DONKEY: Juelz Santana Says Kids Don't Really Need To Learn To Read

Summary

The Breakfast Club – Episode Summary

Podcast: The Breakfast Club (iHeartPodcasts)
Episode: DONKEY: Juelz Santana Says Kids Don't Really Need To Learn To Read
Date: December 1, 2025
Hosts: DJ Envy, Charlamagne tha God, Jess Hilarious (not present in segment)

Main Theme

This episode’s "Donkey of the Day" segment focuses on rapper Juelz Santana’s controversial comments about the importance of reading for kids. Specifically, he argued that financial literacy and common sense outweigh the need for learning to read—statements that Charlamagne tha God and DJ Envy dissect, critique, and ultimately reject as harmful and misinformed. The conversation becomes a broader reflection on education, critical thinking, and the role of literacy in empowerment, particularly within Black communities.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Juelz Santana’s Viral Comment on Reading

• Context: Juelz Santana recently appeared on the "No Funny" podcast, discussing what kids truly need to learn (03:07).
• He suggested that by high school, students should focus more on entrepreneurship and financial literacy, implying reading was less essential.
• Juelz Santana’s quote (03:52):

  "Kids can’t read how to, how to, how to, but they don’t really need to learn how to know how to read. I say that respectfully. I’m not saying that in a way to be illiterate...but you can...reading, or math, you can still obtain the information. You don’t have to know how to read. I believe common sense is better than everything. I’m on common sense. I’d rather have zero book smarts and common sense... Nowadays, you can listen to a book."

• He downplays traditional literacy, leaning into technology (audiobooks, apps) as sufficient replacement for reading skills.

2. Charlamagne tha God’s Response: The Case for Literacy

• Immediately refutes the take, declaring his disagreement and emphasizing that it shouldn’t be an "either-or" debate:

  "First of all, there shouldn’t be an either or to this discussion, right? You should be able to read, and you should learn financial literacy. And you know, if you’re—if you’re going to learn financial literacy, you need to know how to read." (04:42)

• He stresses dependency risks: relying only on apps or audiobooks means surrendering agency over knowledge.
• Reading is described as foundational for formulating questions, understanding context, and direct learning—skills essential for financial literacy and more.
• Charlamagne highlights the cognitive benefits of reading (brain exercise, vocabulary, critical thinking, empathy):

  "Reading scrimps your brain...It builds your vocabulary, your reasoning skills, even empathy...Reading trains critical thinking, which is really a lost art nowadays." (04:41–05:30)

3. Literacy as Empowerment and Historical Perspective

• Charlamagne invokes the example of Malcolm X, also from Harlem, to illustrate literacy’s transformational power.

  "Malcolm X used reading to realize his full potential. I would say reading is the superpower that turned Malcolm Little into Malcolm X. Malcolm X once told Alex Haley, 'I knew right there in prison that reading had changed forever the course of my life as I see it today. The ability to read awoke inside me something long dormant, craving to be mentally alive.'" (06:00–06:30)

• He references a saying from his father to urge curiosity:

  "'If you want to hide something from a nigga, put it in a book.' That…should make us intellectually curious enough to want to know what the hell they hiding from us, all right? Pick up a damn book, kids." (06:40)

• Argues that reading provides context, history, culture, and critical tools for navigating life and society.

4. Financial and General Literacy: Not Mutually Exclusive

• Charlamagne and DJ Envy both agree financial literacy is crucial but insist it cannot substitute for basic reading.

  "To think that reading is secondary is like saying the foundation don’t matter as long as you got nice windows. I promise you, one of the fastest ways to level up is reading, okay? That’s how you learn. That’ll teach you how to question things. That’ll teach you how to think." (08:16)

• Offers a striking statistic:

  "According to the National Literacy Institute, not only are 21% of American adults illiterate, but also 130 million adults are now unable to read a simple story to their children." (08:40)

• Reading to your kids:

  "That’s something money can’t buy...Reading to your kids before bedtime, you can’t put a dollar amount on that." (08:50)

• Final message: reading and financial literacy both vital, but reading is the foundation upon which everything else is built.

5. Understanding Juelz Santana’s Perspective

• DJ Envy offers empathy, suggesting Santana’s view likely comes from hard life experience—coming into money early in the music industry, losing it, and wishing he’d learned about generational wealth.

  "But you know where the frustration comes from, right?...being in the industry early, making all this money, and then losing a lot of it and being damn near broke and saying, I wish I knew...financial literacy." (10:18–10:34)

• Both agree, however, that Juelz's experience doesn’t justify dismissing literacy.

