June 17, 2025 • 28 mins
Today marks the premiere episode of the QR Code . "Q Ward " and "Ramses Ja " hosts of the QR Code discuss the LA Protests and talk about unity between the Black and Hispanic communities .
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Still broadcasting from the Civic Cipher Studios. This is the
QR code where we share perspective, seek understanding, and shape outcomes.
I'm your host, Rams' job.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
And I am Q Woard And in.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
This half of the show, we want you to stick
around because we're going to be talking about how Beyonce
Queen Bee the ruler of the Internet, the owner of
the Internet. I'm not sure how you say it, Q,
but in any event, she may have sparked a New
Country Awards category because her new album Cowboy Carter kind
(00:31):
of ruffled some feathers over there. So we're going to
see what the what is with that. And we're also
going to be talking about a football player. NFL receiver
Antonio Brown has been charged with attempted murder, so we
got that in our entertainment news and Q is definitely
gonna help me out with that because I famously am
not the athlete the Q what he would say he
(00:54):
was once upon a time, and so much more to
stick around for. But before we get there, it is
time I'm for qwards clapback. All right, So in brief,
uh as as we mentioned earlier in the show, UH,
then no King's protest took place over the weekend, and
(01:16):
I showed up and I'm outside with my big ol' afro,
and I look like me. For folks that have not
seen me, I look like me. So it's easy enough
to see see me if you're if you're familiar with
the work that I do with Q. So there are
people wanted to talk to me, People want to take pictures,
people want to interview me, and uh, I participated in
(01:39):
an interview and uh, you know, it goes from there
and then it get it got posted online and then
the the Maga Warriors came out to you know, let
me know what they thought. So Qward is going to
dedicate this this clap back to his brother.
Speaker 3 (02:00):
But let me let me paint the picture a little
bit better for you.
Speaker 1 (02:03):
So when I'm doing my interview, uh, you know, I
say effectively, what I say is, uh, you know, we're
a country of laws. We're a country of due process.
We're a country of rules regulations, and you know, snatching
people off the streets is illegal, Denying people do processes illegal,
(02:23):
you know, on and off right, this is what I'm saying.
Speaker 3 (02:26):
And the Keyboard.
Speaker 1 (02:28):
Warriors are in the comments and they're like, yes, of course,
we're a country of laws, and if people were following
the laws and coming here legally, then you know everything
would be fine.
Speaker 3 (02:39):
So you're proving our point rams is blah blah blah.
So with that said, Q, you're a clapback.
Speaker 2 (02:48):
I wish these things didn't make me so emotional, And
it's because logic is suspended so fast by those who
are opposed to us, because you said what needed to
be said already. If we're denying people do process, then
you cannot be the party of law and order and
stand on that. The only reason or the only way
(03:12):
to prove or know the difference between who's here legally
versus illegally, who's criminal, who's innocent, Whose citizen, whose visitor?
Whose immigrant? Who's natural born? Is due process, The ability
to produce documents, the ability to do research, the ability
to have an investigation or hearing. All of those things
(03:33):
are part of our due process, and those things are
being denied to immigrants and citizens alike. So when you
suspend things like due process and violate the constitution, kidnap people,
separate families all because you feel like it, all because
they're finding out even during some of these arrests that
(03:54):
they have the wrong person, and continuing with the arrest anyway,
continuing to detain, deport and ship off people with no references,
with no way to let the people who care about
them know where they're going or why. When people can
say that person looks like a criminal, right, when poor
(04:15):
and brown means criminal, then that applies to everyone, citizen
and non citizen alike. And they're proving that to us
every day. So coming to us to talk about law
and who's here going about it the right way? Let's
talk about citizenship hearings. Let's talk about people going about
(04:35):
it the quote unquote right way, being picked up and
arrested where this crooked, corrupt government knows they'll be trying
to go about it the right way. And then we
can try to pretend that there's not hundreds of thousands
of immigrants here, both documented and not, from European countries,
(04:56):
who have a little less melanin, who present more white,
which means more right, which means non criminal. No no protests,
no ice, raids, no fuss, no anger. Why aren't we
in those parts of talent and in those parts of
the country where white immigrants are in mass undocumented trying
(05:18):
to make a better life for themselves. Again, when we
have these conversations, we're not calling for you to treat
white people worse. It's not, hey, go break up their
family too. Hey go drag them out of their house
while their wife and children are crying too. Hey go
deny them their rights too. It's how about just provide
(05:38):
the same amount of human decency and benefit of the
doubt and grace and forgiveness and you know, adherence to
the law and rights in the Constitution for the rest
of us that you do to Europeans and to white people.
How Come we don't get that extended to us. How
Come being born in my skin is crimin how come
(06:01):
being born below the poverty line is criminal? How come
being born into a system that incentivizes for most of
us to have nothing that you point to those of
us that have the least and make us the bad
guy just because you feel like it. So when you're
thirty four time convicted felon president gets to point at
everybody else and call them criminals, we think it's laughable.
(06:25):
And we think the idea that you guys should to
waive law and order and policy in our faces as
you stomp on the Constitution and ignore due process and
rights for the rest of us, that it's laughable, and
that you're a joke and you guys are bullies. Right now,
you're up, you're in power, you're celebrating, you're stumping on everybody.
(06:47):
But as Ramses has said multiple times, all of us
will be here forever. You're fascist king will expire. At
some point, all of us will remember all of you
who stood by him, who celebrated him, who put him
in this position where he feels untouchable and completely supported
(07:11):
by tens of millions of people who united in hate
against their own best interest. So the next time you
want to talk to us about law and order, look
in the mirror and ask yourself, how come all of
the quote unquote bad people look like us? And the
benefit of the doubt and grace and forgiveness and adherence
(07:34):
to law and do process and rights has always been
and will always be provided for people who look like you,
or in some cases, people who look nothing like you,
but that your mind has told you are the ones
that are worthy of fair decent treatment.
