Corie Sheppard Podcast
The Corie Sheppard Podcast
A trusted space for honest, Caribbean-rooted conversations that connect generations, challenge norms, and celebrate culture through real stories and perspectives.
Hosted by Corie Sheppard-Babb, the podcast explores the lives, journeys, and ideas of the Caribbean’s most compelling voices—artists, entrepreneurs, cultural leaders, changemakers, and everyday people with powerful stories. Each episode goes beyond headlines and hype to uncover the values, history, humour, struggle, and brilliance that shape who we are.
Whether it’s music, business, creativity, identity, advocacy, or community, this podcast holds space for the kind of dialogue that inspires reflection, empowers expression, and preserves our legacy. It’s culture in conversation—unfiltered, intergenerational, and deeply Caribbean.
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Corie Sheppard Podcast
Episode 242 | Karega
Step into a celebration of Trinidad and Tobago's cultural heartbeat as we mark Emancipation Day with powerful reflections on the guardians of our heritage. This special episode weaves together the melodious rapso rhythms of Karega Mandela while taking you behind the curtain of my recent conversations with some of our nation's most brilliant minds.
From the theatrical brilliance of Tyker Phillips confronting difficult social issues through art, to the extraordinary journey of Maxine Williams from Trinidad to Yale to global business leadership at Facebook, each story reveals a different facet of our collective identity. You'll hear my genuine awe at sitting across from these luminaries, and the unexpected moments that transformed these interviews into profound exchanges.
I share the fascinating backstory of my conversation with comedian Junior Lee, whose wisdom at just 28 years old (with 15 years already in his craft!) demonstrates why "overnight success" is a myth worth dispelling. These aren't just interviews—they're living archives of wisdom that our young people desperately need to hear in a world full of competing voices.
The episode takes an introspective turn as I discuss why this documentation matters so deeply. When we celebrate our cultural icons while they're still with us, we create pathways for future generations to see possibilities beyond their immediate circumstances. As Trinidad navigates complex social challenges, these documented conversations might be the very roadmaps our youth need.
Join me in embracing the mission of cultural preservation, celebrating our legends, and building bridges through meaningful conversations. And if these stories resonate with you, consider supporting our new Patreon to help ensure these important cultural archives continue to grow.
I ain't feel it have a better time to see you other than Emancipation. Morning no.
Speaker 2:Is what Nelson Mandela always say I cherish the ideal of a democratic and free society. It's an ideal for which I hope to live and accomplish, but, if need be, it's an ideal for which I'm prepared to be home. Thank you, vibration. Welcome to episode. Where is this? Zachary boy 242, you feel?
Speaker 1:Episode 242 of the Corey Shepard Podcast. Welcome back to everybody who's been listening.
Speaker 3:Welcome to the new listeners. Look how much people will suffer. Still nobody in gear but black man. Have no fear.
Speaker 1:So we have to run the oppressors From the maw of your life. So we have to run the oppressors. It's nice that our new faces are wrong, but some of the faces yeah, these young are so aggressive. If I was in one St Conrad I'd have a very aggressive clap here. Nice to see the new faces and nice to see some familiar faces. So the familiar faces come play. The familiar faces say you used to record by yourselves and you used to tell everybody yes, you are going around the country and we like the interviews, but we want to hear from you, so you're hearing from me right.
Speaker 1:We ride back in the mix. We ride back in the mix. I would like to take a moment on this Emancipation Day. Whenever you're listening to this, feel emancipated, right, because it takes a long time to get to listen to the episode, the interview people. They're only watching the interview now. They want me to study and the people who are watching the interview are hearing from me. They're vexed. You can't please everybody. Six or one, yeah, but that's not the other. But I want it to be known that today's episode has this emancipation in Trinidad and Tobago, the first country in the world to declare emancipation day ever. And the emancipation day spread from here and it spread to everywhere. It become a global thing. Right At this day, I want to take a little bit of a minute of all the time I want to take.
