And they can uplift my spirits.

[Deontay Kyle]

Correct.

[Mona Leo]

It felt good to put them in a song. And I'm excited to go on tour and hear people just name them and hopefully just continue to feel their spirit throughout the things that it is that I'm doing. You never really know if I like to think that they here with me and that we still chilling, we vibing. I try to still take shots with them. Like, I have a whole little set up for them. You, you know, little set up for them and pictures of them. And it's like, I feel like people try to demonize stuff like that, which is so odd to me because we have like, nine, 11 that they. That we can never forget.

[Deontay Kyle]

Right, Right.

[Mona Leo]

So it's like, why would I ever want to forget the people who personally touched me and personally impacted the way that I am today? And they were so supportive of my journey, me as an individual. They love my music. And I just. I. I feel like the setup for them was so mandatory. And so I like to think that they're still here, still listening, still vibing. We still chilling. I like to. They might even be here.

[Deontay Kyle]

You gain ancestors, though. That's how I look. I did, like, d my. Like, I'm not ever gonna be able to forget about them. I put them first in my flesh, you know what I'm saying? I think the connection that I have to, like, my people that have passed on have definitely evolved over time. Right. Like, with information, but also with, like, veneration and how I feel about them. So it's like I'm not finna sit here and be ashamed to like exalt my ancestors and the people that have passed on. Like, I feel like I lost my mama at 29, I lost my grandmama at 19. I appreciate it. But I think the more important thing is I know on the other side, these folk pushing me forward gotta be, they looking out for me.

[Mona Leo]

Why do you feel like the word ancestor is such a trigger in a black community?

[Deontay Kyle]

Because it's very black. Yeah, yeah. It's not forefather. The knowledge on. Yeah. George Washington. Yeah, dude. Why is on Thomas Jefferson? Nah. Well, no. So like the thing is, is like when you hear the word ancestor, you think African.

[Mona Leo]

Absolutely.

[Deontay Kyle]

And I think that things that, that have been done over time. Right. Turning black into a negative. When literally incarnation comes out of blackness just through simple things like black ice, black magic, you know, demonizing the word black, saying black cats are bad luck, when it's like literally divine shit. I think anything you connect to blackness, you see it as an automatic negative. I think when you whitewash our history with Christianity as a European concept, when we know these folks ain't never came up with nothing, they never created anything. So I think that now, I think they did create.

[Mona Leo]

Unless it's time to be racist. That's what I'm saying.

[Deontay Kyle]

I was gonna say they created them.

[Mona Leo]

Now I can only create white sitting.

[Deontay Kyle]

In their bag when they do create some racist shit.

[Mona Leo]

Exactly.

[Deontay Kyle]

AI one of the greatest white creations of all time. Crack cocaine. Uh huh.

[Mona Leo]

Do knowledge. Hey, we're on drugs.

[Deontay Kyle]

Do your knowledge on the war on drugs.

[Mona Leo]

Nigga do knowledge.

[Deontay Kyle]

We talk about it a lot. Yeah, but the thing that made me really connect with those songs, like so you have the intro that comes in the way the intro comes in. And then with Open the Gates, it's like a, it's a turn up though. It's not like a mourn me.

[Mona Leo]

It's not somber.

[Deontay Kyle]

Yeah, it's not like a, you know, you ain't go, you ain't got like sad somber. You went like, bro, celebrate my life.

[Mona Leo]

Exactly.

[Deontay Kyle]

You know what I'm saying? Like even in the, the parts where you like don't be in the bed curled up all day, like, get up. Live your life like I'm here with you. You know what I'm saying? We turned up still. We still turned up.

[Mona Leo]

Get outside. That was a message directly for from them. They never wanted me to be in the bed. In the bed. Sad, crying, upset about whatever. They always were the People who encouraged me to get up and get outside. And at the time, I was just like, I just want to sit in this. And I. But I understand. Like, I feel like ultimately. Ultimately, they were trying to show me that life is meant to be lived. For sure, you got to get up and you got to get outside. Sometimes it's in the club.

[Deontay Kyle]

But so the thing.

[Mona Leo]

You gotta take a shot and get outside. Like, there's more to life than just being in the house being sad.

[Deontay Kyle]

And we taking a shot every 15 minutes.

[Mona Leo]

Every 15 minutes.

[Deontay Kyle]

No, we not. I'm just playing. Look, you see, the producers was like.

[Mona Leo]

You see, I'm on it. Don't call my bluff.

[Deontay Kyle]

No, we can do it every 30, though, for sure.

[Mona Leo]

Every 30. Alex, set a timer for 30 minutes from now. 15 minutes and pass. Let's do 15.

[Deontay Kyle]

15 what?

[Mona Leo]

Minutes from now and then 30.

[Deontay Kyle]

Okay, bet. All right, Say that. So, yeah, the. Kim, Atlanta. You know what I'm saying? We're going MVP right now.

[Mona Leo]

MVP.

[Deontay Kyle]

We're going 22 years in the league. Big Cat.

[Mona Leo]

What the.

[Deontay Kyle]

My. What happened? He's not on camera. I'm not on cam, son.

[Mona Leo]

Yo, I was getting drunk.

[Deontay Kyle]

No, listen, that. Let me tell you something.

[Mona Leo]

Big Cat is big.

[Deontay Kyle]

Let me tell you something. Let me tell you something.

[Mona Leo]

Y' all can't see Big Cat. Big Cat is big. He can tolerate that.

[Deontay Kyle]

Yeah, they done seen him a few times.

[Mona Leo]

You got to.

[Deontay Kyle]

He got the guy. You know what I mean?

[Mona Leo]

You know?

[Deontay Kyle]

But let me tell you something. The first time, me and this. So me and Big had been friends by six degrees of separation, basically, for. Since we was 14. Yeah.

[Mona Leo]

BK, how old are you?

[Deontay Kyle]

36.

[Mona Leo]

35. 36. When your birthday?

[Deontay Kyle]

July 4th.

[Mona Leo]

Okay, bet.

[Deontay Kyle]

So you.

[Mona Leo]

Cancer. When your birthday?

[Deontay Kyle]

June 12th.

[Mona Leo]

June 12th. Okay.

[Deontay Kyle]

Gemini Cancer.

[Mona Leo]

Gemini cancer. My son of Gemini. I love Gemini's mama. Cancer. Brother. Cancer. Gemini cancer.

[Deontay Kyle]

Synergy here a lot of good.

[Mona Leo]

I'm a tourist.

[Deontay Kyle]

Oh, yeah.

[Mona Leo]

April 24th.

[Deontay Kyle]

Yeah, she said on the album. Yeah. So. So. All right, so listen, literally, through him. So one of his good friends, Stan.

[Mona Leo]

Okay.

[Deontay Kyle]

Is best friends with Nas.

[Mona Leo]

Okay.

[Deontay Kyle]

Nas is Luther's little brother.

[Mona Leo]

Luther is. Is your home.

[Deontay Kyle]

Is. My homeboy. Passed away. He passed away my senior year.

[Mona Leo]

Okay.

[Deontay Kyle]

So we always kind of be in the same circles, but it's just like, you know what I'm saying? This is like. That's one of the homies.

[Mona Leo]

Never was, really.

[Deontay Kyle]

We had, like, a nigga friendship, like, where? It's just like. We just know each other. It's like, what's up Danielle, that's you. We good. You know what I'm saying? But.

[Mona Leo]

Danielle, that's you. But I get it.

[Deontay Kyle]

I would say, like, over the last, like 10 years, it just been like a perpetual state of, like, we just kind of. You know how when you meet somebody, like, and you really have a conversation with them, like, bro, I really fuck with you. Yeah, that's what that was.

[Mona Leo]

Yeah.

[Deontay Kyle]

And like, Big Cat went.

[Mona Leo]

At what point did y' all start the pod together?

[Deontay Kyle]

He been in the pot day one. Yeah. So.

[Mona Leo]

Really?

[Deontay Kyle]

Yeah. So I started the pod in my truck.

[Mona Leo]

Okay.

[Deontay Kyle]

So. Cause I was on the road. I was in Alabama. I'm on the road all the time.

[Mona Leo]

Yeah.

[Deontay Kyle]

So TikTok going crazy, but people is wanting me to get, like, more expansive about these, like, two, three minute thoughts.

[Mona Leo]

What year is this, by the way?

[Deontay Kyle]

20. 20. 23. 23, 23.

[Mona Leo]

Okay.

[Deontay Kyle]

This is the first. Yeah. March 2023. That's when we start.

[Mona Leo]

Okay.

[Deontay Kyle]

It's audio only.

[Mona Leo]

Oh.

[Deontay Kyle]

So, yeah, because it's like, I'm on the road. I can. I can hook the iPad. I really started this with like a hundred dollar mic and iPad.

[Mona Leo]

And how are you streaming this, by the way?

[Deontay Kyle]

It was all on Spotify.

[Mona Leo]

Spotify.

[Deontay Kyle]

So I was just going.

[Mona Leo]

So you can create an account with Spotify.

[Deontay Kyle]

So you can go. There used to be a situation called Anchorage. Anchor was in connection with Spotify. Spotify bought them out. Now it's Spotify for creators, but basically, like, you just. All you need is the audio. So I'm recording everything on the iPad, on GarageBand and then just uploading it. And then we, you know. So that's why if you go listen to the first few episodes, you can hear the truck in the background. Like, it was situations where I'm like, dead in Texas. Like, I got AC blowing so hard you can't even hear me. So I'm like having to cut that bitch off. So I'm in the back. A lot of them episodes was me in the back of the truck in the tank top, and Draws just like going crazy.

[Mona Leo]

Oh, wow. And Big Cat was there.

[Deontay Kyle]

No, no. Why would I be there?

[Mona Leo]

Okay. No. Draws and Big Cat.

[Deontay Kyle]

Why would I be there? We close, but we ain't that close.

[Mona Leo]

I was trying to see.

[Deontay Kyle]

That's my dog. That's my dog. That's my dog. That's not my man. You know what I'm saying? We not letting Pimpsy down. We never letting Pimpsy down. Never. Your boys out there, you're pitching and you catching. Yeah. You letting Boys, bust up your back. Me and this man, we ain't no freaks. We some family men. We're getting this paper. That's all we doing. That's it. We ain't never letting Pency down. Y' all know that.

[Mona Leo]

It's crazy.

[Deontay Kyle]

So the thing me and Big Cat are, bro, like, we are the epitome of what A is for sure. Intelligent, woke, ignorant.

[Mona Leo]

Yes, absolutely.

[Deontay Kyle]

Yeah, you. I'm putting you down. So, like, this is me. Like, I'm. I'm taking off with this. I'm in a truck. I'm like, bro, I can't be consistent with this. I don't know, like, what the. You know what I'm saying? I don't even know how I'm editing this. I'm sneezing in mic. I'm breathing heavy. I'm doing all type of shit. Anything, bro. I'm just like. And I'm telling like, bro, I don't know what I'm doing, bro. Y' all want started part. Y' all ask winging it. Y' all ask for this. You know what I'm saying?

[Mona Leo]

That's how start though. You gotta wing it.

[Deontay Kyle]

You gotta wing it.

[Mona Leo]

The first few months, you gotta wing.

[Deontay Kyle]

So when I moved back to Georgia, I told Big Head. I was like, look, I'm gonna. I'm done with the rap. Like, I'm going full blown with the podcast, right? And I. I had got a spot and I was like, I'm just building the studio out. So all while I'm on the road, like all them pictures and stuff you be seeing in the background, you done seen it evolve over time. But like, that was just stuff I was buying. Like, this gonna look fine. I'm gonna do it in the corner. I'm gonna have a L shaped desk. I got all this shit in my mind already. I done visioned it out.

[Mona Leo]

And so it's so fleshed out too, I would have thought that. I guess I didn't realize how new the podcast was. Cause every time I see it, it looks established, right?

[Deontay Kyle]

So the first episode was January 2024. Like the first visual episode. I did one in the truck. I did on the iPhone. Then my phone ran out of storage. All type of shit.

[Mona Leo]

Yeah.

[Deontay Kyle]

So I was like, all right, fuck it. Like, I'm gonna pick it back up when we can goddamn really get it.

[Mona Leo]

Yeah.

[Deontay Kyle]

So the thing, the reason why he came in is cause I got this, the Canon camera. It only record for 12 minutes at a time. So I literally called him like, bro every 12 minutes. Yeah.

[Mona Leo]

What camera is that?

[Deontay Kyle]

The. From Walmart.

[Mona Leo]

Okay.

[Deontay Kyle]

Yeah, hit that. And then we got a little Sony 4K on the side of Big Grainy. This ain't really focusing like 1080p. It is what it is. You know what I'm saying? But I'm like, bro, I just need you over there. Hit the camera.

[Mona Leo]

Okay.

[Deontay Kyle]

But by the mic being the mic, you can hear everything going on. So like, even when he talking, it sound like he right there. Cause he literally like we doing that in a room, like in a living room. Yeah, okay. The same room that your mama would have said, like your grandma would have said, like, don't go in there.

[Mona Leo]

Okay.

[Deontay Kyle]

That's what we're recording that.

[Mona Leo]

Okay. So a little nook.

[Deontay Kyle]

Little nook. For real? Yeah, yeah, for real. It's a real dining room. Like, you know what I'm saying?

[Mona Leo]

Okay.

[Deontay Kyle]

So as things evolve, it's just like you notice like the first few episodes I'm talking to him, but he ain't really saying much. Cause big head, like, I don't even know out here. For real.

[Mona Leo]

He not Mike to.

[Deontay Kyle]

He not Mike. He just my.

[Mona Leo]

Like every once in a while I stumb across a little episode like that and I'm like, okay, I see where I'm at in the journey.

[Deontay Kyle]

Yeah.

[Mona Leo]

Big cat. No mic.

[Deontay Kyle]

No mic.

[Mona Leo]

No cutaways with the cat.

[Deontay Kyle]

No nothing. No nothing. It's no nothing. It's just a voice.

[Mona Leo]

No two camera angles. None of that mic sound crazy.

[Deontay Kyle]

We was going crazy early on, but so like it was important for him to be there though, cuz he know me. So like he'll. Big cat really create the parameters of the podcast.

[Mona Leo]

Really?

[Deontay Kyle]

Because I take it though, like, I'll say anything if I think it's funny. I'll say anything. Be like, son, let's.

[Mona Leo]

Let's really back in.

[Deontay Kyle]

We stand here. We here with it. Okay. We on the court. The court got lines. You're out of bounds.

[Mona Leo]

Let's stay within.

[Deontay Kyle]

So like, there's been a couple episodes where he like, this over. We not doing this.

