December 27, 2024 • 23 mins
Legends only! Part 2 The Best of That Moment With Daymond John features the visionaries: Ralph McDaniels, Limmie Pulliam, Billy Gene, and Heather John! Tap in now!
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Piece of the plane in Charlamagne to God here and
as we come closer to closing out this year, I
just want to say thank you for tuning it into
the Black Effect podcast network. There have been so many
great moments over the past year. Take a listen to
some of those captivating moments in this special best of episode.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
I try to be myself in my younger days. It
was a whole too much smiling. It hurt my face
that I was smiling trying to be at this stage
of the game. I'm like, let me find out what
we have in common. And then you know, like or
I know already what we have in common, because I'm
you know, if it's a celebrity and we start talking
(00:37):
about that, we're not talking about the album, We're not
talking about the movie or whatever it is that they're doing.
And so we had a whole ten minute conversation about
something that they really wanted to talk about before we
even started really talking. And then okay, let's talk about
you know, the new film that you have out, and
that's and if you look at and when I look
(00:58):
at some of my old clips, people go like, Ralph,
you really know that person.
Speaker 3 (01:03):
I'm like, not really, I.
Speaker 2 (01:04):
Just meant to that day, but it seems like you
and and you know what, fifty Cents said that to
me one day, the rapper fifty Cent said, you know what,
when I'm on video music box, I can be myself.
Speaker 3 (01:17):
Yes, it's not like when.
Speaker 2 (01:19):
I'm doing big network thing. You know, I'm I automatically.
My whole persona Ralph changes when I'm with you. So
I'm like, well, that's good, so let's talk.
Speaker 4 (01:33):
You know what.
Speaker 5 (01:34):
I think it does it?
Speaker 3 (01:34):
Ralph?
Speaker 5 (01:35):
I think that, And I'm gonna play in this podcast,
you know down in here. I want to play our
interview when you gave me my biggest shot in life.
You gave me that moment that would change my life,
and I'm going to play that. Yeah, you may you
(01:56):
make people feel comfortable, and I think you make them
feel feel comfortable by letting them talk about themselves what's
going on in life. And I think there's a big
lesson we can learn from it. Now, as you just
said that, I want to do the same thing with you.
I very rarely get a chance to repay you for
all the things you have done for me, but I
(02:16):
want to do the same thing right now. Hey, Ralph,
I want to hear about, you know, the new children's
book Roscoe Learns about Video Music Box. Let me tell
me why did you create this, what is the book about,
and any other thing else that we can learn from
this book.
Speaker 2 (02:33):
So, you know, I've been working in libraries for the
last five years in Queen specifically, and going and looking
at the bookshelves, and you know, you know, you visited
your friend.
Speaker 3 (02:44):
Of the library.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
We don't see enough you know, hip hop stuff that
you know, people can relate to the kids in the
in the communities that I'm serving. And I was like,
you know, we need more books, you know, not the
same that there aren't any they exist, but we need
And so I said, you know, if I do it,
it puts a little spotlight on it. It's Ralph McDaniels.
(03:07):
For people that know and who are backing me in
New York, many of them, especially the educators, the principles,
the teachers, the different folks that work in schools are
like Ralph McDaniels that got a book out.
Speaker 3 (03:19):
I grew up watching Now mc daniels.
Speaker 6 (03:21):
So we got that.
Speaker 3 (03:23):
Now we got to get the kids. And I wanted to.
Speaker 2 (03:25):
Create something for the younger kids, and it also needed
to have I wanted to create a coloring book because
I like arts and culture. I liked when I was
a kid, I like to draw, you know, just doing
stuff like that kind of gives you a certain feeling,
you know, like and I think you come from the
same place you come from designing clothes, you know.
Speaker 3 (03:45):
And that part.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
But I wanted to make sure that we had some
interesting information in there. So there's word puzzles, there's reading
comprehension questions, there's.
Speaker 3 (03:56):
Some hard stuff. It's hard for me. I'm like, wow,
we did that when we were seven years old. That's
what have to do.
Speaker 2 (04:01):
But right now it's a book, and it's a coloring book.
I didn't even know this was a thing. Coloring, sip
and coloring is a thing right now for adults, sip
and paint, sip and coloring books, and I was like really,
So adults were like, oh, we can get it for
one of our sip and coloring events. And I was like,
(04:21):
all right, you know, I didn't make it for you guys,
but that's fine too. So it's it's a great book.
I'm super happy about it. Big up Sean Donaldson, who's
a teacher who wrote the book because she knew how
to talk to those kids and she helped. And I
told she didn't know anything about hip hop, so I said,
I'm gonna do you know the hit the hip hop part,
you do the educational part.
Speaker 3 (04:42):
And that's how we came together.
Speaker 5 (04:44):
What is the book? And so how old are the
kids that the main target of calviusly will go out
of you know, out of the rain?
Speaker 7 (04:54):
Yeah?
Speaker 4 (04:54):
Seven?
Speaker 3 (04:55):
Seven?
Speaker 2 (04:55):
Yeah, you know, there are some younger kids that are
you know, a little bit quicker, but it's we start
at seven up to about twelve.
Speaker 3 (05:02):
Thirteen, but it can go. You know, it's a history.
It's history. You know.
