Omar Epps (2:34)

Good morning.

Charlamagne Tha God (2:36)

How y' all feeling, first and foremost?

Omar Epps (2:37)

Yeah, good, Good.

Akeem Barry Senior (2:38)

We feeling good.

Yelena Popovich (2:39)

Very good.

Interviewer/Host (2:40)

Nice.

Akeem Barry Senior (2:40)

Excited.

Yelena Popovich (2:41)

Thank you for having us.

Charlamagne Tha God (2:42)

Happy. Happy to have y', all, man. Moses the Black. Now, I know Moses was a real person. I did a little research. He was a 4th century saint. Yeah, right. Whose journey went from, like, violence to deep spiritual transformation. Who, Who. Who was he?

Omar Epps (2:55)

He was. I think he was like the real Robin Hood in real life. Because even when he was on his, let's say, path of darkness, he was truly taking care of his community, you know, giving to the poor and things of that nature. And he came to an impasse in his life where he realized he had to become the change he was seeking, which is parallel to the character that I play, Malik. He finds himself at a similar place. So the film explores those type of themes, obviously in a contemporary setting, and.

Charlamagne Tha God (3:27)

That'S how you translate that, like, real life arc into a modern crime drama.

Omar Epps (3:34)

Well, that's Yelena, who wrote the film beautifully, but I'll let. You should speak to that.

Yelena Popovich (3:40)

Should I elaborate on that? Yeah. Well, can I just say first, what really drew me? I really fell in love with the saint because of his incredible courage and humility. I mean, this is the man who was all the way on one side. He was a notorious gang leader that was known for his brutal violence. People were fearing, feared of him. And basically, he not only abandons at the moment when you heed the light within, you know, not only that he abandons the ways, but he goes on this journey of a true freedom that achieves that. The fruits that this true freedom wore through a lot of repentance and skeptic work was this basically ability to face martyrdom with joy. And that to me was like, this was an incredible man. That heart must have been amazing even before his conversion, you know, to have that kind of courage, to say, I lived by the sword, now I'm going to die by the sword. And this is. This is for me, this is the way I want to go. And I want to glorify my Lord and Savior in that way. So this is something that really kind of grabbed me. So I thought about this for a long time, and I was trying to put a story together in a 4th century, but for some reason, whether you call it writer's block or whatever, something was not quite there. I felt like it wouldn't do justice to the saint until I had epiphany. I was in an island of Evia, and I saw, literally, Chicago, Grandma. I saw scenes of the movie in front of my eyes, and I. And I said to myself, no, no, no. And I said to myself, she said.

Omar Epps (5:25)

No, she was sober.

Yelena Popovich (5:27)

No, I was. I was sober. But maybe you're not sober when you're in the prayer. Maybe. Maybe that's meditation, you know? So what happens was like, you know, I. I said, okay, now I have a movie. But then I was like, oh, great. But what do I know about Chicago and the gang life? And that's. And that's where I knew that if I wanted to do the justice to this incredible saint, I had to go to Chicago. And by the providence of God, I believe I met this incredible gentleman, Reginald Akim Berry, whom I went to, respectfully, to ask a blessing. If I can make a movie like this, if this movie would help his community, and I can have him give you a little bit of a story of how that happened. I mean, he's. Without him, this wouldn't have happened.

Akeem Barry Senior (6:19)

Well, the facts of the matter is a great friend of mine, Alex Pcos, who was the head of Cinespace, she obviously had got in contact with him, and she. He told her, if she really want the real deal, you know, to contact me and to be real with you, I was just gonna have lunch just to be cordial and blow this white lady off.

Yelena Popovich (6:47)

Get her out of here.

Podcast Host (6:48)

Yeah, yeah, right.

Akeem Barry Senior (6:49)

And so again, during our lunch, you know, she has some. Some real interesting things to say. And when she mentioned that she wanted to get the essence of Chicago and the street life, you know, I thought that was a great opportunity also for me to speak about the street life. You know, it's not just as easy as people put it out there as guys just wake up one morning, you want to be a gang member, you want to sell drugs, you want to get killed? That's not unfold. You know, speaking from a personal perspective, you know, I am a preacher stunt. And so I was raised in the Baptist church, you know, to say that you don't need nothing material here, you know what I'm saying? You're gonna be in poverty until you get in heaven. Then you're gonna have a street of gold. I'm like, well, listen, my next door neighbor getting money, you know what I'm saying? He wearing brand new shoes. I got holes in the bottom of my mind, you know, and see a fight or flight. You dig what I'm saying, so over the years, I rose through the ranks of the four corner hustlers and became the chief myself. And during that time, right there, again, we was what they call Negro rich, you know, but when they come, kick that door in, you know what I'm saying, all that money went to the lawyer. You understand me? And I get 18 years in the penitentiary. And so while I was ruminating in the state's only supermax called tams, I had an epiphany. You know, how I need to change my life. Cause a whole lot of people, now that I've risen to the top echelon of this organization, perhaps I can introduce change and bring it back to where the founders had it when they was giving breakfast and daycare and that sort of thing, you know. And so when I was emancipated in 2006, I started an organization called Saving Our Sons. And through those works there, you know what I'm saying, me and Alex became like brothers from another mother. And, you know, have met Yelena, you know, we. We put some things down on paper, and the rest is history.

Charlamagne Tha God (8:50)

What was the turning point in the conversation with Yelena? Like, you know, you go in thinking, I'm gonna blow this. Blow this woman off. But as you having a conversation with her, like, what. What was that one thing that made you just pivot a little bit when.

Akeem Barry Senior (9:01)

She said she wanted to catch the real essence of the streets and mentioned, you know, paying homage to a great brother who I love, Saeed, you know, the police put all types of madness on his name. When she thought about Sean paying homage to him, you know, that was the thing that flipped me over.

Interviewer/Host (9:26)

Yeah.

Charlamagne Tha God (9:26)

And for you, Elena, when you talk about this, you know, the spiritual themes of Moses the Black, but then Chicago being Chicago, how did you balance those elements so the film felt authentic to both worlds?

Yelena Popovich (9:37)

Well, I think I went after the truth, the hardcore truth of the things. The story, which, I mean, the story of St. Moses the Black is pretty straightforward. And I didn't deviate from. I feel that I. That I showed what I wanted to show in that. In that side. But it was actually. That's a good question, because that was the hardest one to balance. Because at the end, what I decided, if I was going to bring him in the modern day, then the repentance and redemption of St. Moses had to become the repentance and redemption of our main character. So then I had to tell a story, focus more on the story in the modern day. So through the eyes of our main character, people hopefully can identify with things and go through that transformation themselves. And this is really made for those that suffer the most. People that are in the bondage, they don't believe they can get out. They don't believe in that there is a second chance for them. They don't believe they can be forgiven. And this is a movie for those. And this is why I did it.

Podcast Host (10:40)

I think a lot of what I saw in the movie too, we were talking about this earlier, was the message that there's already power in you, but you might not recognize it at a point. And that we all need something to bring us up out of that. And for a lot of us, especially black community wise, it is religion that we turn to that helps us kind of like figure that out.

Omar Epps (10:56)

Absolutely. I'm glad you said that because, you know, whether you're religious or not, when we use these words like faith and when we use words like redemption, people always attribute them to religion or spirituality. But there's a different angle as well. Even if you're a science based thinker, you gotta have faith in the unknown, in something. All of your things are hypotheses because you weren't here a million years ago to say this, carbon this, that and the other. And when we use words like redemption, you know, if you, you wanted to lose weight, you started working out on a diet and then you kind of went off, you know, you put back on some pounds. When you're on your road back, like, let me get back on my team, that's a form of redemption. You're redeeming yourself. If you did somebody wrong when you come and you humble, you apologize, yo, my bad. That's a form of redemption. So I'm only saying that to say it's not just from a faith based angle, it's just from a human experience angle. What perspective you're looking at it from?