[Mona Leo]

Really?

[Deontay Kyle]

Yeah.

[Mona Leo]

So it's some. Can I please get the Grease and eggs podcast uncut?

[Deontay Kyle]

Oh, we done deleted them, baby. Yeah, yeah, them's gone. Hey, I'm gonna. We. We got one episode.

[Mona Leo]

We got one episode that can never see the light.

[Deontay Kyle]

No, we literally woke up. Deleted. Like that can never come out.

[Mona Leo]

Oh, my God.

[Deontay Kyle]

We was in that really wilding.

[Mona Leo]

Oh my God.

[Deontay Kyle]

We was on it. We was on that. We was on that, Len.

[Mona Leo]

I knew it.

[Deontay Kyle]

We had to.

[Mona Leo]

I was about to say, y' all must have been turned.

[Deontay Kyle]

Yeah, we saw turn.

[Mona Leo]

That's the only time I will ever delete something.

[Deontay Kyle]

Yeah, we so ignorant. Pull.

[Mona Leo]

Pull an interview. It's extremely ignorant. Too much.

[Deontay Kyle]

All ignorant. No knowledge. No. All ignorant. No knowledge.

[Mona Leo]

No cream.

[Deontay Kyle]

No cream. There was no cream. No, that was pure ignorance. Yeah. And. And it was just like, it was me getting comfortable, like just being in front of Mike. Being on camera, getting your foot in. You feel me? And so like I'm just putting on my ribs.

[Mona Leo]

Yeah.

[Deontay Kyle]

But I think the bigger thing. Yeah, but I think it's also just having a real like, yo, yo partner. Like, he's so real. He not just gonna let me fumble.

[Mona Leo]

Yeah.

[Deontay Kyle]

So it's like we don't been 40 minutes in. He like cut it. It's not coming out. We're not doing this. Yeah, it's not happening. Yeah, we'll try again tomorrow. And you know what's so funny? That's happened twice. Both times that he did that and we re record the next day. It'd be our biggest episodes. These be the ones that make us go up like these. The ones really have an impact on social.

[Mona Leo]

So he know.

[Deontay Kyle]

Yeah, he know what's up.

[Mona Leo]

He knows them type of people. So necessary in your camp because I feel like when you see certain people, individuals, personalities, artists crashing out, it'd be from the lack of real in a camp. And I feel like you have a set. First of all, autumn black women that came out, that came out the door. When I walked in, I was like, oh, yeah, he's good, he's good. He got this.

[Deontay Kyle]

I got my baby here.

[Mona Leo]

Exactly.

[Deontay Kyle]

You know what I'm saying? Like, I know who I be with.

[Mona Leo]

How many kids you got?

[Deontay Kyle]

I got three kids.

[Mona Leo]

Three kids?

[Deontay Kyle]

Yeah.

[Mona Leo]

What's the ages?

[Deontay Kyle]

14, 11 and 7. The baby. Seven.

[Mona Leo]

Okay.

[Deontay Kyle]

Matter of fact, since we had got here, we was just gonna say we was early. I did, I did a little like 10 minute interview with my baby.

[Mona Leo]

Oh, wow.

[Deontay Kyle]

Yeah.

[Mona Leo]

First time, I'm assuming.

[Deontay Kyle]

Yeah.

[Mona Leo]

Never saw them on camera.

[Deontay Kyle]

Never, never, never.

[Mona Leo]

So like that's intentional.

[Deontay Kyle]

No, we was just. We just thugging. Like we just kicking it. And I wanted her to see herself on camera. Cause she loved like perform. She loved to say so long. So like, that's her.

[Mona Leo]

So beautiful, by the way.

[Deontay Kyle]

Thank you.

[Mona Leo]

Keep pouring into her.

[Deontay Kyle]

That's my baby.

[Mona Leo]

Keep cultivating her. She and her personality. When I was her age, I was so shy, so reserved.

[Deontay Kyle]

She turned.

[Mona Leo]

I never spoke to anybody. But the fact that she came out and she was like, I like your hair. Let me see your hair. And this I love seeing.

[Deontay Kyle]

This is a real girl's girl, you hear me?

[Mona Leo]

She is bright. Yeah, she's right.

[Deontay Kyle]

I love her so much.

[Mona Leo]

I love her.

[Deontay Kyle]

So I' ma tell you at the crib, you know, my kids know, like, you can get your cussing off. Just don't cuss at me.

[Mona Leo]

Cussing on the game. You got two boys.

[Deontay Kyle]

Two boys, one girl.

[Mona Leo]

Okay.

[Deontay Kyle]

And then she got brothers. So she a little like, she can get. She with that. Yeah.

[Mona Leo]

Okay. Yeah.

[Deontay Kyle]

So she's gonna be on that. She talking about something. She come in the room one day talking about daddy. She's like, daddy, if you ain't black, stay the out of business. I was like, okay. I was like, I thought, you know what?

[Mona Leo]

I feel it. I was like, you know what? I get it.

[Deontay Kyle]

I said, you know what do knowledge, you know what I'm saying? Like, really get that off. I was like, don't say that at.

[Mona Leo]

School at all, ever.

[Deontay Kyle]

Don't say to your white teacher, please, please, No. I don't need them people calling me.

[Mona Leo]

Loving the energy though.

[Deontay Kyle]

No, but like real rap. So my middle son went to school, same school as her last year. Right. He just made sixth grade, so I'm getting calls about him all the time. My boy is literally just like me. Like, in the sense that they don't care about no authority. Like, you're not gonna tell them what to do, how to do it, but they understand, like, what they. What they lengths is like, okay, like, you finna call my dad? Like, you gotta chill. Like, what are we calling my dad for? This really ain't even no big deal out there. For real. I just really get my together right now. Like, absolutely right now.

[Mona Leo]

14 and 11. Okay.

[Deontay Kyle]

You feel me?

[Mona Leo]

Yeah.

[Deontay Kyle]

So I have not gotten a phone call. I'm. I'm so proud to say. Dutch, this is so rude. I'm interviewing Mona Leo and you're calling my phone.

[Mona Leo]

Hey, Dutch.

[Deontay Kyle]

You want to say what's up to Dutch?

[Mona Leo]

Hi, Dutch. I'm good. Nice to meet you. Thank you. Who from most city? You not from my city.

[Deontay Kyle]

Hold on. That's the only reason why I answered you from. I went from. Look, it's. It's all. It's all on my leg.

[Mona Leo]

What? How you know him?

[Deontay Kyle]

This is my manager.

[Mona Leo]

Really?

[Deontay Kyle]

I have a conglomerate of great managers.

[Mona Leo]

12 Green West.

[Deontay Kyle]

The original part. Come on now. Come on.

[Mona Leo]

The original, man.

[Deontay Kyle]

Hey, yo, she tapped it.

[Mona Leo]

For real. It's in the building. Damn, that's crazy. It's nice to meet you. Don't really meet very many Mosidians outside of most city, so that's fire. It's nice to meet you.

[Deontay Kyle]

Yes, yes, yes. Continue success, man. Hopefully I meet you in person one day.

[Mona Leo]

Absolutely. Thank you. My city is crazy.

[Deontay Kyle]

All right, I'll call you when I'm done.

[Mona Leo]

Oh, it's that time.

[Deontay Kyle]

All right.

[Mona Leo]

Get us right, Alex.

[Deontay Kyle]

Oh, man. What he say? Something about Freddie gives. You heard that? Yeah.

[Mona Leo]

He said something about Freddy Gibbs.

[Deontay Kyle]

Yeah, you.

[Mona Leo]

It's a lot of gifts.

[Deontay Kyle]

It's a lot of. I love rap music so much. My. We go. We go open the show again. We going Hennessy. Let's put the king back in us. Oh, my God.

[Mona Leo]

I'm doing. Dude, I got a Hennessy for the old heads.

[Deontay Kyle]

Oh, all right.

[Mona Leo]

Take a shot of Hennessy.

[Deontay Kyle]

Let's do something that's very, like, counter black culture. How old are you?

[Mona Leo]

I am 24 years old.

[Deontay Kyle]

God damn.

[Mona Leo]

2001.

[Deontay Kyle]

You're really a whipper. 9 11.

[Mona Leo]

Yeah, I'm older than 9 11. Five months. Don't do that one. I was getting my footing.

[Deontay Kyle]

No, you know what?

[Mona Leo]

I was doing five months.

[Deontay Kyle]

No, you ain't. You ain't really holding your neck up. For real.

[Mona Leo]

All right, Come on.

[Deontay Kyle]

Are you.

[Mona Leo]

You right?

[Deontay Kyle]

Yeah. Nah, nah. Yeah. Thug it out with the old head. No chaser.

[Mona Leo]

You need to love my dad.

[Deontay Kyle]

This is a big cat, real feline. You hear me, babe? You know what I'm saying? Hey, look, let me tell you something, Jesus. I ain't never met nobody, mama or daddy that didn't like me.

[Mona Leo]

For real.

[Deontay Kyle]

Even the Haitians.

[Mona Leo]

Did you have around your grandma? Yeah, okay. Yeah, you got that flare.

[Deontay Kyle]

So older flair.

[Mona Leo]

But I mean, 35.

[Deontay Kyle]

All right, now. All right, all right. This is what I'm saying. Like, I'm really, like, I. I'm. I'm fortunate. Like, I'm a granny baby, but I'm a mama baby, too.

[Mona Leo]

Yeah.

[Deontay Kyle]

Like, I wanna. I'm not a granny baby. Out of no situation where it's like, I had to be like, no, I just love my granny.

[Mona Leo]

I love. Exactly.

[Deontay Kyle]

Yes, sir. I clean my granny.

[Mona Leo]

My mom was very present. But I love my granny, bruh.

[Deontay Kyle]

And my mama loved the fact that my granny was like, I'll get that baby. Until I got older. Until I got older. When I got older. And I was like, I'm going to granny house. She's like, you ain't finna go stress my mama out, girl. I don't be over there stressing nobody out.

[Mona Leo]

What Age.

[Deontay Kyle]

Your mama love me.

[Mona Leo]

What age did your mom have you. That's important. Movie 20s.

[Deontay Kyle]

Early 20s.

[Mona Leo]

Early 20s. Same.

[Deontay Kyle]

Early 20s.

[Mona Leo]

I feel like in the beginning it was cool. And then my mom was like, all.

[Deontay Kyle]

Right, listen, when I start, I'm.

[Mona Leo]

I'm tightening up.

[Deontay Kyle]

So look, I remember this the moment. This the moment when I knew me and granny, we is like that. You hear me? We are like that. Me and my mama into it for real. I'm getting in trouble in school. I'm fighting all type of. So I had got a fight. And my lip, I had braces. So like the got such a clean ass hit off on me that stuck to my lip. I know my granny at the crib though. So I'm like, I'm leaving school type, like I'm gonna go home and get right before she get home. Cause like she finna cause a scene, right?

[Mona Leo]

Yeah.

[Deontay Kyle]

Now I want to say this about you, J.D. you know what I'm saying? We done patched our up. I did. You did come back to school with two black eyes. That did happen. My lip was fucked up, but that's cause I had braces. No braces, no lip. Fuck.

[Mona Leo]

You would have had them.

[Deontay Kyle]

No, I got him.

[Mona Leo]

We need a rematch between you and.

[Deontay Kyle]

JD we're never doing that. That man is a teacher. That man is a leader of the youth. And we respect what you do, and so are you. I be seeing you on Facebook doing your shit. If you want that rematch, my. We can get that in if you.

[Mona Leo]

Need that.

[Deontay Kyle]

In the street. Yeah, we like that. No, I know all the songs.

[Mona Leo]

Shout out JD Nah.

[Deontay Kyle]

Shout out my JD Bro. Like you doing your sports for real.

[Mona Leo]

He doing his one.

[Deontay Kyle]

He really doing his. Bro. Shout out to the youth. All the youth that you have now a severe impact on. So sure, I just had to clear that up because I don't like. I don't like how it sound. Where it sound like I got beat up.

[Mona Leo]

It'd be like, you know some stories be like that.

[Deontay Kyle]

You know what I'm saying? But I just need to clear it up because I just thought about in my head, okay? So either way, I go home, I go to the crib. I'm like, granny, she's like, you got the fight. I'm in a white beater, all type of. She like, you need to go clean yourself up because you know your mama gonna trip. And baby, why is you at school? I had a vision. My granny, one of them. I had a dream about you. I had a vision about you. All this now I'M gonna tell you the first time when I knew she went bluffing.

[Mona Leo]

Okay.

[Deontay Kyle]

I used to be smoking black and miles out my window.

[Mona Leo]

How old were you?

[Deontay Kyle]

Six, 15, 16. Okay, I'm out. I'm at the apartment window, too. Like, so ignorant. The whole house smell like smoke. Back in the house.

[Mona Leo]

Back into the house.

[Deontay Kyle]

I done knocked the screen out. I'm knocking the screen out, thinking I'm doing something.

[Mona Leo]

Oh, my God.

[Deontay Kyle]

I'm thinking, nah. Now, now that I think about it, Granny, you might have. You might have. You might have ran your big one on me. Because she like, I had a dream about you last night.

[Mona Leo]

She was on to something.

[Deontay Kyle]

You were smoking out that window. You better stop doing that. You gotta stop smoking out that window now. My grandma stay in the city. We live in Douglasville. How you know about this?

[Mona Leo]

How do you know?

[Deontay Kyle]

She called me. I was like, okay, I'm gonna stop smoking out the window. So she just happened to be at the crib that day. And I'm like. I was like, I need to get cleaned up. She was like. So she. You know what I'm saying? I'm gonna pray for you, like, but you really got to get this together, you know? Mama gonna trip, whatever. So, of course, my mama come home, she see my lips, she tripping. Like. I was like, look, I left. I kind of ride back to the crib. I did not get caught. I did not get in trouble. But I did have to handle that. Like, I'm gonna fight that nigga again if I see him. And she like, okay, bet. She start turning the fuck up on me.

[Mona Leo]

Oh, my God.

[Deontay Kyle]

But this ain't got nothing to do with the fight. This got everything to do with everything else I'm doing right, Right? And my grandma said, that's enough, Niecy. I said, yeah, she got my back. Oh, oh, oh. And I wish you would yell at her.

[Mona Leo]

She said, get behind me.

[Deontay Kyle]

Look behind me. Listen, man. Listen, bro. And my mom was so hot because it's just that this is a black ass dynamic. She not going to disrespect her mom.

[Mona Leo]

You're right.

