October 24, 2025 • 25 mins
Southern Fried Rice is being called tone deaf and KeKe Palmer and Nakia Stephens have been speaking out in defense of their work. What do y’all think?
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@BreakfastClubPower1051FM
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
I'm a homegrow that knows a little bit about everything
and everybody. I don't know if you don't lie about that, right,
Lauri can't even Hey, y'all, what's up.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
It's Laura Rosa and this is the latest with Laura l. Rosa.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
This is your daily dig on all things pop culture, entertainment, news,
and all of the conversations that shake the room.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Baby.
Speaker 1 (00:22):
Now today we are going to get into a conversation
that is shaking the room. The Internet, the comments, all
of the things. Kecky Palmer, our girl is sugarl Key
Key Palmer. Kecky Palmer has just unveiled a new series
via her digital network called Key TV. And this network,
(00:42):
you know, works with a ton of black producers, directors,
writers to bring series and you know, just different pieces
of content and art to the world. This week, she
premiered a trailer for a series called Southern Fried Rice
from her Key TV network. And when I tell y'all,
it is getting drag I have seen. To be honest
with y'all, I wouldn't have even known that this series
(01:04):
dropped unless I saw all of the backlash about the
series itself. And granted I knew Keky Palmer had key TV.
I follow key TV on Instagram, but y'all know the
algorithm don't be algorithming sometimes, so you might not see
every post and everything.
Speaker 2 (01:19):
So I hadn't heard of this series.
Speaker 1 (01:21):
I just knew she was, you know, doing stuff over
there in that space because I have a person, Because
I have a person that I know, a writer, a director, fire,
just creative, a black woman named Nikiah Stevens, and I
have known her and just in a work setting for
some years. I actually interviewed her back in like twenty twenty,
(01:45):
twenty twenty one for a short series that I had.
It was during the pandemic, when you know, all the
corporates were letting black people have a voice. I had
a series, a digital series at TMZ called Piece of
the Pie, and it was pretty cool. I got a
chance to like go out and find different creatives, so directors,
(02:05):
casting directors, producers, executive producers, actors, musicians, painters, you know, whatever,
whoever I thought was like dope fire at the time
that had a story to tell or was telling stories
in a way that I thought was fire in a
way that I admired. I got the platform them, so
I did an interview with Nikia Stevens then, which is
(02:28):
when I knew of her. Was following her a bit,
but she came highly recommended through some friends when I
put out some casting fillers for that series and I
got a chance to have a conversation with her. After
I got a chance to have a conversation with her,
I was like, Oh, sis is dope, and I admired
the fact that everything she was doing, like she has
a production company called Damn Wright Originals. And I'm telling
(02:48):
you guys about Nikia Stevens because Nikiya Stevens is actually
the executive producer of this series Southern Fried Right. She
works with Kiki Palmer and the team over there at
key TV. One of the things I admired was her company.
So she had a company called Damn Right Originals that
was doing so much in the digital storytelling space, and
that's always been a goal of mine. Ester Ray was
one of the people that I've always looked at as
(03:10):
like a north star and everything that she has done
via her YouTube channel, you know, an awkward black girl.
But also for those who don't know, Ester Ray used
to platform smaller series via her YouTube channel, Digital series
and Nikia was doing that, and she was on a
ton of other things, and I was like, Okay, this
is dope, Like I'm here for met her then and
then she went on to begin working with Keiki Palmer,
(03:32):
which was also fired to see because I just knew.
I'm like, okay, Keky Palmer has the platform. Kiki Palmer
is the girl like you know in all of the
movie series the Studios Lover. That's a great place for
Niki to be at period. And black creatives don't get,
you know, the ample opportunities, especially not in a Hollywood
(03:54):
you know, movie making TV, show making series making space.
It just doesn't happen because they ain't telling that many
of our stories. So I thought it was dope. So
fast forward, I start to see all this backlash online
about this show. And you guys know, I went to
a HBCU. I graduated from Delaware State University. So my algorithm,
(04:14):
especially in October, and that's why I'm like, yo, they
chose a hell of a month to drop a series
about an HBCU that was going to get dragged because
it's homecoming season. So if you not feeling black atty
black and black black, y'all in February. You do it
in October homecoming season, everybody's hitting up the homecomings. You
know what I mean, you and your prairie, all your gear,
repping your schools.
Speaker 2 (04:34):
Remember you know why you got to keep your head
to the side.
Speaker 1 (04:37):
Y'all know all the things super super black in October,
especially if you graduated from HBCU. So the series started
popping up on my feed because I started seeing people
on Instagram, on x and on threads pissed off and
having a conversation about Keiki Palmer saying that she's tone
deaf because of the series. I didn't really pay too
much attention to it at first, if I'm being honest
with y'all, only because ever since the you know, Kekey
(05:00):
Palmer's teasing that Jonathan Major's episode for her talk show
that she does it's Kekey Palmer and her podcast with
her mom and then pulling it down. I feel like
sometimes with Kekey Palmer, like she gets unfair criticism because
people look at her as perfect because she is the girl.
Speaker 2 (05:15):
She's been you know.
Speaker 1 (05:16):
Pedestaled and polished and not even like because it's something
that she wants, because if you meet her, she's just
out here living her life, doing her thing work and
getting her money and going home to her son. But
I think the world does that because she's always presented
so well, like she's such a great actress, such an
accomplished actress. You know, everything that she's ever done, we've
always known her to do it so well. So the
(05:37):
minute Kekey Palmer does anything that is not so well
or approved, the world exposed. So I thought it was
just like one of those moments, like, Okay, a moment
is happening, it'll come, it'll go whatever. And then I
saw Kekey Palmer respond to it. I'm like, Okay, this
must be really big. So I did some digging found
out that Nikiah Stevens was a part of the project,
and I'm like, okay, let's have a conversation about this.
(05:59):
So the series Southern Fried Rice from KEYTV is a
series about a Korean American girl who is adopted by
a Southern Black family. This girl decides that she wants
to go to an HBCU. You know, the premise of
this is that all of her life she's been accepted
by her small town and the people in her small town,
and now she goes to this HBCU. And I will
(06:21):
say the HBCU is a fictional HBCU, and that is
important because one thing black people don't play about is
who did the body spades? And if you renig the
HBCUs and then when you on campus, the Greek fraternities
and sororities like the oh and Edges and yeah in
Greez and your scalp, those are the things that.