Podcast Host (11:57)

You in this movie. You guys use a lot of the things from today. Like you mentioned, there's a lot of going live on social media, in the chat and all that stuff. Right? Omar, you've had the career path where we've seen you in so many different versions of what the streets look like. Talk about that transition just as an actor, but also what you're teaching through your art when you say yes to these type of films.

Omar Epps (12:20)

Yeah, that's, it's, it's a reflection of the now. Right. And, and kind of from my elder, if you will, perspective.

Charlamagne Tha God (12:32)

OG perspective.

Omar Epps (12:34)

Okay. OG perspective. You know, what we depicted in the movie is like the, the insanity of of, you know, how social media can be, how people take something that's virtual and bring it into their. They have real feelings about it, and they take real actions based on things that are just. You know what I mean? Hyperbole. Like, so it's. It's. It's just. I guess it's more pervasive than when we were coming up. It was like, you in. You in high school, Somebody say something at first period. It kind of get around by lunch, and everybody like, ooh. And then they gather around. Yo, y' all gonna fight after school. Like, you know what I mean? But that would travel kind of slower, you know, now with the. It's so instant with social media that there's. There's not time to, like, process and, like, critically think before you do something, you know, so when people, you know, I think it's a reflection of the now to have that in the film. And I think it's the elements of the film that. That component is important.

Charlamagne Tha God (13:34)

Everybody would have known. Bishop shot. Shot immediately, and social media was around.

Omar Epps (13:40)

Exactly.

Charlamagne Tha God (13:41)

Exactly immediately.

Omar Epps (13:42)

That's funny.

Podcast Host (13:43)

Now, the.

Interviewer/Host (13:43)

In the movie.

Podcast Host (13:44)

Go ahead.

Interviewer/Host (13:44)

Do you. This is a question for all three of you. Do you think that Malik was actually at first, a bad guy, like. Or just doing what he had to do? You know what I mean? Like, because it's different ways to look at it. You can come in, come at it from two different perspectives. You know what I mean?

Akeem Barry Senior (13:59)

Absolutely. Again, from a personal perspective, Malik has similarities of my life, you know? And again, you know, situations push you into situations.

Interviewer/Host (14:13)

Yeah.

Akeem Barry Senior (14:13)

Like I said, I come from household nine kids, you dig? And so public aid. My father used to have to hide up under the porch when the public aid people come ring your bell, and you sit on the couch and they test your teeth and lift your shirt up, make sure you ain't got no whips on you and that sort of thing. And that was, like, traumatizing, you know, When I came a teenager, I'm like, well, I'm help my mom, you know, you had movies like the Mac. You had moves like Superfly. You said, this. This kilo right here, you can get your family out the hood, you know? And that impressed me. You know what I'm saying? I'm like, well, it's the only game that left me to play, right? You dig? In the 70s, you're either gonna be an entertainer or you're gonna be an athlete or drug dealer, one of the.

Omar Epps (14:51)

Three, you know, key thing he just said. In the 70s.

Akeem Barry Senior (14:54)

Yeah, in the 70s, that's the era I grew up in. And so again, you know, by the time I became a chief in the 90s, you know, I was in the penitentiary. You did what I'm saying. And Mr. Hoover came along with a message of Century 21 saying there wasn't gonna be no more gang banging on each other. You didn't want to say, we're gonna be all one family. And what the government did, they threw him in a, in a, in a super maximum prison to silence them. And I became an ambassador for that message. And it wasn't long before I found myself a super maximum prison to silence me.

Charlamagne Tha God (15:25)

Speak to that for a second. Because people like to say, you know, Larry Hoover is just some gangster criminal who just needs to be locked away. But, you know, people that actually know him in his story say, feel like he's a political prisoner.

Akeem Barry Senior (15:36)

Absolutely, absolutely. I mean, again, the man is almost 80 something, you know what I'm saying? But every time come up parole, they show a picture of him being 26. And, you know, it's a fear factor. Politics. Move on fear, you know what I'm saying? Trump doing the same thing right now.

Omar Epps (15:53)

Fear.

Akeem Barry Senior (15:53)

You did what I'm saying, if Mr. Hoover was home right now, a whole lot of things will cease and desist. Yeah, because people still give reverence to his name and his word. And so again, you have Jeff Ford, same way, political prisoners, you know, this guy going to free the bitcoin people, you know what I'm saying? Bezel, hundreds of millions of dollars, he let them out of prison. But somebody understand me, who actually hadn't hurt nobody in almost 30 years, still holding them hostage.

Interviewer/Host (16:19)

How difficult is that though, right? Because when you on the streets, you got. Well, when you're in the streets, you got your soldiers, you know what I mean, people that look up to you to lead them in the street life. Right? And then when you're thrown in prison and now you are, you're preaching the total opposite of that. The pressures of it is like, do we follow you still? But this, what we was doing out here, like, how you going? You know what I mean? What are the pressures like being and share your experience even when you were incarcerated? Like, was that any type of pressure being in there, leading the total opposite of what you was throwing in there for?

Akeem Barry Senior (16:54)

To be honest with you, I had several attempts on my life right across my throat.

Interviewer/Host (16:59)

Yes, sir.

Akeem Barry Senior (16:59)

You know, because again, I went with the homosexuality, you need to go raping young brothers. I went with that move, you know, and so again, attempt was made in my life, because you had older guys who had been there and they're going to be there, and they say, well, listen, these are they wives and et cetera. And so again, I did go through a bit of trepidation about, you know what I'm saying, because I put my guns down with the opposition, put their guns down. So I took counsel with my. With my father, and he told me, you know, it don't take no courage to blend into the crowd. It takes courage to stand out from the crowd. And so I took that challenge, you know what I'm saying? I met with all the rest of the chiefs in my community and let them know, listen, I'm going on this side of the street and I pray you will let me do this peacefully because again, you know, like I say, redemption. And I can always go back that way as well if my life is threatened, you know, but fortunately, God put a cover over me. And again, you know, I was able to bless my community with thousands of jobs over the last 19 years that I've been involved with incredible anti violence.

Podcast Host (18:02)

And you feel that in the movie, though, like, the movie to me, I don't know if this is what you guys or you intended, but it's almost like a. If like the messaging is like an act of, like, activism, of. Of trying to wake people up on the streets right now and let them know to join exactly what you're talking about. And a lot of times those type of things are not accepted when we are putting our people together saying, look, y' all got these soldiers. But, like, if y' all did this instead of this, right? So what has that pushback been, like? Because I know y' all going into theaters and like, what's that?

Omar Epps (18:30)

Let's talk about it.

Yelena Popovich (18:31)

Let's talk about that. Let's talk about that one.

Charlamagne Tha God (18:34)

I'm hearing this some. You want some disturbing news about this movie?

Akeem Barry Senior (18:39)

Yeah, listen, let me tell you something.

Yelena Popovich (18:41)

Let him.

Akeem Barry Senior (18:41)

I think he reality of the fact is, you know, the powers that be are trying to suppress this movie as we speak. You know, you had, you know, several studios, I say theaters, who actually pulled the movie two days before its opening date. You know, I have family and friends in various states who contacted me and said, man, listen, we can't find the movie. You know, it was there two weeks ago, but now it's, you know, yeah.

