← The Breakfast Club
The Breakfast Club
INTERVIEW: Dontay Banks & Kevin Freeman Talk Lil Durk's Indictment, Swizz Mentorship, Wallo + More
00:32:27
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- [00:00]
Jenny Garth
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- [01:12]
Margie Murphy
Garth at checkout in 2020, a group of young women found themselves in an AI fueled nightmare.
- [01:20]
Dante Banks
Someone was posting photos.
- [01:22]
Kevin Freeman
It was just me naked. Well, not me, but me with someone else's body parts.
- [01:27]
Margie Murphy
This is Levittown, a new podcast from iHeart podcasts Bloomberg and Kaleidoscope about the rise of deepfake pornography and the battle to stop it. Listen to Levittown on Bloomberg's Big Take podcast. Find it on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [01:44]
DJ Envy
Wake that ass up early in the morning.
- [01:46]
Dante Banks
The Breakfast Club.
- [01:48]
Charlamagne tha God
Morning everybody. It's DJ Envy. Just hilarious Charlamagne tha guy. We are the breakfast club. Lauren LaRosa is here and we got some special guests joining us this morning. We have Dante Banks and we have Kevin Freeman. Welcome fellas.
- [02:00]
Kevin Freeman
Good morning.
- [02:01]
Charlamagne tha God
How you guys doing this morning?
- [02:04]
DJ Envy
Tell the people who, who y'all are first of all so they get some context.
- [02:08]
Dante Banks
I'm Dante Banks. I'm Lil Durk's father.
- [02:12]
Kevin Freeman
And I'm Kevin Freeman. I'm the executive director for little Dirk's nonprofit, Neighborhood Heroes.
- [02:17]
DJ Envy
Okay, well, how is Dirk doing, first and foremost?
- [02:19]
Dante Banks
Oh, he's doing great. Wonderful. I just seen him this Sunday, this past Sunday. His spirit is up. He looking forward, you know, to his day in court. Freedom as you know, as this going to turn out to be releasing him, but he's doing great, strong in there.
- [02:36]
Charlamagne tha God
Now you have a story as well for people that don't know your story, you want to put them on to a little of your story and who, quote unquote, Big Dirk is.
- [02:43]
Dante Banks
Well, Big Dirk is known in Chicago, in the streets of Chicago. Not for good, you know, but back in 1993, I got caught in the feds myself. Caught up in the feds. And I received a life sentence. And it took me almost 24 years or 26 years to get up out of there. So I spent most of my life, more life in jail than I did on the street.
- [03:08]
Charlamagne tha God
And you got out at 2019. And at the time, your son was this huge musician.
- [03:13]
Dante Banks
Yes, sir.
- [03:14]
Charlamagne tha God
So how did coming back into society work with you and yo, because I mean, you evolved. You've been in there for 24 years, 26 years, and you came home. So talk about that a little bit.
- [03:26]
Dante Banks
I'm study right now today, Study, learning. Even with the cars and the technology of the car, the telephone, you know, I hit send, pick up. I figure all the rest of them is just a little bit much. I mean, even with the car, you know, I put it in drive and go, you know, make sure that the heat is working. But everything else just take some time, you know. And this is for everybody who's coming out of prison for that long time, you know, all this is going to be new to us. It's going to take us time to know, adjust to this new society. One of the things I tell everybody, I spent almost, almost about two weeks in Walmart doing what? Just each hour you going from. In prison, you going from two soups. Now you go in there, it's 20 suits, right? So you sitting there trying to figure out, oh, man, so many choices. You go in from one cereal to a whole shelf of cereal and you trying to figure out, oh, I never know these cereals existed. So you're going from aisle to aisle. It's all adventurous, all like going to an amusement park. So many choices where you didn't have choices before. So it takes time to go through there and really just get some choices. You just buying stuff to be buying it because you can get it. Now these type of things here, what.
- [04:42]
Just Hilarious
Was it like, you know, when you were locked up and Dirk is here or was out and he's climbing and he's rising as a star and you're like, you're seeing it, but you're not seeing it, but like you kind of, you're calling home, you're feeling it. Like, what was that like?
- [04:53]
Dante Banks
Oh, that was amazing. At first, I'm on The phone, as any father would, you know, go to school, get a trade, go to college. You know, that's some old school.
- [05:03]
Charlamagne tha God
Get a trade. That's your parents.