6. Final Takeaways

• Charlamagne, DJ Envy, and the unidentified female host all agree:

  "The moral of the story, it’s not an either or." (11:04)
  "It’s all encompassing. It’s all part of education." (11:08)

• A call for young people:

  "Read, learn, question. Think so, kids, okay? Invest in your mind...Just like you want to invest in your pockets. Not because you’re trying to get rich, but so you can stay sharp and not sound illiterate on somebody’s podcast." (09:30–10:00)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments (with Timestamps)

• Juelz Santana argues against the need for reading:

  "But they don't really need to learn how to know how to read. I say that respectfully...You can still obtain the information. You don't have to know how to read. I believe common sense is better than everything." (03:52)

• Charlamagne dismantles the false dichotomy:

  "There shouldn’t be an either or to this discussion...You need to know how to read to really become financially literate." (04:41)

• On dependency and agency:

  "If you rely on the apps and audiobooks, then you're always going to be dependent on someone else's translation. But if you know how to read, then you have direct access to the information yourself." (05:00)

• On Malcolm X and the power of reading:

  "Reading is the superpower that turned Malcolm Little into Malcolm X...reading had changed forever the course of my life as I see it today." (06:05)

• Sobering assessment for the Black community:

  "Nothing worse than watching a group of black men be happy about not being able to read." (05:45)

• Compelling statistic:

  "Not only are 21% of American adults illiterate, but also 130 million adults are now unable to read a simple story to their children." (08:40)

• DJ Envy on the root of Juelz’s frustration:

  "I'm sure [for Juelz]...he had all this money coming in, and he didn't know what to do with the money, how to invest, and he lost it all. So that's where that frustration comes from." (10:26)

• Final collective takeaway:

  "The moral of the story, it's not an either or. It's all encompassing. It's all part of education." (11:04–11:08)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• [03:07] – Introduction of Juelz Santana’s viral comment on reading
• [03:52] – Juelz Santana’s direct quote from "No Funny" podcast
• [04:41–06:40] – Charlamagne’s detailed rebuttal and argument for reading
• [06:00] – Historical example: Malcolm X’s life transformed by reading
• [08:40] – National Literacy Institute statistics
• [10:18] – DJ Envy’s insight into Juelz Santana’s mindset
• [11:04] – Hosts’ agreement that education is not either/or

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Tone and Language

The episode features spirited, candid debate—trademark "Breakfast Club" style—with Charlamagne both humorous and pointed in critique ("I admit I don't speak nigga like I used to, but I still speak it very fluently..."), employing anecdotes and community references to ground his argument. DJ Envy offers a personal, empathetic angle based on industry experience, while all present ultimately unite in championing balanced, holistic education.

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Summary

Charlamagne tha God awards Juelz Santana "Donkey of the Day" for his viral comments undermining the importance of reading, powerfully countering that literacy is essential for personal development, financial empowerment, and community advancement. The conversation strongly reasserts that financial literacy and reading go hand-in-hand—one cannot meaningfully exist without the other—and closes with a call for young people to invest in their minds, not just their pockets.

Transcript

[Charlamagne tha God]

This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.

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[DJ Envy]

What up y'?

[Unidentified Female Host]

All?

[DJ Envy]

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[Unidentified Narrator]

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Com.

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[DJ Envy]

Say the gang don't get other shape.

[Charlamagne tha God]

Man, you are a donkey. It's time for Donkey of the Day. Donkey of the Day does not discriminate. I might not have the song of the day, but I got the Donkey Day.

[Juelz Santana]

So if you ever feel I need.

[DJ Envy]

To be a donkey man, get in with the hero.

[Charlamagne tha God]

Yes, the Breakfast Club.

[DJ Envy]

Who's Donkey of the Day today?

[Charlamagne tha God]

Well, Ed Sheeran, Donkey of the day for Monday, December 1st goes to. Joel Santana. Now, I know in this fast moving meteor ecosystem, a story that's a week old like this one can be considered ancient. Okay? But damn it, if you're still eating Thanksgiving leftovers today, then shut it up. All right? Your concept of old is off. But the reason I want to do this story is because we spoke about it last week during the latest, and I kept thinking to myself, why didn't I give Joel Santana Donkey of the Day for this? I was thinking about that over the holiday break, and it could be such a teachable moment. Okay, so let's spin the block. All right? Jules was on the no Funny podcast with Kenny, KP supreme, and DP Salute to those brothers. And Joel said that financial literacy holds more importance than reading. Let's go to the no Funny podcast to hear what you else had to say.