Speaker 1 (07:52):
Wow, uh, okay, heavy, all right.
Speaker 3 (08:00):
The show goes on.
Speaker 1 (08:04):
Now, let's talk about Beyonce, and I get the feeling
that here we're I don't know if we're really shifting
gears all that much. This show is kind of feels
like it has a bit of a theme to it.
But Beyonce may have sparked new Country Awards categories. So
I'll just get right into it. This from the Black
Information Network, and we're gonna give you both sides of it.
Speaker 3 (08:26):
And then talk about it.
Speaker 1 (08:27):
So I'm gonna this might be a little longer read,
but bear with me, all right. The Recording Academy has
announced some new changes to its categories for the twenty
twenty six Grammys after Beyonce's groundbreaking country wins. On Thursday,
June twelfth, the Grammys announced that it would be breaking
up its Best Country Album award into two categories, making
a distinction between traditional and contemporary Country. The introduction of
(08:51):
the Best Traditional Country Album and Best Contemporary Country Album
categories for the twenty twenty six Grammys comes after Beyonce's
Cowboy Carter took home wins for the Best Country Duo
Group Performance, Best Country Album, and Album of the Year
at the twenty twenty five Awards ceremony. Many believe bees
country wins influenced the change, as critics have argued that
Cowboy Carter wasn't traditional country and undeserving of the awards
(09:14):
it received. One x user noted that this is the
second time the Recording Academy has introduced new categories, after
the singer was awarded in music categories outside of Hip Hop,
R and B and Pop. In twenty twenty three, Beyonce
won Best Dance Electronic Recording for break My Soul, before
the Grammys launched its Best Dance Pop Recording category in
twenty twenty four. Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Junior said
(09:37):
the proposal for Best Traditional Country Album category had been
previously submitted before being approved this year. Quote, the community
of people that are making country music in all different
subgenres came to us with a proposal and said, we
would like to have more variety in how our music
is honored. They said, we think we need more space
(09:57):
for our music to be celebrated and honored. He added
that the change aligns country categories with other genres that
are already differentiate contemporary from traditional albums and performances. Quote,
it makes country parallel with what's happening in other genres,
but it's also creating space for where the genre is going.
Speaker 2 (10:18):
So you want to go first here, Q, I mean sure,
it's you said we're not really switching gears much because
I mean the honest truth, ramses, it's hard to shift
gears in this country, especially now you're going to say
that it's almost impossible, right, Like, we didn't create a
(10:40):
new hip hop or rap category when the Beastie Boys
and Macklemore and Ryan Lewis and Eminem won the Grammys
for hip hop. So when a when a non white
artist I'm sorry wins in a category where white people
don't think they belong, Well, let's differentiate ourselves more. Because traditional,
I'm guessing in their mind means they created country music,
(11:04):
so that putting traditionally on the front of it will
always make it reserved for them. Yeah, do a little
bit more research, folks. You know almost every genre of music.
I hate to break it to you started with us. Yeah,
let me, let me, let me all of your favorites.
(11:26):
Let me make this live for you, and I'll give
it right back. But I am one of our mentors,
both Q and myself. Her name is doctor Camilla, Westenberg.
Speaker 3 (11:37):
She is a true light in our lives.
Speaker 1 (11:40):
But she's my teacher from college, and she is a
music a major, a music and English professor, And once
upon a time she showed me a chart of the
history of popular genres of music. And you wouldn't believe
it if I told you. But every single popular genre
of music in this country has its roots. You can
(12:02):
trace its roots to a slave field. So you're not
making that up to go ahead and continue.
Speaker 2 (12:11):
No, I mean I didn't. I didn't have a whole
lot more to say about it.
Speaker 3 (12:14):
It's just.
Speaker 2 (12:17):
Let's keep finding ways to exclude us, like it's steal this, steal,
steal art from us, steal land from us, steal resources
from us, hoard all of it, and then create rules
to exclude us from it. If we find a way
to get access to it, make that illegal, or make
that punishable, or change the rules, or move the goal
(12:39):
post with everything always and forever.
Speaker 3 (12:43):
All right, So let me jump in again.
Speaker 1 (12:45):
So as you were talking earlier, I was like, man,
this feels kind of like white flight. You know, For
those who don't know, white flight is a term used
to describe, you know, if there are too many under
desirable too many cultures infiltrating a neighborhood, white folks will
(13:06):
tend to move out of the neighborhood as opposed to
embracing the changing ethnic composition of their beautified community. So
that's what this reminded me of. But I want to
do something here. I want to play Devil's advocate. Now
this doesn't mean that I agree with this, but I
(13:26):
do want to play Devil's advocate because the gentleman from
let Me Find his Name, Harvey Mason Junior. He says
that they were already working on switching to categories. So
one of the things that I feel like might be
a little bit plausible here. Again, this is not something
that I agree with, but if I was arguing with
the person over there, this is something they might say.
(13:48):
They might say, Hey, look, we've had I don't know
Post Malone counts, but we've had like Jelly Rolls, and
we've had.
Speaker 3 (13:58):
You know, a lot of newer takes.
Speaker 1 (14:00):
On country music, modernize it, merging it with pop, merging
it with hip hop.
Speaker 3 (14:04):
What's the guy's name, cold Cult, shoot Cult something? Ford.
I want to say, Cold Ford. Maybe that's his name.
Speaker 1 (14:15):
I'm not sure, but uh, he's in my Serrato we're
DJs for folks that don't know, and Serato is a
software we used as DJs.
Speaker 2 (14:22):
But anyway, Ram is a DJ. I'm a dad.
Speaker 3 (14:27):
Retired DJ. I'm still very active. I try to be anyway.