- [05:05]
Dante Banks
Get a trade. That's right. I don't want to hear about this, right? Everybody said he gonna be a rapper. You know, everybody said he finna play ball and different things like this, you know, that's every kid's dream, right? So I didn't really take it serious. I'm focused upon what I know to be a true career. You can get something up under your belt. And every time I want to rap, I want to rap. And then I asked his brother, his oldest brother, which was D thing at the time, Dante Banks Jr. I said, is he good? You know, is he good? Is he gonna go anywhere with this? He said, yeah, he's good. And then it was on 100. What was that?
- [05:39]
Charlamagne tha God
106 and park.
- [05:39]
Dante Banks
106 and park. I'm in prison. I look up there, he's gonna be on 106 and park. And I said, okay, everybody in prison, he gonna be on 106 apart. So every TV is on 106 and park. We waiting on him. And then that's when we found out. Yeah, he. He got a little buzz.
- [05:54]
Charlamagne tha God
He got buzz. Got a big buzz.
- [05:56]
Just Hilarious
And I see you, like, even just in talking about it, you're smiling, and it's just. I can imagine, like, you know, just as a parent, it's like, I want my child to be successful, and it's happening. And then you're in a predicament that you're in, and seeing it, it feels good to know that, like, he's carrying the family and things are working out, and then everything that we are, you know, seeing now happens. How did that feel when you heard the indictment come down and things of.
- [06:17]
Dante Banks
That nature, you know, from being in there and knowing what he up against now, you run right there so I can be with him to help him through this, because this is. Being in the feds ain't no small task. You know, this is a big thing. They don't. They don't give no room. They just snatch you up with almost and put you in a hopeless situation. You know, everybody goes in, kind of got to fight their way out to show and prove that this is what it is. But, you know, it hurts to know that he have to go through what I just went through. I had to deal with this system. Now. It hurts real bad. You know, first losing the oldest son and to the streets, and now Losing him to the, the government, you know, so that's why I'm there. Hands on lawyers, hands on with him, telling him every step of what to do now and how to fight this.
- [07:06]
DJ Envy
Being a person of faith, you know, you, you know, Allah is the best knower and planner, but when you lose a son, you know, to murder, then you lose a son to the, to the jail system. How does that make you feel? Like just your faith, how does that test your faith?
- [07:19]
Dante Banks
Oh, it does. It tests your faith. It tests your faith in a way that's. You have to be a parent to understand what I'm saying here. Really tests you, you know, but just like you said that fate, you know, everything belongs to Allah, it don't actually belong to me. He just used me as a vessel, but it belongs to him. So I just got to be patient with what's going on here and trusting him and continue to make do our. Which is supplication that he brings about the victory that we are looking for in the situation, the relief that we're looking for.
- [07:47]
Charlamagne tha God
When you came out, you know, you, you made it your business to, to change, right, to make sure you were out there telling kids the right way to go about things and to try to be a positive in the community. Do you ever look back and be like, do you wonder if it was ever karma, what happened to your kids because of some of the things that you did, even though that you changed, you're a different person? Do you ever thought, think about that or look at life like that?
- [08:08]
Dante Banks
No, you try to. Not as in karma, not as in karma. But you look at it as though like I'm on the phone with him on visit, telling them, don't go this way, don't go this route. I'm frowning up on this. I'm talking against this gang banging, selling drugs, what we doing to the community. You know, you go to prison, you become a man, you see things that you ain't see before. You know, you enlightened now, you know, you see your wrong. So I never want to have my sons to go down that road, but at the same time, he don't go down that road, he just go down the road, which rap and different things like this put him in the same category, but just a little different. You know, they look, they still saying, hey, you might not be selling drugs, you might not be doing these things right here. But they look at a rapper the same way.
- [08:56]
Charlamagne tha God
I also, you know, I wanted to ask about his case so much because the dirk that we knew That I knew personally he was such into giving back. Right. He would call all the time about the things that he wanted to do for Chicago and the area that he grew up and the things that he wanted to change and how he wanted to give kids an opportunity that they would think more than the street and have things to do. So with his organization, is his organization still out there being able to help, or is a lot of those funds and things been pulled from that?
