Kevin Liles & Lt. Gov Antonio Delgado Discuss Climate of Election, Young Thug’s Trial & The Future of America
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:08):
It's disturbing. I'm just I'm deeply disturbed. I'm also grieving
because I just lost my friend, and so it's like,
I just I'm looking at the world, like what is happening?
And then the garden, which just happened at the garden?
Can we just get into a guys, By the way,
I have my friend Kevin Lows here governor, and today.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
Before we even started the interview, I'm venting. I'm venting
about life and grief.
Speaker 1 (00:37):
And and then also this, how disturbed I am at
this that we're even this close in an election that.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
Seems obvious to me.
Speaker 1 (00:49):
And so there's a lot of things about this whole
time in this country that is really affecting me. I'm
I'm frustrated, I'm worried. I'm a little traumatized by some
of what just happened at my square garden the other
day is like repulsive.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
And so how are you? How are you?
Speaker 1 (01:05):
Guys? Feeling sorry?
Speaker 2 (01:07):
That's not normally how I welcome my guests.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
But it's good to see you too.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
By the way, Hi, sorry to see you.
Speaker 3 (01:13):
Yeah, I hear you. But I also feel focused, I
feel energized.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
You do, Okay, this is positive.
Speaker 3 (01:22):
Positive, you you know, because as bad as in your
right to feel what you feel in this moment, but
lean on the fact of history and where we've been
and what we've become. We've seen worse UH, and we've
been able to hold true to our values, our principles UH.
And we've been out front waving the flag for UH
(01:44):
democracy for a long time, particularly communities on the margins,
you know, pushing forward all the time. This is our legacy.
And so for me, it's about owning that power. And
you know, yes, I get it, the speculation with the
what ifs, but right now, all we can control is
what we control, and we do have an opportunity over
the coming days to make the decision that's going to
(02:06):
dictate our future, our children's future, grandchildren's future. And I
think that's something that we should all hold true and
be focused about and stay positive. I know it's not easy,
but you mentioned the Madison Square Garden. What happened there.
I mean, if you need an example of the two
different kinds of visions we're talking about, one routed and
hate and divisiveness and fear mongering, escapegoating, and that's not leadership.
(02:32):
And there's nothing about that that is about unity and
togetherness and a forward thinking vision. And we have that
in Harris. We have an opportunity to make history and
to do it in a way to project us out
into a future that is reflective of our share of
values and our commitment as individuals who care about living
in democracy.
Speaker 1 (02:52):
What is your experience, because the last time I saw you,
you were campaigning, Yes, you were making the transition into
into the space, and it was very early and Spinner seventeen,
twenty seventeen, So I would imagine you've seen a few
things in the past few years.
Speaker 3 (03:10):
I have, and I want to say this too on
that point. When I first ran for Congress up in
the Hudson Valley, the Catskills area, the district had been
won by Trump by two thousand and succeed and by
seven points ninety percent white district, the eighth most rural
congressional seat in the country. I had a hip hop,
you know, cover with a hoodie on. They spent millions
(03:31):
of dollars trying to make me seem like I, you know,
wasn't reflective of the community or threat to the community.
A lot of folks wrote me off, but there was
a singular message that resonated with a lot of folks. Republicans,
independentis Democrats, and we're seeing that today too with Harris,
with the Liz Cheney's of the world. Why are all
these folks coming together now? Because this is a moral question,
(03:51):
right versus wrong, not left, just first right right versus wrong? Integrity, character, decency, love, compassion, thoughtfulness.
Do these things matter anymore? Do they not?
Speaker 1 (04:00):
Well, that's what I'm having such a hard time wrapping
my brain around. It's like, I understand differences in politics, right,
I understand. You think we can get here this way,
you think we can get I understand differences, But it's
the morality of it. And to think that half of
the country doesn't care about that is really disturbing to me,
Like on a deep level.
Speaker 4 (04:20):
You know, it's funny, and I just think Trump has
a reality show going on and we all participating in it,
and we want to see the celebrity and everything, and
we want to actually hear the rhetoric. And it's not
it's hurtful as it is. He can say something yesterday
and then say something else today, and then then people
(04:43):
still consider him a presidential candidate, and so the pain
that you're feeling and is also noise. It's noise to
say don't focus. It's noise to say sit it out.
It's noise to say don't make it personal, because you know,
policy wise, think about what her said. For the first
time ever in the history of a president, she has
(05:03):
an agenda for a black man. I've never We've been
struggling out here and now she said, we're gonna give
you twenty thousand dollars. We'll forgive you fifty thousand dollars long.
We never had that, and we had a black president before.
So the power of a black woman to sit up
and say, hey, you know what, I want to have
an agenda. And as a serial entrepreneur, I've been able
to make a couple of hundred multi millionaire of women
(05:26):
and men, and she's for entrepreneurship. And so to me,
the p I'm pushing with policy is great, but I
would take it even personal. Like you, my son saw
his first black superhero was Barack Obama. I know what
it did to him. I know what it did to
my grandmother that said to me at ninety four years old,
God wrestler, so can you believe a black man is
(05:48):
in the White House. And you know my daughters kay
Gg and VB. I know what's going to do to
them when we elect the first female African American president.
So all this noise, we all out on campaign in Philly, Atlanta, everywhere,
we can't not be focused. It would be down to
the last very vote, the ten friends, the twenty, the state,
(06:10):
the city. It's going to be down to that. And
so I don't want to lose focus with all the
things that are going on. I will make sure we
get out and vote and make sure we elect come Alas.
Speaker 1 (06:18):
Yeah, I feel you on that too, and how it
affects our kids. A lot of the argument that I
get into, like I was telling you, I was in Philly,
I did a panel in Philly, I did a panel
in Atlanta. And the thing that comes up in just
in conversations is like money. You know, he's better for
the economy, which I think number one is false. But
if you believe that, let's say you do believe that,
let's just say crazy enough it's happened to be true. Okay,
(06:42):
but what about what about my rights as a woman,
and your mother's rights and your sister's rights, what about
my two black sons that have to go out in
the street and have to deal with stop and frisk
the second that this guy's back in office. Do you
care about anybody else except the economy? It's a very
disturbing time, does that not? I know, you guys seem
way more positive than me. I felt like so I
just threw all my negativity and fear at you as
(07:03):
soon as you walked in here. But I think this
is a real feeling that people fear, like a concern
about where our country is and what matters to people.
Speaker 3 (07:11):
I can't on the economic point, I can't just let
that not be addressed. He he inherited an economy from
Obama that was trending upward, and he decides to then
(07:31):
do a massive tax break for a few at the
expense of the great many, adding to our deficit along
the way.
Speaker 4 (07:40):
So why do.
Speaker 1 (07:41):
People misunderstand that what is the because of because of
the misinformation, because of the echo chambers, because of the
social media dynamics.
Speaker 3 (07:48):
We don't have objective reference points anymore that can hold
true to our collective sensibilities. And so it ends up
happening is we go down rabbit holes and you get
demagogues who feed on people's misinformation. And that also speaks
to the larger question you're talking about in terms of morality.
Why aren't people why aren't people being driven by this
(08:09):
sense of moral obligation? Where's the moral authority for what's happening.
It's wrong to strip away a fundamental right that's been
on the books for fifty years with Roe v. Wade.
That's wrong. It's wrong to say we're just gonna mass
deport individuals willy nilly because we just feel like it,
because we want to take our country back. What does
that even mean? Right? It's wrong to say we're gonna
(08:33):
deal with these urban centers that we view are plagued
by crime and violence by just sending in the National Guard,
as if we don't have a constitution.
Speaker 1 (08:43):
Right.
Speaker 3 (08:43):
That's just blatantly wrong and unconstitutional. Right. But what happens
is when you lose objective reference points, when you have
narratives and conspiracy theories now that used to be sort
of off yonder, no one knew what they were. They
were getting traction. Now they're being spread like wildfire on
these platforms. People can get disoriented, and that's where leadership
(09:03):
matters too. To help bring clarity to the situation and
to speak with clarity to help folks understand what's right
versus what's wrong, what's a fact versus what's not a fact?
Speaker 1 (09:12):
How do we make a difference right now? Because every
poll says it's super close. We all know about the
swing states. What is the most important thing we do
right now, in this moment, on this day to shift
things or to make sure that it leans in the way.