Speaker 2 (06:41):
We ain't compromising that.
Speaker 1 (06:42):
So they made sure that the HBCU was fictional, which
is why it's important to have black creatives telling black stories,
because yeah, that's important. But so she goes to HBCU
and you know, while there, she's not as accepted, and
she's definitely not as accepted just because she has a
black family. So she you know, the story or the
series is all about watching her go through that. Let's
(07:04):
take a listen to the trailer.
Speaker 3 (07:05):
All right, say geez, okay, I know I got some
explaining to do. Let's start with the elephant in the room.
Speaker 2 (07:15):
Yes, I'm n Asian.
Speaker 3 (07:17):
Yes my family is black, and yes I've always been
hard to miss.
Speaker 4 (07:23):
This is Coco Cottage is once you make this, once
you arrest yourself in the opportunities here, I'm sure that
you will find w has so much.
Speaker 2 (07:32):
Tougher I mean to her or not too he.
Speaker 4 (07:37):
Lie, don't forget who you are, Coco, that girl Jackson.
Speaker 3 (07:43):
For a lot of people, this is hard to understand,
but black culture is the only culture I know.
Speaker 1 (07:50):
Okay, Now, this is set in a you know, present
day time, and the conversation that this is supposed to
spark are all things that happen in the college experience
from the creators of this series, from their perspective anyway,
So you know, it's going into the conversations about privilege, identity, DEI, ScDs, relationships,
(08:12):
you know, all the things. It's one of those series
from what it seems like, because again it's not out.
I just saw the trailer.
Speaker 2 (08:17):
That's it. That's all we got.
Speaker 1 (08:18):
But it seems like it's one of those series that
uses something that it's kind of shock value a little
bit to real you in to have very vulnerable and
real conversations about things that people are coming up against
every day on these HBCU campuses or honestly, I feel
like you even go through those conversations and those experiences
as graduates of HBCUs because once we graduate, we go
(08:40):
into the world that isn't you know, all things black
fried Chicken Wednesdays celebratory of the culture. A lot of
our workspaces are not you know, all black. We are
one a few, one of many. And it's kind of
like a culture shock, Like you're in this bubble of
a world for four years out of HBCU. In HBCU
for those who don't know, stands for Historically Black College University.
And it's a celebration of like you being you, and
(09:03):
you understanding and learning in real time through education and
through life experience why the world needs you and why
being black is such a life changing thing and a
world changing thing like and the campus in the school
prepares you to go out into the world and just
spread that glitter all over and make your mark on
the world.
Speaker 2 (09:21):
That's the slogan on my HBC youh schuld I call
delaus State University.
Speaker 1 (09:24):
But yes, so these conversations are you know, supposed to
be sparked by these series, But baby, when I tell
you that is not any of the conversation that is
happening online around this right now. And seeing some of
the backlash on different outlets and seeing Keiky Palmer have
to respond and we're going to get to Kekey Palmer's response.
I then went and looked at, you know, directly, what
(09:45):
are people's direct response to this trailer. So I went
to the comments on the key tv Instagram account and
I'm gonna just read a few comments. So there's one
comment under here that says, in this current climate where
they're snatching funding and literally trying to erase our school, well,
question Mark, we have a responsibility to amplify our own
stories and perspectives now more than ever, and we're centering
(10:06):
that perspective on an Asian girl rocking bamboo earrings?
Speaker 2 (10:10):
Question Mark? Is this not a bit tone Deafkiki?
Speaker 1 (10:14):
And then another comment says, even if she grew up
in black culture, why not further were her Asian culture?
It's another beautiful ethnic culture. If this were reversed, would
it hit the same Another person says, is there going
to be an episode where Asian people begin demanding the
destruction of affirmative action because there are too many black
people at Ivy League schools? And she defends them. Another
(10:35):
comment says, I think this project seems dope. Regardless of
what people may say, it is not your job to
tell all the black stories. Hell, the people telling you
to tell them ain't even spreading the word. These stories
are important too. You have a lot of people growing
up outside of whatever culture they're originally from, constantly feeling
judged and misunderstood, and people only ever try to make
sense of it from a mixed black and white person,
(10:57):
never seen from the point of view like this.
Speaker 2 (10:59):
I can't wait to watch.
Speaker 1 (11:01):
So comments are in shambles under the trailer, and this
has been going on for days. At this point, there's
you know, full on think pieces all over threads and
x and in all the spaces. So Kiki Palmer herself
had to get online and respond.
Speaker 2 (11:19):
I did see that.
Speaker 1 (11:19):
Nikia Stevens, who again I told you guys, as an
executive producer and one of the creators behind this project.
Speaker 2 (11:24):
She did respond also.
Speaker 1 (11:26):
But Kiki Palmer posted a video which is being picked
up by a lot of the news outlets. Let's take
a listen to what Keky Palmer had.
Speaker 5 (11:32):
To say that I don't wanna take up too much of
your time, but I wanted to chop it up real
quick about this series called Southern fr Fried Rice that's
premiering on key TV that is receiving some controversial feedback. Now,
Southern Fried Rice was created by Nikia Stevens, and while
I can't speak to her inspiration for the show, I
can speak to her dedication as a creative. I mean,
(11:53):
Nikia has written, show, ran and produced four shows alongside
her Damn Right Originals team with key TV and KEGV
has proudly invested over a half a million dollars on
her creations. And I say that because it's not easy
to obtain that kind of investment. And KEYTV this is
the ethos of the company. It's a network not just
(12:14):
because it has stars and shows or has talent, but
because it's about the people who create the shows and
connecting them. Look, what you like is subjective, but the
support of black creatives is not. And it's a task
that KEYTV takes on with pride, because if you want
to be a creative, you have to be able to create,
and that takes money. And it's keytv's mission to find
(12:36):
the funds for you to be in practice, for you
to experience trial and error, and to take your projects
off the page and get more than one chance to
do it in action. So whether you like it all
or some or none, I say, give these creatives a
chance to grow as we continue to grow in supporting them.
Speaker 1 (13:01):
I'm now going to play for you, guys what Nikiah Stevens,
you know who Kiki Pomer was also just referencing, had
to say. Once the backlash started going, you know, really crazy,
let's say listen.
