October 28, 2025 • 47 mins
In this special drop, Tom, Jeff, and Bun B introduce Two Mothers, One Aché: A Grief Dialogue, a powerful new series from Merrick Studios about love, loss, and the courage to heal out loud. You’ll hear why this show matters, why it belongs on our network, and why Bun is stepping up not just as a co-sign—but as a future guest.
Then we get into last week’s headline: VIBE Magazine is teaming up with Rolling Stone. Smart evolution or culture grab? We break down what this means for hip hop journalism, why VIBE never lost its credibility, and who deserves the first cover when the new era begins. What do you think? We’re taking bets.
And please, stay to the end for a sneak preview of Episode 1 of Two Mothers, One Aché: A Grief Dialogue. Tap in now to Unglossy.
"Unglossy with Bun B" is produced and distributed by Merrick Studio and hosted by Bun B, Tom Frank and Jeffrey Sledge. Tune in to hear this thought-provoking discussion on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you catch your podcasts. Follow us on Instagram @UnglossyPod to join the conversation and support the show at https://unglossypod.buzzsprout.com/
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_04 (00:00):
Last week on Unglossy.
SPEAKER_07 (00:02):
It was too much therapy in it.
I didn't care.
All of that.
It was just too much.
Too much therapy?
I didn't have time for all that.
And I was the o I almost got Ialmost got murdered because when
Tony Stark died, people werecrying and I was cheering.
I was like, he's stupid.
(00:24):
He's stupid.
SPEAKER_08 (00:30):
From the top.
SPEAKER_04 (00:32):
I'm Tom Frank.
SPEAKER_08 (00:32):
I'm Jeffrey Slitch.
And I'm Bud B.
Welcome to Unglossy.
SPEAKER_04 (00:36):
Real stories, unfiltered dialogue, and the
voices moving culture beyond thegloss of hype and headlines.
SPEAKER_10 (00:42):
So buckle up, Unglossy starts now.
SPEAKER_05 (00:46):
Welcome to a special short edition of Unglossy, where
we keep it real, keep itcultural, and keep it moving.
Today we're doing something alittle different, fellas.
We're going to spotlight thelaunch of a powerful new show
from Merrick Studios, TwoMothers, One Ashe, a Grief
Dialogue.
It's a raw, beautifully humanpodcast about love, loss, and
(01:07):
the courage to speak truth.
If you're listening right now,you gotta hear this one.
And then we're gonna tap into abig move in hip hop media.
Vibe joining forces with RollingStone.
Is this a new chapter forcultural journalism or the end
of an era?
We've got some thoughts on this.
But first, two mothers, one I'llcheck, uh, a grief dialogue.
(01:30):
It's launching, guys.
We got our first like real newshow since we all started this
uh Merrick Merrick Studios.
SPEAKER_10 (01:38):
I'm excited about this one.
I'm excited about this one.
I think um this one is isimportant because no matter you
know how rich you are, poor youare, whatever your s situation
is, everybody goes through griefof of some sort, you know?
Yeah.
Um and these two women areamazing.
They've um gone through gonethrough you know heavy grief
(01:59):
things individually.
They've uh to the point wherethey've both trained at it and
they've learned from it and theycan and they help other people
out now, like therapeutically.
And I think this this show isgonna help a lot of people.
I really do.
SPEAKER_08 (02:11):
And I'm offering myself up as a guest.
Um obviously everybody knowsthat I've had a very public um
bout with dealing with grief,obviously with the loss of my my
former partner, Pim C.
Um, I think not only would thisbe an informative, you know,
first of all, it's a greatintroduction uh to having them
as a part of the network, right?
(02:31):
I think it makes for uh anepisode that a lot of people
would be interested in.
And quite frankly, I'm prettysure I'm gonna learn some things
during this interview.
I'm gonna, you know, realizekind of how far along on the
path I am because every now andthen I still speak in present
tense.
unknown (02:48):
That's what I'm saying.
SPEAKER_08 (02:48):
I'm gonna talk about them.
You know what I'm saying?
So there's a couple of thingsthat I'm gonna have some
questions about that they canmaybe help help me get to a
deeper understanding of why Ifeel a certain way about certain
things at certain times.
You know?
And hopefully, you know, andI've always made my my vow with
this public because I come froma community where people are
(03:09):
taught to keep a step up andleft.
Like crying is soft and all ofthat type of stuff.
You know what I'm saying?
So we definitely want toreframe, help reframe that
narrative for people fromunderdeserved, underserved
communities because it onlyleads them down a path of bad
decision making.
You know what I'm saying?
So everybody needs an outlet,everybody needs a proper outlet.
(03:29):
I've showed that, you know, umI've been able to use music as a
way of being cathartic aboutthings in my life, but that's
that's that tends to betemporary, you know.
And I tell people, look, you gotsomething dealing with you're
dealing with, you know, write asong about it, record a song
about it, and then take a whileand re- and think about if you
need to release it.
(03:50):
Maybe you just need to saycertain things, right?
Sometimes it's very hard to justactually vocalize what you're
feeling and what you're goingthrough.
You know what I'm saying?
So I would tell all artists, youknow, recording artists, like
use that as a way to kind ofjust get it off your chest.
And if you think it's a valid,one, a valid song, two, you
know, could help someone, right?
(04:12):
Then you should definitelyconsider releasing it.
You know what I'm saying?
A lot of people have dealt witha lot of different things, and
using music has helped them gothrough it.
Obviously, Eminem, but evenpeople like Farrell Munch, who
have been very public aboutdepression and different things.
And we don't know where thesethings stem from.
Obviously, we know with myposition, we know where it stems
from.
So I just want to not only bringon a partner that can help so
(04:34):
many people, you know what I'msaying?
But I'm bringing in a partnerthat I want to be the first one
in line for help.
You know what I'm saying?
Like to be able to show peoplethat it's a safe space.
You know what I'm saying?
Like that, that because that'sreally what it starts with.
Any of these types oftherapeutic um sessions have to
start in a safe space wherepeople feel seen, heard, and
(04:56):
protected.
So I'm gonna offer myself up,you know what I'm saying, to
this podcast as a message topeople that we here at Merrick
Studios have a safe space thatfor people that are dealing with
certain, like we're gonna haveother people that are basically
brought in to deal with othertypes of topics and whatnot.
And we've done that really goodif you think it's comic books or
if you think it's production andmastering and all of that.
(05:18):
But we're gonna start taking adeeper, more human dive into
this platform that we have andallow these things to have a
voice in our space and make surethat people know it's a safe
space for whatever it is theyneed to get through.
And we're gonna have a couple ofdifferent options.
Some some a little bit more fun,right?
You know what I'm saying?
Yeah, some a little bit, some alittle bit more deeply
(05:39):
thoughtful, right?
But at the end of the day, it'sabout helping people get past
whatever's holding them back orwhatever they think may be
holding them back from beingtheir best self.
SPEAKER_11 (05:48):
Yep.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_08 (05:49):
Yep, yep, yeah.
SPEAKER_05 (05:51):
And what's what's particularly cool about this as
looking at it from a productionside, I love these two ladies.
They are so excited, they are sopassionate about what they're
doing.
I have a lot of clients who Iexpect to call, and when things
are going bad, they called mejust to say how much they were
crying because they lovedeverything that that we're doing
(06:11):
right now.
From the trailer that that iscoming out to the first episode.
Uh, and the first episode you'regonna get to hear at the end of
this show.
So stay on and listen to it, andit'll it'll introduce you to
these two amazing women, um,Avet and Dion.
And I just, it's awesome.
SPEAKER_08 (06:27):
Yep.
I love it.
Yep.
Yep.
I can't wait.
I really cannot wait.
SPEAKER_04 (06:32):
And we'll be right back.
SPEAKER_08 (06:33):
Welcome to Merrick Studios, where stories take the
mic and culture comes alive.
SPEAKER_04 (06:38):
We're not just a merit, we're a family, bringing
you smart, soulful, unfecturedconversations.
SPEAKER_10 (06:43):
And this season, we're bringing the heat.
But our biggest lineup yet,whatever you're into, music,
sports, business, we got youcovered.
Merrick Studios, where theconversation starts and keeps
going.
SPEAKER_01 (06:54):
Check out our full lineup, including Unglossi with
Bun B, Jeffrey Sledge, andmyself, Tom Frank.
Now streaming atWeRMeritStudios.com.
SPEAKER_06 (07:03):
Master the art of lyricism with Pendulum Mink, the
first school for rap.
Learn elite techniques throughimmersive lessons, real world
exercises, and guidance from hiphop icons.
This is with MC sharpeningskills and glow boldly on the
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Ready to level up?
Visit pendulummink.com and startyour journey today.
SPEAKER_04 (07:22):
And now, back to the show.
SPEAKER_05 (07:24):
I gotta get your feedback on something else
that's happening in the worldtoday.
I'm gonna read a littlesomething to you.
That's right.
Vibe is joining forces withRolling Stone.
This caught my attention becauseVibe is one of hip hop's most
iconic media brands, and it'sentering a new a new era.
The magazine announced it'sjoining forces with Rolling
Stones in a Rolling Stone in amove that Rolling Stone is
calling a historic team up.
(07:46):
The goal is to expand RollingStone's hip-hop and RB coverage
and reignite Vibe's culturalimpact with new investment in
video, podcasts, long term, longform storytelling, social
content, and special collectorprint editions.
For a lot of people, this hits anostalgic vibe, uh, or nostalgic
nerve.
Vibe wasn't just a magazine, itwas a cultural GPS.
(08:07):
It helped hip-hop journalismchampion artists before the
mainstream recognized them anddocumented some of the most
important movements in theculture.
Now the question is whether thismove will preserve that legacy
or reshape it for a newgeneration.
So, Jeff, you were inside thegame when vibe wasn't just
covering culture, it wasdocumenting history in real
(08:28):
time.
You remember what it meant toget the vibe cover, the feature,
that cosign.
With this new chapter alongsideRolling Stone, do you see an
opportunity for vibe to bringcredibility to hip hop
journalism?
And what do they need to protectif it's still to make it still
feel authentic to the cultureyou came up in?
Um yeah.
SPEAKER_10 (08:48):
I, you know, vibe, the brand, the thing about the
vibe, the vibe brand is it neverkind of died.
It never fell off, as they say.
It didn't know the the magazine,you know, I guess, you know,
business-wise thing, it stoppedgoing, but it wasn't like our
vibe is whack now.
It never it still has thatcachet and that prestige.
And um I think there is a spacenow that that needs to be
(09:11):
filled, like you said, forwriters.
You know, people there's great,great people writing out there,
but there's kind of like theyhave the people have their own
little podcasts, own littleblogs, wherever, but there's
really no place for writers togo.
And the thing about Vibe is thatthe the writing, the writing and
the writers are all liketop-notch, press, you know,
pristine people.
Um, I've actually interviewedtwo editors, or former editors
(09:36):
of Vibe on Mixed the Mastered,Emil Wilbekin, who was there for
the bulk of it.
It's it's heyday, and he talkeda lot about what it what it
meant.
And um, because he he basicallystarted it.