[Deontay Kyle]

So, like, soon as my grandma turned, I was like, that's enough. She real deal. Like, shut that down. And she was like, he coming with me. And we hopped in that Taurus and left, and we went to the city.

[Mona Leo]

And it was over.

[Deontay Kyle]

And get what I did. And I'mma tell you something, y' all know about being the favorite. You ain't never cleaned out your grandma china cabinet ever, ever, ever. She don't even Trust y' all like that.

[Mona Leo]

Exactly.

[Deontay Kyle]

First of all, your grandma ain't got no time cabinet.

[Mona Leo]

Let's start there.

[Deontay Kyle]

Let's start. Let's start. Where your fat. Is that. Your grandma ain't got no china cabinet. That's my auntie house right now. That went from my grandma to my mama to my oldest auntie. I'm not nothing about that. Nothing in there from 1973.

[Mona Leo]

Come on, China it'.

[Deontay Kyle]

We not calling it a china cabinet for no reason. It's real china in there.

[Mona Leo]

Shit going on in there.

[Deontay Kyle]

Shit older than me. I come from a household where you got a bowl of oranges, apples and pecans on the table.

[Mona Leo]

Nigga, absolutely.

[Deontay Kyle]

Yeah, nigga, I come from real black folks where you get apples and oranges for Christmas.

[Mona Leo]

The craziness.

[Deontay Kyle]

So, like, when I'm getting. And then if you notice, like, on altars and stuff, you'll leave a lot of oranges, apples, and stuff like that. Yeah, absolutely.

[Mona Leo]

Fruit offerings.

[Deontay Kyle]

Fruit offerings. So, like, I come from this. So when I heard sexy so long, I'm like, my heart.

[Mona Leo]

Yeah.

[Deontay Kyle]

Margaret, you love this girl.

[Mona Leo]

I might have just missed the fruit.

[Deontay Kyle]

Yeah, yeah. No, but you extremely young. You're extremely fresh. You're new on earth. You're very new to earth. Well, yeah, you know what I'm saying? You are pre 9 11.

[Mona Leo]

Yeah.

[Deontay Kyle]

You know what I'm saying? The Internet was a thing, and then you was born. Yeah, that was up at that. Yeah.

[Mona Leo]

I'm trying to do the Knowledge, though. A lot to catch up on.

[Deontay Kyle]

No, listen, I'm gonna tell you, this is why we.

[Mona Leo]

The more the. The longer I live, the more I'm like, hold on. I have to unlearn shit that I've been taught and relearn what actually really took place.

[Deontay Kyle]

You did.

[Mona Leo]

It's a lot of unlearning and learning that's taking place at the time.

[Deontay Kyle]

So. Yeah. And then at 24, you don't want to know what type of nigga I was. I was not doing the Knowledge for sure. At 24, I was telling niggas I was Rastafarian, and I was preaching to niggas about hidden colors. But I was also like a very. Like, I was like on some John Africa, Bob Marley shit. Like, I'm telling niggas like, bruh, fuck. Fuck the gov. Fuck the government. N, like, we getting money. Actually, if you a criminal, that's real resistance. Like, I'm on that shit. Jesus. I'm on some woke street shit.

[Mona Leo]

Okay. You had to write. You was in the ballpark No, I.

[Deontay Kyle]

Was in the room for sure.

[Mona Leo]

You was in a room?

[Deontay Kyle]

I was in the room. I was in the wrong room.

[Mona Leo]

Wrong room. I was outside the ballpark.

[Deontay Kyle]

I'm in the building.

[Mona Leo]

You in the building.

[Deontay Kyle]

Yeah, but I'm in the wrong room. You on the street.

[Mona Leo]

You not in the ballpark. You on the street.

[Deontay Kyle]

I'm like a bum activist. Like, you know how niggas be bumming. Yeah, but they be for their people.

[Mona Leo]

Exactly. They be kind of.

[Deontay Kyle]

I ain't really getting no money, like halfway walking, actually. Matter of fact, When I was 24, I was supervisor at the warehouse. So I was very smart. But I was so woke.

[Mona Leo]

Yeah.

[Deontay Kyle]

That. It don't make sense.

[Mona Leo]

Almost too woke too. Well, that esoteric.

[Deontay Kyle]

I was one of them. I was talking about. That's why I know how to talk about y'.

[Mona Leo]

All. That's how you.

[Deontay Kyle]

Because I was you.

[Mona Leo]

You gotta explain that to people. Because I feel like people paint this narrative about you that you're so biased against certain things.

[Deontay Kyle]

But I mean, everything that I criticize.

[Mona Leo]

I walked a certain walk.

[Deontay Kyle]

Everything I've criticized, I. I was.

[Mona Leo]

Yeah.

[Deontay Kyle]

When I tell you to take accountability for other. Is because I didn't do that.

[Mona Leo]

Yeah.

[Deontay Kyle]

I knew the homie was being weird. I didn't say anything.

[Mona Leo]

Didn't say nothing.

[Deontay Kyle]

Because I care more about the opinions of. Than doing the right thing.

[Mona Leo]

Okay. So that's how you know.

[Deontay Kyle]

So when I'm saying be accountable for the homies, I'm telling you that I had to actively start saying stop being weird.

[Mona Leo]

Yeah. You've been there, done it.

[Deontay Kyle]

You did.

[Mona Leo]

I respect that.

[Deontay Kyle]

I'm a 35 year old man.

[Mona Leo]

Exactly.

[Deontay Kyle]

I got three children.

[Mona Leo]

Emphasis on that.

[Deontay Kyle]

You did.

[Mona Leo]

Yeah.

[Deontay Kyle]

You feel me? You are of a new millennia. I'm not.

[Mona Leo]

To a degree, I'm getting older.

[Deontay Kyle]

Degree. To a fact. To a fact.

[Mona Leo]

I'm getting older in my.

[Deontay Kyle]

You was born in 2001.

[Mona Leo]

I feel. I. I still feel nice in front of your. Exactly. Exactly.

[Deontay Kyle]

2000. Yeah. I'm a real 90 baby.

[Mona Leo]

If it was 99, would you. Would you look at me differently?

[Deontay Kyle]

Yes.

[Mona Leo]

Okay.

[Deontay Kyle]

I'd be like, you want us.

[Mona Leo]

I see what it is. Year and a half. By a year and a half.

[Deontay Kyle]

So. Doesn't matter. Doesn't matter. It's a fact. Not part of the club. If you was born in 99, we'd have been like, oh, yeah, yeah, she's one of us. She knew at 2 years old. Yeah. At 2, she was 5 years old. Yeah. The blueprint dropped.

[Mona Leo]

No.

[Deontay Kyle]

She could have Heard that. Yeah. She could have heard you. Somebody she was with was bumping that. Exactly.

[Mona Leo]

Blame my mama. Blame my mom.

[Deontay Kyle]

For real. Listen, I'm going say this about. About the sexy. So long, though. So I love the way you approached it. Right. I love how you tailored it to yourself with the pink Black American heritage flag. But I also love the fact that you included all the flags throughout the Diaspora.

[Mona Leo]

Okay.

[Deontay Kyle]

I think the. The thing that I don't like about FBA and ADOs is it seeks to isolate us as African Americans as people who are descendants of slave. Right, Slaves. You. Because Salon is actually in that same lineage. Like, it's the same textbook definition. People who are indigenous slaves, descendants of slaves, specifically in America. Right?

[Mona Leo]

Yeah, exactly, exactly.

[Deontay Kyle]

But without the segregation, it's an inclusion. Right. There's a soul, you know, so, like, it's a whole thing right back to.

[Mona Leo]

The 60s, 1960s, during the black Panther movement.

[Deontay Kyle]

Correct.

[Mona Leo]

Soul food, soul train. So people.

[Deontay Kyle]

That part.

[Mona Leo]

Right, that whole thing. But I also. I noticed that there's some revision. Well, there's some revisions being made, and there's these borders being put up around that term.

[Deontay Kyle]

Yeah, but you can't change. Okay, hold on real quick.

[Mona Leo]

Clear.

[Deontay Kyle]

If you're gonna really do knowledge, you can't read. You can't. You don't be a cracker, okay? You can't change the meaning of things. The men who created this term made it with intention about people who are African American, descendants of slave. Black American descendants of slaves that have a culture that is rich here in America based off the movement of your soul. Okay, so you niggas not redefining that. Okay. I think the most important thing about being a black American is with the global presence that we have in our culture, with the copycat that happens in our culture, with the denial of our culture. It's up to us to, like, morally take a high road when it comes to certain shit. So, like, being xenophobic doesn't help anybody, right?

[Mona Leo]

No.

[Deontay Kyle]

Being exclusionary of other cultures throughout the diaspora, even if sometimes y' all do that to us, that ain't our role. It's not a role because I'm not combating hate. What? Hate with other black people?

[Mona Leo]

Absolutely not. It's not our agenda.

[Deontay Kyle]

I'll go Europe every day.

[Mona Leo]

What you mean?

[Deontay Kyle]

I don't even. Black Brits. Real life. No, no, the Brits. But the black Scots. Yeah, we fuck with my dog. Yeah, we locked in the Red Coats. Yeah, yeah, yeah. The British are coming. Yeah, them. Huh? What's that named? Paul Revere. Paul Revere. Yeah, him. He was trying to put you down. Yeah. He's putting you on. The British are coming. Them the only blacks I don't with. Okay, British blacks. You a little too close to the colonization. Yeah, you a little too close to it.

[Mona Leo]

Okay.

[Deontay Kyle]

You where it started. You know what I'm saying? But I say that to say this the way that you were intentionally very inclusive is what we need to do. Especially like people that are going to be leading the next generations. You know what I'm saying? I represent a millennial. You represent Gen Z Y. But it's important for us to push a connected diaspora and not a separated one.

[Mona Leo]

I agree.

[Deontay Kyle]

It's a lot of times the older, older millennials, some. Sometimes it'd be millennials, period. And then sometimes it'd be them Gen Xers that be pushing from all cultures this like segregated blackness. I don't with that. We not with that.

[Mona Leo]

Yeah.

[Deontay Kyle]

Ever, ever. If we not connected, what is the difference?

[Mona Leo]

Yeah.

[Deontay Kyle]

Besides a boat stop, what is the difference?

[Mona Leo]

What's the difference?

[Deontay Kyle]

Because you can see when the police pull us over, I listen, are they.

[Mona Leo]

Asking are you Jamaican?

[Deontay Kyle]

If everybody. They ain't asking none of that.

[Mona Leo]

They're not asking that.

[Deontay Kyle]

You think them ICE agents asking that. You know they're asking that.

[Mona Leo]

Look what the they just did in Chicago, okay, You did this week.

[Deontay Kyle]

You think they cared about if the Washington.

[Mona Leo]

They was immigrants or not?

[Deontay Kyle]

They didn't care.

[Mona Leo]

It was just like, y', all, everybody black. Y'. All.

[Deontay Kyle]

Okay?

[Mona Leo]

That's how I feel.

[Deontay Kyle]

So I'm on that same timing, though. I don't care. I don't care nothing about focus. I don't care nothing about what man said about me. I don't care nothing about what we done said about you. You got a lot to in. Because the thing is, is like, you can see the similarities in the cuisine. You can see the similarities in dance. Every. Every Caribbean folk, they got their own patois like they got their own way they putting that shit down. Little flare the same way like a Leo they got. They got their own lingo. The same way a in Houston don't talk like a from Atlanta, don't talk like a from Birmingham. Don't talk like a from Charlotte.

[Mona Leo]

Charlotte, Florida.

[Deontay Kyle]

It's a diaspora.

[Mona Leo]

We got our own things.

[Deontay Kyle]

White folks spread us out.

[Mona Leo]

And we can appreciate that.

[Deontay Kyle]

But we are connected. We are the flags. Be fine. These some five flags. We're really doing that. You can tell, you know what I'm saying?

[Mona Leo]

The design be so goddamn, you can.

[Deontay Kyle]

Have my tail Susan be Anthony. Hey, yo, you can almost tell, like, you can tell Susan be Anthony's side. Yeah. Cause like that. That African American heritage flag, like the Black American heritage flat, that look like some. Yeah, it do. You know what I'm saying? But that xenophobia. We're gonna keep that word out because if we don't connect with each other.

[Mona Leo]

Wait, what's Susan B. Anthony got to do with the black American?

[Deontay Kyle]

Nothing. Nothing at all. She got something to do with the American. American.

[Mona Leo]

Okay. You see the difference between the American flag?

[Deontay Kyle]

Oh, yeah.

[Mona Leo]

All right. Okay, okay, okay.

[Deontay Kyle]

Do the knowledge. I'm putting you down.

[Mona Leo]

Shout out Melvin Charles and Gle and Jackson for creating the black American heritage flag.

[Deontay Kyle]

Shout out to y', all, bro.

[Mona Leo]

We got some drill. We got some real fire.

[Deontay Kyle]

That gangster.

[Mona Leo]

It just fly.

[Deontay Kyle]

I'm putting that out in front of my house.

[Mona Leo]

It's fly, putting that out there.

[Deontay Kyle]

But I think the more important thing.

[Mona Leo]

For us, you fly it in front of your house.

[Deontay Kyle]

Yeah, why not? That's who we are. Right?

[Mona Leo]

You just don't know exactly who else they pulling up to. They drop by your.

[Deontay Kyle]

All right, look for the flag. You know which one? Look for the flag salute that.

[Mona Leo]

You don't think that's hot?

[Deontay Kyle]

It is super hot. I'm not flying in front of my house currently.

[Mona Leo]

Okay. But, like, in due time, when you.

[Deontay Kyle]

Get your gate, listen, I'm telling you, I'm gonna have that flat flying. I'm at a nation interlock flag right next to it, because the FOI gonna be surrounding the building.

[Mona Leo]

Okay, Got it.

[Deontay Kyle]

Yeah. This is gonna be black as covering that shit.

[Mona Leo]

Covered.

[Deontay Kyle]

No, we good. You know what I'm saying? I think the more important thing for us is, like, to push back against segregation, isolating ourselves. Right. We can't isolate ourselves here in America when we have so much connection to other people. It's up to these younger generations and these thought leaders. Like, we can't let old folks speak for us and how we feel. Right?

[Mona Leo]

Right.

[Deontay Kyle]

The people during the civil rights movement, they wouldn't let old people speak for them. You know what I'm saying? Y' all had y' all established ways. This the way I see America. This the way I see it. This the way we're gonna do it. And they in that change. Yeah, niggas following the rules don't change anything. So I don't care what you founded it on. If your intentions was pure, I feel that.

[Mona Leo]

Yeah.

