C (13:09)

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B (13:42)

Big things I did again reiterate. I worked at Hot 97. I was there for a couple years. I actually joined there in 2018. They were the first place in the music space to open their doors for me because of a connection I had. A friend of my sister in law's husband worked at the station in the video department and he just basically opened the door for me. And yeah, they jump started my career. And I will say from personal experience, I don't have many interactions with Laura nor Rosenberg, but Ebro was always very nice to me and we've seen each other out and around at different shows and events over the years since I even left and we've still been very cordial. But I do wish them, you know, success. They made a career out of this station and certainly have a lot of people wanting to know where they where they'll go next. And I do hope for their sake that they're willing to be more open to the means of entertainment. What am I even saying? The modes of entertainment today, meaning like not trying to just chase another radio opportunity or bag, but maybe challenging themselves to doing a live stream of sorts or some, I don't know, version of a podcast, whatever that case may be. So I do wish them all the best. And I'm interested to see if Hot 97 actually does ever put out an official statement about this news because it is big news locally, in here and abroad within the realm of hip hop. This conversation kind of dovetails into the next subject. I really wanted to discuss something that I've been having a conversation with over the weekend with a few friends and this revolves around hip hop festivals and why there has been a decline in hip hop representation across festivals. Hip Hop's decline in Festival Culture so hip hop is facing a decline in representation at major music festivals with a significant drop in number of hip hop acts or lineups and several dedicated events being canceled or postponed. This trend is a part of a broader industry wide issue driven by rising costs, changing audience preferences and and economic pressures. This conversation certainly lends itself into the one that like is hip hop dead or is you know, is it over for hip hop? But let's continue because I am just want to focus specifically on festivals. Decreased acts at major festivals At Coachella, the number of hip hop acts in 2026 is projected to be just six, a nearly 70% drop from four years prior. In 2022, UK's Wireless Festival, a major rap and hip hop event, saw a number of UK artists fall from 37 in 2023. In 2024, let's continue. Festival cancellations and postponements. Several dedicated R B focused festivals have been canceled or postponed including Made in America, Listened in Soundfest, Juicy Fest, Hot in Toronto. I'm not too familiar with some of those. I obviously know Made in America. I do want to add this list. Currently Dreamville. Dreamville Fest was a huge black owned, independently black owned festival that was a very big, a pinnacle feature in the hip hop festival scene. I will say as someone that's been there many times, that really truly was one of the most beautiful celebrations of people and culture in one spot. And not quite sure I know that the terms of that deal were that they were supposed to carve out something with the city in a longer form. But it is interesting to see these drastic change in demand from what hip Hop's worth was in the market in terms of occupying a festival stage to where it seems to be now. It seems like a bit of like an erasure. Erasure. You know this, this is a bit concerning and I do think that physical space is incredibly important for hip hop community and obviously, I mean there's like the undertone here more, more specifically the black community. I think we're, we're stepping so far into siloed communities that only exist online and it's really hard to come across these moments in person. So I do hope that those festivals and including Dreamville Fest continue and live on. Let's go into other driving factors. Financial pressures. The primary reason for festival cancellations across all genres has increased financial pressure including skyrocketing operational costs for production, travel and insurance. Many events set budgets years in advance have struggled to cover costs after inflation hits. Yeah, yeah, it's not surprising. Tariffs and inflation have probably had a huge effect on the, on these shows and not just on the, the production cost itself. I don't know if this is technically folded into production, but the cost of talent if you are bringing an international artist. There's a lot of moving parts that it takes to put these shows on shifting audience demand. Younger audiences appear to favor single day events or club shows over multi day, over multi day destination festivals. There's a trend of declining music consumption and interest among some fan bases. Hip hop's market share in the US has slid in recent years while other genres like country and K pop have surged. I have always said hip hop, it will always put a mirror up to what the, to the current culture and it's obviously it's not surprising that with the rise of AI companies in the United States, which would be more represented by the Asian countries or China, that K pop would be a bigger, there'd be a bigger hunger for K pop domestically and then obviously country music. I think that just breeds, that's just a, you know, a ricochet off Trump's audience. So no surprise there that that's also happening. Artist specific issues. Some rap tours have faced difficulty due to poor ticket sales or abrupt artist cancellations. La da da da da the oversight. The overall music festival market has been described as being in a flop era while many events struggling to be profitable in a crowded landscape. Yeah, so I, I think this last point's interesting because it is twofold. Like if, if we're, if we're going to put it at a QT name on it. A flop era. How about no one can afford fucking eggs. Like, I don't think it's fair that we're in the, it's a, I think it's a three prong problem. We're in a price gouging ticket market where these secondary markets are 3xing, 4xing. The cost of tickets that are at face value. And that's not even to say the face value tickets are cheap. I mean tickets in general are insane across the board. Even if you were to get them at market value. But say you cop a ticket off the secondary market value, that's like three weeks, four weeks of groceries. So that's nothing to scoff at. It is incredibly stressful to get tickets to a show and financially burdened as well. And the other thing here says with many events struggling to be profit in a crowded landscape. Yeah, I think this is. Music is fighting for the attention alongside. Obviously we're in quite a comedy boom. Comedians doing their tours and selling out these same theaters and in some cases arenas as these artists. And then also you can also attribute this to touring podcasters as well. Like there are many forms of entertainment where one could get a ticket to which, you know, if you're a person living in a. Anywhere really or a mid major city. Mid major city and you're very, you know, smart with budgeting, you will probably choose one over the others. And if you, you know, if you've been listening to a podcast for four years, three years and they're in town, you're probably gonna go that because you've never seen them before. But you probably, it's probably a safer bet to bet on that, to go to that than go to a music show. So I really do think this is a quite an interesting conversation. I do hope that those that have been in positions of power to create those community spaces for hip hop fans for predominantly black and black and brown people that they continue to do so because it would be really sad to see those communities squeezed out of the market space where it's not something that it's not like there's not a it doesn't seem like it's not because a lack of a want from the from the consumer side. It just seems like there's a lot of bigger things, the powers that be that lead to these things to fall. And more often than not, it always seems like the black and brown spaces are the ones that are always affected first.