Speaker 4 (13:11):
Hello, Hi, I wanted to come on here and first
and foremost say thank you so much for watching the
Southern fried Rice trailer. I'm seeing the comments, I'm seeing
the support, I'm seeing the discourse, and as a storyteller,
I welcome it. I welcome conversation, I welcome curiosity. And
for those of you who've been following me and supporting
(13:33):
my journey, y'all know that Southern Fried Rice is ten
plus years in the making, and you know it was
inspired by my own HBCU experience and observations as a
student at Savana Say University, the first public HBCU in Georgia.
But no, I had friends at Savannah State University and
(13:55):
people in my orbit who were non black and had
to navigate a historically black space.
Speaker 1 (14:02):
And I saw.
Speaker 4 (14:03):
How hard and challenging and fun and beautiful it was
for them to do so, and that sparked my curiosity
and honestly planted the seed for Southern fried Rice. And
obviously over the years it has been massaged into something
more deeper and nuanced, but that was ultimately the seed,
right And I think my ultimate goal was to spark
(14:27):
conversation around culture, around belonging, and around identity, and so
that's what I think I've done, and I'm very proud
of Southern fried Rice. Furthermore, I'm very proud of the
people behind Southern Fried Rice. Other than me, the people
I collaborated with, so a black woman director who also
attended an HBCU, three producers who also attended HBCUs, some
(14:54):
of our cast and crew also attended HBCU. So these
are people who love and protect black co culture and
hold it close to their hearts who were collaborating on
this project. And so yeah, I'm proud of it. And
I'm also first and foremost I already said first and foremost.
Second most, I have to say thank you to Kiki
(15:16):
and KETV for allowing me the opportunities, like this is
my fourth project with KTV, so.
Speaker 2 (15:22):
We'll cut it there.
Speaker 1 (15:23):
So I think one of the important things is Number One,
Nikia making it very clear that she attended at HBCU,
and several other creators on their projects also went to HBCUs.
And I know that a lot of Nikias work, not
even a lot like I would say, you know, and
this is me just going off of what I see
in Passing and I'm just like, you know, I'm scrolling,
(15:45):
liking and just you know, keeping it going. I'm not
like a die hard, you know, avid watcher of all
the Nikia's content, but Nikki Stevens and Dann Wright originals,
I would say at least ninety percent of their content
and things that they focus on are black centric or
black focused when it comes to storytelling and like why
they're telling a story and whose story they are actually telling.
Speaker 2 (16:03):
I mean, she's not new to this. It's what I'm conveying.
Speaker 1 (16:05):
But I wouldn't even call it a mistake because I
think are is subjective and I think we also have
not even watched the full series to really be able
to critique it and call it some of the things
that it's being called being. It's being called tone deaf,
it's being called disrespectful, it's being called invasive, Like you know,
we're allowing people to just come in. People are having
(16:26):
conversations about why don't we learn to gate keep what
it's ours. I think that you know, And I would
say this even if I didn't know Nikiya Stevens and
didn't know the work of Dan Right Originals, only because
now I feel like, you know, being in a space
that I'm in, I can understand how you can put
something into the world and your intention and the actual
messaging and your intention can be one thing, but it
(16:48):
can hit a completely different way, and and people just
you know, don't give it the chance because of that
first initial hit and then your intention and and other
things are you just don't get the fair shot for
it to be conveyed. So I'm gonna watch the full
series and I'll come back here and do a full
breakdown of the full series and another you know, follow
up you know episode and review on it once I do.
(17:09):
But I will say though, just off of you know,
the trailer, the premise and all the background information that
I've collected, I do understand why people are upset. I'm
not a person that's gonna ever call for somebody not
to be able to tell a certain story, not to
be able to do a certain thing. I haven't seen
a full series, so I'm not gonna write it off,
especially because, like Kiki Palmer said, I know how hard
it is just to be able to do what Ni
(17:31):
Kid is doing, and she does it very well.
Speaker 2 (17:33):
But I do understand the upset. I want to share
a personal story.
Speaker 1 (17:36):
When I came into Delaware State University, my college picks
and the schools that I applied to, I think I
applied to maybe two or three HBCUs. I didn't really
know much about HBCUs. I only knew of Delaware State
because I had a mentor who is also a Delta,
which is a Greek sorority, a part of the Divine
Nine on HBCU campuses, was a graduate of the school.
My goal was to get into like a big city school,
(17:57):
so I wanted to go to like an NYU or
USC or something like that.
Speaker 2 (18:00):
Temple.
Speaker 1 (18:01):
Anything that was going to put me in a position
where I could like act and model and do the
things that I'm doing now didn't happen. Ended up at
Delaware State University. And I remember the first thing, literally,
like the first thing that I was told when I
decided to go to Dell State was you know, you
want to model and you want to work in entertainment.
It's going to be so hard for you to be
able to do that because number one, you're going to.
Speaker 2 (18:23):
Be in Dover. You're going to be in the middle
of nowhere.
Speaker 1 (18:25):
Nobody supports HBCUs and HBCU students, nor those conversations around
the school. People don't even think that those schools are legit.
People are going to look at your degree and not
think it's legit. You're not going to be able to
do things you want to do on a high level.
It's going to be hard. That was the narrative that
was given to me when I headed to my HBCU.
I got there and hit campus and I was like,
(18:46):
I don't care about none of that. This school makes
me feel good, Like this school makes me understand my
place in the world because I see all these people
that look like me, that have the balance between like
I can have a good time, I can achieve, I
can do all these things. But at the same time,
I'm going somewhere and like I'm going to disrupt when
I get there. It was just, I don't know, It's
a feeling that I can't really explain anybody who's went
to an HBCU. You understand exactly what I'm saying. But
(19:07):
it's a very sacred and a very like, my experience
is not another HBCU students experience. But I think we
can all we all can understand. I think this is
why as alumni we go so hard for our schools.
That's sacred. I want to protect just keeping certain things
in that experience and that connection that you're able to
make with yourself and make with the fact that like
you're black and you're needed in this world that the
(19:29):
school gives you. You want to protect that feeling. So
I'm at my HBCU, I'm doing, you know, all the things,
having a great time. My senior year comes and we
slowly start seeing more white people on campus, and we
used to make jokes about it, like we used to
be like, oh, every white person we saw on campus,
we used to be like, oh, they got to be
on their questioning team. And then I remember I graduated.
