July 3, 2025 • 29 mins
On Part 2 of today's podcast, Ramses and Q discuss the latest news regarding Drake's lawsuit against Universal Music Group over their support of Kendrick Lamar's song "Not Like Us".
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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.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
The man you're.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
About to hear on the microphone, the incredible father that
he is, he goes by the name of Q War.
Speaker 3 (00:16):
The man you already heard on the microphone, the incredible
everything that he is, goes by the name round.
Speaker 1 (00:22):
This job ended, and in this half of the show,
we are going to be giving you more of what
you know and love. Stay tuned because we're going to
be talking about Drake sort of continuing with his pressing
of Universal Music Group for those that remember him and
his lawsuit against UMG over the Kendrick Drake Beef.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
He's moving forward with.
Speaker 1 (00:44):
It despite all the reactions that the world had to that. Also,
we're going to be talking about Timbaland, one of the
great heroes, and hip hop going AI and the implications
of that. But I think you all know it's right.
It's time now for Qwar's clap and Q It's going
to talk to us about the big beautiful bill.
Speaker 3 (01:05):
You know, people used to try to pretend to not
be hypocrites, and I think they realized and they meaning
the right, the GOP MAGA that they no longer have
to pretend because their unwavering base will support them even
when they lie to them, even when they harm them,
(01:26):
even when they do them gross injustices, because they're that
committed to the identity politic game that they now play.
So imagine fighting fraud while writing the biggest giveaway in
the history of our country. The loudest voices. It's really funny,
(01:47):
you know, the loudest voices that scream about waste and
fraud and abuse and doge and all that stuff always
come from the right, always come from the same group,
that's right, being the biggest scam in American history. They
love to say that they're the party of fiscal responsibility
and the defenders of taxpayers, and the watch dogs are
(02:09):
fraud and waste. Meanwhile, they are pushing through very aggressively,
the so called Big Beautiful Bill, one of the most
shameless giveaways to billionaires and corporations that our country has
ever seen. Their masters at branding rams fiscal conservative, tough
on waste, protecting your hard earned money from big government.
(02:33):
But that marketing is such a flagrant lie, a trojan horse,
if you will, huts to everything that helps working people, schools, healthcare, medicaid,
social security, medicare. They say we can't afford it, but
what they really mean is you can't have it. They, however,
can have everything that they want, and they'll make sure
(02:55):
that their donors get what they want as well. No questions,
ask clear about what's actually in the bill. I can't
break down every page because that would take too long.
But in short, tax cuts for billionaires, loopholes for multinational corporations,
sweetheart deals for private equity and hedge funds, hidden expansions
of executive authority, even over international tax enforcement. And the
(03:17):
best part is they'll turn around and tell you that
this is for you, that this is for America or Americans,
and of course, as Ramses has taught us many times,
it'll trickle down, right. So be grateful that your boss
gets a bigger yacht or as we've said, another infinity pool,
because that way you'll get to keep your job and
(03:38):
he'll get to keep paying you, or she'll get to
keep paying you minimum wage. What they're pushing forward, Rams
it's not even policy anymore. They're not even pretending that
it's good policy or good law, good legislation or good government.
It's just like a flat out front facing con robbing
from public taxpayers to pay the rich. And who gets
(04:00):
to pay that bill?
Speaker 2 (04:02):
We do?
Speaker 3 (04:02):
Of course, your kids' public school teachers the resources that
they need. Local hospitals will be closing wings or closing
all together. Roads and bridges will not have the infrastructure
budgets that they need. Our aging parents and even our
newborn kids won't have the health care that they need. Medicare,
Medicaid that a lot of our elders depend on won't
(04:22):
exist anymore.
Speaker 2 (04:24):
Social Security will be.
Speaker 3 (04:25):
Under threat as they're trying to get rid of it
because the deficit is too big, even though they created it.
And then they want you to pay twice pay these
taxes and get nothing in return for it. They'll take
your tax money and gift it to themselves. You will
get nothing in return. The taxes you know that you've
been paying your whole life, and the taxes that those
undocumented immigrants pay that they don't benefit from at all. Wow,
(04:50):
So make sure you take that into account as well.
So they want to talk about small government and getting
Washington off your back and out of your business, but
they only want to talk about government when that small
government is set.
Speaker 2 (05:01):
Up to help us.
Speaker 3 (05:04):
That's when they want to get rid of small government,
or that's when they want to talk about small government.
They're fine with big government when it comes to policing
your body, deciding who you can marry, controlling what classrooms
you can go to and what books you can read,
surveilling the borders and our neighborhoods. Because they feel like it.
They can be big government then, but small government when
(05:25):
it comes to helping and giving back, or making the
rich pay their fair share, or investing in the middle
and lower class and not lower class but just poor,
investing in working families, neighborhoods and communities, trying to get
rid of what causes crime in the first place, trying
to get rid of poverty and hunger and homelessness. And
(05:46):
trust me, they can afford it. One of them could
afford it. Imagine that there are single individual people in
the world today, single individual people, not corporations. Are all
their business businesses collected. There are single individuals that have
enough money to end homelessness and hunger and not be
(06:08):
impacted by it at all. They would never even notice.
So here's the truth. You don't get to scream about
fraud and waste while handing trillions to billionaires. You don't
get to call yourself fiscal conservative while writing the biggest
corporate giveaway in history. You don't get to clutch the
flag and cry patriotism while gutting the future of working Americans.
(06:30):
If you really cared about taxpayers and the people that
vote for you, you would invest in them, except they
no longer.
Speaker 2 (06:35):
They no longer require you to care.
Speaker 3 (06:37):
If you really cared about the deficit, you'd ask billionaires
to pay what they owe. If you really loved your country,
you'd fight for everyone in it, not just those that
look at, pray, think, and love like you. So while
you rob the many to reward the few, you can't
call that freedom. That's just theft with a better marketing department.
Speaker 1 (07:02):
You know, sometimes when you talk about these things, like
your passion is just so it's inspiring, but the message,
like the contents of it is like so deflating. It's like, yeah,
I'm ready to fight with you, que and then you're
(07:22):
like like somehow it's like frame like, well they kind
of already won, so it's like, well, shoot, man, I
can't take the song by myself. But I'll tell you what, Man,
me and you and everybody else want to get in
the streets and let it be known. I'm down.