[Juelz Santana]

We gotta start teaching our kids, though, just financial wealth and literacy and all that that early, because by the time they get to ninth grade, they should be just learning how to start businesses. And kids can't read how to, how to, how to. But they don't really need to learn how to know how to read. I say that respectfully. I'm not saying that in a way to be literate because you're not supposed to be illiterate, but you can you reading or.

[Unidentified Narrator]

Or math.

[Juelz Santana]

Math, you can still obtain the information. You don't have to know how to read. I believe common sense is better than everything. I'm on common sense. I'd rather have zero book smarts and common sense. Be able to read the room, be able to read life, be able to read people. I try to understand people understand. I'm saying, like nowaday you can listen to a book.

[Charlamagne tha God]

You don't have to listen to.

[DJ Envy]

They got. They got apps.

[Juelz Santana]

You could put it in and it'll.

[Charlamagne tha God]

Read it to you.

[DJ Envy]

Are you crazy?

[Charlamagne tha God]

Now, I admit I don't speak nigga like I used to, but I still speak it very fluently, okay? And I understand a lot of what Joel Santana is attempting to say, and I want to tell you why I don't agree. First of all, there shouldn't be an either or to this discussion, right? You should be able to read, and you should learn financial literacy. And you know, if you're. If you're going to learn financial literacy, you need to know how to read, okay? You need to know how to read to really become financially literate. If you rely on the apps and audiobooks, then you're always going to be dependent on someone else's translation. But if you know how to read, then you have direct access to the information yourself. Then you can read it, okay? And what you can't comprehend, what you don't understand, then you can ask questions. That is the beauty of reading, okay? But you can't do any of that, all right? You can't comprehend or understand if you don't know how to read first, all right? Kids need to learn how to read full stop, all right? Adults need to know how to read full stop. Reading matters so much, man. First of all, reading scrimp is your brain, okay? When you're flipping pages, decoding sentences, visualizing ideas, it, it, it. It helps to build mental discipline. It builds your vocabulary, it builds your reasoning skills, even empathy, all right? Reading trains critical thinking, which is really a lost art nowadays, okay? Books expose you the complexity, okay? Not just in regards to understanding the complexity of financial literacy, but emotional intelligence, okay? Moral judgment, pattern recognition. If you don't understand anything I'm saying right now, then there's another example of why you should read more, okay? Financial literacy is vital. There's no argument there. But there are studies that show financial education efforts produce better outcomes when coupled with general literacy, okay? Budgeting, investing, financial resilience, all improve when people have a broad literacy foundation. Also, guys, I don't know if y' all know this or not, but math and financial literacy are not the same thing, okay? They overlap, but they're not the same thing. Math is like the toolbox, right? You got your numbers and your equations and, you know, your operations and your logic. You know, adding and subtracting, the multiplying, dividing. Math is about how numbers work, but financial literacy is about how money works, okay? It's about how people use money in the Real world. So, yes, you need math to understand financial literacy, especially in regards to percentages and interest rates and basic calculations. So I understand what y' all was trying to say in that conversation, but I need y' all to understand how stupid y' all look to a lot of people, okay? Nothing worse than watching a group of black men be happy about not knowing nothing. Okay? All right? There's nothing worse than watching a group of black men be happy about not being able to read. All right, Juels, you from Harlem, okay? You know. You know who else was from Harlem? Malcolm X was from Harlem. And Malcolm X used reading to realize his full potential. I would say reading is the superpower that turned Malcolm Little into Malcolm X. Okay? Malcolm X once told Alex Haley, I knew right there in prison that reading had changed forever the course of my life as I see it today. The ability to read awoke inside me something long dormant craving to be mentally alive. That was Malcolm X. You know what my daddy used to say? He used to say, if you want to hide something from a nigga, put it in a book. All right? All right. That right there should make us intellectually curious enough to want to know what the hell they hiding from us, all right? Pick up a damn book, kids. All right? Everything that Juels was saying you should learn can be learned by reading. Books teach history and culture and, you know, most importantly, something that's missing from the world. They teach you context, all right? The world is out of context because people don't even understand. They don't even understand what context is nowadays. And you can do audiobooks, okay? You can do audiobooks. I recommend you do both, all right? But I'm telling you, if you want to work out your brain, if you want to, you know, do some exercise on your brain, read, okay? And it's more important now than ever that we read. Because according to the National Literacy Institute, not only are 21 of American adults illiterate, but also 130 million adults are now unable to read a simple story to their children. You can't even give your kid's Cat in the hat, okay? You don't know how to read to your kids, man. That's something money can't buy, okay? Reading to your kids before bedtime, you can't put a dollar amount on that, but the way this world is going, you're gonna have kids in first grade reading the daddy before he goes to bed, if the father's even in the house. Okay? Listen, I'm all for teaching our people how to handle money, okay? I'M all for teaching our people how to invest and build businesses, but to think that reading is secondary is like saying the foundation don't matter as long as you got nice windows. Okay? I promise you, one of the fastest ways to level up is reading, okay? That's how you learn. That'll teach you how to question things. That'll teach you how to think. That's what literacy teaches you how to do. Read, learn, question. Think so, kids, okay? Invest in your mind, all right? Invest in your mind. Just like you want to invest in your pockets. Not because you're trying to get rich, but so you can stay sharp and not sound illiterate on somebody's podcast. Please give Jewel Santana the biggest he haw. Okay. Just wanted to put that on record. Okay. Yes. What?