Speaker 1:Well, you know the voice of the man who now talk there. Boy, I wonder if they know the voice of the person, because for a long time in coming, I will tell Oli something. Let me give Oli some information. Oli, give me a minute. Right, the people who rung here a long time, for all the people who now join in this train. Right, we've been talking about Kaiso, calypsonians, our local icons, our legends, or whether we're the legends in sporting business. We've been talking about them for a long time. We're happy to be able to talk to some of them now, and every now and again, we gain the chance to talk about them again. Right, the talking about them is an important part too, right, and what I've decided to do I talked to some of the people who would be following, following this journey for a long time and of you know, one of the things is the more you record here and the more your guy comes to come out and the more you build a team and thing, the more money this has to spend, you know, and passion and thing is one thing.
Speaker 1:It's something I will never stop and I will always pursue, especially as I'm able to talk to so many people we're talking to now. Because when you hear about the chances that they have taken and the risk that they take with their own lives or their own careers, and the willingness they have to put everything on the line behind something they love, I had to do the same thing. You know what I mean. I love when people comment about how inspired they are by this one and how inspired they are when they talk to it. Yeah, it's so great to hear from this person and that person and all that. I think they're all inspiring. I think all of us inspiring.
Speaker 1:So I, as I talk to them, I just take a little nugget from everybody. You know, pause, I just take a little nugget but don't feel like there's so many information to see how to make myself a better person. And one of the things I learned is that, you see, when you have to pursue it and that is my goal now is my life goal. You know, I've been here for a while and I ain't going away my life goal. You know what I mean. But the thing about your life goal is you have to fund it. So, here, what we gonna do now. Here, what we gonna do, right, we're gonna do a patreon and do a monthly subscription for the people who really want to follow up on the, on the, on the episodes that we get to talk about thing. We get to talk loose and just be with self. You know what I mean. And get back to what we are custom doing. Some of the things that I will do on the Patreon, as I'm custom doing, is to get back to the issues of the week because some of the people who I've spoken to, I'll tell you something right the length of time it takes to do research, williams, it is not no joke.
Speaker 1:Amongst the time, these people live plenty life. She young, she young, you know I mean, but plenty life. And I am grossly underprepared every time I sit down by the table with somebody. When you sit down with somebody like junior lee, I am unprepared completely. It takes a long time because he and all young people live plenty life. But no matter how much you read and research about people, you see when that person opposite you on that table die, when he has final body person, and I want to say I feel like I'd be finding out a little. Remember your grandfather used to say that's all he has really be finding out about the person. I talking to him for two hours.
Speaker 1:So, uh, that among the time I, when I look at the news now I doesn't know what going on or is, depending on friends sometimes at that time I know every article in the papers you know to be able to record it next week Now I don't know. So to be able to make the time and dedicate the time to that, I decided to do a Patreon. We're going to do a little $5 monthly subscription. Zachary tell me it's too expensive. I tell Zachary, these people got. So I will do that and decide how much of them episodes we could put out. Of course I will put out some for free. I will not neglect the day ones. You know, I met a gentleman the other day. Right, he shall remain unnamed for now, or maybe by the end of this episode you will hear about him, but he has been saying for a long time that what gets you?
Speaker 1:here, wouldn't get you there. I have seen him say that to many, many people. I've seen him say that to people who I admire what they have achieved and what they have accomplished. But he always makes that point to say what gets you here wouldn't get you there. And maybe one day I will get a chance to talk to that person. You know what I mean and have one of these episodes with that guy. But one of the questions that I have for him is I understand the concept that what gets you here wouldn't get you there. It makes perfect sense, right? In other words, he's saying you had to continue to step up your game. You must continue to improve. I listen to that wholesale, but I always want to ask him what about who gets you here wouldn't get you there? That's a trickier one, because I've had people who have been dedicated and listening to this thing.
Speaker 1:When I was talking, I was talking into the void. I was talking. I feel like if it's me alone talking to the world, me and my partner Zachary. He used to hold me down all the time. Sometimes it's only he in the room telling me what article and what we should day ones and them take pay for thing, when you know what I mean. But we're going to figure that out right, we'll work on that together.