Yelena Popovich (19:08)

They pulled it two days before the release. Never unheard of.

Akeem Barry Senior (19:12)

Absolutely.

Yelena Popovich (19:13)

In a lot of unheard of. And especially at inner cities where people are hurting and they want to see.

Omar Epps (19:19)

This Film that we made the movie for, the movie for the community. And they're actively and aggressively trying to keep the film from the community. And at the end of the day, you know, God don't stop working either. All I hear about is, the devil's a lie, the devil's this, the death. What about the other side? What about the real side, the true side? And that's why we here unapologetically standing for the power of the light. You understand what I'm saying? And it is crazy. It's disgusting, but it's a sign of these times, of now.

Akeem Barry Senior (19:58)

Well, the truth of the matter is Cook county has the biggest jail system in the country as far as prison. You know, the Cook county, where you hold you before you actually go to prison.

Omar Epps (20:08)

Yeah.

Akeem Barry Senior (20:09)

And you have people who made a living off building these buildings, you understand me, to try to, I guess, incarcerate the whole mass of a generation. You know, again, I sat there from 1988 to 2006, you know what I'm saying? And it's not. I. I didn't change my mind. I had changed my mind, but the judge didn't change my time, you know what I'm saying? I still had to sit there languishing and trying to send messages out, you know what I'm saying, through legal mail, you know what I'm saying? Saying, listen, y', all, put them guns down, et cetera, et cetera. And the truth of the matter is, again, you know, my family has been in that community for over 60 years, and so we have roots.

Yelena Popovich (20:50)

Yeah.

Akeem Barry Senior (20:50)

You know, so when we was able to come out with this message, you know, it resonated. It resonated. And I can say, you know, I'm saying that the people are clamoring for this movie to be put back in the studio.

Charlamagne Tha God (21:02)

What reasoning did they give? Is it about race? Is it about the religious imagery?

Akeem Barry Senior (21:07)

Like what?

Yelena Popovich (21:07)

Listen to this. This is. You're going to laugh now. The reason is it wasn't pre sold enough. Who Pre sells, you know, like, that's marvel. Like, that's pre sold enough. And even people that bought up theaters were refunded.

Akeem Barry Senior (21:26)

What? Damn.

Omar Epps (21:28)

People bought out whole theaters to see the film, and they refunded them. That doesn't even make sense.

Podcast Host (21:33)

Specifically in Chicago.

Yelena Popovich (21:35)

In Chicago.

Omar Epps (21:36)

Across the country.

Podcast Host (21:36)

Okay.

Yelena Popovich (21:37)

And especially in Chicago, Melrose Park, Cicero.

Akeem Barry Senior (21:41)

You know, in the urban areas where these particular movies are, these theaters are. You know, because we don't have any theaters on Madison street no more. You know, they don't have them downtown anymore. You know, you have to go to the outer suburbs to actually see a film. And again, I guess they say they didn't want the African American community, you know what I'm saying, To flood their show like that.

Interviewer/Host (22:03)

Damn. So money don't even make sense. I mean, box office only. Down matter no more.

Akeem Barry Senior (22:07)

Listen, that's crazy.

Yelena Popovich (22:08)

That's the whole. But they cry how they care about the communities, right? I'm sorry to say that. But yeah, if you really care about the community and, and please let them know how authentic this film is. What does. What does west side Chicago Brothers. What do they think about this film, people that have seen it?

Akeem Barry Senior (22:27)

Listen, I mean, people was crying, you know what I'm saying? Mothers, daughters, brothers, you know, because you can see, literally see yourself. When people from Chicago saw Madison street, you know, they could relate to Madison Street. When they saw Central, they can relate to Central, you know, when they saw Shine King, people start cheering, clapping their hands, and this is just a place where you go, shoe shined it. But no one has ever brought the movie genre to the inner west side. You know, you have people who. Who profess to want change. But again, when you have a message like this, that coming to introduce change, you know, you have powers that be like, hold it. This might stop our gravy train. You know, people might stop selling drugs the way they was doing. People might stop shooting one another, and we're gonna lose some sheriff jobs. I'll give you a perfect example. When I was first taken to the town super maximum prison. On the way there, I'm watching the. The surroundings. You know, I'm seeing houses those are dilapidated. I'm seeing the horse with a bent back. I'm saying rusty tractors. But when I left the eight years later, they had brand new houses, brand new cars, boats in the driveway. Why? Because when the prison come, the gas station come, the bank come, the restaurant come. Cause black folks gonna come visit their people. You understand me? And it built a whole industry around this prison. You did. And so when we shut it down, people was out there literally with they signs, don't take our prison away. Madness.

Charlamagne Tha God (24:09)

That's your question, Omar. What's the weight of playing a character who has so much darkness around him? But then the weight of having these, I guess, powers that be, trying to suppress. Suppress the film and the story you're trying to tell?

Omar Epps (24:21)

That's a great question for me. I think you've heard me say this before. It's like, is we fighting in this, the war of our lifetime? And my art is My weapon of choice. So for me, it comes with the territory. And, you know, it just fuels me more. It just lets me know I'm on the right path. Because when you talk about, like the. You know, I've talked about this before, the power of imagery, the power of storytelling, what art does for us, not only as a community, but just as human beings, just inspires us, motivates us. We can. It's cathartic. It can be right. And so when you. When you're a part of a project like this, it's. It's all meant for entertainment. But entertainment is relative to your perspective. Right? You can go, Kiki, or you can go have some conversations and. And apply some things that actually help you shift something in your life for the better. And so for me, the weight of that. I'm ready for it. All this is. I feel. I don't feel I'm living in my purpose. I think when Yelena and I first met, I said to her, I understand why this opportunity is before me right now. I totally understand why this is all happening right now, in this moment. And I'm ready, so I'm ready.

Podcast Host (25:54)

What happened?

Interviewer/Host (25:56)

I was about to ask Yelena, is this the first movie that you've done that has ever gotten a response like this? Because, you know, you've done films before.

Yelena Popovich (26:04)

It was the one before called man of God, and that film was done in Greece. It was about a very popular saint. The reason I did that, I had a human approach to it. This was a man who was unjustly prosecuted his whole life. I mean, prosecution. If you see his prosecution from within the church and what he had to go through and how he dealt with it, we all might think our problems all of a sudden shrink. And again, seeing that kind of story and seeing his humility and the love that stemmed from that was the reason I did the film. Before the film came out. They started this in Greece. It was. It was a chaos. They started to try to stop and talk about the Greek country. That's the Orthodox Christian country, that you would think that there wouldn't be a problem. Oh, Greek Film center will not even give a penny. They said that we were going to be fired if even attempt to do that. And they said only one grandmother with a grandchild will see this movie and end up being the most successful film of the year that year. And I don't think they've ever forgiven me for that. Yeah, so you're a real. So I. I'm like, you know, I'm not. I'm you know, I see the thing with me, I'm. I'm not a propagandist. I like to tell the truth. Yes. I personally have faith. That's my thing. If it wasn't for my faith, I wouldn't be alive today. So I thank God for everything first. But I don't push that on anybody else. Yeah, I just like to tell the truth so people can find courage and understand that they, they can live lives even while we are in this world that's filled with suffering, injustice and pain that you can, you can see that there were people that gained that joy, that it's not of this world and it's only that joy that can make you truly free. You know, and this is why I make these movies. And that's the only reason I don't, I don't, I'm not a. I don't push any agendas or anybody. And maybe that's what bothered. Because it's not, you can't put it in the category. Oh, it's a faith based film. So let's just laugh about it. Like which, you know what I'm saying? But it's actually, it's very hardcore. It's very truthful. And maybe that's why that, that's an area where, where it makes people uncomfortable.