Speaker 1 (14:32):
So to be fair, there are some people who have
you know, modern takes or they they're country artists culturally,
I suppose, but the music sonically sounds like it infuses
you know, trap music, trap elements, or it infuses you know,
hip hop elements or pop elements, you know, to a
degree that you know it's not a twangy country album
(14:55):
like you might expect from a you know, traditional country
singer album type offering and so, and then for him
to say that this was kind of already in the
works behind the scenes. You know, all these things are
are absolutely plausible, and I want to make sure that
I say that before I say what I'm going to say.
(15:18):
I suspect that what this gentleman is saying is true.
But I also suspect that what people are suspecting is
also true. Okay, I think both of these things are true,
and that Beyonce's win expedited this change, perhaps or created
(15:39):
a sense of urgency around it, because Beyonce is very
different from the Cult Fords or Culton Fords or please
forgive me, I'm getting his name wrong, the Jelly Rolls,
the post Malhones, whoever else, these people that have this
new take on country music. Beyonce is decidedly different because Beyonce,
she itemizes black excellence, and Beyonce existing in a world
(16:06):
where a lot of people associate black women with welfare queens.
Beyonce taking the top honors, you know, that might cause
like a brain glitch. And so again, I don't know.
This is all pure speculation. This isn't journalistic beyond of course,
the article that we shared here. But you know, we
can add our own context. We've been alive for decades
(16:27):
in this country. We kind of see how it works.
And you know, Q, what you were saying about how
people move the goalpost and whatever, that's not imagination.
Speaker 3 (16:38):
That's a real thing.
Speaker 1 (16:39):
It does happen, you know, for people that are listening
that find that hard to imagine that this is the
reality for black it's very true. And Q and I
are the ones who not only have lived through it,
but we've had to research it for years now to
do this show. To do civic cipher, to do you know,
all the offerings that we do in this place, we
had to do journalistic, credible research. And so this is
(17:03):
also true. And I'm the person that tries to provide
as much cover as Q will allow me to for
people who maybe they're they don't intend to be racist,
they don't intend to succumb to white light, they don't
intend to be divisive, you know. And Q is more
the type to call it what it is, want me
(17:25):
to call it what it is. And I think that
that works well because both things might be true.
Speaker 3 (17:31):
In that instance too.
Speaker 1 (17:32):
People might be doing foul stuff, let's be honest, and
they might not see it as being foul. They might
see it as simply preserving an institution, like in this
case that we're talking about. And I think having both
having the capacity to have both conversations with the same
person allows a different dynamic. And so if Beyonce did
(17:53):
create this change, I say good for her and everyone else.
All right, moving on along, this is our uh entertainment time.
So let's share from NBC sports dot Com last month's
incident at a Miami boxing event involving former NFL receiver
Antonio Brown resulted in no arrests at the time.
Speaker 3 (18:13):
That's about to change. David o'vall of.
Speaker 1 (18:17):
The Washington Post reports that a warrant has been issued
for Brown's arrest, accusing him of attempted.
Speaker 3 (18:22):
Murder with a firearm.
Speaker 1 (18:24):
The warrant requires him to post ten thousand dollars bond
and to remain under house arrest pending trial. Brown had
claimed he was jumped at the event, and he was
released after telling the authorities his side of the story.
Speaker 3 (18:36):
Videos posted to social.
Speaker 1 (18:37):
Media seemed to include the sound of gunfire. The warrant
cites witnesses who claimed Brown was the shooter. Police detectives
reportedly obtained footage of what appears to be Brown punching
another man before taking the gun of a security officer
and running toward the man Brown had punched. Per the warrant,
cell phone video shows a pair of gunshots as Brown
(18:59):
app approached the victim. So I saw this video, and
it's it's a running joke around here. Of course, that
you know, Q pays a little bit more, a lot
more attention to sports than I do. Again, I'm more
famously the music guy. Accuse the music guy too. I'm
not going to take that from you, but Q has
(19:21):
been able to play in both worlds, and so I
guess for me and for everyone else that might not
know a lot about this, give us some context on
this player and kind of what all this means here.
Speaker 3 (19:35):
Why don't you just sit down this guy? Yeah, just
sit down, Okay.
Speaker 2 (19:43):
He he was once upon the time one of the
most talented players in the NFL. Okay, so talented that
his off the field antics, his lack of professionalism, his
sometimes provocative thoughts on politics and race relations in this
(20:08):
country were forgiven. He was just so good people would
just give him another chance. And what you know capitalism
in this country will teach you over and over again
is you can be talented enough for people to turn
their moral compass off and over and over again. This
(20:30):
dude would just step outside of all of the norms
of a professional athlete with impunity, so then there's no
course correction he wants. Famously, in the middle of a game,
took all of his equipment off and ran off the field,
waving bye to the fans during the game. You think
no one would ever give him a chance after that,
except when you're one of the best in the world.
(20:53):
That's something, especially something that's entertainment. People will forgive you
and give you another chance. This brother has been involved
in so many different things, from aligning himself with Kanye
West and adopting the same points of view that Kanye
saw that on the internet, wearing his MAGA hat, you know,
(21:16):
a parent, domestic abuse and assault of the mother of
his children. And there's always something. And if you keep
getting away with it, you keep not going to jail,
you keep getting.
Speaker 3 (21:31):
Under the chance.
Speaker 2 (21:33):
Just sit down, you going You're going to find a
way to put yourself in jail. You're going to find
a way to get arrested. You keep lady luck keeps
siding with you. You keep doing these things that would
get anyone else fired or arrested or both, and you
keep finding a way to squeak out of it, and
(21:55):
you keep trying your hand at the crap table again.
Speaker 3 (21:58):
Sit down, m.
Speaker 1 (22:05):
Well, I remember seeing this video, and I don't think
that I connected. I was googling his name again and
the Kanye West thing because I googled it. Of course,
I knew we're going to talk about this, but I
didn't know. I didn't connect it with the guy that
was the football player that was hanging out with Kanye West.