Speaker 3 (09:30):
Well, I can tell you that it's engaged, and don't
look at it just from the standpoint of your vote,
your vote, yes, vote, vote, vote vote, But then ask
yourself in your community and your household, your peer group,
have you voted and make sure everybody in your immediate
circle it has voted. Then go beyond that and say,
have I been plugged in in any way, shape or
(09:52):
form to a campaign not just the campaign for Harris,
but here in New York we have congressional race that
are up for grabs that if we are successful, and
we could put Hakeem Jeffries yes as the Speaker of
the House as historic in and of itself, and New
York has the ability to do that.
Speaker 2 (10:12):
Tell me if this is true?
Speaker 1 (10:13):
Is it true Hakeem Jeffries could literally save this country.
If I saw this somewhere, You tell me if it's
true or not that if Trump wins the election or
loses the election, the House could decide they could call
it not a valid election, right, they could not.
Speaker 3 (10:32):
Are mechanisms, and there are ways in which if they
want to push the limit, it would take a great
deal of organization.
Speaker 1 (10:39):
And these are people he's put in place.
Speaker 3 (10:41):
No, Speaker Johnson, Yes, Speaker Johnson, yes. And it's also
if you go back to what and listen. I don't
want to feed into things that haven't been stated, but
if you just look at what he has said. When
when Trump says in that the rally, the little secret
that me and speakers has, I can't say for certain
(11:02):
right what he means by that, but there are a
lot of folks out there who worry that he's What
he's referencing to is some version of what he was
hoping to accomplish with Pence, some version of what he
was hoping to accomplish when he called up Georgia's Secretary
of State and said, I need you to find me
this amount of votes, just this amount, please, right, some
version of that keep in mind that he has spent
(11:23):
the last four years putting in places all across the
country in state governments and state legislatures, and including in
the House of Representatives, individuals who are essence foot soldiers. Right,
this is a different dynamic than when it was when
he actually got in an office the first time, where
he didn't really like to know where he was who
put around him. So it is a different dynamic. And
(11:44):
so making sure that we do everything we can through
the power of the ballot box to put people in
positions of power that can act as that backstop to
make sure that we are holding off whatever could come
is vitally important. And I know, oh it's worrisome, and I.
Speaker 1 (12:01):
Know that how Kame Jeffries publicly said that he he
would uphold the vote no matter which way it's ways.
Speaker 2 (12:07):
Which is what you hope from me.
Speaker 3 (12:08):
That's how democracy.
Speaker 1 (12:09):
That's what you hope from somebody sitting in that seat to.
Speaker 4 (12:11):
Say, what's that risk if we get caught up in
the reality show. It's not just the presidential election, it's
the judges, it's the congressman, it's the Senate, all these things.
I think when I used to go I used to
care about the presidency, and as I got older, I
started to care about every single day, especially you know
(12:33):
what I'm going through with you know, criminalization of the
lyrics and things like this, and so what can you do?
It's what I've been doing for the last you know month.
I'm sitting across the table talking to my Republican friends
who will sit and say, well, you know, it's good
for business, but as a man raising daughters, I can't
vote for Trump because Republicans stands to me now, and
(12:57):
my Democratic friends who are thinking, well, man, you know
don't matter. Well, you know I'm gonna sit on the fence.
We ain't got time for the fence, the bench and
none of that. Right now, everybody get other. It should
be a family thing, it should be a community thing,
and you should everybody you bump into now for the
next seven days, talk about the boat.
Speaker 3 (13:14):
Talk about who you before a door knock.
Speaker 4 (13:16):
You can do it. My mom said, don't think you
the only one out there. I'm knocking on doors. I'm
going out. You're trying to get the senator there, the
first back of American Senate from Maryland. So we're putting
in the work. I just think that engaging and igniting
a fire in us that we will not tolerate buffoonery.
We will not tolerate racism or oppression or going back.
(13:36):
Because what people don't realize twenty twenty five was in
the works for a very long time. They're thinking what
Trump has done is orchestrated, even out of office. Let
me put my chest pieces around so if I do
make it, I can do what I want to do.
And he already showed us what he wants to do
due to the pandemic. He already showed us every single day,
(13:57):
Like I hit Joe last night, I was like, Yo,
how we quiet about this? The Latino community?
Speaker 3 (14:04):
How you?
Speaker 4 (14:05):
How you? How you quiet about this? This happened here?
This is that, and we play with the guard. We said,
we have fun, but this happened on that very stage,
and how we gonna get quiet about it? And so
now we have to charge up. All people are coloring
to get out there and do we're supposed to do.
And that's elected next African American female president.
Speaker 3 (14:24):
keV.
Speaker 4 (14:27):
I'm working.
Speaker 3 (14:31):
It has to be worked, you know. And as we
approach that that election day, we can see it. It's
got a feed off of that yeah, we.
Speaker 1 (14:38):
Should talk about this thing that I know you can't.
You can't say much about it. But I think if
we talk about Thug, we might get some people to
watch this interview that set through the first ten minutes
of us explaining to them why it's important to vote,
so that we can talk about how Thug is doing.
Speaker 4 (14:56):
Let me just strategy.
Speaker 2 (14:58):
That's how I.
Speaker 4 (15:00):
Just let me just say this. And you know that
he's like a son to me. For the last two years,
his family has been without his daughters have been without sons,
has been without a father, his mom has been without
a son. His community has been without a leader. Uh.
And it's all around the criminalization of you know, the lyrics.
(15:21):
And I tell people I come from from Baltimore. I
can't sit and say I've never seen of drugs. I
can't sit and say I've never seen murder. I can't.
I have been there, you know, but I made a choice.
And I think Doug made a choice in his life
to be a leader. And right now we're hurting. There's more,
more crime, more rape, more, it's more poverty in that
(15:45):
area because the leader is not there. And so what
they do is they take out the leader they change
the community back to what it was. And I just
hope that through this court system, and it's this trial
that we're going through, that it gets to the results
that we get a home for him be a leader,
because he's not just an artist, you know, he's a
human being that's raising a great family and changing cleaving that.
Speaker 2 (16:08):
How's the spirits?
Speaker 4 (16:11):
I can I'll tell you what he said, keV. I'm
built for leaders. Got to take this kind of stuff on,
but I always personalize it. How would you feel if
you couldn't bury you one of your best friends? How
would you feel if four walls defined you? How would
you feel if you couldn't say happy birthday, hug your mother?
Speaker 3 (16:32):
How would you? So?
Speaker 4 (16:34):
I can't I can tell you what he said to me.
But I know in my heart he wants to touch
his family. I know in my heart he wants to
touch his community. I know in my heart he wants
to make a difference. So I pray for him and
his family every single day. And I hope that you
know your listeners and you guys to hear my voice.
You know, know that he's such an inspiration to our
(16:55):
culture and I want him home.
Speaker 1 (16:58):
Yeah, what do you think is he he gets on
the other side of this, what do you see for him?
Speaker 4 (17:04):
One of the greatest profits to come out of our culture.
I think he's going to say different things, do different things,
be different because he's gonna go to a place that
some of the greats have been through because they tried
(17:25):
to take everything from him. And once you get to
that other side, you get to the other side, you
on a mission. You live a purpose driven life because
that box, it changes people them things that at this
And I just think that if we continue to allow
a system to oppress us in whatever way, and you know,
I'm a fair person. If you're gonna if you're gonna
(17:47):
let him say I shot the serf and didn't shoot
the deputy, then we should be able to say the
same thing. But you're not gonna prosecute him. But you're
gonna put me in jail. As long as I'm fair,
it's cool. But I do want us to wake up
as a culture and to realize we're fifty years old. Now,
just pull our pants up a little bit. Let's get
more educated, let's build more businesses, and let's realize what
we say other people are listening to and other people
(18:10):
emulate and other people think that they can do what
you do. So I think we need to continue to
grow and become products of our experiences, products of our age,
and products of great communities that I see we rebuilding
right now, and the possibilities are endless. I'm sitting here
with Lieutenant Governor who used to be a rapper. I'm
not saying he was a famous rapper. I'm not saying
(18:31):
he question. He's nice.