A (23:19)

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B (23:55)

We're going to pivot over to my other love in the entertainment industry, which is film. And unfortunately the today's news for film is quite dark and daunting. And when it comes to death of this magnitude and in this fashion, I always do want to start with celebrating the victims and also just, you know, reminding the world of why we loved who they were while they were here and putting that the positive out before we really get to the unfortunate ending of their lives here. Of course, talking about Rob Reiner and his wife Michelle Reiner were brutally murdered by their own son, which we'll get to in a second. But let's go through Rob's filmography here, which I do love. In the wake of tragedy, how people will always dig and find these incredible stats and just like reinsert the cultural impact of someone this magnitude. Like the seismic shift that Rob Reiner created in this industry and how much he meant to us as fans, but also those in the industry that had the pleasure of working alongside him. So here's a Great tweet. Rob Reiner's five film run from 1986 to 1992 is as impressive as they come. Forget about for five unforgettable movies spanning five different genres is something not just any director can pull off. Rest in peace. So listen to this run because this is insane. Starting in 86, stand by me and then in 1987, the Princess Bride, 1989, When Harry Met Sally, 1990, Misery in 1992, a few good Men. If you're not familiar with any of these films, if you've seen a few or heard of them, you just never got around to watching them, just do so. These are all just, I mean, they're, they're all classics. They're incredible movies. I did see something cool that I did not know I saw. For When Harry Met Sally, which is an insane rom com. The ending was quite different. The original ending was different, but Rob Reiner ended up meeting, who became his life partner, Michelle on that set. And because he was so in love and infatuated with her throughout the recording of that, the shooting of that film, he actually went back and changed the ending of the movie to make it happier because he had then believed so much in love and his partner, which is, I think, just such a beautiful thing that you're experiencing this in real time and you're so compelled to change the ending of the film because of how infatuated and how much you are in love in that moment with your. With the woman at the time that he was dating. Let's. Yeah, so this is what happened. So a few nights ago, I want to say Sunday night. Jesus, was this yesterday? Yeah, I guess so. Rob Reiner's son and Michelle son, Nick Reiner was responsible for their, for their deaths. He stabbed them both to death in, in their own home, in, in Brentwood, in Holly, in. At Los Angeles. He was, he's 32 years old. He was seen having an argument with them at a holiday party, which was actually a Conan o' Brien's house, according to people that were familiar with the incident. And rather immediately, I mean, the body, their bodies were discovered by their daughter Romy, I believe, or Remy, I believe is her name. And I went through her Instagram and she was just. Seemed like such a sweet girl that was just infatuated with, with her parents. And she had some really great content of her and her dad together on her Instagram. It's, it's, it's really terrible. But of course, like the world rallied around him and past their condolences and understanding the weight and gravity of the situation were really, you know, it seemed like a unifying moment for. It seems like in most cases when someone dies in this country, it becomes so politicized and there's a lot of mudslinging and it's, you know, well, that's what you get. Which nobody seemed to take that approach except for one person, if you want to take a wild guess at who uses his opportunity to leverage their personal gripe with Rob Reiner, to no surprise, it was Donald Trump. Trump went on Truth Social and said, quote, a very sad thing happened last night in Hollywood. Rob Reiner, a tortured and struggling but once very talented movie director and comedy star, has passed away together with his wife Michelle, reportedly due to the anger he caused others through his massive, unyielding and incurable affliction with a mind crippling disease known as Trump Derangement Syndrome.