Speaker 3 (22:25):
So now I'm starting to get the full picture here.
Speaker 1 (22:27):
But I remember seeing this video because Chris Thompson sent
it to us, and well he sent it to you,
but he sent it in our group chat, Chris Thompson
as our show producer. And it looked like and I
remember feeling bad for this guy. Looked like, you know,
people were trying to rob him in the video or
(22:49):
something like that. That's just maybe that wasn't it. But
that's what I remember about that video, So forgive me
if my memory is a little foggy. And he was
like fighting back or there was a bunch of people
trying to jump him in the video and he was
fighting back and then he ran away. And I don't
think that I saw in the video that it was
him shooting at the people. But I think that that's
(23:12):
kind of the part where things get a little funny,
because once you've kind of vested a person or people.
In this case, he's clearly a talented athlete, so I'd
imagine he's very strong and can kind of handle.
Speaker 3 (23:25):
Himself in fight.
Speaker 1 (23:28):
Where he gets out of that scuffle gets the best
of the people, and then of course by then there's
security people and other folks around. It's kind of over.
There's no more threat. So to then run and grab
a gun and then fire the gun at the people,
that's more like revenge than dealing with an immediate threat
(23:51):
to life and limb because obviously you've managed to escape,
other people are taking care of it, and you're.
Speaker 3 (23:55):
Just getting a gun to shoot these folks.
Speaker 1 (23:58):
And I don't know that I connected him as the shooter.
I you know, this wasn't a story for me. I
just remember kind of seeing it. This was something that
was sent for you.
Speaker 2 (24:07):
I think when the story first broke, no one canneted
the shooter. Okay, then that's probably like eyewitness account after
the fact that made him the person that went and
got a gun and came back again. One of the
best athletes in the history of the NFL.
Speaker 3 (24:23):
However, being a.
Speaker 2 (24:24):
Good athlete does not automatically mean you can fight. I
don't even want I don't want you. I don't want
anybody else either. I didn't see some really good athletes
getting whooped some really regular people, So I don't want
to give anybody the wrong impression.
Speaker 3 (24:40):
But what you just said is accurate.
Speaker 2 (24:41):
To get the best of people and then to get away,
go get a weapon and come back. Now you've changed
the entire dynamic of the situation. Right if in self
defense you had a legal, registered weapon on your person
and discharged it to defend yourself, maybe you'd have a case.
But if you got into a scuffle, got out of
(25:03):
the scuffle, left the scuffle, got a weapon, and came back,
that's an entirely different set of circumstances legally, And you know,
an attempted murder charge is a massive charge. So there's
no version of this that's going to be easy moving forward.
And that was kind of my point, like you've been
getting away with all these like misdemeanor lesser charges, which
(25:28):
she has been a slap on the wrist or fine.
You know, one team let you go. Another team gave
you another chance. Another team let you go. Another team
gave you another chance, another team let you go, another
team gave you another chance. And it's like, at some point,
I think you start to feel invincible, like, Oh, I'm
good enough at my job that nothing else matters. Offending
(25:48):
and disrespecting my teammates, my coaches, and the organizations that
I played for disrespecting and hurting and assaulting and injuring
my family doesn't really matter because I keep getting another shot.
And in this case, this you know, it's like you
keep trying until you do something bad enough, and you
might take away your own freedom forever. And it's an
(26:11):
unfortunate situation because as you said, he could have been
just actively in the wrong place, wrong time and started
off defending himself. Adrenaline and ego and pride and anger
and maybe alcohol and maybe drugs all mixed together, and
there's what kind of decisions that you'll make.
Speaker 1 (26:29):
So I think I see the connection when you describe,
might see the connection how him and Kanye could be
friends because you, as you mentioned, like it keeps like
what Charlie Murphy say, he's like an habitual linestepper. Seems
(26:50):
like that's what this guy is, and Kanye West is
always kind of looking for the way to how far
does his luck go?
Speaker 2 (26:56):
Right?
Speaker 1 (26:58):
And then habitual and then you know, you started off
by saying, why don't he just sit down? And I
know what that's a reference to. That's a that's a
reference via Jamie Fox to OJ Simpson, who once upon
a time was getting into a lot of trouble after
he had famously beat a charge and he was like,
just continue to press us. Lucky ended up going to
(27:19):
jail later for folks, who don't know, for something else.
I don't remember what it was, but he went to
jail for a long time for something had nothing to
do with the murders because he didn't just sit down,
and so I don't know, man, we might end up
having to have a conversation about maybe the culture of
the NFL, which I don't suspect. The culture of the
NFL looks like this, but there are some people in
(27:39):
the NFL, or maybe it's just this guy sucking up
all the oxygen.
Speaker 2 (27:41):
There's not a lot to unpack there, so okay, well
then I wouldn't mind us going there at all. There's
a we could spend some significant time unpacking the culture
of the NFL.
Speaker 1 (27:51):
Okay, well, then that's one that we're going to have
to save for another day, because that's going to do
it for us here on the QR code. Thank you
to everyone who is tuned in listening. Today's show was produced,
of course by Chris Thompson. If you have some thoughts
you'd like to share. Feel free to use the red
microphone talk back feature on the iHeartRadio app. While you're there,
(28:14):
you can hit subscribe, download all of our episodes, and
you can also check us out on all social media
at Civic Cipher. You can find me personally on all
social media. I am at rams' ja.
Speaker 2 (28:27):
I am Qward on all social media as well, and
be sure to tap in with us because we want
to hear from you.
Speaker 1 (28:33):
We want to know what you think, we want to
know what you want us to talk about. We want
us to become friends. We want this to be a
conversation that we're continuing to have back and forth, and
we do believe that that is how we are going
to grow in our roles as we relate to each other.