[Deontay Kyle]

But if your intentions don't align with our modern morals, I can't fuck with it. So even if you xenophobic, you made something that represent me and who I am, and I'm gonna let you niggas push that one over there. Cause we pushing this.

[Mona Leo]

Exactly.

[Deontay Kyle]

We pushing like.

[Mona Leo]

And I think it's important to encapsulate the time period. And right now, in 2025, we not pushing any xenophobic rhetoric.

[Deontay Kyle]

Well, the thing that you did so well was incorporate the AAVE and hoodoo in one where it's like, if you ain't from around here, you don't really know what we talking about, and you shouldn't know what we talking about. So if you're in the comment section explaining to.

[Mona Leo]

I gotta gripe. I got a bone to pick with you.

[Deontay Kyle]

Yeah, pick that bone real quick.

[Mona Leo]

I got a bone to pick.

[Deontay Kyle]

Okay.

[Mona Leo]

It. It's like, I just feel like that was for us, by us, you know, and it's. I want to clarify. Being pro black is not necessarily anti white.

[Deontay Kyle]

We ain't got to clarify.

[Mona Leo]

But being pro white, just cuz being.

[Deontay Kyle]

Pro white mean anti everything that ain't white don't mean we kicking that one. We not pushing that one. We never have pushed that one. And y' all hate that. For. For real. Keep going, mama.

[Mona Leo]

They hate that. But it's like, you know, I just wanted to create a space for us black folks to congregate.

[Deontay Kyle]

And if you was around six months ago, talking about black Americans ain't got no culture, don't be trying to push that so long. Don't do that. That's not. You kick that one. Red coat. You red coat. Red coat.

[Mona Leo]

I wanted to create a space for us to really fellowship and turn up and have a good time for two minutes. And how long is the song? Two minutes. And how many seconds? However many seconds it is. I wanted to create a space for it to turn up and have a good time. And what I understand across the diaspora is that we have these shared experiences across the diaspora, being black under the umbrella of white supremacy. And it's like, I wanted to clarify that and I don't really appreciate. And I'm just gonna touch on this and we moving on because I really live in a space of positivity. But I just want to touch on this real quick. I don't appreciate my. I don't appreciate people trying to demonize me and villainize me for speaking on my own personal experiences. Ultimately, I don't. There was a lot of conversation and nuance surrounding Sexy Soul on. And I didn't anticipate. I thought white people would be Mad everybody else who's upset. I didn't expect that. That was a little unexpected for me. But I just want to clarify for anybody who is referring to me as a tether. I don't know where y' all got there from. I just.

[Deontay Kyle]

Tariq, Nasheed, if you ain't black, stay the fuck out of business. I say it for it, nigga.

[Mona Leo]

Wow.

[Deontay Kyle]

Stop all that.

[Mona Leo]

But what I. Before I came on this part, I wanted to make sure I told myself, you can't hide behind Deontay Kyle. He gonna say what you don't want to say or what you're supposed to not be able to say. But it's like I wanted to stand in support of what it is that you push. And I didn't want to. I didn't want to stand behind you. I didn't want to stand behind you. And I feel like you agree with a lot of what I agree with, so I wanted to stand behind you, which is the reason why I wanted to come on this podcast and talk about what I wanted to talk about. So I just want to clarify. I'm pro black. I'm promoting black unity, black community, and black love. And if you disagree with that, I don't know what the to tell you.

[Deontay Kyle]

You'll Fuck you, then. Fuck you. If you disagree with black unity throughout the diaspora, just a lot of these communities be a white man.

[Mona Leo]

And you. I know you will agree with this. A lot of these communities, they be on par with white folks. White folks, white supremacy. They be right along with that. And it'd be throwing me off because it's like, we all black in America. Listen, man, we all fall under the same umbrella.

[Deontay Kyle]

We have to also understand this. All right? Now we're talking about unity amongst black people throughout the diaspora, right? They get a little shaky for niggas.

[Mona Leo]

Very shaky.

[Deontay Kyle]

Because they want to be.

[Mona Leo]

I don't think I realize how shaky you get for.

[Deontay Kyle]

Well, you know, this is the thing. Want to be special, right? But who they want to be special to?

[Mona Leo]

Hello, Big Cat.

[Deontay Kyle]

My God, on today.

[Mona Leo]

My God on today. So who you trying to appease to? We finna get into it.

[Deontay Kyle]

White people, Ty talk about it.

[Mona Leo]

Who y' all trying to be special to?

[Deontay Kyle]

So you want to be the. You want to be the all that you. This is the thing. You are the global majority. You're not comfortable with that because you're insecure about building. You like the building, even if it's on fire, because you ain't have to build it. And you can blame somebody else. When it gets destroyed, when the infrastructure gets destroyed, we over here trying to build. So if you ain't got no bricks on no cement, you ain't got no nails, you ain't got no tools, you gonna shut the up and you go back over there to that burning building.

[Mona Leo]

Goodbye.

[Deontay Kyle]

And we're gonna get over here and we're gonna build.

[Mona Leo]

And we finna build. And we finna be held responsible for what it is that we build. And I'm willing scared to be here.

[Deontay Kyle]

I' ma build the ship and I'm going down. That.

[Mona Leo]

That's problem. They scared. I agree with you. When. When you say be needs to be. They don't want to be held responsible for what it is that they build.

[Deontay Kyle]

Yeah.

[Mona Leo]

But I do agree that it comes with a certain level of responsibility. Of course, when you own what it is that you building, you got to be held liable. There's a liability that you got to be held accountable for.

[Deontay Kyle]

Hey, man, listen.

[Mona Leo]

Be scared. Be one thing about me, one thing about Mona Leo. And I want to clarify this so 10, 15, 20, 30 years from now will see this and know I'm never scared of my responsibility and my liability. I am who I am. And if you don't agree with it, you. I don't know what to tell you. You exclamation points. You.

[Deontay Kyle]

She fit right in, son. She. She should be. It is what it was. She's like. She's like. She bring the cohesiveness. You might want to be a part of the podcast.

[Mona Leo]

I might as well. Bring me on, man.

[Deontay Kyle]

Look, bro, I'm a grill.

[Mona Leo]

See? I'm a grill. Everybody, please bring me on.

[Deontay Kyle]

At this point of the podcast, I want you to chop it. Slow everything down, turn the screen purple. And then everything we say from now gonna be chopping.

[Mona Leo]

Screw. Screw that bitch. I need me a dj. Screw that mix.

[Deontay Kyle]

Yeah, yeah.

[Mona Leo]

Dj, screw the dj, Screw my shit. Come on, production.

[Deontay Kyle]

Dj, Screw this if he ain't gonna come on. You know, if you ain't black. Stay the out the business.

[Mona Leo]

Stay the out the bitch. Stay the. Stay the. Stay the out the bitch.

[Deontay Kyle]

Coming down. I'm gonna keep it real, though. Like, we have all this reverence for a nigga. Like, not a nigga. I don't like when I be talking about my elders. I don't like referring to them as niggas. I did just how I be talking.

[Mona Leo]

Come on.

[Deontay Kyle]

We have a lot of reverence for our leaders like Marcus. Marcus Garvey. We have a lot of. A lot of reverence for Malcolm X. We got a lot of reverence for the Black Panther Party. These people was not xenophobic. There ain't no Black Starline with xenophobia. There ain't no Black Panther Party with xenophobia. And niggas just trying to be special because you black American nigga. Fuck hip hop.

[Mona Leo]

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[Deontay Kyle]

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[Mona Leo]

Liberty. Liberty.

[Deontay Kyle]

Liberty. Savings vary underwritten by Liberty Mutual Insurance Company affiliates. Excludes Massachusetts.

[Mona Leo]

Talk it if we gonna.

[Deontay Kyle]

If we gonna take all this claim to our culture. Monolio took our culture and made it special to our experience here in America while connecting it to the other cultures throughout the day.

[Mona Leo]

The black experience.

[Deontay Kyle]

The black experience that y' all know y' all be experiencing over there. Where you from?

[Mona Leo]

And it's not exclusive.

[Deontay Kyle]

It's not exclusive. They treat the same everywhere. Ask a that's from Argentina how they treat.

[Mona Leo]

And that was my main goal.

[Deontay Kyle]

Ask a nigga in the favelas in Brazil how they treat Venezuela.

[Mona Leo]

Ask niggas how they how they feel.

[Deontay Kyle]

Go watch the City of God and you tell me that don't look like just New Orleans, nigga. Niggas is hot, sweaty, just hot. Just hot, hot. We are pulling guns on niggas. We trying to make it happen. Trying to figure out Go watch sadas niggas robbing niggas with the Winnie the Pooh.

[Mona Leo]

Trying to figure it out.

[Deontay Kyle]

That Biggs was pulling guns on niggas with the Winnie the Pooh. Bare a bucket hat on. That's real life. Big. You gone too far. You gone too far. Biggs. Bumb take the what Elita. Why?

[Mona Leo]

Trying to figure it out.

[Deontay Kyle]

You if if DMS was xenophobic, them would have never got the heron in belly.

[Mona Leo]

Come on.

[Deontay Kyle]

Was wrapping down the heron with Vaseline. Selling that in Nebraska. See the one with the feathers in his head? My eyeshoesh gunned down the cockatoo and a Mercedes Bedolla please N gun that down. Overkilled him. Overkilled him. Now, could he have done that if he was xenophobic? No. You had to be good with the Jamaicans to kill one. Had to get the okay the end. We can't just lock in with the that we like to celebrate like the dance and the music. That's some cracker. If we only with through entertainment. I ain't with you.

[Mona Leo]

Come on.

[Deontay Kyle]

You might as well be a white man.

[Mona Leo]

Damn. Come on.

[Deontay Kyle]

Because the only time they like is when they can sing, dance or jump.

[Mona Leo]

And let me say this. I really don't appreciate when y' all see somebody young black girl, young black boy doing the knowledge, doing the work and trying to push a certain narrative and promote positivity. I don't like when y' all try to poke holes in a boat.

[Deontay Kyle]

It's another thing too. You don't chatting with people.

[Mona Leo]

I just don't seek my ship. And I don't appreciate that. Cause it's like. Like I. I may not have everything correct. Let me clear. I may not have everything exact.

[Deontay Kyle]

And you shouldn't have to at 24.

[Mona Leo]

And I shouldn't have to. Y' all didn't have going on at 24.

[Deontay Kyle]

And you at the warehouse taking from at your job every day. You ain't saying nothing to that white man.

[Mona Leo]

So it's like.

[Deontay Kyle]

But you're in the comment section going crazy.

[Mona Leo]

Going crazy.

[Deontay Kyle]

Are you going really on me?

[Mona Leo]

And I don't appreciate that because there's a. I feel like I get split in a moment like that. There's a part of me that's so protective over my younger self. And it's like, who the y'. All. Who. Who y' all think y'. All. Who y' all feeling like to on somebody like me? I'm trying to do. I'm trying to do the work. I'm doing more than what a lot of people are willing to say.

[Deontay Kyle]

I always will say like, oh, we we. You know hip hop, it don't represent black American. It's not positive. Not pushing you making a song that's very unifying, man. But you also got the perfect response for that song for anybody that got something to say. I don't give a about no.

[Mona Leo]

I don't give a about a for real talk your I really the for real. I'm really that for real in real life. They popping that for real. They not having going on. That's why they can't Get a deal Talk your. I'm gonna get into it now.

[Deontay Kyle]

Unlocked in. Ow. Ow. A lot.

[Mona Leo]

Wait, let me round this off by saying this.

[Deontay Kyle]

Round it all.

[Mona Leo]

Round it off before we move on, because we moving on at all times. We got to move on. I'm not gonna sit in this space where you want me to sit in. Y' all want me to die. Y' all want me to kill myself. Y'.

[Deontay Kyle]

All.

[Mona Leo]

Me jump off a bridge for how I feel. And I don't respect that because everybody feel how they feel. And I feel like people have been trying to make me an easy target. Like. Like you not finna go toe to toe with a politician. Y' all not gonna go toe to toe with people who are in a space, but they feel like a young black girl in this female rap hip hop space. We finna come down on her. I've been seeing you little pussy ass tweets.

[Deontay Kyle]

Oh, oh. Popping. Pop your shit.

[Mona Leo]

I've been seeing the pussy shit. And I just want to let y' all know I really don't give a fuck. Look, I'm not reneging. I'm not going back on what I said. What I said was what the I meant and what I showed y' all and what I depicted in my imagery was what I felt. And if you feel some type of way. Yeah, I don't know what to tell you. It is what it was. I'm promoting black unity, black community and black love. And if that. If that step on your toes, you a weirdo. And I don't know what to tell you. And I just want to end it off by saying that. Do the knowledge.

[Deontay Kyle]

Ow.

[Mona Leo]

Put some cream in the streets.

[Deontay Kyle]

Put some cream in the street.

[Mona Leo]

Before you call me, make sure your cream is out in the streets.

[Deontay Kyle]

Yeah.

[Mona Leo]

Let'S move on. Locked in. Okay.

[Deontay Kyle]

Shut it up, son. Let's take a shot. Take a shot.

[Mona Leo]

Take a shot.

[Deontay Kyle]

Let's take a shot at them. You know what I'm saying?

[Mona Leo]

We ain't enjoying our life.

[Deontay Kyle]

I'm gonna tell you something.

[Mona Leo]

You want to hate us? You want us to hate our lives we enjoy. Listen, look.

[Deontay Kyle]

Oh, hold on.

[Mona Leo]

Let's address something.

[Deontay Kyle]

I ain't never addressed this.

[Mona Leo]

Talk about it.

[Deontay Kyle]

We gonna pop our too.

[Mona Leo]

Come on. Pop it.

[Deontay Kyle]

You.

[Mona Leo]

Yep.

[Deontay Kyle]

That was. Oh, he a pander. He talking about accountability. They said that, but when Cameron Ch. Adrian Brown. Are you. That's all I was saying. Some are slow and they're visual learners. Okay, hold on.

[Mona Leo]

Talk about what they be saying. Come on. Being a visual learner, I Want to.

[Deontay Kyle]

Hear don't make you slow. I'm a visual learner. We're not doing that. We're not doing that. Sometimes read, not get a visual. I love a visual, but I also love a lecture.

[Mona Leo]

So wait, talk about what they be seeing about you on Twitter. I know you off Twitter now.

[Deontay Kyle]

Man, them niggas. Thank God. First of all, you want to hear my unfiltered thoughts.

[Mona Leo]

I want to hear your unfiltered thought. And Big Cat will filter this if it need to be filtered.

[Deontay Kyle]

Filter. Join the Patreon. $8.

