Dee-1 | ROC Solid w/ Memphis Bleek

Summary

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ROC Solid w/ Memphis Bleek: Dee-1 (Feb 24, 2026)

Podcast: ROC Solid
Host: Memphis Bleek
Guest: Dee-1
Theme: Accountability, Legacy, and Realness in Hip Hop

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Episode Overview

This episode brings together Memphis Bleek, rap legend and Roc-A-Fella OG, with Dee-1, the New Orleans rapper known for his outspoken integrity and socially conscious message. Their conversation takes an honest, unfiltered dive into hip hop's influence, the responsibilities of artists, generational changes in the culture, faith, and what it means to be “solid” in an industry often defined by image and money. The dialogue is both raw and uplifting, as Dee-1 and Bleek challenge each other on accountability, personal growth, and changing the narrative for the next generation.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

Integrity, Money, and Purpose in Hip Hop

• Dee-1’s Stance on Integrity:

  • Dee-1 shares how his faith in God defines his approach, distinguishing between getting money and worshiping it.
  • "Money didn't create me. God created me... My purpose is to get money, but not worship money." (D1, 03:32)

• Generational Impact and Blame:

  • Dee-1 points out that the previous hip hop generation celebrated "Get Money" without showing the youth what to do after obtaining it.
  • Memphis Bleek reflects, saying OGs just passed down that same focus.
  • "They taught us to get money... Never told us what to do with the money, so we couldn't tell y'all.” (Bleek, 04:21)

• On the Bag and Mental Health:

  • Both artists discuss how money never fully satisfies—leading to loneliness and depression even after “making it.”
  • "The bag is cool, but the bag shouldn't replace our creator." (D1, 17:31)

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Hip-Hop, Accountability & Community Influence

• The Power and Responsibility of Rap:

  • Dee-1 emphasizes rappers’ unintended mentorship over millions of young people, even those they may never meet.
  • "Your song is the soundtrack to their lifestyle... My success is meant to feed me and my family. I don't care what impact it's having on my listeners.” (D1, 07:50)

• Social Media & Impact Awareness:

  • Bleek notes that, before social media, rappers were unaware of how far their influence spread, thinking mainly of their own neighborhoods.
  • Both recognize how today's artists, despite greater reach, still chase shallow validation.

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Street Life, New Orleans, and Escaping Cycles

• Dee-1’s Background & Philosophy:

  • Grew up in New Orleans, a self-proclaimed “murder capital,” but never took pride in local violence or tribalism.
  • Credits his rich spirit and moral support from family, not the environment.
  • "I think God ordained me to make my environment a product of me." (D1, 12:22)

• Education to Rap:

  • Dee-1 was a college graduate and middle school teacher before rapping, deliberately entering hip hop to become a positive influence.
  • "I'd rather be a rapper with the heart of a teacher than be a teacher watching my students follow rappers." (D1, 13:47)

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Spirituality and Adversity

• Journey through Faith:
  • Raised Catholic, Dee-1 deepened his faith in college following personal hardships—a loss, betrayal, and facing revenge.
  • "When I'm falling on hard times, I’m sitting here thinking about revenge... That's not how God teaches us." (D1, 15:54)
• Faith as Guiding Principle
  • Dee-1 applies spirituality to his career, refusing to compromise for fame or quick gains.

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Cycles of Glorification: Drug Dealers to Drug Users

• Are Rappers the Source?

  • Dee-1 challenges the narrative of hip hop as mere entertainment, urging artists to see their music as impactful beyond their intentions.
  • Bleek acknowledges the difference between eras, noting how ‘80s rappers were influenced by—and influenced—the street environment.

• Changing the Message

  • The pair discuss how rap went from glorifying dealers to glorifying users, and the moral dilemma that creates.
  • "To be a drug user, you on something... These kids today got the bag. But they're still empty.” (Bleek, 18:08)

• Genre-wide Accountability

  • Dee-1 points out no other music genre gets hit with RICO charges or raps openly about real crimes.
  • "We rap about our crimes now." (D1, 31:39)

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The OGs’ Role, Growth & Legacy

• OGs as Mentors

  • Both agree older artists need to pass down wisdom, especially lessons money and success can’t buy.
  • Bleek shares that his recent project’s message is about transitioning from hustler to entrepreneur.
  • "The things they didn’t teach me as a kid... Go open that business, go open up that LLC." (Bleek, 33:40)

• On Artistic Integrity

  • Both scorn artists who try to play old roles, prioritizing authenticity as maturity comes.
  • "Integrity is everything in music. What you say, who you say you are—you have to stand on that." (Bleek, 36:03)
  • Notable Jay-Z adage: "When the lies stop, the rhymes stop." (Bleek quoting Jay-Z, 36:47)

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Media Sensationalism and Positive Narratives

• Chasing Clicks vs. Impact

  • Dee-1 relates how even Black media platforms prefer negative headlines and viral moments over substance.
  • "Are we going to be more about impact than clicks?" (D1, 60:01)

• Money, Fame, and Authentic Living

  • They agree that most would rather be famous than rich, mistakenly linking popularity to success.
  • "I think people think being famous means you get money. No, you just popular." (Bleek, 62:04)

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Shifting the Culture: From "Calling Out" to "Calling In"

• Styles P’s Advice

  • Dee-1 shares that instead of attacking peers, he’s now inviting them into the movement for change.
  • "Stop calling people out and call people in." (Styles P, as recounted by D1, 63:55)
  • Now, he reconciles with others like Jim Jones, Meek Mill, and Joe Budden.

• The Algorithm of Positivity

  • Dee-1 notes strategy in using social media algorithms to make positive content unavoidable for young people.

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On Balance, Glorification, and Optimism

• Seeking Balance in the Culture

  • Bleek recalls hip hop’s golden age, with both positive and street artists coexisting; Dee-1, by contrast, calls for more than balance—he wants positive energy to dominate.
  • "I don't want balance. I don't want negativity glorified." (D1, 67:26)

• Realism vs. Idealism

  • Bleek’s take: The world is built on struggle and conflict; peace is exceptional, not the rule.
  • "You still gotta be a dog... If everybody felt like that, ‘I just want peace’—our culture, we lose everything we stand for." (Bleek, 75:51)

• Dee-1’s Optimism as Superpower

  • Admits being "unrealistically optimistic," always believing in people’s potential—something he sees as a gift, not a flaw.

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Spiritual Stakes & Legacies

• Afterlife and Accountability

  • Dee-1 strongly suggests not all “legends” of rap will be with God in the end—a controversial stance.
  • "A lot of our favorite rappers are in hell right now." (D1, 97:45)
  • Bleek counters, reminding that only God knows the heart and last thoughts of a person.

• On Forgiveness

  • In a playful back-and-forth, they debate whether people really forgive, referencing Rick Ross’s “God Forgives, I Don’t.”
  • "If we asking God to forgive us... God is like, sure, well, I need you to forgive people that did you wrong." (D1, 105:37)

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Notable & Memorable Moments

• Middle School Teacher Turned Rapper:
  • Dee-1 recounts leaving his teaching job (earning $39,000/year) for the rap hustle, eventually touring with Young Dro, Macklemore, and Lupe Fiasco. (81:58–89:54)
• Inspirations & Influence:
  • Credits DMX as a major influence for his passion on stage and in message. (94:34–96:38)
• Dream Collaborations:
  • Dee-1 dreams of a Mannie Fresh-produced “Holy Hot Boy” album, referencing Cash Money roots with a spiritual twist. (107:51–108:09)
• Signature Philosophy:
  • Dee-1 closes with his mantra: "Be real, be righteous, be relevant." (D1, 109:05)

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Notable Quotes

• “Money didn’t create me. God created me… my purpose is to get money, but not worship money.” (D1, 03:32)
• "They taught us to get money... Never told us what to do with the money, so we couldn't tell y'all." (Bleek, 04:21)
• "When the lies stop, the rhymes stop." (Jay-Z via Bleek, 36:47)
• “Are we going to be more about impact than clicks?” (D1, 60:01)
• “Stop calling people out and call people in.” (Styles P, 63:55)
• “I don’t want balance. I don’t want negativity glorified.” (D1, 67:26)
• "A lot of our favorite rappers are in hell right now." (D1, 97:45)
• "Be real, be righteous, be relevant." (D1, 109:05)

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Important Timestamps

• Integrity & Generational Influence: 03:07–05:58
• Money, Depression, and Purpose: 09:25–10:04
• New Orleans and Breaking Cycles: 10:46–13:08
• Dee-1’s Faith Awakening: 14:11–17:19
• Calling OGs & Their Responsibility: 32:07–34:11
• Jay-Z’s ‘Lies and Rhymes’ Principle: 36:47–37:08
• Media Sensationalism & Clicks: 59:43–60:12
• Calling In vs. Calling Out: 63:51–64:44
• Optimism and Purpose: 74:46–75:23
• Be Real, Be Righteous, Be Relevant: 109:03

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Tone and Style

The conversation stays in an authentic, street-flavored tone, laced with wit, realness, brotherly respect, and healthy disagreement. Dee-1’s earnest optimism and spiritual view often bounce off Bleek’s world-weary but compassionate pragmatism. Both challenge each other candidly, but always with warmth and mutual respect.

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For New Listeners:

• This is a rich, thought-provoking episode for anyone interested in hip hop’s evolution, accountability, the intersection of faith and culture, and the personal growth possible in and beyond the music game.
• Dee-1 is as real and passionate in his mission as they come, making this conversation not just a hip-hop interview, but a discussion about legacy, upliftment, and responsibility to one’s self, community, and creator.

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Final Message

Dee-1: “Be real, be righteous, be relevant.”
Memphis Bleek: “Integrity is everything in music. What you say, who you say you are, you have to stand on that.”

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Stay tuned for more raw conversations and culture-shifting dialogue. Stay ROC Solid.

Transcript

[D1]

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[Memphis Bleak]

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[Hunter Woodhull]

And I'm US Paralympic gold medalist Hunter Woodhull.

[D1]

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[Memphis Bleak]

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[Hunter Woodhull]

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[Memphis Bleak]

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[D1]

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[D1]

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[Memphis Bleak]

What up, y'?

[Hunter Woodhull]

All?

[Memphis Bleak]

This your main man? Memphis Bleak right here. Welcome to Rock Solid, a production of iHeartRadio and the Black Effect Network in partnership with my guides over at Drink Champs. Big whipping. Yeah, Memphis, I'm back at it. Niggas notice the difference. Just more grown. Prezi. No stones. Yeah, y', all, you already know what it is. Back with another exclusive rock solid podcast. Yours truly, Memphis Bleak. And like I tell you all the time, when you see people sitting on this platform, it mean one or two things. But this time, it mean both. This man to the right of me, not only is solid, he rock solid. True pillar, new to the game and been holding it down. And this is one of many conversations we gonna have. Welcome my brother D1 to the building. You know what it is? Silent. What's up, my guy?

[D1]

Man, bro, I'm looking forward to this conversation, bro. I'm serious, bro. Cause ain't too many people in the game got integrity.

[Memphis Bleak]

No, definitely, man. That's a rarity in this business, my G. Integrity. These guys come into business, and I think they just see dollar signs, and that becomes they morality instinct. It becomes everything. And they put the dollar first, man.

[D1]

Literally.

[Memphis Bleak]

Like, I respect how you just came in on a whole different lane. What gave you that attitude and mentality to even do it?

[D1]

Cause I know that money didn't create me. God created me. You heard me. And because I know who my creator is. I know my purpose. My purpose is to get money, but not to worship money. That's right. You heard me. And that's just the difference, man. When people worship money and they make money, they God, you know, you can't really hang around them too much.

[Memphis Bleak]

That's right.

[D1]

You can't trust them.

[Memphis Bleak]

That's right.

[D1]

Because that means that that God that they worship, eventually they gonna go against you because of that God they worship. You feel me? And so I just got into the rap game and I said, man, we've become addicted to worshiping money.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yeah.

[D1]

Literally. It's so much music that I blame your generation, to tell you the truth. Y' all the Get Money generation.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yeah, we talked about getting money.

[D1]

Oh, man. But then, okay, what to do now once you get the money? And I think y' all left us hanging.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yo, that's crazy you say that. Because I say it wasn't only our fault. It was the OGs before us because they taught us to get money. That's what everything. Get the money, get money. Queens get money. Brooklyn get money. Manhattan, keep on making it. All that was before my generation. So we came up like, oh, the OG's got the rag tops. They got the big bubble link chains, the big nefertiti pieces. Oh, we wanna be like that. We wanna get money. Never told us what to do with the money, so we couldn't tell y' all what to do with the money. All we knew was to get the money.

[D1]

Get the money and spend it on cars and jewelry and money, cash, hoe. You heard me. I think y' all know who said that. You already know.

[Memphis Bleak]

You know, and it's something. I'mma keep it all the way real. We exploit, yes, the whole culture and music. But, bro, how can you change the mentality of a person who call theyself that? Cause all women ain't hoes.

[D1]

Right?

[Memphis Bleak]

You know, Right. It's a certain demographic of women who will look at you and tell them, man, I'm a certified ho. I stand on that.

[D1]

I stand on that. Yeah, Well, I just feel like if we see a young brother in the hood and he call himself a loser, any man that's in a position to speak life into him will say, you not a loser, you a king. So if you see a woman calling herself a ho, you know, excuse my language. I don't be saying that word. But if you see a woman, oh, that's how you think about yourself, baby, I got a decision to make right now I could either double down on. Yeah, you definitely are. You know what I mean? And I'm finna treat you like one. Or I could be like, you know what, sweetie, you just misguided. You actually not that. You a queen, and I'mma show you how you feel me.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yep. Now let me ask you, how old are you?