Speaker 3 (28:50):
So be sure to
Speaker 1 (28:51):
Join us tomorrow as we share our news with our
voice from our perspective right here on the QR code
Still broadcasting from the Civic Cipher Studios. This is the
QR code where we share perspective, seek understanding, and shape outcomes.
I'm your host, Rams' job.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
And I am Q Woard And in.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
This half of the show, we want you to stick
around because we're going to be talking about how Beyonce
Queen Bee the ruler of the Internet, the owner of
the Internet. I'm not sure how you say it, Q,
but in any event, she may have sparked a New
Country Awards category because her new album Cowboy Carter kind
(00:31):
of ruffled some feathers over there. So we're going to
see what the what is with that. And we're also
going to be talking about a football player. NFL receiver
Antonio Brown has been charged with attempted murder, so we
got that in our entertainment news and Q is definitely
gonna help me out with that because I famously am
not the athlete the Q what he would say he
(00:54):
was once upon a time, and so much more to
stick around for. But before we get there, it is
time I'm for qwards clapback. All right, So in brief,
uh as as we mentioned earlier in the show, UH,
then no King's protest took place over the weekend, and
(01:16):
I showed up and I'm outside with my big ol' afro,
and I look like me. For folks that have not
seen me, I look like me. So it's easy enough
to see see me if you're if you're familiar with
the work that I do with Q. So there are
people wanted to talk to me, People want to take pictures,
people want to interview me, and uh, I participated in
(01:39):
an interview and uh, you know, it goes from there
and then it get it got posted online and then
the the Maga Warriors came out to you know, let
me know what they thought. So Qward is going to
dedicate this this clap back to his brother.
Speaker 3 (02:00):
But let me let me paint the picture a little
bit better for you.
Speaker 1 (02:03):
So when I'm doing my interview, uh, you know, I
say effectively, what I say is, uh, you know, we're
a country of laws. We're a country of due process.
We're a country of rules regulations, and you know, snatching
people off the streets is illegal, Denying people do processes illegal,
(02:23):
you know, on and off right, this is what I'm saying.
Speaker 3 (02:26):
And the Keyboard.
Speaker 1 (02:28):
Warriors are in the comments and they're like, yes, of course,
we're a country of laws, and if people were following
the laws and coming here legally, then you know everything
would be fine.
Speaker 3 (02:39):
So you're proving our point rams is blah blah blah.
So with that said, Q, you're a clapback.
Speaker 2 (02:48):
I wish these things didn't make me so emotional, And
it's because logic is suspended so fast by those who
are opposed to us, because you said what needed to
be said already. If we're denying people do process, then
you cannot be the party of law and order and
stand on that. The only reason or the only way
(03:12):
to prove or know the difference between who's here legally
versus illegally, who's criminal, who's innocent, Whose citizen, whose visitor?
Whose immigrant? Who's natural born? Is due process, The ability
to produce documents, the ability to do research, the ability
to have an investigation or hearing. All of those things
(03:33):
are part of our due process, and those things are
being denied to immigrants and citizens alike. So when you
suspend things like due process and violate the constitution, kidnap people,
separate families all because you feel like it, all because
they're finding out even during some of these arrests that
(03:54):
they have the wrong person, and continuing with the arrest anyway,
continuing to detain, deport and ship off people with no references,
with no way to let the people who care about
them know where they're going or why. When people can
say that person looks like a criminal, right, when poor
(04:15):
and brown means criminal, then that applies to everyone, citizen
and non citizen alike. And they're proving that to us
every day. So coming to us to talk about law
and who's here going about it the right way? Let's
talk about citizenship hearings. Let's talk about people going about
(04:35):
it the quote unquote right way, being picked up and
arrested where this crooked, corrupt government knows they'll be trying
to go about it the right way. And then we
can try to pretend that there's not hundreds of thousands
of immigrants here, both documented and not, from European countries,
(04:56):
who have a little less melanin, who present more white,
which means more right, which means non criminal. No no protests,
no ice, raids, no fuss, no anger. Why aren't we
in those parts of talent and in those parts of
the country where white immigrants are in mass undocumented trying
(05:18):
to make a better life for themselves. Again, when we
have these conversations, we're not calling for you to treat
white people worse. It's not, hey, go break up their
family too. Hey go drag them out of their house
while their wife and children are crying too. Hey go
deny them their rights too. It's how about just provide
(05:38):
the same amount of human decency and benefit of the
doubt and grace and forgiveness and you know, adherence to
the law and rights in the Constitution for the rest
of us that you do to Europeans and to white people.
How Come we don't get that extended to us. How
Come being born in my skin is crimin how come
(06:01):
being born below the poverty line is criminal? How come
being born into a system that incentivizes for most of
us to have nothing that you point to those of
us that have the least and make us the bad
guy just because you feel like it. So when you're
thirty four time convicted felon president gets to point at
everybody else and call them criminals, we think it's laughable.
(06:25):
And we think the idea that you guys should to
waive law and order and policy in our faces as
you stomp on the Constitution and ignore due process and
rights for the rest of us, that it's laughable, and
that you're a joke and you guys are bullies. Right now,
you're up, you're in power, you're celebrating, you're stumping on everybody.
(06:47):
But as Ramses has said multiple times, all of us
will be here forever. You're fascist king will expire. At
some point, all of us will remember all of you
who stood by him, who celebrated him, who put him
in this position where he feels untouchable and completely supported
(07:11):
by tens of millions of people who united in hate
against their own best interest. So the next time you
want to talk to us about law and order, look
in the mirror and ask yourself, how come all of
the quote unquote bad people look like us? And the
benefit of the doubt and grace and forgiveness and adherence
(07:34):
to law and do process and rights has always been
and will always be provided for people who look like you,
or in some cases, people who look nothing like you,
but that your mind has told you are the ones
that are worthy of fair decent treatment.