[Mona Leo]

$8. Make sure y' all buy that support black. Buy black. If you don't, you a weirdo, go ahead type.

[Deontay Kyle]

You know, the thing is, is, like, I've been called worse by people I love. So you strangers. You nameless, faceless that is too scared to put your face on the Internet. That's commenting from a burner account. You're a. And I don't respect you. And if I don't respect you, how could I ever respect your opinion? You 45 years old. You posting their pictures from the chin down. And you got a whole lot of Beijing on your hairline. Whole lot of Ray Lewis going on. So I'm gonna tell you, if I throw a blow dryer on your shit, we melting. Huh?

[Mona Leo]

It's dripping.

[Deontay Kyle]

I'm really the drip. For real.

[Mona Leo]

I'm really the drip.

[Deontay Kyle]

For real. So fuck you. But at the same time, if you ever open up your third eye and wanna join, we won't exclude you. Cause we ain't like y'. All. For real. We really bout this black unity shit. We really about this community shit. We don't got time to coddle no coon. I don't got time. Come on. To goddamn try to convince a misogynist that a woman is a human.

[Mona Leo]

Come on.

[Deontay Kyle]

I'm just gonna support these women.

[Mona Leo]

Come on.

[Deontay Kyle]

I'm gonna support these black men. I'm supporting young men and women and getting in trades. I'm gonna support these babies and getting their education and being something outside of an athlete or entertainer. Because regardless of what you say about me podcasting, I start this in a truck on the road, thugging this out in the back of my sweating. And now I'm getting it in here, and I'm with my and Leo, and I'm putting you down.

[Mona Leo]

Don't let nobody deter you. You doing everything supposed to do.

[Deontay Kyle]

Get what I smack one of you with a microphone.

[Mona Leo]

Come on.

[Deontay Kyle]

That's what y' all know about me.

[Mona Leo]

Beat one of you up. Let's clarify.

[Deontay Kyle]

I didn't hit a in the club with a bottle. I'm not above it.

[Mona Leo]

Come on.

[Deontay Kyle]

I'm not above it. I hit a with a Corona ball. Change that nigga mind.

[Mona Leo]

You in the club drinking Corona?

[Deontay Kyle]

Yes, yes, absolutely. I'm gonna tell you why you drink Corona in the club when you're a young. Because do try to try you in that. I'm not swinging a Henny bottle at a that.

[Mona Leo]

Anybody.

[Deontay Kyle]

No, anybody's Attempted murder. Okay. That's a tender murder. That ain't breaking. Yeah. That Corona that. You're gonna get a mind, right. They gonna stun a little bit. You finish your Corona, then put the bottle in your pocket. You ever skin a turn white with the suds? Hit a With that?

[Mona Leo]

Yeah, let me give you a Corona bottle in the club.

[Deontay Kyle]

Listen, if a see you in the club dancing on a Corona bottle.

[Mona Leo]

Oh, he's never.

[Deontay Kyle]

It's not for drinking.

[Mona Leo]

Come on.

[Deontay Kyle]

It's not hitting you. Believe it.

[Mona Leo]

If you want to book me. Hosting. If y' all want to book me.

[Deontay Kyle]

Oh, no. Damn.

[Mona Leo]

I need three Don Julio bottles in a Corona bottle.

[Deontay Kyle]

Corona, yeah, in a bottle. You need two Corona bottles, one for each pocket.

[Mona Leo]

Two Coronas. Let me know.

[Deontay Kyle]

Okay, so you got one big cat. You got some on that? Definitely.

[Mona Leo]

What's your favorite from the. From the project.

[Deontay Kyle]

Purely aesthetic. I like like sex. So long is my favorite. Just aesthetic, like, messaging wise.

[Mona Leo]

Yeah. It's cohesive.

[Deontay Kyle]

I wrote. I wrote the wall, the one I have.

[Mona Leo]

Oh, you're doing the knowledge.

[Deontay Kyle]

If we doing our. If we doing our, like, real big cat.

[Mona Leo]

You did know.

[Deontay Kyle]

No, I ain't playing for him. He ain't playing for me. He ain't play it for me.

[Mona Leo]

You do not know.

[Deontay Kyle]

He ain't played the album for me. I'm gonna tell you something. I really.

[Mona Leo]

Let me go.

[Deontay Kyle]

I like dignified.

[Mona Leo]

Dignified. Okay, tell me why you like dignified? Share your journey, your sobriety journey.

[Deontay Kyle]

It ain't no surprise. Oh, clearly. No, I'm saying clearly. With six shots in. No, this is what I like. I think. I think there's. I think there's a. It's the same thing with, like, locked in. There's a showcase of your vocal ability, but there's also some deep messaging behind, like, you can have fun. You could drink. Don't put other people in lives in danger because you drunk.

[Mona Leo]

I agree.

[Deontay Kyle]

You did so. Making a song about drinking and driving, it's like, that's some real shit. But you had. You had a. You have a history of Singing in church, correct?

[Mona Leo]

Yes. So I grew up Baptist, super Baptist. Me and my grandma overly Baptist.

[Deontay Kyle]

The over Baptist.

[Mona Leo]

Over Baptist, yeah.

[Deontay Kyle]

My granny was an usher in the church while she was on oxygen. God damn, you did me.

[Mona Leo]

I feel you.

[Deontay Kyle]

She one of God's strongest soldiers. For real. When she passed away, I was like, I 100% believe she's in hell.

[Mona Leo]

My granny. For show.

[Deontay Kyle]

Yeah, for sure. They out there kicking it right now.

[Mona Leo]

No, my granny.

[Deontay Kyle]

Look at them.

[Mona Leo]

She's live. My granny.

[Deontay Kyle]

Oh. Oh. Oh, my God. Oh, my Lord. I thought we was talking about. Oh, my Lord. I thought. I thought we was talking about.

[Mona Leo]

We on two different.

[Deontay Kyle]

Don't put. I thought. Don't put the grand reaper on Granny.

[Mona Leo]

Granny. You know what, though?

[Deontay Kyle]

No. Cause I said. You know what I'm saying? I made it very clear that my granny was gone. And I was like, she 100 went to heaven. He was like, my granny. My granny.

[Mona Leo]

Oh, we in the same boat. Oh, two different boats. Y' all both sell before mine. I love my granny.

[Deontay Kyle]

Hey, yo, your boat said before. Mine is a crazy ever.

[Mona Leo]

My granny, she. Let me explain something, though. Let me clarify.

[Deontay Kyle]

Your granny boat sailed before my granny boat.

[Mona Leo]

Your granny boat.

[Deontay Kyle]

My granny boat's still docked, nigga.

[Mona Leo]

It's still dock. We still. We still station. It's okay, though. It's like, I still understand that.

[Deontay Kyle]

Got my granny bow in the bottle. Yeah, your granny shit in the bottle. In memory of. Yeah.

[Mona Leo]

Bobbing around in the ocean.

[Deontay Kyle]

Not too much.

[Mona Leo]

My granny.

[Deontay Kyle]

Not too much. Not too much. Not too much on Margaret.

[Mona Leo]

I love your granny, though. Like, what the. My granny called me about every interview I do.

[Deontay Kyle]

She like, man, shout out. Shout out to Granny.

[Mona Leo]

Her name is Roslyn. Super granny.

[Deontay Kyle]

Hey, Ms. Rosalin.

[Mona Leo]

How you doing, Rosalin? That's my girl. Yeah, I look and wait. I got two grandmas. Let me clarify. The one I was talking about was Roslyn, but I have two grandmas. Roslyn, Deborah. They both alive. Shout out to both.

[Deontay Kyle]

My grandma don't play. No, Deb. That was a joke. Yeah, Deb don't play.

[Mona Leo]

Neither one. Neither one play. My granny Deborah, she's a. She's a nurse, and she works in a mental health hospital.

[Deontay Kyle]

Oh, yeah.

[Mona Leo]

And then my other granny, she's kind of in a youth ministry, you know, she's the one who instilled the Baptist practices in me, which is why I feel like I relate so much to hoodoo, and I feel like it's. Hoodoo was so demonized because it's just, first of all, Anything white people just.

[Deontay Kyle]

You use Christianity as.

[Mona Leo]

White people just have an issue with anything they're excluded in it.

[Deontay Kyle]

Yeah, for sure.

[Mona Leo]

Anything they're not a part of, they have an issue with.

[Deontay Kyle]

And I feel like white man, white woman, let's be honest. Let's ask a real question, serious question.

[Mona Leo]

I feel like it was threatening, number one, Anything that threatens the idea of white supremacy and the Christian national. Every. Everything that they was on, well, they.

[Deontay Kyle]

Started thinking about that Haitian revolution, and they like, slow these down.

[Mona Leo]

Let's start. Okay.

[Deontay Kyle]

But also, too, there's a very, very broad history of revolt and resistance here in America that y' all don't like to talk about.

[Mona Leo]

That we never acknowledge was not just.

[Deontay Kyle]

Out here just letting y' all get off.

[Mona Leo]

Never make it seem like that we never acknowledge. And it really disturbs me because anytime they see a black woman specifically liberated in her spirituality, even if she includes these Christian practices, these Baptist practices, they really don't give a damn. They automatically. It's just like, oh, she's talking about answers. She's a devil worshiper.

[Deontay Kyle]

Okay, talk about the Catholic Church and pedophilia.

[Mona Leo]

Let's talk about it.

[Deontay Kyle]

Oh, now, what's more demonic than that?

[Mona Leo]

Come on now.

[Deontay Kyle]

We're talking about some demons. How about. How about every time a get possessed, they Catholic?

[Mona Leo]

Come on, now. He's really in there fighting demons.

[Deontay Kyle]

That's real white folk fighting demons.

[Mona Leo]

I'm fighting demons. Oh, my God. For real. That disturbed me. Cause be on top. They be on sitting on top of my head. I'll be like, damn.

[Deontay Kyle]

I haven't seen an exorcism in about this church.

[Mona Leo]

Never.

[Deontay Kyle]

Never.

[Mona Leo]

You have never seen no exorcism take place.

[Deontay Kyle]

Father having to pull up.

[Mona Leo]

It's always a nun, Father, the son like, come on now, man.

[Deontay Kyle]

First of all, that born. Y' all ain't got the so goddamn bored, man. Bro, listen, bro, my pal, it used to be a man in my church, man. That man, it don't matter what the pastor say. He taking off. He finna run. We don't know what he been through.

[Mona Leo]

We don't know what he on.

[Deontay Kyle]

We don't know his story, what he owns. That man got a testimony, he got a story, bro. He got something to say. He gotta run that up by him.

[Mona Leo]

Got to.

[Deontay Kyle]

All right, check this out. You go, why you go so real hip hop on spare change like that. You went so real hip hop.

[Mona Leo]

I went od. Hip hop.

[Deontay Kyle]

Damn. Is this, you know, Fight the power. She really went fight the power about, like, how we Treat the homeless right.

[Mona Leo]

How we treat the homeless people.

[Deontay Kyle]

And that's real.

[Mona Leo]

Number one, I grew up in Houston, Texas. Our homeless community, the homeless population is so dense. And I feel like growing up, I always heard people around me, oh, yeah, he a bum. Don't roll your window down. Keep driving past him, for sure. And when I started to really do the knowledge and unpack why so many of our people are on the streets, first of all, I realized a lot of us, we are a paycheck or two away.

[Deontay Kyle]

Oh, for sure.

[Mona Leo]

From being on the side of the road.

[Deontay Kyle]

Oh, for sure.

[Mona Leo]

And I don't think understand that they create so much of a separation between us.

[Deontay Kyle]

The thing about capitalism is, like, it keep you on the ground where you feel like it can never be you.

[Mona Leo]

It feel like you always feel like it can never be you.

[Deontay Kyle]

But, like, you literally can't afford health care.

[Mona Leo]

You really cannot afford health care.

[Deontay Kyle]

Cannot take. Afford to take a day off of work.

[Mona Leo]

Cannot. First of all, my brother, he broke it. He was eating a piece of corn, broke his tooth at work and called me in a. He was so flustered. He called me in a panic, like, I broke my tooth. I don't have any insurance. I don't do that. And I was like, I got you. But it really made me realize, this is my blood brother. Same mom, same dad. We are really not that far removed from these people.

[Deontay Kyle]

You a step away, man. We are, first of all, like, their life so stressful. Like, do you know how many people was having their way and had a mental break? And you don't know what's in your genes. You don't know how close you is to that break.

[Mona Leo]

Let me tell you something. I went to. When I was in. What year was this? This was 2016. I went to a mental health hospital. I was really struggling with my mental health. And I had attempted.

[Deontay Kyle]

You can be Corey.

[Mona Leo]

You know, I'm trying to figure out, how do I want to say this.

[Deontay Kyle]

Without vulnerability is a superpower.

[Mona Leo]

Remember that I had tried to commit suicide. I tried to. And I went to this mental hospital. It was my second time being at the same facility. And I met this man. And he was so. He was well off. He was truly well off. And he was like, yeah, I tried to start this clothing line, and when I got my first batch of clothing, there was a misprint. And it sent me into this space that I had never been in. And he developed a tick from seeing. From pulling his clothes out the box and being like, what the. This is not my brand name. There was a mis. It was like a, like a typo, right? In his little clothing line.

[Deontay Kyle]

Yeah.

[Mona Leo]

And it has sent him into a complete crisis. And when I was talking to this man, I was just like, I couldn't believe that he was there in the same space as me. And as I'm talking to him, he has this tick every 10 to 15 seconds, he's ticking. And he explained to me explicitly I had never really been like this. I didn't even know that this was. I was capable of being like this. I was a completely normal person. And I ordered some clothes. I had a dream of starting a clothing line. And I lost my mind when I saw that they had misprinted my shit. And that's how close we are to losing our minds.

[Deontay Kyle]

I have a sister in law that worked in the mental health facility that was the bulk of her career. And she told me like several times, it's one thing that sent these people where they at, just one thing. Now it could be a culmination of stress and other factors involved in it, but there's also a genetic factor that we don't know about that we don't, we don't know how many people don't. If, if you in the black community, you know, oh man, they put something in the weed or they, they get, they. Somebody slipped them that. But the reality is that man was predisposed to schizophrenia and hit the weed and they unlocked that. They unlocked it because everybody else hit that weed too and they cool. But we don't know what's in our.

[Mona Leo]

Should be hereditary. It'd be hereditary to you. For. I saw your, one of these pockets, one of these episodes. You were talking about your first therapy session that you had.

[Deontay Kyle]

Correct.

[Mona Leo]

Congratulations on that.

[Deontay Kyle]

Thank you.