He was one of the core peoplethat started it with Quincy
Jones and Dayton Thomas, whocame after him and kept the
flame going.
So I'm I'm very interested tosee the the type of talent
(09:58):
they're gonna attract nowbecause there's now there'll be
a like almost like a landingspace for people to go to.
It's like, oh man, I can I couldgo the years ago, it's like, oh,
I could go right for Vibe, Icould go right for this source
in the South.
I could go right for, you know,Ozone or some other magazine,
and and all that stuff is gone.
So I I think Vibe is gonna havethis pick of the litter on who
(10:18):
to um to pull in to write, youknow, these these stories or
these features about theculture.
I I'm looking forward to it.
I think it's gonna be dope.
SPEAKER_05 (10:28):
Do you think there's any fear that Vibe doesn't need
Rolling Stone audience?
That they're trying to, in someways, I don't know, uh I mean
that it's a different audience.
Are are they trying to to lessenwhat it means to hip hop culture
by by rolling it into RollingStone?
SPEAKER_10 (10:49):
I don't think it's uh as different as a of an
audience as it used to be.
Hip-hop is so dominating in allfacets now.
Like before it was kind of likeRolling Stone's kind of like the
rock magazine, and vibe was likethe hip-hop magazine.
And there was definitelycrossover, you know, you know,
outcasts would be in RollingStone, and you know, and uh like
you know, MGMT would be a get apiece in vibe, whatever.
(11:13):
But I I think now with hip-hopbeing as dominating of a culture
as it is, um, I think thatthere's and and hip-hop being
around now for 50 years, thatall those that audience of
Rolling Stone and Vibe, there'sa lot of there's a lot more
crossover than it used to be.
There's a lot of people that arefans of UGK and fans of um
(11:35):
Coplay.
You know what I mean?
Like there's it's kind of likethe the lines are are very
blurry now.
It's not, you know, it's notlike this or that.
It's kind of like you like both.
So I don't know, I don't thinkit's a problem at all.
SPEAKER_05 (11:47):
And Bun, so like as an artist of your era, right,
you didn't necessarily need likea viral moment.
You needed like the rightplatform to tell your story.
And Vibe was one of those rareplaces that treated hip hop with
respect.
And now that Vibe is joiningforces with Rolling Stone, do
you think there's a chance toreintroduce real storytelling in
(12:09):
hip-hop media?
And and what do you hope thisnew era remembers about where
Vibe came from and who itserved?
SPEAKER_08 (12:17):
Well, I'll I'll be very honest, Tom.
I think the people at RollingStone already understand that
right now, which is why theythey chose to acquire.
Here's my perspective on thissituation.
I believe that over the last 50years, right, where Rolling
Stone was already in businesswhen hip-hop came into fruition,
right?
And of course, they they theykind of pushed back against it,
(12:40):
and then they realized some ofit was beginning to cross over,
like a run DMC or L O Kujay, andeventually obviously the Beastie
Boys and people like that.
So I feel like Rolling Stone wasalways trying to make room in
its magazine for RB and hip-hop,right?
Particularly things that were onthe cusp or were already
becoming pop, you know, music.
(13:03):
Yeah.
But as hip-hop grows, right, inorder to really truly
incorporate hip-hop into thebrand, would be to push more
traditional rock and pop actsout of play.
This affords Rolling Stone adirect pipeline into what's new
and cutting edge in RB andhip-hop as a genre.
(13:25):
You get a, they'll get afirst-line look.
I mean, they're gonna get afirst, you know, um, what what
do we call it in uh Write andRefuse.
Right?
They're gonna have the best ofwriters because now they know
that this Vibe magazine isunderwritten by and supported
and built around Rolling Stone,which is an extremely viable
publication, an extremely viablehub for media.
(13:49):
So just alone being affiliatedwith uh Vibe Magazine, which is
now affiliated with RollingStone, raises the pedigree of
the people that write for thispublication.
I would imagine, as Jeff spokeof crossover, I would imagine
that a person that finds acertain artist and writes that
introductory piece to Vibe, ifthat artist blows up and crosses
(14:10):
over into Rolling Stone, Ibelieve they'll have that same
writer who's already on theclock be able to come over and
explain it perfectly for theirpop crowd.
I think this is a great breedingground for not just new and
seasoned artists, becausethey'll we'll need those guys to
write the new covers of Vibemagazine, right?
But I think for up-and-comingmedia, you now have a house
(14:31):
where you can show your hip-hop,your hip-hop knowledge, right?
You can show your connections tothe culture.
And quite frankly, if you'rethat good of a writer about
certain things, there's a room,not to say that Rolling Stone is
of a higher pedigree than Vibe,but I would imagine that some
people will be brought into thatbuilding at some point, right?
(14:53):
Because they will recognize,hey, he's not just a good RB
story writer, he's not just agood hip-hop writer, he's a good
writer.
You know what I'm saying?
So I feel like I feel like theyare positioning themselves not
only to have the best positionfor the talent, but also the
best positioning for the peoplewho can find the talent, write
(15:16):
to it, build a relationship,right?
And and and bring thatrelationship over to the larger
publication once that artistbecomes a bigger draw.
I think there's a lot ofopportunity here for people.
And again, Vibe, as you said,Vibe is is is already embedded
with so much hip-hop uh legacyand culture.
(15:38):
Some of the best for I mean, theyou know, the Death Row album
cover.
I mean, the death row cover ofthe magazine, that's iconic.
People still replicate thatimage to this day.
You know what I'm saying?
So it, you know, Vibe magazinehas very high hip-hop RB and for
its time, popular musicpedigree.
Let's not, let's not forget,Vibe was not a hip-hop magazine,
(15:59):
it was not an RB magazine.
It was a music and culture andtelevision.
So anything that encompassedthat, they brought it to the
table.
So there have been white people,Latina people, Asian people,
black people, all of allrepresentations of culture have
been on the cover of Vibe.
So I don't think vibe is justgonna be that.
I think they're gonna specializein it, as they always have, but
(16:21):
I think it's just a brand newidentity, um, a brand new
opportunity, excuse me.
It's a brand new opportunity forartists who do not look as
they've always looked, who don'tknow how to present as they've
always presented, and areushering in a new era of music
representation.
I think it's a great startingground for a lot of people
because quite frankly, we don'thave that for hip-hop artists
(16:42):
and RD artists.
There is no publication thatspecializes in it.
So I think Rolling Stone isprobably tired of a lot of
criticism, a lot of maybeunnecessary criticism because
they just didn't have what theyfelt was enough proper space to
represent.
This is what I'm gonna say.
This is my excuse for them.
They're more than welcome totake it or run with it, right?
But I think I think they can seemore than ever how dominant hip
(17:06):
hop culture is, um, and thatthey can't speak to it properly
in their magazine and the waythat it's formatted.
And so the best thing to showthat they're still connected,
that they're still obviouslyunderstanding and aware of these
things is to bring in somethingwith such a high level of
pedigree that they don't have toreally do any heavy lifting.
(17:26):
The name does so much heavylifting as far as recruitment,
as far as booking talent, right?
As far as really hitting thestory on the head.
Vibe Magazine already has thatpedigree.
They're just giving up a budgetand uh some office space and
reinvigorating the platform andjust making this thing work.
And because Jeff brought up thebest point about it.
(17:47):
They didn't go out of style,they didn't go out of fashion,
they didn't go out of favor.
Right?
Nobody was like, yo, I don'tknow, man.
Like vibe.
We just looked up one day andvibe wasn't published anymore.
Well, it was just gone.
SPEAKER_05 (17:59):
Is that the only thing?
They just stopped publishing thepaper.
Yeah, I don't remember Jeff.
SPEAKER_08 (18:04):
Jeff, you might be closer to this in proximity, but
I don't remember any vibescandal in terms of.
SPEAKER_10 (18:09):
No.
It was no scandal, it was justlike, you know, magazines
weren't making the money thatthey were, and people weren't
advertising, and it was it waslike a business thing.
It wasn't like, uh, you know, itwas a problem or something like
that.
No.
SPEAKER_08 (18:21):
They weren't the only publication that went away
with it.
SPEAKER_10 (18:26):
A bunch of them went away.
SPEAKER_05 (18:27):
It's kind of fun to see some of these ones coming
back around and re kind ofredeveloping themselves and
figuring out how do I use otherforms of media to kind of
relaunch.
And so that's what I'm excitedabout is to see what they do and
how they do it and where itgoes.
SPEAKER_10 (18:42):
And I gotta I gotta mention that the the them
putting Dayton Thomas at uh atthe front of it is an amazing um
look, too, because you know,first of all, he's a great dude.
Everybody loves him, he knowswhat the what the hell he's
doing, and he he can make thosecalls.
Like if Daituan calls you, likeyou say, okay.
(19:04):
Oh, yeah, you're definitelygonna listen.
He's gonna, I want this one onthe cover, I want this story,
whatever.
He can make those calls andpeople are gonna respond because
he's got he's got that pedigree.
He's done it, he did it for solong, and he did it at such a
high level.
So that's that was a great getfor them to bring him to bring
him back, you know?
SPEAKER_08 (19:20):
Yeah, he not only brings legitimacy, which he
absolutely brings to it, but hehas the experience of
multimedia, right?
So if they bring someone inthat's just a singer, right, or
someone that's just a rapper ora producer, he can see that,
like, no, you know what?
I think this plays into this aswell.
We should bring this into that.
Like, he's gonna be able todecipher and differentiate
(19:43):
between all of the people thatare coming to them that they
will have approaching them aboutthings and know exactly who fits
where.
Yep.
What's the real thing?
It's a part of his skill set atthis point.
Some of these people may lendthemselves more to television.
So someone may go from being ahot act in the summer to doing a
New Year's Eve show in the f inthe winter.
You know what I'm saying?
(20:04):
Because there's proximity nowfor hip hop and RB to not just
be, I mean, obviously this givesthem more visit visibility in
the space, right?
Being a part of this magazine.
Because the rollout for this isgoing to be insane.
Who gets the first vibe covers?
That's gotta be the biggestthing they're talking about.
SPEAKER_10 (20:20):
I was thinking about that.
Who gonna get that first cover?
SPEAKER_08 (20:22):
Like, who did who gets the because there's so many
different things that need to gointo play as to who gets that
cover?
They have to have been relevantduring the high time of vibe.
They need to still be relevanttoday, right?
And bring back that instant,goddamn, I forgot what vibe was.
When you see them on the cover,like a Mary J or somebody.
(20:42):
You know, I'm just saying,somebody that personifies the
hip hop that they represent,someone that personifies the RB
that they represent, someonethat personifies that crossover
capability of talent thatthey're looking to expose.
Like they're gonna have to picksomebody.
That's gonna be a thing.
SPEAKER_10 (20:59):
That's a thing.
That's a thing.
I can't even I'd love to be afly on the wall in those
meetings.
Just to see how they how theycome to that conclusion, right?
Yeah, yeah.
Like who's who's who's gonna be?
Because vibe cover was that wasamazing.
That was a big deal.
That was a big deal.
You got enough vibe cover.
That was like uh that that meantit meant a lot.
It meant a lot.
SPEAKER_08 (21:19):
Well, vibe, you gotta understand, vibe was big
as hip-hop blue, right?