[D1]

I'm timeless.

[Memphis Bleak]

I like that answer.

[D1]

I'm timeless. That's what I am.

[Memphis Bleak]

I like that answer.

[D1]

Yeah, I'm timeless.

[Memphis Bleak]

So I want to say, put yourself before becoming timeless. 16, 15 years old, fresh off the block. All right, Girl telling you, hey, I'm a dancer. I'm a hoe. What, you. You trying to convince her she not right then and there?

[D1]

No, at that age. At that age. All right?

[Memphis Bleak]

Cause we all make mistakes. We grow and we get wiser. You're not born wise.

[D1]

Yeah, that. Okay, that's a good point.

[Memphis Bleak]

You know what I'm saying? Cause remember when these records came out, I was. Is that your chick? I was, what, 20? 21 got you. You know what I mean?

[D1]

But who did you look up to? Cause they had somebody that was your OG at the time that knew, like, man, I used to be like you, bleak. But I grew up, and I grew wiser, and I feel like your OGs might have failed you because that's the thing. It starts with the OGs. When the OGs give game properly, then all of a sudden the young generation is ahead of the curve. Cause they like, dang.

[Memphis Bleak]

I'm gonna be honest. I'm never gonna say my OGs fail. My OG is the big homie. He gave me life. I wouldn't be here without him. I never had an OG to teach me about women. I never had a father. All I had was my mother. You know, women is. My mother is an emotional creature. So you can't learn about women from a woman, you know? So I learned about women from just being in the street, going to the clubs, the music videos I watch. Now you talking about back in the days. Come on, man, we had souls. So what? What was my man saying? I got a man. What your man got to do with me? I got a man. I'm not trying to hear that. See, So I grew up off those kind of rappers.

[D1]

That's what I'm saying. Exactly. Exactly.

[Memphis Bleak]

But I'm not gonna consider them my OGs. It's just music that curved, that carved the mentality of a young man that was lost.

[D1]

Right. And I think what enough rappers don't realize is when God has blessed you to make it as a rapper. You got a lot of young homies who you'll never meet in person, but they look up to you because you got a platform, you got a song, you got an album. That's the soundtrack to their lifestyle. And I think enough people didn't think about it like that, and they were just selfish with their success. And they said, man, my success is meant to feed me and my family. I don't care what impact it's having on my listeners.

[Memphis Bleak]

And, bro, I'm gonna tell you, you're 100% right. Cause you gotta remember, in our day was no social media. So you didn't know your reach.

[D1]

Okay?

[Memphis Bleak]

You didn't know who in Alabama.

[D1]

You couldn't see people making tiktoks to your songs.

[Memphis Bleak]

Chicago, you didn't know what we was impacting. All we knew. All right? I'm making music for my dogs. They say, this gonna pay me. This gonna help move the moms out the hood, change our food struggles. We gonna get money. So, yeah, we didn't. I'm gonna tell you, honest from me. I'm not gonna say we from me. I ain't think about nobody else, bro. It was just what was in front of me and what the goal was. It wasn't until I started getting shows, touring, and seeing like, oh, shit. Like, we doing the same thing everywhere in the world. It don't matter if I land in Japan or I land in New York City. It's people getting up, going to work. It's people hustling, it's people scamming, it's people doing crime. But we all, at the end of the day, got the same goal. We trying to make that bag to change life at home. You know what I'm saying? So I don't know where that message went wrong in today's culture, because a lot of these kids today got the bag.

[D1]

Yeah, they got the bag. But they don't realize that the bag is not the end of the road. No, they think that, oh, I got the bag, I made it in life. That's all life is about once they start. That's why you got so many people with mental health issues now. Cause they're like, wait, I got what y' all told me to chase.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yep, yep, I got the bag. But I'm still lonely, yes.

[D1]

But I'm still depressed, but I still don't know my purpose in life.

[Memphis Bleak]

That's a fact.

[D1]

And it's because if you made that bag your God, and you sitting there looking at the bag and you sitting there looking at your bank account like, all right, God, all right, God, help me.

[Memphis Bleak]

Tell me what.

[D1]

God help me. Yeah, help me with this depression. Help me with. Help me with this trauma that I can't deal with.

[Memphis Bleak]

That's right.

[D1]

And that money can't do it for you. You heard me.

[Memphis Bleak]

I tell people all the time, like, money makes life comfortable. It don't make life easy, it just makes it comfortable. You go from riding a train, now you got a car, you know what I'm saying? But it's still. Now, money is the type of thing now when you get a super exceeding amount of money, now you got so much family that wasn't family before, now

[D1]

they on your line, now you got rich problems.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yeah, that's why I say so. No matter what class you in, whether you broke middle class or top tier, it's always problems in each one. Nobody is just sitting there living scot free, just chilling, bro. Yeah, nobody. So. But I wanna go back. Cause you from New Orleans, man.

[D1]

I am.

[Memphis Bleak]

I love the accent. Like, that's one of my most favorite, my favorite cities. Cause just of the, the culture, you know, the history, the blackness of the city, you know, everybody show love. It's like a brotherhood. But I always hear the same thing. Yo, Bleek, that's just you. When you here when you leave. We don't like each other no more.

[D1]

One of the murder capitals in the United States for basically my whole childhood. And the sad part is, you got some people in New Orleans, they ain't gonna admit it. You know, they be faking when you call it out. But I'm from there, so I really know you got a lot of people who take pride in being the murder capital. Yeah, yeah, we that. You heard me. Yeah, we really that. Yeah, number one. Yeah. You know how sick and twisted that mentality is, bro?

[Memphis Bleak]

That's retarded, bro. You want to be the murder capital of the world like that? That's insane.

[D1]

So that's what I grew up around. I grew up around a city where it's like, everybody else outside the city love this city. But down here, man, we kill each other. We make music about it. We party to it. We make it a cool thing to be thugged out and to have no vision in life. And, you know, bro, so I just know I'm not loyal to a geographic location. You know what I'm saying? I'm loyal to people, but I done seen people in my neighborhood, it's called the Goose, right. Right next door to the Goose is the checkerboard. And I'm seeing people. It's like, bro, two blacks separate us from them. And y' all got the nerve to have beef with these dudes to where you ready to kill just because of where they was naturally born at down the street. Like, nothing about that ever been gangster or appealing to me. You know what I'm saying? So I got, like, a relationship with New Orleans where I don't like saying I'm a product of my environment. I think that God ordained me to make my environment be a product of me. Cause I wasn't just poured into by New Orleans. New Orleans ain't poured into me. People in New Orleans poured into me. You feel me?

[Memphis Bleak]

Yeah.

[D1]

How am I gonna worship a street or a little house that I grew up in? No, it's the people in that house, man. So I thank my family. That's why I wear my grandpa around my neck to this day. Cause, man, it was people who had me feeling like, bro, you can't tell me I'm not rich, even though we far from rich.

[Memphis Bleak]

That's right.

[D1]

But I'm rich in spirit.

[Memphis Bleak]

That's right.

[D1]

Because of the love that y' all poured into me, man. And I realized everybody ain't had that, though. No, no, everybody ain't had that, bro.

[Memphis Bleak]

Definitely.

[D1]

So that's so that's part of. That's why I became a rapper, bro. Like, this was never part of the life game plan, bro. I went to college. I graduated. I got a business degree. I was a middle school teacher.

[Memphis Bleak]

That's dope, man.

[D1]

And then I became a rapper. It didn't make sense, but the reason why is because I said, man, when you a rapper, you could be what Memphis Bleak and Jay Z was to us, which is. Y' all are making music that's helping us through hard times. Y' all are teaching us how to wear our hats. You heard me? What name brands is cool?

[Memphis Bleak]

Yeah.

[D1]

With that being said, with that power, we could change a whole generation if we take that power seriously. So I was like, man, I'd rather be a rapper with the heart of a teacher than be a teacher that's watching all my students follow their favorite rappers.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yeah, man. That's crazy. Damn. You just spent that. I was gonna say, like, since a kid. Was you always into Christianity?

[D1]

Like, I grew up Catholic.

[Memphis Bleak]

Oh.

[D1]

So in New Orleans, you know, we got the biggest population of black Catholics in the whole country.

[Memphis Bleak]

Oh, wow. I didn't know that.

[D1]

A whole bunch of black Catholics in New Orleans. It's very common. It's very normal. Right. So I grew up. My people had me. Yeah. I go to church on Sundays. I go take, what, first communion in second grade, eighth grade, confirmation. I went through all, like, the traditional rituals. And then I got out of my mama house. Freshman in college. I went to lsu.

[Memphis Bleak]

Oh, wow.

[D1]

In Baton Rouge.

[Memphis Bleak]

That's what's up.

[D1]

And when I got to college, all in one year, my best friend in New Orleans got murdered. My girlfriend I went to college with cheated on me with a couple football players. You heard me. Oh, yeah, yeah.

[Memphis Bleak]

It happens, man. Girls, man. Yeah. That's why the song is that your chick came out.

[D1]

Ah, that's why it came out. My bad, bro. I got cut from the basketball team. Cause I hooped growing up.

[Memphis Bleak]

Oh, wow. That's what's up.

[D1]

Yeah. Before the rapping.

[Memphis Bleak]

So every rapper had a hoop dream.

[D1]

Everybody had a hoop dream. Then we saw hoop dreams deflate.

[Memphis Bleak]

Word up. Word up.

[D1]

Got cut from the team. And then my roommate, who I went to college with, dude started, like, selling dope out of our dorm room and decided he wanted to turn from, you know, a college student to a D boy. So, you know, that caused me and him to fall out. So all this happened my freshman year, man. And that's honestly what made me realize, man, I grew up going to church, but I Don't have a relationship with God. Cause when I'm falling on hard times, I'm sitting here thinking about revenge. I'm sitting here thinking about bet. I'm finna meet fire with fire. You heard me. I'm finna meet hatred with more hatred. That's not how God teaches us.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yes.

[D1]

So I had to realize, like, I went to church my whole life, but never really opened the Bible and learned anything from it. So freshman year of college, that's when I got serious. I had an encounter with God. Like, you know, you told me a story off camera, bro. And thank you for sharing that about a brother who influenced you growing up in your building. You know what I'm saying? Playing music. Church, dude.

[Memphis Bleak]

Rest in peace, my bro. Song rec. Yeah.

[D1]

And him and his whole family passed away on a church retreat. A church retreat. So I went to a church retreat when I was a freshman in college. And that mug changed my life forever, bro. Because it made everything just click. It was like, oh, I get it now. I get who created us. So we're here, but we not here to just indulge in whatever brings us pleasure. We here to bring our creator pleasure. Then whatever talents we got, oh, we supposed to use those talents to make our creator proud. So if I'm rapping, I gotta rap in a way that God gonna be like, I'm a fan of that. You heard me? I rock with that. That don't mean you gotta be a Christian rapper or a gospel rapper. I don't even know what that is.

[Memphis Bleak]

Remember, they say, come as you are to church.

[D1]

You feel me? I didn't grow up. Yeah. I grew up on no limit. Cash money, Rough Riders, Rockefeller. You heard me?

[Memphis Bleak]

Like, same word.

[D1]

Yeah. So for me, it was like, I get it now, man. Life ain't really that difficult. And when you go through hard times, if it didn't kill you, it was meant to make you stronger.

[Memphis Bleak]

That's a fact.

[D1]

So I'm like, bet. So since freshman year of college, I've been a whole new person. Because I'm like, man, life makes sense now. So I see the people that's over there chasing that bag. All good.

[Memphis Bleak]

The bag is cool.

[D1]

But the bag shouldn't replace our creator. You know what I'm saying? I see the people that's out here that's willing to do anything just to be cool. But if I had to choose, I wanna try to be cool in the eyes of 8 billion people in this world. That sound like a hard job, bro. Cause there's a lot of People out here? Or do I just wanna work for the approval of one man? One man sign me up for that all day. Cause I can't impress all of y'. All. You might be feeling what I'm saying, but they got somebody in the corner right now that's like, man, let me turn this off, man. I don't feel what this dude talking about. That's too much hard work to try to impress all y', all, right?

[Memphis Bleak]

You can't. You will never impress everybody at this point, man.

[D1]

Look, y' all gonna feel how y' all feel about me, but I'm gonna be sincere, I'm gonna be passionate. I'm gonna be great at whatever I do. But I'm just focused on making God proud. See?

[Memphis Bleak]

And I think a lot of things get misconstrued with the messages. Because we might not when we see what you said. You doing it for one person to make God proud, right? When I picked up the pen, I did it for one person. My mama, moms. I wanted to see mama. Now I ain't want to see mama crying, struggling like that. So that was my God, my mom. You know what I mean? And the inspiration was the struggle. Like, it's like, I can't live like this. But I think somewhere along the line, the music changed the way the message. Cause we were the drug pushers. We in the era of drug using. You know what I mean? Like, I feel like somewhere. I'm not saying either one is right, but you can't condemn a man for trying to feed his family. By any means necessary. Zone to Malcolm X By any means necessary. I'm gonna do what I gotta do to feed my family. But by any means necessary. I'mma do what I'mma do. To try to kill myself is insane. I feel like that's where we losing them. Cause to be a drug user, you on something.

[D1]

Well, to be a drug user, what if you just. If you're an addict and you literally. You ever been addicted to anything?

[Memphis Bleak]

I'm addicted to money. I'm addicted to weed.

[D1]

All right, so what if somebody condemned you for being addicted to weed? But if you were like, yo, I've been doing it for so long. I've been smoking for so long. I'm not a bad person, but it's just muscle memory at this point.