Charlamagne Tha God (28:26)

You said something very important just now. You said, joy can make you free. And I always feel that way. That's why they're always trying to steal.

Yelena Popovich (28:32)

Steal our joy from joy killers.

Omar Epps (28:39)

The truth doesn't have an agenda. It just is.

Akeem Barry Senior (28:42)

It is, it just is.

Omar Epps (28:44)

Right. Unapologetically so. And the, you know, all of the resources. That's the word that not just our community, just impoverished communities in general. Need don't always come in the form of. They come in different forms. Sometimes it's clothing, sometimes it's food, sometimes it's finances. Most times its art in whatever form. If you just study history, historic, I'm talking about for thousands of years most times. Because that's the thing that essentially is. It's a free thing. You can see the person saying. You can see them dance. But what are they singing about? Oh, that's a story about. Oh, that's kind of. Oh. And that's how they turned and found their joy. You find the smile in the, in, in the darkness. Right. That's what keeps us sane.

Charlamagne Tha God (29:34)

And it brings you joy.

Yelena Popovich (29:35)

Yes.

Charlamagne Tha God (29:35)

I mean you can, you can think about putting the cardboard box on the, on the concrete. You don't gotta have no money to do that. But just break dance. Break, you know what I mean?

Akeem Barry Senior (29:42)

Yeah.

Charlamagne Tha God (29:42)

Somebody got one cassette tape, you put that song on, everybody singing it, you know what I mean? Like that's joy.

Omar Epps (29:47)

Absolutely.

Charlamagne Tha God (29:48)

That's what art does.

Podcast Host (29:49)

What happens next though? Because like this is happening. Right, but is this, is this. Is there a legal fight that you guys can have or like.

Yelena Popovich (29:56)

Well, I think the best thing is for people to go and see this film.

Omar Epps (29:59)

Right.

Yelena Popovich (30:00)

And it's going to depend on the. Because we still have quite a lot of theaters. Even though they try to, you know, what do. If you want to stop the movie, what do you do? You mess with the opening weekend. I mean, take any other movie out there and try to do that. That's exactly. But we managed to recover some things. And I think that if people go see the movie they don't want you to see. I don't know why they don't want you to see a film that will uplift you, that will tell you you are great. You can come out of the bondage, you know, you can't, you can't keep you. You can't keep you in the bondage forever, you know, it's like there's a way out, you know, and then this is, this is. So go support this.

Interviewer/Host (30:43)

Well, people gonna make noise. That's the type of things that people make noise about.

Akeem Barry Senior (30:46)

Absolutely.

Interviewer/Host (30:47)

Stuff is taken away, you know, for no reason. It's a reason, but no reason at all. Basically, you know, it's a film that the youth, in my opinion, needs to see. I mean definitely for adults. But the youth need to see our young boys, you know, our young girls of the world need to see it.

Akeem Barry Senior (31:04)

They're very impressionable. And I like to just commend Yelena and Omar, you know. Cause again, having had the conversation and talked about my life with Yelena, she was able to pen it on paper and convey it to Omar. And he was able to, you know, morph into that person. Cuz Malik was a real, real person. Saeed was a real person, you know, Mike was a real person. He did what I'm saying. These thespians came in and did their thing, you know, I seen this guy go through the lamentation that I felt, you know what I'm saying? While I was languishing in the super maximum prison, you know, again, I was having a spiritual battle about, you understand me, the things my father had instilled into me versus what the world had showed me. You see what I'm saying? And there's a dichotomy there. And so again, just to See him take on that personality and morph into it. You know, I got a world of respect for bro.

Interviewer/Host (32:02)

Man, was it hard for you to embody what that Chicago accent would sound like since you so Brooklyn, New York, kid.

Akeem Barry Senior (32:08)

You did.

Omar Epps (32:10)

That was a challenge.

Podcast Host (32:11)

Yeah.

Omar Epps (32:12)

You know, shout out to Denise woods, who I work with. Incredible dialect coach. That was. I want. I just didn't want it to impede on anything. Yeah. Like, you know, you say one word and then the next word. But it was very challenging because that Chicago, there's an accent, but then there's the south side, west side, north side, and then all these little. It was very challenging.

Yelena Popovich (32:39)

Yeah.

Charlamagne Tha God (32:40)

I wonder, Yelena, why. Why you think God showed you Chicago?

Yelena Popovich (32:43)

You know, that's a good thing. I was on an island of. I was in Greece when that happened. And this is a crazy story because there's so many providential moments in my life. And in this story. Let me share this one. I was in it because I was struggling with the story for a long time. And I was on an island called Evia, that one of the. In a monastery, invited to spend the night by this elder who wanted to ask me, because man of God did so well in Greece, and they wanted to ask me if I can make a film about this other saint. And I said, I never even thought of making a film about saints. I just simply read these stories, and they resonated with me. So if unless I have something honest in my heart, I can't express it, then I'm the wrong person. So he says, no, no, no, no. Just listen to me. Just sit here tonight and pray. I'm like, okay. So I sat there, I put a blanket. It was cold, and. And I was a little bit silly because what am I supposed to ask? Oh, can I get a message for a film? I'm not gonna pray about something like that. That's not what I usually pray about. And so I sat there. Well, I pray for humility for my brothers and sisters, for, you know, I don't know. I pray for God to show me my own sins and never to see sin of another. You know, I try to have. I want to get that peace for, like, St. Moses. I can. At the end of my life, I can smile when I leave this world. So that's where I'd like to be. I know that's a long journey. It's maybe too much to ask, but forgive me. So what I was gonna say, I was there and. Because naturally, St. Moses was in my mind because I'm like, why I cannot tell this story in the fourth century. I'm doing it now for two years, and something is playing with me until all of a sudden I see, literally in front of me, Chicago funeral grandmother. I'm like, is this a. And then I'm like, well, I have a movie now. Like, so I was super happy by the time I got home, it was in Athens. But then I was like, oh, but how I'm gonna tell a story of Chicago. I gotta go and meet somebody. And. And. And I. And thank God I. I met this amazing man here that. That without whom. And his brothers and sisters, I. I wouldn't be able to do this. We were able to. To really put this together. And. Yeah, so that's how this honestly came about. Somebody might think you're out of it, but I told you the truth. So. So that's. That's. That's how these things come. And. And it's a.

Omar Epps (35:14)

Not to cut you up, but it's a beautiful thing because Chicago is Chicago, but it's also a microcosm for sort of every hood in the country, right? It could be Memphis, it could be Houston.

Akeem Barry Senior (35:25)

It could be.

Omar Epps (35:26)

It could be. You know what I mean? Where. Where these. Where these situations are happening at a rampant pace. But it's perfect because Chicago is Chicago, sort of the epicenter right now of, like, gang culture and that whole sort of mentality.

Charlamagne Tha God (35:40)

Whenever they want to demonize, that's the first place conservatives like to name with the quick, what about Chicago?

Akeem Barry Senior (35:47)

What about Chicago? I'm a world traveler, right? And everywhere I go, you know what I'm saying? They. When you mention Chicago, they glorify the fact of Al Capone as if that's gangsterism stopped without Capone. You know what I'm saying? I mean, foes been around since 67. You did. And we started off again being the Wilcox boys, protecting Four Corners on the west side of Chicago where Polish and Italians, you remember Martin Luther King, came to the west side about unfair housing because we couldn't move to the west side back in the 60s. And so that's where the Wilcox boys was formulated to protect us, our families, from these racist Italians and Pollocks who didn't want us on the west side of Chicago. And it morphed from Wilcox boys to Four Corners, the Four Corners. And then it became hustlers.