Speaker 3 (07:37):
I hope we can. Man, Like you said, they did
win already. Yes, the same states that are the poorest
and least educated voted the most for the people who
are pushing this legislation forward. That's the scariest part. And
there's nothing we can do to convince them that they
made a mistake.
Speaker 1 (07:53):
No, they're yeah, they're just in too far into the
deep end. But I mean time will tell right, Well,
let's switch gears here.
Speaker 4 (08:03):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (08:06):
I don't know if Timberland was one of your favorites
growing up, He definitely was one of my favorites. I
mean he could do no wrong. I like noted like
the album cuts in the and the one hit Wonders
that that Timberland got off. You know, I tried to
once upon a time, before I became a DJ, I
(08:27):
tried to be like a like a.
Speaker 2 (08:29):
Producer, a beat maker.
Speaker 1 (08:31):
So I like got all the NPCs and the Tritons
and you know, the Yamaha motifs, and I midy wired
everything up in my studio and I tried to make beats.
So Timberland was one of those people I looked up to,
and now that artificial intelligence is here, it's like, well, shoot,
(08:52):
what is the future of you know, this kind of
quintessentially human form of express es making music. You know,
we make music because it's natural to us. You know,
we hear rhythms from the inception of our life. We
hear the rhythm of our mother's heartbeat. This is why
music with the four over four counts sounds so natural
(09:13):
to us. So I'm going to paint this picture and
let you jump in cube. This comes from the source.
A recent incident involving renowned music producer Timblin and the
artificial intelligence music generation platform Suno has brought the burgeoning
legal complexities surrounding AI music tools into sharp focus. The
event has reignited discussions about copyright compensation and the ethical
(09:36):
use of creative works in the age of artificial intelligence.
The controversy arose when Timberlin shared a demo track created
with Suno. Critics quickly pointed out that the AI generated
beat bore a striking resemblance to a production by K
Fresh Music, even incorporating K Fresh's distinctive signature tag without attribution.
While Timberlin initially clarified that his intention was merely to
(09:58):
showcase SUNO's capabilities and not to profit from the demo,
he subsequently issued an apology to K Fresh and on
the video. Timberlin's legal representative noted that while the use
of K Fresh's music without permission contravenes SUNO's terms of service,
it did not necessarily constitute a violation of existing law.
Speaker 2 (10:15):
This highlights a critical gap.
Speaker 1 (10:16):
In current legislation, which struggles to keep pace with the
rapid advancements of AI, particularly in instances where AI models
may learn from content that has been removed or is
not explicitly licensed. And you know this coupled with I
think the fact that Timberland is working with an AI
artist really is upsetting a lot of people, and you know,
(10:39):
causing people to, I guess fumble through. I guess the
reality of the situation, which is AI is here, It's
been here for some time, it uses existing content, and
it is has the capacity to replace human creativity.
Speaker 2 (11:02):
What say you?
Speaker 3 (11:06):
You know a thing happened in our adult life. I
can't really pinpoint when it happened, but we stopped being
able to make people feel ashamed for anything, like the
hyper inclusive society that we live in. There's things that
(11:27):
you used to be ashamed of that people would shame
you for, and now we've found a way to make
room for everyone to be comfortable no matter what. So
you see like groups organizing online for disgusting things like pedophilia,
and they have like advocates now that want to frame
(11:49):
their sickness as something that we should make have grace for. Really,
and there's just all these things that used to be
just outright bad. But it's like nothing's outright bad anymore.
There's nuance to everything, so nothing is on its face bad.
There's a conversation to be had, and we can explain
(12:11):
why this is okay. I use that extreme example intentionally
because once upon a time, that particular form of sickness
would be viewed by the collective everyone as bad. Yeah,
you couldn't find a person to out loud advocate for
(12:32):
that or advocate for that. I'm sorry, but now that exists,
even if it's a small portion of the population. Once
upon a time you could be called a sellout and
you'd be offended by it, you'd be hurt by it.
You'd be ashamed of it. But at some point during
(12:56):
our adult lives, they gave too many people access to
the off ramp of capitalism, or the illusion that they
all had access to that off ramp, and the bag
or being wealthy or being rich or making money became
more important than everything.
Speaker 2 (13:16):
So now sellout, ain't that bad a word?
Speaker 3 (13:18):
You've even heard, you know, rappers say yeah, I'm a
sell out and then explain you all the nice things
they bought. A person who would compromise their personal values,
their culture, their people, their integrity for money or personal
advancement is a sellout. And ironically talking about Timbland, who
(13:42):
of course was goaded to me as a songwriter, as
a person who was a DJ for over a decade,
as a person who loves music like rams, and I
never did drugs or drank, so music was our high.
Music was our drug Timberland, if music was a drug,
Timberland was a dealer, and he was the man. He
(14:03):
was with him, he was he was the one. And
I remember the first time I started to kind of
be disappointed by one of my heroes was, you know,
about ten years ago, when I saw some decisions being
made that I won't talk about because they're not you know,
(14:24):
public knowledge. But the first time it struck me as man,
things are as bad as I thought I was on
June teenth, I think June teenth of last year. On
June teenth of either last year or the year before,
Timberland and Swiss Beats announced their deal with Elon Musk,
(14:44):
an exclusive deal with X I remember that they did
with Elon, and they, in the most toned deaf move ever,
announced it on June teenth. You guys know Elon Musk
of by the election fame of blatant racist, Nazi salute,
(15:05):
n word amplifier. You know that Elon Musk, two of
our quote unquote heroes, did a deal with him and
announce it on juneteenth. And their explanation, as was Nellie's
explanation when he went to perform you know Hot and
Here for Maga, was look at all the stuff that
I've done, look at all the money I've made, all
(15:25):
the success I've had, and all the money that I've
spent to help XYZ.
Speaker 2 (15:29):
Blah blah blah.