Speaker 3 (18:33):
He was nice.
Speaker 2 (18:36):
Like if I asked you the freestyle, now, could you?
I could?
Speaker 3 (18:41):
I could, but I but I do want to speak
to the point Kevin's making about the culture, and I
want to underscore how because when I did hip hop,
when I when I decided, I was always of the culture.
But then when I decided after law school, I want
to try to make something of this professionally. The vision
(19:04):
I had coming out of law school was to figure
out how to leverage the culture for transformative change political change,
coming out of an acute awareness of the power of
the civil rights movement, understanding though that the hip hop
that hip hop culture in many respects grew out of
(19:24):
sort of what that movement was unable to continue to
sustain right and coming out of that, how do we
pick up the baton as a culture and politically invest
in ourselves in our communities. And we've spent now fifty
years building the capital, building the wealth, building the influence
to be able to have that type of impact, not
(19:47):
just to entertain the world or to even finance folks,
but to politically pushing the gender forward that could truly
account for our struggles, truly account for our commmunities in
a way that has not happened. And I think that,
to me has been long my belief in the culture.
(20:08):
That's that kernel, that is at its essence of what's possible.
Speaker 1 (20:12):
We can only do that if we organize, yes.
Speaker 3 (20:14):
And if we have individuals too who step up and
step out right and say, let me show you the
power of us.
Speaker 4 (20:22):
You know, I remember when Barack was going and you know,
I met the Senator and talk about going for president,
and I put the beam up. I got the super
friends together, I said, yo, I don't know how we're
gonna do this, but we're going out every weekend. And
it was seven or eight of us that went out
every single weekend. I'm putting that beacon a light up
(20:44):
again for us to lead your community, lead your friends,
lead your family to the polls in a way that
it had that five that he's talking about. I know
I have a greater purpose because I made it out
out of Baltimore. I've been able to be here for
forty years in hip hop. I know I have a
greater purpose. And so to me, if that greater purpose
(21:06):
is there, and now I have friends that are lieutenant
governors and mayors and presidents and Madam vice presidents, Oh
that moment, that that little thing he talked about, It's
gonna happen in such a big way because we all
like minded, we all come from the same thing, and
our power and a policy and our politics will be one.
Oh that day is coming, I believe it.
Speaker 3 (21:27):
And to your point about the organization piece, which is
so important and insightful, I do think there's another level
and that we have to take it to from an
organizational standpoint, from a standpoint of what is the platform,
what is the agenda, and not just wait for the
political actors right to say here's what the agenda is,
but to collectively come together as a culture and say, well,
(21:52):
here are some here's ten things that we want to
push for as an and you know, come to the
table with that and leverage the power and the wealth
that the culture has a mass now and lean in
on it. And I look at myself. I'm just going
to say this now as being in this position now
having figured out how to be on the other side
(22:12):
of this machinery as a partner in that right, as
a real authentic partner who is trying to figure out
how we do that in a way that truly is impactful.
That moment, to be honest, has not been met yet,
but that moment can be met. It can be and
(22:33):
I think this moment, before we even get this moment
that we're in right now with this election, in some
respects is the beginning of that. This is a struggle
that's happening right now. The country is wrestling with demographics.
It's wrestling with a narrative that was set in motions
since day one, in terms of who we're going to
(22:54):
be and what we're going to stand on and our
values and how much we're going to share power and
grow and be multi f multicultural, multi racial. This is
the struggle that we're having right now. And you couldn't
have two more different symbolic figures for this country to
have to look at and reflect and say, who are
we where are we going? It's a powerful, powerful moment
(23:19):
right now for this country. And as much as we
can struggle with well, how can it not so close?
Why is it so close? This is a big, big
moment in terms of what it reflects about where we've
been and where we want to go. And so I
encourage everybody out there, don't be afraid of change, don't
be afraid of what's possible. Don't be afraid of who
(23:40):
we are becoming. It's powerful, and it's full of love.
It's full of love. It doesn't come in place of
hate or anger or hostility. It comes from a place
of togetherness and shared humanity and justice. It's there. You
just got to believe in it, you.
Speaker 4 (23:55):
Know, so crazy. I think about what Martin was able
to do with less.
Speaker 1 (24:06):
He didn't have no social media, No, he had the
infinite power of love, that's what he.
Speaker 4 (24:13):
Think about what he was able to accomplish, and the
civil rights that we have, and think about the people
that said I'm willing to die for to have a
right to vote created as a human being, and think
about what we did when Trump ran, we sat on
our ass we did not vote. The reason Trump got
(24:35):
elected is because we did not vote.
Speaker 3 (24:38):
Period.
Speaker 4 (24:38):
There's nothing, no nothing. And so now with the power,
with the wealth, with the knowledge, with our political friends
who grew up like us and look like us and
talk like us, what's possible. I hope I say it
in my lifetime. But what's possible will change what being
American really means. You know, being black in America is
(25:01):
already starting to change. But I'm telling you, if we
get harness that power we organized, there could be some
other great profits that come along. I don't know who
they are, but they're coming.
Speaker 1 (25:10):
And people are not more excited at the potential of
having a black woman as a president for the first
time in our history.
Speaker 4 (25:18):
I think they are.
Speaker 2 (25:19):
Nobody's talking about that though.
Speaker 1 (25:20):
There's such a fight going on that if we just
stepped back for a second. I feel like when Obama
got elected, there was a lot of like, wow, we
could have a black president. This is crazy, and people
were fired up by that. But the idea of our
first woman president not even a black woman. Yeah she's
a black woman, but the first woman president is a
(25:41):
huge deal, and I feel like people are not talking
about that, and I feel like they're using it almost
as a divide for people who have still maybe unresolved
issues with a woman in power, which I was so sad.
I'm seeing that in conversations that I'm having, that there
are really people who have a problem with that in
twenty twenty five, which is insane to me.
Speaker 2 (26:03):
But I think that I don't know.
Speaker 4 (26:06):
I just wonder what insane. So let me let me
give you what I said to myself. Hillary ran white
woman lover, no more qualified person. I mean, she'd have
said every seat she had, every talk you can have,
pillow talk and state talks she had had, every talk
you could talk, they said, no, we're not ready for you.
(26:29):
So now I believe it exists. But here's the difference.
Hillary was so democratic that the it was a far
Republican that it was two sides heavily what Kamala has
been able to do. But but Cheney coming all the
Republican governors and people coming out saying, you know what,
(26:51):
you're the better choice. You're gonna have the better conversation,
And so the excitement is not there because you hear
the noise. If you take away the noise and you
go home and put tenty of your girlfriends together and say,
how would y'all feel about us to have a black
woman president. Y'all would be, hey, let's go, let's go,
But you gotta take away the noise. If not, they
wanted to talk about all the other stuff this's going on.
Speaker 3 (27:13):
And I would agree that noise. And when Obama ran
and await, you know, social media wasn't what it is today.
He often talks about how he wouldn't have been able
to go to a place like Iowa and be as
effective because before he got there there would have been
a story about who he was and what his background
was and his narrative. He was able to still show
up and connect in a real way. That's one challenge.
(27:34):
The other challenge is what Harris is doing. Kamlo's doing
is unprecedented. She has stood up a presidential campaign in
a matter of months, which takes years to cultivate, to build,
to establish. So the way this is unfolded in historic
and unprecedented fashion, with Biden literally stepping aside right in
(27:58):
and of itself, it's such a historic moment and we
don't give enough credit. And I think it's hard for
the public to fully appreciate how challenging and the magnitude
of this endeavor it is for any individual, let alone
the first woman of color, to try to take on
this task while being scrutinized every single which way. Right,
that's also a part of the problem. And then of
(28:19):
course there's Trump who's sucking up all the oxygen in
the room with his buffoonery and clownless behavior, right, and
his demagogay. And so when you factor all these things in,
I think it does dampen some of the excitement, but
not in a way that makes it non existent. I
think people are still pushing through, still working through, and
the numbers speak for themselves. But those elements of this dynamic,
(28:42):
you can't deny them, right, And what Harris is doing
and the strength that she has displayed, Trump doesn't even
want to get in the stage with her. Again, we
ran away from that debate because he stood next to
it and he realized, no, I don't know, I'm good.