Interviewer/Host (36:41)

So she prayed for God to show her Chicago, and he showed her old black. And then she came.

Yelena Popovich (36:47)

No, no, west side.

Akeem Barry Senior (36:49)

To the west side.

Interviewer/Host (36:50)

Okay, so what blacks then?

Akeem Barry Senior (36:52)

It's Pulaski Road, Pulaski Road.

Yelena Popovich (36:55)

And I want to say, can I, can I, can I please say something?

Interviewer/Host (37:02)

I know, now I know.

Yelena Popovich (37:04)

Can I say something? Pulaski, South Pulaski Road, right? No, West Palestro. That's a hood. And a lot of people ask me, well, were you, you know, there are people that have these things like, oh, well, were you a little bit afraid to go there?

Charlamagne Tha God (37:17)

Oh, no, they thought you was the Fed.

Yelena Popovich (37:23)

And I'm like, I'm like, first of all, I'm Serbian. I grew up in a hood. That's number one.

Podcast Host (37:28)

That's right.

Yelena Popovich (37:31)

You know, so, so. And I must say that I, and I, if I say this from my heart, I will literally tear up. So I'm going to try to keep it back. I've never felt more alive than going on the West 262 South Pulaski Road. My office, his office, and working with, with, with people of the west side of Chicago. I, I would never, I, I could never be grateful enough for the joy that you have given me.

Akeem Barry Senior (38:06)

No, you earned the name.

Yelena Popovich (38:07)

And I, I'm sorry, guys, I felt a lot.

Akeem Barry Senior (38:11)

She earned the name Chief man. We've been calling all on the set because again, she was able to give a master class. She took guys who literally on the corners selling drugs, guys who's in a rough house trying to rap in the hallway to their peers, you dig what I'm saying? And literally put them in front of the world. Yeah, had enough trust in these guys, put them in front of the world. I mean, there was thespians there, such as Omar. Then she took some rappers and trusted them, you know what I'm saying? To come out the rap personality and become thespians and these guys encompass these personalities. And I was right there with my foot down, make sure they kept it authentic. For real, for real.

Charlamagne Tha God (38:52)

Oh, we're getting you some tissue.

Yelena Popovich (38:53)

Sorry, sorry. I hate doing this. I, I, I, I, I was just gonna say real quick, I'm so sorry about this.

Akeem Barry Senior (39:01)

Don't.

Omar Epps (39:03)

This our Yelena's our soul sister and she was the skipper, right? And for those, because there will be those. Oh, white woman, this, that she, she from the hood. She from a war torn country. And when you sit and you talk with her and you discover her intention is coming from the right place and that ultimate place where that color and all of that doesn't exist. We are that. It's the energy, it's the energy that's really driving us, really. So we're able to articulate the same.

Charlamagne Tha God (39:35)

Hard ass.

Omar Epps (39:37)

And, and have the, and, and, and create the conversation, but the right conversations and coming from the right place. So to, to, to, to piggyback on what Akeem was just talking about is like, nah, she went boost to the ground, you know, in the mud, showed up and was there and was comfortable because the people could feel that energy, you know what I mean? They could feel that energy emanating for her from her. So everyone felt that it was a safe space.

Interviewer/Host (40:05)

Yeah.

Omar Epps (40:06)

You know what I mean? To give and to be vulnerable and to expose those parts of themselves.

Charlamagne Tha God (40:11)

You said you never felt more alive, Yelena. Like I want to, I want to hear more about that because a lot of times people talk about places they talk about people they never talk to.

Yelena Popovich (40:19)

Yeah.

Charlamagne Tha God (40:19)

So you actually went there and spoke to these individuals. What made you feel so alive?

Yelena Popovich (40:24)

There's so much love, there's so much humility, and maybe, maybe there's a lot of destruction. But how people there handle pain and loss. I mean anybody else can be ashamed if they saw that kind of love and that kind of humility. And I always say, like when we, sometimes I have both of my boys there in sports, sports, and any, any serious athlete will tell you that you're as good as your worst day. So if people want to see what their souls look like, they can go visit those inner cities.

Omar Epps (41:07)

I promise you.

Akeem Barry Senior (41:09)

I mean, again, another thing that impressed.

Yelena Popovich (41:11)

Me about and, and the heart, you'll feel alive. I, I, I, I mean maybe because I, I, I, I, I love God. I'm, I'm, I'm a believer for sure. Like so, so maybe also that's the connection. People have faith there because that's all they have. And I know what it means to have only faith. And that's how to live by. And I don't consider that a curse. I consider that a gift. Because when we are weak, we are strong. And this is, I feel where we connected and, and, and people opened up and they gave me so much love and that gave me courage because we did not have all the funds. We did not have Wiz Khalifa, we did not have 50 Cent, Omar raps. There was nobody there. Deontay Wilder, nobody, nobody. We were just thinking there was going to be maybe one of the rappers going to rap these lines. And little by little things were happening. And it was beautiful to see how this. And then I couldn't let the community down. There were moments when it looked like it was not gonna happen, but I just gave it all to just do the justice to these beautiful people. They reminded me that it's those moments that matter when you feel joyful and alive.

Charlamagne Tha God (42:30)

50'S the EP on this film, right? Yeah.

Omar Epps (42:32)

Yeah. 50's the EP. And again, I think we were all drawn to the project for the right reasons. And, you know, 50 gonna do his thing. But he was. And he came down. He was hands on. And as the pieces came together, and I think he definitely felt the energy and obviously felt that this story is important and necessary.

Podcast Host (42:57)

Did 50 bring you in? Or did, like, how did that work? Like, what was the timeline? She said that you didn't have anybody at first. So how did that timeline work?

Yelena Popovich (43:04)

First Wiz came on board.

Interviewer/Host (43:06)

Okay, was Khalifa.

Yelena Popovich (43:07)

And this was. Again, can I say this? Because I. Maybe I. I had. I was. I was. I was in Greece, and I knew God, we need a name. I mean, like, this. This is not gonna go down well. We need. We need to get something going here. So I. This prayer that, like, call specific person. And I'm like, why would I call this person? And I'm thinking, wait a second. This person had a fundraising. And Wiz Khalifa was doing the fundraising in Pittsburgh for Pittsburgh Steelers. I'm like, okay, well, I'm gonna try. So I called this lady, and she was like, that's a great idea. And two weeks later, Wiz says, yeah, I want to read the script. And he end up reading the script. And when after we had a scripture show and he just said this, he was like, I'm in. I mean, this is gonna speak to people. And I. And so he was the first person to came on board. So that helped us, I believe, then, to go out and make other offers. And I'm so grateful that I had to wait for Omar Epps to come and meet with me in person, which is rarity. Everybody wants to meet on Zoom. I'm like, can I just look somebody in the eye and see? Especially if I'm doing. I'm the film director. I want to see who I'm working with.

Interviewer/Host (44:31)

Well, we, like Khalifa, probably blow no smoke in your face. You know, we were.