Speaker 3 (15:31):
So don't mind that I'm selling out, that I'm trying
to get more money by you know, letting down everyone
that should matter to me, it's for the bag, and
in most cases they won't admit it, they'll frame it
in some type of give back. I make all this money,
I can continue to do all this stuff for other
people like it's not about them, So Timberland, to all
(15:54):
of us creators and writers, producers, artists, it's extremely disappointing
because what happens when you give all your talent, even
if you weren't sacrificing the talents of these other up
and coming producers and songwriters and artists who have been
sending you their music and hopes that it could turn
into a dream come true for them, even if you
(16:15):
weren't sacrificing them. Offering your talents to this partnering with AI,
eliminating the role of the songwriter, of the musician, of
the up and coming producer, the bass player, the guitar player,
the person who their only vehicle out of poverty is
(16:37):
to use their art and your talent to tap into
this capitalist machine that we live inside of that we
just can't help but participate in. You're eliminating the path
for them. The industry and the machine you're helping create
won't need them. It'll dispose of them, it'll create music
and albums. And there are full AI bands now with
(16:58):
fan basists that are paying to hear the machine. There's
no actual artists, no actual writer, no actual producer. You
are contributing to this, sir, and you are someone that
we consider one of the architects, one of the best.
One of the goats you're supposed to stand up for
is defend us, stand in the way of things like this,
and instead, because it's advantageous for you.
Speaker 2 (17:23):
You're helping build it. Yeah, this one was a little
heartbreaking for me too.
Speaker 1 (17:29):
I you know, for people that want to move in
this direction with their careers, or you know, people that
just have the music in their hearts.
Speaker 2 (17:38):
You know, where do they go If you're born.
Speaker 1 (17:40):
And you're a little girl or a little boy and
you want to sing and make music and bang on
the drums, and then you get a little older and
you find out a computer does it better than you,
or that's that's the cheaper process or whatever, and there's
no way for you to sustain yourself with that. You know,
it's got to be a heartbreaking future for a lot
of people.
Speaker 4 (17:58):
So yeah, Mark Morial here, President and CEO of the
National Urban League, and on Thursday, July seventeenth, I'll be
live in Cleveland at a national conference with Tony Coles,
president of the Black Information Network.
Speaker 5 (18:12):
It's called Black America Speaks, and it's exactly what it
sounds like. We'll tackle pressing issues economic and equality, health disparities,
voter suppression, and this mailing of our democratic institutions. You
must be a part of this conversation. Join us in Cleveland.
To register, go to NUF conference dot org.
Speaker 2 (18:31):
Hey, what's up.
Speaker 3 (18:32):
This is ramses Ja and I am q Ward, and
we're inviting you to subscribe to Civic Cipher, our weekly
social justice podcast right here in the app.
Speaker 6 (18:40):
We pride ourselves on creating a show that fusters allyship,
empathy and understanding, all the while conducting journalistically credible research,
featuring influential, noteworthy guests, and empowering historically marginalized communities.
Speaker 3 (18:51):
The African proverb reads, if you want to go far,
go together. So we are asking you to search for
and subscribe to Civic Cipher.
Speaker 1 (18:58):
That's civ c Er right here in the app. Well,
I guess keeping in line with that, I guess this
is you know, we got to talk about entertainment so
I guess this is.
Speaker 2 (19:17):
This is another.
Speaker 1 (19:18):
Heartbreaker here Drake's lawsuit against UMG proceeds. Let's just start
off with the story. So this from the source. Drake's
legal team was in Manhattan Federal Court on Monday afternoon,
June thirtieth, pushing but the defamation lawsuit against Universal Music
Group or UMG, to proceed. The hearing saw arguments presented
to a judge regarding the continuation of the high profile case.
(19:40):
Following the proceedings, a representative for Drake released a sharp
statement indicating that the artist's determination was to pursue the
legal action. The spokesperson asserted that UMG is quote desperate
to see this case not move forward because the company
can't hide it's misconduct in a courtroom the way it
does in the boardroom unquote. The statement further suggested that
UMG's leadership will soon face scrutiny not only from concerned
(20:02):
regulators and investors, but also from the legal system regarding
the damage it is caused to every artist that has
been silenced, exploited, and dangered or discarded. This development comes
amidst ongoing scrutiny of major record labels and the relationships
with artists. The music industry has recently seen an increase
in discussions around artists rights, transparency and contracts, and the
(20:22):
overall power dynamics within large music corporations. All specific details
of the alleged misconduct were not elaborated upon the statement.
The language used by Drake's team implies serious accusations of
unfair practices or suppression of artists. The outcome of its
hearing will determine whether Drake's defamation case against umz unng
Sorry proceeds to discovery and potential trial. This move could
(20:43):
open up U and G's internal dealings to public and
legal examination. The music world will be watching closely as
this legal battle on folds, potentially setting precedents for future
artists label relations. This afternoon's appearance underscores Drake's commitment seeing
the case through the courts. All right, let me start
before I pass to you. So I know that this
(21:12):
is the result of Drake losing a battle with Kendrick,
and that battle is going to be perhaps the most
historic battle in hip hop history for the next fifty years.
You know, hip hop's fifty years old now, so it's
(21:36):
hard to imagine another battle reaching this level, not because
of how much Kendrick won, but also that coupled with
how much Drake lost, like he did this to himself.
So for folks that don't know, maybe outsiders who aren't
like really super into hip hop culture.
Speaker 2 (22:05):
Drake was.
Speaker 1 (22:07):
And I think, you know, maybe in the future people
will I don't know where people are going to put him,
so let me not speak on that. But Drake was
definitely one of the great heroes of hip hop.
Speaker 2 (22:16):
He was.
Speaker 1 (22:18):
A great ambassador of hip hop. Like Eminem was a
great ambassador of hip hop.
Speaker 2 (22:23):
Right.