A (29:12)

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B (29:51)

I'm trying to find the rest of this message, but the message goes on with like a, you know, a limp rest in peace at the end. But point is, he didn't take this as a moment to not mention himself and that left a lot of people infuriated. Let's, let's continue here. It is sometimes referred to Trump Derangement Syndrome, sometimes referred to as tds. He was known to have driven people crazy by his ranging opposition of President Donald J. Trump. With obvious paranoia reaching new heights as the Trump administration surpassed all goals and expectations of greatness. With the golden age of America upon us, perhaps like I've never seen before. May Rob and Michelle rest in peace. You know, just your typical condolence messages. You know, this is pretty standard stuff from a president. The fact that this is real is fucking insane. But sadly not surprising. Yeah, I mean just anytime he go, he has the opportunity to show his true colors. He does. I mean that's, I think that's why people, certain people love him, because he shows you who he is at every given time. So yeah, just a dark day in Hollywood. And Rob, if you're not familiar even beyond his work as a person, was a very, very kind hearted and empathetic person. And he also was an incredible actor. He was, he played an incredible role in one of my favorite roles in Wolf of Wall street. Actually he had the cameo with Leonardo Dicaprio and Jonah Hill talking about $126,000 in appetizers. Like, there's just so many good one liners and tidbits from him over the years. He really was a beautiful soul that brought a lot of good into this world with his art. And as a person as well, I did see that like Larry David and a couple other neighbors went by the house. I mean, that's how, you know, strong of a community member that he was, that these people went out of their way to go visit the scene and try to get any intel or understanding of what, you know, the gravity of the situation. Troubled, troubled son, troubled soul. They actually worked on a movie together. You could tell Rob wanted to include him in his work and give his life purpose. Their son was struggling with drug and addiction from particularly from ages 15 to 19. Obviously fell back into it in his later years. But they wrote a movie together. I believe it's called Love Charlie or something along those lines where it follows really his life. You know, Rob Reiner directed it, but he really. And I watched an old interview with him and his son and he really gave the ownership and passed the reins to his son in terms of how much involved he was with the story and how much his story actually moved the. The film itself, which is, which is awesome. You could tell he wanted to give him. His son something, give his son purpose and find meaning and love in art and creating while also being vulnerable and having a story that many other young adults and teenagers share. So rest in peace to. To Rob and his wife Michelle. And I'm really thinking a lot about their, Their daughter and their extended family as well. Yeah, it's. It's tough in the sad things don't end there. We've. We've had a rough go. Brown University, there was a shooting. I, I just saw another student from that incident passed away. And then there was obviously the, the tragic shooting in Australia on Bondi Beach. There's that video of that. That just stranger. The, the heroic guy that wrestled the one rifle away from the one guy to save people. But it seemed. I think we're up to like 12 deaths now from, from that one. I mean those, those videos are terrifying. Yeah, it's. Civil unrest seems to be the norm. There were so many think at the same time. There were three shootings happening at the same time. And it just. I think we've. We've certainly hit that tipping point where the frequency is so often that we're so numb. Things that should be scary and things that should raise the Alarm in terms of how we change our lifestyle and policies have unfortunately happened so many times that we just see them as a way of life, just as a part of