And the crossover with morehip-hop and RB, uh, you know, a
rapper with an RB singer, asinger with a rapper, on it that
came into prominence during thattime.
So you have to understand thatthey were always like picking
someone out of a cast ofhundreds, right?
(21:40):
Like VOD had access to the besttalent at the time, all of the
best talent.
So they had to pick up, pick whocould get the cover then.
SPEAKER_11 (21:49):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_08 (21:50):
Right?
Because you used to have, youknow, you'd have an RB singer
and a rapper dropping albumsduring the same time.
Both of them are hot.
You gotta figure out who getsthe cover.
You know what I'm saying?
So and then obviously it's it'sjust like radio, who gets the
interview, right?
Like that kind of a thing.
So, yeah, that's gonna be ill tosee who they feel collectively
(22:10):
is the best representation ofwhat they're trying to do and
who they're trying to reach.
Yep.
They've got and they've gottatake print, uh, social media,
streaming, all of that, becausethat person is gonna set the
tone.
It might not even be just arapper.
It could, I could see uh like aKai Sanat and a Drewski and it
(22:35):
could be and an artist or two,right?
Like I could see them.
We need one streamer, we needone uh comedian, we need one
rapper, we need one singer, weneed one writer and one
director, right?
SPEAKER_05 (22:47):
So you think it could be a collection of people.
SPEAKER_08 (22:50):
I think their best bet is to show the broadness of
what they're looking torepresent.
Mm-hmm.
And I don't know, maybe if nowthat I talk through this, I
don't know if one person doesthat.
SPEAKER_10 (23:02):
Yeah, I don't know if one person is enough.
Not not to start it off, youknow, not to start it off.
It might have to be, like yousaid, of multiple people on the
cover just representing theculture, like I said, the Kai
Sanat and Drewski and maybeKevin Hart and you know, just
kind of like all these people atthe top of their game.
And and I don't yeah, I don'tknow.
It's gonna be interesting, man.
SPEAKER_05 (23:20):
It's gonna be really that that kills my last
question.
I was gonna say to you, if youhad to, if you had a wager, who
would you put on the frontcover?
One person.
One person?
Yeah, now granted, we're all I'mI think we're all in agreement,
it's probably not one person.
But if you had to, if you had toput a wager down, this is your
moment in time.
(23:40):
We're gonna be able to come backto this and see if either one of
the things.
SPEAKER_08 (23:42):
I wouldn't put a streamer because I think it
would send the wrong message.
Yeah, it would have to be anartist that is strong in the
streaming space.
Like, I don't I don't know.
I hate to oh god.
It depends on what they want totake.
Because right now, right now,like Drake's getting ready to
(24:05):
drop ice.
I was thinking about Drake.
SPEAKER_10 (24:08):
I was thinking about Drake.
SPEAKER_08 (24:10):
But then they have to wonder if that automatically
rubs the Kendrick people.
SPEAKER_10 (24:14):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Right?
SPEAKER_08 (24:15):
So you gotta find somebody that's a a choice
that's not toxic.
Yeah.
A choice that does not divide,right?
And someone that transcendswhatever age they are.
So it would need to be uh ayouthful OG or a mature
youngster.
SPEAKER_10 (24:34):
Yeah.
You know what I'm saying?
Yeah, because you don't want tomake the uh the the cover too
too young, which is why Iwouldn't do Kai by itself,
because as as monstrous as KaiSonat is, he's still very
youthful.
But by the same token, you don'twant to put, we won't put Mary
on here again or you know,something like that.
No disrespect to obviouslyMary's a uh a G or Mariah Carey,
(24:57):
because that kind of skews, likeoh, they're just trying to do
the shit they was doing before.
SPEAKER_08 (25:00):
We can always come back to that.
We can always come back to that.
Yeah, but this is today's vibe,right?
This is today's vibe magazine.
SPEAKER_11 (25:07):
Mm-hmm.
There you go.
There you go.
SPEAKER_10 (25:14):
I think you got a call or something.
SPEAKER_08 (25:16):
Single representative.
Yeah, I don't know who that is.
It has to be somebody that's Idon't know who that is.
Single representative of what Igot an opinion.
Go for it.
SPEAKER_05 (25:29):
Am I gonna be the first one that publicly says
what they're thinking?
Here's my thinking.
Think legacy, art, andcredibility.
Okay.
Andre 3000.
No, too too off tomorrow.
SPEAKER_08 (25:46):
I think too off the market.
I think I'm too off the market.
You know who I think?
You know, you know who I think.
You're just throwing my idearight out the window.
I'm gonna throw I'ma say, I'mgonna say Gunna.
Ooh, gunner could be good.
Because gunner, that's a goodstory, too.
Because that's a great story,right?
It's great music.
The photo shoot's gonna bebananas because he's not
(26:09):
phenomenal.
You know what I'm saying?
And I don't think he's given amajor interview to talk about
any of this stuff.
SPEAKER_10 (26:18):
I think people don't really know what he sounds like
when he talks.
He doesn't talk much.
He just kind of even when hetakes pictures, he kind of just
waves.
He doesn't really talk.
SPEAKER_08 (26:26):
I think there's a I think there's a shit ton of
mystery there.
I don't think he's ever, and Ithink everybody's talked about
everything except him.
Now that Thug has spoken, Ithink it's a great time for him
to go ahead and tell his storynow.
SPEAKER_10 (26:38):
What about is she what about Tiana Taylor?
Is she big enough yet?
SPEAKER_08 (26:44):
She's about to have a fucking beast of a year.
That's what I'm saying.
I don't think it's this year.
I don't think it's this year.
I think it's next year.
Yeah.
You know what I'm saying?
Because I think she I haven'tseen the film yet.
I haven't either.
Right?
I haven't seen the film yet.
And wait, Jeffrey, who did yousay on the person when you said
that?
SPEAKER_10 (27:03):
Oh, Tiana Taylor.
SPEAKER_08 (27:04):
Tiana Taylor.
The person I saw that has seenit, whose opinion I trust, has
seen it three times.
SPEAKER_10 (27:11):
Oh wow.
Well, I'm a P I'm a PTA fananyway.
Yeah, no, no, he's gonna go.
But I I don't know.
SPEAKER_08 (27:18):
I haven't seen it, so I can't gauge whether or not
this is this is the one.
But I do know that this moviecould lend itself to her first
like acting nomination.
Yeah.
And I think once we get tobecause there's a couple of
other things that she's inthat's pretty good that I've
seen.
There's there are trailers too.
But whenever they figure thisDion Warwick thing out, right,
(27:38):
and get her the right writer anddirector for it, I think that's
next year next year for TianaTaylor.
I thought this movie would havecame out sooner and that she
could, you know, get more out ofit.
But um, I think next year isTiana Taylor's year.
Yeah, me too.
So that that being said, she'sthe right age.
Absolutely.
(27:59):
Speaks to the right demographic.
She's highly fashionable.
You know what I'm saying?
Um, currently in one of the, youknow, which with she's currently
in the movie that's probablygoing to lead most nominations,
unless there's something wehaven't seen yet.
Right?
Because a lot of the major shitwill come.
There's a foreign film from thestarring the guy that played
(28:22):
Pablo on Narcos.
Really?
That has won, it's winningeverything.
They won like three differentawards at Cain.
SPEAKER_10 (28:31):
Wow.
Okay.
I want to see the Emily Bluntjoint, too.
I'm a not Emily Blunt.
Emma Stone, excuse me.
The Emma Stone joint.
I'm a huge fan.
Yes, I'm a huge fan.
SPEAKER_08 (28:41):
I was at Sirius this week, and they were literally,
the cast was being interviewedby um Andy, Andy Cone.
And Serious.
And I was explaining to peoplelike, yo, she's supposed to be
an alien.
They're like, it it's it's gonnabe crazy.
SPEAKER_11 (28:56):
Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER_08 (28:57):
Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER_05 (28:58):
All right, so to recap though, because we I wanna
I want to hear our listeners'point of view on this one.
I got I got thrown away rightaway, but I'm still staying,
Andre 3000.
Okay.
Bun said gonna.
I said Tiana, but I don't reallyhave a And you're going with
Tiana Taylor, which I'll behonest with you, of the three of
(29:19):
them, I'm kind of leaningtowards what you just said.
Okay.
So don't give up on yours, eventhough you guys trashed mine.
Tiana Taylor.
SPEAKER_08 (29:28):
I could see Tiana Taylor being a safer bet.
There wouldn't be very muchpublic backlash for that.
Whereas with Gunnar, I don'tfeel like street dudes are are
gonna be in vibe on vibe likethat anyway, but we don't know
how.
But we don't know how, becauseit it they're gonna have to have
video um of these interviews,right?
They're gonna have to have somekind of video component to it,
(29:51):
right?
So I just don't know if people Ifeel like Tiana's a safer bet
because I don't see a bunch ofpeople blowing up the comments
with like rap.
You know what I'm saying?
All that type of stuff, right?
Just being ugly about it for themost part.
I think Tiana is big enough.
I think she's important enough.
I think she's famous enough.
I think she looks good enough,right?
I think she checks all theboxes, right?
(30:13):
And she and she's hot right now.
She's very, very hot right now.
I think she checks all the boxesfor what I believe would qualify
for what a vibe cover should beout the gate.
Yeah.
unknown (30:25):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_10 (30:25):
But let's ask the audience.
Let's ask.
Yeah, yeah.
Sending your feedback.
Who do you think should be onthe on the on the first cover of
Vibe Magazine?
New vibe.
SPEAKER_08 (30:35):
When are they looking to drop?
Like we they're not startinganytime soon.
SPEAKER_10 (30:38):
No, no.
They're still developing.
Like they twine.
They're still developing.
SPEAKER_08 (30:41):
I think they're ways off, yeah.
SPEAKER_10 (30:44):
He told me like this week was actually his first
week.
So they're just they're justgetting it started.
SPEAKER_08 (30:48):
Let's see if they're curious.
Let's see what they think.
Listen to us based on what wepresented today.
Let's see what they're guessing.
SPEAKER_05 (30:54):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
All right.
Hold on, listen to the firstepisode.
Two Mothers, One Ashay, a GriefDialogue.
Listen to it.
Let us know what you think.
And until next week, I'm TomFrank.
I'm Jeffrey Sledge, and I'm BunB.
And now for a special preview ofa new podcast from Eric Studios,
it's Two Mothers, One Ashay, aGrief Dialogue.
(31:16):
Enjoy.
SPEAKER_02 (31:17):
Welcome to Two Mothers One Ashay, a grief
dialogue.
SPEAKER_03 (31:21):
I'm Dion, and I'm Yvette.
We're mothers, friends, andsisters in grief.
SPEAKER_02 (31:27):
I lost my daughter Siway at 15 years old.
SPEAKER_03 (31:30):
And I lost my son, Dasan, at 26.
SPEAKER_02 (31:35):
This podcast is our space to talk about grief, how
it shapes us, how it lingers,and how love carries us through.
Welcome to the conversation.
SPEAKER_03 (32:06):
We are here.
We're here.
We're here.
See, we are here.