Speaker 1 (22:25):
Eminem took hip hop to you know, Middle America, right,
and then the flyover States, the Midwest, all that sort
of stuff, right. Drake was that person. But he was
taking hip hop and making it even more pop. Now,
there were people that came for Drake. Of course, there
were the Nellies, there were the you know, there's a lot
of people that came for Drake that did that. But
(22:46):
Drake did it at such a high level that we
were so proud of Drake. And I'll say, you know,
the one misstep that kind of made Drake lose a
lot of cool points with me and with a lot
of folks was win in this battle, he mentioned to
Kendrick that he was rapping like he was trying to
set the slaves free. And that was such a tone
(23:06):
deaf bar for a half black Canadian man to say
to Kendrick, who really does write these modern Negro spirituals?
You know, Kendrick is he's Kendrick is real. Kendrick is
(23:26):
not popping the way that Drake is popped. You know,
Drake does what he does, but Kendrick, Kendrick makes timeless music.
You know, we would sing those songs for another fifty years, right,
Drake makes songs for the radio. And they both had
their lanes. But when when Drake said that he like
shot himself in the foot, and that critical mistake coupled
(23:49):
with Kendrick's excellence, meant that there was no chance Drake
was going to win that right, But then he like
made his loss worse by doing the corneoust thing. And
I don't want to jump over you, Q, because I
think I got this from you seeing it through your optics,
because you were the first person to tell me about this.
(24:10):
But the corneous thing that Drake could have done was
sue you know, if you lose a battle.
Speaker 2 (24:16):
He got me.
Speaker 1 (24:17):
You know, maybe he got a couple of points. You
know whatever, I'm gonna make the music that I make,
you know, water under the bridge. Let's keep it moving, right.
But for him to sue was like super duper corny.
And again, for those who are not a part of
the hip hop culture, being corny and being whack is
like the worst thing you can do. So again, you
have Kendrick winning so good and Drake losing so bad,
(24:41):
and for this case to still be moving forward, even
though Drake knows that perhaps the entirety of hip hop culture,
like the s the collective gravity of the cultural zeitgeist
of hip hop has pushed back on this like, Yeo,
you are bogus and super out of line for trying
(25:02):
to suit. That makes you look really like a sore
loser fan and that's not a good look for you.
It Like, I just I'm so disappointed in Drake because
he had so much to salvage. The career he could
have salvaged would be better like than still the vast
majority of artists that you know about and many artists
(25:22):
put together, and he just is like ruining his legacy.
Speaker 2 (25:26):
All Right, I've said enough, Q.
Speaker 3 (25:28):
Your thoughts super talented's super successful, but hero is the
wrong word. Okay, it's never actually had a position on
anything that mattered.
Speaker 2 (25:37):
To the Yeah, that's fair, that's fair. You've never spoken
up for us in any way.
Speaker 3 (25:41):
So hyper capitalists, hyper successful, hyper talented, but hero just
doesn't fit.
Speaker 2 (25:46):
Yeah, I see what you're saying.
Speaker 3 (25:46):
Yeah, And this lawsuit isn't just about being corny and
losing the battle, because it's not just about rap right,
like art, what we do, what we fell in love
with Public Enemy NWA that it was always about pushing
boundaries and pushing the lines, and of course it offends.
It's just like when we protest, it's supposed to make
people uncomfortable. That's kind of been in the space where
our voice could be the most loud for you know,
(26:09):
dis records to political cartoons, to stand up comedians, to
our protests, to protest music, to creative work writing, the
news journalism, all of these systems were always supposed to
speak truth to power, even if it hurt people's feelings.
And what Drake is doing now and I've compared him
to Donald Trump and the parallels just continue to grow.
He's reinforcing the idea that if you hurt his feelings
(26:33):
grounds for legal action. Yeah, when he dissed and destroyed
Meek Meal, he performed back to back on stages all
over the country. That club the clubs that song had
the clubs turned all over the world. He stomped on
Meek Meal. After he won that battle, nobody sued him. Right,
So when it's him, he pretends like he's doing this
(26:55):
for the little guy. I'm taking on the system for
all artists. Drake is doing this for Drake, Yeah, and
will damage a system that we love if he's had
success here, think about the president rams and not going
to hurry up because the time is short. But UMG,
you know preemptively had death Jam essentially dropped the clips
(27:16):
because of the verse that Kendrick did. That might hurt
Drake's feelings. Like, think about the impact of that. Too
risky to publish because we might end up in a lawsuit.
This is the president that he's setting man. So hip
hop and poetry, street art and satire all have the
history of speaking uncomfortable truths. When Nwa said f the police,
(27:39):
that was controversial. I'm sure some people were upset, but
they didn't get sued for that. Artists will start avoiding
controversial topics. Beefs won't happen, battles won't happen, like the
culture and arts will be shaken to the core. Man.
If Drake wins this, it changes, it changes everything. You know,
beef is supposed to be row, especially in hip hop.
(28:01):
The battles, that's kind of the whole point of it.
And now major labels and corporations and companies will kind
of stray away from doing anything with hip hop artists
because they might say something, they might offend someone, We
might get sued. What if this spreads beyond music realms.
What if you can no longer make a movie that
might make somebody upset again? The ties to our president
(28:22):
silencing people who speak up against him, speak up against
things that he is in support of. You speak against
the conflict in Gaza, your show might get taken away
from you, you know what I mean? Or your platform
might get taken away from you. You might be the
biggest person on the social media stage speak out about
something that they don't want you to talk about, and
(28:44):
now you don't exist in the social media space anymore.
Speaker 2 (28:46):
Yeah, we saw that.
Speaker 3 (28:48):
Yeah, so losing our right to make people uncomfortable. We're
supposed to challenge people, We're supposed to challenge power, and
this lawsuit is so far beyond justice.
Speaker 1 (29:00):
Drake really could set us all up for failure. Well,
I'm rooting for UMG. I never thought i'd say that,
you know, disco. Yeah, yeah, here we are. So anyway,
we're going to leave it right there. Uh and that's
going to do it for us on the QR code.
So today's show is produced by Chris Thompson. If you
(29:21):
have some thoughts you'd like to share, please use the
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I V I C C I P H e R.
You can also find me on all social media. I
am your host at rams' ja on all platforms.
Speaker 3 (29:42):
I am q ward on all social media as well,
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Still broadcasting from the Civic Cipher Studios. This is the
QR code where we share perspective, seek understanding, and shape outcomes.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
The man you're.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
About to hear on the microphone, the incredible father that
he is, he goes by the name of Q War.