- [09:28]
Kevin Freeman
Absolutely. Absolutely. Envy. So this goes back to 2020, you know, into the mic. This didn't just happen yesterday. You know, sitting down with Dirk Banks. You know, I remember the day when he was like, kevin, this is my. This is my vision. This is what I want to do. Because he was already doing the work. He's like, okay, but let's. Let's do it for real. For real. We say for real, for real. Let's get a registered 501C3 and let's really, truly, you know, look at the impact that we can make. And one thing that we, we landed on and still to this day is like dirt. This is your vision. This is your vision. It's going to be our jobs. When I say our jobs, my job, the board of directors and those that support, we're going to help bring it to life. And to be able to look back and see from 2020 and all the amazing work that he's done. And as you know, in media, you know, a lot of folks don't want to talk about the great things and the positive things that individuals are out here doing it. He didn't do it for that. He did it for the fact that he know that. He said, kev, these are things that I wasn't able to experience right when I was a kid. So now that I'm in position to do it, I'm. I'm all in. Let's go. I'm the voice, right? So I'm like, all right. So sitting with him, I mean, all around the clock. When I say around the clock, I mean, as you know, he's coming from the studio at 3, 4 in the morning. He's kind of like, listen, this is what I want to do. And I'm. I'm digested. And I'm saying, okay, from all the things that I'm hearing, all the things that I feel. Your passion. We created four foundation pillars based off the things that Dirk Banks was truly invested in, one to do. And it started off with neighborhoods, prosperity, emerging leaders, health and wellness. So with all those four different pillars, there's a bucket of work that lives in within everyone. So when we talked about real high level, you know, the neighborhoods, you know, think about all the national disasters that's happened, you know, takes me back to Houston several times with the hurricanes. There's a lot of seniors that had to go through the destruction of their properties, where Dirk was like, look, let's get some boots on the ground down there. Let's get folks that can help restore their community and store their homes. Because, you know, it costs money to get folks out there to cut down trees or stay on the power company to ensure that these lines are. Are fixed and safe. You know, when we look at prosperity, you know, and I could laugh, and we laugh about this to this day, when celebrities or athletes, whatever, think about doing nonprofits, you know, you always hear, back to school, let's do backpacks and Thanksgiving, let's do turkeys. And we would say, you know what? Good for those that do that, because it's neat. It helps.
- [12:15]
Charlamagne tha God
Absolutely.
- [12:16]
Kevin Freeman
But for Dirk, he's a thought leader. He's like, you know, prosperity to me for back to school is, let's get some financial literacy programs together. So we took a group of kids that are in our cohort to learn about financial management, money management. Shout out to bank of America and the city of Chicago treasurer's office for spending those hours and weeks with these young boys and girls to be able to educate them on things like Dirk said he didn't have, you know, the information that now that these kids were able to walk away with. And when you talk about those turkey drives, Dirk would always say, you know, what k. What do people do with these turkeys that don't got homes to cook them in?
- [12:52]
Just Hilarious
Right.
- [12:53]
Kevin Freeman
You know, what. What are they doing with them? So we like, okay, let's get some hot meals that's ready to be served. So shout out to the. The Boston market of the world, where tens of thousands of families got hot meals that didn't have to wonder, you know, how am I going to cook this turkey now that I got it? Where. Where am I gonna cook it at? So, you know, those last two pillars Health and wellness, you know, cancer survivors. Shout out to his wife, India, my sister, where they got together, said, we're gonna do a mother's day honors where we're gonna recognize these black women that are going through cancer. And as you know, unfortunately, sometimes if they go through the route of chemotherapy, they gotta shave their head off. Now, you know, going into a beauty supply store to put a unit on your head ain't probably what you wanna do, right?
- [13:41]
Just Hilarious
We, you.
- [13:52]
Dante Banks
Had the job.
- [13:53]
DJ Envy
You have no idea how good that.