Speaker 2 (05:07):
The video music box story, it's about this parent who
takes their kid back to the hood, shows them where
he grew up at, takes them the Times Square, So
this is where they used to do breakdancing at. Hey look,
breakdancing is an Olympic sport in twenty twenty four, which
is amazing to me. This is all yeah, that we
grew up watching and you know, and as you get
(05:28):
you know, responsibility of having a family and kids and stuff,
you want your kids to kind of get a little
bit of what you did you know?
Speaker 3 (05:34):
And that's what this is about. This book is better.
Speaker 5 (05:38):
I think what you said is really powerful. Listen, if
you have any issues with who I am, where I
come from, I didn't. I don't have this big education.
Let's say I will say it this something. I don't
have a really big education. I'm not going to be
able to I'm not detail oriented, I'm dyslexic. But I'm
going to tell you I'm gonna add value. You can
ask me any other questions if you have an issue
you need me to to, you know, do all these
(05:58):
things that are just not my area let me know, right,
And when you did that, you said nobody had a problem.
Speaker 4 (06:07):
Well got a sun person, not a single person.
Speaker 5 (06:10):
Why do you Why do you think that is because previously,
let's say, had overt problems. Do you think the industry
just said one of the oldest forms of classical music
that we all enjoy, that enjoyed primarily you know by
you know, really people who are very in tuned with music,
(06:33):
higher education primarily. But you know, of course the origin
of it comes from.
Speaker 3 (06:38):
Do you think that all of a.
Speaker 5 (06:39):
Sudden, in that short period of time, just lost their bigotry?
Speaker 4 (06:42):
No? No, but I think there was more a fear
of showing it overtly, you know, when you when I,
when I, when I broke the subject on my own terms,
it did almost put them on the defensive and kind
of like, oh, so obviously know we we do this.
So no, no, we don't have an issue with this anymore.
(07:03):
You know that's not going to be a problem. Don't worry.
You know, that's the least if you're worried, don't worry
about that.
Speaker 5 (07:08):
But now you walk in the room, you have to
over deliver. It can't because no matter what you have
to find, did you find that you were over delivering
what you found? They said, this industry is changing in
certain ways that we need different angles. And the man
is absolutely talented. He's put the work in, and so
what what which one is it?
Speaker 4 (07:30):
Well, you always have to as a black man in
this industry, you have to over deliver.
Speaker 6 (07:37):
All the time.
Speaker 4 (07:39):
One of the one of the main things my teacher
taught me is that as as a black opera singer,
as a black singer in classical music, I'm not going
to have the privilege or the luxury of being mediocre.
I have to be better than twice as good as
(07:59):
those with I may be in competition with for particular jobs.
So I go into everything I do with that in
mind and knowing that, uh, you know, I got to
come in with as they said, with with with guns blazing,
and knowing that when it's when it comes time for
me to stand up down that stage, I have to
(08:21):
give everything that I can in that moment and they
leave on stage and I love it.
Speaker 5 (08:31):
Can you educate me a little bit about the the
the dynamics in classical music on the breakdown of race
and gender, even if you if you just thought about it,
I know you, I know you probably I don't know,
but I don't think it came you with data. But
as you look at everything from the orchestra everybody else,
is it.
Speaker 3 (08:51):
Zero African Americans?
Speaker 5 (08:53):
And you know because I went the other night and
I saw I saw Black Family Carnegie Hall, right and
it was absolutely amazing.
Speaker 4 (09:03):
Now you know, I.
Speaker 5 (09:04):
Think that most of the audience and the orchestra or
or they were not African American. But the lead, the
lead guy playing whatever this instrument was, when he got
up there on stage and he got excused my ignorance,
I didn't know that.
Speaker 4 (09:20):
I looked it up.
Speaker 5 (09:21):
I mean they stood up with this guy. This guy
wants to be so well recognized and he played this
little this little two piece percussion. What is what does
it look like? What is what is the color of
a or what does what does it look like? The
demographic or the breakdown normally.
Speaker 4 (09:40):
I don't know specific you know, percentages and whatnot, But
that's always been an issue, is the is the the
amount of representation that there is within the industry. There
are many, many, many talented black opera singers. If you
if you visit some of the larger opera houses in
(10:03):
the country, say the Metropolitan or Chicago Lyric or Houston
Grand Opera, usually if they put on a production of
Portgain Best, it's usually going to be their best seller
of the season. And that's what's dealing with an all
black cast with the exception of a few of a
couple of characters within the So you the representation of
(10:26):
that matters. And there's these artists here there, but oftentimes
they aren't being given the opportunities to shine and to to.
Speaker 5 (10:36):
I'm even looking at a standpoint, I'm even looking at
it from Alcurcer standpoint, because I got to tell you,
I went to the Christmas Spectacular and I'm out there.
You know, you know, I'm my wife is my wife
is white. My my my ex wife is Dominigan. You know,
obviously my mother's out of the American I'm a man
of Wall color. The love all people in the Radio
(10:57):
City Musical and I'm like, you know, the couple of
singers up there.
Speaker 6 (11:02):
Right man, only one black person.
Speaker 5 (11:09):
What happens to those like you who are literally I
consider you a genius. What happens to guys and women
like you who say we got to stop, we gotta
do the counter.