Speaker 3 (00:16):
The man you already heard on the microphone, the incredible
everything that he is, goes by the name round.
Speaker 1 (00:22):
This job ended, and in this half of the show,
we are going to be giving you more of what
you know and love. Stay tuned because we're going to
be talking about Drake sort of continuing with his pressing
of Universal Music Group for those that remember him and
his lawsuit against UMG over the Kendrick Drake Beef.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
He's moving forward with.
Speaker 1 (00:44):
It despite all the reactions that the world had to that. Also,
we're going to be talking about Timbaland, one of the
great heroes, and hip hop going AI and the implications
of that. But I think you all know it's right.
It's time now for Qwar's clap and Q It's going
to talk to us about the big beautiful bill.
Speaker 3 (01:05):
You know, people used to try to pretend to not
be hypocrites, and I think they realized and they meaning
the right, the GOP MAGA that they no longer have
to pretend because their unwavering base will support them even
when they lie to them, even when they harm them,
(01:26):
even when they do them gross injustices, because they're that
committed to the identity politic game that they now play.
So imagine fighting fraud while writing the biggest giveaway in
the history of our country. The loudest voices. It's really funny,
(01:47):
you know, the loudest voices that scream about waste and
fraud and abuse and doge and all that stuff always
come from the right, always come from the same group,
that's right, being the biggest scam in American history. They
love to say that they're the party of fiscal responsibility
and the defenders of taxpayers, and the watch dogs are
(02:09):
fraud and waste. Meanwhile, they are pushing through very aggressively,
the so called Big Beautiful Bill, one of the most
shameless giveaways to billionaires and corporations that our country has
ever seen. Their masters at branding rams fiscal conservative, tough
on waste, protecting your hard earned money from big government.
(02:33):
But that marketing is such a flagrant lie, a trojan horse,
if you will, huts to everything that helps working people, schools, healthcare, medicaid,
social security, medicare. They say we can't afford it, but
what they really mean is you can't have it. They, however,
can have everything that they want, and they'll make sure
(02:55):
that their donors get what they want as well. No questions,
ask clear about what's actually in the bill. I can't
break down every page because that would take too long.
But in short, tax cuts for billionaires, loopholes for multinational corporations,
sweetheart deals for private equity and hedge funds, hidden expansions
of executive authority, even over international tax enforcement. And the
(03:17):
best part is they'll turn around and tell you that
this is for you, that this is for America or Americans,
and of course, as Ramses has taught us many times,
it'll trickle down, right. So be grateful that your boss
gets a bigger yacht or as we've said, another infinity pool,
because that way you'll get to keep your job and
(03:38):
he'll get to keep paying you, or she'll get to
keep paying you minimum wage. What they're pushing forward, Rams
it's not even policy anymore. They're not even pretending that
it's good policy or good law, good legislation or good government.
It's just like a flat out front facing con robbing
from public taxpayers to pay the rich. And who gets
(04:00):
to pay that bill?
Speaker 2 (04:02):
We do?
Speaker 3 (04:02):
Of course, your kids' public school teachers the resources that
they need. Local hospitals will be closing wings or closing
all together. Roads and bridges will not have the infrastructure
budgets that they need. Our aging parents and even our
newborn kids won't have the health care that they need. Medicare,
Medicaid that a lot of our elders depend on won't
(04:22):
exist anymore.
Speaker 2 (04:24):
Social Security will be.
Speaker 3 (04:25):
Under threat as they're trying to get rid of it
because the deficit is too big, even though they created it.
And then they want you to pay twice pay these
taxes and get nothing in return for it. They'll take
your tax money and gift it to themselves. You will
get nothing in return. The taxes you know that you've
been paying your whole life, and the taxes that those
undocumented immigrants pay that they don't benefit from at all. Wow,
(04:50):
So make sure you take that into account as well.
So they want to talk about small government and getting
Washington off your back and out of your business, but
they only want to talk about government when that small
government is set.
Speaker 2 (05:01):
Up to help us.
Speaker 3 (05:04):
That's when they want to get rid of small government,
or that's when they want to talk about small government.
They're fine with big government when it comes to policing
your body, deciding who you can marry, controlling what classrooms
you can go to and what books you can read,
surveilling the borders and our neighborhoods. Because they feel like it.
They can be big government then, but small government when
(05:25):
it comes to helping and giving back, or making the
rich pay their fair share, or investing in the middle
and lower class and not lower class but just poor,
investing in working families, neighborhoods and communities, trying to get
rid of what causes crime in the first place, trying
to get rid of poverty and hunger and homelessness. And
(05:46):
trust me, they can afford it. One of them could
afford it. Imagine that there are single individual people in
the world today, single individual people, not corporations. Are all
their business businesses collected. There are single individuals that have
enough money to end homelessness and hunger and not be
(06:08):
impacted by it at all. They would never even notice.
So here's the truth. You don't get to scream about
fraud and waste while handing trillions to billionaires. You don't
get to call yourself fiscal conservative while writing the biggest
corporate giveaway in history. You don't get to clutch the
flag and cry patriotism while gutting the future of working Americans.
(06:30):
If you really cared about taxpayers and the people that
vote for you, you would invest in them, except they
no longer.
Speaker 2 (06:35):
They no longer require you to care.
Speaker 3 (06:37):
If you really cared about the deficit, you'd ask billionaires
to pay what they owe. If you really loved your country,
you'd fight for everyone in it, not just those that
look at, pray, think, and love like you. So while
you rob the many to reward the few, you can't
call that freedom. That's just theft with a better marketing department.
Speaker 1 (07:02):
You know, sometimes when you talk about these things, like
your passion is just so it's inspiring, but the message,
like the contents of it is like so deflating. It's like, yeah,
I'm ready to fight with you, que and then you're
(07:22):
like like somehow it's like frame like, well they kind
of already won, so it's like, well, shoot, man, I
can't take the song by myself. But I'll tell you what, Man,
me and you and everybody else want to get in
the streets and let it be known. I'm down.