Yelena Popovich (44:35)

We were. We saw each other on the Zoom first, but then when we saw each other face to face, there was something else he said that gave me courage. And this is. It's amazing to hear it from Wiz. Whiz goes, you know what, Yelena? I'm on board with this, 100%. Takes a year, two years, three years. I'm, like, looking at him like, okay, this is very encouraging. You know? You know, this is coming from him because, you know, whoever is Meant to be part of this project will be. Who is not. They're going to fall off. And I remember those words from him, and that also gave me strength. And then I met Omar. And you watched my previous film, right. And he felt very connected. I mean, he can speak. You can speak for yourself on that.

Omar Epps (45:16)

And then 50 came on board after that. But, you know, Quavo Skilla, baby, like you said, Deontay Wilder. Like, as everyone came together, we knew the assignment, as it were, and we all got to it. And I think we created something really special that will speak to the community that it needs to, but also other communities. It's for everybody.

Charlamagne Tha God (45:44)

So, Omar, what internal or even external forces were in the script that you found most compelling?

Omar Epps (45:51)

Well, for me, I was unfamiliar with the story of Moses the Ethiopian, Moses the Black, which I was kind of aggy at. But so much history is lost to us.

Akeem Barry Senior (46:01)

Right?

Omar Epps (46:02)

So to that, his story. I think Yelena spoke to this earlier. It was simple, but it was so profound for me. And then just based on the last few years of, you know, personally things that I've been dealing with and battling internally, you know, I just understood. It felt. As much as it felt like an assignment, it kind of felt like a gift. It was a reward for the work that I've done. My own personal redemption. You know, it was like, here's an opportunity to share that with the world. You know what I mean? And so I just put a thousand percent of myself into the piece, the character, all of it. I mean, we worked on the script very closely.

Yelena Popovich (46:52)

I mean, Omar is just impeccable. He's very. He's amazing.

Interviewer/Host (46:56)

Definitely.

Yelena Popovich (46:56)

And it helped. Helped the script be. Become even better.

Podcast Host (47:00)

I don't know if you want to talk about it at all, but you mentioned the personal work that you were doing. Yeah, with Cole. I know with Cold Red, too. Like, that film was very. Like, even watching you talk about it, I watched your interview with Angie Martinez, and the. It seems like going from actor Omar Epps to the seat that you sit in now, where you're acting, but you're also writing, directing, there's. I mean, I feel like there's always.

Omar Epps (47:22)

Oh, you mean red clay.

Podcast Host (47:23)

Red clay.

Omar Epps (47:24)

I'm sorry.

Podcast Host (47:24)

Yes, Red clay. There's always been purpose with you, but I don't know, it just seems a little bit more interpersonal now. Like, it's connected to something a little bit deeper.

Omar Epps (47:31)

Yeah.

Podcast Host (47:32)

And are we feeling that personal work that you've done?

Omar Epps (47:35)

Absolutely. I think that at this. At this point in my career, but not only it's my life, right? Like, you know, we always hear this saying, like, yo, it's. It's personal. It's business, it's personal. My. My view is all personal because you one person that has a life to live. So everything that we do, every.

Akeem Barry Senior (47:55)

How.

Omar Epps (47:55)

What am I doing, who am I doing it with? And like, and why are we doing it? You know, that's what. What's driving me. So if I can't, if I'm not. If I'm not feeling that, I don't want to say void. If I'm not feeling that, that space within myself where I'm giving, that's what it's really about. What am I giving? Because I plan to at least live to 100. But when it's my time, the things that my actions and the things that I've been a part of will live on after me. What are they giving at those points 20 years from now, 50 years from now, 100 years from now? 150, 200, whatever. If people come back and look at what you guys do every day, what can they glean from that conversation? This conversation? You know what I mean? And so again, in this. In this format, in terms of. And it's a part of my evolution. I started out as. I really started out as a writer, but that was, you know, me as an actor. And it's like evolving to the other components of telling stories. It has to be. It has to all be aligned in terms of purpose. I think you can relate to that. You know what I mean?

Yelena Popovich (49:13)

Yeah.

Charlamagne Tha God (49:13)

And I'm sitting there thinking even about you. I'm just like, yo, I. Even in the 90s, it felt like all your movies were purposeful, at least to me. Like, whether it was juice, whether it was higher learning, whether it was the wood, whether it was into deep, Loving Basketball, I can take life lessons from every single one of those movies. So I'm just like, you didn't feel like you was working with intention then?

Omar Epps (49:35)

I did okay. But sort of, because I was so young, it was working with. I was working with the opportunities versus creating the opportunity, being a part of creating the opportunities. Right. It's like, it's like, you know, you got, these are the choices. And I'm like, all right, I'll pick that one. You know, that sort of aligns with my mission of, like, that's a compliment in what you just said, by the way.

Charlamagne Tha God (50:03)

Those were all coming of age tales.

Podcast Host (50:05)

Loving basketball is 25 years old now, right?

Omar Epps (50:07)

Yeah.

Interviewer/Host (50:07)

And even your newer films, because in Fatal Affair with Neil Long. I'm telling you, I had a guy that was stalking me. And when you was outside of that woman's house, it took me back to when somebody was outside of my house. I was like, I needed to watch this. Yeah, Life lessons.

Omar Epps (50:21)

Yeah, life lessons. And I mean, that's ultimately.

Charlamagne Tha God (50:26)

You don't even mean to be this.

Interviewer/Host (50:28)

It's a movie on Netflix.

Akeem Barry Senior (50:29)

It's great.

Podcast Host (50:30)

It's a. Yeah. I would never have to go through that again.

Akeem Barry Senior (50:35)

That was another important phase that Yane brought to the table, you know, as a theologian, you know, she was enlightening African Americans about their true history, you know, and how again, we had a great hand in putting together the 27 books of the Bible. Yeah, absolutely. I had no knowledge of this because I thought Paul was the one who brought it.

Interviewer/Host (51:02)

Absolutely.

Yelena Popovich (51:03)

Well, obviously the apostles.

Charlamagne Tha God (51:05)

Black History Month, too.

Yelena Popovich (51:06)

Yes, exactly. It's not an accident. I mean, obviously we all know apostles wrote the Bible, but at the time, there was no such thing as the Bible. There were many, many letters written that were read in different churches at the time. Then the church went to a prosecution. There were a lot of martyrs that spilled blood. So we today, we can have what we have. But this is a fact. I'm just going to read something I read at the premiere in Chicago because I wanted people to be aware. It's basically the list of the 27 books of the New Testament were compiled by Sen. Athanasius the Great, who by the way, by birth is African man from Egypt. And he was a bishop of Alexandria, which was the center of Christianity, not Rome, Africa. This is a historical fact. And in his letter in 367 AD, he basically put these 27 books as books that he believed were really written by the apostles that people should read. And then that whole thing was ratified by the Synod of Hippo in 393 held in modern day Annaba in Algeria today. And later the councils of Carthage in 397 and 419 held in close to Tunisia, Africa. Additionally, the Council of Rome in 382 also played a part in affirming the canon. But the two main canons councils were held in Africa and they were the first ones to accept the canon of the New Testament with its 27 books that are recognized today as the New Testament.

Akeem Barry Senior (52:48)

Wow.

Yelena Popovich (52:48)

So every time you pick up a Bible, the black men and women from Africa were the ones basically in the 4th century of Alexandria that saved Christianity from destruction, not Rome. And the African men and women played the most significant role in Preserving Christian faith. So that's something that has been best kept secret in the west, and maybe it's time to be revealed.

Omar Epps (53:12)

Take that, Dr. Umar. No, I'm just joking.

Charlamagne Tha God (53:15)

Salute to you, brother.

Akeem Barry Senior (53:17)

Salute to you, brother.

Charlamagne Tha God (53:19)

Listen, we gonna have a screening for Moses the Black. Eddie.