SPEAKER_02 (32:10):
We've been talking about it, and now we're doing
the thing.
I love this.
SPEAKER_03 (32:14):
I mean the road has been bumpy to say the least,
right?
I'm so happy to see you.
I know right now.
SPEAKER_02 (32:27):
Let me let me say, we go in the hair, did nails
did, everything did.
We fancy, huh?
SPEAKER_03 (32:34):
I mean, far cry from our hunter days, right?
Like, come on now.
SPEAKER_02 (32:40):
Child.
I showed my friend a picture ofus at my baby shower.
Mm-mm.
Yes.
I love it.
SPEAKER_03 (32:47):
Well, I was like doing the salsa and all that
stuff.
Yeah.
Yes.
SPEAKER_02 (32:51):
Yes.
You know what?
Girl, girl, I'm talking to you,and you're talking to me, and
the people don't know who weare.
Well, what are we doing heretoday?
SPEAKER_03 (33:02):
We're gonna invite them in.
This is like kitchen table,right?
Like, come on in, come hang out.
Go get your tea.
I have ice tea, your water, yourcoffee.
Cause you know that's how we sayit up here.
SPEAKER_02 (33:18):
Um, so you got tea and coffee.
SPEAKER_03 (33:26):
I mean, you've always been quite the
overachiever, though, honey.
SPEAKER_02 (33:31):
I might was I might resemble that remark.
Um I I was trying to remember,like I know we met at Hunter
College, and the way the worldhas come full circle, the fact
that I have a family member atHunter now, and I was trying to
think about where we met and howwe met, and I really I know it
was Hunter, and I think it wasaround politics and stuff.
(33:53):
I think we were saving the worldbefore our children were born.
SPEAKER_03 (33:57):
That's right.
We were, and we're and we stillare, which brings me to hey
guys, I'm Yvette Lov Davila, andI'm the co-host of Two Mothers
One Ashe.
SPEAKER_02 (34:09):
I am Dion Colette Monsanto, and I am the co-host
of Two Mothers One Ashe.
This whole dialogue is gonna bea lot of fun, and um it's a
grief dialogue, but it's gonnabe a fun journey because I'm fun
and Yvette is fun.
SPEAKER_03 (34:31):
That's right.
We are we are fun, and you'regonna know this immediately.
But you know, Dion, I I want usto talk a little bit about,
right?
Just in our invitation for folksto come in and join us.
I want to just talk about whatbrought us here.
Who are we?
(34:51):
And how and how do we get here?
You go first.
Okay.
SPEAKER_02 (34:56):
All right, I'm gonna go first, but in true Dion
fashion, I'm gonna have to pauseand take a breath.
So I'm going to invite you,Evie.
You're gonna hear me call herEvie sometimes.
It is Evette, but it's Evie.
So don't be confused.
Same chick.
It's even for the it's Eevee.
SPEAKER_03 (35:13):
Because you guys are family, my my very close friends
of family call me Evie.
So be my guest.
SPEAKER_02 (35:20):
I am a mother of three, and I unfortunately lost
one of my children, and thatbegan my journey with grief and
loss.
And every time I start to talkabout it, I get choked up, which
is why I said, I'm gonna inviteyou to breathe with me.
So, wherever you are, I'm gonnakeep my eyes open for a bit.
(35:42):
But what I tend to do when Itake a breath, because even at
the moment when I told you it'sa grief dialogue, and I
mentioned that I lost one of mychildren, my daughter.
She was a teenager, like myheart closes.
And then I'm like, I have tobreathe some love and life into
my heart.
So wherever you are, I'm gonnainvite you.
You can do the same thing if youwant.
(36:03):
You can place one hand on yourheart, you can place one hand on
your belly, you can keep youreyes open or closed.
But let's just take three deepbreaths together.
And out.
Two more.
In and out.
(36:32):
Last time together, pull air in,open your mouth and sigh it out.
It feels so much better.
Right?
Oh my god, like I am I am fullypresent in my body here with
you, here with Evie.
(36:52):
And um that felt good.
And Evie already said it that wewant you to feel like you're
sitting at the kitchen table,una cafecita, una taza de te.
You know, you have some tea, youhave some coffee, some water,
whatever you need to becomfortable with us and join the
dialogue.
So I hinted at it.
I lost my daughter many moonsago.
(37:13):
She was a teenager, so that'sme.
And I'm from the Bronx, youknow, the Bronics.
And uh, so I'll pass it over toyou, Evie.
SPEAKER_03 (37:22):
Thank you for that, Dean.
So I am from Santurse, PuertoRico by way of East New York,
Brooklyn.
And uh I am a mother of two, andI lost my son, and I knew this
(37:48):
was gonna happen really quickearly on, and I will not
apologize for my tears becausethey have been earned.
Um and uh I my god, how manylives have I lived?
(38:09):
So many.
I'm a 27-year veteran of themusic industry.
I have been been reborn throughpain, and now I am a healer.
I have a wellness practice whichI welcome people to come in and
(38:29):
take care of their skin, takecare of their souls, take care
of their spirits.
And uh, you know, I we we liketo say that we have I'm gonna go
back to you saying that youcan't remember exactly when we
(38:51):
met.
I I really remember, I rarelyremember that moment, Dee, uh,
those kind of moments, and Idon't remember our moment, which
leads me to believe that it wasjust fate.
You've always been there, maybenot in eye view, but you've
(39:11):
always been there, and we aremet for each other, we have
walked a very similar path inlife, and we are now in each
other's point of view, and andnow we're here.
Two mothers with one ashe.
(39:32):
And I'd like to explain to thefolks Ashe.
Yeah, the name I was I was yes,yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (39:38):
So Ashay too, so perfectly okay.
SPEAKER_03 (39:43):
Perfect.
Ashe is a Yodaba word from WestAfrica, it was brought here by
the captured who were thenenslaved, and the word means
life force.
And through our conversations inthis podcast for the foreseeable
(40:10):
episodes, we're always gonnabring it back to Ashe.
Because death is part of life,and so we all experience death,
but our life force, our lifeforce, shouldn't end there.
Because we're the ones that areleft behind to continue to live.
SPEAKER_02 (40:35):
And to your point, when you say that, that brings
me to you know, your brilliancewhen in the naming process for
this podcast is that we bothexperience the same heartache
and Ashe is spelled the same wayas ache, right?
SPEAKER_03 (40:54):
Except it has an accent on the e.
That's right.
That's right.
So you can read it whether youcan read uh a Yoruba word and
pronounce it properly.
We don't mind if you pronounceit ache.
SPEAKER_02 (41:09):
So, because it's one and the same, and through that
pain, when I when I lost mydaughter, that was our
heartache, and when you lostyour son, that was our
heartache.
So it's one ache and one Ashay.
I want to, and I'm so glad youdidn't apologize for your tears.
(41:32):
Um, there's this whole aspect offorgiveness, and people are
constantly apologizing forshowing up as their authentic
emotional self.
And I was so happy when you saidthat.
And um, what I also loved isthat you brought in the
Caribbean with you.
I don't have my bandera, but youknow, I am from the Bronx by way
(41:55):
of the Virgin Islands, VIMassive.
You know, let me see if I get myfingers right, VI Massive, and
uh Virgin Islands and from theVirgin Islands, the family
landed in the Bronx, in the PJs,in the South Bronx, Fort Apache.
And it's been a journey.
And I the other thing that weshare is that we're both global
(42:16):
citizens.
We both love to cook.
So when you said we're sittingdown at the kitchen table, I'm
like, yes.
And I also notice about us fromme still being in your home and
you being in my home, our tableis always set and ready for
company.
SPEAKER_03 (42:33):
Always.
Always.
I like to say that no one willgo hungry in my house.
So I always Chris, my husbandChris, he was it was difficult
for him to understand why it isthat I always cook extra food.
And it's really a habit that Ilearned from my grandmother.
(42:57):
Absolutely.
And I talk about this in mymemoir that I haven't completed
yet.
But there I have a favoritestory about my grandmother would
sit on the windowsill like allthe old Puerto Rican ladies,
right?
She put a pillow right on thewindowsill and look outside.
And there was this gentleman,um, his name was Mad Dog.
(43:18):
And, you know, he he was he wasaddicted and he was a very lost
soul.
And my grandmother took to thisman, and everybody in the
neighborhood was scared of him,but she took to him, and he
would come to the window and hewould call, Senora, he'd call up
to her.
She'd go to the window and he'lltell her that he's hungry.
(43:40):
Tell her that he's hungry, andshe would go to the kitchen and
put rice and beans in, you know,those quart, the quarts of milk,
right?
She would buy a quart of milk ata time.
But she would keep thecontainers on this, wash them
out and keep them on the side.
And, you know, she'd pack it upand throw a plastic fork in
there and throw it out thewindow, put it in a bag and
throw it out the window to him.
(44:02):
And, you know, I learned fromher that anyone can stop by at
any point and there'd besomething for you to eat.
SPEAKER_02 (44:10):
Ash, yeah.
I love that.
And you know what?
We never discussed this, so Ididn't know you got it from your
grandmother, but that'sabsolutely where I got it from.
And I still in my kitchen, I'mlike really happy that I have
some of her corning wear pots,the white with the blue flowers
on it, and then there are theother ones with the brass pot.
And wait a minute.
(44:31):
What is your grandmother's name?
We have to bring them in.
We talked about Dasan and Siway.
What's grandma's name?
SPEAKER_03 (44:37):
Yes, so my grandmother's name is Margarita
Ganino.
SPEAKER_02 (44:42):
Margarita.
Margarita.
Okay, so Margarita.
So my grandmother is Grandma B,but her name was Bianca, Bianca
Almeida Jackson Monsanto.
So does Grandma B.
And um, there was always, likeyou said, so much food.
Now we were on the 16th floor inMillbrook Projects, so nobody
was calling up to the window forus.
(45:03):
That that wasn't happening.
But definitely when people cameby, because I was an only child
for a long time.
And when she cooked, she startedworking, she was a nurse out of
Roosevelt Island, right?
I don't know if you rememberBertess Kohler Hospital on
Roosevelt Island is where shewas, and she was a nurse's aide
that doesn't even exist anymore.
I don't know what they I don'tknow what they call them now,
but it's not a nurse's aideanymore if you don't have that.
SPEAKER_03 (45:26):
I guess it's probably a whatever equated to
an LPN, a licensed practitioner,a nurse practitioner, right?
Yeah, like a practical nurse,yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (45:37):
Yeah, and she and she wasn't licensed, right?
You know, she had aneighth-grade education and
school of hard knocks, gettingfrom the island of St.
Thomas here, but always food forpeople.
And I remember that when I cookin my kitchen, my family's
always like, You are likegrandma.
There's you know, everybody hasfood, and I have the bowls ready
(45:59):
for when they leave to pack upthe food to carry them on
because food helps heal theheartache, right?
Food is love.
SPEAKER_03 (46:07):
Yeah, it is.
You know, I I love that youasked my grandmother's name.
Because one of the things thatis extremely important to both
you and I, and we'd love towelcome our listeners in to
participate in this with us, andthat's to memorialize those that
we love and we've lost.
Say their names.
(46:28):
Yes.