You barely could shake her hand when they got on
(29:02):
the stage. These are things you notice.
Speaker 1 (29:05):
Somebody said. I heard them say, she laughs too much. No,
this is a this is a real thing. Nobody has
ever said that about we don't.
Speaker 4 (29:13):
We don't know her, we don't know her poll.
Speaker 3 (29:16):
He never smiles his happiness.
Speaker 1 (29:19):
What I'm just saying, Oh, that's what you got, that's
what you pulled out.
Speaker 2 (29:24):
That is the thing. We have to really look at.
What is what's really the thing?
Speaker 1 (29:28):
Then? If that's your thing, if the thing is she
laughs too much, what's really the thing? Because that can't
be the thing. That's not possible. Yeah, anyway, So how
do you guys? I mean, what is the call to action?
What is your what is your call to people? What
do you want people? How do you want people to
show up? What do you want us to do out here?
Speaker 4 (29:47):
So here's we have seven days left. If you have
an a state or place to early voting, get out
and get it done. I'm actually going to vote today.
Number two, don't make this a you thing. Make us
think and actually have real com I don't care if
we're on the golf course and or at a show.
(30:09):
I'm talking this election. I'm talking who's the local person
the da that we need to get here? Who's I'm
doing when I go into a city, I'm going through
that city on every back. I think we should do that.
And the third thing I want us to personalize it,
like really, like I think about my mom. I think
about when they passed the laws for the drugs and
(30:33):
the price down on certain certain drugs. I think about
how she's surviving with that. I think about my kids.
Every my vote matters in every point of my life.
And so the P I'm pushing this personal p you
know what I mean. I'm pushing personal because everything affects me,
no matter what bracket MD. Because one of us might
(30:54):
have a little bit, but there's a lot of us
that have nothing. And so to me, every day I'm
pushing up the actual to a month to make it personal.
And it does have something to do with anything that's
going on in everybody's life.
Speaker 3 (31:05):
Yeah, and my call to action would be, this is
our opportunity to elevate the bar for what it means
to be a public servant. Public servants care about public goods,
public education, healthcare, clean air, clean water, safe schools, the
rule of law. No one's above it, and everybody should
be afforded full protection under it. These are all public goods.
(31:28):
And yet when you look at Trump, there's nothing about
how he conducts himself that is in service to the public.
It's in service to himself. By comparison, we have somebody
in Harris who is willing to invest in all communities,
who is willing to fight back inequality, proposing the child Task,
(31:50):
credit expansion, doing meaningful things that we know work for
our communities, investing in public schools, investing in protecting our environment,
investing in keeping our community safe, and doing it for everybody,
not picking winners and losers, but saying all communities should
be afforded these things. That's what a public servant is.
Do we want a president who's only going to speak
to those folks who voted for him or her right
(32:12):
and say I got you when you alone, or actually
serve the entire country and all of its citizens. That's
the call to action. Do you believe in democracy? Do
you believe in public service? And if you do, then
step up, get out there and vote. Find your friends,
your family members, make sure they vote, and go beyond
that door knock, make phone calls, do whatever it takes.
(32:33):
And don't let the cynicism get in the way, don't
let the pestilism get in the way. Put that to
the side. We got seven days to just be about action.
Speaker 1 (32:42):
I feel like you were yelling at me just now.
Speaker 4 (32:46):
I was talking to you in a way that you understand.
I'm cutting through the noise.
Speaker 2 (32:55):
No, I've been out here, trust me. You know I've
been to Those are the people.
Speaker 1 (32:59):
No, No, I needed too because we all were watching
the same news.
Speaker 2 (33:02):
We get fatigued with the.
Speaker 1 (33:04):
Same rhetoric and we get you get discouraged sometimes and
you you know, so yes, we need we need a
little encouragement.
Speaker 2 (33:11):
I love that this is what you're doing with your
retired life.
Speaker 4 (33:14):
I'm not retired, guys, for the record, For the record,
i am not retired.
Speaker 2 (33:20):
What I am stepped down from a very nice situation.
Speaker 4 (33:24):
So because we had over here, my girl, so power
on five. This is Kevin Lyles. Job is not done.
I want to build something bigger and better. I had
a ten year old kid that called three hundred, and
I had some adults along the way that I felt
(33:46):
that I want to see them take it somewhere that
even I can't take it myself, because God's calling me
for a high purpose. For the last two years, the
three years of my life, i'men getting this feeling that
there's something more. And whenever you sell a company and
you start to work for a corporation, you have to
(34:06):
abide by certain things. You know what I mean. You
have to do certain things so your corporate officer and
those things. I want be able to do what I
want to do, when I want to do it, how
I want to do it, and who I want to
do it with. And I want to be able to
start other organizations that people might feel uncomfortable with me
being inside of a corporation. I don't want to be
told what to do. And I'm glad that my friends
(34:27):
that want a music group understood that this is a
great thing for all of us. I'm glad that an
African American woman and Salim Africana can get two kids,
can come together and build on the future of what
the foundation that we've done so far. And more importantly,
I'm happy for every artist to have the opportunity to
(34:50):
push other kids to be leaders and executives and do
the thing. Because find a way, nurture way, get out
of the way. It's my fourth time getting out of
the way.
Speaker 3 (34:58):
And so.
Speaker 2 (35:00):
Break it down real quickly.
Speaker 4 (35:01):
So who don't know, So let's start first one with
deft jam to get out of the way right. Second one
was one of music group.
Speaker 3 (35:08):
We took a good privately public.
Speaker 4 (35:10):
Third one was KWL my management company. Got to hear
you guys, go because I'm gonna go back and build
something for one was three hundred, find a way, nurture,
way to get out of way. I'm okay, I'm not retired.
Yeah you'll see me on the golf course and but no,
it's job not Look, I built something in ten years
that we sold for a lot of money. Give me
another ten and what.
Speaker 2 (35:30):
Is the next ten?
Speaker 1 (35:31):
Because the music business is a different business, that's an
interesting to the culture.
Speaker 4 (35:36):
Business is the business that I'm in. That's all music is,
always play roll in it. I want to tell stories.
I want to help elect more people like my good
friend lieutenant governor. And I want in power, Like I said,
you know, with three hundred, I had three hundred studios,
I had three hundred publishing, I had distribution. I wanted
(35:57):
to go into management. I want to start another organization
because I'm protecting black arts. I'm gonna start another organization.
These are all the things that require me to have
more control of what I can do every day of
my life. But you're here, I just can't talk about everything. Now,
but I'm excited.
Speaker 1 (36:15):
I don't doubt you for one second about that. I
just seeing you golfing, I say, you stepped down from
three hundred.
Speaker 4 (36:22):
Yeah, I'm only putting these I don't even know what
that is. And by the way, I tell people every day,
God has blessed me for forty years to be in a business,
to feed my family, to change lives and give back.
And I don't have to hurt myself. I have to
give up myself and.
Speaker 3 (36:41):
Be of service.
Speaker 4 (36:42):
So I don't know what retirement is going to ever
look like for me, because I want to put into work.
Speaker 1 (36:48):
Is a music business is in as bad shape as
people think it is.
Speaker 2 (36:51):
Shout out to Demiza. I was watching something on his
page o the day. You know he is a he
is a believer. This whole thing is going down.
Speaker 4 (36:59):
No listen, they sound like when they said, you know,
hip hop is a fad. They sound like that when
they when they said, you know what, you can't build
a company within a company, you can't make We've heard
this before. What's happening is the bar of the barrier
of entry had gotten solo that people are not really
saying what what they should be saying. So now I
believe in artists development. I believe listen, we made we
(37:22):
said you bad in bougie, we pushed pe, we said
if you mean we had hot girl summers. I believe
in anthems. I believe in those things that you you
want to be like these artists and so to me,
there's a little label named deft to him that we
did and we moved culture with fifteen twenty artists. We
did it with three hundred. I want to do it
again in a very big way. But I'm not signing
(37:44):
everything at all. I'm going to sign the things that
I think are going to mean something to our culture. Amen,
Power to the people.
Speaker 2 (37:55):
Power to the poles.
Speaker 4 (37:56):
Let's make sure we do that.