[DJ Envy]

It's sad.

[Charlamagne tha God]

It is.

[Unidentified Narrator]

It's sad.

[DJ Envy]

But you just decided. But you know where the frustration comes from, right? It comes from him being in the industry early, making all this money, and then losing a lot of it and being damn near broke and saying, I wish I knew. Generational wealth and financial literacy to figure out what to do with that money. Cause him, he's probably in a situation where it's like, I wish I knew what to do with the money more than anything else.

[Charlamagne tha God]

But it's also with you still reading how to read.

[DJ Envy]

Yeah, it's also with the.

[Charlamagne tha God]

And you're a rapper. The more you read, the better you get as a mc like you in the world economy.

[DJ Envy]

But that comes from, I'm sure, personal. The fact that he had a whole lot and had all this money and money coming in, and he didn't know what to do with the finance, what to do with the money, how to invest, and he lost it all. So that's where that frustration comes from. Him saying, I wish I went to class. And did you know financial literacy. Opposed to.

[Charlamagne tha God]

But the moral of the story, it's not an either or.

[DJ Envy]

No, it's not.

[Charlamagne tha God]

It's all encompassing. It's all part of education. It's all part of an education that you should try to acquire on this planet while you're here. All of it.

[Unidentified Female Host]

I agree.

[DJ Envy]

All right. Well, thank you for that donkey today. Shalom. Now, can we bring Lauren back in? Can we have a real conversation? 800-585-1051. It's the Jewel's instrumental, y'.

[Unidentified Host]

All.

[Charlamagne tha God]

Y' all crazy.

[DJ Envy]

800-585-1051. Now, over the weekend, she went out of the country for her birthday. And during this, I guess, vacation, her babe put on I Guess it was like a note on the window that said, will you go out with me? So the question is so cute. 800-585-1051. Is it necessary to ask the question, will you go out with me?

[Charlamagne tha God]

First of all, do you have to.

[DJ Envy]

Ask whether I'll go out with you?

[Charlamagne tha God]

As an unc, I was embarrassed. And the reason I was embarrassed because you already out the country. So you already went out the country with the guy. So clearly y' all have established something, right? So you post the picture and your close friends and on the window it says, will you be my girlfriend? I thought it was a proposal. When I seen all the roses and.

[DJ Envy]

Everything, I said, oh, he wanted something. I said, who's gonna walk Lauren down the aisle?

[Charlamagne tha God]

Oh, oh, what's up? I thought you was getting proposed to. But see, I know how to read. So when I read, when I read it I was like, will you be my girlfriend? Yes. I thought it was really, really cute. Why do you hate it so bad? I thought it was cute. And then that only sets him up for the proposal. What the hell we going to do for that?

[DJ Envy]

If he had to take. But shouldn't y' all know though, like 16 anymore? Like, so at that point Chris have to ask you, do we go out or do y' all just was like, see? Exactly.

[Charlamagne tha God]

We got a rap. I needed to know for sure.

[DJ Envy]

Let's discuss. It's the Breakfast Club. Good morning.

[Charlamagne tha God]

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[DJ Envy]

What up, y'?

[Unidentified Female Host]

All?

[DJ Envy]

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[Charlamagne tha God]

This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.