[Memphis Bleak]

I used to. My big homie. Well, I used to get Crucified J and them. I couldn't even smoke before the show. They used to take my weed, take the blunts. And I had to wait there after the show to smoke. They used to be like, nah, you can't smoke. And then these niggas made a weed company, and they put me down.

[D1]

Oh, you sound a little salty. You sound a little bad about that. Yeah, Jay Z, that's a shot, yo.

[Memphis Bleak]

Like, it's the shit on me. Dumb for smoking. But one time, I'm gonna be honest. I say I'm addicted to weed, but really not. My wife is the one who made me realize I'm not addicted to anything in this world. I'm addicted to life. You know what I'm saying? Like. Cause I remember my wife, you know, I had a thing where I wouldn't travel to certain places. Cause you couldn't smoke. It was like, why I'm going to Dubai, why I'm going to Singapore, why I'm going to Japan. I don't care about these places. I can't smoke weed. I'm cool. And my wife, like, that's some crackhead shit. For real. Like, you really not. You gonna alienate a whole part of the world because you can't smoke. And then I had to sit back and think, like, damn, am I a crackhead? Let me. Let me. And I do that. Like, I take those trips now for cleansing trips. Like, I go for two weeks just to be like, all right, cool. Let me go. You know, cleanse the mind, body and soul, bro. Just to chill.

[D1]

Let me ask you a question, bro. So you said drug addicts. Like, it's like, how did music get to where we glorify being a drug addict, Right? Yes. Before that, it was glorifying being a drug dealer. What do you think being a drug dealer creates drug addicts.

[Memphis Bleak]

But listen. But you can control. They control. We don't force you to buy drugs, right?

[D1]

I never had.

[Memphis Bleak]

I'm on the block with a billboard. We wasn't on the block with billboard poster signs. Yo, we got the work right here.

[D1]

Well, how they knew y' all had it?

[Memphis Bleak]

Cause they knew where to go. Word of mouth, Remember, drug dealing back then was no social media was no navigation, was nothing. Everything was word of mouth. Even with buying weed, you heard, yo, these niggas up the block got it like, oh, let me go up the block and see what they got. Like, everything was word of mouth in the 80s and early 90s. There was no. You had to go to the payphone to make a phone call. So think how long that took to get dressed in the crib, put on your clothes, go outside, walk to the store, make sure nobody ain't using the Phone. Cause now you gotta wait if somebody on the phone for you to make that call. Yo, fam, you got that? I'm pull up. That was too much. You had to walk around and find out, talk to people, talk to people. And word of mouth was everything. But then you gotta remember what created the addicts in our era. War. That was a lot of vets came back addicts. So we didn't create them.

[D1]

Right? Y' all took advantage of them, though.

[Memphis Bleak]

We didn't take advantage. We took advantage of the situation. Cause we didn't create the drugs neither, bro.

[D1]

Right?

[Memphis Bleak]

We didn't bring that here. We didn't make. If Coco Leaf was in Marcy, it had been different. It'd been a deal. We didn't bring that here. So you can't put that on us and be like, yo, that's your fault. Because think about it. How can I put this in perspective to make it make sense? If I open the vote and tell you, yo, for you to get this money you gotta do, you gotta take this on the block, sell this lemonade. You gonna be like, nah, nah, I'm gonna go sell some lemonade if I go and get to that vote. So you gotta remember that was the thing. To every young hustler back then in the 80s, these guys, when you think of Rich Porter, Al Po, the New York hustlers, the fuck, man, all these guys, you name them, it's too many to name. Nicky Barnes, all the.

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[Memphis Bleak]

I think what people recognized is that the 10 year old son of the shooter is also a victim. The widow is also a victim.

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[Memphis Bleak]

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[Memphis Bleak]

Bro, these niggas make a million dollars a day. You don't think that's enticing to a kid?

[D1]

It's enticing to a kid.

[Memphis Bleak]

An adult, too.

[D1]

And an adult. I'm gonna say this. If I open a shoe store and I'm selling Jordans in that shoe store, right? And I'm selling all kind of Js. I'm just moving these Js by the boatload. And then I'm making music about Jordans and how dope they look and the colorways and all this type of stuff. And then if I look back five years later and be like, man, everybody walking around the streets got Jordans on. What's wrong with y'? All? Why y' all wearing Jordans? We supposed to be wearing something else. It's like, bro, I made this stuff seem way cooler than it was. Because when you put it into music, music makes anything sound way cooler than what it actually is.

[Memphis Bleak]

There's no song that. I'm a drug dealer. I'm a crack dealer. Tell me what song who. We might say it. One, two. But there's no song where we telling you like how you got them songs now. Molly Perkins said no. So the fish scale this on the hook. We might have said it, dibbled and dabbling, but we ain't have no song where we was. Just.

[D1]

When you say we, who you talking about?

[Memphis Bleak]

My era.

[D1]

Your era?

[Memphis Bleak]

My era, bro.

[D1]

I connect. So Fat Joe don't have songs. Talking about crack. Crack, crack, crack, crack.

[Memphis Bleak]

That's his name, bro.

[D1]

Joe Crack. No, that's not his real name.

[Memphis Bleak]

Joe Crack.

[D1]

No, that's his nickname, because he glorified selling crack.

[Memphis Bleak]

All right, all right. Your name D1. We could say D1. Cause that was D1. What?

[D1]

I was trying to be a D1 basketball player. That's what I was trying.

[Memphis Bleak]

Oh, I like that.

[D1]

Yeah, that's what I was. Dope.

[Memphis Bleak]

But think if you wasn't on that message, they could be like D1. What? One with the gun, one with that strap, one with that work like it could mean anything.

[D1]

Right?

[Memphis Bleak]

Just because we. Elliot, remember, crack might not even be called crack. We named it that in America. It's coca leaf. It's cocaine. We cooked it and called it crack. It could have been a different name.

[D1]

Duh, frill. Sh. When my coat come in, they gotta use the scale that they weigh the whales with.

[Memphis Bleak]

I, nigga, listen, my song coming age 2 cocaine, whiter down Operation is sweet, but this is a business we wasn't glorifying. Like, yo, the drug dealers, the line around the block, the crackheads we were, yo, bro, we didn't make them smoke crack. This a difference. Now when you are willingly sitting here and telling me, yo, pop this molly, pop this perk like me. That's a big difference. We didn't make music and tell you smoke crack.

[D1]

And especially if you're not right, nigga, this is my thing. If white people. If white people, man, as black people, bro, I just feel like as black people, we, man, we.

[Memphis Bleak]

We be.

[D1]

So we be the first people to get offended by something.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yes.

[D1]

But we the last people to want to be held accountable for that same thing. If a white person was to come out and make a rap song about selling crack in the hood and moving work or let alone. I'm gonna kill this nigga Da da, da da da. This type of stuff, man, we'd be so quick to, hey, get him canceled asap. We finna go ride on him. But we make these type of songs about doing it to ourselves, man. That's number one on the countdown.

[Memphis Bleak]

I'm correct you on that. We wouldn't have had Slim Jesus if that was the case.

[D1]

Man, you can't name a Slim Jesus song. If so, I get all the money in my pocket.

[Memphis Bleak]

I can't. But I know that name. But why? Cause he had a way to.

[D1]

But white America never made him mainstream. We made our mainstream. We made perfect Percocet, Miley Percocet mainstream. You heard me. And the white people sitting back like,

[Memphis Bleak]

if y' all gonna do it, like we.

[D1]

We gonna make money off of it,

[Memphis Bleak]

you heard, we'll be able to blame them, but.

[D1]

Sure, exactly.

[Memphis Bleak]

They can blame them.

[D1]

Exactly. But we be so quick, they be mad at D1. Man, you always calling out rappers and you calling out hip hop, bro. I have access to rappers and hip hop. I pray that the hip hop community could say, man, if we don't love ourselves first, how we expect some executives to love us more than we gonna love ourselves?

[Memphis Bleak]

I agree with you. But, you know, every genre of music produce Drugs, right?

[D1]

Every genre of music produce drugs, but people not getting RICO charges in every genre of music, but they not getting

[Memphis Bleak]

RICO charges for drugs. These niggas get RICO charges for gang activity, even that.

[D1]

It's only in hip hop though. I ain't never seen an R and B artist or a country artist get on RICO charge.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yo, he just stopped me, yo. I was about to say something, but I was like, yo, you right, Garbage.

[D1]

He got a rico. Nah, come on, man.

[Memphis Bleak]

But listen, they don't exploit their crimes like they do ours. So you can't. We might not never know.

[D1]

We rap about our crimes now.

[Memphis Bleak]

We didn't back then. Now, now say we day. How about that day, right?

[D1]

Oh, so I'm glad you said. Cause there's a difference between what's going on now and what was going.

[Memphis Bleak]

Right.

[D1]

Exactly. Yes. That being said, this the first ever in hip hop where you got cats that are in their 50s and 60s. Like, I know you got some artists and like Public Enemy. I just co wrote two songs on Public Enemy's new album. I know them brothers, Chuck D and Flav, they in their 60s and they

[Memphis Bleak]

been pushing that message for a minute.

[D1]

You got rappers in their 60s and you got rappers that's 15 and 16 all at once. And it's all called hip hop, right? With that being said, this is the first time in history where we have an opportunity for the OGs in hip hop, let's say like 35 and up, to be like, yo, we survived the trenches, we know what it's like to make it out and we know better now. So I think it's the obligation of the OGs in hip hop, myself included, to pour into that younger generation and see the mistakes they making and be like, the same way we would with our kids. Hey, I see my kid going down the wrong path. Oh no, I'm gonna teach you how to drive that car the right way. Cause I see the way you driving, you finna run into another car, you know what I mean?

[Memphis Bleak]

That led me to why I even did My last project, apartment 3D, shout out my guy Cheech. Like I said, my whole thing was, I'm 47, bro. I'm not that 16 year old kid from Fresh off the Block who was just making music for my dogs on the block. I didn't know my impact was gonna touch the world. All I knew, I wanted the girls in high school and on my block to know I was that nigga. Like, that was it. So to make it this far and do all of this shit I told my guy Cheech, like, if I'm gonna make an album now, I'm not gonna come back acting like I'm that guy on the block. Or like, we coming to take over. We want our strip back. Nah, we gonna give you the game to let you know it's life out after the strip once you make that money. The things they didn't teach me as a kid, that when you do get your money off the strip, go open that business.

[D1]

Yes, sir.

[Memphis Bleak]

Go open up that LLC.

[D1]

Yes, sir.

[Memphis Bleak]

Go invest in this. You know, 1% of something is better than 100% of nothing. So that was my whole mentality making this project. So I feel you when you say it's up for the OGs to give back and give game. I felt like in my era, they did that. I had the Big Daddy Kanes, the Rakims, you know, Rest in Peace Biz Mark. You had the Slick Ricks, where the message and the knowledge was there. It's just what you do with it.

[D1]

What you do with it.

[Memphis Bleak]

You know what I mean?

[D1]

Cause you can ignore it. It could be right there.

[Memphis Bleak]

Like you said, you went to school with a homie. He in college, bro. And he wanted to be a dope dealer. I dreamed of. Yo, bro. My first time going to college was doing a show. I never even knew what college looked like until I had a show at a college and was looking around like, this is what I missed for the block. So I almost felt almost like, damn. I missed out on a portion of life because I wanted to be on the block and get money. But at the end of the day, my message and my goal still remained. Mama couldn't go through that. I had no pops, my brother in jail. It was just me and my little sister. What I'mma do Wait Time waits for no man.

[D1]

Wow, man. Thank you for being a part of the shift, bro. Cause a shift is happening right now, of course. And you a part of it. Cause you a OG that's embracing your new maturity that you've reached in. Like, not all the OGs are doing that. And I know the reason why they not. I never met a OG in hip hop who is a bad person at the core. They're just afraid that if they show their more mature side, that they bag is gonna get impacted. They afraid that the block ain't gonna respect them as much. They afraid to make an apartment 3D album because they feel like, man, my fans ain't trying to hear no message in my music. They not bad people, but they're Afraid to do that. So I love highlighting the OGs, the Memphis Bleaks, the Styles. Ps.

[Memphis Bleak]

Mm Styles, my guy.

[D1]

The Killer Mikes.

[Memphis Bleak]

Killer Mike.

[D1]

You know what I'm saying? The Willie D's of the world, the Mr. Fabs of the world. I love the Mac Phippses of the world. Like, the people who. Y' all doing it, bro. Y' all doing it, and y' all making y' all peers look at y' all and be like, dang, Bleak did it. Maybe I could do it. Cause a lot. These ain't bad dudes that we dealing with, but they're still. They 50, but they still trying to play the role that they had to play when they was 20.

[Memphis Bleak]

And see that, that's where I. I don't like the rap game when it comes to that. Because integrity is everything to me in music. What you say, who you say you are, you have to stand on that and be that. Being a man and being me, that's not an image. I can't portray that. I can't keep that up. So an artist that you run into and they still trying to keep up something they was 20 years ago. That's how you know that's not them.

[D1]

Yeah.

[Memphis Bleak]

You know what I mean? Cause think about it. You don't wake up and put on the D1 costume, be like, oh, I'm me now. This is just you. Life comes. You go with it as it goes.

[D1]

Yeah.

[Memphis Bleak]

And anybody that gotta portray a role.

[D1]

Yeah.

[Memphis Bleak]

That's why Jay used to always say, I tell people a lot, man. Jay used to tell us integrity is everything. When the lies stop, the rhymes stop.

[D1]

When the what?

[Memphis Bleak]

When the lies stop, the rhymes stop.

[D1]

Wow.