being American. And even though obviously the shooting that did happen in Australia. I'm just saying from a international standpoint, we. I don't know, it's. It's really, it's quite discouraging. But I don't want to end today on a. On a sad note, since I am talking about Rob Reiner, I do want to talk about a couple movies that I saw recently. That one brought tears to my eyes. Go ahead and make fun of me. Everybody listening. I saw Eternity Last Night, which is a film by. Who's in this one? Miles Teller is in it and he did a great job. Callum Turner, Elizabeth Olson. And it is directed by David Frane. It is a bit predictable in terms of the. The ending itself, but I do like the. The way it got you there is cute. When it, when it needed to be funny, it was funny. There are a lot of times where you'll cry when you get emotional. Staying on the cast. Divine Joy Randolph, the. The woman, the black woman in the film that is the heavy comedic relief, steals the show. I think she's probably the best part of this film, and that's saying a lot because everybody did a very good job in this one. I would see it. It's currently in theaters. Go. Go ahead and see that. If you haven't seen it, it is emotional. If you're, if you're in a healthy relationship, I would go see it because it's cute. If you're, if you're just single, thugging it out like me, go see, because then you can cry alone and no one will notice. That's what I did last night. And then I came home. I actually had a little double feature for myself because I went kind of early yesterday to that one. I got home and I. When I watched before the Devil Knows yous're Dead, which has Philip Seymour Hoffman and Ethan Hawke in it. And this is a 2007 crime drama thriller that was. It's fucking great. I just got a login for a Criterion account. So I'm just going digging in the vaults of great films and just rewatching a lot of classics or just seeing some certain films for the first time. It's been. It's been fun. I could do this all day. This really is what my weekends have become, is just watching movies, which, I mean, hey, I'm in love with it. There's nothing wrong with that what else have I done recently? I spent today repotting about eight of my plants. I had the goal of doing three. I ended up doing a bunch more, which is great. I have this big ass, like 30 pound bag of soil that I was bear hugging through the streets of New York City trying not to slip on ice and have that bag fall on me because that would have sucked. But yeah, those are the two big updates. I do have a huge update. I'm not going to say what, because I've been keeping this part of my life under wraps, but I did get a new job and I am starting that job next week. I'm pretty excited. It's a great opportunity and maybe I'll talk about the work once I get started. But yeah, big week for me. Ending the year strong. Certainly much stronger than I was at this point last year, which was quite difficult. And I think after talking these negotiations and agreeing on the terms for this, this new contract, I'm reminded of the negotiations and conversations that I was just like ignored at, at every stop. So to be able to do this and have people hear me and listen to me and meet me at certain, you know, numbers and thresholds and like value me is fucking cool. So, yeah, really proud of that. And yeah, we're heading into the holiday week, everybody. Please be safe. Stay warm. It's cold as shit here. I hope it's not as cold. If you're not listening from New York, just, just stay inside. Yeah. All right, guys, I, I love you all. Thank you for this. And yeah, I'll be, I'll be home by the time next week's episode drops. I'll be updated my parents. But till then, enjoy your week. Oh, Knicks in the cup. We're playing tonight. If you're still listening, it's us and it's the Spurs. We can win it. This would be a banner that we could hang in the garden and it would be a beautiful way to wrap up the holiday. To kick off the middle of the holiday season. So pray for the Knicks. All right, love you guys. Peace.

C (39:27)

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