Speaker 1 (37:57):
Get your vote, everybody, one time of Kevin
Speaker 2 (37:59):
Love A Lieutenant Governor Antonio Bell Battle
It's disturbing. I'm just I'm deeply disturbed. I'm also grieving
because I just lost my friend, and so it's like,
I just I'm looking at the world, like what is happening?
And then the garden, which just happened at the garden?
Can we just get into a guys, By the way,
I have my friend Kevin Lows here governor, and today.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
Before we even started the interview, I'm venting. I'm venting
about life and grief.
Speaker 1 (00:37):
And and then also this, how disturbed I am at
this that we're even this close in an election that.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
Seems obvious to me.
Speaker 1 (00:49):
And so there's a lot of things about this whole
time in this country that is really affecting me. I'm
I'm frustrated, I'm worried. I'm a little traumatized by some
of what just happened at my square garden the other
day is like repulsive.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
And so how are you? How are you?
Speaker 1 (01:05):
Guys? Feeling sorry?
Speaker 2 (01:07):
That's not normally how I welcome my guests.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
But it's good to see you too.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
By the way, Hi, sorry to see you.
Speaker 3 (01:13):
Yeah, I hear you. But I also feel focused, I
feel energized.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
You do, Okay, this is positive.
Speaker 3 (01:22):
Positive, you you know, because as bad as in your
right to feel what you feel in this moment, but
lean on the fact of history and where we've been
and what we've become. We've seen worse UH, and we've
been able to hold true to our values, our principles UH.
And we've been out front waving the flag for UH
(01:44):
democracy for a long time, particularly communities on the margins,
you know, pushing forward all the time. This is our legacy.
And so for me, it's about owning that power. And
you know, yes, I get it, the speculation with the
what ifs, but right now, all we can control is
what we control, and we do have an opportunity over
the coming days to make the decision that's going to
(02:06):
dictate our future, our children's future, grandchildren's future. And I
think that's something that we should all hold true and
be focused about and stay positive. I know it's not easy,
but you mentioned the Madison Square Garden. What happened there.
I mean, if you need an example of the two
different kinds of visions we're talking about, one routed and
hate and divisiveness and fear mongering, escapegoating, and that's not leadership.
(02:32):
And there's nothing about that that is about unity and
togetherness and a forward thinking vision. And we have that
in Harris. We have an opportunity to make history and
to do it in a way to project us out
into a future that is reflective of our share of
values and our commitment as individuals who care about living
in democracy.
Speaker 1 (02:52):
What is your experience, because the last time I saw you,
you were campaigning, Yes, you were making the transition into
into the space, and it was very early and Spinner seventeen,
twenty seventeen, So I would imagine you've seen a few
things in the past few years.
Speaker 3 (03:10):
I have, and I want to say this too on
that point. When I first ran for Congress up in
the Hudson Valley, the Catskills area, the district had been
won by Trump by two thousand and succeed and by
seven points ninety percent white district, the eighth most rural
congressional seat in the country. I had a hip hop,
you know, cover with a hoodie on. They spent millions
(03:31):
of dollars trying to make me seem like I, you know,
wasn't reflective of the community or threat to the community.
A lot of folks wrote me off, but there was
a singular message that resonated with a lot of folks. Republicans,
independentis Democrats, and we're seeing that today too with Harris,
with the Liz Cheney's of the world. Why are all
these folks coming together now? Because this is a moral question,
(03:51):
right versus wrong, not left, just first right right versus wrong? Integrity, character, decency, love, compassion, thoughtfulness.
Do these things matter anymore? Do they not?
Speaker 1 (04:00):
Well, that's what I'm having such a hard time wrapping
my brain around. It's like, I understand differences in politics, right,
I understand. You think we can get here this way,
you think we can get I understand differences, But it's
the morality of it. And to think that half of
the country doesn't care about that is really disturbing to me,
Like on a deep level.
Speaker 4 (04:20):
You know, it's funny, and I just think Trump has
a reality show going on and we all participating in it,
and we want to see the celebrity and everything, and
we want to actually hear the rhetoric. And it's not
it's hurtful as it is. He can say something yesterday
and then say something else today, and then then people
(04:43):
still consider him a presidential candidate, and so the pain
that you're feeling and is also noise. It's noise to
say don't focus. It's noise to say sit it out.
It's noise to say don't make it personal, because you know,
policy wise, think about what her said. For the first
time ever in the history of a president, she has
(05:03):
an agenda for a black man. I've never We've been
struggling out here and now she said, we're gonna give
you twenty thousand dollars. We'll forgive you fifty thousand dollars long.
We never had that, and we had a black president before.
So the power of a black woman to sit up
and say, hey, you know what, I want to have
an agenda. And as a serial entrepreneur, I've been able
to make a couple of hundred multi millionaire of women
(05:26):
and men, and she's for entrepreneurship. And so to me,
the p I'm pushing with policy is great, but I
would take it even personal. Like you, my son saw
his first black superhero was Barack Obama. I know what
it did to him. I know what it did to
my grandmother that said to me at ninety four years old,
God wrestler, so can you believe a black man is
(05:48):
in the White House. And you know my daughters kay
Gg and VB. I know what's going to do to
them when we elect the first female African American president.
So all this noise, we all out on campaign in Philly, Atlanta, everywhere,
we can't not be focused. It would be down to
the last very vote, the ten friends, the twenty, the state,
(06:10):
the city. It's going to be down to that. And
so I don't want to lose focus with all the
things that are going on. I will make sure we
get out and vote and make sure we elect come Alas.
Speaker 1 (06:18):
Yeah, I feel you on that too, and how it
affects our kids. A lot of the argument that I
get into, like I was telling you, I was in Philly,
I did a panel in Philly, I did a panel
in Atlanta. And the thing that comes up in just
in conversations is like money. You know, he's better for
the economy, which I think number one is false. But
if you believe that, let's say you do believe that,
let's just say crazy enough it's happened to be true. Okay,
(06:42):
but what about what about my rights as a woman,
and your mother's rights and your sister's rights, what about
my two black sons that have to go out in
the street and have to deal with stop and frisk
the second that this guy's back in office. Do you
care about anybody else except the economy? It's a very
disturbing time, does that not? I know, you guys seem
way more positive than me. I felt like so I
just threw all my negativity and fear at you as
(07:03):
soon as you walked in here. But I think this
is a real feeling that people fear, like a concern
about where our country is and what matters to people.
Speaker 3 (07:11):
I can't on the economic point, I can't just let
that not be addressed. He he inherited an economy from
Obama that was trending upward, and he decides to then
(07:31):
do a massive tax break for a few at the
expense of the great many, adding to our deficit along
the way.
Speaker 4 (07:40):
So why do.
Speaker 1 (07:41):
People misunderstand that what is the because of because of
the misinformation, because of the echo chambers, because of the
social media dynamics.
Speaker 3 (07:48):
We don't have objective reference points anymore that can hold
true to our collective sensibilities. And so it ends up
happening is we go down rabbit holes and you get
demagogues who feed on people's misinformation. And that also speaks
to the larger question you're talking about in terms of morality.
Why aren't people why aren't people being driven by this
(08:09):
sense of moral obligation? Where's the moral authority for what's happening.
It's wrong to strip away a fundamental right that's been
on the books for fifty years with Roe v. Wade.
That's wrong. It's wrong to say we're just gonna mass
deport individuals willy nilly because we just feel like it,
because we want to take our country back. What does
that even mean? Right? It's wrong to say we're gonna
(08:33):
deal with these urban centers that we view are plagued
by crime and violence by just sending in the National Guard,
as if we don't have a constitution.
Speaker 1 (08:43):
Right.
Speaker 3 (08:43):
That's just blatantly wrong and unconstitutional. Right. But what happens
is when you lose objective reference points, when you have
narratives and conspiracy theories now that used to be sort
of off yonder, no one knew what they were. They
were getting traction. Now they're being spread like wildfire on
these platforms. People can get disoriented, and that's where leadership
(09:03):
matters too. To help bring clarity to the situation and
to speak with clarity to help folks understand what's right
versus what's wrong, what's a fact versus what's not a fact?
Speaker 1 (09:12):
How do we make a difference right now? Because every
poll says it's super close. We all know about the
swing states. What is the most important thing we do
right now, in this moment, on this day to shift
things or to make sure that it leans in the way.