[Memphis Bleak]

Cause you were sitting there lying. You and your rhymes lying. That's not you.

[D1]

Right.

[Memphis Bleak]

You know what I'm saying? So when the lies run out, the rhymes run out.

[D1]

Wow.

[Memphis Bleak]

You know what I'm saying? So that's what our whole thing was. Integrity and being true to self and who you are. Don't get in that booth and just acting like you something that you not. If you a cool guy, be a cool guy. If you a killer, say that. If you not say that, it's cool. Nobody like, it's a. Think about it. We produce Kanye west, bro. Like, people give us. Like, I see you was on us like, yeah, y' all erase, bro. We brought the college dropout. That whole cool kid not using drugs, not smoking weed. College dropout. But I'm a successful businessman that produced the Kendricks, the J. Coles, all that era. Now Came from us, so we don't get credit for that.

[D1]

Yeah, yeah. Y' all also produced Dame Dash.

[Memphis Bleak]

No, Dame Dash produced Dame Dash.

[D1]

Word. Yeah. Cause I.

[Memphis Bleak]

He didn't produce Dame Dash.

[D1]

Yeah. I just feel like the era of.

[Memphis Bleak]

Damn. You don't like Dame?

[D1]

Oh, I don't have a problem with Dame. I love Dame. I feel like. Man, I feel bad for Dame.

[Memphis Bleak]

Why?

[D1]

Why?

[Memphis Bleak]

What happened?

[D1]

I just feel like he's a prisoner of the Persona he created 30 years ago. You know what I mean? Like, nobody is, like, tripping on having to flex on how big their house is nowadays. Nobody's tripping on her. Like, everybody's, like, past that. It's like, bro, we alive, bro. God has been good to all of us. It's cool. It's not an ego. It's not a pissing contest anymore. And that's.

[Memphis Bleak]

Let me stop you. That's not. Dang. That's Harlem.

[D1]

That's Harlem.

[Memphis Bleak]

That's Harlem, bro.

[D1]

That's Harlem.

[Memphis Bleak]

That's Harlem. Let me. Yo, that's Harlem. They doing that shit with sneakers.

[D1]

Really?

[Jenna Kim Jones]

Hats.

[D1]

Really?

[Memphis Bleak]

Watches shirt, man. That's Harlem. They compete. They born to compete, yo. I'm telling you. You see Cam and Mace? Yeah.

[D1]

Now, Mace, my man. Me and Mace super close.

[Memphis Bleak]

It's not like it's on purpose. That's why I'm not gonna say it's Dame fault. That's his habitat. That's his environment. That's Harlem, bro. It's almost him dropping the Harlem flag if he don't brag. Like, real talk, it's almost like I'm not from Harlem no more if I ain't gonna drag my nuts a little bit.

[D1]

Hey, it's time we drop some flags, though. You got a lot of fake gang bangers out here that's been banging for too long. Time to drop the.

[Memphis Bleak]

I ain't with none of that, man. I'm neutral with that. I ain't never been in that gang life. I don't. It's not something we grew up on in New York City, in Brooklyn.

[D1]

We didn't have it in New Orleans either, till, like, when Lil Wayne started repping, being a blood. You know what I'm saying? That was like. That made everybody in New Orleans be like, huh?

[Memphis Bleak]

But I ain't seen no blood culture in New Orleans. That's crazy. I didn't see. Yo, bro, I've been out there. I got a couple people.

[D1]

Oh.

[Memphis Bleak]

After my homegirl, she ordained out there. My girl, she just got ordained. She's a minister out there. Like, Doing big, big work. And I'm tired. Be out there with the folks moving around. Bro, I never seen the blood in New Orleans.

[D1]

There was an era. There was an era after Hurricane Katrina. You heard me to where. Definitely had a blood presence and a blood culture in New Orleans. And it just shows the power of hip hop.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yep.

[D1]

That was only because everybody in our city look up to Lil Wayne, you know, as a rapper, and it's like, oh, Wayne rapping blood. So you had some people that was like, bet, we following that. So the influence that hip hop has is something where. Bro, I hate when people tell me it's just entertainment. I'm just rapping about this. Yeah, yeah. I'm rapping about Miley Percocet. Miley Percocet. But it's just entertainment. We gotta stop with that bs. It's just entertainment. No, bro. Hip hop literally is the soundtrack to whatever we want to make cool, whatever we want to cancel, whatever we want to prioritize in life. Hip hop has the ability to speak truth to power or to speak lies to power.

[Memphis Bleak]

True. But movies do, too. Television shows do, too.

[D1]

But once again, that's us pointing fingers. Let's just focus on what we could control, bro.

[Memphis Bleak]

But it's all the same message. This is what I'm telling you. If I go. If I listen to a song that's telling me trap, shoot, kill, then I go watch a movie where they trapping, shooting, killing. And then I go outside and they trap and shoot and kill. What I'm supposed to do, bro? Well, you can't. That's not pointing a finger. That's all you. That is drowning you. It's like sink or swim. It's like, I gotta swim, right?

[D1]

I just think that hip hop, like, people afraid. Everybody wanna be lukewarm in hip hop. That's the problem. Everybody is like, man, I don't wanna be all the way negative, but I don't wanna be all the way on some positive, real stuff either. Like, everybody is like, let me play it safe.

[Memphis Bleak]

Nah, man, that's whack. If they real is real, it's real. There is no halfway real. Either you all the way real or you faking the funk. What they used to say back in the day, because you can't portray real. And what I'm saying is no rapper in history has ever made me wanna put it like this. I used to, as a kid, I used to glorify guns. Used to be like, damn. Cause we had dirty guns. There was no license in New York to walk in the gun store and buy a pretty new brand new out the box gun. So any guns we got were dirty bullshit, like, you know, hand downs. So when I first started seeing nice guns was like, oh, shit. But it wasn't until I saw Desperado that I fell in love with a P89, bro. No rapper did that to me. Seeing that guitar case did that. So it's the same influence. That's what I'm saying. Whether it come from the music, the movies, it was in the environment too. So it's not the rapper sole fault. And we only can't change it because we have positive rappers that they drowned out they sound. We have positive movies. You know what I'm saying? They on tubi and they try to make tubi. Like that ain't nothing. That's where the B roll movies go. No, that's where some good movies is at too. So, you know, it's all about your preference. And I just feel like America as a whole, when you travel the world and you look at the speed they let they countries go, we the autobahn, bro.

[D1]

Of just wilding out like this.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yeah, we the autobahn. Half the shit that we do in America, you can never do. First of all, you can't even chew gum in Singapore. It's a felony.

[D1]

What?

[Memphis Bleak]

All right, so bring a pack of gum to Singapore. You might not see, you might not

[D1]

Lord, they gonna Brittany grinder me, right?

[Memphis Bleak]

Strictly for gum.

[D1]

Wow.

[Memphis Bleak]

You feel me? Like, jaywalking. Like, remember you heard about jaywalking? I had to pay 5 Euro on the street to the police in Germany right now. No, ain't no go to the atm, nothing. You don't have it in your pocket. Hands behind your back for jaywalking.

[D1]

Yeah. So other countries, they not playing them games.

[Memphis Bleak]

Nah. So I'm telling you, it's 0 to 100 in America. And we. We at 100 all the time.

[D1]

Yeah.

[Memphis Bleak]

Like, yeah.

[D1]

So watch this. I just look at it like this, bro. When we choose to get into hip hop and when we see, like, man, I really got hundreds of thousands of followers that when I say something, they listen to it. They memorize my lyrics like, they really on me, bro. We gotta decide do we wanna spend our lives complaining about problems or being a part of the solution to the problems we seek. And I think in hip hop, if we could get just a few people, there's something called the 3.5% rule. It says that in countries all around the world, there's been proof that when you can only get 3.5% of the population to unify and say, hey, we gonna come together to overthrow what's in power right now. Right? All you need is 3.5% of unified people. That's on the same page, same mission, and you can overthrow what the power structure is. I feel like in hip hop, we have enough influence and clout, money, taste and skill set to be able to say, man, if we want to use our power in hip hop to overthrow all of the power structures that we see that's holding our people back, Hip hop could literally change the state of the black community. All of the wealth that we have in hip hop, all of the world. I know you. I know you not hurting.

[Memphis Bleak]

By the grace of God, I'm about to tell you we can, but it's not gonna happen. We tried, bro. We had we are the world. That's one song. Yo, we had Stop the violence, Self destruction all. That's one song.

[D1]

This gotta be a lifestyle that you willing to die for.

[Memphis Bleak]

I think in 88, when self destruction came out, they sold more drugs. When the refugee, they tried what it did. That's.

[D1]

But that's how crazy people are.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yes. Like, because here's the thing. The message is there, the path is there. People ain't willing to follow, bro, here's the thing.

[D1]

When you create the addict, you can't get mad when the addict is willing to die to protect the drug dealer. Cause they're like, man, that drug dealer is like God to me, you helped create the addict. And then you get mad when the addict wants to ride or die behind a drug dealer in hip hop. Now, all these fans, the people that's watching this podcast, half of them are addicts. They literally have a taste for murder music. They have a taste for music that is glorifying disrespecting women and selling dope. They are addicts and they love their favorite rappers so much that when a rapper like me come along and just be like, hey, bro, I mean, we making music glorifying murder. Like, come on. And I might say a few people name or call a few people out just because these are some of the people making the music. Their fans, AKA their addicts. They're ready to go to war with me.

[Memphis Bleak]

I'll attack you. Yeah, literally. I see it. I see it online. You be having all the smoke. I see it.

[D1]

And look where I'm at.

[Memphis Bleak]

And you go for it. That's why I love your resilience, your resilient, your rebellion, bro. You pushed through everything that people thought. When the system is against you, you broke all those stereotypes, like you a one man army, like you said. You coming in, going against some of the top dogs, gunning at everybody. And you still here. And I know when you walk the street, you probably be shocked at how respected and accepted you are in the hip hop community. Cause you give a lot of power to the hip hop community. But I blame our race and our culture because we come together for a concert, we come together for a show, we come together for a release of a new sneaker. You know what I mean? But we don't come together to do anything positive. So it's not just music, bro. We had that problem with Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, all these people. That's what I'm saying. The fight that you fighting has been going on for centuries, bro. It's not like a you versus them or them versus you. It's like, how do you get the message to the masses the way they accept the message? Because it's not through the music, bro. We had music that said the message.

[D1]

I tell you how think krs1 went

[Memphis Bleak]

from shoot em up bang bang to philosopher.

[D1]

He was the teacher.

[Memphis Bleak]

You feel me?

[D1]

Like, yeah, yeah, watch that.

[Memphis Bleak]

That's my favorite rapper, for real.

[D1]

Oh, I love KRS1. Shout out to him, Chuck D. Like them brothers paved the way for somebody like me.

[Memphis Bleak]

That's what I'm saying. I'm saying, bro, watch this.

[D1]

Joel Santana just did something amazing. He denounced what he used to promote. He used to be promoting Double Cupped up on that drink. Da da da. He just went on a podcast and was like, hey, I was wrong for that. That's the most gangster thing that your generation could do in hip hop right now. Hey, y', all, I was young. I was 20 years old. I respect you so much when you tell me that, d. I was 20 years old when I made this song. I was promoting this, but now I'm 47. And guess what? I know that some of that stuff I said, that wasn't right. I'm on this now.

[Memphis Bleak]

That's a fact.

[D1]

The fact that you're still here. People respect your generation as much now as we did back then. We respect you more because really all of y' all are doing better. You know what I'm saying?

[Memphis Bleak]

And I look at it as our fans grew with us.

[D1]

Yeah.

[Memphis Bleak]

So we can't still be talking that block talk. Cause the average person who was on the block when we was on the block, they ain't got three kids in the job right now. He in the garage hiding from his wife. That he still smoke, so he don't wanna hear that music. I couldn't make that music no more. You feel me?

[D1]

So you know who Jerry Jones is?

[Memphis Bleak]

Yeah, the football owner. Yeah, yeah, Dallas. Yeah.

[D1]

The black community got mad at Jerry Jones. Cause he was in a picture from the 1960s.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yeah, yeah, I seen that.

[D1]

Not wanting a school to be desegregated.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yep, absolutely.

[D1]

So they was like, you gotta apologize for that, or we ain't rocking with the cops. But the black community not asking our rappers who was glorifying murder and glorifying drug dealing and all that, to say, oh, well, y' all gotta come out and denounce what you used to promote. We don't want that same level of accountability from our people.

[Memphis Bleak]

Cause it's really not glorification, bro. Like a lot of people, some people was glorifying, bro. No, listen, I feel like if you a artist who didn't live that life and you portray it through your music, then, yes, you're glorifying you making a profit off a life that you didn't even live or contribute in, I agree to that. But a lot of us, bro, we were involved. And all we knew was to talk what we saw, what we went through, bro. And as you grow, the music changes. Like, think from my first album, Coming to Age, that shit was all about. I still take cabs to the capsule spot. You know, everything was the first and 15th. But then when I got some money, it became, wait a minute, do my ladies run this? Well, do my. My fellas run this? Like, so it grows. And then, ding. As more money came. You listen to my maid album? My maid album was me talking about all the homies that died, my brother almost dying. Like, the struggles of being an artist and your transition from going to this street guy to trying to be this family businessman. It was all of that. It's just. People don't want to hear that, bro. It's like they wasn't ready for it. I ain't gonna say they don't wanna hear it. The message and the timing wasn't right. Because timing is everything.

[D1]

Timing is everything.

[Danielle Robay]

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[D1]

Right?

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Because of course they are. And the finale of your favorite show of all time of the week is on at the exact same moment. Well, you can boost the WI fi to your device with Xfinity.