- [13:55]
Kevin Freeman
But you know what that would do to one's self esteem. No one going through that. So what we were able to do is shout out to India and, and, and, and Kelvin as well, who's on the management side with Dirk's foundation, is that they were able to get celebrity stylists to create custom units and get hair in advance of Mother's Day. So now on their day that we recognize them, they could feel good. And we know when you feel good, Deon said, you look good, you feel good, and that's what we were able to do. But last but not least, and it ties into one of the things that really, I know that lives with Dirk the most, is that emerging leaders. And we talked about those students that Dirk has taken the time and exposed to his college and career readiness cohort. So going all the way back to 2022, we said, you know what, all these young black boys and girls that got passion, what are you passionate about? Because we're not gonna just say go to college just to go to college. We wanna make sure that there's programs and opportunities that align to what you're interested in. And now that we know, now when we go take these college trips to morehouse, back in 2022, we flew them from Chicago to Atlanta and they got to learn about the programs. They got a chance to learn about career Day, where the Atlanta Hawks, their executive office, had a roundtable with these young men and educated them about careers in the NBA. And it's not just about being a basketball player, it's about being marketing, it's about being HR or even real estate, which we didn't know about, you know, so with that, you know, being said, you know, and shout out to NASCAR as well, because after we left Atlanta, we went over to Talladega College and NASCAR hosted them for the career day. But the list goes on year after year. Went to D.C. dirk gave over $350,000 in scholarship funds, 350,000 to scholarship funds. So students who are looking to go to Howard and students who are already at Howard that caught a jam to say, you know what, I don't know how I'm going to be able to finish this semester. You know, the Grace Grant was able to provide the those students with an opportunity. Last year we came to New York, came to Queens with St. John's University. Students had an opportunity to learn about those programs. And then their career day was spent at Sony, spent at Alamo Records. So everyone can't be the next Lil Durk, but everyone can be that guy behind the production. And this is exposing these young black boys and girls that Dirk has been doing for a long time. And the lights haven't gone off now.
- [16:23]
DJ Envy
You can see it. I mean, you could see it, you know, in his faith walk, you know, you can see it, you know, and even when his name named his last album or the album before last almost healed, like, you could see that he was absolutely, positively trying to make, you know, the. The right moves and take the right steps to just be a better person.
- [16:37]
Just Hilarious
I was gonna ask y'all. The last thing that he did before he was taken into custody. It was the big prayer event that he had. And then you received the keys to the city.
- [16:45]
Kevin Freeman
Absolutely.
- [16:46]
Just Hilarious
But the mayor, I believe it was the mayor got a lot of backlash after he was arrested. And I think, you know, there were certain people and things that, like, step back. So how hard has it been? Because the organization is tied to Dirk, like, are y'all facing opposition? Or people still like, no, we know he's a good person.
- [17:01]
Kevin Freeman
You're gonna face opposition just being a young black artist, a young black man, a young black woman. There's always gonna be trials and tribulations. And if we allow one situation like that to stop us what we're doing, then we're losing the focus of what his true mission was. Yes.
- [17:20]
DJ Envy
I want to ask you something, too.
- [17:22]
Olivia Carville
Some of the best memories aren't just about where you are. It's about who you're with. Your crew, your day ones, the folks who always got your back. The ones who turn the most random moments into inside jokes you'll be laughing about for years. And now Sherri Coke is making those moments even sweeter this time. It's not just about sharing a Coke with one person. Nah, it's about sharing with the whole squad. Because what's better than drinking an ice cold Coke? Sharing one with the people you love most? Whether you're kicking it at the cookout, vibing at the game, pregaming before a night out, or just hanging out and catching up, there's a Coke with your name, or better yet, your nickname on it. From friend, bro, bestie, or girl, to classic names like Sarah, Riley, and David, these cans and bottles are all about your people. But it's bigger than just having a name on a can. It's about uplifting your friends and celebrating real connections. It's about appreciating the moments that matter. The road trips, the Late night talks, the big wins, even the L's we take together. It's about the little things. The inside jokes, the group chats, the remember that time when moments that turn into the best stories. Because Coke is here for all of it. To make sure you enjoy those moments with the people who matter most. Because sharing a Coke isn't just about what's in the bottle. Nah, it's about the laughs, the love and the connections that keep us together. So go on, grab a Coke for everybody. Raise it up and turn a regular day into a memory. But don't wait too long, because these limited edition cans and bottles won't be around forever. So next time you're with your people, don't miss your chance to share a Coke. Because the best moments are meant to be shared.
- [18:58]
Margie Murphy
In 2020, a group of young women in a tidy suburb of New York City found themselves in an AI fueled nightmare.
- [19:07]
Just Hilarious
Someone was posting photos.
- [19:10]
Kevin Freeman
It was just me naked. Well, not me, but me with someone else's body parts on my body. Parts that looked exactly like my own.
- [19:18]
Dante Banks
I wanted to throw up.
- [19:19]
Just Hilarious
I wanted to scream.
- [19:21]
Margie Murphy
It happened in Levittown, New York. But reporting the series took us through the darkest corners of the Internet and to the front lines of a global battle against deepfake pornography.