Speaker 6 (11:22):
I think the reason why you won't see as much
of that with this is because of how long it
takes Congress Congress to pass new laws and how long
it takes for it to happen in how fast AI
is moving. So imagine there's one law because the fact
that any like right now, this very second, I can
take this video of you that people are watching right now,
(11:44):
and I'll give you the websites where people can do this,
don't do this. You can go to Hagen dot com
h E y g in right, and I can I
can clone you in a second. I can go to
eleven Labs dot com and I can take your voice.
Speaker 5 (11:55):
Because we can get that three hour podcasts.
Speaker 6 (11:58):
I can make an extended version a conversation that we
didn't have because of social media. I can go ahead
and run as I can show it to anyone in
the world, and I can say, all of a sudden, damon,
John went bankrupt. We can have a three hour conversation
about detail you can ruin someone's life. To me, how
do you how do you stop that? All the tools
are out there to the masses that tools are out there.
Speaker 5 (12:20):
The copy of the AI too mean, So let me
ask you when has that not been done? If you
think about propaganda from governments, or you think about anything else,
it's just that we have we spit up the process
of good people and bad people arguments sake, you have
white hackers and you have dark hackers. You have and
(12:41):
so if nobody knows what that is, and it may
be the wrong term, but there are companies that are
hired to say, hack my system, and you got to
do the mission impossible. You got to And I know
somebody who does it and he gets paid a lot
of money. But it's the same as you ever seen
casine know, oh, we know who the thieves are because
(13:03):
the X gambling thieves are now the security Well, I.
Speaker 6 (13:07):
Think it's I just you know what, I don't believe in.
Speaker 4 (13:09):
People aren't gonna like this.
Speaker 6 (13:10):
I just think capitalism is going to become a joke
and it's not going to be a real thing really.
So you know what makes capitalism work is that anybody
can come up and create X, Y Z, and you
can be better at something than people.
Speaker 5 (13:25):
That's why it's called this moment, that moment, because this
is the moment I'm gonna absolutely, for the first time,
probably disagree with you.
Speaker 6 (13:32):
So well, it's the first time that people could be
better than like, like, you make money because you're grade
at business and someone else isn't. There's winners and losers
in capitalism, and that's okay because the loser can then
turn around and then go win. But we are no
longer the smartest creatures on this planet. And everybody has
access to AI. So it comes to a point where
(13:52):
you talked about AI salespeople. Instead of hiring a salesperson
for sixty thousand dollars in California, I'm going to use
AI and call people for literally ten cents. It takes
a regular salesperson eight hours to call thirty people. It
takes AI a half a second to call thirteen hundred people.
It just makes more sense to hire AI as opposed
(14:15):
to writing something Like me and you, if we were
to write a script or something, we would be really good,
but it would take us an hour. It takes AI
two seconds to do. Business is about profitability. So what's
happening is you're going to have all these customer support
all those jobs are dead like all that's AI text,
And people go, well, the there's gonna be other jobs
(14:38):
that are created that people will have, but they don't
have any damn skill to do those jobs.
Speaker 5 (14:42):
Like what if people are talking about a different matter
you're talking about I think that And we've always known this,
that the separation of wealth, the massive transfer has happened
during COVID. And whether you or somebody who did not
want to train yourself or thought you shouldn't train yourself,
you've seen that already. So whether it is today we're
(15:05):
talking about AI, or whether you worked at Walmart at
the register but you decided not to understand you know
how to work quick books. You never moved up the
manager because you just start working at the regis.
Speaker 6 (15:21):
Yeah, yeah, so but what happens is you have a
handful of people that will learn those new skills and
they will make a gross amount of money. The problem
is the majority won't. They won't know. It's just like
our parents. They never learned how to change the input
on the TV. They think the TV's broken, they need
to change the input like. No one is going to
adapt and as a result, they're just gonna start complaining.
Speaker 7 (15:41):
So what do we do.
Speaker 5 (15:42):
What's gonna happen?
Speaker 6 (15:43):
I'll tell you. I'll tell you that. I'm gonna call
it right now exactly. Yeah, yeah, this is the quote.
Speaker 4 (15:51):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (15:51):
Here's what I'll genuinely tell you is whether you're on
the right or whether you're on the left of what
of republican or a revery Democrat, you're going to be
asking for a handout from the government because you are
not going to have income. And here's where you saw this.
The pandemic happened everybody. I don't care if you were
a Republican or Democrat. Everybody wanted some PPP money. Every
(16:15):
everybody was looking for something to survive. My point is
it's just no one's there's not going to be any
value people even just take like something like you know
the the ten million uber drivers, Like what happens when
all those cars are just driving themselves and delivering it? Like?
Speaker 5 (16:30):
Yeah, but at some point somebody has to build, or
somebody has to program.
Speaker 6 (16:33):
Somebody has to train, Yeah, and that person will get paid.
Speaker 5 (16:36):
And no, most of those will be robots. But somebody
has to program, and the AI is learning. But you
know a lot of times they thought and this is
actually where you've been to one of one of my
events where what I realized now is human interaction is
becoming so much more valuable facts. And there will be
(16:57):
people who will say, because you know what, you know
what the elderly are going to get their money from
from us? Why, well, I'm gonna be coping able to
be getting it from my kids. You're gonna take care
of your parents two times longer than they took care
of you.
Speaker 6 (17:09):
That's a fact. Yeah, you're gonna want somebody to take
care of your parents.