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[Memphis Bleak]

I think what people recognized is that the 10 year old son of the shooter is also a victim. The widow was also a victim.

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So it is 9,500 people and a

[Memphis Bleak]

lot of them are giving $5, $10, $20.

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[D1]

think there's ever a bad time to do the right thing though.

[Memphis Bleak]

Never. Never.

[D1]

Even if it don't sell as much as doing the wrong thing. Because the devil is smart. The devil is going to be like, man, I'm going to make doing the wrong thing sell quadruple. What doing the right thing is gonna sell. Cause then what that's gonna do that's gonna incentivize a young black man to say I'm just gonna keep glorifying the wrong thing cause it sells more.

[Memphis Bleak]

See, but I think a lot of people got it misconstrued that the industry like the executives tell the artists to make this music. Cause I see that message going around too. Like yeah, they not gonna put your record out if you not talking this. There's no A and R in the room telling you yo yo, you need to mention the Glock a little bit more. You ain't mention the drugs enough for perking this line. Take that out. Say it don't go down like that. It's us as creators that we create the music. They go play it in. They A and R meeting. They look at the interns, they get hyped. They like, this the one. We going with that. And that's 90% how music comes out to you.

[D1]

Taking accountability. Thank you, brother. Like, we teammates, bro. That's why we are bro. We teammates.

[Memphis Bleak]

That's why I wanted to have you on the platform. Cause when I see what you doing and what you represent, I'm like, I get. I get it. But the one thing I just wanted to tell you, it ain't all our fault. That was the only thing I wanted to tell you. Like, yeah, we played a responsibility in

[D1]

it, but it wasn't.

[Memphis Bleak]

That's not all our fault. All we doing is playing the game that was left to us. And they left the door open. They said, there's money in there. They could say, oh, word. That's all I gotta do to get something. And it's gonna change life. And then once they did, you see my big homie, he do way more good. People talk about shit that Jay did 20 years ago and don't even know what he into today, Right? Jay done post bailing free more incarcerated criminals than any legislator. And any of these dudes are borough presidents, any of them. But he don't get. He don't get credit for that.

[D1]

He should.

[Memphis Bleak]

You know what I'm saying?

[D1]

He should shout out to Jay Z for that. He should.

[Memphis Bleak]

Him and his wife bailed out. Remember the riots? What was the George Floyd riots? They bailed out everybody that got locked up. Nobody talk about that.

[D1]

Yeah, that we should. We have to make doing the right thing cool.

[Memphis Bleak]

That's right. Like, we have to. Even with the police thing, he going against the police in Kansas City. A lot of people don't even know about that. That he got the chief of police, I think, locked up in Kansas City for a crime, a race crime. They did. And he the one hired the attorneys and all that. And going against them out there. Like, it's a lot of shit that go on that I just feel like us as media don't cover. And that's why I started this platform, too.

[D1]

Oh, man.

[Memphis Bleak]

Was like.

[D1]

Yeah.

[Memphis Bleak]

Cause when you turn on podcasts, you turn on any type of urban media outlet, first thing you hear is what crime you committed, what girls you was fucking.

[D1]

Yo.

[Memphis Bleak]

And what executive or business partner you don't like no more, Man.

[D1]

Bro, you so you so on it. Watch this.

[Memphis Bleak]

You feel me?

[D1]

I ran into Birdman in Las Vegas at the Verses Right. So Birdman was in the middle of. Like, he was going off on somebody outside the verses. Like, he was going off on him, like, for real. And so I, like, I stepped in, and I know Birdman knows me, so I knew when he see me, it probably changed the temperature in the room, Right? And it did. And we had a real good exchange. And he was like, I'm proud of you. I wanna do a song with you. Da, da da and show love. There was a big media outlet, a big black media outlet. Right? Then hit me up in my dm, like, yo, we asking for permission to post this video, right? But I know that because he was going off on somebody in the beginning of the clip. I'm knowing, like, hey, can y' all let me know what the headline is gonna say? Cause I don't want y' all to paint him in the wrong light.

[Memphis Bleak]

That's right.

[D1]

And make it seem like it's some whole other. You know what I mean? I asked them, hey, what's the headline gonna be? Because I asked that before I gave them permission to post it. They just didn't post it. That let me know they was gonna go. They was gonna go with the clickbait with some negativity.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yep.

[D1]

And this is a black outlet, bro. So you so right, bro.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yeah.

[D1]

People like, when are we gonna be more about impact than clicks? Cause sometimes making more impact means you gonna get a few less clicks. That's right.

[Memphis Bleak]

You feel me? That's right.

[D1]

But that's why you gotta be smart with your money. Cause when you got a spot in Vegas, like, you just opened up, or when you got a real estate or a stock portfolio. You know what I'm saying? Like, myself, it's like, hey, I'm cool with getting a few less clicks to know I'm doing the right thing in God's eyes.

[Memphis Bleak]

That's right.

[D1]

You feel me?

[Memphis Bleak]

That's a fact.

[D1]

Because all my bag ain't contingent upon, man, I gotta go viral every week or else I ain't gonna be able to pay my bills.

[Memphis Bleak]

And viral is no money in viral. If you're not selling something, what are you viral for? What? What are you getting paid? Telling people that I've been viral for the last six months. If you ain't watching the podcast, I ain't making no money off that viral shit. Like, what we selling? I don't have no shirts or no hoodies for. That's the only time I feel like going viral pays. Like, if you marketing a product, then, yeah, go viral. Do your thing. Cause you want your product on the forefront. You want everybody to know, but if you just out there talking shit, yo, I slept with 20 videos. What's that? What check coming from that? Let's Playboy hiring you, and they hiring girls. I ain't seen a Playboy man model get hired in years.

[D1]

Nor am I looking. I'm not even looking exactly.

[Memphis Bleak]

But they just gave Cardi B a bag. She ain't even pose for none of that, but just she represents that sexuality. That's what I mean. Like, these guys get on these platforms and tell these stories, and I just be sitting there looking like, yo, fam. What? Like, all right, you committed 20 crimes 10 years ago. Why we needed to know that right now?

[D1]

All they want is attention, bro.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yeah. It's like attention became the new currency.

[D1]

Yes.

[Memphis Bleak]

Like, they rather be seen than paid. And I don't get that. Like, I feel like if you ask a million people today, would you rather

[D1]

be famous or rich?

[Memphis Bleak]

Rich. I think they gonna pick fame.

[D1]

I think 700,000 of them gonna pick fame.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yeah.

[D1]

Cause 300,000 of them gonna be like, give me the bag, Give me the money. Yeah.

[Memphis Bleak]

Cause I think people think being famous means you get money. No, you just popular.

[D1]

Yeah.

[Memphis Bleak]

You have to do something for people to pay you for your popularity. Just to be popular. You just popular. Do you feel like this path you chose of, like, you called out a few rappers doing this? Do you feel like that hurt you in any way?

[D1]

No, brother. I'm right where God has ordained me to be.

[Memphis Bleak]

That's right.

[D1]

I've turned down record deals before. I've made decisions that weren't popular at the time. But I had peace in my spirit, and that peace is priceless. So me calling out rappers, nobody ever talks about the fact that prior to me calling them out, I said, I love you too much to not be honest with you. If I didn't love you, keep being a crash out. I don't care what y' all do, whatever. But I love y' all too much to not be honest. I know you got better in you. You know what I'm saying? I've been working with human beings my whole life. I know when somebody just mentally is retarded, and it's like, you don't know no better. You feel me? Yeah. But I'm just like, oh, no. We dealing with people that clearly know way better.

[Memphis Bleak]

That's right.

[D1]

But it's just like, dang, man. Like, I'm curious, bro. Like, why are you still showcasing the lowest version of who you are when you're so intelligent and so gifted, you know? So for me, bro, calling out rappers, you know, Styles P gave me some advice and it changed my life. Instead of calling out rappers, I'm here to start calling in rappers and say, hey, you can live your life how you want to, but let's make the world better for these babies, for that next generation coming up. So with that being said, brother, we need to be teammates, you know, we can't be opps. We can't be beefing. Cause we both care about our sons, daughters, little brothers and little sisters.

[Memphis Bleak]

That's a fact.

[D1]

So Styles P told me that, and I got goosebumps, bro, across my whole body.

[Memphis Bleak]

You just killed me with that. Stop calling people out and call people in.

[D1]

And ever since I did that, life been way better. Me and Jim Jones saw each other. That was somebody. We had issues, you know what I'm saying? And he said, whenever we see each other, look the other way, don't even come near me. But when we saw each other, he reached his hand out first, you know what I mean? Gave me the depth. We didn't have a long conversation or nothing, but on some man time, bam. Me and Meek Mill got to chop it up as men in the club in New Orleans during Super Bowl. Good. Like these up me and Joe Budden. Joe Budden shouting me out on this podcast. Now, before Joe Button was at my top, you know what I'm saying? So instead of calling people out, it's about calling people in. And I think that the energy that. That I move with is something where I want people to say, I might not always agree with what he's saying, but I always resonate with why he is doing the work that he's doing.

[Memphis Bleak]

That's right.

[D1]

I just wanna make the world better, bro.

[Memphis Bleak]

That's right.

[D1]

And I know I got an expiration date, just like we all do. And for some of us, we might be in the second half of our life. You heard me? It might be after halftime for some of us.

[Memphis Bleak]

Shit. So, yeah, you're in the third place,

[D1]

the third quarter, my G. So with that being said, I'm like, man, I gotta move with a sense of urgency about unlocking the greatness inside of people. Because in our community in hip hop, so many people are great, but they've been rewarded their whole career for showcasing negativity, ratchetness and sin. So they never even got to showcase their greatness and their godliness. And I'm trying to help people unlock it, man. I ran into Nori last night for the first time ever, Norris said, I am a fan of you. He said, I look at your videos every morning to put me in a positive mindset to start my day off. He said, I wonder, like, how do you constantly do this with the energy you do it with? And he literally said. He said, you the chosen one to help shift the whole hip hop culture.

[Memphis Bleak]

There's always one man. I always say that. It's always one that they is the voice of reasoning for the community. It's always one. You're gonna always get that, whether it's in movies, music, philanthropy, books. Like, it's always gonna be that standout. And you definitely a standout pillar in our community that we needed in this young generation, young era. Because when you got a young son, like, think about it, it comes a boy. Like I said, I'm 47, my son 22. Thank God I raised him and kept him out of that. That life that I went down that path. But still, I still feel like sometimes my message get lost in the crowd

[D1]

of everybody else around him. That's pushing negativity, you know what I'm saying?

[Memphis Bleak]

So it's like the music, he listening to, what's cool. How do you get your message to resonate? So when you see people like you come on the scene, I know that no matter what, he watching that video gonna come across as you.

[D1]

I'm in that algorithm.

[Memphis Bleak]

You know what I'm saying?

[D1]

I'm in that algorithm.

[Memphis Bleak]

He's gonna get that balance. And I feel like the culture looked like we lost our way because there was no balance. Remember when I was a kid, it was a balance. You had African Bambaata, you had Public Enemy. You had, like I said, you had Slick Rick, but then you had your Rakims and your big Daddy Kanes, too. You know what I'm saying? Where in our era? Coming up, remember you had Arrested Development. You had genius.

[D1]

Oh, that's my big brothers. Yeah.

[Memphis Bleak]

You know what I'm saying? You had the fugees, but you also had Mobb Deep. You know, it was a balance where today there's no balance. It's just. The scale is just tipped.

[D1]

Can I say something to you, brother? I don't want no balance. Mm. I don't want no negativity. Glorified negativity is gonna exist in the

[Memphis Bleak]

world all day, and we need to

[D1]

narrate the negativity and talk about it. But I don't want balance in saying we need to glorify some negativity and glorify some positivity.

[Memphis Bleak]

But I don't think it's glorifying it. I think it's talking about what you know.

[D1]

Percocet, Miley, Percocet.

[Memphis Bleak]

But that's not violence. That's drugs.

[D1]

That's drugs, but it's glorifying drugs. Making drugs sound cool. Yeah, okay. Drill rap is Drill rap. Not glorifying murder.

[Memphis Bleak]

Now that's that. That's you. Young niggas is wild to talk about a crime that you actually committed and then go live and want to commit another one. I'm with not good, bro. But listen, let's go back to the drug music. What about White Lines?

[D1]

Blow Away?

[Memphis Bleak]

You ain't feeling way about that.

[D1]

What is that? I don't know what that is.

[Memphis Bleak]

You don't know the song White Line? Oh, yeah. He said he not. I got. He might be on the third floor.

[D1]

Yeah, I don't think he.

[Memphis Bleak]

He on the floor. Yeah. What is that? The white song? White Lines. Ask Mama Love or Pop Duke, they gonna tell you that was that shit in the 80s. Like, look at Scarface. What was the other song? Flash, Flash, Flash off the Yayo.

[D1]

Okay, okay.

[Memphis Bleak]

Like, yeah, they had yo, bro.

[Matt Rogers]

Okay.

[Memphis Bleak]

Drug music has been here forever. We don't even know what Punjabi saying. On the joint with Jay, he could be saying some Indian drug shit.

[Matt Rogers]

Mm.