- [19:32]
Olivia Carville
This should be illegal, but what is this?
- [19:35]
Margie Murphy
This is a story about a technology that's moving faster than the law and about vigilantes trying to stem the tide. I'm Margie Murphy. And I'm Olivia Carville. This is Levittown, a new podcast from iHeart Podcasts, Bloomberg and Kaleidoscope. Listen to Levittown on Bloomberg's Big Take podcast. Find it on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [20:00]
DJ Envy
I tell you, man, I was looking at your bio and I love this. You said when you got released from prison, your bio said you had to first forgive yourself for adding to the demise of your community. What did that realization, when did you get that realization that you had actually caused a lot of problems in your community? And how did you know that? You know you had to forgive yourself.
- [20:19]
Dante Banks
For adding to was actually when I became a Muslim because you got to reflect on your past. You got to change a lot about yourself. So when you change a lot about yourself, you start looking within like, oh, I had these principles, I had these morals, I had these values. This is the way I used to think. And you challenged with these things now because now you see Islam finna change who I am, my character and my outlook. On life. So these are the things I did, plus one of the biggest things is seeing these young guys coming to prison, coming in. I mean, day by day, every week, they bringing a bus load in. And my heart just keep going out to them because they don't know what's going on. They have no idea what they up against right here. So you got to start programs, try to educate them on the legal aspect, to start getting in this court and fighting for your life back. Because if you just sit there, the feds, you sit there, that's it. You got to get up and fight. And if you don't, and like I say, you'll be there for the rest of your life, man.
- [21:17]
DJ Envy
What is needed to break the generational cycle of just violence.
- [21:21]
Dante Banks
And in Chicago, we working on that daily. I mean, boost is on the ground daily. I work with an organization called Chicago Crib, where we go around and one of the main things we're doing right now with Chicago Crib, gun violence, Gun reducing gun violence in a transformative way. But at the same time, we start now the program of non aggression, teaching them non aggression. You know, it's hard to tell them young guys to put the gun down, but know what we gonna teach them is not aggressive. Don't be aggressive with that gun. You know, only use that gun to defend yourself. Only use that gun to defend people who trying to come in your house but don't go out looking for nobody's shoe. So guys who coming out of prison, guys who know what it's about, we got to stay on the ground. We got to give back. We got to be the ones about that change talk and that change behavior. We can't be OGs and then hanging out with a young guy doing just as worse as they doing. You know, we got to get out there and tell them and we got to sacrifice ourselves to do this, you know, because a lot of them gonna be hard head, a lot of them gonna push us away. A lot of them gonna tell when you outdated, you know, gonna sit down somewhere. But we gotta stay on the front line out there because we got to get them neighborhoods back to the place where they can be where kids can come back out and play grandmamas and mamas can sit on the porch and walk. Stores can be utilized for not just hanging around there, you know, use for, you know what they use for and be a pillar of the community. So, you know, we just lack of.
- [22:52]
DJ Envy
Resources, like education, like lack of opportunity. All of that. All of them, all of it.
- [22:56]
Dante Banks
All of them, you know, and what we got now with what's going on in politics is going to be even harder fight for us. You know, trying to shut down the board of Education, you know, Department of Education. Yeah. You know, trying to do these. Trying to attack. Trying to attack the health care, trying to attack the veterans. You know, now the whole American is waking up. And so it puts more of a burden on us to try to help, because people that's already down finna stay down. We ain't got no opportunity for them to come up because the administration ain't giving us these opportunities for them to come up.
- [23:29]
Charlamagne tha God
Can you give us an update on what you can on Dirk's case and how it's going? I know he was denied bond, but can you give us an update of what's happening and how his fans can support? Because it's been really quiet, you know.
- [23:40]
Dante Banks
Yeah. Now, one thing I could say. Well, y'all, the question y'all ask Kevin, how people looking at him now, it ain't a place I go. It's not a place that I go. A phone call and I don't get where he get 100 support. Ain't nobody like turning they back on him or saying nothing negative about other than, you know, a little. Few little blobs here and there or podcast who's trying to get some type of recognition about saying something negative about him. But overall, 90%, everybody's there in a prayer, they support. He get many, many letters of, you know, keep your head, keep going on, you're gonna get up out of this, you know, things of that nature there. So the support is 100%. And I love that about him because that tells you what kind of person he is when no one is trying to, you know, look at his downfall as something that we can now. Hey, look at him. We told you about. Not this type of thing here. Oh, that's a beautiful thing there. And one more thing I'd like to speak on. I'm sorry.