Speaker 1:But getting back to I'm sorry if you're new to this, I stray a lot. I stray from the point a lot, you know. But one of the things that I enjoy doing genuinely, that I miss and why I want to come back to this format as often as I can humanly do it, it's because we used to sit down here and do dedications you know what I mean or live locations to people, some of them who go on, some of them who are here with us, some of them who are current and still doing things, some of them who retire and relaxing and them kind of thing. We love to come together and pay respects and show how much we love people.
Speaker 6:And today, on this Emancipation Day, you know who's the fellow we loving on today? Greetings. This is the raptor soldier saying we need to spread some love, yes, some love. The tension high, high, high. The tension high, high, high. And the vice is low, low, low. When the racist talk, they talk. We must tell them no, no, no, cause if I feel you and you feel me, don't make a politician, make you no stupidity. Look how long we share in the love. I say Don't look at chicks, let's take it away, no matter what they do. Let your love keep shining through, no matter what they say. Spread your love every day, oh yeah, oh yeah. So, when they come with it, bring your love and come. When they fight you down, bring your love and come. Stand up and be strong. Bring your love and come. Bring your love, bring your love, bring your love, no matter what they do. Let your love keep shining through, no matter what they say. Spread your love every day when they come with their plan and tellin' me what to do.
Speaker 1:We gotta make a stand To trim back. How we stay true when they bring bad guys to go, felt it way. Cut your team to get in a pay Solution in the people's hands. Spread your love across the land, don't matter what they do. Let your love keep shining through. Oh yeah, oh yeah, don't matter what they say, spread your love Every day. So when they come with it, when they fight you down, stand up and be strong. Bring your love, don't matter what they do. Let your love keep shining through, don't matter what they say. Spark your love every day. Hey, now the messages in rap. So they say rap, so man don't die. Multiply. Let me tell you something. The messages in rap. So it's a hell of a thing. You know Rap, so it's a genre that we need to study, you know.
Speaker 1:Apart of this journey for me with documenting people, let me tell you the way I think about it. Sometimes, right, I say well, alright, you see Kiske the Caravan, I done a Sister Run. Well, sister Run says she wasn't part of Kiske the Caravan. I only pick up that with Sister Run. Right, I have a whole episode to put out and the combined Mandela effect of guests, because I think Sister Ron was in Kiskele Caravan and she said she wasn't right and she wasn't. So Kiskele Caravan, sorry, sister. Ron. Ozzy, merrick, omari, ashby, you know what I mean. So I say, if you think about who else was in Kiskele Caravan, you could think of some of the names that we could be seeing soon. You know, when it's our band leaders, I say all right, our David Rudder, our Con Lucas, our Eddie Charles, our Zan. You could start to think about, okay, who might be some of the other band leaders that we could see coming up next, because I could tell you like nothing, there's few things I enjoy more, more than the reveal of our episode. Just so you know right, all the music in this episode will be from the great, the great, karega Mandela. Great Karega Mandela, one of the originators, one of the founders.
Speaker 1:By the time you're listening to this, you would have had a night dedicated to him in the Emancipation Village in the Savannah. I hope to make my way there. I recorded before that happened, right, just to show love to him. I saw him and Carl Mandela. Salute to Carl as well. I saw them in Kaizo Blues the other night I went to take in a show.
Speaker 1:Salute to Jaron Ruckus, remy. Let me talk about some things. Let's get back to the point at some time. But salute to Jaron Ruckus Remy, who doing a thing in Kaizo Blues that I'm hoping continues to get the kind of support it getting and that he could continue to do it. I know freetown is in canada right now doing doing some. Well, they're on tour. You know I mean left from june, that no for infant tour, so they are abroad.