[Memphis Bleak]

We don't even know. Have that song been translated yet? We don't have a clue, man. But this what I'm saying. Drugs has been glorified in the music. Cause my manager back in the day, I remember my first time going to London, bro. My first time ever going to London. And this is why I'mma tell you this story. Because I'm saying drugs is in every genre of music where I'm looking for weed. And I remember my manager, he didn't smoke. My manager, Biha, shout out Biha, he don't smoke to this day. Real businessman. And he was like, bleak. You're in the music business. All music has drugs. I don't give a fuck if you in R and B, you in gospel, you in rock and roll. There's hard drugs everywhere. You need to just find where they sell mix tapes at. I bet you wherever you find a Clue tape, you find weed. And I'm like, I'm in London. Fuck. I'm gonna find a Clue tape. So I started doing. This is when MySpace just launched Ask Mike where the underground music store at, bro. I bought a dime bag and a Clue tape in London, my first time. So that's when I knew. Damn, if I Wanted some coke. Then I had to go to the rock and roll bar.

[D1]

Wow.

[Memphis Bleak]

You know what I'm saying? So it's here, bro. Like, I understand your fight, but this shit been going on before we was born, bro.

[D1]

But we could stop it.

[Memphis Bleak]

You never gonna stop it.

[D1]

Why?

[Memphis Bleak]

It's never gonna stop it, man.

[D1]

Never. Never.

[Memphis Bleak]

It's not.

[D1]

Don't register to me, the word never. They told me I'd never be sitting on the couch with you.

[Memphis Bleak]

It's some people that can't survive without it. Like, think about it. When they get a person off heroin, how you think they get a drug addict off heroin?

[D1]

Off heroin. I don't know what they say.

[Memphis Bleak]

They give you more.

[D1]

They give you more drugs.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yeah, they put you on morphine.

[D1]

They give you more.

[Memphis Bleak]

So they put you on the legal one now, right? So to get you off the illegal one, we gonna give you our version of it. Right to where you gotta. Bro. It's people that take heroin and morphine that if they stop, they're gonna die.

[D1]

But the strongest drug in this world is love. And that right there, that's all we need at the end of the day.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yeah, but that ain't that. Yo, bro. When them bills are stacked and that man knocking. Hey, Talking about them lights gonna cut off. That hug ain't gonna make you feel better.

[D1]

That hug ain't gonna make you feel better.

[Memphis Bleak]

I need that blood, blood. I'm gonna keep it real.

[D1]

But that heroin ain't gonna.

[Memphis Bleak]

Oh, they ain't gonna pay your bills. They been lost the bills. When they get to that, they on the street. We ain't even talking about that. The Molly Percocett guy. That's probably why they doing it.

[D1]

Yeah.

[Memphis Bleak]

To get away. I lost a nephew to, you know, fentanyl to. You know what I mean? These fake drugs and all of that. And I wish that I had that opportunity to really mold them. Cause I wanna. When I think about em, I think when did my nephew lose his way and stop with the drink and the smoke? Cause me, I'm a person. Yeah, I'm a smoke my weed I'mma drink my Doucet But I know my limit I know when I'm high I don't need that blunt no more I'm drunk, let me put that drink down I tell all my friends I want to get high I don't want to skydive these kids today. These niggas jumping out the plane, skydiving with no parachute with these drugs they doing. Yeah, like the mushrooms. That was that. I felt like the mushrooms and the molly came like in our era a little bit. Cause I seen a lot of artists like, you know, a lot of artists was fucking with the ecstasy. That's what it was. It wasn't even the molly, it was ecstasy that everybody was on, but they was on that. They were saying, yeah, let's get the girls. The girls get freaky. You can have the freak offs with this. I always felt like, why need a drug to get the girls to get free. If this don't work, then we ain't gonna be freaking, you feel? So that's been me. I never went further than this in that blunt, man.

[D1]

People in this era, they chasing either pleasure or paper. But what they don't realize is pleasure and paper can both be found in purpose. And they not chasing purpose because they going for the low hanging fruit. Oh, quick pleasure, quick high, let me get loaded, da da da. Paper, let me get to the bag. But beyond both of those low hanging fruit is purpose. And when that purpose is tied into understanding what clicked for me when I was a freshman in college. Like, man, life ain't that bad after all. God loved me enough to create me. God gave me some gifts, some talents, and all I gotta do is use them in a way that's gonna make this world better. And when bad things happen, there's a lesson that I can learn from every loss that I take in life. And when you look at life like that, it's just like I don't feel as much pressure to chase the pleasure in the paper. Because my pursuit of my purpose, my God given purpose, it keeps me occupied and it keeps me paid and it keeps me at peace. And that's what I wanna push to this generation, bro.

[Memphis Bleak]

That's right. Peace is but shit, in the words of Tupac, it'll never be peace, man. His word was built on bloodshed, bro. Like, I understand. Like I understand. You know where peace is for me? My sanctuary, my home, the crib. That's when I walk in that house, I feel like that's when I'm, ugh. I get my guard down. I can let everything go. I don't have to portray or work to please my family. My wife is my wife, my kids is my kids. You know what I'm saying?

[D1]

I just had a self revelation about myself, bro. Talking to you. Cause I feel like you like a big brother. I don't have a big brother in real life. Oh, man, you like a big brother type of figure. Like I'm like, I like this dude a lot.

[Memphis Bleak]

My Brother, appreciate you.

[D1]

So watch this. I realized something talking to you. Cause I respect everything you're saying. I think that I'm unrealistically optimistic, right?

[Memphis Bleak]

What you mean?

[D1]

I think that I always see the glass as half full. I'm like, no, bro, it's gonna be peace. Love is gonna conquer all of the hate. Da da da. And you like lil bro. I'm telling you, bro, like this world was built on bloodshed.

[Memphis Bleak]

I was.

[D1]

So I'm unrealistically optimistic, right? But I think that's my superpower. Because since I'm unrealistically optimistic, I'm gonna see every human being and instantly see the best that they could become. Even if they don't see it. And I believe in them. And sometimes even if they don't become the best version of themselves, they become a better version of themselves just cause one person believed in them.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yeah, but that I'm never going like people becoming the best of theyself. How can I put this in perspective? Bruce Lee, right? God bless. Nobody mastered they the age. They call they Chi or they self or zen, right? Better than him, he's the pinnacle of that. But he still kicked ass to get there.

[D1]

Yeah.

[Hunter Woodhull]

So.

[D1]

Yeah, yeah. So you still gotta be a dog, you feel me?

[Memphis Bleak]

That's what I'm saying. Like it's. It still has to be there. Because they run this world, bro. They run over you. If everybody felt like that, yo, I just want peace. I just want, bro, our culture, we lose, we lose everything we stand for. I believe that. That we have. Remember, bro, the gladiator era. They put people in the ring for entertainment. Watch them fight. Bears, lions, tigers, all type of.

[D1]

Before peace, there must be war in order.

[Memphis Bleak]

That's what bro, that's how the world was created. Like that's how they took over lands. There's no. Bro, we wouldn't be having this conversation if they never said the British is coming. If it was never a Boston Tea party. We might be saying, hey mate, good day mate.

[D1]

Man, this dude wild man, you feel me?

[Memphis Bleak]

So we needed them niggas in Boston to be like, man, fuck these niggas, liquor for us to be these free Americans. For you to say I see the good in you. Because bro, there's no self made millionaires like it is in America around the world. That's the advantage we have in our country that you don't have everywhere else. We produce more self made millionaires than anywhere in the world.

[D1]

Yeah, well, I don't mind being at war inside of hip hop. Cause I love hip hop, but I hate hypocritical hop. That's the enemy of hip hop. That's my album I just put out. It's called Hypocritical Hop.

[Memphis Bleak]

I like that. I like that. I love that song you did with Boosie, too, man.

[D1]

You rocking with that.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yeah, I rock with that.

[D1]

That gangsta remix.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yeah, that shit hard, man. I rock with that. I ain't like that. They tried to put you out there talking about they seen my dude smoking weed. Cut the bullshit, y'. All.

[D1]

Thank you, bro.

[Memphis Bleak]

I've been following this guy for at least five years. I ain't never seen him even talk. Talk about he like weed. You see? He told me I ain't even smoking. Hey, dawg. William.

[D1]

Thank you. Thank you.

[Memphis Bleak]

You feel me?

[D1]

Thank you.

[Memphis Bleak]

Bleak. So stop the bullshit, y'. All.

[D1]

Most of the hatred I get is from Christians who try to judge what I'm doing. There's some people that's gonna say, Man, D1A Christian. But he went on Memphis Bleak Podcast, and they had alcohol pictured and da, da, da, man. So I get hatred and criticism from them people. And I get hatred and criticism from people who are addicted to hypocritical hop. They love the Percocet, Miley Percocet type of music, right? They love the music, the drill rap. They love all that. And because they're so attached to hypocritical hop, a brother that's like, man, I'm at war with on behalf of hip hop. Cause I love hip hop, you know what I mean? And that's the people who I, you know, I get criticism from. But. But criticism just lets you know that

[Memphis Bleak]

you doing the right thing. You're doing the right thing. That's a fact. I love the critics. Without them, I wouldn't be me. I love it.

[D1]

That's a fact.

[Memphis Bleak]

But for the critics. Talking about the liquor. Come on, man. Jesus turned water to wine. He was lit. He was lit like us. He wanted to. He came in and said, the Last Supper. We can't go out on water. Yo, y' all bugging. Let's get lit.

[D1]

What Jada kids be what A flag at.

[Ad Voice]

Where the flag at?

[D1]

Throw the flag at, man.

[Memphis Bleak]

Throw the flag.

[D1]

That's how I had to do it.

[Memphis Bleak]

The Last Supper. Like, yo, yo, we got water, all this bread. Nah, man. Let me hook this party up. Everybody get liddy.

[D1]

Yeah. I never had a drink in my life, bro.

[Memphis Bleak]

Never.

[D1]

Never. Like, not like, literally, like, not one time, bro.

[Memphis Bleak]

Oh, my God.

[D1]

I've never had A drink in my life, bro.

[Memphis Bleak]

I wouldn't make that your first drink.

[D1]

No, I'm not gonna have a first. Ain't gonna be no first. Why? That stuff's strong.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yeah, this is strong. This will sit you down.

[D1]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Memphis Bleak]

You be stuck there. You might come get you tomorrow from right here. You be in the same spot like, yo, we still shooting, right?

[D1]

Right? Everybody gone. Nah, I. Nah, that ain't my thing, bro. This music keep me lit, bro. This music.

[Memphis Bleak]

That's what's up, man. I respect those who got the genuine lit. Cause me, boy, I been doing this shit for so long, I ain't gonna say I need it. But it helped.

[D1]

For real.

[Memphis Bleak]

It helps, bro. I'm telling you. Cause you be like, again. Another one. Again. All right. Fuck, let me get then. It makes everything smooth. We lit. Let's go. We breezing through.

[D1]

I had so much fun tonight. I got to meet Memphis Bleak in person. You heard me. And I got to shoot a music video with my former student, Fredo Bang. I used to be his teacher.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yo, you killed me when you said that I was Fredo Bang. Fredro Bang, middle school teacher. First of all, Fredro Bang is lit in the music world.

[D1]

Yeah.

[Memphis Bleak]

Number two, you had a young lit teacher, too. Nigga. Like, nigga.

[D1]

Yeah. And we just shot a music video for our new single we got out.

[Memphis Bleak]

My teachers, bro, they was not with nothing. But Write your name 500 times. You was talking to class today. Malik, stop bugging. 500 times.

[D1]

That's what they used to do.

[Memphis Bleak]

Y' all got punishment on some shit. I will not talk in class 500 times. What? Yeah, bro.

[D1]

You must have went to Catholic school.

[Memphis Bleak]

That's crazy. It was regular school. Regular public school. But that's how they used to do us. We had detention after school. And whatever you did, whether you was talking, laughing, or making jokes, they made you write that. And if you got detention two, three times in a week, it would go from 500 to 1,000 to 1,000. 500.

[D1]

Bro, that's illegal, bro. A teacher will go to jail for that nowadays. That's crazy.

[Memphis Bleak]

Cause, bro, we live in a sensitive world now.

[D1]

Brooklyn was different. Brooklyn was different.

[Memphis Bleak]

Get you right there. That shit. You see Bart in the beginning of 70, how he writing on the board? Yeah, we used to have to do in the book. I will. Yeah, that's real, bro. Yeah, 100%. Yo. Like, what you accomplished in such a short period of time, most artists would only dream of, bro. Like, how you feel about how hip hop and just the community and everybody has embraced you. Cause you talk about how they criticized, but what about how they embraced you and took you in?

[D1]

Yeah, bro, it's humbling to see that. I quit my job as a middle school teacher where I used to get paid every two weeks. I knew what I was gonna make, right? I used to make $39,000 a year. That's not a lot, but it was.

[Memphis Bleak]

To be honest, that's nothing.

[D1]

Okay? That's nothing.

[Memphis Bleak]

That's nothing.

[D1]

That was trash.

[Memphis Bleak]

They need to pay our teachers way more than that.

[D1]

Every two weeks. I used to make $1,100, bro. That's how much I made every two weeks, right? So that being said, though, when I started out being a rapper, it was like, man, I'm not getting paid a dime to rap. So the fact that I just had to put a little bit of, you know, business savvy behind my skillset and my hustle and put some business acumen behind it, and now I've been able to turn this into something that, you know, has, like, built a lifestyle I could never even have dreamed of, bro. I think that's why I'm so humble, because I know that I don't deserve none of this, bro. None of this. There's a million other rappers out there who just as talented as me, but for whatever reason, God chose me to be the one that. It's like, they gonna embrace you, D. You gonna go on tour? My first tour was with Young DRO and Killer Mike, right?

[Ad Voice]

Damn.

[D1]

Yeah, that was my first tour. Fresh out the classroom, Mr. Augustine. You heard me right. Ah, Young Drew, fresh out the classroom. Go on tour with Young DRO and Killer Mike.

[Memphis Bleak]

That was fire. I know. That was fun.