You know, yes, I was came acrossa quote one time and it says, No
one is truly dead until theirname is no longer spoken.
That's right.
So that's right.
I agree.
How beautiful is it, right, thatwe get to keep the spirit of our
loved ones alive by just sayingtheir names.
(46:51):
We keep them alive.
SPEAKER_05 (46:53):
We hope you enjoyed that special preview.
For the entire episode, searchtwo mothers, one ashe, a grief
dialogue on Apple, Spotify,YouTube, or wherever you get
your podcast.
SPEAKER_01 (47:04):
We are Merrick Stewart.
Last week on Unglossy.
SPEAKER_07 (00:02):
It was too much therapy in it.
I didn't care.
All of that.
It was just too much.
Too much therapy?
I didn't have time for all that.
And I was the o I almost got Ialmost got murdered because when
Tony Stark died, people werecrying and I was cheering.
I was like, he's stupid.
(00:24):
He's stupid.
SPEAKER_08 (00:30):
From the top.
SPEAKER_04 (00:32):
I'm Tom Frank.
SPEAKER_08 (00:32):
I'm Jeffrey Slitch.
And I'm Bud B.
Welcome to Unglossy.
SPEAKER_04 (00:36):
Real stories, unfiltered dialogue, and the
voices moving culture beyond thegloss of hype and headlines.
SPEAKER_10 (00:42):
So buckle up, Unglossy starts now.
SPEAKER_05 (00:46):
Welcome to a special short edition of Unglossy, where
we keep it real, keep itcultural, and keep it moving.
Today we're doing something alittle different, fellas.
We're going to spotlight thelaunch of a powerful new show
from Merrick Studios, TwoMothers, One Ashe, a Grief
Dialogue.
It's a raw, beautifully humanpodcast about love, loss, and
(01:07):
the courage to speak truth.
If you're listening right now,you gotta hear this one.
And then we're gonna tap into abig move in hip hop media.
Vibe joining forces with RollingStone.
Is this a new chapter forcultural journalism or the end
of an era?
We've got some thoughts on this.
But first, two mothers, one I'llcheck, uh, a grief dialogue.
(01:30):
It's launching, guys.
We got our first like real newshow since we all started this
uh Merrick Merrick Studios.
SPEAKER_10 (01:38):
I'm excited about this one.
I'm excited about this one.
I think um this one is isimportant because no matter you
know how rich you are, poor youare, whatever your s situation
is, everybody goes through griefof of some sort, you know?
Yeah.
Um and these two women areamazing.
They've um gone through gonethrough you know heavy grief
(01:59):
things individually.
They've uh to the point wherethey've both trained at it and
they've learned from it and theycan and they help other people
out now, like therapeutically.
And I think this this show isgonna help a lot of people.
I really do.
SPEAKER_08 (02:11):
And I'm offering myself up as a guest.
Um obviously everybody knowsthat I've had a very public um
bout with dealing with grief,obviously with the loss of my my
former partner, Pim C.
Um, I think not only would thisbe an informative, you know,
first of all, it's a greatintroduction uh to having them
as a part of the network, right?
(02:31):
I think it makes for uh anepisode that a lot of people
would be interested in.
And quite frankly, I'm prettysure I'm gonna learn some things
during this interview.
I'm gonna, you know, realizekind of how far along on the
path I am because every now andthen I still speak in present
tense.
unknown (02:48):
That's what I'm saying.
SPEAKER_08 (02:48):
I'm gonna talk about them.
You know what I'm saying?
So there's a couple of thingsthat I'm gonna have some
questions about that they canmaybe help help me get to a
deeper understanding of why Ifeel a certain way about certain
things at certain times.
You know?
And hopefully, you know, andI've always made my my vow with
this public because I come froma community where people are
(03:09):
taught to keep a step up andleft.
Like crying is soft and all ofthat type of stuff.
You know what I'm saying?
So we definitely want toreframe, help reframe that
narrative for people fromunderdeserved, underserved
communities because it onlyleads them down a path of bad
decision making.
You know what I'm saying?
So everybody needs an outlet,everybody needs a proper outlet.
(03:29):
I've showed that, you know, umI've been able to use music as a
way of being cathartic aboutthings in my life, but that's
that's that tends to betemporary, you know.
And I tell people, look, you gotsomething dealing with you're
dealing with, you know, write asong about it, record a song
about it, and then take a whileand re- and think about if you
need to release it.
(03:50):
Maybe you just need to saycertain things, right?
Sometimes it's very hard to justactually vocalize what you're
feeling and what you're goingthrough.
You know what I'm saying?
So I would tell all artists, youknow, recording artists, like
use that as a way to kind ofjust get it off your chest.
And if you think it's a valid,one, a valid song, two, you
know, could help someone, right?
(04:12):
Then you should definitelyconsider releasing it.
You know what I'm saying?
A lot of people have dealt witha lot of different things, and
using music has helped them gothrough it.
Obviously, Eminem, but evenpeople like Farrell Munch, who
have been very public aboutdepression and different things.
And we don't know where thesethings stem from.
Obviously, we know with myposition, we know where it stems
from.
So I just want to not only bringon a partner that can help so
(04:34):
many people, you know what I'msaying?
But I'm bringing in a partnerthat I want to be the first one
in line for help.
You know what I'm saying?
Like to be able to show peoplethat it's a safe space.
You know what I'm saying?
Like that, that because that'sreally what it starts with.
Any of these types oftherapeutic um sessions have to
start in a safe space wherepeople feel seen, heard, and
(04:56):
protected.
So I'm gonna offer myself up,you know what I'm saying, to
this podcast as a message topeople that we here at Merrick
Studios have a safe space thatfor people that are dealing with
certain, like we're gonna haveother people that are basically
brought in to deal with othertypes of topics and whatnot.
And we've done that really goodif you think it's comic books or
if you think it's production andmastering and all of that.
(05:18):
But we're gonna start taking adeeper, more human dive into
this platform that we have andallow these things to have a
voice in our space and make surethat people know it's a safe
space for whatever it is theyneed to get through.
And we're gonna have a couple ofdifferent options.
Some some a little bit more fun,right?
You know what I'm saying?
Yeah, some a little bit, some alittle bit more deeply
(05:39):
thoughtful, right?
But at the end of the day, it'sabout helping people get past
whatever's holding them back orwhatever they think may be
holding them back from beingtheir best self.
SPEAKER_11 (05:48):
Yep.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_08 (05:49):
Yep, yep, yeah.
SPEAKER_05 (05:51):
And what's what's particularly cool about this as
looking at it from a productionside, I love these two ladies.
They are so excited, they are sopassionate about what they're
doing.
I have a lot of clients who Iexpect to call, and when things
are going bad, they called mejust to say how much they were
crying because they lovedeverything that that we're doing
(06:11):
right now.
From the trailer that that iscoming out to the first episode.
Uh, and the first episode you'regonna get to hear at the end of
this show.
So stay on and listen to it, andit'll it'll introduce you to
these two amazing women, um,Avet and Dion.
And I just, it's awesome.
SPEAKER_08 (06:27):
Yep.
I love it.
Yep.
Yep.
I can't wait.
I really cannot wait.
SPEAKER_04 (06:32):
And we'll be right back.
SPEAKER_08 (06:33):
Welcome to Merrick Studios, where stories take the
mic and culture comes alive.
SPEAKER_04 (06:38):
We're not just a merit, we're a family, bringing
you smart, soulful, unfecturedconversations.
SPEAKER_10 (06:43):
And this season, we're bringing the heat.
But our biggest lineup yet,whatever you're into, music,
sports, business, we got youcovered.
Merrick Studios, where theconversation starts and keeps
going.
SPEAKER_01 (06:54):
Check out our full lineup, including Unglossi with
Bun B, Jeffrey Sledge, andmyself, Tom Frank.
Now streaming atWeRMeritStudios.com.
SPEAKER_06 (07:03):
Master the art of lyricism with Pendulum Mink, the
first school for rap.
Learn elite techniques throughimmersive lessons, real world
exercises, and guidance from hiphop icons.
This is with MC sharpeningskills and glow boldly on the
mic.
Ready to level up?
Visit pendulummink.com and startyour journey today.
SPEAKER_04 (07:22):
And now, back to the show.
SPEAKER_05 (07:24):
I gotta get your feedback on something else
that's happening in the worldtoday.
I'm gonna read a littlesomething to you.
That's right.
Vibe is joining forces withRolling Stone.
This caught my attention becauseVibe is one of hip hop's most
iconic media brands, and it'sentering a new a new era.
The magazine announced it'sjoining forces with Rolling
Stones in a Rolling Stone in amove that Rolling Stone is
calling a historic team up.
(07:46):
The goal is to expand RollingStone's hip-hop and RB coverage
and reignite Vibe's culturalimpact with new investment in
video, podcasts, long term, longform storytelling, social
content, and special collectorprint editions.
For a lot of people, this hits anostalgic vibe, uh, or nostalgic
nerve.
Vibe wasn't just a magazine, itwas a cultural GPS.
(08:07):
It helped hip-hop journalismchampion artists before the
mainstream recognized them anddocumented some of the most
important movements in theculture.
Now the question is whether thismove will preserve that legacy
or reshape it for a newgeneration.
So, Jeff, you were inside thegame when vibe wasn't just
covering culture, it wasdocumenting history in real
(08:28):
time.
You remember what it meant toget the vibe cover, the feature,
that cosign.
With this new chapter alongsideRolling Stone, do you see an
opportunity for vibe to bringcredibility to hip hop
journalism?
And what do they need to protectif it's still to make it still
feel authentic to the cultureyou came up in?
Um yeah.
SPEAKER_10 (08:48):
I, you know, vibe, the brand, the thing about the
vibe, the vibe brand is it neverkind of died.
It never fell off, as they say.
It didn't know the the magazine,you know, I guess, you know,
business-wise thing, it stoppedgoing, but it wasn't like our
vibe is whack now.
It never it still has thatcachet and that prestige.
And um I think there is a spacenow that that needs to be
(09:11):
filled, like you said, forwriters.
You know, people there's great,great people writing out there,
but there's kind of like theyhave the people have their own
little podcasts, own littleblogs, wherever, but there's
really no place for writers togo.
And the thing about Vibe is thatthe the writing, the writing and
the writers are all liketop-notch, press, you know,
pristine people.
Um, I've actually interviewedtwo editors, or former editors
(09:36):
of Vibe on Mixed the Mastered,Emil Wilbekin, who was there for
the bulk of it.
It's it's heyday, and he talkeda lot about what it what it
meant.
And um, because he he basicallystarted it.
He was one of the core peoplethat started it with Quincy
Jones and Dayton Thomas, whocame after him and kept the
flame going.
So I'm I'm very interested tosee the the type of talent
(09:58):
they're gonna attract nowbecause there's now there'll be
a like almost like a landingspace for people to go to.
It's like, oh man, I can I couldgo the years ago, it's like, oh,
I could go right for Vibe, Icould go right for this source
in the South.
I could go right for, you know,Ozone or some other magazine,
and and all that stuff is gone.
So I I think Vibe is gonna havethis pick of the litter on who
(10:18):
to um to pull in to write, youknow, these these stories or
these features about theculture.