Interviewer/Host (53:21)

Yeah.

Charlamagne Tha God (53:22)

Set it up. I see it showing at One of the AMC theaters. AMC Empire 25 in New York. Call them. That's what we be using. I'm gonna buy out a theater for Moses the Black.

Akeem Barry Senior (53:31)

Thank you, brother.

Yelena Popovich (53:32)

Thank you so much. Thank you for having us here. You giving us a platform that's. That's wonderful also.

Charlamagne Tha God (53:39)

Real quick.

Omar Epps (53:39)

Yes. Omar.

Interviewer/Host (53:41)

Wow.

Akeem Barry Senior (53:41)

You.

Omar Epps (53:41)

I got to work on the.

Akeem Barry Senior (53:42)

You.

Yelena Popovich (53:43)

You.

Interviewer/Host (53:44)

Why did it take you so long to tell Kanan that you was his father?

Omar Epps (53:48)

Oh, you getting into that?

Interviewer/Host (53:49)

Yes, because you was making me mad. Episode after episode, I'm like, you know, you getting sick every time you cough, you get weaker. Why wouldn't you tell him, hey, look, I'm your father.

Podcast Host (53:57)

You know what I'm saying?

Omar Epps (53:57)

You know, that's a. That's. That's some hard news to break. You know what I mean? He had to, you know, get comfortable and. Till he had to get the truth.

Interviewer/Host (54:05)

But he was an old gangster, too. Even though he was a cop. He was a detective.

Omar Epps (54:08)

Oh, yeah, he was old.

Interviewer/Host (54:09)

He was rocky back in the day, you know?

Akeem Barry Senior (54:11)

Yeah.

Omar Epps (54:12)

Yeah.

Interviewer/Host (54:12)

I failed that young boy.

Podcast Host (54:14)

When you do these characters, like, you know, your character in Raising Canaan or even your character in Loving Basketball, people, like, attach to them so, like, heavily and so deeply. Like, do you take that as, like, a nod or sometimes, is it like, oh, God, like, give me a second, y'? All. Like, this is just a character.

Omar Epps (54:28)

Nah, I love it because I think that I been doing it long enough that people. People are able to detach. You know what I mean? So even, like, you know, when you brought up something like Fatal Affair, this. I run into women, and it was like, you was a creep, and they.

Charlamagne Tha God (54:43)

And they.

Omar Epps (54:43)

And they be dead ass, like, you know, And I'm like, I did my.

Podcast Host (54:46)

Job because they do that.

Omar Epps (54:47)

You know what I mean?

Podcast Host (54:48)

Those conversations with love and basketball, too, like, whether you were a hole or whether there was a real conversation about love there, was it toxic? Was it not? Like this whole tick tock breakdown of love and basketball, it's like the whole.

Omar Epps (54:58)

Thing, you think it was toxic?

Podcast Host (54:59)

I don't think. I think that you guys were young, and I think you were kind of learning on the job, right?

Omar Epps (55:05)

But, like, that's life.

Podcast Host (55:07)

That's Love in general, I think, any age. But I have seen critiques of the movie where people feel like some of the things that you did and said and like, the choices you made were a bit like, she should have been left you in the dust.

Charlamagne Tha God (55:17)

Why they don't never talk about Quincy's trauma that he was dealing with.

Interviewer/Host (55:19)

He was definitely dealing with trauma.

Charlamagne Tha God (55:22)

They don't talk about the daddy father, the daddy son issues that he was dealing with.

Podcast Host (55:26)

I'm just telling you that he talked about the women who come up to him and say about family. I'm telling you what I've seen from the women. When it comes to love and basketball.

Omar Epps (55:33)

They see the key distinction. You just said. You just said, why Quincy's drama, the character, you're saying you.

Podcast Host (55:39)

Yeah, see, that's what causes the conversation. And it's hard to look at you and not think about the characters because we've lived with them for so long. Like, even when you walked in, she called. What did you call her when you aq? Yeah. I forget what character, but, like, it's hard. That's why I'm like, I wonder what he goes through.

Charlamagne Tha God (55:52)

See, when you come from a certain era, I was born in 1978. Like that story, 1900, that celebrity was so different. We knew Omar Epps, the person as well. You know what I mean? Like, Omar, that's Omar Epps.

Podcast Host (56:06)

And even now, what we know of you, I mean, from what you share, from, like, social and just interviews, it's like, you know you and like, your wife and your family. And I know you writer, producer, actor. And I'm seeing her back on tour now, so it's like we get to know you differently than how BC 300.

Akeem Barry Senior (56:21)

Wow.

Charlamagne Tha God (56:22)

Yeah.

Yelena Popovich (56:24)

Did you know how you make yourself.

Interviewer/Host (56:25)

Sound like the Old Testament?

Podcast Host (56:26)

What do you mean?

Interviewer/Host (56:27)

1978.

Charlamagne Tha God (56:28)

1978. I wrote a book of the Bible. Y' all ain't know that, did you?

Yelena Popovich (56:30)

No.

Podcast Host (56:32)

That's the one where they discovered that the music angel was the devil.

Charlamagne Tha God (56:36)

Shut up.

Omar Epps (56:36)

I love it, man. I love, you know, the younger generation that, you know, the work resonates with them. And whether it's stuff from back in the days or stuff that we're doing now, I just. I love all of it. The conversations are fun, and that's what, you know, it's provocative.

Akeem Barry Senior (56:50)

You know what I mean?

Yelena Popovich (56:51)

People going.

Charlamagne Tha God (56:53)

I mean, even with a film like Moses the Black, and you think about all those movies we grew up with in the 1900s and 90s, they had intention.

Akeem Barry Senior (57:00)

Exactly.

Charlamagne Tha God (57:01)

It feels like the intention recently is Just to make money. Make money. Let's put it out on the screen. It's like there's no intention in films.

Omar Epps (57:07)

Sinners felt intentional.

Charlamagne Tha God (57:08)

Definitely to me, 100%.

Yelena Popovich (57:10)

You know what I mean?

Charlamagne Tha God (57:10)

Look at all the money it made.

Omar Epps (57:12)

Exactly. Black Panther. I think there are films that are intentional now. A lot of them, I just think they're just so much. You know, it's hard to. Back then. I'm gonna use this word loosely, but I feel like there was a curation system. I don't know if it was curated or controlled. It's one of those. Right. But I think there's so much to digest now. It's just you, you gotta. It's hard to find it.

Charlamagne Tha God (57:39)

But, you know, with the control back then, why did it shift? Like everything we say we want black cinema to be now, it was then. So what happened after the 90s, it.

Omar Epps (57:47)

Created a new generation of billionaires. They was like, hold on. We didn't want y' all to get that motivated. I don't know. I don't know.

Akeem Barry Senior (57:55)

I'm just saying a lot of things weren't green lighted. You know, I would say from a. From a viewer perspective, you know, things was cookie cut once it proved to be successful. Like friends stole from living singleness, do it over, repudiated over and over again.

Omar Epps (58:12)

Talk about it, you know, once it.

Akeem Barry Senior (58:13)

Make money, let's do it again, do it till they die. And that's why we need people like Elaine come with unique perspectives.

Podcast Host (58:21)

I also think the celebrity too, like the star appeal and the talent, the way that it's. What do we like, I guess you would say developed is a lot different because I think when I watch you guys, like younger you on screen in different movies, there's a certain thing about how you act that it's just like, I can't. I would never see that in another actor. But now I think people are super talented. But there's no, like, you know, you have so many OGs that helped you figure out what your voice was and, you know, what your movements were. I don't know if everybody gets that all the time now. And I think that's a part of it too. So you might have the. These amazing scripts, but some things just go swept under the rug because the characters don't. You don't live with them after the movie's over.