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[D1]

Right?

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[Ad Voice]

I think what people recognized is that

[Memphis Bleak]

the 10 year old son of the shooter is also a victim. The widow is also a victim.

[Ad Voice]

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[Memphis Bleak]

lot of them are giving $5, $10, $20.

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[D1]

Young Drew is crazy. Is a cat.

[Memphis Bleak]

I never met him, but I could tell. I could tell just through his music and his interviews. He's fucking a fun dude to be around. I can tell.

[D1]

So that was my first tour. My second tour, I went on tour with Macklemore. You know Macklemore? Yeah, Yep. Went on tour with him. My third tour, I went on tour with Lupe Fiasco. Right?

[Memphis Bleak]

Lupe, my brother, man.

[D1]

That's my brother.

[Memphis Bleak]

Supposed to be on Rockefeller. A lot of people don't know.

[D1]

Yeah, I know. Yeah, yeah, yeah, you know. So you know Lupe, a college professor now. And I'm a college professor as well. We both teach in Boston. So me and Lupe, that's what's up. I go kick it with Lupe in his office and he come over to my office like, we like how we chopping it, bro.

[Memphis Bleak]

Man, that's dope.

[D1]

Yeah, that's the bro. For real. So those were my first three tours. What that showed me was three totally different types of artists. Lupe Macklemore and Young dro. Right? And it showed me that, man, these dudes all think highly enough of me to where they allowed me to come on their tours, right. For being myself. So that showed me D. All you gotta do to be successful in this game, keep being yourself.

[Memphis Bleak]

That's right.

[D1]

Even when you get pressure from the fans to say, man, you need to do More songs like that rapper or you need to dress more like them?

[Memphis Bleak]

No, no, that's right.

[D1]

I found out the secret sauce. Continue to be myself, bro.

[Memphis Bleak]

That's right. It's only one you.

[D1]

That's it, bro. So that's all I do, bro. D1, the one man army, you know what I'm saying? Literally, bro. And here we are, bro. And things have gotten to a level now to where me and Birdman about to put something out together. Me and BG got something dope out together. Like I just put my bg.

[Memphis Bleak]

Welcome home to bg, man. That's one of my favorite artists from New Orleans, man. You know, Lil Wayne, top tier. But BG was that guy the heart of the streets. What?

[D1]

The heart of the streets.

[Memphis Bleak]

What?

[D1]

So I just put my 14th album out. It's called Hypocritical Hop. I work fast, you know what I mean?

[Memphis Bleak]

I work fast.

[D1]

Yeah, I do.

[Memphis Bleak]

That's that teacher life.

[D1]

Yeah, it is, it is, it is. Yeah. So that's. So I'm thankful, bro. And more than any of that, I know that the culture is shifting right now. Yeah, I feel a shift happening, bro. And it's because we not afraid to have uncomfortable conversations. That's gonna help us grow.

[Memphis Bleak]

No, definitely not. I think we in music, they got a little bit more sensitive, but with the podcast space and a lot of the musicians becoming the journalists, now that the conversation.

[D1]

The rawness is back. The rawness is back. It's like we gonna talk about everything.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yeah, like you just can't stop it. Just put the PG sign on it for the kids. Keep em away, you know what I'm saying? But when it's all said and done, everything, what do you want the people to say about D1? When you accomplish, when the mission is accomplished and you feel like, yo, I did all I can do, what more can I do? I want to sit back and re, you know, chill. Now. I did 30 years of this.

[D1]

Yup, yup. I want him to say that D1 was a man who fought with everything in him to make God proud of him at the end of his life and to say, job well done, my good and faithful servant. When I talk to that man, when I take my last breath and I gotta stand at them gates, I want him to say that you did your thing down there and you was fearless. You heard me. And I want hip hop to say, we are better because D1 existed. We better as a community, cause as hip hop. We not supposed to be each other's opps. Another person Is not your opp. The only OPP to hip hop is this evil spirit called hypocritical hop. And that's just greed and negativity that can infect anybody. You know what I'm saying?

[Memphis Bleak]

That's right.

[D1]

And that's why we just gotta be so careful to preserve this art form and keep love at the forefront. So I just want people to say, man, hip hop is better because D1 was in it. And I want God to say, job well done, young brother. Mm.

[Memphis Bleak]

I respect that, man.

[Matt Rogers]

That's it, man.

[Memphis Bleak]

I respect that, bro. You say I want hip hop. I respect that. Everything you just said. And, like, my one thing I would say to you, though I said it earlier, it's not all hip hop fault, bro. Like, I love your message, but I just don't want you to take it out on hip hop. Like, it's individuals always bad seeds in every bunch. We could grow whatever type of fruit you want. We gonna have some bad apples, some bad oranges, some bad watermelons. It's just gonna. We can't stop it. It's just gonna come out messed up and we gotta regrow. You know what I'm saying? It's just what it is. And that's what I feel like. Like, in hip hop, you need that and your side of hip hop is what's needed. Now. What's missing that we did have? We had nobody as strong, as popular as you with the voice and the message that you bring into the hip hop community. So that's why when you meet guys like myself, Nori, Killer Mike, all these people, remember we done been through where these kids is at. We don't have the energy. Like, think I'm not the Memphis Bleeca 20 years ago, bro. I don't have that crowd that I had when it's that your chick or mine, right? Was out. So the message today would not be as strong as it is then. So when I see guys like you, that's why I want you. I invite bro. I met you through one of my brothers, Saigon. That's my brother. Oh, shout out to Saigon once he like, you know, it's certain people in this world that introduce you to people to where that introduction is different. When Saigon like, yo, Bleak, I want you to meet my bro. Now we brothers, you feel me? Like, it ain't just like, that's an industry guy. Like, yeah, this is my homie. And it's like, oh, what up, D? All right, cool. No, Saigon, that's my brother. And he would never tell Me somebody as his brother if they're not. And he wouldn't introduce them to me if they not. So that's why I was like. Once I spoke to you, was like, yo, fam, I respect everything. Yo. Whenever you free, I need you to pull up. Cause I. I want you to promote and tell these people your message, too. Cause like I heard you say earlier, my crowd might be on the. My crowd. Not that Molly Percocett drill. We older now. These niggas babysitting, watching this shit right now. For real.

[Matt Rogers]

For real.

[Memphis Bleak]

These niggas babysitting, watching this shit right now, baby.

[D1]

You feel me? Yeah.

[Memphis Bleak]

Some of them probably on lunch break right now.

[Ad Voice]

Yeah.

[Memphis Bleak]

Wow. Word. Yeah. So this young crowd now, the young trappers.

[D1]

Dang.

[Memphis Bleak]

You feel me?

[D1]

Dang, we all unified. Saigon had me on the block in Harlem, 127th in Lenox.

[Memphis Bleak]

You heard me.

[D1]

Had me outside Courtside Seafood when I was on tour in New York. He came to my concert number one, watched me perform. Oh, I perform. When I perform, bro, it goes. I perform like dmx, bro. Woo.

[Memphis Bleak]

Oh, that's. That's.

[D1]

Yo, that's how I perform, bro.

[Memphis Bleak]

That's big shoes you picked up that.

[D1]

I performed like dmx.

[Memphis Bleak]

You picked a major, major performer to say I perform. I have to come to one of your shows.

[D1]

I know. That's how I performed, bro, because that's who I was influenced by, you know, like, growing up, watching him and that passion he had, it was just like, yo, forget what he talking about. That passion has me sitting here like, yo, keep going. Keep going. Like, I'm locked in with you. So that passion is something that I bring to every stage that I ever grace. And I try to bring that passion even to conversations on podcasts. Because either your heart is in what you're doing, or your heart is totally disconnected from what you're doing.

[Memphis Bleak]

That's right.

[D1]

Why are you there if your heart ain't there with you?

[Memphis Bleak]

That's right. You feel me? And you pick X. X man. God bless my guy. X man. We did a whole tour. Hard Knock Life with X, right? I think it was 56 shows. No, 56 shows, 56 nights, bro.

[D1]

Was that the backstage DVD? Hard knock, like that backstage joint? Yeah.

[Matt Rogers]

All right.

[Memphis Bleak]

56 nights. Every night, he made a different city cry when he did his prayer on the stage, like, literally every night, bro. And we all came to see that part of the show. I don't care what you was doing when X was starting his show. Cause he started it with a prayer, ended it and bro, it was the illest shit ever. Like X was the. It's crazy you say that's who influenced you. Cause now it's like you just made it make way more sense to me. Cause X was pushing that narrative. But like I said, he was just on the other side. So he couldn't really. He would do it on the albums and the music and at the shows, but it wasn't the forefront of the single, you know what I'm saying? And for you to keep that dread that going and even say that from him, that's so dope, bro. Because X, he put. I don't think people even mention that from him that he was the major. He was a Catholic. Like, for sure, bro.

[D1]

The spirit of DMX lives in me, bro.

[Memphis Bleak]

For sure, man.

[D1]

I know it. The spirit of DMX lives in me, bro.

[Memphis Bleak]

Man, that's major, man. You fucked me up with that one, bro. I never seen that one.

[Hunter Woodhull]

Yeah.

[Memphis Bleak]

Cause X was on that all day. Like even when, bro, you see certain times on the dvd, he would make us pray. Like, not make us, but come back there and be like, yo, it's time to say a prayer before the show. Or let's say this prayer, it's time to pray. Like even now. Like, I've never been into the church life. I believe higher power I respect, you know, I treat women as they supposed to be, as God intended and all of that. But I never was into it. But it's weird to see my daughter. Cause me and her mom is not church people. And my daughter like every day is just like, I gotta say grace, daddy, come on, you know I gotta bless this fool. Like. And she told my mother in law that, grandma, I want to go to church, I want you to take me. And it's like, where did she get this from? So when you say, yo, the spirit or something, I always thought that like somebody talking to my daughter, like how she know that all this stuff and she hears it.

[D1]

Brother, can I tell you something uncomfortable? You asked what my mission is. I'm trying to help people get to heaven. Cause a lot of our favorite rappers are in hell right now.

[Memphis Bleak]

This is hell. This is hell?

[D1]

Yeah.

[Memphis Bleak]

Hundred percent.

[D1]

Yeah.

[Memphis Bleak]

Purgatory is a little different.

[D1]

Yeah, purgatory is a little different. But a lot of our favorite rappers who have passed away too, we call them legends. Top ten, top five of all time. But they in hell right now. They soul is burning.

[Memphis Bleak]

Why you think that? Why would you say that?

[D1]

Because I know for a fact. Because while they were living here, they Made it known what their God was. Their God was all of this sinful stuff. Their God was all this evil.

[Memphis Bleak]

But our God forgives any sin. There's only one sin.

[D1]

Only if you repent. That's when God forgives.

[Memphis Bleak]

But we don't know what these guys did in that last minute on that bed or, you know, or before that bullet hit him.

[D1]

They didn't know that bullet was gonna hit him.

[Memphis Bleak]

Now listen, you don't instant. Everybody don't instantly die when they get shot.

[D1]

Well, the rappers I'm talking about. And if I say the names, I'm gonna set the Internet on fire. But the rappers. But the rappers I'm talking about. Oh, it was doa, you heard me. When they got. That was a rap, you know what I'm saying? And I think about. That's why I said, brother, I know it's kind of uncomfortable for me to bring this up, but when I think about this stuff and it makes me uncomfortable that like, wait, no, God, I grew up on this person music. I could rap all their lyrics. They a legend where I come from, or they a legend to hip hop. But clearly they burning in hell right now. Because everything that they glorified and represented and promoted was all the stuff that goes against what God tells us. And it was like never any remorse or repentance. Why? Cause they got caught up in the cycle of the world. Celebrated them for pushing all the wrong messages. And then it's like some people, they didn't grow old like my Grandpa, to be 93 and have time to maybe be on that deathbed and repent. And da da, da. Some of them, they was in the midst of doing some crazy stuff.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yeah, but you. I'mma give you that. You can't take that away. But you never know what a person do before they step out they house. Cause me, right, you just met me. You know, a lot of people watching this show, they don't know my everyday routine, what I do. But I tell you this right before I get in the car, before I walk out my door, before I take a flight, before I step on that stage, and before I eat, I pray. So we don't know what these guys did.

[D1]

Bleak you different, bro. Listen, you want to be one of the.

[Memphis Bleak]

No, I'm not one of them, dude. Bro, I'm not. I'm not. I don't want to be one of them. I'm not. I'm just trying to.

[D1]

Yeah. I'm just saying, I grew up around

[Memphis Bleak]

them and I was one of them. I just.

[D1]

You Know, even when you think you was one of them, I don't think you was really one of them, bro. I think you was the dude who, out of all the dudes in Marcy, Jay was like, but that's the one. That's my protege. Jay, don't waste his time. You know that way better than me.

[Memphis Bleak]

Of course. Yeah.

[D1]

So clearly it was always something different about you. And I watch your stuff. I follow your content. So I. I see when you was, like, after my first album, I was lit. Da da da. My first little look. I wasn't even showing up to the

[Memphis Bleak]

studio, and all that got clipped.

[D1]

Yeah, you was immature at a time. But immature is different than evil.

[Memphis Bleak]

No, I ain't never been an evil person. There you go.

[D1]

That's what I'm trying to say.

[Memphis Bleak]

I ain't got no malice or just looking to hurt somebody, but some of

[D1]

the music that we have made platinum and multi platinum and people that we call legends in hip hop, it's straight evil, bro.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yeah, but I just know that they say all sins are forgiven except killing yourself. So that's why I'm forgiven if you repent. That's why I would say. I wouldn't just say they all burning in hell.