Speaker 3 (09:30):
Well, I can tell you that it's engaged, and don't
look at it just from the standpoint of your vote,
your vote, yes, vote, vote, vote vote, But then ask
yourself in your community and your household, your peer group,
have you voted and make sure everybody in your immediate
circle it has voted. Then go beyond that and say,
have I been plugged in in any way, shape or
(09:52):
form to a campaign not just the campaign for Harris,
but here in New York we have congressional race that
are up for grabs that if we are successful, and
we could put Hakeem Jeffries yes as the Speaker of
the House as historic in and of itself, and New
York has the ability to do that.
Speaker 2 (10:12):
Tell me if this is true?
Speaker 1 (10:13):
Is it true Hakeem Jeffries could literally save this country.
If I saw this somewhere, You tell me if it's
true or not that if Trump wins the election or
loses the election, the House could decide they could call
it not a valid election, right, they could not.
Speaker 3 (10:32):
Are mechanisms, and there are ways in which if they
want to push the limit, it would take a great
deal of organization.
Speaker 1 (10:39):
And these are people he's put in place.
Speaker 3 (10:41):
No, Speaker Johnson, Yes, Speaker Johnson, yes. And it's also
if you go back to what and listen. I don't
want to feed into things that haven't been stated, but
if you just look at what he has said. When
when Trump says in that the rally, the little secret
that me and speakers has, I can't say for certain
(11:02):
right what he means by that, but there are a
lot of folks out there who worry that he's What
he's referencing to is some version of what he was
hoping to accomplish with Pence, some version of what he
was hoping to accomplish when he called up Georgia's Secretary
of State and said, I need you to find me
this amount of votes, just this amount, please, right, some
version of that keep in mind that he has spent
(11:23):
the last four years putting in places all across the
country in state governments and state legislatures, and including in
the House of Representatives, individuals who are essence foot soldiers. Right,
this is a different dynamic than when it was when
he actually got in an office the first time, where
he didn't really like to know where he was who
put around him. So it is a different dynamic. And
(11:44):
so making sure that we do everything we can through
the power of the ballot box to put people in
positions of power that can act as that backstop to
make sure that we are holding off whatever could come
is vitally important. And I know, oh it's worrisome, and I.
Speaker 1 (12:01):
Know that how Kame Jeffries publicly said that he he
would uphold the vote no matter which way it's ways.
Speaker 2 (12:07):
Which is what you hope from me.
Speaker 3 (12:08):
That's how democracy.
Speaker 1 (12:09):
That's what you hope from somebody sitting in that seat to.
Speaker 4 (12:11):
Say, what's that risk if we get caught up in
the reality show. It's not just the presidential election, it's
the judges, it's the congressman, it's the Senate, all these things.
I think when I used to go I used to
care about the presidency, and as I got older, I
started to care about every single day, especially you know
(12:33):
what I'm going through with you know, criminalization of the
lyrics and things like this, and so what can you do?
It's what I've been doing for the last you know month.
I'm sitting across the table talking to my Republican friends
who will sit and say, well, you know, it's good
for business, but as a man raising daughters, I can't
vote for Trump because Republicans stands to me now, and
(12:57):
my Democratic friends who are thinking, well, man, you know
don't matter. Well, you know I'm gonna sit on the fence.
We ain't got time for the fence, the bench and
none of that. Right now, everybody get other. It should
be a family thing, it should be a community thing,
and you should everybody you bump into now for the
next seven days, talk about the boat.
Speaker 3 (13:14):
Talk about who you before a door knock.
Speaker 4 (13:16):
You can do it. My mom said, don't think you
the only one out there. I'm knocking on doors. I'm
going out. You're trying to get the senator there, the
first back of American Senate from Maryland. So we're putting
in the work. I just think that engaging and igniting
a fire in us that we will not tolerate buffoonery.
We will not tolerate racism or oppression or going back.
(13:36):
Because what people don't realize twenty twenty five was in
the works for a very long time. They're thinking what
Trump has done is orchestrated, even out of office. Let
me put my chest pieces around so if I do
make it, I can do what I want to do.
And he already showed us what he wants to do
due to the pandemic. He already showed us every single day,
(13:57):
Like I hit Joe last night, I was like, Yo,
how we quiet about this? The Latino community?
Speaker 3 (14:04):
How you?
Speaker 4 (14:05):
How you? How you quiet about this? This happened here?
This is that, and we play with the guard. We said,
we have fun, but this happened on that very stage,
and how we gonna get quiet about it? And so
now we have to charge up. All people are coloring
to get out there and do we're supposed to do.
And that's elected next African American female president.
Speaker 3 (14:24):
keV.
Speaker 4 (14:27):
I'm working.
Speaker 3 (14:31):
It has to be worked, you know. And as we
approach that that election day, we can see it. It's
got a feed off of that yeah, we.
Speaker 1 (14:38):
Should talk about this thing that I know you can't.
You can't say much about it. But I think if
we talk about Thug, we might get some people to
watch this interview that set through the first ten minutes
of us explaining to them why it's important to vote,
so that we can talk about how Thug is doing.
Speaker 4 (14:56):
Let me just strategy.
Speaker 2 (14:58):
That's how I.
Speaker 4 (15:00):
Just let me just say this. And you know that
he's like a son to me. For the last two years,
his family has been without his daughters have been without sons,
has been without a father, his mom has been without
a son. His community has been without a leader. Uh.
And it's all around the criminalization of you know, the lyrics.
(15:21):
And I tell people I come from from Baltimore. I
can't sit and say I've never seen of drugs. I
can't sit and say I've never seen murder. I can't.
I have been there, you know, but I made a choice.
And I think Doug made a choice in his life
to be a leader. And right now we're hurting. There's more,
more crime, more rape, more, it's more poverty in that
(15:45):
area because the leader is not there. And so what
they do is they take out the leader they change
the community back to what it was. And I just
hope that through this court system, and it's this trial
that we're going through, that it gets to the results
that we get a home for him be a leader,
because he's not just an artist, you know, he's a
human being that's raising a great family and changing cleaving that.
Speaker 2 (16:08):
How's the spirits?
Speaker 4 (16:11):
I can I'll tell you what he said, keV. I'm
built for leaders. Got to take this kind of stuff on,
but I always personalize it. How would you feel if
you couldn't bury you one of your best friends? How
would you feel if four walls defined you? How would
you feel if you couldn't say happy birthday, hug your mother?
Speaker 3 (16:32):
How would you? So?
Speaker 4 (16:34):
I can't I can tell you what he said to me.
But I know in my heart he wants to touch
his family. I know in my heart he wants to
touch his community. I know in my heart he wants
to make a difference. So I pray for him and
his family every single day. And I hope that you
know your listeners and you guys to hear my voice.
You know, know that he's such an inspiration to our
(16:55):
culture and I want him home.
Speaker 1 (16:58):
Yeah, what do you think is he he gets on
the other side of this, what do you see for him?
Speaker 4 (17:04):
One of the greatest profits to come out of our culture.
I think he's going to say different things, do different things,
be different because he's gonna go to a place that
some of the greats have been through because they tried
(17:25):
to take everything from him. And once you get to
that other side, you get to the other side, you
on a mission. You live a purpose driven life because
that box, it changes people them things that at this
And I just think that if we continue to allow
a system to oppress us in whatever way, and you know,
I'm a fair person. If you're gonna if you're gonna
(17:47):
let him say I shot the serf and didn't shoot
the deputy, then we should be able to say the
same thing. But you're not gonna prosecute him. But you're
gonna put me in jail. As long as I'm fair,
it's cool. But I do want us to wake up
as a culture and to realize we're fifty years old. Now,
just pull our pants up a little bit. Let's get
more educated, let's build more businesses, and let's realize what
we say other people are listening to and other people
(18:10):
emulate and other people think that they can do what
you do. So I think we need to continue to
grow and become products of our experiences, products of our age,
and products of great communities that I see we rebuilding
right now, and the possibilities are endless. I'm sitting here
with Lieutenant Governor who used to be a rapper. I'm
not saying he was a famous rapper. I'm not saying
(18:31):
he question. He's nice.
Speaker 3 (18:33):
He was nice.