I graduated in twenty fourteen from Delaware State University and
(19:51):
came back to school. Now the following year twenty fifteen.
Dale State at that time was bringing in about four
thousand new students per year and only eleven percent of
the were white or non black, not a big percentage,
but it is a different type of life experience and
feeling when you are the majority not the minority. So
you got to still experience that. A few years past,
and I remember it was a big thing that Delawares
(20:13):
University had this like big huge influx of non black
student enrollment, and there was a big discourse online about
it amongst students, amongst alumni because there was this feeling
of like, Okay, this is supposed to be ours, like
this is supposed to be even everything down to like
the music, the dances, the way that we talked to
(20:34):
each other, the way that the teachers loved on us
and spoke to us, and you know it just the
community of it all that is such a big thing
on HBCU campus. And I think the minute that you
think about, you know, bringing non black people into that
space to matriculate through that school, you get the sense
of the feeling that that goes away. Now again, I
wasn't there when this happened on my campus, so I
(20:56):
don't know what the feeling and if the feeling changed,
but I can tell.
Speaker 2 (20:59):
You how I felt watching it.
Speaker 1 (21:01):
I felt bad for the students that were on campus
and having to come behind me. And the reason why
is because I do think that there is a conversation
that we never ever have as black people because we
normally have to just shut up, put our head down,
and do the work because we are the minority and
not the majority. Your world and your life are just
different when you are surrounded by your people. The way
you talk, the way you hold your head, the way
(21:22):
you dress, the way you glow, everything is different. The
minute you bring people from outside of that, and no
matter where they've grown up, the type of family they've
come from, how much slang they know, how much hip
hop they know, anything, it's just different. You have to
pull your pants up and look and walk and talk
and posture yourself a different way being on an HBCU campus.
The beauty of that you learn that right, You learn
(21:44):
how to navigate in the world and protect yourself and
keep yourself alive. But it's a reprieve, it's a breath
of fresh air. It is a comfort space because you
don't have to do it every day in your day
to day like you do in the world, because the
world is looking at you and putting you behind the
eight ball all the time. That doesn't happen on your
HBCU campus, But instantly, when you begin to see others
(22:04):
that don't look like you in this space, you do it.
It's just a natural thing that we do. We call
it duality or our ability to code switch. But if
you think about how instantly you do that and how
you've been raised all of your life, if you're a
black person listening to this, to do that, it's exhausting
after a while. It is very exhausting after a while.
And it was great to be in a space where
(22:25):
I never had to feel that exhaustion. So I felt
bad for a lot of the students after me because
I'm like that feeling of never having to feel that exhaustion.
Even though they're going to be the majority versus the minority,
it's just going to be different.
Speaker 2 (22:36):
So I get people's upset. I also get the upset because.
Speaker 1 (22:40):
Then I'm one of the people that believe that we
don't get keep like I think certain things should be
kept for us. And it's okay, Like I don't necessarily
want to hear about, you know, a non black person's
experience at an HBCU because to me, being at a
HBCU and being the black person who had to accept
the non black person, it's always like, well, why are
(23:01):
you here, what are you here for?
Speaker 2 (23:03):
And why can't this just be ours?
Speaker 1 (23:05):
This has all of the makeup of everything that is
going to piss somebody off. And I actually hope that
every single person that has had something to say about
this series, both positive and negative, take the time to
watch it, because I think it's only fair. If you're
going to critique something, you need to know exactly what
you're critiquing and why. And we don't know that to
the full extent yet. We don't know kind of how
(23:25):
this story maps out.
Speaker 2 (23:26):
Don't know.
Speaker 1 (23:27):
Nikia is super like personally, but I know her work
and I can speak to her work enough to know
that nothing about what she has ever done and never
put out into the world was harming of us or
for us and for our stories ever that I've seen.
I want to give her, you know, the benefit of
the doubt and watch it, get some full context on it,
and then I'll be back and have a conversation with
you guys. You know about what I think, and I'm
(23:49):
open to having a Kiya and Key Key Palmer come
on the podcast and have the conversation. I think that
would be a dope episode as well, but I think
we got to give us some time. But I do
think though that this should be a lesson to all
creatives because what I right, I hope that when I
go watch this series, when you're gonna take a chance
like that and there's a shock factor like seeing a
non black person at a coveted black space like an HBCU,
(24:10):
you gotta really really really know what you're doing, not
even know what you're doing, because the kid knows what
she's doing, but you gotta really really really make sure
as much as you can because things are always miscontrued,
but as much as you can. You gotta make sure
that your art is laying as close to your intention
as it can be, and you're doing everything you can
to make sure you getting all your points acrossing you
know what I mean? Dotcha, I cross your t's if
(24:31):
you are the creator, because this is very sensitive to people.
For some people, hbc USED is the only space they've
ever experienced that was okay for them to be them,
and then they went on into a world that was
like YO, put your head down, I'm humble you real quick,
so it's very sensitive to us.
Speaker 2 (24:45):
You know what I mean?
Speaker 1 (24:45):
So I get it again. Wanna watch the series. It's
via key TV. It is called Southern Front Rice and
I'll be back with an update once I watch. This
is the Latest with Laura La Rosa. At the end
of the day, y'all could be anywhere with anybody having
a conversation about these topics, but y'all choose to be
right here within me, lowriders. I appreciate you guys every
(25:06):
single time, in every single episode.
Speaker 2 (25:07):
I'm Laura l Rosa. This is the Latest, and I
will catch you guys in my next episode. Oh and
please take it to the streets and the tweet you
call the truths be.
Speaker 1 (25:16):
Outside, we Outside, We outside outside, tweet every other page
at me, Laura Lo Rosa, l O R E N
l O R O s A everywhere. I want to
hear your thoughts on this. I want to hear your thoughts.
Let's talk about it. I'll be back
I'm a homegrow that knows a little bit about everything
and everybody. I don't know if you don't lie about that, right,
Lauri can't even Hey, y'all, what's up.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
It's Laura Rosa and this is the latest with Laura l. Rosa.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
This is your daily dig on all things pop culture, entertainment, news,
and all of the conversations that shake the room.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Baby.