Speaker 3 (07:37):
I hope we can. Man, Like you said, they did
win already. Yes, the same states that are the poorest
and least educated voted the most for the people who
are pushing this legislation forward. That's the scariest part. And
there's nothing we can do to convince them that they
made a mistake.
Speaker 1 (07:53):
No, they're yeah, they're just in too far into the
deep end. But I mean time will tell right, Well,
let's switch gears here.
Speaker 4 (08:03):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (08:06):
I don't know if Timberland was one of your favorites
growing up, He definitely was one of my favorites. I
mean he could do no wrong. I like noted like
the album cuts in the and the one hit Wonders
that that Timberland got off. You know, I tried to
once upon a time, before I became a DJ, I
(08:27):
tried to be like a like a.
Speaker 2 (08:29):
Producer, a beat maker.
Speaker 1 (08:31):
So I like got all the NPCs and the Tritons
and you know, the Yamaha motifs, and I midy wired
everything up in my studio and I tried to make beats.
So Timberland was one of those people I looked up to,
and now that artificial intelligence is here, it's like, well, shoot,
(08:52):
what is the future of you know, this kind of
quintessentially human form of express es making music. You know,
we make music because it's natural to us. You know,
we hear rhythms from the inception of our life. We
hear the rhythm of our mother's heartbeat. This is why
music with the four over four counts sounds so natural
(09:13):
to us. So I'm going to paint this picture and
let you jump in cube. This comes from the source.
A recent incident involving renowned music producer Timblin and the
artificial intelligence music generation platform Suno has brought the burgeoning
legal complexities surrounding AI music tools into sharp focus. The
event has reignited discussions about copyright compensation and the ethical
(09:36):
use of creative works in the age of artificial intelligence.
The controversy arose when Timberlin shared a demo track created
with Suno. Critics quickly pointed out that the AI generated
beat bore a striking resemblance to a production by K
Fresh Music, even incorporating K Fresh's distinctive signature tag without attribution.
While Timberlin initially clarified that his intention was merely to
(09:58):
showcase SUNO's capabilities and not to profit from the demo,
he subsequently issued an apology to K Fresh and on
the video. Timberlin's legal representative noted that while the use
of K Fresh's music without permission contravenes SUNO's terms of service,
it did not necessarily constitute a violation of existing law.
Speaker 2 (10:15):
This highlights a critical gap.
Speaker 1 (10:16):
In current legislation, which struggles to keep pace with the
rapid advancements of AI, particularly in instances where AI models
may learn from content that has been removed or is
not explicitly licensed. And you know this coupled with I
think the fact that Timberland is working with an AI
artist really is upsetting a lot of people, and you know,
(10:39):
causing people to, I guess fumble through. I guess the
reality of the situation, which is AI is here, It's
been here for some time, it uses existing content, and
it is has the capacity to replace human creativity.
Speaker 2 (11:02):
What say you?
Speaker 3 (11:06):
You know a thing happened in our adult life. I
can't really pinpoint when it happened, but we stopped being
able to make people feel ashamed for anything, like the
hyper inclusive society that we live in. There's things that
(11:27):
you used to be ashamed of that people would shame
you for, and now we've found a way to make
room for everyone to be comfortable no matter what. So
you see like groups organizing online for disgusting things like pedophilia,
and they have like advocates now that want to frame
(11:49):
their sickness as something that we should make have grace for. Really,
and there's just all these things that used to be
just outright bad. But it's like nothing's outright bad anymore.
There's nuance to everything, so nothing is on its face bad.
There's a conversation to be had, and we can explain
(12:11):
why this is okay. I use that extreme example intentionally
because once upon a time, that particular form of sickness
would be viewed by the collective everyone as bad. Yeah,
you couldn't find a person to out loud advocate for
(12:32):
that or advocate for that. I'm sorry, but now that exists,
even if it's a small portion of the population. Once
upon a time you could be called a sellout and
you'd be offended by it, you'd be hurt by it.
You'd be ashamed of it. But at some point during
(12:56):
our adult lives, they gave too many people access to
the off ramp of capitalism, or the illusion that they
all had access to that off ramp, and the bag
or being wealthy or being rich or making money became
more important than everything.
Speaker 2 (13:16):
So now sellout, ain't that bad a word?
Speaker 3 (13:18):
You've even heard, you know, rappers say yeah, I'm a
sell out and then explain you all the nice things
they bought. A person who would compromise their personal values,
their culture, their people, their integrity for money or personal
advancement is a sellout. And ironically talking about Timbland, who
(13:42):
of course was goaded to me as a songwriter, as
a person who was a DJ for over a decade,
as a person who loves music like rams, and I
never did drugs or drank, so music was our high.
Music was our drug Timberland, if music was a drug,
Timberland was a dealer, and he was the man. He
(14:03):
was with him, he was he was the one. And
I remember the first time I started to kind of
be disappointed by one of my heroes was, you know,
about ten years ago, when I saw some decisions being
made that I won't talk about because they're not you know,
(14:24):
public knowledge. But the first time it struck me as man,
things are as bad as I thought I was on
June teenth, I think June teenth of last year. On
June teenth of either last year or the year before,
Timberland and Swiss Beats announced their deal with Elon Musk,
(14:44):
an exclusive deal with X I remember that they did
with Elon, and they, in the most toned deaf move ever,
announced it on June teenth. You guys know Elon Musk
of by the election fame of blatant racist, Nazi salute,
(15:05):
n word amplifier. You know that Elon Musk, two of
our quote unquote heroes, did a deal with him and
announce it on juneteenth. And their explanation, as was Nellie's
explanation when he went to perform you know Hot and
Here for Maga, was look at all the stuff that
I've done, look at all the money I've made, all
(15:25):
the success I've had, and all the money that I've
spent to help XYZ.
Speaker 2 (15:29):
Blah blah blah.