I I'm looking forward to it.
I think it's gonna be dope.
SPEAKER_05 (10:28):
Do you think there's any fear that Vibe doesn't need
Rolling Stone audience?
That they're trying to, in someways, I don't know, uh I mean
that it's a different audience.
Are are they trying to to lessenwhat it means to hip hop culture
by by rolling it into RollingStone?
SPEAKER_10 (10:49):
I don't think it's uh as different as a of an
audience as it used to be.
Hip-hop is so dominating in allfacets now.
Like before it was kind of likeRolling Stone's kind of like the
rock magazine, and vibe was likethe hip-hop magazine.
And there was definitelycrossover, you know, you know,
outcasts would be in RollingStone, and you know, and uh like
you know, MGMT would be a get apiece in vibe, whatever.
(11:13):
But I I think now with hip-hopbeing as dominating of a culture
as it is, um, I think thatthere's and and hip-hop being
around now for 50 years, thatall those that audience of
Rolling Stone and Vibe, there'sa lot of there's a lot more
crossover than it used to be.
There's a lot of people that arefans of UGK and fans of um
(11:35):
Coplay.
You know what I mean?
Like there's it's kind of likethe the lines are are very
blurry now.
It's not, you know, it's notlike this or that.
It's kind of like you like both.
So I don't know, I don't thinkit's a problem at all.
SPEAKER_05 (11:47):
And Bun, so like as an artist of your era, right,
you didn't necessarily need likea viral moment.
You needed like the rightplatform to tell your story.
And Vibe was one of those rareplaces that treated hip hop with
respect.
And now that Vibe is joiningforces with Rolling Stone, do
you think there's a chance toreintroduce real storytelling in
(12:09):
hip-hop media?
And and what do you hope thisnew era remembers about where
Vibe came from and who itserved?
SPEAKER_08 (12:17):
Well, I'll I'll be very honest, Tom.
I think the people at RollingStone already understand that
right now, which is why theythey chose to acquire.
Here's my perspective on thissituation.
I believe that over the last 50years, right, where Rolling
Stone was already in businesswhen hip-hop came into fruition,
right?
And of course, they they theykind of pushed back against it,
(12:40):
and then they realized some ofit was beginning to cross over,
like a run DMC or L O Kujay, andeventually obviously the Beastie
Boys and people like that.
So I feel like Rolling Stone wasalways trying to make room in
its magazine for RB and hip-hop,right?
Particularly things that were onthe cusp or were already
becoming pop, you know, music.
(13:03):
Yeah.
But as hip-hop grows, right, inorder to really truly
incorporate hip-hop into thebrand, would be to push more
traditional rock and pop actsout of play.
This affords Rolling Stone adirect pipeline into what's new
and cutting edge in RB andhip-hop as a genre.
(13:25):
You get a, they'll get afirst-line look.
I mean, they're gonna get afirst, you know, um, what what
do we call it in uh Write andRefuse.
Right?
They're gonna have the best ofwriters because now they know
that this Vibe magazine isunderwritten by and supported
and built around Rolling Stone,which is an extremely viable
publication, an extremely viablehub for media.
(13:49):
So just alone being affiliatedwith uh Vibe Magazine, which is
now affiliated with RollingStone, raises the pedigree of
the people that write for thispublication.
I would imagine, as Jeff spokeof crossover, I would imagine
that a person that finds acertain artist and writes that
introductory piece to Vibe, ifthat artist blows up and crosses
(14:10):
over into Rolling Stone, Ibelieve they'll have that same
writer who's already on theclock be able to come over and
explain it perfectly for theirpop crowd.
I think this is a great breedingground for not just new and
seasoned artists, becausethey'll we'll need those guys to
write the new covers of Vibemagazine, right?
But I think for up-and-comingmedia, you now have a house
(14:31):
where you can show your hip-hop,your hip-hop knowledge, right?
You can show your connections tothe culture.
And quite frankly, if you'rethat good of a writer about
certain things, there's a room,not to say that Rolling Stone is
of a higher pedigree than Vibe,but I would imagine that some
people will be brought into thatbuilding at some point, right?
(14:53):
Because they will recognize,hey, he's not just a good RB
story writer, he's not just agood hip-hop writer, he's a good
writer.
You know what I'm saying?
So I feel like I feel like theyare positioning themselves not
only to have the best positionfor the talent, but also the
best positioning for the peoplewho can find the talent, write
(15:16):
to it, build a relationship,right?
And and and bring thatrelationship over to the larger
publication once that artistbecomes a bigger draw.
I think there's a lot ofopportunity here for people.
And again, Vibe, as you said,Vibe is is is already embedded
with so much hip-hop uh legacyand culture.
(15:38):
Some of the best for I mean, theyou know, the Death Row album
cover.
I mean, the death row cover ofthe magazine, that's iconic.
People still replicate thatimage to this day.
You know what I'm saying?
So it, you know, Vibe magazinehas very high hip-hop RB and for
its time, popular musicpedigree.
Let's not, let's not forget,Vibe was not a hip-hop magazine,
(15:59):
it was not an RB magazine.
It was a music and culture andtelevision.
So anything that encompassedthat, they brought it to the
table.
So there have been white people,Latina people, Asian people,
black people, all of allrepresentations of culture have
been on the cover of Vibe.
So I don't think vibe is justgonna be that.
I think they're gonna specializein it, as they always have, but
(16:21):
I think it's just a brand newidentity, um, a brand new
opportunity, excuse me.
It's a brand new opportunity forartists who do not look as
they've always looked, who don'tknow how to present as they've
always presented, and areushering in a new era of music
representation.
I think it's a great startingground for a lot of people
because quite frankly, we don'thave that for hip-hop artists
(16:42):
and RD artists.
There is no publication thatspecializes in it.
So I think Rolling Stone isprobably tired of a lot of
criticism, a lot of maybeunnecessary criticism because
they just didn't have what theyfelt was enough proper space to
represent.
This is what I'm gonna say.
This is my excuse for them.
They're more than welcome totake it or run with it, right?
But I think I think they can seemore than ever how dominant hip
(17:06):
hop culture is, um, and thatthey can't speak to it properly
in their magazine and the waythat it's formatted.
And so the best thing to showthat they're still connected,
that they're still obviouslyunderstanding and aware of these
things is to bring in somethingwith such a high level of
pedigree that they don't have toreally do any heavy lifting.
(17:26):
The name does so much heavylifting as far as recruitment,
as far as booking talent, right?
As far as really hitting thestory on the head.
Vibe Magazine already has thatpedigree.
They're just giving up a budgetand uh some office space and
reinvigorating the platform andjust making this thing work.
And because Jeff brought up thebest point about it.
(17:47):
They didn't go out of style,they didn't go out of fashion,
they didn't go out of favor.
Right?
Nobody was like, yo, I don'tknow, man.
Like vibe.
We just looked up one day andvibe wasn't published anymore.
Well, it was just gone.
SPEAKER_05 (17:59):
Is that the only thing?
They just stopped publishing thepaper.
Yeah, I don't remember Jeff.
SPEAKER_08 (18:04):
Jeff, you might be closer to this in proximity, but
I don't remember any vibescandal in terms of.
SPEAKER_10 (18:09):
No.
It was no scandal, it was justlike, you know, magazines
weren't making the money thatthey were, and people weren't
advertising, and it was it waslike a business thing.
It wasn't like, uh, you know, itwas a problem or something like
that.
No.
SPEAKER_08 (18:21):
They weren't the only publication that went away
with it.
SPEAKER_10 (18:26):
A bunch of them went away.
SPEAKER_05 (18:27):
It's kind of fun to see some of these ones coming
back around and re kind ofredeveloping themselves and
figuring out how do I use otherforms of media to kind of
relaunch.
And so that's what I'm excitedabout is to see what they do and
how they do it and where itgoes.
SPEAKER_10 (18:42):
And I gotta I gotta mention that the the them
putting Dayton Thomas at uh atthe front of it is an amazing um
look, too, because you know,first of all, he's a great dude.
Everybody loves him, he knowswhat the what the hell he's
doing, and he he can make thosecalls.
Like if Daituan calls you, likeyou say, okay.
(19:04):
Oh, yeah, you're definitelygonna listen.
He's gonna, I want this one onthe cover, I want this story,
whatever.
He can make those calls andpeople are gonna respond because
he's got he's got that pedigree.
He's done it, he did it for solong, and he did it at such a
high level.
So that's that was a great getfor them to bring him to bring
him back, you know?
SPEAKER_08 (19:20):
Yeah, he not only brings legitimacy, which he
absolutely brings to it, but hehas the experience of
multimedia, right?
So if they bring someone inthat's just a singer, right, or
someone that's just a rapper ora producer, he can see that,
like, no, you know what?
I think this plays into this aswell.
We should bring this into that.
Like, he's gonna be able todecipher and differentiate
(19:43):
between all of the people thatare coming to them that they
will have approaching them aboutthings and know exactly who fits
where.
Yep.
What's the real thing?
It's a part of his skill set atthis point.
Some of these people may lendthemselves more to television.
So someone may go from being ahot act in the summer to doing a
New Year's Eve show in the f inthe winter.
You know what I'm saying?
(20:04):
Because there's proximity nowfor hip hop and RB to not just
be, I mean, obviously this givesthem more visit visibility in
the space, right?
Being a part of this magazine.
Because the rollout for this isgoing to be insane.
Who gets the first vibe covers?
That's gotta be the biggestthing they're talking about.
SPEAKER_10 (20:20):
I was thinking about that.
Who gonna get that first cover?
SPEAKER_08 (20:22):
Like, who did who gets the because there's so many
different things that need to gointo play as to who gets that
cover?
They have to have been relevantduring the high time of vibe.
They need to still be relevanttoday, right?
And bring back that instant,goddamn, I forgot what vibe was.
When you see them on the cover,like a Mary J or somebody.
(20:42):
You know, I'm just saying,somebody that personifies the
hip hop that they represent,someone that personifies the RB
that they represent, someonethat personifies that crossover
capability of talent thatthey're looking to expose.
Like they're gonna have to picksomebody.
That's gonna be a thing.
SPEAKER_10 (20:59):
That's a thing.
That's a thing.
I can't even I'd love to be afly on the wall in those
meetings.
Just to see how they how theycome to that conclusion, right?
Yeah, yeah.
Like who's who's who's gonna be?
Because vibe cover was that wasamazing.
That was a big deal.
That was a big deal.
You got enough vibe cover.
That was like uh that that meantit meant a lot.
It meant a lot.
SPEAKER_08 (21:19):
Well, vibe, you gotta understand, vibe was big
as hip-hop blue, right?
And the crossover with morehip-hop and RB, uh, you know, a
rapper with an RB singer, asinger with a rapper, on it that
came into prominence during thattime.
So you have to understand thatthey were always like picking
someone out of a cast ofhundreds, right?
(21:40):
Like VOD had access to the besttalent at the time, all of the
best talent.
So they had to pick up, pick whocould get the cover then.
SPEAKER_11 (21:49):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_08 (21:50):
Right?
Because you used to have, youknow, you'd have an RB singer
and a rapper dropping albumsduring the same time.