Speaker 5 (17:14):
Your parents are not gonna want to do AI as
much as they understand it, And there will be caretakers
and service people that will have to do it in
some way. There will be robots, well, they I am
such a big believer in entrepreneurship that we will find
a way, find a way.
Speaker 7 (17:29):
Find It's gonna be six years and.
Speaker 5 (17:34):
Six years we've been married. We have a beautiful seven
year old little girl making jag of John. She's in
the background, shout out to make a jagger John. Heather
and Heather and make it. Don't go anywhere without each
other except for when you go to the gym, and
she goes to school, and she goes to swim, and
(17:55):
then you go to whatever. All right, so we have
my wife here. It is that moment with Daman John,
with my wife, I have some questions that I know
the rest of the world likes to ask. But I'm
gonna ask her some questions about our relationship and her
thoughts and things, and of course you can always send
it to me some more questions. So I'm gonna just
(18:17):
get right at it. You know, when Heather and I
we were together for as I said, eighteen years, but
about a couple of years into it, I never really
I'd already had my two oldest beautiful daughters, Destiny as me,
who are great older sisters and really great, great people.
But there was that moment when she decided, We decided collectively,
(18:40):
and she found out that we were going to bring
beautiful little Minka Jack John into the world. How did
you feel at that moment? Because I didn't necessarily know
if that was gonna happen, but it happened. It was
so great.
Speaker 7 (18:57):
So how did I How did I feel about, you know,
finding out that I was pregnant, No.
Speaker 5 (19:02):
Was finding out that you were going to bring Yeah,
I guess so well.
Speaker 7 (19:06):
I could tell a story about the moment I was
confirmed that I was pregnant.
Speaker 5 (19:12):
Yeah.
Speaker 7 (19:13):
It's actually a really weird story because I was leaving
the doctor's office. You were out of town still, and
it was like I had already taken on the test
and I found out that I was pregnant. I took
like eight tests because I was like, how to be
sure that's maybe my OCD. So after like the eighth
at home tests, I went to the doctor and they're like, okay,
you're pregnant. I'm like, okay, all right.
Speaker 4 (19:31):
Cool.
Speaker 7 (19:32):
So I was walking home in Midtown when you lived
in New York City at the time, and I'm walking
down thirty Secondary actually, and I'll never forget it because
now I just found out I'm pregnant and I'm like okay,
and some guy hits on me and I'm like, no,
I'm a mother, and I felt really offensive at that time.
I actually felt really offensive. I was like, oh, and
it's so it was such a strange feeling because I'm
(19:54):
so used to being nobody's mother, and I'm like, this
is so rude. And I look back and I'm like,
I think about how stupid that was. But at the moment,
I was offended anyway.
Speaker 5 (20:06):
That's that story. But in terms of well, how'd you feel,
you know, it was that moment that you said, this
man and I will have a bond together for the
rest of our lives. I mean, we had already planned
on Uh that was a conversation. After so many years,
I can get into that where we were going.
Speaker 7 (20:24):
I was really happy about it. I was like shocked
because I did we didn't know, like it wasn't like,
you know, eventually we would want a child. But you know,
I think at first when you it wasn't on the
raidar At that moment, it was like shocking, But after
that settled in, you're like, you know, I'm happy about it,
you know, but I think after you've been with someone
so many years, it's not it's kind of just like this, Yeah,
(20:46):
it's a natural next step that you know, it was
either get married or have a baby at that point.
Because now we're looking, I mean, let's just let me
think about that. So that's that's that was like nine
years in. I mean nine years in is a long
time man, you know.
Speaker 5 (21:05):
I think that's another good point, right because I met
you or you met me both. I'm fifteen years your senior. Yep,
you were twenty two and you were you would just finished,
you had advanced in school, and you had a professional
career that you were going into, and you were in
(21:26):
the fashion industry from the buyer's perspective, slash merchandizing barus,
you know, behind the scenes right sales executive. And at
twenty two, I think that you know you got me.
I was thirty eight. I was already coming back coming
out of a situation which you know, it is what
it is. But how why would you know? I'm sure
(21:48):
people told you for a long period of time. Well, listen,
this guy is he's already done what he needed to
do in life. He's some level of success, has children,
He's never going to marry you. Yeah, because I had
also datedor and I was a little all over the
place because I was I was a guy. Yeah you know, yeah,
why would you stick it out? Or where was the indications?
(22:08):
Because I remember a lot of people say, do you rightfully?
So what are you doing? You're you're a beautiful young woman,
You're smart. Yeah, not like you out there looking for
guys in the sense of, oh, you know, I need
to be on I don't even think social media was around.
Why would you stay around?
Speaker 7 (22:22):
Okay, Well, when I met you were thirty seven, I
had just turned twenty two. I just moved from Philadelphia
to New York, so I had just I actually skipped
a year. I finished college a year earlier. So then
I was having my time to just like hang out,
go to clubs, like move to a new city, you know,
meet new people. I wasn't looking for a husband, right,
I was hanging out. I was doing what a twenty
(22:45):
two year old should be.
Speaker 5 (22:46):
Doing, right, Yeah, getting to know them cells and yeah, I.
Speaker 7 (22:50):
Got my own apartment in Jersey. I was going out.
So when I met you, there was no immediate expectation
at that time. My next step in life was get
a damn job.