[Mona Leo]

Thank you. Because we never really know how much we go through until we sit down with that lady and it's like, damn, you know what? You so right. You didn't really unpack this for me, man.

[Deontay Kyle]

I'm telling you, that first session, my therapist, a black man too.

[Mona Leo]

Shout out to him, shout out to him.

[Deontay Kyle]

But the way that he frames some of the things that I was talking about, as intelligent as I am, I would have never come to those conclusions because I'm not seeing myself outside of myself. And I'm speaking very candidly with him. Like, I feel like, don't lie to your daughter. Like that's everything, you know what I'm saying? Like, if you out here and you're having raw sex and you're doing drugs, just tell your doctor the truth. So they can accurately diagnose with. So they can help you with your body.

[Mona Leo]

Tell the truth so people can help you.

[Deontay Kyle]

And if these folks is in mental health and they are therapists, be honest about like what's going on in your mind and they let you know right out the front. As long as you ain't finna cause harm to yourself and nobody else. It's completely confidential. So let's not talk about self harm. But let's be honest about the reality of like 17 years old. I was on the same shit. I was self harming like a motherfucker. I was cutting and doing shit like that. But it was like I'm keeping it low. And also too I discovered drinking around this age too. So I wasn't as much hitting myself with the physical shit as I was. Yeah. And I told my therapist this. And this is the only thing I'm gonna give y'. All. When I first drank and smoked together like simultaneously that. That spinning or the. You know how people say they get the spins.

[Mona Leo]

Yep.

[Deontay Kyle]

That was the most relaxed I ever felt in my life. That was the first time I actually said I don't give a. And I meant it.

[Mona Leo]

Yeah.

[Deontay Kyle]

So then he kind of walked me through about how like okay, it's pointing your life.

[Mona Leo]

Let's pinpoint this point of your life.

[Deontay Kyle]

This point of your life where you at right now.

[Mona Leo]

Yeah.

[Deontay Kyle]

This is. You don't created a crutch around that almost.

[Mona Leo]

Yeah.

[Deontay Kyle]

Not necessarily dependent on that. But like when you are feeling a space where you out of control.

[Mona Leo]

Yeah.

[Deontay Kyle]

Instead of trying to figure out how to gain control, you just don't want to give a. Yeah. So you go to that.

[Mona Leo]

Yeah.

[Deontay Kyle]

So it's like let you know we.

[Mona Leo]

In the same boat type. Please don't feel alone. A lot of people in. On their walks and in their journey, they feel alone, they feel isolated and they feel like they the only person in the world experiencing that. And I. That's why I'm so candid about my mental health journey until. And explaining to people what it was that I went through and how I got to this point. Because it wasn't A to B. It was a. A dash one, a dash two A. That it was a whole experience in between point A to point B. And I'll be trying to explain that to people because they think once they see you. I feel like anybody who sees you now in this space, they're like oh my God, he doing it. He doing that one. He doing his thing. Deontay Kyle.

[Deontay Kyle]

Yeah.

[Mona Leo]

And it's like, there was so many things, even just me sitting here today. I've learned so much about you as an individual that I probably didn't know because you seem so composed, which is what black people are conditioned to be. Ultimately. You seem so composed and put together on this podcast, and it's like, you never really know what somebody has gone through to get to this point that they're at currently.

[Deontay Kyle]

This ain't just no light. I ain't get handed this. And I also, like, I didn't inherit nothing. You know what I'm saying? Like, I always tell people, like, the best thing about where I'm at is that I had a big. A lot of examples of what not to be.

[Mona Leo]

Yeah.

[Deontay Kyle]

You know what I'm saying? Some people are growing role models. Right. And, like, all my role models showcase things about me that I ain't want.

[Mona Leo]

Yeah.

[Deontay Kyle]

So even if I dove into the street, ultimately, while I'm in the street, I realized, like, but this ain't it.

[Mona Leo]

How is it acknowledging that some of the people that you grew up with were not the perfect role models? Do they ever come back to you and, like, feel disgruntled about the way that you depict them? Even though it's honest? How do you go about acknowledging that?

[Deontay Kyle]

Maybe my daddy don't like me telling the business, but, like, you know, my. My daddy be telling me, though, he'd be like, it don't make me. It made me feel very uncomfortable. When you talk about some of the things that's, like, I'm included in or like, I know the family included in. But he said it made me ecstatic that you could tell your truth. Cause he said, regardless how I feel about it, I know you ain't lying.

[Mona Leo]

Yeah.

[Deontay Kyle]

So it's like, I could feel hit, but at the same time, you ain't lying. So it's like, whatever you gotta do for yourself. And he said also, too, you always been a person that's gonna call it out. Even when it got you in trouble, you gonna call it out.

[Mona Leo]

Yeah.

[Deontay Kyle]

So, like, for me, I'm very, like, candid about who I am, what I've been through, Drug addiction, sexual assault. I'm honest about these things because I'm so tired of just keeping it to myself.

[Mona Leo]

Like, has it liberated you?

[Deontay Kyle]

Absolutely.

[Mona Leo]

Yeah. In the process?

[Deontay Kyle]

Absolutely.

[Mona Leo]

Because do you encourage young black men to.

[Deontay Kyle]

To be honest and be vulnerable?

[Mona Leo]

Yeah.

[Deontay Kyle]

Like, instead of looking at vulnerability as some type of weakness, like, it's the most freeing I've ever experienced. Because when I express it with my platform, it allow all these men and all these young women and all these black people, period, just to be honest about their experience. I think the thing about the Gristness podcast that I want is that we're gonna lift up that rug and we're gonna sweep that up from out of there.

[Mona Leo]

We're gonna sweep it from under the rug.

[Deontay Kyle]

Rug, yeah.

[Mona Leo]

We're not gonna sweep it underneath.

[Deontay Kyle]

We ain't sweeping it under. We sweeping it out.

[Mona Leo]

We sweeping it out. Okay.

[Deontay Kyle]

And if we got to, we'll get rid of the rug all together.

[Mona Leo]

It. The rug.

[Deontay Kyle]

The rug. Pulling the rug out from underneath.

[Mona Leo]

You pull the rug from up under.

[Deontay Kyle]

How do you feel? How do you feel about your album?

[Mona Leo]

I feel good. I feel like it's the most liberated that I felt in a while, if I'm being honest.

[Deontay Kyle]

I.

[Mona Leo]

Every day that I grow older, I wish I knew. I wish I know more every day. And I wish I knew. How do I put this? I wish I. I knew what I know the next day, the day before. So I always wish that I knew more in advance.

[Deontay Kyle]

Correct.

[Mona Leo]

And I feel like that's part of being my age. As old as I feel, I can't get around certain experiences. And it's like, as much as you think you know, certain experience is going to teach you, and you can't get around learning certain things without having that experience. And experience comes with time. So I feel like.

[Deontay Kyle]

And development. You did. We humans. We. We. The thing is, is, like, I know at 24, I thought I knew everything.

[Mona Leo]

I want so badly to know everything, especially. Especially being in this position and in this environment, being a female rapper, being in the spotlight, I wish I knew more sooner, But I want people to understand it doesn't work like that. And as much as refined as I want to be, that some of that refinement only comes from experience, for sure. But also, you can never really be fully refined until you have gone through. I want to be just like my grandmother. My grandmother is so poised and so graceful, and she's so sure about who she is. But it comes from 70, 80, almost 80 years of experience.

[Deontay Kyle]

Correct.

[Mona Leo]

And that's something that she has on me that I don't have right now. And I wish people would understand it because they want to hold me accountable as if I've been around for 80, 90, 100 years. And it's like I'm doing my part with what I know, and I wish people would give me credit for that. I don't need sympathy. I don't need empathy. I don't need from Nobody. I just want people to be human beings and acknowledge me as a human being and acknowledge me for where I. For where I am in my journey. I may not know everything, but I'm trying.

[Deontay Kyle]

But also, you don't have to have to know everything. And also too, fame doesn't age you. Right.

[Mona Leo]

It doesn't.

[Deontay Kyle]

So somebody think that day 47, but they got 300 followers. But you don't deserve it. Cause you 24. That's just some ignorant. The thing is, is like you doing more for the voice of young black people than anybody else is with your music. This is the type of music we said we wanted. And now that you've given it to us, got criticism. But it all come with criticism. Right. Even the things that I'm doing that is deemed as extremely, like, progressive and pushing our culture forward is still getting demonized by certain subsets that aren't comfortable with change. Right. A fool despises wisdom. They despise it.

[Mona Leo]

Yeah.

[Deontay Kyle]

So a wise man can play the fool. A fool despises change.

[Mona Leo]

Yeah.

[Deontay Kyle]

Ultimately, like, oh, a fool would never trick you into thinking they wise. Right. So only the wise person can play both roles. Which is why what you doing is amazing because you're speaking from your perspective. You putting off who you are, not only geographically, but historically.

[Mona Leo]

Yeah.

[Deontay Kyle]

And a lot of us don't get an opportunity to see ourselves represented in a highlight. A lot of times when we represent it, especially in the music is represented in a very low vibrational way. You taking some of the most important parts of our aspect and some of the most important parts of our culture.

[Mona Leo]

Yeah.

[Deontay Kyle]

And you highlighting them and you're elevating them.

[Mona Leo]

Yeah.

[Deontay Kyle]

Right. Like, we ain't heard no fight music in a long day in a long time. But you also are immersing spiritual aspects into these things that are extremely important for black people to see. For sure, you make us look amazing outside you. You make us look regal. But you don't do it for the white gays. You make black people proud.

[Mona Leo]

If I'm candid with you too, I felt like the first week that it had come out, I felt like I had done something wrong, candidly, like I was reading and trying to. Because I try to keep myself in a really grounded space to where I'm able to learn, receive. I never want to be that individual who's like, she don't got nobody around her trying to tell her anything. Or she. You could tell she the boss in her operation because she don't listen to nobody around her. So I try to always keep my ears open, sometimes to my own demise, because I was, like, consuming and taking in all of this information that maybe wasn't even applicable to my situation. But I had felt like. I called my team and I was like. Like, as unapologetic as I am, I'm trying to grow. That's my main goal. Trying to grow. And I feel like on your growth journey, you start to take in a little bit more than you need.

[Deontay Kyle]

Yeah. But you critical because you care.

[Mona Leo]

Super critical. I genuinely do care. And I want to make sure I'm referencing this movement the correct way.

[Deontay Kyle]

Okay. The reverence that we have for the Black Panthers is now.

[Mona Leo]

Is now.

[Deontay Kyle]

Think about how they was treated in the 70s. They started whole FBI programs because of them foes. So if you think that they was embraced by the way, they think, yeah, you. A whole country's against them. Cointelpro is directly connected to the Panthers.

[Mona Leo]

Yeah.

[Deontay Kyle]

They said Fred Hampton was public enemy number one because not only was he propping up our people, but he was letting other people know through class solidarity. We all in the same boat, for real.

[Mona Leo]

Exactly.

[Deontay Kyle]

Y' all letting these folk divide us.

[Mona Leo]

Yeah.

[Deontay Kyle]

You doing the right thing.

[Mona Leo]

Yeah. The thing is, it's like people only respect what. What has been developed over time.

[Deontay Kyle]

Okay, well, we got music, so anything.

[Mona Leo]

That'S any even like the term solon, because it's a fairly new term. They feel like, fuck this. This was just recently coined. Just recently developed. Why should we respect this and fuck them?

[Deontay Kyle]

Cause MAGA is a fairly new thing, too. And you niggas around here wearing red hats and all type of dumb ass shit.

[Mona Leo]

So it's like, why shit on our. What. What it is that we're trying to do to promote also, too.

[Deontay Kyle]

Like, black people have to be above the criticism of white people. We already know y' all gonna criticize this shit. Fuck y'. All.

[Mona Leo]

I felt that.

[Deontay Kyle]

I don't give a fuck.

[Mona Leo]

I ain't give a damn how white people felt.

[Deontay Kyle]

Right. Candidly. It be. It be.

[Mona Leo]

It was my. My own.

[Deontay Kyle]

It be me, too, though. Like, when my phone. I'm doing this shit for us.

[Mona Leo]

I'm doing this for us.

[Deontay Kyle]

Oh, fuck you, Crit.

[Mona Leo]

That was the only thing that made me feel like I needed to learn.

[Deontay Kyle]

We're gonna have to get through their fears too, though. They scared to be black in public. They like being black online. You being a little too out here. This is a little too. It's too loud.

[Mona Leo]

Yeah.

[Deontay Kyle]

Them. Because that fear is what got us continue to perpetuate these same systems that oppress us. It's the fear we don't want to push down. I want to rock the boat because it's cool to be black online when ain't nobody saying nothing. And when we in an echo chamber, we in that echo chamber, everybody agreeing with us. When we shake that motherfucking table in a real way, in a real way now, it's like, oh, whoa. Maybe we doing too much.

[Mona Leo]

She doing too much.

[Deontay Kyle]

Nah, you doing just enough. If not, you're doing more.

[Mona Leo]

I received that type shit.

[Deontay Kyle]

We gonna take a shot.

[Mona Leo]

Let's do it.

[Deontay Kyle]

We're gonna do these Patreon questions. That's why you got to join the Patreon. Because if you join The Patreon, it's $8. It's two folks.

[Mona Leo]

It's still $8.

[Deontay Kyle]

It's still $8. It's gonna stay $8.

[Mona Leo]

Too cheap. If you with me buy that Patreon.

[Deontay Kyle]

I ain't gonna lie.

[Mona Leo]

If you support me, if y' all my supporters and y' all my fans and y' all love me, y' all with me, this is a podcast that I really wanted to come to, that I really love and really support. So if you support me, please make sure y' all get that patreon. It's only $8.

[Deontay Kyle]

$8.

[Mona Leo]

It's less than $10. Come on, now. You got $10. It's less than is still selling grass for $10.

[Deontay Kyle]

I think. I think so.

[Mona Leo]

Maybe in LA. I don't know what this got that superzar.

[Deontay Kyle]

I don't know nothing about the cr. I don't know nothing about drugs.

[Mona Leo]

It's got that super Z. I'm a suburbs kid now.

[Deontay Kyle]

I'm not for the project.

[Mona Leo]

It's less than a grand.

[Deontay Kyle]

Well, look, I'm gonna tell you this. It's too fault for falls.

[Mona Leo]

It's too faux foes.

[Deontay Kyle]

And you know your big ass done had two biggie bad. Did we? You already tanned in.

[Mona Leo]

Come on, Nasty now.

[Deontay Kyle]

Come on, Nasty's insane words. Come on, Ness.