Both of them are hot.
You gotta figure out who getsthe cover.
You know what I'm saying?
So and then obviously it's it'sjust like radio, who gets the
interview, right?
Like that kind of a thing.
So, yeah, that's gonna be ill tosee who they feel collectively
(22:10):
is the best representation ofwhat they're trying to do and
who they're trying to reach.
Yep.
They've got and they've gottatake print, uh, social media,
streaming, all of that, becausethat person is gonna set the
tone.
It might not even be just arapper.
It could, I could see uh like aKai Sanat and a Drewski and it
(22:35):
could be and an artist or two,right?
Like I could see them.
We need one streamer, we needone uh comedian, we need one
rapper, we need one singer, weneed one writer and one
director, right?
SPEAKER_05 (22:47):
So you think it could be a collection of people.
SPEAKER_08 (22:50):
I think their best bet is to show the broadness of
what they're looking torepresent.
Mm-hmm.
And I don't know, maybe if nowthat I talk through this, I
don't know if one person doesthat.
SPEAKER_10 (23:02):
Yeah, I don't know if one person is enough.
Not not to start it off, youknow, not to start it off.
It might have to be, like yousaid, of multiple people on the
cover just representing theculture, like I said, the Kai
Sanat and Drewski and maybeKevin Hart and you know, just
kind of like all these people atthe top of their game.
And and I don't yeah, I don'tknow.
It's gonna be interesting, man.
SPEAKER_05 (23:20):
It's gonna be really that that kills my last
question.
I was gonna say to you, if youhad to, if you had a wager, who
would you put on the frontcover?
One person.
One person?
Yeah, now granted, we're all I'mI think we're all in agreement,
it's probably not one person.
But if you had to, if you had toput a wager down, this is your
moment in time.
(23:40):
We're gonna be able to come backto this and see if either one of
the things.
SPEAKER_08 (23:42):
I wouldn't put a streamer because I think it
would send the wrong message.
Yeah, it would have to be anartist that is strong in the
streaming space.
Like, I don't I don't know.
I hate to oh god.
It depends on what they want totake.
Because right now, right now,like Drake's getting ready to
(24:05):
drop ice.
I was thinking about Drake.
SPEAKER_10 (24:08):
I was thinking about Drake.
SPEAKER_08 (24:10):
But then they have to wonder if that automatically
rubs the Kendrick people.
SPEAKER_10 (24:14):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Right?
SPEAKER_08 (24:15):
So you gotta find somebody that's a a choice
that's not toxic.
Yeah.
A choice that does not divide,right?
And someone that transcendswhatever age they are.
So it would need to be uh ayouthful OG or a mature
youngster.
SPEAKER_10 (24:34):
Yeah.
You know what I'm saying?
Yeah, because you don't want tomake the uh the the cover too
too young, which is why Iwouldn't do Kai by itself,
because as as monstrous as KaiSonat is, he's still very
youthful.
But by the same token, you don'twant to put, we won't put Mary
on here again or you know,something like that.
No disrespect to obviouslyMary's a uh a G or Mariah Carey,
(24:57):
because that kind of skews, likeoh, they're just trying to do
the shit they was doing before.
SPEAKER_08 (25:00):
We can always come back to that.
We can always come back to that.
Yeah, but this is today's vibe,right?
This is today's vibe magazine.
SPEAKER_11 (25:07):
Mm-hmm.
There you go.
There you go.
SPEAKER_10 (25:14):
I think you got a call or something.
SPEAKER_08 (25:16):
Single representative.
Yeah, I don't know who that is.
It has to be somebody that's Idon't know who that is.
Single representative of what Igot an opinion.
Go for it.
SPEAKER_05 (25:29):
Am I gonna be the first one that publicly says
what they're thinking?
Here's my thinking.
Think legacy, art, andcredibility.
Okay.
Andre 3000.
No, too too off tomorrow.
SPEAKER_08 (25:46):
I think too off the market.
I think I'm too off the market.
You know who I think?
You know, you know who I think.
You're just throwing my idearight out the window.
I'm gonna throw I'ma say, I'mgonna say Gunna.
Ooh, gunner could be good.
Because gunner, that's a goodstory, too.
Because that's a great story,right?
It's great music.
The photo shoot's gonna bebananas because he's not
(26:09):
phenomenal.
You know what I'm saying?
And I don't think he's given amajor interview to talk about
any of this stuff.
SPEAKER_10 (26:18):
I think people don't really know what he sounds like
when he talks.
He doesn't talk much.
He just kind of even when hetakes pictures, he kind of just
waves.
He doesn't really talk.
SPEAKER_08 (26:26):
I think there's a I think there's a shit ton of
mystery there.
I don't think he's ever, and Ithink everybody's talked about
everything except him.
Now that Thug has spoken, Ithink it's a great time for him
to go ahead and tell his storynow.
SPEAKER_10 (26:38):
What about is she what about Tiana Taylor?
Is she big enough yet?
SPEAKER_08 (26:44):
She's about to have a fucking beast of a year.
That's what I'm saying.
I don't think it's this year.
I don't think it's this year.
I think it's next year.
Yeah.
You know what I'm saying?
Because I think she I haven'tseen the film yet.
I haven't either.
Right?
I haven't seen the film yet.
And wait, Jeffrey, who did yousay on the person when you said
that?
SPEAKER_10 (27:03):
Oh, Tiana Taylor.
SPEAKER_08 (27:04):
Tiana Taylor.
The person I saw that has seenit, whose opinion I trust, has
seen it three times.
SPEAKER_10 (27:11):
Oh wow.
Well, I'm a P I'm a PTA fananyway.
Yeah, no, no, he's gonna go.
But I I don't know.
SPEAKER_08 (27:18):
I haven't seen it, so I can't gauge whether or not
this is this is the one.
But I do know that this moviecould lend itself to her first
like acting nomination.
Yeah.
And I think once we get tobecause there's a couple of
other things that she's inthat's pretty good that I've
seen.
There's there are trailers too.
But whenever they figure thisDion Warwick thing out, right,
(27:38):
and get her the right writer anddirector for it, I think that's
next year next year for TianaTaylor.
I thought this movie would havecame out sooner and that she
could, you know, get more out ofit.
But um, I think next year isTiana Taylor's year.
Yeah, me too.
So that that being said, she'sthe right age.
Absolutely.
(27:59):
Speaks to the right demographic.
She's highly fashionable.
You know what I'm saying?
Um, currently in one of the, youknow, which with she's currently
in the movie that's probablygoing to lead most nominations,
unless there's something wehaven't seen yet.
Right?
Because a lot of the major shitwill come.
There's a foreign film from thestarring the guy that played
(28:22):
Pablo on Narcos.
Really?
That has won, it's winningeverything.
They won like three differentawards at Cain.
SPEAKER_10 (28:31):
Wow.
Okay.
I want to see the Emily Bluntjoint, too.
I'm a not Emily Blunt.
Emma Stone, excuse me.
The Emma Stone joint.
I'm a huge fan.
Yes, I'm a huge fan.
SPEAKER_08 (28:41):
I was at Sirius this week, and they were literally,
the cast was being interviewedby um Andy, Andy Cone.
And Serious.
And I was explaining to peoplelike, yo, she's supposed to be
an alien.
They're like, it it's it's gonnabe crazy.
SPEAKER_11 (28:56):
Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER_08 (28:57):
Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER_05 (28:58):
All right, so to recap though, because we I wanna
I want to hear our listeners'point of view on this one.
I got I got thrown away rightaway, but I'm still staying,
Andre 3000.
Okay.
Bun said gonna.
I said Tiana, but I don't reallyhave a And you're going with
Tiana Taylor, which I'll behonest with you, of the three of
(29:19):
them, I'm kind of leaningtowards what you just said.
Okay.
So don't give up on yours, eventhough you guys trashed mine.
Tiana Taylor.
SPEAKER_08 (29:28):
I could see Tiana Taylor being a safer bet.
There wouldn't be very muchpublic backlash for that.
Whereas with Gunnar, I don'tfeel like street dudes are are
gonna be in vibe on vibe likethat anyway, but we don't know
how.
But we don't know how, becauseit it they're gonna have to have
video um of these interviews,right?
They're gonna have to have somekind of video component to it,
(29:51):
right?
So I just don't know if people Ifeel like Tiana's a safer bet
because I don't see a bunch ofpeople blowing up the comments
with like rap.
You know what I'm saying?
All that type of stuff, right?
Just being ugly about it for themost part.
I think Tiana is big enough.
I think she's important enough.
I think she's famous enough.
I think she looks good enough,right?
I think she checks all theboxes, right?
(30:13):
And she and she's hot right now.
She's very, very hot right now.
I think she checks all the boxesfor what I believe would qualify
for what a vibe cover should beout the gate.
Yeah.
unknown (30:25):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_10 (30:25):
But let's ask the audience.
Let's ask.
Yeah, yeah.
Sending your feedback.
Who do you think should be onthe on the on the first cover of
Vibe Magazine?
New vibe.
SPEAKER_08 (30:35):
When are they looking to drop?
Like we they're not startinganytime soon.
SPEAKER_10 (30:38):
No, no.
They're still developing.
Like they twine.
They're still developing.
SPEAKER_08 (30:41):
I think they're ways off, yeah.
SPEAKER_10 (30:44):
He told me like this week was actually his first
week.
So they're just they're justgetting it started.
SPEAKER_08 (30:48):
Let's see if they're curious.
Let's see what they think.
Listen to us based on what wepresented today.
Let's see what they're guessing.
SPEAKER_05 (30:54):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
All right.
Hold on, listen to the firstepisode.
Two Mothers, One Ashay, a GriefDialogue.
Listen to it.
Let us know what you think.
And until next week, I'm TomFrank.
I'm Jeffrey Sledge, and I'm BunB.
And now for a special preview ofa new podcast from Eric Studios,
it's Two Mothers, One Ashay, aGrief Dialogue.
(31:16):
Enjoy.
SPEAKER_02 (31:17):
Welcome to Two Mothers One Ashay, a grief
dialogue.
SPEAKER_03 (31:21):
I'm Dion, and I'm Yvette.
We're mothers, friends, andsisters in grief.
SPEAKER_02 (31:27):
I lost my daughter Siway at 15 years old.
SPEAKER_03 (31:30):
And I lost my son, Dasan, at 26.
SPEAKER_02 (31:35):
This podcast is our space to talk about grief, how
it shapes us, how it lingers,and how love carries us through.
Welcome to the conversation.
SPEAKER_03 (32:06):
We are here.
We're here.
We're here.
See, we are here.
SPEAKER_02 (32:10):
We've been talking about it, and now we're doing
the thing.
I love this.
SPEAKER_03 (32:14):
I mean the road has been bumpy to say the least,
right?
I'm so happy to see you.
I know right now.
SPEAKER_02 (32:27):
Let me let me say, we go in the hair, did nails
did, everything did.
We fancy, huh?
SPEAKER_03 (32:34):
I mean, far cry from our hunter days, right?
Like, come on now.
SPEAKER_02 (32:40):
Child.
I showed my friend a picture ofus at my baby shower.
Mm-mm.
Yes.