Speaker 1 (23:05):
Once again, thank you for tuning into the Black Effect
Podcast Network. Seeing you in twenty twenty five for more
great moments from your favorite podcast
Piece of the plane in Charlamagne to God here and
as we come closer to closing out this year, I
just want to say thank you for tuning it into
the Black Effect podcast network. There have been so many
great moments over the past year. Take a listen to
some of those captivating moments in this special best of episode.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
I try to be myself in my younger days. It
was a whole too much smiling. It hurt my face
that I was smiling trying to be at this stage
of the game. I'm like, let me find out what
we have in common. And then you know, like or
I know already what we have in common, because I'm
you know, if it's a celebrity and we start talking
(00:37):
about that, we're not talking about the album, We're not
talking about the movie or whatever it is that they're doing.
And so we had a whole ten minute conversation about
something that they really wanted to talk about before we
even started really talking. And then okay, let's talk about
you know, the new film that you have out, and
that's and if you look at and when I look
(00:58):
at some of my old clips, people go like, Ralph,
you really know that person.
Speaker 3 (01:03):
I'm like, not really, I.
Speaker 2 (01:04):
Just meant to that day, but it seems like you
and and you know what, fifty Cents said that to
me one day, the rapper fifty Cent said, you know what,
when I'm on video music box, I can be myself.
Speaker 3 (01:17):
Yes, it's not like when.
Speaker 2 (01:19):
I'm doing big network thing. You know, I'm I automatically.
My whole persona Ralph changes when I'm with you. So
I'm like, well, that's good, so let's talk.
Speaker 4 (01:33):
You know what.
Speaker 5 (01:34):
I think it does it?
Speaker 3 (01:34):
Ralph?
Speaker 5 (01:35):
I think that, And I'm gonna play in this podcast,
you know down in here. I want to play our
interview when you gave me my biggest shot in life.
You gave me that moment that would change my life,
and I'm going to play that. Yeah, you may you
(01:56):
make people feel comfortable, and I think you make them
feel feel comfortable by letting them talk about themselves what's
going on in life. And I think there's a big
lesson we can learn from it. Now, as you just
said that, I want to do the same thing with you.
I very rarely get a chance to repay you for
all the things you have done for me, but I
(02:16):
want to do the same thing right now. Hey, Ralph,
I want to hear about, you know, the new children's
book Roscoe Learns about Video Music Box. Let me tell
me why did you create this, what is the book about,
and any other thing else that we can learn from
this book.
Speaker 2 (02:33):
So, you know, I've been working in libraries for the
last five years in Queen specifically, and going and looking
at the bookshelves, and you know, you know, you visited
your friend.
Speaker 3 (02:44):
Of the library.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
We don't see enough you know, hip hop stuff that
you know, people can relate to the kids in the
in the communities that I'm serving. And I was like,
you know, we need more books, you know, not the
same that there aren't any they exist, but we need
And so I said, you know, if I do it,
it puts a little spotlight on it. It's Ralph McDaniels.
(03:07):
For people that know and who are backing me in
New York, many of them, especially the educators, the principles,
the teachers, the different folks that work in schools are
like Ralph McDaniels that got a book out.
Speaker 3 (03:19):
I grew up watching Now mc daniels.
Speaker 6 (03:21):
So we got that.
Speaker 3 (03:23):
Now we got to get the kids. And I wanted to.
Speaker 2 (03:25):
Create something for the younger kids, and it also needed
to have I wanted to create a coloring book because
I like arts and culture. I liked when I was
a kid, I like to draw, you know, just doing
stuff like that kind of gives you a certain feeling,
you know, like and I think you come from the
same place you come from designing clothes, you know.
Speaker 3 (03:45):
And that part.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
But I wanted to make sure that we had some
interesting information in there. So there's word puzzles, there's reading
comprehension questions, there's.
Speaker 3 (03:56):
Some hard stuff. It's hard for me. I'm like, wow,
we did that when we were seven years old. That's
what have to do.
Speaker 2 (04:01):
But right now it's a book, and it's a coloring book.
I didn't even know this was a thing. Coloring, sip
and coloring is a thing right now for adults, sip
and paint, sip and coloring books, and I was like really,
So adults were like, oh, we can get it for
one of our sip and coloring events. And I was like,
(04:21):
all right, you know, I didn't make it for you guys,
but that's fine too. So it's it's a great book.
I'm super happy about it. Big up Sean Donaldson, who's
a teacher who wrote the book because she knew how
to talk to those kids and she helped. And I
told she didn't know anything about hip hop, so I said,
I'm gonna do you know the hit the hip hop part,
you do the educational part.
Speaker 3 (04:42):
And that's how we came together.
Speaker 5 (04:44):
What is the book? And so how old are the
kids that the main target of calviusly will go out
of you know, out of the rain?
Speaker 7 (04:54):
Yeah?
Speaker 4 (04:54):
Seven?
Speaker 3 (04:55):
Seven?
Speaker 2 (04:55):
Yeah, you know, there are some younger kids that are
you know, a little bit quicker, but it's we start
at seven up to about twelve.
Speaker 3 (05:02):
Thirteen, but it can go. You know, it's a history.
It's history. You know.