- [24:38]
Just Hilarious
No, you go ahead.
- [24:40]
Dante Banks
Every time I go to bedroom or he called just like Kevin said, he always got a new idea. I said, man, get in there and look at this case. Let's get focused on this. But he got a new idea. Hey, what you think about a hospital? What you think about a school? What you think? You know, always something new. What he trying to do up in there as far as trying to do out here to him.
- [25:01]
Just Hilarious
You mentioned, like, just how he has so much positive support from fans and people and, like, people not backing away from what he's doing. In the community. But I remember in December when they tried to get the bond that Envy was mentioning, the prosecutors tried to paint him out to be, like, this, like, super dangerous person. And, you know, all those things. How do you have conversations with him? Because you said he's focused on new ideas, but are there ever times where he's like, yo, this is like. Like, I can't believe this is happening to me right now. And then things like that happen and he might lose faith or might lose sight. Like, does that happen at all?
- [25:29]
Dante Banks
Well, as. As a human, you. You sitting in there looking at four walls. You know, you've been told to stand up for count. You've been told these things. Something that you ain't normally used to is going to have this effect on you. Yeah, but, you know, you always bounce back. You always look at the greater picture. Because as a Muslim, we look and say to ourselves, what Allah is doing for us is greater than what they doing to us. What Allah is doing for us right now, building us to be a better man is greater than what they trying to do to us and trying to tear us down. So he definitely. He definitely building. He was telling me that, you know, when he came in, there was like, four Muslims on the block. He said, now it's 17 Muslims on the block. So he in there. He.
- [26:16]
Just Hilarious
People are converting, converting, you know, got you.
- [26:18]
Dante Banks
Yeah. So that's a good thing. So he in there, you know, keeping it going, keeping the work going. You know, what do y'all.
- [26:24]
DJ Envy
When y'all come out here and y'all do these press hits, what are y'all hopes? What are y'all trying to do?
- [26:29]
Dante Banks
We trying to bring a real look. What's really. What is. Junior. I call him Junior. What is him? What he's supposed to be looking, you know, how you supposed to view him? Don't take allegations and make them a fact. Don't take allegations and make it a conviction. You know, allegations are just that. These are allegations. Give us a chance in court to prove ourselves. Give us a chance, you know, and this one thing again, we shout out the mayor of Chicago, Brandon Johnson, when they try to attack him. He said, don't give the brother his chance. That's right.
- [27:04]
DJ Envy
You know, due process.
- [27:05]
Dante Banks
Give him his chance in court. And this is what we ask everybody. Give our chance in court. And we approve that. All of this. There's nothing but falsehood and lies.
- [27:13]
Just Hilarious
You know, wait. When you talk about going places and wanting the conversation to be just fair for him, even if people are going to have Their opinions. How hard is it for you? And you can answer this if you want to. I know it's a legal situation. So, for instance, like, I know I've seen reports of, like, there were, like, text messages that allegedly were, like, between Dirk and the. The guys who are. Who they threw the murder charges at for D thing. And then they have the verse from his song Aha. And they're trying to pin that, like, yo, this is you saying what you did. How hard is it to go up against stuff like that? Just because legally they're talking about that every single time he goes into court.
- [27:52]
Dante Banks
It's not hard if you get all the information, but I will refer. Now I have to refer all of these things. Thank you, brother. Thank you. I have to refer all these things to the legal team because, you know, this is some of the things that they would have to answer and give a deeper understanding to. He got three great lawyers on the case. You know, Drew Finley.
- [28:15]
Just Hilarious
That's my guy. Love him.
- [28:16]
Dante Banks
Yes, he's good, friendly. Jonathan out of Chicago, Bremer, and he got the lady, what's it, Christy O'Connor. So he got three good lawyers. She out of California, Drew is out of Atlanta, and. And Jonathan Raymond is out of Chicago. So they working around the clock. They constantly keep us updated. You know, I talk to them regularly about the case, and so it's going good. You know, all these text messages, these things here, they on top of all this. And like I said, give him his day in court, and they approved. You know, what's the. What. What's the real truth about these text messages?
- [28:54]
Just Hilarious
Right.