Speaker 1 (07:52):
Wow, uh, okay, heavy, all right.
Speaker 3 (08:00):
The show goes on.
Speaker 1 (08:04):
Now, let's talk about Beyonce, and I get the feeling
that here we're I don't know if we're really shifting
gears all that much. This show is kind of feels
like it has a bit of a theme to it.
But Beyonce may have sparked new Country Awards categories. So
I'll just get right into it. This from the Black
Information Network, and we're gonna give you both sides of it.
Speaker 3 (08:26):
And then talk about it.
Speaker 1 (08:27):
So I'm gonna this might be a little longer read,
but bear with me, all right. The Recording Academy has
announced some new changes to its categories for the twenty
twenty six Grammys after Beyonce's groundbreaking country wins. On Thursday,
June twelfth, the Grammys announced that it would be breaking
up its Best Country Album award into two categories, making
a distinction between traditional and contemporary Country. The introduction of
(08:51):
the Best Traditional Country Album and Best Contemporary Country Album
categories for the twenty twenty six Grammys comes after Beyonce's
Cowboy Carter took home wins for the Best Country Duo
Group Performance, Best Country Album, and Album of the Year
at the twenty twenty five Awards ceremony. Many believe bees
country wins influenced the change, as critics have argued that
Cowboy Carter wasn't traditional country and undeserving of the awards
(09:14):
it received. One x user noted that this is the
second time the Recording Academy has introduced new categories, after
the singer was awarded in music categories outside of Hip Hop,
R and B and Pop. In twenty twenty three, Beyonce
won Best Dance Electronic Recording for break My Soul, before
the Grammys launched its Best Dance Pop Recording category in
twenty twenty four. Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Junior said
(09:37):
the proposal for Best Traditional Country Album category had been
previously submitted before being approved this year. Quote, the community
of people that are making country music in all different
subgenres came to us with a proposal and said, we
would like to have more variety in how our music
is honored. They said, we think we need more space
(09:57):
for our music to be celebrated and honored. He added
that the change aligns country categories with other genres that
are already differentiate contemporary from traditional albums and performances. Quote,
it makes country parallel with what's happening in other genres,
but it's also creating space for where the genre is going.
Speaker 2 (10:18):
So you want to go first here, Q, I mean sure,
it's you said we're not really switching gears much because
I mean the honest truth, ramses, it's hard to shift
gears in this country, especially now you're going to say
that it's almost impossible, right, Like, we didn't create a
(10:40):
new hip hop or rap category when the Beastie Boys
and Macklemore and Ryan Lewis and Eminem won the Grammys
for hip hop. So when a when a non white
artist I'm sorry wins in a category where white people
don't think they belong, Well, let's differentiate ourselves more. Because traditional,
I'm guessing in their mind means they created country music,
(11:04):
so that putting traditionally on the front of it will
always make it reserved for them. Yeah, do a little
bit more research, folks. You know almost every genre of music.
I hate to break it to you started with us. Yeah,
let me, let me, let me all of your favorites.
(11:26):
Let me make this live for you, and I'll give
it right back. But I am one of our mentors,
both Q and myself. Her name is doctor Camilla, Westenberg.
Speaker 3 (11:37):
She is a true light in our lives.
Speaker 1 (11:40):
But she's my teacher from college, and she is a
music a major, a music and English professor, And once
upon a time she showed me a chart of the
history of popular genres of music. And you wouldn't believe
it if I told you. But every single popular genre
of music in this country has its roots. You can
(12:02):
trace its roots to a slave field. So you're not
making that up to go ahead and continue.
Speaker 2 (12:11):
No, I mean I didn't. I didn't have a whole
lot more to say about it.
Speaker 3 (12:14):
It's just.
Speaker 2 (12:17):
Let's keep finding ways to exclude us, like it's steal this, steal,
steal art from us, steal land from us, steal resources
from us, hoard all of it, and then create rules
to exclude us from it. If we find a way
to get access to it, make that illegal, or make
that punishable, or change the rules, or move the goal
(12:39):
post with everything always and forever.
Speaker 3 (12:43):
All right, So let me jump in again.
Speaker 1 (12:45):
So as you were talking earlier, I was like, man,
this feels kind of like white flight. You know, For
those who don't know, white flight is a term used
to describe, you know, if there are too many under
desirable too many cultures infiltrating a neighborhood, white folks will
(13:06):
tend to move out of the neighborhood as opposed to
embracing the changing ethnic composition of their beautified community. So
that's what this reminded me of. But I want to
do something here. I want to play Devil's advocate. Now
this doesn't mean that I agree with this, but I
(13:26):
do want to play Devil's advocate because the gentleman from
let Me Find his Name, Harvey Mason Junior. He says
that they were already working on switching to categories. So
one of the things that I feel like might be
a little bit plausible here. Again, this is not something
that I agree with, but if I was arguing with
the person over there, this is something they might say.
(13:48):
They might say, Hey, look, we've had I don't know
Post Malone counts, but we've had like Jelly Rolls, and
we've had.
Speaker 3 (13:58):
You know, a lot of newer takes.
Speaker 1 (14:00):
On country music, modernize it, merging it with pop, merging
it with hip hop.
Speaker 3 (14:04):
What's the guy's name, cold Cult, shoot Cult something? Ford.
I want to say, Cold Ford. Maybe that's his name.
Speaker 1 (14:15):
I'm not sure, but uh, he's in my Serrato we're
DJs for folks that don't know, and Serato is a
software we used as DJs.
Speaker 2 (14:22):
But anyway, Ram is a DJ. I'm a dad.
Speaker 3 (14:27):
Retired DJ. I'm still very active. I try to be anyway.