Speaker 1:So I might have paused for a minute, but I know that so far he had three canal on a night. It was amazing to see. But there is a more tricker. When trick started to sing songs and had the whole audience Singing along with them, it is amazing to see. You know them have an audience, they will, they have that luck. But the Rockers Working on this thing and he had Johnny King, he had Trinidad Rio One night, he had Valentino One night and I was there Taking in the Trichanal show and I saw Carole and the great Corriga Mandela there just taking in the show too.
Speaker 1:You know I bumped some of the other night by Raze Bar too slow to Ozzy Merrick and the galvanized discotheque. You know what I mean, the galvanized man himself, ozzy. But on a Wednesday night. They bring back that vibe, I hope, and I know that he had the restart for it the other night with Tricanal. Well, actually the restart was Ozymeric. The Rokka show is another show, but we're hopefully back by Ray's Barn on Wednesday night soon. So it's good to see those things coming together. And all the music in this episode is directly from Craig Amandela.
Speaker 1:But, as I was saying, when you see the trend of the guests that come in, you could see or make a guess who next. Because the episode reveal is a big thing to me. I say, all right, I don't really like people know who I book. I don't like people to post before they come on. I want to keep the reveal going and one of those reveals over the last few weeks which was special to me was, uh, taika phillips.
Speaker 1:Let me start with taika, right, and this is one of the things. Again, this is one of the things I will do with these episodes behind the patreon, because I always get people asking okay, well, what kind of person muhammad really is? It's loo, this and people ask questions about the guests and so on, and I guess these behind the scenes or the stories behind the interviews well, you gotta tell me if it's interesting or not, you know? Because one thing too if you find it boring, we go cut it out and we go do something else, right? But taika was interesting because, if you remember earlier, uh, cann, all time I had franca here, right, salute to franca, phillips and franca.
Speaker 1:Very quickly after we recorded and thing uh, she, she, she, she say hey, if you're going down this road of documenting culture, and thing, you see taika, you had to talk to taika and she, she, she, franca, and call me with that question and ask me if um have somebody who? It wasn't like that. She was like, hey, you, hey, you have to talk to Franca Because Franca, I think Franca understood what I was doing. I remember when I first asked Franca to come on, I was a fetter, you know, a bouncer, franca. I was like Franca. I said Franca, you can come, because I don't feel like I do injustice to some of these topics, that so much experience doing it for a long time and thing.
Speaker 1:And now I'm nervous because now it's franka and them know how to conduct interview and I as formal arena himself, you know I mean. So when I'm back in and forth in the frank, I always remember there was a moment with the back in and forth and where she was asking me okay, what we're going to talk about, how are we going to do this, how are we going to structure this, how much time it's going to take. She was listening, basically tell me hey, that's a lot of topics that is ambitious for our again. Then no production Me, I trying to figure it out as I go along. You know, and I remember just about a day or two before the interview, I messaged Franka about something and she said Corey, plan your thing, I trust you. I took that to mean something At that moment when she say don't worry, I trust you. And she came it and stuff.
Speaker 1:And I learn a lot just talking to franka in terms of what a production should look like, simple little things. Let me tell you something any chance you get to be around greatness, just just do it. Just, just, just just soak them in, just listen to them. But when you're a wrong experience, people just keep quiet. You're gonna learn plenty. You do how to ask them nothing. You is learned by how they operate and what they do, because when I was finished recording with frank frank I went straight to the screen by Conrad and them here and start to watch through segments of it and say, hey, maybe I could cut this, maybe I could make sure the camera on you here, let's do this.
Speaker 1:There was a part of the episode I forget. It didn't work out well when we recorded the first time, you know, and I wanted to do it after and Franco explained to me hey, you could do it now. You know, you sit down here, I go sit down there. She said, I go just sit down here and nod and I was like, wait, you could do that. I really didn't think that. You know the whole idea of doing something post-production. Post-production for me meant up to that point, just put out the episode. It was a great success for me if I put out an episode without a lens cap on, where you could actually see the person.