Speaker 3 (15:31):
So don't mind that I'm selling out, that I'm trying
to get more money by you know, letting down everyone
that should matter to me, it's for the bag, and
in most cases they won't admit it, they'll frame it
in some type of give back. I make all this money,
I can continue to do all this stuff for other
people like it's not about them, So Timberland, to all
(15:54):
of us creators and writers, producers, artists, it's extremely disappointing
because what happens when you give all your talent, even
if you weren't sacrificing the talents of these other up
and coming producers and songwriters and artists who have been
sending you their music and hopes that it could turn
into a dream come true for them, even if you
(16:15):
weren't sacrificing them. Offering your talents to this partnering with AI,
eliminating the role of the songwriter, of the musician, of
the up and coming producer, the bass player, the guitar player,
the person who their only vehicle out of poverty is
(16:37):
to use their art and your talent to tap into
this capitalist machine that we live inside of that we
just can't help but participate in. You're eliminating the path
for them. The industry and the machine you're helping create
won't need them. It'll dispose of them, it'll create music
and albums. And there are full AI bands now with
(16:58):
fan basists that are paying to hear the machine. There's
no actual artists, no actual writer, no actual producer. You
are contributing to this, sir, and you are someone that
we consider one of the architects, one of the best.
One of the goats you're supposed to stand up for
is defend us, stand in the way of things like this,
and instead, because it's advantageous for you.
Speaker 2 (17:23):
You're helping build it. Yeah, this one was a little
heartbreaking for me too.
Speaker 1 (17:29):
I you know, for people that want to move in
this direction with their careers, or you know, people that
just have the music in their hearts.
Speaker 2 (17:38):
You know, where do they go If you're born.
Speaker 1 (17:40):
And you're a little girl or a little boy and
you want to sing and make music and bang on
the drums, and then you get a little older and
you find out a computer does it better than you,
or that's that's the cheaper process or whatever, and there's
no way for you to sustain yourself with that. You know,
it's got to be a heartbreaking future for a lot
of people.
Speaker 4 (17:58):
So yeah, Mark Morial here, President and CEO of the
National Urban League, and on Thursday, July seventeenth, I'll be
live in Cleveland at a national conference with Tony Coles,
president of the Black Information Network.
Speaker 5 (18:12):
It's called Black America Speaks, and it's exactly what it
sounds like. We'll tackle pressing issues economic and equality, health disparities,
voter suppression, and this mailing of our democratic institutions. You
must be a part of this conversation. Join us in Cleveland.
To register, go to NUF conference dot org.
Speaker 2 (18:31):
Hey, what's up.
Speaker 3 (18:32):
This is ramses Ja and I am q Ward, and
we're inviting you to subscribe to Civic Cipher, our weekly
social justice podcast right here in the app.
Speaker 6 (18:40):
We pride ourselves on creating a show that fusters allyship,
empathy and understanding, all the while conducting journalistically credible research,
featuring influential, noteworthy guests, and empowering historically marginalized communities.
Speaker 3 (18:51):
The African proverb reads, if you want to go far,
go together. So we are asking you to search for
and subscribe to Civic Cipher.
Speaker 1 (18:58):
That's civ c Er right here in the app. Well,
I guess keeping in line with that, I guess this
is you know, we got to talk about entertainment so
I guess this is.
Speaker 2 (19:17):
This is another.
Speaker 1 (19:18):
Heartbreaker here Drake's lawsuit against UMG proceeds. Let's just start
off with the story. So this from the source. Drake's
legal team was in Manhattan Federal Court on Monday afternoon,
June thirtieth, pushing but the defamation lawsuit against Universal Music
Group or UMG, to proceed. The hearing saw arguments presented
to a judge regarding the continuation of the high profile case.
(19:40):
Following the proceedings, a representative for Drake released a sharp
statement indicating that the artist's determination was to pursue the
legal action. The spokesperson asserted that UMG is quote desperate
to see this case not move forward because the company
can't hide it's misconduct in a courtroom the way it
does in the boardroom unquote. The statement further suggested that
UMG's leadership will soon face scrutiny not only from concerned
(20:02):
regulators and investors, but also from the legal system regarding
the damage it is caused to every artist that has
been silenced, exploited, and dangered or discarded. This development comes
amidst ongoing scrutiny of major record labels and the relationships
with artists. The music industry has recently seen an increase
in discussions around artists rights, transparency and contracts, and the
(20:22):
overall power dynamics within large music corporations. All specific details
of the alleged misconduct were not elaborated upon the statement.
The language used by Drake's team implies serious accusations of
unfair practices or suppression of artists. The outcome of its
hearing will determine whether Drake's defamation case against umz unng
Sorry proceeds to discovery and potential trial. This move could
(20:43):
open up U and G's internal dealings to public and
legal examination. The music world will be watching closely as
this legal battle on folds, potentially setting precedents for future
artists label relations. This afternoon's appearance underscores Drake's commitment seeing
the case through the courts. All right, let me start
before I pass to you. So I know that this
(21:12):
is the result of Drake losing a battle with Kendrick,
and that battle is going to be perhaps the most
historic battle in hip hop history for the next fifty years.
You know, hip hop's fifty years old now, so it's
(21:36):
hard to imagine another battle reaching this level, not because
of how much Kendrick won, but also that coupled with
how much Drake lost, like he did this to himself.
So for folks that don't know, maybe outsiders who aren't
like really super into hip hop culture.
Speaker 2 (22:05):
Drake was.
Speaker 1 (22:07):
And I think, you know, maybe in the future people
will I don't know where people are going to put him,
so let me not speak on that. But Drake was
definitely one of the great heroes of hip hop.
Speaker 2 (22:16):
He was.
Speaker 1 (22:18):
A great ambassador of hip hop. Like Eminem was a
great ambassador of hip hop.
Speaker 2 (22:23):
Right.
Speaker 1 (22:25):
Eminem took hip hop to you know, Middle America, right,
and then the flyover States, the Midwest, all that sort
of stuff, right. Drake was that person. But he was
taking hip hop and making it even more pop. Now,
there were people that came for Drake. Of course, there
were the Nellies, there were the you know, there's a lot
of people that came for Drake that did that. But
(22:46):
Drake did it at such a high level that we
were so proud of Drake. And I'll say, you know,
the one misstep that kind of made Drake lose a
lot of cool points with me and with a lot
of folks was win in this battle, he mentioned to
Kendrick that he was rapping like he was trying to
set the slaves free. And that was such a tone
(23:06):
deaf bar for a half black Canadian man to say
to Kendrick, who really does write these modern Negro spirituals?