I love it.
SPEAKER_03 (32:47):
Well, I was like doing the salsa and all that
stuff.
Yeah.
Yes.
SPEAKER_02 (32:51):
Yes.
You know what?
Girl, girl, I'm talking to you,and you're talking to me, and
the people don't know who weare.
Well, what are we doing heretoday?
SPEAKER_03 (33:02):
We're gonna invite them in.
This is like kitchen table,right?
Like, come on in, come hang out.
Go get your tea.
I have ice tea, your water, yourcoffee.
Cause you know that's how we sayit up here.
SPEAKER_02 (33:18):
Um, so you got tea and coffee.
SPEAKER_03 (33:26):
I mean, you've always been quite the
overachiever, though, honey.
SPEAKER_02 (33:31):
I might was I might resemble that remark.
Um I I was trying to remember,like I know we met at Hunter
College, and the way the worldhas come full circle, the fact
that I have a family member atHunter now, and I was trying to
think about where we met and howwe met, and I really I know it
was Hunter, and I think it wasaround politics and stuff.
(33:53):
I think we were saving the worldbefore our children were born.
SPEAKER_03 (33:57):
That's right.
We were, and we're and we stillare, which brings me to hey
guys, I'm Yvette Lov Davila, andI'm the co-host of Two Mothers
One Ashe.
SPEAKER_02 (34:09):
I am Dion Colette Monsanto, and I am the co-host
of Two Mothers One Ashe.
This whole dialogue is gonna bea lot of fun, and um it's a
grief dialogue, but it's gonnabe a fun journey because I'm fun
and Yvette is fun.
SPEAKER_03 (34:31):
That's right.
We are we are fun, and you'regonna know this immediately.
But you know, Dion, I I want usto talk a little bit about,
right?
Just in our invitation for folksto come in and join us.
I want to just talk about whatbrought us here.
Who are we?
(34:51):
And how and how do we get here?
You go first.
Okay.
SPEAKER_02 (34:56):
All right, I'm gonna go first, but in true Dion
fashion, I'm gonna have to pauseand take a breath.
So I'm going to invite you,Evie.
You're gonna hear me call herEvie sometimes.
It is Evette, but it's Evie.
So don't be confused.
Same chick.
It's even for the it's Eevee.
SPEAKER_03 (35:13):
Because you guys are family, my my very close friends
of family call me Evie.
So be my guest.
SPEAKER_02 (35:20):
I am a mother of three, and I unfortunately lost
one of my children, and thatbegan my journey with grief and
loss.
And every time I start to talkabout it, I get choked up, which
is why I said, I'm gonna inviteyou to breathe with me.
So, wherever you are, I'm gonnakeep my eyes open for a bit.
(35:42):
But what I tend to do when Itake a breath, because even at
the moment when I told you it'sa grief dialogue, and I
mentioned that I lost one of mychildren, my daughter.
She was a teenager, like myheart closes.
And then I'm like, I have tobreathe some love and life into
my heart.
So wherever you are, I'm gonnainvite you.
You can do the same thing if youwant.
(36:03):
You can place one hand on yourheart, you can place one hand on
your belly, you can keep youreyes open or closed.
But let's just take three deepbreaths together.
And out.
Two more.
In and out.
(36:32):
Last time together, pull air in,open your mouth and sigh it out.
It feels so much better.
Right?
Oh my god, like I am I am fullypresent in my body here with
you, here with Evie.
(36:52):
And um that felt good.
And Evie already said it that wewant you to feel like you're
sitting at the kitchen table,una cafecita, una taza de te.
You know, you have some tea, youhave some coffee, some water,
whatever you need to becomfortable with us and join the
dialogue.
So I hinted at it.
I lost my daughter many moonsago.
(37:13):
She was a teenager, so that'sme.
And I'm from the Bronx, youknow, the Bronics.
And uh, so I'll pass it over toyou, Evie.
SPEAKER_03 (37:22):
Thank you for that, Dean.
So I am from Santurse, PuertoRico by way of East New York,
Brooklyn.
And uh I am a mother of two, andI lost my son, and I knew this
(37:48):
was gonna happen really quickearly on, and I will not
apologize for my tears becausethey have been earned.
Um and uh I my god, how manylives have I lived?
(38:09):
So many.
I'm a 27-year veteran of themusic industry.
I have been been reborn throughpain, and now I am a healer.
I have a wellness practice whichI welcome people to come in and
(38:29):
take care of their skin, takecare of their souls, take care
of their spirits.
And uh, you know, I we we liketo say that we have I'm gonna go
back to you saying that youcan't remember exactly when we
(38:51):
met.
I I really remember, I rarelyremember that moment, Dee, uh,
those kind of moments, and Idon't remember our moment, which
leads me to believe that it wasjust fate.
You've always been there, maybenot in eye view, but you've
(39:11):
always been there, and we aremet for each other, we have
walked a very similar path inlife, and we are now in each
other's point of view, and andnow we're here.
Two mothers with one ashe.
(39:32):
And I'd like to explain to thefolks Ashe.
Yeah, the name I was I was yes,yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (39:38):
So Ashay too, so perfectly okay.
SPEAKER_03 (39:43):
Perfect.
Ashe is a Yodaba word from WestAfrica, it was brought here by
the captured who were thenenslaved, and the word means
life force.
And through our conversations inthis podcast for the foreseeable
(40:10):
episodes, we're always gonnabring it back to Ashe.
Because death is part of life,and so we all experience death,
but our life force, our lifeforce, shouldn't end there.
Because we're the ones that areleft behind to continue to live.
SPEAKER_02 (40:35):
And to your point, when you say that, that brings
me to you know, your brilliancewhen in the naming process for
this podcast is that we bothexperience the same heartache
and Ashe is spelled the same wayas ache, right?
SPEAKER_03 (40:54):
Except it has an accent on the e.
That's right.
That's right.
So you can read it whether youcan read uh a Yoruba word and
pronounce it properly.
We don't mind if you pronounceit ache.
SPEAKER_02 (41:09):
So, because it's one and the same, and through that
pain, when I when I lost mydaughter, that was our
heartache, and when you lostyour son, that was our
heartache.
So it's one ache and one Ashay.
I want to, and I'm so glad youdidn't apologize for your tears.
(41:32):
Um, there's this whole aspect offorgiveness, and people are
constantly apologizing forshowing up as their authentic
emotional self.
And I was so happy when you saidthat.
And um, what I also loved isthat you brought in the
Caribbean with you.
I don't have my bandera, but youknow, I am from the Bronx by way
(41:55):
of the Virgin Islands, VIMassive.
You know, let me see if I get myfingers right, VI Massive, and
uh Virgin Islands and from theVirgin Islands, the family
landed in the Bronx, in the PJs,in the South Bronx, Fort Apache.
And it's been a journey.
And I the other thing that weshare is that we're both global
(42:16):
citizens.
We both love to cook.
So when you said we're sittingdown at the kitchen table, I'm
like, yes.
And I also notice about us fromme still being in your home and
you being in my home, our tableis always set and ready for
company.
SPEAKER_03 (42:33):
Always.
Always.
I like to say that no one willgo hungry in my house.
So I always Chris, my husbandChris, he was it was difficult
for him to understand why it isthat I always cook extra food.
And it's really a habit that Ilearned from my grandmother.
(42:57):
Absolutely.
And I talk about this in mymemoir that I haven't completed
yet.
But there I have a favoritestory about my grandmother would
sit on the windowsill like allthe old Puerto Rican ladies,
right?
She put a pillow right on thewindowsill and look outside.
And there was this gentleman,um, his name was Mad Dog.
(43:18):
And, you know, he he was he wasaddicted and he was a very lost
soul.
And my grandmother took to thisman, and everybody in the
neighborhood was scared of him,but she took to him, and he
would come to the window and hewould call, Senora, he'd call up
to her.
She'd go to the window and he'lltell her that he's hungry.
(43:40):
Tell her that he's hungry, andshe would go to the kitchen and
put rice and beans in, you know,those quart, the quarts of milk,
right?
She would buy a quart of milk ata time.
But she would keep thecontainers on this, wash them
out and keep them on the side.
And, you know, she'd pack it upand throw a plastic fork in
there and throw it out thewindow, put it in a bag and
throw it out the window to him.
(44:02):
And, you know, I learned fromher that anyone can stop by at
any point and there'd besomething for you to eat.
SPEAKER_02 (44:10):
Ash, yeah.
I love that.
And you know what?
We never discussed this, so Ididn't know you got it from your
grandmother, but that'sabsolutely where I got it from.
And I still in my kitchen, I'mlike really happy that I have
some of her corning wear pots,the white with the blue flowers
on it, and then there are theother ones with the brass pot.
And wait a minute.
(44:31):
What is your grandmother's name?
We have to bring them in.
We talked about Dasan and Siway.
What's grandma's name?
SPEAKER_03 (44:37):
Yes, so my grandmother's name is Margarita
Ganino.
SPEAKER_02 (44:42):
Margarita.
Margarita.
Okay, so Margarita.
So my grandmother is Grandma B,but her name was Bianca, Bianca
Almeida Jackson Monsanto.
So does Grandma B.
And um, there was always, likeyou said, so much food.
Now we were on the 16th floor inMillbrook Projects, so nobody
was calling up to the window forus.
(45:03):
That that wasn't happening.
But definitely when people cameby, because I was an only child
for a long time.
And when she cooked, she startedworking, she was a nurse out of
Roosevelt Island, right?
I don't know if you rememberBertess Kohler Hospital on
Roosevelt Island is where shewas, and she was a nurse's aide
that doesn't even exist anymore.
I don't know what they I don'tknow what they call them now,
but it's not a nurse's aideanymore if you don't have that.
SPEAKER_03 (45:26):
I guess it's probably a whatever equated to
an LPN, a licensed practitioner,a nurse practitioner, right?
Yeah, like a practical nurse,yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (45:37):
Yeah, and she and she wasn't licensed, right?
You know, she had aneighth-grade education and
school of hard knocks, gettingfrom the island of St.
Thomas here, but always food forpeople.
And I remember that when I cookin my kitchen, my family's
always like, You are likegrandma.
There's you know, everybody hasfood, and I have the bowls ready
(45:59):
for when they leave to pack upthe food to carry them on
because food helps heal theheartache, right?
Food is love.
SPEAKER_03 (46:07):
Yeah, it is.
You know, I I love that youasked my grandmother's name.
Because one of the things thatis extremely important to both
you and I, and we'd love towelcome our listeners in to
participate in this with us, andthat's to memorialize those that
we love and we've lost.
Say their names.
(46:28):
Yes.
You know, yes, I was came acrossa quote one time and it says, No
one is truly dead until theirname is no longer spoken.
That's right.
So that's right.
I agree.
How beautiful is it, right, thatwe get to keep the spirit of our
loved ones alive by just sayingtheir names.
(46:51):
We keep them alive.
SPEAKER_05 (46:53):
We hope you enjoyed that special preview.
For the entire episode, searchtwo mothers, one ashe, a grief
dialogue on Apple, Spotify,YouTube, or wherever you get
your podcast.
SPEAKER_01 (47:04):
We are Merrick Stewart.
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