Speaker 1 (14:32):
So to be fair, there are some people who have
you know, modern takes or they they're country artists culturally,
I suppose, but the music sonically sounds like it infuses
you know, trap music, trap elements, or it infuses you know,
hip hop elements or pop elements, you know, to a
degree that you know it's not a twangy country album
(14:55):
like you might expect from a you know, traditional country
singer album type offering and so, and then for him
to say that this was kind of already in the
works behind the scenes. You know, all these things are
are absolutely plausible, and I want to make sure that
I say that before I say what I'm going to say.
(15:18):
I suspect that what this gentleman is saying is true.
But I also suspect that what people are suspecting is
also true. Okay, I think both of these things are true,
and that Beyonce's win expedited this change, perhaps or created
(15:39):
a sense of urgency around it, because Beyonce is very
different from the Cult Fords or Culton Fords or please
forgive me, I'm getting his name wrong, the Jelly Rolls,
the post Malhones, whoever else, these people that have this
new take on country music. Beyonce is decidedly different because Beyonce,
she itemizes black excellence, and Beyonce existing in a world
(16:06):
where a lot of people associate black women with welfare queens.
Beyonce taking the top honors, you know, that might cause
like a brain glitch. And so again, I don't know.
This is all pure speculation. This isn't journalistic beyond of course,
the article that we shared here. But you know, we
can add our own context. We've been alive for decades
(16:27):
in this country. We kind of see how it works.
And you know, Q, what you were saying about how
people move the goalpost and whatever, that's not imagination.
Speaker 3 (16:38):
That's a real thing.
Speaker 1 (16:39):
It does happen, you know, for people that are listening
that find that hard to imagine that this is the
reality for black it's very true. And Q and I
are the ones who not only have lived through it,
but we've had to research it for years now to
do this show. To do civic cipher, to do you know,
all the offerings that we do in this place, we
had to do journalistic, credible research. And so this is
(17:03):
also true. And I'm the person that tries to provide
as much cover as Q will allow me to for
people who maybe they're they don't intend to be racist,
they don't intend to succumb to white light, they don't
intend to be divisive, you know. And Q is more
the type to call it what it is, want me
(17:25):
to call it what it is. And I think that
that works well because both things might be true.
Speaker 3 (17:31):
In that instance too.
Speaker 1 (17:32):
People might be doing foul stuff, let's be honest, and
they might not see it as being foul. They might
see it as simply preserving an institution, like in this
case that we're talking about. And I think having both
having the capacity to have both conversations with the same
person allows a different dynamic. And so if Beyonce did
(17:53):
create this change, I say good for her and everyone else.
All right, moving on along, this is our uh entertainment time.
So let's share from NBC sports dot Com last month's
incident at a Miami boxing event involving former NFL receiver
Antonio Brown resulted in no arrests at the time.
Speaker 3 (18:13):
That's about to change. David o'vall of.
Speaker 1 (18:17):
The Washington Post reports that a warrant has been issued
for Brown's arrest, accusing him of attempted.
Speaker 3 (18:22):
Murder with a firearm.
Speaker 1 (18:24):
The warrant requires him to post ten thousand dollars bond
and to remain under house arrest pending trial. Brown had
claimed he was jumped at the event, and he was
released after telling the authorities his side of the story.
Speaker 3 (18:36):
Videos posted to social.
Speaker 1 (18:37):
Media seemed to include the sound of gunfire. The warrant
cites witnesses who claimed Brown was the shooter. Police detectives
reportedly obtained footage of what appears to be Brown punching
another man before taking the gun of a security officer
and running toward the man Brown had punched. Per the warrant,
cell phone video shows a pair of gunshots as Brown
(18:59):
app approached the victim. So I saw this video, and
it's it's a running joke around here. Of course, that
you know, Q pays a little bit more, a lot
more attention to sports than I do. Again, I'm more
famously the music guy. Accuse the music guy too. I'm
not going to take that from you, but Q has
(19:21):
been able to play in both worlds, and so I
guess for me and for everyone else that might not
know a lot about this, give us some context on
this player and kind of what all this means here.
Speaker 3 (19:35):
Why don't you just sit down this guy? Yeah, just
sit down, Okay.
Speaker 2 (19:43):
He he was once upon the time one of the
most talented players in the NFL. Okay, so talented that
his off the field antics, his lack of professionalism, his
sometimes provocative thoughts on politics and race relations in this
(20:08):
country were forgiven. He was just so good people would
just give him another chance. And what you know capitalism
in this country will teach you over and over again
is you can be talented enough for people to turn
their moral compass off and over and over again. This
(20:30):
dude would just step outside of all of the norms
of a professional athlete with impunity, so then there's no
course correction he wants. Famously, in the middle of a game,
took all of his equipment off and ran off the field,
waving bye to the fans during the game. You think
no one would ever give him a chance after that,
except when you're one of the best in the world.
(20:53):
That's something, especially something that's entertainment. People will forgive you
and give you another chance. This brother has been involved
in so many different things, from aligning himself with Kanye
West and adopting the same points of view that Kanye
saw that on the internet, wearing his MAGA hat, you know,
(21:16):
a parent, domestic abuse and assault of the mother of
his children. And there's always something. And if you keep
getting away with it, you keep not going to jail,
you keep getting.
Speaker 3 (21:31):
Under the chance.
Speaker 2 (21:33):
Just sit down, you going You're going to find a
way to put yourself in jail. You're going to find
a way to get arrested. You keep lady luck keeps
siding with you. You keep doing these things that would
get anyone else fired or arrested or both, and you
keep finding a way to squeak out of it, and
(21:55):
you keep trying your hand at the crap table again.
Speaker 3 (21:58):
Sit down, m.
Speaker 1 (22:05):
Well, I remember seeing this video, and I don't think
that I connected. I was googling his name again and
the Kanye West thing because I googled it. Of course,
I knew we're going to talk about this, but I
didn't know. I didn't connect it with the guy that
was the football player that was hanging out with Kanye West.
Speaker 3 (22:25):
So now I'm starting to get the full picture here.