Speaker 1:The people who have suffered for a long time will tell you that they have episodes on YouTube where the whole episode is black and all you hear is audio because I forget to take off the lens cap. You know what I mean? I'm just a young man. These things happen. What am I to do? We figure this out as we go along. And then somebody was like, well, okay, if you don't have video, why don't you just put up a picture of the? I was like like that would be a good idea. I put the whole thing black like hell. You live and you learn so in doing that and you know being prepared.
Speaker 1:I always remember in the early days I was talking to franka just after she was telling me hey, do your research. You know you don't want to be, you don't want to be fumbling, you don't want to not know putting about people, do your research. And all those are things that I took. And uh, you know it's just just like a building. You know you take one little block and say, right, let me see how I can apply that and implement that. So fast forward to my announcement of Taika feeling good now because I could message Franca and tell her Franca, girl, I get Taika. But let me tell you this at the time she's telling me about getting Taika, I don't know who is Taika trying to do my research and stuff. I go in on her Instagram and I go in and I see why it's out there and things. Again, I'm talking to Taika and completely blown away. Maybe I would try to put my face on camera more often, I try to focus it on the guests, but I was completely blown away by most of the things that Taika was talking about.
Speaker 1:I spoke about it when we recorded and we spoke about it. If you go back to the episode with Taika spoke about it when we recorded and we spoke about the um. If you go back to the episode with taika, you'll hear me talk about my experience with her. Uh, going to see the play poison, right, and it is it hard to describe. That's something that you have to see.
Speaker 1:When that time come, when she do it again, are trying to put gentle pressure on taika to do it again. It is something to behold how intimate it is, how close these people are to you. It is the equivalent of being home by a friend and a domestic violence situation breakout. You have to understand the tension that the audience feeling. Tiger tigers. It has something.
Speaker 1:Tiger saying that thing she say when you're dealing with me, there's no escaping. When you're dealing with me. Number one reason I was saying it listen. When she said that across the table, she meant that I can tell you something. I shouldn't put people in trouble. They're young, them young. So when youths have the culture and the arts in their hand, with two hands like that. We have to love this place. All this stuff about Trinidad, they're a real place. We have to love this place. All this stuff about Trinidad, they're a real place, ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta. Let me tell you, taika and them making this place as real as it ever was and it will continue to be real.
Speaker 1:Them is a youth, you know. Them is who we're doing all the things for and I want you to picture how tense it would be if you, by two friends you you know what I mean You're home by somebody and fight breakout or argument breakout by them, two people who you don't know. You don't know how they're living. It might be the first time you're in the living room. That is the feeling you was getting when you went to poison, because they tell you you're watching the play. You don't know what to expect.
Speaker 1:Tyka, have a big thing, a big thing. All it's saying is poison. And I hear and that's something I thought I was going up there to whine on people. I thought this was a threat. I said, well, I'm going to whine low when I go up by Tiger the threat. But when that thing done, I had to come out inside there because I need to escape. I was like, let me come out of these people's place if I want to fight. Fight now it is intense.
Speaker 1:So again, remember, frank had taught me about, about being prepared. So I, prepared as I could be, I want the thing. I don't know the arts well enough. You know what I mean. I love to my depth, but I read and I try to figure it out. And you're talking to people who know their craft. You can't be guessing. I don't think a guessing game will go. Well, let me put it like that. Right, these people know their craft and they're busy too. So when I'm like what, who? I was, what's happening here?
Speaker 1:So I wanted to ask Taika because I seen where this thing going on be big, this going on be huge. We're going to do this in Queens, all I will see Taika in Napa and then I will see her in Carnegie Hall. It's all like that. Or I will see her in Barclays, or which part is Dupley over there, broadway, and make it big, and then Taika bluntly tell me anything. Hey, that enough for me. I hear. You see that audience waiting had to stay in my living room. I say, oh Lord, I'll be uncomfortable for the rest of my life. But again, salute to Taika because that she's willing to take on topics that are important for us to discuss as a society. I believe you know I like hair bad and to me Trinidad is always a real place and it will always continue to be a real place.