[Mona Leo]

Do both of those.

[Deontay Kyle]

Come on, Ness.

[Mona Leo]

Come on, it's $8. Hey, yo, if you got us like we got you, get that Patreon for $8.

[Deontay Kyle]

And I'm gonna tell you the reason, because the Patreon cousins, the people who are subscribed to the Patreon I. Before I do any interview, I ask them, what would y' all like to ask our guest this week? You ain't getting that from no YouTube, baby.

[Mona Leo]

Oh, so they asked, so you put me.

[Deontay Kyle]

So I got Patreon and They got.

[Mona Leo]

Oh, okay.

[Deontay Kyle]

And I put.

[Mona Leo]

Okay.

[Deontay Kyle]

I put the. I'll let you look.

[Mona Leo]

I mean, okay, we'll take a break, and then we coming back and we.

[Deontay Kyle]

And then we're gonna get these fan.

[Mona Leo]

Imagine if you had subscribed to the Patreon and paid that $8, you would have been able to get your personal questions in with me, and I would have answered it. I'm not ducking no smoke. Oh, okay. That's me.

[Deontay Kyle]

That's you.

[Mona Leo]

You know the drill questions for Mona. Leo, subscribe to the Patreon, $8. It's your moment, pretty girl. You're so beautiful. Thank you. And wait, I got actually, some questions. Just two questions. Two questions. Okay, I'm listening. Okay. So. So what. What kind of ages you start to do gymnastics? Oh, gymnastics. Who told you I did gymnastics? Are you a gymnastics right now? You in gymnastics? Yeah, probably. I don't know. You will. I'm gonna get signed. I'll get signed up in January. You want to be in gymnastics? I think you'd be so good in gymnastics. It takes a lot of confidence, and I think you got it. I think you should do it. But I didn't do gymnastics. I did cheerleading, though, when I was in fourth grade. Oh, what kind of cheerleading? I don't know exactly what kind it was, but, you know, we did a little competition and we won first place. And I did. I did. I did my little thing. I probably wasn't nearly as good as you, though. I think you'll be better than me at gymnastics and cheerleading if you want to do it. You like cheerleading or no? I do. You do? I think you'd be so good at it. Okay, second question. Okay. Do you. Do you do cigarettes? Do I do what?

[Deontay Kyle]

What?

[Mona Leo]

Cigarettes. Cigarettes. I'm not. I don't really smoke. I don't do cigarettes. That's too. That's gross. How about you? That's too old for me. Yeah, get in the video. That's old people's stuff.

[Deontay Kyle]

I already knew what it was.

[Mona Leo]

Don't cut her off.

[Deontay Kyle]

I already knew.

[Mona Leo]

Don't silence my queen.

[Deontay Kyle]

Nah, she calling me out.

[Mona Leo]

She right on. She asking the right questions. Is you smoking cigarettes at night. I love that.

[Deontay Kyle]

She said you smoke cigarettes? And he was like, no. She's like, do you?

[Mona Leo]

Do you? She asking the right questions. You did so good, boo. You did so good, friend.

[Deontay Kyle]

All right, now. Hot steaks. Hot steaks.

[Mona Leo]

Ow.

[Deontay Kyle]

She killed the owl. That is so funny.

[Mona Leo]

That's my favorite thing about the old heads. Y' all love a good owl.

[Deontay Kyle]

Oh, yeah. Be calling me Dick Gregory because I'd be like, huh, Huh? I hit with a huh? Queen. Yo. The fact. The fact that we not old heads is crazy. I said I was middle aged. I said I was middle aged and was like, you're not middle aged. But I am 35. I'm 35. The average life experience is seven years old.

[Mona Leo]

35. I feel like you carry like a 27. 27, 28.

[Deontay Kyle]

You know what I'm saying? Now check me out. Think I'm 25. Take it that gym.

[Mona Leo]

Okay.

[Deontay Kyle]

I'm going be swollen.

[Mona Leo]

What? What? When you starting the gym plan?

[Deontay Kyle]

Eventually we'll see what we can fit it in.

[Mona Leo]

We'll see how we. Yeah.

[Deontay Kyle]

Hear what I mean? So I had one. I had a question for you.

[Mona Leo]

Okay.

[Deontay Kyle]

Due to like, you singing anymore, showcasing your vocal ability.

[Mona Leo]

Yeah.

[Deontay Kyle]

Hey, Twin.

[Mona Leo]

Yeah.

[Deontay Kyle]

A lot of you loud on the set, my brother. We quiet on the set.

[Mona Leo]

My on the set.

[Deontay Kyle]

You was really into that. Now you good. Don't be embarrassed. You straight. He was like, God, that was a good ass video. And you know what? The truth be told on social media now, it's very rare to find a great video.

[Mona Leo]

Very rare.

[Deontay Kyle]

So I fuck with it. He was watching the grist and no, for real. They hit me with it.

[Mona Leo]

I just think anybody who had the courage to talk was talking about some they knew about. People be spewing straight.

[Deontay Kyle]

No, they be on the. They. They are. They'll really lie.

[Mona Leo]

They are some in a real way. They'll lie in a real way.

[Deontay Kyle]

So these are Patreon fan questions.

[Mona Leo]

Okay?

[Deontay Kyle]

But you already answered one. The first one is, are you going on tour? They ready to buy them tickets.

[Mona Leo]

I'm going on tour. I'm going on tour sooner than y' all think. We got a new we. It's not Monday, but we date. We're gonna debut a song later here.

[Deontay Kyle]

All right, Check it out.

[Mona Leo]

As soon as we finish, we going to debut a song.

[Deontay Kyle]

It's the only thing I got. When you come to Atlanta, you got to let me and Big Cat come on the stage when DJ wanted to crowd up to the grist intro.

[Mona Leo]

Okay. All right.

[Deontay Kyle]

Favor on my side. Chance brought us out of his concert. I'm just saying. Gave us a round of applause.

[Mona Leo]

I will bring when I say you roar. I might have y' all open.

[Deontay Kyle]

You never heard the roar of the crowd.

[Mona Leo]

I might have y' all hold host the tour. What's y' all feel?

[Deontay Kyle]

Listen, give me a. I'm not telling you. We're gonna host the tour. But I will host the Atlanta show.

[Mona Leo]

The Atlanta show?

[Deontay Kyle]

Yeah. No, Big cat it. We gonna tour, son. We going on. I know we. I can't. I know we can't.

[Mona Leo]

Big cat off the Hennessy.

[Deontay Kyle]

He just said I'm off the Henness.

[Mona Leo]

He just agreed.

[Deontay Kyle]

I got the king in me.

[Mona Leo]

I hold, too. What they be saying to me is.

[Deontay Kyle]

That what I'm saying? You know what I'm saying? That's a black color.

[Mona Leo]

At least Atlanta. We'll talk about tour.

[Deontay Kyle]

Not even at least.

[Mona Leo]

How cool for y' all to preface. Open the tour by giving some knowledge.

[Deontay Kyle]

If we could do that in Atlanta. Yeah. So special.

[Mona Leo]

That's it.

[Deontay Kyle]

So special.

[Mona Leo]

Okay.

[Deontay Kyle]

You have to craft an R B song.

[Mona Leo]

Okay.

[Deontay Kyle]

Dead or alive. One person do the first verse. One person do the hook and the bridge, and then you get a second verse. R B. R B, Rhythm and blues.

[Mona Leo]

Michelle on the bridge. Michelle Williams. Okay, bridge.

[Deontay Kyle]

Okay.

[Mona Leo]

I'm going Brandy on the verses.

[Deontay Kyle]

Okay. Okay.

[Mona Leo]

And I might do Aaliyah on the intro and outro.

[Deontay Kyle]

Great intro.

[Mona Leo]

Great intro.

[Deontay Kyle]

Oh, no, no. Her and Tank was killing that.

[Mona Leo]

I might call Tank. You know what? Let me show some love to the R B man. I might call Tank. I might call Tyrese when he.

[Deontay Kyle]

Who?

[Mona Leo]

Tyrese. When he chilled a little bit, man.

[Deontay Kyle]

I'm gonna tell you something about this Tyrese.

[Mona Leo]

What did he do?

[Deontay Kyle]

His. His dogs killed the neighborhood.

[Mona Leo]

Tyrese story.

[Deontay Kyle]

He really couldn't believe she was acting like that. Who was Tyrese? Couldn't believe who. All my friends became. Your friends? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. He was mad as a motherfucker. She got him. Yeah, she got him.

[Mona Leo]

No, let me tell you something about Tyrese. I only met him one time in my life, and it was in passing because he was leaving the Angelique Angela Yee podcast.

[Deontay Kyle]

You all need to stop being lip service.

[Mona Leo]

He was leaving. I was coming in, and I think his interview was running over a little bit. And when he was leaving out, I was like, listen, man, my mom really love you. I would appreciate if you could say hey to my mom. He was like, of course. Let's do it. Called my mom. He spoke to her. My mom was thirsting. Jesus Christ. She was like, one thing about black moms and Tyrese, they're obsessed.

[Deontay Kyle]

I ain't gonna lie, man. Dark skinned, bald head. You killing. You killing Jeanette? Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm telling you, if you dark skinned, you got a bald head, you get anything you want out of Jeanette.

[Mona Leo]

Yeah, he did a number on my.

[Deontay Kyle]

Probably come up for real Are you young that's trying to go to Turkey? Just go bald, sugar. Mom it out. You're not going. It's. It's gonna be too much. Sugar.

[Mona Leo]

It's gonna be too much. You might you.

[Deontay Kyle]

It's gonna be because them women love a man. They love a man a mine. A m. Women love a man a mine. Let me tell you something about my mama. My mama had me wearing sandals when I was fine, Jesus. Cause she like a man that'll wear his feet out.

[Mona Leo]

Jesus.

[Deontay Kyle]

She said, man, nothing better than a man with them nice feet. I don't know what type of freaky. Let me tell you something about mama. I'm telling you something about my daddy though. My daddy used to wear them sandals.

[Mona Leo]

Jesus.

[Deontay Kyle]

Side 13 with the sun.

[Mona Leo]

Damn.

[Deontay Kyle]

My mom love a good ball head. I'm telling you. Kevin Garnett. She's called Kevin Garnet. If you see big cat, that is a tall dark skinned man with a ball head.

[Mona Leo]

You ball under that hat?

[Deontay Kyle]

Huh?

[Mona Leo]

You ball under that?

[Deontay Kyle]

No, we still good.

[Mona Leo]

That's definitely a size 13 for sure.

[Deontay Kyle]

Yeah, this is a size 13 for sure, for sure, for sure.

[Mona Leo]

I'm telling do the sandals though.

[Deontay Kyle]

We. He never see if I get a size 13. Seven. That's a. That's a lot of leather. I'm going tell you. My dad put a lot of materials. That's a lot of material. That's a lot of material. My daddy wasn't buying no cheap leather shoes. My. These was good leathers. Yeah. It wasn't the typical. It was the. The enclosed though. But. But it's. But it's free. It's a jailhouse. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. You know it's a D. Yeah, yeah, yeah. He had the fronts over. You know what I'm saying? Yeah, yeah, yeah. But it was breathing. Yeah. Cool. Yeah, good. Good Lord.

[Mona Leo]

Yeah, for sure. Good Lord, for sure. I got an uncle who. Yeah, that's his vibe.

[Deontay Kyle]

He can grill, can't he?

[Mona Leo]

He can grill his.

[Deontay Kyle]

God damn it. I know he can grill.

[Mona Leo]

He can grill.

[Deontay Kyle]

My daddy can't grill. He can drink either. You can drink a grill. Sometimes both shout out to f Drink.

[Mona Leo]

And grill at the same time.

[Deontay Kyle]

Shout out to Fville State University. Forgive my dick. It for a ride Scholarship for football. My dad was in college running over. You hear me, Jesus.

[Mona Leo]

What size you go daddy wear? Football feet.

[Deontay Kyle]

Football feet. Big ass foot on him.

[Mona Leo]

Football. This is nasty.

[Deontay Kyle]

I'm a 105 that you ever see a size. Well, yeah, yeah. Football feed. Got a football foot.

[Mona Leo]

Them shit's nasty.

[Deontay Kyle]

I concur.

[Mona Leo]

They start kind of distorting in ways.

[Deontay Kyle]

N. Start getting a little wicked with the bun. Start going. Bunch of.

[Mona Leo]

Start going to the left and to the right.

[Deontay Kyle]

Did my daddy foot right here. Just that. You know what I'm saying? You got understand.

[Mona Leo]

You stick.

[Deontay Kyle]

You sticking your foot in the ground. You sticking your foot in the ground. Goddamn it.

[Mona Leo]

To the left, to the right.

[Deontay Kyle]

All right. Get a little wicked.

[Mona Leo]

The nasty shits to scare me growing up. Go ahead. I'm listening.

[Deontay Kyle]

I ain't going to lie, man. I'm listening. My dad type never take his socks off.

[Mona Leo]

I ain't going.

[Deontay Kyle]

No. I never take my socks off like that.

[Mona Leo]

You know your feet is scared.

[Deontay Kyle]

I saw too light. But if you had to be just like that. Free. Just let that be. We ain't. We ain't out here looking at feet.

[Mona Leo]

Yeah, for real. Because if you had to be Jones.

[Deontay Kyle]

Out here showing feet in the. Israel Chat. No, no.

[Mona Leo]

What I want to see Israel Chat.

[Deontay Kyle]

This is a very. Like. That was a very niche joke.

[Mona Leo]

Okay?

[Deontay Kyle]

It's like. It's like 5% of Americans are gonna really understand.

[Mona Leo]

But I know them shit's probably looking crazy. Israel Chat.

[Deontay Kyle]

No, I'm talking about Van Jones.

[Mona Leo]

Okay, my bad. Wherever the that is you did.

[Deontay Kyle]

You don't even need to know. Yeah.

[Mona Leo]

Super millennial.

[Deontay Kyle]

The coon of coons. Oh, yeah. So is there a Houston artist that you'd like to work with if you haven't worked with yet.

[Mona Leo]

Officially? Beyonce.

[Deontay Kyle]

Of course. Why not? Pop your.

[Mona Leo]

I cannot wait. We worked in certain spaces. She. I worked on an Ivy park campaign. I met her. She was there. She was beautiful, graceful, poised. Send me some flowers. Everything you think Beyonce would be. But I would love to work with her in a musical space. That's one of my top goals, for sure.

[Deontay Kyle]

Top 5 greatest non musical artistic inspirations.

[Mona Leo]

My granny, my other granny, My mother, my stepmom, my son. Top five right there.