Speaker 1 (22:27):
But I remember seeing this video because Chris Thompson sent
it to us, and well he sent it to you,
but he sent it in our group chat, Chris Thompson
as our show producer. And it looked like and I
remember feeling bad for this guy. Looked like, you know,
people were trying to rob him in the video or
(22:49):
something like that. That's just maybe that wasn't it. But
that's what I remember about that video, So forgive me
if my memory is a little foggy. And he was
like fighting back or there was a bunch of people
trying to jump him in the video and he was
fighting back and then he ran away. And I don't
think that I saw in the video that it was
him shooting at the people. But I think that that's
(23:12):
kind of the part where things get a little funny,
because once you've kind of vested a person or people.
In this case, he's clearly a talented athlete, so I'd
imagine he's very strong and can kind of handle.
Speaker 3 (23:25):
Himself in fight.
Speaker 1 (23:28):
Where he gets out of that scuffle gets the best
of the people, and then of course by then there's
security people and other folks around. It's kind of over.
There's no more threat. So to then run and grab
a gun and then fire the gun at the people,
that's more like revenge than dealing with an immediate threat
(23:51):
to life and limb because obviously you've managed to escape,
other people are taking care of it, and you're.
Speaker 3 (23:55):
Just getting a gun to shoot these folks.
Speaker 1 (23:58):
And I don't know that I connected him as the shooter.
I you know, this wasn't a story for me. I
just remember kind of seeing it. This was something that
was sent for you.
Speaker 2 (24:07):
I think when the story first broke, no one canneted
the shooter. Okay, then that's probably like eyewitness account after
the fact that made him the person that went and
got a gun and came back again. One of the
best athletes in the history of the NFL.
Speaker 3 (24:23):
However, being a.
Speaker 2 (24:24):
Good athlete does not automatically mean you can fight. I
don't even want I don't want you. I don't want
anybody else either. I didn't see some really good athletes
getting whooped some really regular people, So I don't want
to give anybody the wrong impression.
Speaker 3 (24:40):
But what you just said is accurate.
Speaker 2 (24:41):
To get the best of people and then to get away,
go get a weapon and come back. Now you've changed
the entire dynamic of the situation. Right if in self
defense you had a legal, registered weapon on your person
and discharged it to defend yourself, maybe you'd have a case.
But if you got into a scuffle, got out of
(25:03):
the scuffle, left the scuffle, got a weapon, and came back,
that's an entirely different set of circumstances legally, And you know,
an attempted murder charge is a massive charge. So there's
no version of this that's going to be easy moving forward.
And that was kind of my point, like you've been
getting away with all these like misdemeanor lesser charges, which
(25:28):
she has been a slap on the wrist or fine.
You know, one team let you go. Another team gave
you another chance. Another team let you go. Another team
gave you another chance, another team let you go, another
team gave you another chance. And it's like, at some point,
I think you start to feel invincible, like, Oh, I'm
good enough at my job that nothing else matters. Offending
(25:48):
and disrespecting my teammates, my coaches, and the organizations that
I played for disrespecting and hurting and assaulting and injuring
my family doesn't really matter because I keep getting another shot.
And in this case, this you know, it's like you
keep trying until you do something bad enough, and you
might take away your own freedom forever. And it's an
(26:11):
unfortunate situation because as you said, he could have been
just actively in the wrong place, wrong time and started
off defending himself. Adrenaline and ego and pride and anger
and maybe alcohol and maybe drugs all mixed together, and
there's what kind of decisions that you'll make.
Speaker 1 (26:29):
So I think I see the connection when you describe,
might see the connection how him and Kanye could be
friends because you, as you mentioned, like it keeps like
what Charlie Murphy say, he's like an habitual linestepper. Seems
(26:50):
like that's what this guy is, and Kanye West is
always kind of looking for the way to how far
does his luck go?
Speaker 2 (26:56):
Right?
Speaker 1 (26:58):
And then habitual and then you know, you started off
by saying, why don't he just sit down? And I
know what that's a reference to. That's a that's a
reference via Jamie Fox to OJ Simpson, who once upon
a time was getting into a lot of trouble after
he had famously beat a charge and he was like,
just continue to press us. Lucky ended up going to
(27:19):
jail later for folks, who don't know, for something else.
I don't remember what it was, but he went to
jail for a long time for something had nothing to
do with the murders because he didn't just sit down,
and so I don't know, man, we might end up
having to have a conversation about maybe the culture of
the NFL, which I don't suspect. The culture of the
NFL looks like this, but there are some people in
(27:39):
the NFL, or maybe it's just this guy sucking up
all the oxygen.
Speaker 2 (27:41):
There's not a lot to unpack there, so okay, well
then I wouldn't mind us going there at all. There's
a we could spend some significant time unpacking the culture
of the NFL.
Speaker 1 (27:51):
Okay, well, then that's one that we're going to have
to save for another day, because that's going to do
it for us here on the QR code. Thank you
to everyone who is tuned in listening. Today's show was produced,
of course by Chris Thompson. If you have some thoughts
you'd like to share. Feel free to use the red
microphone talk back feature on the iHeartRadio app. While you're there,
(28:14):
you can hit subscribe, download all of our episodes, and
you can also check us out on all social media
at Civic Cipher. You can find me personally on all
social media. I am at rams' ja.
Speaker 2 (28:27):
I am Qward on all social media as well, and
be sure to tap in with us because we want
to hear from you.
Speaker 1 (28:33):
We want to know what you think, we want to
know what you want us to talk about. We want
us to become friends. We want this to be a
conversation that we're continuing to have back and forth, and
we do believe that that is how we are going
to grow in our roles as we relate to each other.
Speaker 3 (28:50):
So be sure to
Speaker 1 (28:51):
Join us tomorrow as we share our news with our
voice from our perspective right here on the QR code
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