Speaker 2 (18:36):
Like if I asked you the freestyle, now, could you?
I could?
Speaker 3 (18:41):
I could, but I but I do want to speak
to the point Kevin's making about the culture, and I
want to underscore how because when I did hip hop,
when I when I decided, I was always of the culture.
But then when I decided after law school, I want
to try to make something of this professionally. The vision
(19:04):
I had coming out of law school was to figure
out how to leverage the culture for transformative change political change,
coming out of an acute awareness of the power of
the civil rights movement, understanding though that the hip hop
that hip hop culture in many respects grew out of
(19:24):
sort of what that movement was unable to continue to
sustain right and coming out of that, how do we
pick up the baton as a culture and politically invest
in ourselves in our communities. And we've spent now fifty
years building the capital, building the wealth, building the influence
to be able to have that type of impact, not
(19:47):
just to entertain the world or to even finance folks,
but to politically pushing the gender forward that could truly
account for our struggles, truly account for our commmunities in
a way that has not happened. And I think that,
to me has been long my belief in the culture.
(20:08):
That's that kernel, that is at its essence of what's possible.
Speaker 1 (20:12):
We can only do that if we organize, yes.
Speaker 3 (20:14):
And if we have individuals too who step up and
step out right and say, let me show you the
power of us.
Speaker 4 (20:22):
You know, I remember when Barack was going and you know,
I met the Senator and talk about going for president,
and I put the beam up. I got the super
friends together, I said, yo, I don't know how we're
gonna do this, but we're going out every weekend. And
it was seven or eight of us that went out
every single weekend. I'm putting that beacon a light up
(20:44):
again for us to lead your community, lead your friends,
lead your family to the polls in a way that
it had that five that he's talking about. I know
I have a greater purpose because I made it out
out of Baltimore. I've been able to be here for
forty years in hip hop. I know I have a
greater purpose. And so to me, if that greater purpose
(21:06):
is there, and now I have friends that are lieutenant
governors and mayors and presidents and Madam vice presidents, Oh
that moment, that that little thing he talked about, It's
gonna happen in such a big way because we all
like minded, we all come from the same thing, and
our power and a policy and our politics will be one.
Oh that day is coming, I believe it.
Speaker 3 (21:27):
And to your point about the organization piece, which is
so important and insightful, I do think there's another level
and that we have to take it to from an
organizational standpoint, from a standpoint of what is the platform,
what is the agenda, and not just wait for the
political actors right to say here's what the agenda is,
but to collectively come together as a culture and say, well,
(21:52):
here are some here's ten things that we want to
push for as an and you know, come to the
table with that and leverage the power and the wealth
that the culture has a mass now and lean in
on it. And I look at myself. I'm just going
to say this now as being in this position now
having figured out how to be on the other side
(22:12):
of this machinery as a partner in that right, as
a real authentic partner who is trying to figure out
how we do that in a way that truly is impactful.
That moment, to be honest, has not been met yet,
but that moment can be met. It can be and
(22:33):
I think this moment, before we even get this moment
that we're in right now with this election, in some
respects is the beginning of that. This is a struggle
that's happening right now. The country is wrestling with demographics.
It's wrestling with a narrative that was set in motions
since day one, in terms of who we're going to
(22:54):
be and what we're going to stand on and our
values and how much we're going to share power and
grow and be multi f multicultural, multi racial. This is
the struggle that we're having right now. And you couldn't
have two more different symbolic figures for this country to
have to look at and reflect and say, who are
we where are we going? It's a powerful, powerful moment
(23:19):
right now for this country. And as much as we
can struggle with well, how can it not so close?
Why is it so close? This is a big, big
moment in terms of what it reflects about where we've
been and where we want to go. And so I
encourage everybody out there, don't be afraid of change, don't
be afraid of what's possible. Don't be afraid of who
(23:40):
we are becoming. It's powerful, and it's full of love.
It's full of love. It doesn't come in place of
hate or anger or hostility. It comes from a place
of togetherness and shared humanity and justice. It's there. You
just got to believe in it, you.
Speaker 4 (23:55):
Know, so crazy. I think about what Martin was able
to do with less.
Speaker 1 (24:06):
He didn't have no social media, No, he had the
infinite power of love, that's what he.
Speaker 4 (24:13):
Think about what he was able to accomplish, and the
civil rights that we have, and think about the people
that said I'm willing to die for to have a
right to vote created as a human being, and think
about what we did when Trump ran, we sat on
our ass we did not vote. The reason Trump got
(24:35):
elected is because we did not vote.
Speaker 3 (24:38):
Period.
Speaker 4 (24:38):
There's nothing, no nothing. And so now with the power,
with the wealth, with the knowledge, with our political friends
who grew up like us and look like us and
talk like us, what's possible. I hope I say it
in my lifetime. But what's possible will change what being
American really means. You know, being black in America is
(25:01):
already starting to change. But I'm telling you, if we
get harness that power we organized, there could be some
other great profits that come along. I don't know who
they are, but they're coming.
Speaker 1 (25:10):
And people are not more excited at the potential of
having a black woman as a president for the first
time in our history.
Speaker 4 (25:18):
I think they are.
Speaker 2 (25:19):
Nobody's talking about that though.
Speaker 1 (25:20):
There's such a fight going on that if we just
stepped back for a second. I feel like when Obama
got elected, there was a lot of like, wow, we
could have a black president. This is crazy, and people
were fired up by that. But the idea of our
first woman president not even a black woman. Yeah she's
a black woman, but the first woman president is a
(25:41):
huge deal, and I feel like people are not talking
about that, and I feel like they're using it almost
as a divide for people who have still maybe unresolved
issues with a woman in power, which I was so sad.
I'm seeing that in conversations that I'm having, that there
are really people who have a problem with that in
twenty twenty five, which is insane to me.
Speaker 2 (26:03):
But I think that I don't know.
Speaker 4 (26:06):
I just wonder what insane. So let me let me
give you what I said to myself. Hillary ran white
woman lover, no more qualified person. I mean, she'd have
said every seat she had, every talk you can have,
pillow talk and state talks she had had, every talk
you could talk, they said, no, we're not ready for you.
(26:29):
So now I believe it exists. But here's the difference.
Hillary was so democratic that the it was a far
Republican that it was two sides heavily what Kamala has
been able to do. But but Cheney coming all the
Republican governors and people coming out saying, you know what,
(26:51):
you're the better choice. You're gonna have the better conversation,
And so the excitement is not there because you hear
the noise. If you take away the noise and you
go home and put tenty of your girlfriends together and say,
how would y'all feel about us to have a black
woman president. Y'all would be, hey, let's go, let's go,
But you gotta take away the noise. If not, they
wanted to talk about all the other stuff this's going on.
Speaker 3 (27:13):
And I would agree that noise. And when Obama ran
and await, you know, social media wasn't what it is today.
He often talks about how he wouldn't have been able
to go to a place like Iowa and be as
effective because before he got there there would have been
a story about who he was and what his background
was and his narrative. He was able to still show
up and connect in a real way. That's one challenge.
(27:34):
The other challenge is what Harris is doing. Kamlo's doing
is unprecedented. She has stood up a presidential campaign in
a matter of months, which takes years to cultivate, to build,
to establish. So the way this is unfolded in historic
and unprecedented fashion, with Biden literally stepping aside right in
(27:58):
and of itself, it's such a historic moment and we
don't give enough credit. And I think it's hard for
the public to fully appreciate how challenging and the magnitude
of this endeavor it is for any individual, let alone
the first woman of color, to try to take on
this task while being scrutinized every single which way. Right,
that's also a part of the problem. And then of
(28:19):
course there's Trump who's sucking up all the oxygen in
the room with his buffoonery and clownless behavior, right, and
his demagogay. And so when you factor all these things in,
I think it does dampen some of the excitement, but
not in a way that makes it non existent. I
think people are still pushing through, still working through, and
the numbers speak for themselves. But those elements of this dynamic,
(28:42):
you can't deny them, right, And what Harris is doing
and the strength that she has displayed, Trump doesn't even
want to get in the stage with her. Again, we
ran away from that debate because he stood next to
it and he realized, no, I don't know, I'm good.
You barely could shake her hand when they got on
(29:02):
the stage. These are things you notice.