Omar Epps (58:57)

Well, let me say something that's interesting. What you just said it. I think that people have to realize what you're doing is a craft. So this is what I want to Say, it's like with what y' all do, everybody think they could just open up, put on the camera, get a mic, and just start talking. That's not what it is. It's night and day when we sitting with y'. All.

Akeem Barry Senior (59:17)

This is.

Omar Epps (59:17)

This is professionals. Not because they say they are, because of. There's that thing that you're talking about. These people have worked at this. They know what they're doing. There's a difference between, you know, Joe in Arkansas and people at Breakfast Club, you know what I mean? And technology has given everyone a platform, so it seems like it's equalized the playing field. And I think even in what I do, everyone thinks they can act, but it's like, oh, we trained for this. We went to school for this. And you. You might have a different path. You don't have to go my path, or I didn't have to go to path of the ones before me, but you take it seriously enough to respect it. And it's. It's. It's unlike sports, right? Like sports, you have to play and do you have to go through this thing to actually get better? Everybody can't get into the league, though. You know what I mean? And I think that, you know, there's a difference between mediocrity, good and great. And if we're aspiring for greatness. That's why I feel like the word legend is thrown around so much. And I'm like, when I was younger, like, we reserved that for, like, legends. Now it's like, everybody's a. And it's like, nah, you a legend for sure.

Akeem Barry Senior (60:29)

Yeah.

Podcast Host (60:30)

130 years.

Omar Epps (60:32)

Tenure. I got tenure.

Charlamagne Tha God (60:34)

Yeah.

Omar Epps (60:35)

10 years means something, right?

Charlamagne Tha God (60:36)

Time and the body and the body of work.

Podcast Host (60:38)

Yeah. And the impact.

Omar Epps (60:40)

I just think that the younger generation take. Take themselves seriously enough and be patient with the process, you know what I mean? Especially when it comes to what I do as far as acting. You got to have life in you. You got to have experiences to be able to draw from. You got to have an ocean of emotions, and just. And that only comes with time. You know what I mean? And even though I started when I was really young, my 17 was the average person's 30. Because of where I come from and what I had seen in that short, small 17 years, the average person would take 30 years to experience. You know what I mean? So, again, everyone has their different journey. I don't want to knock the younger generation because I love them and I'm inspired by them, you know? But I acknowledge that difference my last.

Podcast Host (61:25)

Thing I'm gonna say is when I said earlier that your work now seems a little bit more personal, and hearing you say that, what I think it is is like, the same way we felt about watching your earlier films. And you had that life, the life that you have now, I think we're, like, getting, like you're pulling the veil off of it through your new projects. And. And hearing you say that right now, I'm like, okay, this is like. This is like round two of the iconic, like, Omar Epps. And it's. It's. You know, the intention is. The focus is different of the intention, even though the intention has already been there.

Omar Epps (61:54)

I like that.

Podcast Host (61:55)

So I. Yeah. Love to see it.

Omar Epps (61:56)

Yeah. Maturation. There you go. That's a good word.

Podcast Host (61:59)

Oh, I didn't know that one.

Charlamagne Tha God (62:00)

Okay.

Interviewer/Host (62:00)

Elena, if you ever think about doing a story about Baltimore, I'm here. I'm just gonna put that on.

Yelena Popovich (62:09)

Absolutely, yes.

Interviewer/Host (62:11)

Cause I'm already drawn to you by your last name, you know? Papa Bitch. I love it resonate with me with that little bitch. I know you ain't scared to come to Baltimore.

Podcast Host (62:24)

She said if you put back on your blanket and God tells you, yes, she got you.

Yelena Popovich (62:26)

Oh, yeah, you got me.

Omar Epps (62:28)

That's a hard.

Akeem Barry Senior (62:30)

She got a documentary to do before she do anything.

Yelena Popovich (62:32)

El Me to. He. She look at me. He wanted me to. To do that, which I'll be very happy. I mean, in. In. In. In light. To show how this all started and to show the light at the end of the tunnel. There's always the light at the end of the tunnel. That's the purpose of all of this that we're doing.

Omar Epps (62:54)

That's the key, is for a generation that feels hopeless. There's always. There's always hope, man.

Charlamagne Tha God (63:00)

You.

Omar Epps (63:00)

You have to. It's not. It might not be right there in front of you, but you have to have that. There is a light at the end of the tunnel.

Interviewer/Host (63:08)

Yeah.

Omar Epps (63:08)

You know what I mean?

Akeem Barry Senior (63:09)

And I like to say, as a white woman, she wasn't afraid of my jury, because most people be like, I said, listen, I won't. Stainless steel. For 18 years, nobody said nothing. So God transformed this to go flaunt it.

Podcast Host (63:23)

I know that's funny.

Charlamagne Tha God (63:25)

And my God, listen, go out there and support Moses the Black. It is in theaters right now. I mean, look, check your local listings. I just checked local listings in New York, and they definitely got some showing, so. All around the country, man. Make sure you just go Google Moses the Black and see where it's at in theaters. You want y. You want to say something?

Yelena Popovich (63:41)

That's it. I just want to say to my Chicago listeners, on bro.

Akeem Barry Senior (63:44)

On bro.

Charlamagne Tha God (63:47)

Turn Y Popovich out. Barry Senior, Elena Popovich. Omar Epps, man. Thank you all for coming.

Akeem Barry Senior (63:57)

Thank you. We appreciate it.

Podcast Announcer (63:59)

The Breakfast Club this Sunday, iHeartRadio brings you live to Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara for the Super Bowl 60 tailgate concert. Presented by NetApp, it's the ultimate pre game party, featuring an exclusive performance from Teddy Swims, your front row experience on iHeartradio stations across the country. And the free iHeartradio app is Sunday at 3:30 Eastern, 12:30 Pacific. Then after the concert, tune into the Super Bowl 60 pregame show on NBC.

Yelena Popovich (64:33)

Greetings, homeowner. Repeat after me. If my home system or appliance breaks down, American Home Shield will help fix or replace the covered item, no matter its age and exhale. Oh, and home warranty plans start at $29.99 a month. American Home Shield. Don't worry. Be warranty. Visit ahs.com listen for 20% off any plan.

Omar Epps (64:57)

See ahs.com contracts for coverage details, including limit amounts, fees, limitations and exclusions.

Yelena Popovich (65:02)

In the middle of the night, Saskia.

Podcast Host (65:04)

Awoke in a haze.

Yelena Popovich (65:05)

Her husband, Mike, was on his laptop. What was on his screen would change Saskia's life forever. I said, I need you to tell me exactly what you're doing. And immediately, the mask came off. You're supposed to be safe. That's your home.

Interviewer/Host (65:23)

That's your husband.

Yelena Popovich (65:25)

Listen to Betrayal Season 5 on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. You know Roald Dahl, he thought of Willy Wonka and the bfg.

Omar Epps (65:36)

But did you know he was a spy?

Yelena Popovich (65:39)

In the new podcast, the Secret World of Roald Dahl, I'll tell you that story and much, much more.

Akeem Barry Senior (65:44)

What?

Yelena Popovich (65:45)

You probably won't believe it either. Was this before he wrote his stories? It must have been okay. I don't think that's true. I'm telling you, I was a spy. Listen to the Secret World of Roald Dahl on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Podcast Host (66:02)

This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.