Speaker 2 (05:07):
The video music box story, it's about this parent who
takes their kid back to the hood, shows them where
he grew up at, takes them the Times Square, So
this is where they used to do breakdancing at. Hey look,
breakdancing is an Olympic sport in twenty twenty four, which
is amazing to me. This is all yeah, that we
grew up watching and you know, and as you get
(05:28):
you know, responsibility of having a family and kids and stuff,
you want your kids to kind of get a little
bit of what you did you know?
Speaker 3 (05:34):
And that's what this is about. This book is better.
Speaker 5 (05:38):
I think what you said is really powerful. Listen, if
you have any issues with who I am, where I
come from, I didn't. I don't have this big education.
Let's say I will say it this something. I don't
have a really big education. I'm not going to be
able to I'm not detail oriented, I'm dyslexic. But I'm
going to tell you I'm gonna add value. You can
ask me any other questions if you have an issue
you need me to to, you know, do all these
(05:58):
things that are just not my area let me know, right,
And when you did that, you said nobody had a problem.
Speaker 4 (06:07):
Well got a sun person, not a single person.
Speaker 5 (06:10):
Why do you Why do you think that is because previously,
let's say, had overt problems. Do you think the industry
just said one of the oldest forms of classical music
that we all enjoy, that enjoyed primarily you know by
you know, really people who are very in tuned with music,
(06:33):
higher education primarily. But you know, of course the origin
of it comes from.
Speaker 3 (06:38):
Do you think that all of a.
Speaker 5 (06:39):
Sudden, in that short period of time, just lost their bigotry?
Speaker 4 (06:42):
No? No, but I think there was more a fear
of showing it overtly, you know, when you when I,
when I, when I broke the subject on my own terms,
it did almost put them on the defensive and kind
of like, oh, so obviously know we we do this.
So no, no, we don't have an issue with this anymore.
(07:03):
You know that's not going to be a problem. Don't worry.
You know, that's the least if you're worried, don't worry
about that.
Speaker 5 (07:08):
But now you walk in the room, you have to
over deliver. It can't because no matter what you have
to find, did you find that you were over delivering
what you found? They said, this industry is changing in
certain ways that we need different angles. And the man
is absolutely talented. He's put the work in, and so
what what which one is it?
Speaker 4 (07:30):
Well, you always have to as a black man in
this industry, you have to over deliver.
Speaker 6 (07:37):
All the time.
Speaker 4 (07:39):
One of the one of the main things my teacher
taught me is that as as a black opera singer,
as a black singer in classical music, I'm not going
to have the privilege or the luxury of being mediocre.
I have to be better than twice as good as
(07:59):
those with I may be in competition with for particular jobs.
So I go into everything I do with that in
mind and knowing that, uh, you know, I got to
come in with as they said, with with with guns blazing,
and knowing that when it's when it comes time for
me to stand up down that stage, I have to
(08:21):
give everything that I can in that moment and they
leave on stage and I love it.
Speaker 5 (08:31):
Can you educate me a little bit about the the
the dynamics in classical music on the breakdown of race
and gender, even if you if you just thought about it,
I know you, I know you probably I don't know,
but I don't think it came you with data. But
as you look at everything from the orchestra everybody else,
is it.
Speaker 3 (08:51):
Zero African Americans?
Speaker 5 (08:53):
And you know because I went the other night and
I saw I saw Black Family Carnegie Hall, right and
it was absolutely amazing.
Speaker 4 (09:03):
Now you know, I.
Speaker 5 (09:04):
Think that most of the audience and the orchestra or
or they were not African American. But the lead, the
lead guy playing whatever this instrument was, when he got
up there on stage and he got excused my ignorance,
I didn't know that.
Speaker 4 (09:20):
I looked it up.
Speaker 5 (09:21):
I mean they stood up with this guy. This guy
wants to be so well recognized and he played this
little this little two piece percussion. What is what does
it look like? What is what is the color of
a or what does what does it look like? The
demographic or the breakdown normally.
Speaker 4 (09:40):
I don't know specific you know, percentages and whatnot, But
that's always been an issue, is the is the the
amount of representation that there is within the industry. There
are many, many, many talented black opera singers. If you
if you visit some of the larger opera houses in
(10:03):
the country, say the Metropolitan or Chicago Lyric or Houston
Grand Opera, usually if they put on a production of
Portgain Best, it's usually going to be their best seller
of the season. And that's what's dealing with an all
black cast with the exception of a few of a
couple of characters within the So you the representation of
(10:26):
that matters. And there's these artists here there, but oftentimes
they aren't being given the opportunities to shine and to to.
Speaker 5 (10:36):
I'm even looking at a standpoint, I'm even looking at
it from Alcurcer standpoint, because I got to tell you,
I went to the Christmas Spectacular and I'm out there.
You know, you know, I'm my wife is my wife
is white. My my my ex wife is Dominigan. You know,
obviously my mother's out of the American I'm a man
of Wall color. The love all people in the Radio
(10:57):
City Musical and I'm like, you know, the couple of
singers up there.
Speaker 6 (11:02):
Right man, only one black person.
Speaker 5 (11:09):
What happens to those like you who are literally I
consider you a genius. What happens to guys and women
like you who say we got to stop, we gotta
do the counter.
Speaker 6 (11:22):
I think the reason why you won't see as much
of that with this is because of how long it
takes Congress Congress to pass new laws and how long
it takes for it to happen in how fast AI
is moving. So imagine there's one law because the fact
that any like right now, this very second, I can
take this video of you that people are watching right now,
(11:44):
and I'll give you the websites where people can do this,
don't do this. You can go to Hagen dot com
h E y g in right, and I can I
can clone you in a second. I can go to
eleven Labs dot com and I can take your voice.