Speaker 1 (00:22):
Now today we are going to get into a conversation
that is shaking the room. The Internet, the comments, all
of the things. Kecky Palmer, our girl is sugarl Key
Key Palmer. Kecky Palmer has just unveiled a new series
via her digital network called Key TV. And this network,
(00:42):
you know, works with a ton of black producers, directors,
writers to bring series and you know, just different pieces
of content and art to the world. This week, she
premiered a trailer for a series called Southern Fried Rice
from her Key TV network. And when I tell y'all,
it is getting drag I have seen. To be honest
with y'all, I wouldn't have even known that this series
(01:04):
dropped unless I saw all of the backlash about the
series itself. And granted I knew Keky Palmer had key TV.
I follow key TV on Instagram, but y'all know the
algorithm don't be algorithming sometimes, so you might not see
every post and everything.
Speaker 2 (01:19):
So I hadn't heard of this series.
Speaker 1 (01:21):
I just knew she was, you know, doing stuff over
there in that space because I have a person, Because
I have a person that I know, a writer, a director, fire,
just creative, a black woman named Nikiah Stevens, and I
have known her and just in a work setting for
some years. I actually interviewed her back in like twenty twenty,
(01:45):
twenty twenty one for a short series that I had.
It was during the pandemic, when you know, all the
corporates were letting black people have a voice. I had
a series, a digital series at TMZ called Piece of
the Pie, and it was pretty cool. I got a
chance to like go out and find different creatives, so directors,
(02:05):
casting directors, producers, executive producers, actors, musicians, painters, you know, whatever,
whoever I thought was like dope fire at the time
that had a story to tell or was telling stories
in a way that I thought was fire in a
way that I admired. I got the platform them, so
I did an interview with Nikia Stevens then, which is
(02:28):
when I knew of her. Was following her a bit,
but she came highly recommended through some friends when I
put out some casting fillers for that series and I
got a chance to have a conversation with her. After
I got a chance to have a conversation with her,
I was like, Oh, sis is dope, and I admired
the fact that everything she was doing, like she has
a production company called Damn Wright Originals. And I'm telling
(02:48):
you guys about Nikia Stevens because Nikiya Stevens is actually
the executive producer of this series Southern Fried Right. She
works with Kiki Palmer and the team over there at
key TV. One of the things I admired was her company.
So she had a company called Damn Right Originals that
was doing so much in the digital storytelling space, and
that's always been a goal of mine. Ester Ray was
one of the people that I've always looked at as
(03:10):
like a north star and everything that she has done
via her YouTube channel, you know, an awkward black girl.
But also for those who don't know, Ester Ray used
to platform smaller series via her YouTube channel, Digital series
and Nikia was doing that, and she was on a
ton of other things, and I was like, Okay, this
is dope, Like I'm here for met her then and
then she went on to begin working with Keiki Palmer,
(03:32):
which was also fired to see because I just knew.
I'm like, okay, Keky Palmer has the platform. Kiki Palmer
is the girl like you know in all of the
movie series the Studios Lover. That's a great place for
Niki to be at period. And black creatives don't get,
you know, the ample opportunities, especially not in a Hollywood
(03:54):
you know, movie making TV, show making series making space.
It just doesn't happen because they ain't telling that many
of our stories. So I thought it was dope. So
fast forward, I start to see all this backlash online
about this show. And you guys know, I went to
a HBCU. I graduated from Delaware State University. So my algorithm,
(04:14):
especially in October, and that's why I'm like, yo, they
chose a hell of a month to drop a series
about an HBCU that was going to get dragged because
it's homecoming season. So if you not feeling black atty
black and black black, y'all in February. You do it
in October homecoming season, everybody's hitting up the homecomings. You
know what I mean, you and your prairie, all your gear,
repping your schools.
Speaker 2 (04:34):
Remember you know why you got to keep your head
to the side.
Speaker 1 (04:37):
Y'all know all the things super super black in October,
especially if you graduated from HBCU. So the series started
popping up on my feed because I started seeing people
on Instagram, on x and on threads pissed off and
having a conversation about Keiki Palmer saying that she's tone
deaf because of the series. I didn't really pay too
much attention to it at first, if I'm being honest
with y'all, only because ever since the you know, Kekey
(05:00):
Palmer's teasing that Jonathan Major's episode for her talk show
that she does it's Kekey Palmer and her podcast with
her mom and then pulling it down. I feel like
sometimes with Kekey Palmer, like she gets unfair criticism because
people look at her as perfect because she is the girl.
Speaker 2 (05:15):
She's been you know.
Speaker 1 (05:16):
Pedestaled and polished and not even like because it's something
that she wants, because if you meet her, she's just
out here living her life, doing her thing work and
getting her money and going home to her son. But
I think the world does that because she's always presented
so well, like she's such a great actress, such an
accomplished actress. You know, everything that she's ever done, we've
always known her to do it so well. So the
(05:37):
minute Kekey Palmer does anything that is not so well
or approved, the world exposed. So I thought it was
just like one of those moments, like, Okay, a moment
is happening, it'll come, it'll go whatever. And then I
saw Kekey Palmer respond to it. I'm like, Okay, this
must be really big. So I did some digging found
out that Nikiah Stevens was a part of the project,
and I'm like, okay, let's have a conversation about this.
(05:59):
So the series Southern Fried Rice from KEYTV is a
series about a Korean American girl who is adopted by
a Southern Black family. This girl decides that she wants
to go to an HBCU. You know, the premise of
this is that all of her life she's been accepted
by her small town and the people in her small town,
and now she goes to this HBCU. And I will
(06:21):
say the HBCU is a fictional HBCU, and that is
important because one thing black people don't play about is
who did the body spades? And if you renig the
HBCUs and then when you on campus, the Greek fraternities
and sororities like the oh and Edges and yeah in
Greez and your scalp, those are the things that.
Speaker 2 (06:41):
We ain't compromising that.
Speaker 1 (06:42):
So they made sure that the HBCU was fictional, which
is why it's important to have black creatives telling black stories,
because yeah, that's important. But so she goes to HBCU
and you know, while there, she's not as accepted, and
she's definitely not as accepted just because she has a
black family. So she you know, the story or the
series is all about watching her go through that. Let's
(07:04):
take a listen to the trailer.