- [28:55]
Dante Banks
How confident are you as a Muslim? I'm confident in Allah as a Muslim, and I just continue to make dua that this. That we victorious in this case. You know, that Allah grant us the relief that we are seeking out of this. So looking at everything, you know, is weak, but we make sure continue to trust in Allah.
- [29:20]
Charlamagne tha God
Now, what about with the government? Because, you know, the government, as we've seen with many cases before, they play a nasty game where they try to make somebody look crazy so that the jury looks at them as crazy from the start. You know, I mean, we see that.
- [29:33]
Dante Banks
A lot, a whole lot. And who don't know that better than the person that's been in the belly of the beast. You know, I know the tricks in the game they play. That's why, like I said, I stay on this case looking at from every angle, because I know they games. I know what they play. I know they lies, they deception. I Know, they create some things, you know, and create some witness, you know, I know somewhere out of the blue, it'll be somebody come along. Don't nobody know, like, who is this dude? And they'll put him up there to say some things, you know, and everybody be like, you know, so, yeah, I definitely know about them.
- [30:10]
Just Hilarious
And you're in your bio. One of the things that you mentioned in here is how much time you didn't get to spend with your kids because of your sentence that you had now, like, you know, in present time, hopefully, and like, you know, preferably when Dirk is able to come home, what are you looking forward to being able to do with him? I know you lost D thing, but what are you looking forward to do with Dirk? And, like, you know, just your family now. Once y'all get through all the Muddy.
- [30:32]
Dante Banks
Waters, the same thing we was doing beef when I got out. You know, I'm constantly with them now. I don't want to get my daughters mad, but I got five children. Yeah, three daughters and two sons. Then when we get off the show, they be like, you ain't said nothing about us. Or. So I got three beautiful daughters and two sons. One passed away and one. What we looking to do now is we on another whole level now. You know, going to see him, talking to him. You know, minds are now combined now, and we just looking forward to doing things now with the grandkids, raising them in the right way, you know, embedding and putting in them the things that we. His experience, my experience, the do's and the don'ts in life. So we just looking to build stronger family bond.
- [31:22]
Just Hilarious
And I know y'all brought up India earlier, and we found out that they were married through, like, the new music and the photo on the album. What conversations do you and Dirk have before he decided to get married? And, like, what are you talking to him as dad? You know what I mean? Like, what advice are you giving him? Or, you know, how. What's that like?
- [31:38]
Dante Banks
Okay, now, as a Muslim.
- [31:40]
Just Hilarious
As a Muslim, because it's different for you, right? Right.
- [31:43]
Dante Banks
You got to get married. You cannot lay asleep with a woman that you're not married to. So these are my conversations to him. You have to be married. It's a great sin in Islam if you're not married. We don't believe in fornication. We don't believe in adultery, you know, sleeping outside the marriage and different things like that. If you are interested in this sister, then let her know through marriage that you're ready to take on the responsibility of a husband.
- [32:09]
DJ Envy
So yeah, as a Muslim, are you on him about the content of his music? Like if, you know, he beats his situation and comes home, are you going to tell him that musically he should go in another direction?
- [32:18]
Dante Banks
He told me. Oh, he told me. So I'm just keep saying Alhamdulillah. Every time I talk to him, he learning more about Islam and what he supposed to be doing as a Muslim.
- [32:30]
DJ Envy
What do you say?
- [32:31]
Dante Banks
He's saying that, hey, I can't talk about these things no more. I can't walk this way of life no more. You know, so he already on point with all this, you know, and that's one of the things about, you know, prison give you time to really reflect, think, give you time, isolation to read, study. So now you're able to, you know, you ain't distracted about these world things. You know, this is a, this is a star, this is a artist. He on the planes all the time, he moving all the time. From the moment he wake up to the moment he goes to sleep. He always doing something so saying, you know, he took his Shahada, he became a Muslim in prison. I mean, at the prison when he came to see me, but then his life took off from there. So now he got a chance now to study. So everything that he needs to know, he learning it right now. So he knowing. He telling me, like I said, no, I can't talk about that no more. I can't do this no more. I'm glad that I got married. I'm glad that I went this direction right here. Because he's trying to see now.
- [33:27]
Charlamagne tha God
Wow. Well, definitely send, send them our love, man, and tell them that, you know, we, we'll continue to pray for him, man, and support him.