[D1]

Yeah, I didn't say they all burning in hell, but I know a few of them who are. I do. I absolutely do. And listen, brother, and everybody here knows that I'm telling the truth. Yeah, we hear you people didn't have this miraculous. Wait, the bullet about to come out the gun in three seconds. God, please forgive me for all the sins I've ever committed. Please, I repent. And please, Father Jesus, you're my Lord and savior.

[Memphis Bleak]

But don't they say it's a staircase or a light? How you know, going through that light.

[D1]

No, they didn't get it. They didn't make it, bro. How you know if that's the light? They didn't make it, brother. They didn't make it, bro. First class tickets straight to hell. Some of the rappers that we. We know, they catalog, we celebrate them as legends. That's why I don't idolize people in the game the way I used to. I had y' all posters on my wall, you heard me like, I had it to the point where it's like, man, I could rap you every lyric of this person's catalog until I find out when I get older and enlightened, man, this person ain't never killed nobody in their life, but they got a whole catalog where they make murder sound so cool and Lord have mercy. Thank goodness that I never got caught up like my best friend Carl did in New Orleans.

[Memphis Bleak]

Who.

[D1]

He took them lyrics and was like, man, we finna become, you know, the next version of them. Cause they lit. We trying to be like them. And I was the dude that was like, let me out the car. You know what I'm saying? Yeah.

[Memphis Bleak]

I ain't riding on that.

[D1]

So bugging. Yeah. That type of dude. So I just know that, bro. And at the end of the day, I want everybody in this room. I want everybody watching. This is to, man. I'm trying to have this type of party in heaven, man.

[Memphis Bleak]

That's right.

[D1]

Together.

[Memphis Bleak]

That's right. You feel me?

[D1]

So that's what I want for everybody.

[Ad Voice]

I know.

[Memphis Bleak]

I'm going. I ain't worried. I got a first class ticket. I'm good.

[D1]

You got a first class ticket?

[Memphis Bleak]

I'm good.

[D1]

Really, I'm good. First class.

[Memphis Bleak]

They got hors d' oeuvres in first class. For me, Everything. I'm straight. I'm good. I ain't do nothing.

[D1]

Word.

[Memphis Bleak]

I pray every day. I repent right now. Want me to?

[D1]

What you gonna repent right now?

[Memphis Bleak]

I ain't do nothing. You do nothing to repeat. You ain't do nothing.

[D1]

Yo, Bleak, before this camera came on, you know what you was doing up in here, bro? I watched it, bro.

[Memphis Bleak]

What? Smoking.

[D1]

I'm just playing around. I'm just joking.

[Memphis Bleak]

That's what I was doing. Smoking. If I'm sitting. He see me every day, he know I'm not paying attention.

[D1]

Lord Jesus, you know that me and my brother right now, we. We joking. But we serious.

[Memphis Bleak]

That's right.

[D1]

Like, yeah, like, we gotta make. Yo, we gotta make repenting for your wrong normal. You know what I mean? Cause it's not normal. Some people.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yeah, it should be. Because think about it, right? I think about this. Anytime you do something out of anger, and then when you calm down, you realize I was bugging, man. Like so.

[D1]

But you know what messed people up? This ain't no shot. Should I say this? Hold on. Let me know.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yeah, dude, dude, you.

[D1]

It's gonna involve a specific person name, and then. You know how that go. It ain't no shot, though.

[Memphis Bleak]

I ain't got no beef.

[D1]

All right. It ain't no shot, bro. I don't have no beef either, Right? You just. You threw me the alley.

[Memphis Bleak]

Oop.

[D1]

Anytime we do something wrong, we eventually sit back and be like, man, I was wrong for that, you know? Or that's messed up how I treated that person. Or you know what? I forget that person. Right. I remember when Rick Ross put out an album and the title of the album was God Forgives.

[Memphis Bleak]

But I don't.

[D1]

But I don't.

[Memphis Bleak]

That's one of my favorite albums from him too.

[D1]

But that title. Forget that, bro. You wasn't supposed to say that. You wasn't supposed to say that, bro. My bad.

[Memphis Bleak]

This is one of my favorite albums though.

[D1]

But that's the trick. The music is great on it, but the message in the title alone makes it seem like, hey, yeah, all that forgiveness stuff, that's for God see me. I don't.

[Memphis Bleak]

But that's what he meant, bro.

[D1]

But that's not how we supposed to be.

[Memphis Bleak]

Nah. Yes, we are, bro.

[D1]

If we gonna. Bro, the only people that's gonna be forgiven are the ones that are willing to forgive others. If we asking God to forgive us,

[Memphis Bleak]

God is like, sure, well, I need you to forgive the people that did you wrong. I might not be good then.

[D1]

Really?

[Memphis Bleak]

Yeah, I might be on the.

[D1]

Still holding some grudges.

[Memphis Bleak]

I might be on the bottom bunk. What was. My man, I thought you was first, Nick. Oh, the Leonardo DiCaprio suite now. I thought you was first class, brother. I thought you have the Leonardo DiCaprio suite on the boat now, dog.

[D1]

All you gotta do, man, forgive them people, man. Come on, life is good.

[Memphis Bleak]

No, I'm not holding no grudges. I'm just bullshitting.

[D1]

That's all I'm about to say, bro.

[Memphis Bleak]

I'm about to say like, I don't got no enemies, man.

[D1]

Hey, the people that's watching this though, man, we blocking our own blessings if we don't forgive them people today. That's wrong.

[Memphis Bleak]

That's a fact. I hold no malice in my heart for nobody.

[D1]

But they got anybody that owe you money right now?

[Memphis Bleak]

There's a few that owe me money. I ain't looking for them though. It's cool. Cause I loan money out knowing.

[D1]

Knowing I might not get it back.

[Memphis Bleak]

Like, I heard something from one of my good friends. I have a good friend shout out my man, OG Russ. And he always told me, if you love your friends, never loan them money. Cause you never. Like you're never going to. You're gonna lose your friends. Just give them the money. Like I would never give my friends money when intention for them to give it back because they're. And I don't wanna feel let down like my guy did me dirty, you know what I'm saying?

[D1]

So me personally, I wanna be good with God. So I'm like hey, God, I'm gonna forgive the friends that ain't giving the money back, but I'm still gonna get my money.

[Memphis Bleak]

So. Yo, so you hit. What if they like. Nah, you ain't getting your money. You gotta resort to violence.

[D1]

No, you ain't gotta resort to violence.

[Memphis Bleak]

So how you gonna get your money?

[D1]

I don't know. I ain't figured it out yet. You heard me. But I'm trying to be a man of God and I don't to want. I ain't figured it out yet, but I'm getting my money. I'm getting my money.

[Memphis Bleak]

But God had some riders, too. He had Moses and all of them, too. He did split the peter.

[D1]

Sliced the man ear off for Jesus. Yeah, yeah.

[Memphis Bleak]

You just gotta get you some disciples, man.

[D1]

Oh, I got some shout out, man. My brother Keith. My brother Keith Wallace. My brother. Black folk, my brother.

[Memphis Bleak]

Black folk going to get that money. Somebody know going to get that money. You already know. Black folk going to get that money. You ain't. You ain't gotta worry about it. One cloth, that's all I got.

[D1]

I got some gospel gangsters that's ready to ride. You heard me.

[Memphis Bleak]

I got some holy hot boys.

[D1]

You heard me that I'm trying to tell you, yo.

[Memphis Bleak]

Gospel gangsters.

[D1]

Holy hot. That's gonna be my new album, Mannie Fresh. I need you to produce the whole album for me, big brother Manny. We've been rocking for 15 years. Come on, D. One album, the holy Hot Boy. You heard me. Cause I was influenced by the hot boys. So my album, the Holy Hot Boy, is only rock. If Mannie Fresh produced the whole album, that's fire.

[Memphis Bleak]

Come on, Manie Fresh, get that heat up. You got it, too. He got. He probably got. Think of all the records Lil Wayne

[D1]

probably turned on, passed on Juvenile. Come on, all them. Hey, Juvenile got a good ear for beats, though. So he probably had passed on.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yo, let us hear that 400 degrees turn down pack. Give me that right. I'll be good with the turn down pack.

[D1]

Give me 350 degrees. You heard me straight up. Give me 350 degrees.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yo, word up.

[D1]

And I'm gonna change my life.

[Memphis Bleak]

Down pack. Probably crazy.

[D1]

Come on, man.

[Memphis Bleak]

You kidding me?

[D1]

Yo, what we doing?

[Memphis Bleak]

If this platform could amplify one message, anything that you wanna get out there, what would it be, Lil G?

[D1]

Oh, man, it's simple. Yeah, like, it's simple, brother. I just want. I just want everybody to make it to heaven with me, man.

[Memphis Bleak]

That's right.

[D1]

So the message is, be real, be Righteous. Be relevant. You heard me?

[Memphis Bleak]

Be real, be righteous. Be relevant.

[D1]

Be real, be righteous, be relevant. Being real means, man. Just know that God created you exactly how you was supposed to be. You heard me? Like, you don't have to go seeking acceptance by trying to be somebody else. That's how you get killed. That's right. Instead of get killed, how about be real?

[Memphis Bleak]

That's right.

[D1]

So be real, be righteous. That means that in this crazy world of social media that make the right things seem wrong and the wrong things seem right, you gotta be righteous at all times. Stay in that word of God. It's clear as day in the word of God. It shows us how to act, how to handle every situation. I stay in that word. I be in my bag. You heard me? Yeah.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yeah.

[D1]

And I be in my Bible, too.

[Memphis Bleak]

That's right.

[D1]

You hear me?

[Memphis Bleak]

I never read the Bible, but really,

[D1]

I'mma put you on.

[Memphis Bleak]

Dragon put me on, too. Dragon read the whole Bible front to back. He could recite it. It's insane.

[D1]

Oh, I gotta meet Dragon.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yeah, really insane, bro.

[D1]

That's gangster. That's gangster, bro. That stuff. Be real, be righteous. And to be relevant. Being relevant means this, brother, My first name is David. I don't know if you knew that, right?

[Memphis Bleak]

Nah.

[D1]

So you know in the Bible, David defeated Goliath. You ever heard that story? David and Goliath. David defeated Goliath by using a slingshot, right? In life, we all got a slingshot. Our slingshot is our special gift that we were given that we could use to change this world. Right? All you gotta do to be relevant is find your slingshot. My slingshot is hip hop, yours is hip hop. We got the same slingshot, right? Find your slingshot, Figure out how to use your slingshot to defeat your Goliaths. And that right there, that's gonna make you relevant to the people that you were meant to influence, right? That's right, bro. Be real, be righteous, and be relevant. That's what I want for people.

[Memphis Bleak]

I like that, man. Appreciate you pulling up, my man.

[D1]

Brother. Thank you.

[Memphis Bleak]

I wish you much success. All the blessings.

[D1]

Thank you.

[Memphis Bleak]

Everything, man. All these hip hop guys, you going, they know what they doing wrong. And like you said.

[D1]

And if they don't, I'm gonna let them know.

[Memphis Bleak]

That's right. And he just trying to get y' all to go to heaven. Cause y' all Angus is burning, man.

[D1]

Straight up.

[Memphis Bleak]

And not. Cause you hot.

[D1]

Right, Right.

[Memphis Bleak]

He see the ring. Eternal flame.

[D1]

That's a fact.

[Memphis Bleak]

Y' all better stop playing, man.

[D1]

That's a fact.

[Memphis Bleak]

Make sure you check out Hypocritical Hop.

[D1]

Yeah. My newest album, Hypocritical Hop.

[Memphis Bleak]

Hypocritical Hop. Make sure you check out that joint with Boosie. Cause I got that in rotation. D1. I appreciate you. Much love my brother, man.

[D1]

Thank you for coming three hours late to the podcast. Thank you for coming three hours late to the podcast.

[Memphis Bleak]

Hey, listen, I'm playing with it. Yo Khaled. The golf tournament, the fun in the

[D1]

sun, my G. Yeah, too much fun.

[Memphis Bleak]

I had to go repent. Look at him, man.

[D1]

Cut the camera off

[Memphis Bleak]

my brother, Bro. Word up. That's fire right there. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows at. And you can follow me on any social media platform under the name Memphis Bleak. You see anybody frauding, flag them.

[Danielle Robay]

This is Danielle Robay from Bookmarked by Reese's Book Club. The Autograph Journey credit card from Wells Fargo is built for travel. You can earn rewards wherever you book your favorite hotel site your go to airline and more. You get five times points with hotels, four times with airlines, three times on restaurants and other travel, and one point on other purchases. Whether it's a big vacation or a quick getaway from booking your stay to that first meal, when you arrive, you're turning your trips into rewards with the Autograph Journey card from Wells Fargo. Learn more at Wells Fargo.com autographjourney Terms apply.

[Matt Rogers]

This is Matt Rogers from Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang.

[Hunter Woodhull]

This is Bowen Yang from Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang.

[Matt Rogers]

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[Hunter Woodhull]

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[Memphis Bleak]

Hey, this is U.S. olympic gold medalist Tara Davis Woodhull.

[Hunter Woodhull]

And I'm U.S. paralympic gold medalist Hunter Woodhull.

[D1]

As athletes, our lives are about having

[Memphis Bleak]

a clear path and a team that

[Hunter Woodhull]

you can absolutely trust.

[Memphis Bleak]

So when it came to getting the best mortgage, we chose PennyMac. PennyMac is proud to be the official mortgage provider of Team USA and you

[Ad Voice]

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[D1]

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[D1]

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[Ad Voice]

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[D1]

The new season of Scrubs premieres Wednesday,

[Ad Voice]

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[D1]

This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.