Speaker 1 (29:05):
Somebody said. I heard them say, she laughs too much. No,
this is a this is a real thing. Nobody has
ever said that about we don't.
Speaker 4 (29:13):
We don't know her, we don't know her poll.
Speaker 3 (29:16):
He never smiles his happiness.
Speaker 1 (29:19):
What I'm just saying, Oh, that's what you got, that's
what you pulled out.
Speaker 2 (29:24):
That is the thing. We have to really look at.
What is what's really the thing?
Speaker 1 (29:28):
Then? If that's your thing, if the thing is she
laughs too much, what's really the thing? Because that can't
be the thing. That's not possible. Yeah, anyway, So how
do you guys? I mean, what is the call to action?
What is your what is your call to people? What
do you want people? How do you want people to
show up? What do you want us to do out here?
Speaker 4 (29:47):
So here's we have seven days left. If you have
an a state or place to early voting, get out
and get it done. I'm actually going to vote today.
Number two, don't make this a you thing. Make us
think and actually have real com I don't care if
we're on the golf course and or at a show.
(30:09):
I'm talking this election. I'm talking who's the local person
the da that we need to get here? Who's I'm
doing when I go into a city, I'm going through
that city on every back. I think we should do that.
And the third thing I want us to personalize it,
like really, like I think about my mom. I think
about when they passed the laws for the drugs and
(30:33):
the price down on certain certain drugs. I think about
how she's surviving with that. I think about my kids.
Every my vote matters in every point of my life.
And so the P I'm pushing this personal p you
know what I mean. I'm pushing personal because everything affects me,
no matter what bracket MD. Because one of us might
(30:54):
have a little bit, but there's a lot of us
that have nothing. And so to me, every day I'm
pushing up the actual to a month to make it personal.
And it does have something to do with anything that's
going on in everybody's life.
Speaker 3 (31:05):
Yeah, and my call to action would be, this is
our opportunity to elevate the bar for what it means
to be a public servant. Public servants care about public goods,
public education, healthcare, clean air, clean water, safe schools, the
rule of law. No one's above it, and everybody should
be afforded full protection under it. These are all public goods.
(31:28):
And yet when you look at Trump, there's nothing about
how he conducts himself that is in service to the public.
It's in service to himself. By comparison, we have somebody
in Harris who is willing to invest in all communities,
who is willing to fight back inequality, proposing the child Task,
(31:50):
credit expansion, doing meaningful things that we know work for
our communities, investing in public schools, investing in protecting our environment,
investing in keeping our community safe, and doing it for everybody,
not picking winners and losers, but saying all communities should
be afforded these things. That's what a public servant is.
Do we want a president who's only going to speak
to those folks who voted for him or her right
(32:12):
and say I got you when you alone, or actually
serve the entire country and all of its citizens. That's
the call to action. Do you believe in democracy? Do
you believe in public service? And if you do, then
step up, get out there and vote. Find your friends,
your family members, make sure they vote, and go beyond
that door knock, make phone calls, do whatever it takes.
(32:33):
And don't let the cynicism get in the way, don't
let the pestilism get in the way. Put that to
the side. We got seven days to just be about action.
Speaker 1 (32:42):
I feel like you were yelling at me just now.
Speaker 4 (32:46):
I was talking to you in a way that you understand.
I'm cutting through the noise.
Speaker 2 (32:55):
No, I've been out here, trust me. You know I've
been to Those are the people.
Speaker 1 (32:59):
No, No, I needed too because we all were watching
the same news.
Speaker 2 (33:02):
We get fatigued with the.
Speaker 1 (33:04):
Same rhetoric and we get you get discouraged sometimes and
you you know, so yes, we need we need a
little encouragement.
Speaker 2 (33:11):
I love that this is what you're doing with your
retired life.
Speaker 4 (33:14):
I'm not retired, guys, for the record, For the record,
i am not retired.
Speaker 2 (33:20):
What I am stepped down from a very nice situation.
Speaker 4 (33:24):
So because we had over here, my girl, so power
on five. This is Kevin Lyles. Job is not done.
I want to build something bigger and better. I had
a ten year old kid that called three hundred, and
I had some adults along the way that I felt
(33:46):
that I want to see them take it somewhere that
even I can't take it myself, because God's calling me
for a high purpose. For the last two years, the
three years of my life, i'men getting this feeling that
there's something more. And whenever you sell a company and
you start to work for a corporation, you have to
(34:06):
abide by certain things. You know what I mean. You
have to do certain things so your corporate officer and
those things. I want be able to do what I
want to do, when I want to do it, how
I want to do it, and who I want to
do it with. And I want to be able to
start other organizations that people might feel uncomfortable with me
being inside of a corporation. I don't want to be
told what to do. And I'm glad that my friends
(34:27):
that want a music group understood that this is a
great thing for all of us. I'm glad that an
African American woman and Salim Africana can get two kids,
can come together and build on the future of what
the foundation that we've done so far. And more importantly,
I'm happy for every artist to have the opportunity to
(34:50):
push other kids to be leaders and executives and do
the thing. Because find a way, nurture way, get out
of the way. It's my fourth time getting out of
the way.
Speaker 3 (34:58):
And so.
Speaker 2 (35:00):
Break it down real quickly.
Speaker 4 (35:01):
So who don't know, So let's start first one with
deft jam to get out of the way right. Second one
was one of music group.
Speaker 3 (35:08):
We took a good privately public.
Speaker 4 (35:10):
Third one was KWL my management company. Got to hear
you guys, go because I'm gonna go back and build
something for one was three hundred, find a way, nurture,
way to get out of way. I'm okay, I'm not retired.
Yeah you'll see me on the golf course and but no,
it's job not Look, I built something in ten years
that we sold for a lot of money. Give me
another ten and what.
Speaker 2 (35:30):
Is the next ten?
Speaker 1 (35:31):
Because the music business is a different business, that's an
interesting to the culture.
Speaker 4 (35:36):
Business is the business that I'm in. That's all music is,
always play roll in it. I want to tell stories.
I want to help elect more people like my good
friend lieutenant governor. And I want in power, Like I said,
you know, with three hundred, I had three hundred studios,
I had three hundred publishing, I had distribution. I wanted
(35:57):
to go into management. I want to start another organization
because I'm protecting black arts. I'm gonna start another organization.
These are all the things that require me to have
more control of what I can do every day of
my life. But you're here, I just can't talk about everything. Now,
but I'm excited.
Speaker 1 (36:15):
I don't doubt you for one second about that. I
just seeing you golfing, I say, you stepped down from
three hundred.
Speaker 4 (36:22):
Yeah, I'm only putting these I don't even know what
that is. And by the way, I tell people every day,
God has blessed me for forty years to be in a business,
to feed my family, to change lives and give back.
And I don't have to hurt myself. I have to
give up myself and.
Speaker 3 (36:41):
Be of service.
Speaker 4 (36:42):
So I don't know what retirement is going to ever
look like for me, because I want to put into work.
Speaker 1 (36:48):
Is a music business is in as bad shape as
people think it is.
Speaker 2 (36:51):
Shout out to Demiza. I was watching something on his
page o the day. You know he is a he
is a believer. This whole thing is going down.
Speaker 4 (36:59):
No listen, they sound like when they said, you know,
hip hop is a fad. They sound like that when
they when they said, you know what, you can't build
a company within a company, you can't make We've heard
this before. What's happening is the bar of the barrier
of entry had gotten solo that people are not really
saying what what they should be saying. So now I
believe in artists development. I believe listen, we made we
(37:22):
said you bad in bougie, we pushed pe, we said
if you mean we had hot girl summers. I believe
in anthems. I believe in those things that you you
want to be like these artists and so to me,
there's a little label named deft to him that we
did and we moved culture with fifteen twenty artists. We
did it with three hundred. I want to do it
again in a very big way. But I'm not signing
(37:44):
everything at all. I'm going to sign the things that
I think are going to mean something to our culture. Amen,
Power to the people.
Speaker 2 (37:55):
Power to the poles.
Speaker 4 (37:56):
Let's make sure we do that.
Speaker 1 (37:57):
Get your vote, everybody, one time of Kevin
Speaker 2 (37:59):
Love A Lieutenant Governor Antonio Bell Battle
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