You know, Kendrick is he's Kendrick is real. Kendrick is
(23:26):
not popping the way that Drake is popped. You know,
Drake does what he does, but Kendrick, Kendrick makes timeless music.
You know, we would sing those songs for another fifty years, right,
Drake makes songs for the radio. And they both had
their lanes. But when when Drake said that he like
shot himself in the foot, and that critical mistake coupled
(23:49):
with Kendrick's excellence, meant that there was no chance Drake
was going to win that right, But then he like
made his loss worse by doing the corneoust thing. And
I don't want to jump over you, Q, because I
think I got this from you seeing it through your optics,
because you were the first person to tell me about this.
(24:10):
But the corneous thing that Drake could have done was
sue you know, if you lose a battle.
Speaker 2 (24:16):
He got me.
Speaker 1 (24:17):
You know, maybe he got a couple of points. You
know whatever, I'm gonna make the music that I make,
you know, water under the bridge. Let's keep it moving, right.
But for him to sue was like super duper corny.
And again, for those who are not a part of
the hip hop culture, being corny and being whack is
like the worst thing you can do. So again, you
have Kendrick winning so good and Drake losing so bad,
(24:41):
and for this case to still be moving forward, even
though Drake knows that perhaps the entirety of hip hop culture,
like the s the collective gravity of the cultural zeitgeist
of hip hop has pushed back on this like, Yeo,
you are bogus and super out of line for trying
(25:02):
to suit. That makes you look really like a sore
loser fan and that's not a good look for you.
It Like, I just I'm so disappointed in Drake because
he had so much to salvage. The career he could
have salvaged would be better like than still the vast
majority of artists that you know about and many artists
(25:22):
put together, and he just is like ruining his legacy.
Speaker 2 (25:26):
All Right, I've said enough, Q.
Speaker 3 (25:28):
Your thoughts super talented's super successful, but hero is the
wrong word. Okay, it's never actually had a position on
anything that mattered.
Speaker 2 (25:37):
To the Yeah, that's fair, that's fair. You've never spoken
up for us in any way.
Speaker 3 (25:41):
So hyper capitalists, hyper successful, hyper talented, but hero just
doesn't fit.
Speaker 2 (25:46):
Yeah, I see what you're saying.
Speaker 3 (25:46):
Yeah, And this lawsuit isn't just about being corny and
losing the battle, because it's not just about rap right,
like art, what we do, what we fell in love
with Public Enemy NWA that it was always about pushing
boundaries and pushing the lines, and of course it offends.
It's just like when we protest, it's supposed to make
people uncomfortable. That's kind of been in the space where
our voice could be the most loud for you know,
(26:09):
dis records to political cartoons, to stand up comedians, to
our protests, to protest music, to creative work writing, the
news journalism, all of these systems were always supposed to
speak truth to power, even if it hurt people's feelings.
And what Drake is doing now and I've compared him
to Donald Trump and the parallels just continue to grow.
He's reinforcing the idea that if you hurt his feelings
(26:33):
grounds for legal action. Yeah, when he dissed and destroyed
Meek Meal, he performed back to back on stages all
over the country. That club the clubs that song had
the clubs turned all over the world. He stomped on
Meek Meal. After he won that battle, nobody sued him. Right,
So when it's him, he pretends like he's doing this
(26:55):
for the little guy. I'm taking on the system for
all artists. Drake is doing this for Drake, Yeah, and
will damage a system that we love if he's had
success here, think about the president rams and not going
to hurry up because the time is short. But UMG,
you know preemptively had death Jam essentially dropped the clips
(27:16):
because of the verse that Kendrick did. That might hurt
Drake's feelings. Like, think about the impact of that. Too
risky to publish because we might end up in a lawsuit.
This is the president that he's setting man. So hip
hop and poetry, street art and satire all have the
history of speaking uncomfortable truths. When Nwa said f the police,
(27:39):
that was controversial. I'm sure some people were upset, but
they didn't get sued for that. Artists will start avoiding
controversial topics. Beefs won't happen, battles won't happen, like the
culture and arts will be shaken to the core. Man.
If Drake wins this, it changes, it changes everything. You know,
beef is supposed to be row, especially in hip hop.
(28:01):
The battles, that's kind of the whole point of it.
And now major labels and corporations and companies will kind
of stray away from doing anything with hip hop artists
because they might say something, they might offend someone, We
might get sued. What if this spreads beyond music realms.
What if you can no longer make a movie that
might make somebody upset again? The ties to our president
(28:22):
silencing people who speak up against him, speak up against
things that he is in support of. You speak against
the conflict in Gaza, your show might get taken away
from you, you know what I mean? Or your platform
might get taken away from you. You might be the
biggest person on the social media stage speak out about
something that they don't want you to talk about, and
(28:44):
now you don't exist in the social media space anymore.
Speaker 2 (28:46):
Yeah, we saw that.
Speaker 3 (28:48):
Yeah, so losing our right to make people uncomfortable. We're
supposed to challenge people, We're supposed to challenge power, and
this lawsuit is so far beyond justice.
Speaker 1 (29:00):
Drake really could set us all up for failure. Well,
I'm rooting for UMG. I never thought i'd say that,
you know, disco. Yeah, yeah, here we are. So anyway,
we're going to leave it right there. Uh and that's
going to do it for us on the QR code.
So today's show is produced by Chris Thompson. If you
(29:21):
have some thoughts you'd like to share, please use the
red microphone talk back feature on the iHeartRadio app. While
you're there, be sure to hit subscribe and download all
of our episodes. Be sure to follow us on all
social media. You can find us at Civic cipher C
I V I C C I P H e R.
You can also find me on all social media. I
am your host at rams' ja on all platforms.
Speaker 3 (29:42):
I am q ward on all social media as well,
and h also be sure to find us on YouTube.
We're trying to grow our YouTube channel and your support
will mean a lot over there, So tap in with
us and join us next time as we share our
news with our voice from our perspective right here on
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Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
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If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.