Speaker 3 (07:05):
All right, say geez, okay, I know I got some
explaining to do. Let's start with the elephant in the room.
Speaker 2 (07:15):
Yes, I'm n Asian.
Speaker 3 (07:17):
Yes my family is black, and yes I've always been
hard to miss.
Speaker 4 (07:23):
This is Coco Cottage is once you make this, once
you arrest yourself in the opportunities here, I'm sure that
you will find w has so much.
Speaker 2 (07:32):
Tougher I mean to her or not too he.
Speaker 4 (07:37):
Lie, don't forget who you are, Coco, that girl Jackson.
Speaker 3 (07:43):
For a lot of people, this is hard to understand,
but black culture is the only culture I know.
Speaker 1 (07:50):
Okay, Now, this is set in a you know, present
day time, and the conversation that this is supposed to
spark are all things that happen in the college experience
from the creators of this series, from their perspective anyway,
So you know, it's going into the conversations about privilege, identity, DEI, ScDs, relationships,
(08:12):
you know, all the things. It's one of those series
from what it seems like, because again it's not out.
I just saw the trailer.
Speaker 2 (08:17):
That's it. That's all we got.
Speaker 1 (08:18):
But it seems like it's one of those series that
uses something that it's kind of shock value a little
bit to real you in to have very vulnerable and
real conversations about things that people are coming up against
every day on these HBCU campuses or honestly, I feel
like you even go through those conversations and those experiences
as graduates of HBCUs because once we graduate, we go
(08:40):
into the world that isn't you know, all things black
fried Chicken Wednesdays celebratory of the culture. A lot of
our workspaces are not you know, all black. We are
one a few, one of many. And it's kind of
like a culture shock, Like you're in this bubble of
a world for four years out of HBCU. In HBCU
for those who don't know, stands for Historically Black College University.
And it's a celebration of like you being you, and
(09:03):
you understanding and learning in real time through education and
through life experience why the world needs you and why
being black is such a life changing thing and a
world changing thing like and the campus in the school
prepares you to go out into the world and just
spread that glitter all over and make your mark on
the world.
Speaker 2 (09:21):
That's the slogan on my HBC youh schuld I call
delaus State University.
Speaker 1 (09:24):
But yes, so these conversations are you know, supposed to
be sparked by these series, But baby, when I tell
you that is not any of the conversation that is
happening online around this right now. And seeing some of
the backlash on different outlets and seeing Keiky Palmer have
to respond and we're going to get to Kekey Palmer's response.
I then went and looked at, you know, directly, what
(09:45):
are people's direct response to this trailer. So I went
to the comments on the key tv Instagram account and
I'm gonna just read a few comments. So there's one
comment under here that says, in this current climate where
they're snatching funding and literally trying to erase our school, well,
question Mark, we have a responsibility to amplify our own
stories and perspectives now more than ever, and we're centering
(10:06):
that perspective on an Asian girl rocking bamboo earrings?
Speaker 2 (10:10):
Question Mark? Is this not a bit tone Deafkiki?
Speaker 1 (10:14):
And then another comment says, even if she grew up
in black culture, why not further were her Asian culture?
It's another beautiful ethnic culture. If this were reversed, would
it hit the same Another person says, is there going
to be an episode where Asian people begin demanding the
destruction of affirmative action because there are too many black
people at Ivy League schools? And she defends them. Another
(10:35):
comment says, I think this project seems dope. Regardless of
what people may say, it is not your job to
tell all the black stories. Hell, the people telling you
to tell them ain't even spreading the word. These stories
are important too. You have a lot of people growing
up outside of whatever culture they're originally from, constantly feeling
judged and misunderstood, and people only ever try to make
sense of it from a mixed black and white person,
(10:57):
never seen from the point of view like this.
Speaker 2 (10:59):
I can't wait to watch.
Speaker 1 (11:01):
So comments are in shambles under the trailer, and this
has been going on for days. At this point, there's
you know, full on think pieces all over threads and
x and in all the spaces. So Kiki Palmer herself
had to get online and respond.
Speaker 2 (11:19):
I did see that.
Speaker 1 (11:19):
Nikia Stevens, who again I told you guys, as an
executive producer and one of the creators behind this project.
Speaker 2 (11:24):
She did respond also.
Speaker 1 (11:26):
But Kiki Palmer posted a video which is being picked
up by a lot of the news outlets. Let's take
a listen to what Keky Palmer had.
Speaker 5 (11:32):
To say that I don't wanna take up too much of
your time, but I wanted to chop it up real
quick about this series called Southern fr Fried Rice that's
premiering on key TV that is receiving some controversial feedback. Now,
Southern Fried Rice was created by Nikia Stevens, and while
I can't speak to her inspiration for the show, I
can speak to her dedication as a creative. I mean,
(11:53):
Nikia has written, show, ran and produced four shows alongside
her Damn Right Originals team with key TV and KEGV
has proudly invested over a half a million dollars on
her creations. And I say that because it's not easy
to obtain that kind of investment. And KEYTV this is
the ethos of the company. It's a network not just
(12:14):
because it has stars and shows or has talent, but
because it's about the people who create the shows and
connecting them. Look, what you like is subjective, but the
support of black creatives is not. And it's a task
that KEYTV takes on with pride, because if you want
to be a creative, you have to be able to create,
and that takes money. And it's keytv's mission to find
(12:36):
the funds for you to be in practice, for you
to experience trial and error, and to take your projects
off the page and get more than one chance to
do it in action. So whether you like it all
or some or none, I say, give these creatives a
chance to grow as we continue to grow in supporting them.
Speaker 1 (13:01):
I'm now going to play for you, guys what Nikiah Stevens,
you know who Kiki Pomer was also just referencing, had
to say. Once the backlash started going, you know, really crazy,
let's say listen.
Speaker 4 (13:11):
Hello, Hi, I wanted to come on here and first
and foremost say thank you so much for watching the
Southern fried Rice trailer. I'm seeing the comments, I'm seeing
the support, I'm seeing the discourse, and as a storyteller,
I welcome it. I welcome conversation, I welcome curiosity. And
for those of you who've been following me and supporting
(13:33):
my journey, y'all know that Southern Fried Rice is ten
plus years in the making, and you know it was
inspired by my own HBCU experience and observations as a
student at Savana Say University, the first public HBCU in Georgia.