Speaker 5 (11:55):
Because we can get that three hour podcasts.
Speaker 6 (11:58):
I can make an extended version a conversation that we
didn't have because of social media. I can go ahead
and run as I can show it to anyone in
the world, and I can say, all of a sudden, damon,
John went bankrupt. We can have a three hour conversation
about detail you can ruin someone's life. To me, how
do you how do you stop that? All the tools
are out there to the masses that tools are out there.
Speaker 5 (12:20):
The copy of the AI too mean, So let me
ask you when has that not been done? If you
think about propaganda from governments, or you think about anything else,
it's just that we have we spit up the process
of good people and bad people arguments sake, you have
white hackers and you have dark hackers. You have and
(12:41):
so if nobody knows what that is, and it may
be the wrong term, but there are companies that are
hired to say, hack my system, and you got to
do the mission impossible. You got to And I know
somebody who does it and he gets paid a lot
of money. But it's the same as you ever seen
casine know, oh, we know who the thieves are because
(13:03):
the X gambling thieves are now the security Well, I.
Speaker 6 (13:07):
Think it's I just you know what, I don't believe in.
Speaker 4 (13:09):
People aren't gonna like this.
Speaker 6 (13:10):
I just think capitalism is going to become a joke
and it's not going to be a real thing really.
So you know what makes capitalism work is that anybody
can come up and create X, Y Z, and you
can be better at something than people.
Speaker 5 (13:25):
That's why it's called this moment, that moment, because this
is the moment I'm gonna absolutely, for the first time,
probably disagree with you.
Speaker 6 (13:32):
So well, it's the first time that people could be
better than like, like, you make money because you're grade
at business and someone else isn't. There's winners and losers
in capitalism, and that's okay because the loser can then
turn around and then go win. But we are no
longer the smartest creatures on this planet. And everybody has
access to AI. So it comes to a point where
(13:52):
you talked about AI salespeople. Instead of hiring a salesperson
for sixty thousand dollars in California, I'm going to use
AI and call people for literally ten cents. It takes
a regular salesperson eight hours to call thirty people. It
takes AI a half a second to call thirteen hundred people.
It just makes more sense to hire AI as opposed
(14:15):
to writing something Like me and you, if we were
to write a script or something, we would be really good,
but it would take us an hour. It takes AI
two seconds to do. Business is about profitability. So what's
happening is you're going to have all these customer support
all those jobs are dead like all that's AI text,
And people go, well, the there's gonna be other jobs
(14:38):
that are created that people will have, but they don't
have any damn skill to do those jobs.
Speaker 5 (14:42):
Like what if people are talking about a different matter
you're talking about I think that And we've always known this,
that the separation of wealth, the massive transfer has happened
during COVID. And whether you or somebody who did not
want to train yourself or thought you shouldn't train yourself,
you've seen that already. So whether it is today we're
(15:05):
talking about AI, or whether you worked at Walmart at
the register but you decided not to understand you know
how to work quick books. You never moved up the
manager because you just start working at the regis.
Speaker 6 (15:21):
Yeah, yeah, so but what happens is you have a
handful of people that will learn those new skills and
they will make a gross amount of money. The problem
is the majority won't. They won't know. It's just like
our parents. They never learned how to change the input
on the TV. They think the TV's broken, they need
to change the input like. No one is going to
adapt and as a result, they're just gonna start complaining.
Speaker 7 (15:41):
So what do we do.
Speaker 5 (15:42):
What's gonna happen?
Speaker 6 (15:43):
I'll tell you. I'll tell you that. I'm gonna call
it right now exactly. Yeah, yeah, this is the quote.
Speaker 4 (15:51):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (15:51):
Here's what I'll genuinely tell you is whether you're on
the right or whether you're on the left of what
of republican or a revery Democrat, you're going to be
asking for a handout from the government because you are
not going to have income. And here's where you saw this.
The pandemic happened everybody. I don't care if you were
a Republican or Democrat. Everybody wanted some PPP money. Every
(16:15):
everybody was looking for something to survive. My point is
it's just no one's there's not going to be any
value people even just take like something like you know
the the ten million uber drivers, Like what happens when
all those cars are just driving themselves and delivering it? Like?
Speaker 5 (16:30):
Yeah, but at some point somebody has to build, or
somebody has to program.
Speaker 6 (16:33):
Somebody has to train, Yeah, and that person will get paid.
Speaker 5 (16:36):
And no, most of those will be robots. But somebody
has to program, and the AI is learning. But you
know a lot of times they thought and this is
actually where you've been to one of one of my
events where what I realized now is human interaction is
becoming so much more valuable facts. And there will be
(16:57):
people who will say, because you know what, you know
what the elderly are going to get their money from
from us? Why, well, I'm gonna be coping able to
be getting it from my kids. You're gonna take care
of your parents two times longer than they took care
of you.
Speaker 6 (17:09):
That's a fact. Yeah, you're gonna want somebody to take
care of your parents.
Speaker 5 (17:14):
Your parents are not gonna want to do AI as
much as they understand it, And there will be caretakers
and service people that will have to do it in
some way. There will be robots, well, they I am
such a big believer in entrepreneurship that we will find
a way, find a way.