- [33:35]
Dante Banks
Absolutely. Oh, and no doubt, cuz when I told him about this, he said, that's beautiful. Them, they right there, they going to keep it real.
- [33:44]
DJ Envy
Oh yeah. We've been watching Dirk since the beginning. Literally, literally he. Dirk been up here with Vaughn and everybody. So it's like we literally watched him grow, grow up.
- [33:52]
Charlamagne tha God
That's right.
- [33:52]
Dante Banks
And also we can't forget about our main guy, Swiss.
- [33:57]
DJ Envy
Oh, salute to Swiss. Absolutely.
- [33:58]
Dante Banks
Definitely shout out to that brother. And that is Swiss is one of his biggest mentors. That's one who talks to him, keep him on point, different things. Like he always called Swiss. They always talking, what direction, what should I do? You know, and it's good to have somebody like Swiss in this corner, you know?
- [34:15]
Kevin Freeman
Absolutely.
- [34:16]
Charlamagne tha God
Well, appreciate you guys for joining the state party.
- [34:18]
Just Hilarious
I have One more thing. I just thought of that video of Wallow when he's talking to Dirk and it went super, super viral. He's telling him like, you know, not to retaliate for d thing and then it went re viral. When all this stuff happened with the, with the case, when you first saw that video and saw that moment, I don't know if you like were there in person or what, but like, as a dad, like, what was that feeling like just to see somebody pouring to your son like that?
- [34:40]
Dante Banks
Beautiful. And I thank you, appreciate it. Exactly. Like, I mean a lot. Truly reward you for that. Because this is what we talk about. This is why we practice no retaliation, because it only going to keep it going, you know, So I love that, you know, I love that you open up like that. So thank you for that, you know, and I, I agree. One, I'm sorry.
- [34:59]
Charlamagne tha God
No, no, no, no.
- [35:01]
Dante Banks
I'm thinking he could never, he could.
- [35:03]
Just Hilarious
Never, he could never Wallow is so positive and just does so many great things. When they were in the studio and him and Gilly were sitting there because that went so super viral because of everything with the, the case, and I was just like, dang, as a dad, I wonder, like, you know, you watching that, like, that's what's up.
- [35:20]
Dante Banks
Agree with it 100%. And those are the things I said because we actually, you know, we lost my son. And I don't know if y'all know, but when you lose a son in Islam, you have to wash his body.
- [35:33]
Just Hilarious
Yes, I know.
- [35:34]
Dante Banks
So we had to wash his body and we wash in the body and, and it's hurting, you know, to watch my son body, to get out of 26 years and then have to bury your son. You know, that's, that's that pain there is like you never get used to it. You never accept it, but yet you accept it as a Muslim. But it's something that's always going to be deep in you. So I don't want to see another parent hurt like that. I don't want to see nobody have to go through that. So it got to stop.
- [36:01]
DJ Envy
Do you put any blame on yourself ever? Like, you like, man, you know, because the poor choices I made 26 years ago, I wasn't here the way I probably needed to be.
- [36:09]
Dante Banks
As a parent, you're going to always say that. You're going to say, what could I have did, right? What could I have did better? Could I have said anything? Could I have did anything different to stop this? You know, but then Islam kick in. You were like you did everything you were supposed to do. You tried to the best of your ability, but that struggle goes within you all the time.
- [36:30]
Charlamagne tha God
Well, thank y'all for joining us. Dante Banks, Kevin Freeman, thank you so much. And please keep us updated when you can.
- [36:36]
Dante Banks
Yes, sir, we'll do. And I appreciate y'all from having us.
- [36:39]
Charlamagne tha God
Absolutely appreciate you some more. It's the Breakfast Club. Good morning.
- [36:42]
DJ Envy
Wake that ass up early in the morning.
- [36:44]
Kevin Freeman
The Breakfast Club.
- [36:50]
Olivia Carville
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- [37:18]
Margie Murphy
In 2020, a group of young women found themselves in an AI fueled nightmare.
- [37:24]
Dante Banks
Someone was posting photos.
- [37:26]
Kevin Freeman
It was just me naked. Well, not me, but me with someone else's body parts.
- [37:31]
Margie Murphy
This is Levittown, a new podcast from iHeart podcasts Bloomberg and Kaleidoscope about the rise of deepfake pornography and the battle to stop it. Listen to Levittown on Bloomberg's Big Take podcast. Find it on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.