But no, I had friends at Savannah State University and
(13:55):
people in my orbit who were non black and had
to navigate a historically black space.
Speaker 1 (14:02):
And I saw.
Speaker 4 (14:03):
How hard and challenging and fun and beautiful it was
for them to do so, and that sparked my curiosity
and honestly planted the seed for Southern fried Rice. And
obviously over the years it has been massaged into something
more deeper and nuanced, but that was ultimately the seed,
right And I think my ultimate goal was to spark
(14:27):
conversation around culture, around belonging, and around identity, and so
that's what I think I've done, and I'm very proud
of Southern fried Rice. Furthermore, I'm very proud of the
people behind Southern Fried Rice. Other than me, the people
I collaborated with, so a black woman director who also
attended an HBCU, three producers who also attended HBCUs, some
(14:54):
of our cast and crew also attended HBCU. So these
are people who love and protect black co culture and
hold it close to their hearts who were collaborating on
this project. And so yeah, I'm proud of it. And
I'm also first and foremost I already said first and foremost.
Second most, I have to say thank you to Kiki
(15:16):
and KETV for allowing me the opportunities, like this is
my fourth project with KTV, so.
Speaker 2 (15:22):
We'll cut it there.
Speaker 1 (15:23):
So I think one of the important things is Number One,
Nikia making it very clear that she attended at HBCU,
and several other creators on their projects also went to HBCUs.
And I know that a lot of Nikias work, not
even a lot like I would say, you know, and
this is me just going off of what I see
in Passing and I'm just like, you know, I'm scrolling,
(15:45):
liking and just you know, keeping it going. I'm not
like a die hard, you know, avid watcher of all
the Nikia's content, but Nikki Stevens and Dann Wright originals,
I would say at least ninety percent of their content
and things that they focus on are black centric or
black focused when it comes to storytelling and like why
they're telling a story and whose story they are actually telling.
Speaker 2 (16:03):
I mean, she's not new to this. It's what I'm conveying.
Speaker 1 (16:05):
But I wouldn't even call it a mistake because I
think are is subjective and I think we also have
not even watched the full series to really be able
to critique it and call it some of the things
that it's being called being. It's being called tone deaf,
it's being called disrespectful, it's being called invasive, Like you know,
we're allowing people to just come in. People are having
(16:26):
conversations about why don't we learn to gate keep what
it's ours. I think that you know, And I would
say this even if I didn't know Nikiya Stevens and
didn't know the work of Dan Right Originals, only because
now I feel like, you know, being in a space
that I'm in, I can understand how you can put
something into the world and your intention and the actual
messaging and your intention can be one thing, but it
(16:48):
can hit a completely different way, and and people just
you know, don't give it the chance because of that
first initial hit and then your intention and and other
things are you just don't get the fair shot for
it to be conveyed. So I'm gonna watch the full
series and I'll come back here and do a full
breakdown of the full series and another you know, follow
up you know episode and review on it once I do.
(17:09):
But I will say though, just off of you know,
the trailer, the premise and all the background information that
I've collected, I do understand why people are upset. I'm
not a person that's gonna ever call for somebody not
to be able to tell a certain story, not to
be able to do a certain thing. I haven't seen
a full series, so I'm not gonna write it off,
especially because, like Kiki Palmer said, I know how hard
it is just to be able to do what Ni
(17:31):
Kid is doing, and she does it very well.
Speaker 2 (17:33):
But I do understand the upset. I want to share
a personal story.
Speaker 1 (17:36):
When I came into Delaware State University, my college picks
and the schools that I applied to, I think I
applied to maybe two or three HBCUs. I didn't really
know much about HBCUs. I only knew of Delaware State
because I had a mentor who is also a Delta,
which is a Greek sorority, a part of the Divine
Nine on HBCU campuses, was a graduate of the school.
My goal was to get into like a big city school,
(17:57):
so I wanted to go to like an NYU or
USC or something like that.
Speaker 2 (18:00):
Temple.
Speaker 1 (18:01):
Anything that was going to put me in a position
where I could like act and model and do the
things that I'm doing now didn't happen. Ended up at
Delaware State University. And I remember the first thing, literally,
like the first thing that I was told when I
decided to go to Dell State was you know, you
want to model and you want to work in entertainment.
It's going to be so hard for you to be
able to do that because number one, you're going to.
Speaker 2 (18:23):
Be in Dover. You're going to be in the middle
of nowhere.
Speaker 1 (18:25):
Nobody supports HBCUs and HBCU students, nor those conversations around
the school. People don't even think that those schools are legit.
People are going to look at your degree and not
think it's legit. You're not going to be able to
do things you want to do on a high level.
It's going to be hard. That was the narrative that
was given to me when I headed to my HBCU.
I got there and hit campus and I was like,
(18:46):
I don't care about none of that. This school makes
me feel good, Like this school makes me understand my
place in the world because I see all these people
that look like me, that have the balance between like
I can have a good time, I can achieve, I
can do all these things. But at the same time,
I'm going somewhere and like I'm going to disrupt when
I get there. It was just, I don't know, It's
a feeling that I can't really explain anybody who's went
to an HBCU. You understand exactly what I'm saying. But
(19:07):
it's a very sacred and a very like, my experience
is not another HBCU students experience. But I think we
can all we all can understand. I think this is
why as alumni we go so hard for our schools.
That's sacred. I want to protect just keeping certain things
in that experience and that connection that you're able to
make with yourself and make with the fact that like
you're black and you're needed in this world that the
(19:29):
school gives you. You want to protect that feeling. So
I'm at my HBCU, I'm doing, you know, all the things,
having a great time. My senior year comes and we
slowly start seeing more white people on campus, and we
used to make jokes about it, like we used to
be like, oh, every white person we saw on campus,
we used to be like, oh, they got to be
on their questioning team. And then I remember I graduated.
I graduated in twenty fourteen from Delaware State University and
(19:51):
came back to school. Now the following year twenty fifteen.