[Deontay Kyle]

Top five. Top five.

[Mona Leo]

Ain't nothing beating that. That none beating that.

[Deontay Kyle]

Great top five. That's a great top five.

[Mona Leo]

Solid top five.

[Deontay Kyle]

No, that's like the most solid. That's real blood.

[Mona Leo]

Most solid, most connected, all in the family.

[Deontay Kyle]

Talking about it's happening with your mother. What's the question? This is a question for the Patreon. So remember that. What's the question you wish someone would ask?

[Mona Leo]

How I'm doing.

[Deontay Kyle]

I knew you was.

[Mona Leo]

God damn.

[Deontay Kyle]

When I threw that. When I threw that out, how am I doing? Everything inside me was like, she just wants somebody to ask how she be doing.

[Mona Leo]

I just want somebody to ask, how am I doing? And really give a about what I respond with. Cuz what if I tell I'm not doing good? What you going to say?

[Deontay Kyle]

Mono?

[Mona Leo]

You unpacking it?

[Deontay Kyle]

How you doing?

[Mona Leo]

You know what? You call me on a good day. I'm actually feeling good today. I feel I'm floating in this space of gratitude. I feel grateful. I feel blessed. Family, good life, good career, good. Getting ready to put out this project. I don't have no time to think about what's going wrong. I'm just locked in. So that's the space that I'm in today. Call me tomorrow.

[Deontay Kyle]

Okay? Yeah.

[Mona Leo]

When I'm debriefing. Yeah, let's check back and see.

[Deontay Kyle]

All right, look, all right, I'mma do this because you are a fan of the show.

[Mona Leo]

Huge fan. My whole family. Me, Stunna, my cousin. We are Hugh. Alex. We are Hugh.

[Deontay Kyle]

Oh, and look.

[Mona Leo]

Stunner.

[Deontay Kyle]

Let me tell you something, Stunna. When did making plans get this complicated?

[Mona Leo]

It's time to streamline with WhatsApp, the.

[Deontay Kyle]

Secure messaging app that brings the whole group together. Use polls to settle down dinner plans. Send event invites and pin messages so no one forgets mom's 60th and never miss a meme or milestone.

[Mona Leo]

All protected with end to end encryption.

[Deontay Kyle]

It's time for WhatsApp message privately with everyone. Learn [e-mail] this episode is brought to you by Jack Daniels. Jack Daniels and music are made for each other. They share a rhythm in the craft of making something timeless while being a part of legendary nights. From backyard jams to sold out arenas. There's a song in every toast. Please drink responsibly. Responsibility.org Jack Daniels and Old Number 7 are registered trademarks. Tennessee whiskey, 40% alcohol by volume. Jack Daniel Distillery, Lynchburg, Tennessee. I got people on. Listen, yo, I know country. I know what's going on in them country and projects over the country park. I know what's going on. My uncle is North Duck. Coach at las High school basketball team.

[Mona Leo]

Really?

[Deontay Kyle]

I swear.

[Mona Leo]

Okay.

[Deontay Kyle]

My uncle Butch. So if you know him, you know him.

[Mona Leo]

He from Salisbury though, North Carolina.

[Deontay Kyle]

Oh, he from Salisbury.

[Mona Leo]

Yeah. How far is that? Where you from?

[Deontay Kyle]

So I'm from Wilmington, but my daddy and them, they stay in Winston Salem. All that right there. Salisbury, Lynstown, all that.

[Mona Leo]

It's like dmv.

[Deontay Kyle]

Exactly.

[Mona Leo]

Kind of like. It's like that area.

[Deontay Kyle]

I thought he probably. I don't know why I thought he's from list.

[Mona Leo]

He from Salisbury.

[Deontay Kyle]

Salisbury ain't far. From listening, though.

[Mona Leo]

He familiar. He been all. He'd been all up and through North Carolina.

[Deontay Kyle]

I bet that's what happened in North Carolina.

[Mona Leo]

Exactly.

[Deontay Kyle]

You just end up in London.

[Mona Leo]

You'll meet him later. He. He's flying in later, so.

[Deontay Kyle]

Yeah.

[Mona Leo]

Excited for y' all to meet.

[Deontay Kyle]

Yeah, I With him, though. First of all, he.

[Mona Leo]

I was watching one of your podcasts, just cooking. Had it on my little tv. TV in the kitchen. Getting. Getting money for real. Little TV in the kitchen, cooking. Little soup vibes. And you was talking about the. Don't matter. You was talking about something, and son of was just kind of passing through the kitchen. He was like, yeah, he right. That's a real. You was talking about, like. I won't say who you was talking about. Niggas in the prison industrial complex. You know who I'm talking about?

[Deontay Kyle]

One of them.

[Mona Leo]

One of them caught up in that. He was talking about that he was passing through. He was like, yeah, that's a real. Like, yeah, he know what he's talking about. He was just like, on his phone. But he was like, yeah, like, agreeing with what you were saying. And I wasn't even paying attention because I was cooking. It was just kind of on his background noise. And he was like, yeah. And I turn around, what the you talking about? He was like, he know what he talking about. I was like, yeah, so y' all lying.

[Deontay Kyle]

The fact that the baby was from Charlotte.

[Mona Leo]

We don't. Like.

[Deontay Kyle]

I'm. No, I'm not talking about that. That. I'm just saying as a reference point of how I got introduced to him. He from Charlotte, so I'm like, I know how Charlotte is. I know how North Carolina is, period. Cause, like, you ain't gonna. You think them big. Like, big cities don't mean in North Carolina you can buy gutter and some you ain't gonna see on a map.

[Mona Leo]

Exactly.

[Deontay Kyle]

Them is different.

[Mona Leo]

Different.

[Deontay Kyle]

You hear me?

[Mona Leo]

They're different.

[Deontay Kyle]

They not doing things the same different. I just let you know I'm from there. So I was with it, but I was just like, yeah, this is some cool. Cause he from North Carolina. When I heard stun, I was like, that right there.

[Mona Leo]

That's the one.

[Deontay Kyle]

Cause I know that he the standout. No, I. I got some cousins. Like, I know. I know some folk just like that. Yeah, they talk like that. The music ain't even music. For real. It's just a. Just saying how he feel about you.

[Mona Leo]

On a track, just detailing his experiences.

[Deontay Kyle]

You did stunt. Gotta come on new music Monday.

[Mona Leo]

Yeah.

[Deontay Kyle]

Gotta get stunned on.

[Mona Leo]

He gotta come. He loves this pot as much as I do. He would have been on here if you. But he's flying in, so, I mean, we gonna kick. So I want.

[Deontay Kyle]

This is what I want. This is this. I've never asked for this ever. But through your experience and like, through your note of this show. End the show. How I would end the show. Like Mona Leo taking us out in grist and ass fashion. It ain't gotta be me, but this ain't Grissy.

[Mona Leo]

We ain't listening to no voicemails.

[Deontay Kyle]

No.

[Mona Leo]

We didn't listen to no.

[Deontay Kyle]

We ain't read no emails.

[Mona Leo]

No. No emails. No two, three minute long voicemails talking about how much they love the show, by the way, type. But as a consumer, I'll be listening like, oh, my God. I just was. I was almost there. I was like, maybe I should just. Because I wanted to approach this in the most organic way. And I was like, maybe I should just call and leave a voicemail.

[Deontay Kyle]

That would have been dope. I ain't gonna lie. We went and on. Yeah. I'm tell you how I choose the voicemails now.

[Mona Leo]

How do you choose? I know you're getting.

[Deontay Kyle]

So it gotta be a minute and 50 seconds or less.

[Mona Leo]

Or less. So anything over that?

[Deontay Kyle]

Because the. The email shut out at three minutes and will call back.

[Mona Leo]

What do you mean shut out at three minutes?

[Deontay Kyle]

So you can, you know, a voicemail. The call. No, no, no, not an email. The voicemail.

[Mona Leo]

Okay.

[Deontay Kyle]

The voicemail. You. It's some voicemail.

[Mona Leo]

Y' all still reading emails?

[Deontay Kyle]

Yeah, yeah. So voicemail, first, email, last.

[Mona Leo]

Okay.

[Deontay Kyle]

But we gonna lose a lot of people at the voicemail. But that's for the foes.

[Mona Leo]

That's for the.

[Deontay Kyle]

For y'.

[Mona Leo]

All.

[Deontay Kyle]

It's the last 10 minutes of the show.

[Mona Leo]

Last 10 minutes. Yeah.

[Deontay Kyle]

You know what I'm saying? Close it out. We hate to say goodbye, so I'm gonna give you the flow.

[Mona Leo]

I'm nervous. Nah, wait, no, no, no.

[Deontay Kyle]

We leave. I'm leaving. Go ahead.

[Mona Leo]

They can't help me.

[Deontay Kyle]

Please.

[Mona Leo]

Big cat, please assist me. Come on, get on camera. I got a big cat cameo.

[Deontay Kyle]

Come on with it. Come on with it. Come on with it. This has never happened before. This never happened. So I'm gonna let y' all have. We ending the show, right?

[Mona Leo]

Yep.

[Deontay Kyle]

So what's something he would say when he ended the show?

[Mona Leo]

You tell me.

[Deontay Kyle]

You watched the show.

[Mona Leo]

I watched the show, but I want. I have a big cat cameo.

[Deontay Kyle]

All right? Right.

[Mona Leo]

So I want to take Advantage.

[Deontay Kyle]

How much time we got?

[Mona Leo]

We got enough time.

[Deontay Kyle]

All right? So get them five minutes together. Go ahead. We closing out, right?

[Mona Leo]

Okay. We closing out.

[Deontay Kyle]

This is your host, Deontay Kyle, right?

[Mona Leo]

Not Dianza. It's your host, Mona Leo.

[Deontay Kyle]

Huh? Yeah. On the grizzly.

[Mona Leo]

On the grease and egg podcast.

[Deontay Kyle]

Who's behind the camera?

[Mona Leo]

Who's behind the camera, right?

[Deontay Kyle]

Oh, no. Okay, Mona, this is how you it. So this how. This how I normally kick. 657234s. 657, 2343447.

[Mona Leo]

Yeah.

[Deontay Kyle]

I'm your host, Beyonce Kyle. But who's behind.

[Mona Leo]

Who's behind the camera? The coolest cupcat.

[Deontay Kyle]

The coolest co host. Big ice cub cat.

[Mona Leo]

Ow.

[Deontay Kyle]

Ow. And then you say, join that Patreon. $8.

[Mona Leo]

$8 Patreon. It's only $8.

[Deontay Kyle]

And then you go. And then you go. You go. Take care of yourselves. Take care of each other.

[Mona Leo]

Yeah, take care of yourselves and take care of each other.

[Deontay Kyle]

All right, from the top. Let's go. Three.

[Mona Leo]

All right, y', all, this is your host, Mona Leo on a grist and egg podcast. But who's behind the mic?

[Deontay Kyle]

The coolest co host, big ice cup cat.

[Mona Leo]

Ow. Make sure I get that. Make sure y' all get that patreon. It's only $8.

[Deontay Kyle]

$8.

[Mona Leo]

$8. Oh, it's only $8.

[Deontay Kyle]

Two four for post 6572-3434-4765-7234-34444.

[Mona Leo]

Absolutely.

[Deontay Kyle]

It's a four for four.

[Mona Leo]

What's the. What's the updated email too? I feel like I didn't see so many. The email didn't change so much. What's the final email as of. As of whatever today is October 2025.

[Deontay Kyle]

Deontay Deontay Kyle.com inquiries and booking advice. Deontay Kyle.com if you want to email us in for advice. NMM. That's New Music Monday. NMM Deontay Kyle.com for your New Music Monday submissions. Right to Big Cat. 657234 eggs that 657-234-3447.

[Mona Leo]

Yeah.

[Deontay Kyle]

Yeah.

[Mona Leo]

Make sure y' all go get that and shop black. Stop asking how y' all can support people. See? Hold on real quick. Suki, do me a favor. Put I want the grist and egg cash app. I wanna. I wanna show how they can directly support. Put the cash out right up on the screen right here in front of my face because I'm a little greasy at this. It's two hours later. I'm Greasy had me in here all day. I'm talking about all day. The sun that went up and it.

[Deontay Kyle]

Didn'T went down from Dustin dawn, baby.

[Mona Leo]

I want to make sure y' all tangibly support our black creators. They're not yet syndicated. They will be one day. Every artist is going to be coming through this podcast. But while y' all have the opportunity to support y', all, support them directly. Right now, put that cash app up on that screen and send some money. Since $20, send 40, send 100. If you really getting money like that.

[Deontay Kyle]

Hold on.

[Mona Leo]

If you get money, send a hundred dollars right now.

[Deontay Kyle]

Right now. If you get money right now, I cash out. It's your cash out right now.

[Mona Leo]

I need a soundboard to amplify my. The little megaphone. Send a hundred dollars right now. If you getting a whole lot of money, send a hundred dollars right, right now.

[Deontay Kyle]

Yeah.

[Mona Leo]

If you get money right now, send a hundred dollars.

[Deontay Kyle]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. It's your cash app.

[Mona Leo]

Is your cash app.

[Deontay Kyle]

As of right now.

[Mona Leo]

As of right now, make sure y' all send some money and really support people in a real way, in a tangible way. Got bills, got rent, got lights. We got to make sure these lights flicker on, flicker on and off in this here studio. Make sure y' all give us some money. I'm begging y', all, please. I'm begging. I'll do too much begging.

[Deontay Kyle]

I'm begging you. I'm begging you.

[Mona Leo]

Send some money to the Grits and egg podcast. I will be. Listen, how about this? I'll do y' all one better. I'll make my. I'll make the first donation today, and y' all can post my donation. I'm gonna do me a good little generous donation on behalf of me and stunning, the son of folk. Leo Union, we gonna make us a little donation, and I want y' all to follow suit because we gotta support our black creators and our black. All the black people in these spaces. Pushing a narrative, doing the knowledge, putting cream in the street. Hey, that cream costs.

[Deontay Kyle]

Ow. The cream cost is insane.

[Mona Leo]

That cream costs. Make sure y' all support our people. Send them some money, and I love y'. All. It's Mona Leo. We on the Grist and Egg podcast. Yeah.

[Deontay Kyle]

All right. That was great.

[Mona Leo]

Putting that expensive.

[Deontay Kyle]

Turn me up, man. It's just rap. I just want to rap, you know? I just want to rap. Hey, man. Yeah. They say without the proper labor, faith don't stand a chance. I put my faith in faith and stand on fertile land. I planted seeds that'll indeed turn into trees before Rest in peace teas get printed to me.