Speaker 7 (17:29):
Find It's gonna be six years and.
Speaker 5 (17:34):
Six years we've been married. We have a beautiful seven
year old little girl making jag of John. She's in
the background, shout out to make a jagger John. Heather
and Heather and make it. Don't go anywhere without each
other except for when you go to the gym, and
she goes to school, and she goes to swim, and
(17:55):
then you go to whatever. All right, so we have
my wife here. It is that moment with Daman John,
with my wife, I have some questions that I know
the rest of the world likes to ask. But I'm
gonna ask her some questions about our relationship and her
thoughts and things, and of course you can always send
it to me some more questions. So I'm gonna just
(18:17):
get right at it. You know, when Heather and I
we were together for as I said, eighteen years, but
about a couple of years into it, I never really
I'd already had my two oldest beautiful daughters, Destiny as me,
who are great older sisters and really great, great people.
But there was that moment when she decided, We decided collectively,
(18:40):
and she found out that we were going to bring
beautiful little Minka Jack John into the world. How did
you feel at that moment? Because I didn't necessarily know
if that was gonna happen, but it happened. It was
so great.
Speaker 7 (18:57):
So how did I How did I feel about, you know,
finding out that I was pregnant, No.
Speaker 5 (19:02):
Was finding out that you were going to bring Yeah,
I guess so well.
Speaker 7 (19:06):
I could tell a story about the moment I was
confirmed that I was pregnant.
Speaker 5 (19:12):
Yeah.
Speaker 7 (19:13):
It's actually a really weird story because I was leaving
the doctor's office. You were out of town still, and
it was like I had already taken on the test
and I found out that I was pregnant. I took
like eight tests because I was like, how to be
sure that's maybe my OCD. So after like the eighth
at home tests, I went to the doctor and they're like, okay,
you're pregnant. I'm like, okay, all right.
Speaker 4 (19:31):
Cool.
Speaker 7 (19:32):
So I was walking home in Midtown when you lived
in New York City at the time, and I'm walking
down thirty Secondary actually, and I'll never forget it because
now I just found out I'm pregnant and I'm like okay,
and some guy hits on me and I'm like, no,
I'm a mother, and I felt really offensive at that time.
I actually felt really offensive. I was like, oh, and
it's so it was such a strange feeling because I'm
(19:54):
so used to being nobody's mother, and I'm like, this
is so rude. And I look back and I'm like,
I think about how stupid that was. But at the moment,
I was offended anyway.
Speaker 5 (20:06):
That's that story. But in terms of well, how'd you feel,
you know, it was that moment that you said, this
man and I will have a bond together for the
rest of our lives. I mean, we had already planned
on Uh that was a conversation. After so many years,
I can get into that where we were going.
Speaker 7 (20:24):
I was really happy about it. I was like shocked
because I did we didn't know, like it wasn't like,
you know, eventually we would want a child. But you know,
I think at first when you it wasn't on the
raidar At that moment, it was like shocking, But after
that settled in, you're like, you know, I'm happy about it,
you know, but I think after you've been with someone
so many years, it's not it's kind of just like this, Yeah,
(20:46):
it's a natural next step that you know, it was
either get married or have a baby at that point.
Because now we're looking, I mean, let's just let me
think about that. So that's that's that was like nine
years in. I mean nine years in is a long
time man, you know.
Speaker 5 (21:05):
I think that's another good point, right because I met
you or you met me both. I'm fifteen years your senior. Yep,
you were twenty two and you were you would just finished,
you had advanced in school, and you had a professional
career that you were going into, and you were in
(21:26):
the fashion industry from the buyer's perspective, slash merchandizing barus,
you know, behind the scenes right sales executive. And at
twenty two, I think that you know you got me.
I was thirty eight. I was already coming back coming
out of a situation which you know, it is what
it is. But how why would you know? I'm sure
(21:48):
people told you for a long period of time. Well, listen,
this guy is he's already done what he needed to
do in life. He's some level of success, has children,
He's never going to marry you. Yeah, because I had
also datedor and I was a little all over the
place because I was I was a guy. Yeah you know, yeah,
why would you stick it out? Or where was the indications?
(22:08):
Because I remember a lot of people say, do you rightfully?
So what are you doing? You're you're a beautiful young woman,
You're smart. Yeah, not like you out there looking for
guys in the sense of, oh, you know, I need
to be on I don't even think social media was around.
Why would you stay around?
Speaker 7 (22:22):
Okay, Well, when I met you were thirty seven, I
had just turned twenty two. I just moved from Philadelphia
to New York, so I had just I actually skipped
a year. I finished college a year earlier. So then
I was having my time to just like hang out,
go to clubs, like move to a new city, you know,
meet new people. I wasn't looking for a husband, right,
I was hanging out. I was doing what a twenty
(22:45):
two year old should be.
Speaker 5 (22:46):
Doing, right, Yeah, getting to know them cells and yeah, I.
Speaker 7 (22:50):
Got my own apartment in Jersey. I was going out.
So when I met you, there was no immediate expectation
at that time. My next step in life was get
a damn job.
Speaker 1 (23:05):
Once again, thank you for tuning into the Black Effect
Podcast Network. Seeing you in twenty twenty five for more
great moments from your favorite podcast
Host
Daymond John
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