Dale State at that time was bringing in about four
thousand new students per year and only eleven percent of
the were white or non black, not a big percentage,
but it is a different type of life experience and
feeling when you are the majority not the minority. So
you got to still experience that. A few years past,
and I remember it was a big thing that Delawares
(20:13):
University had this like big huge influx of non black
student enrollment, and there was a big discourse online about
it amongst students, amongst alumni because there was this feeling
of like, Okay, this is supposed to be ours, like
this is supposed to be even everything down to like
the music, the dances, the way that we talked to
(20:34):
each other, the way that the teachers loved on us
and spoke to us, and you know it just the
community of it all that is such a big thing
on HBCU campus. And I think the minute that you
think about, you know, bringing non black people into that
space to matriculate through that school, you get the sense
of the feeling that that goes away. Now again, I
wasn't there when this happened on my campus, so I
(20:56):
don't know what the feeling and if the feeling changed,
but I can tell.
Speaker 2 (20:59):
You how I felt watching it.
Speaker 1 (21:01):
I felt bad for the students that were on campus
and having to come behind me. And the reason why
is because I do think that there is a conversation
that we never ever have as black people because we
normally have to just shut up, put our head down,
and do the work because we are the minority and
not the majority. Your world and your life are just
different when you are surrounded by your people. The way
you talk, the way you hold your head, the way
(21:22):
you dress, the way you glow, everything is different. The
minute you bring people from outside of that, and no
matter where they've grown up, the type of family they've
come from, how much slang they know, how much hip
hop they know, anything, it's just different. You have to
pull your pants up and look and walk and talk
and posture yourself a different way being on an HBCU campus.
The beauty of that you learn that right, You learn
(21:44):
how to navigate in the world and protect yourself and
keep yourself alive. But it's a reprieve, it's a breath
of fresh air. It is a comfort space because you
don't have to do it every day in your day
to day like you do in the world, because the
world is looking at you and putting you behind the
eight ball all the time. That doesn't happen on your
HBCU campus, But instantly, when you begin to see others
(22:04):
that don't look like you in this space, you do it.
It's just a natural thing that we do. We call
it duality or our ability to code switch. But if
you think about how instantly you do that and how
you've been raised all of your life, if you're a
black person listening to this, to do that, it's exhausting
after a while. It is very exhausting after a while.
And it was great to be in a space where
(22:25):
I never had to feel that exhaustion. So I felt
bad for a lot of the students after me because
I'm like that feeling of never having to feel that exhaustion.
Even though they're going to be the majority versus the minority,
it's just going to be different.
Speaker 2 (22:36):
So I get people's upset. I also get the upset because.
Speaker 1 (22:40):
Then I'm one of the people that believe that we
don't get keep like I think certain things should be
kept for us. And it's okay, Like I don't necessarily
want to hear about, you know, a non black person's
experience at an HBCU because to me, being at a
HBCU and being the black person who had to accept
the non black person, it's always like, well, why are
(23:01):
you here, what are you here for?
Speaker 2 (23:03):
And why can't this just be ours?
Speaker 1 (23:05):
This has all of the makeup of everything that is
going to piss somebody off. And I actually hope that
every single person that has had something to say about
this series, both positive and negative, take the time to
watch it, because I think it's only fair. If you're
going to critique something, you need to know exactly what
you're critiquing and why. And we don't know that to
the full extent yet. We don't know kind of how
(23:25):
this story maps out.
Speaker 2 (23:26):
Don't know.
Speaker 1 (23:27):
Nikia is super like personally, but I know her work
and I can speak to her work enough to know
that nothing about what she has ever done and never
put out into the world was harming of us or
for us and for our stories ever that I've seen.
I want to give her, you know, the benefit of
the doubt and watch it, get some full context on it,
and then I'll be back and have a conversation with
you guys. You know about what I think, and I'm
(23:49):
open to having a Kiya and Key Key Palmer come
on the podcast and have the conversation. I think that
would be a dope episode as well, but I think
we got to give us some time. But I do
think though that this should be a lesson to all
creatives because what I right, I hope that when I
go watch this series, when you're gonna take a chance
like that and there's a shock factor like seeing a
non black person at a coveted black space like an HBCU,
(24:10):
you gotta really really really know what you're doing, not
even know what you're doing, because the kid knows what
she's doing, but you gotta really really really make sure
as much as you can because things are always miscontrued,
but as much as you can. You gotta make sure
that your art is laying as close to your intention
as it can be, and you're doing everything you can
to make sure you getting all your points acrossing you
know what I mean? Dotcha, I cross your t's if
(24:31):
you are the creator, because this is very sensitive to people.
For some people, hbc USED is the only space they've
ever experienced that was okay for them to be them,
and then they went on into a world that was
like YO, put your head down, I'm humble you real quick,
so it's very sensitive to us.
Speaker 2 (24:45):
You know what I mean?
Speaker 1 (24:45):
So I get it again. Wanna watch the series. It's
via key TV. It is called Southern Front Rice and
I'll be back with an update once I watch. This
is the Latest with Laura La Rosa. At the end
of the day, y'all could be anywhere with anybody having
a conversation about these topics, but y'all choose to be
right here within me, lowriders. I appreciate you guys every
(25:06):
single time, in every single episode.
Speaker 2 (25:07):
I'm Laura l Rosa. This is the Latest, and I
will catch you guys in my next episode. Oh and
please take it to the streets and the tweet you
call the truths be.
Speaker 1 (25:16):
Outside, we Outside, We outside outside, tweet every other page
at me, Laura Lo Rosa, l O R E N
l O R O s A everywhere. I want to
hear your thoughts on this. I want to hear your thoughts.
Let's talk about it. I'll be back
The Breakfast Club News
Hosts And Creators
Charlamagne Tha God
DJ Envy
Jess Hilarious
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
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.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
CrimeLess: Hillbilly Heist
It’s 1996 in rural North Carolina, and an oddball crew makes history when they pull off America’s third largest cash heist. But it’s all downhill from there. Join host Johnny Knoxville as he unspools a wild and woolly tale about a group of regular ‘ol folks who risked it all for a chance at a better life. CrimeLess: Hillbilly Heist answers the question: what would you do with 17.3 million dollars? The answer includes diamond rings, mansions, velvet Elvis paintings, plus a run for the border, murder-for-hire-plots, and FBI busts.