Speaker 1:But we have to become the kind of place that is not. We have to become the kind of place that is not worried about having the conversation. We have to have the conversations. We have to talk about who we are we. We we's calypso and we so can we's limbo and what they say we is and them kind of thing. We, we are all those things, but we are also domestic violence. You can't hide your bad side if you continue to just never talk about your bad side or never bring it out in the open how we go, do things to, to to remedy it or to curb it or to help people who are dealing with it.
Speaker 1:I'm confused by this thing that we have, where the best option is to hide it. It's to just pretend like it's not happening at all. That could never be. Wherever you want to study, or wherever the background is you come from, wherever you study it, go tell your A Leaving it in the dark is probably not a great solution to it. So salute to Taika. Appreciate Taika for coming through and I intend to.
Speaker 1:I intend to again because, like I say, when I go out to play, I go in, I just go in, I go certain type of play, right, I mean me, me and no thesby and me and no one of them people I know, artsy person and them kind of thing. I tell you when I go a place who get horned and who come back and who catch who and who thing, that's the only place I go to. So Taika and them challenging me to be different and to understand differently and to see things differently through the arts, which I suppose the arts and the interpretation of the arts, is how we can have some of those discussions. You know, some of those discussions, rather than running from them, we could use things like the arts and use people like Taika or work through people like Taika to get it done. So my intention is to get more people from that space and put it out in the atmosphere that at some point, taika and her business partners, the people who work on it and also other people, the little hon stories. I like them too.
Speaker 1:I was hoping to get some people to come here and talk about some of the haunts, so I have some people in mind who have been doing plays for a long time and who are the highest levels that we could get to come here.
Speaker 1:So I hope the Taika episode is one that all you remember and all you cherish, because some of the things that she said, beyond all the old talk and the thing right and the life and where you grew up and the thing right and the life and where you grew up and the thing.
Speaker 1:I want you to listen carefully to the way Tyka spoke about Belmont and the importance of Belmont and its icons. Listen to the way she called names when she said Tony Hall and Dennis Hall. Listen to the way she spoke about the people so that you start to understand that if we want to be great and we really want a first world, we must define what first world is and part a first world. We must define what first will is and part of part of first world. Them to us must be that we hold the people who was here before us in high regard and some of them who gone. We had to make sure that they never forgotten. And some of them who here, we had to make sure that they celebrated like this fella here, you know him.
Speaker 6:Raps are sold, ya, in your area. Come to deliver my sweet Trinbego. I know we have some problems, but you're the strength of our people. I know we can solve them. You're a beautiful land. I say we can let it slip away, but the show lasts to the end. Trinbego, our love is free. I tell you to hold on and keep it great. Thank you For the love of the children. I know we just can't disappoint them. So that we build a nation With discipline, tolerance and production, we must love all the youth, build them with strength and truth. Let them know they are kings and queens and they will spread the wings. I tell you to hold on and keep the faith. What to do? What to do? I tell you to hold on and keep the faith. Charge us and hold on and keep the faith. Child, just hold on and keep the faith.
Speaker 1:I tell you to hold on and keep the faith we know better than to cut off solo that sweet like that. It's a great career, man, delaware, to celebrate. Celebrate people while they're here. Man, celebrate people all the time. We don't play that way because people are always here. So celebrate them all the time. You understand, all the time we legends and we icons. You know what I mean. We're great. Why we wouldn't celebrate them? What else we here for? So what episode I want to say here? About background? Let me tell you some more. Maxine Williams right, two episodes I want to talk about here, but Maxine in particular. Let me tell you where that start, right. That just start with what I've been doing for the longest. While If I see somebody interesting on a thing, I kind of message and I hope for the best. I a kind of message and a hope for the best. I want to tell you that nine out of ten times I'm echoing people in box. As I always say, people ain't even taking me or demanding me to study, which is cool, because I mean, whether you could come here or not, the love is there and we're here to celebrate people. You know what I mean. Not just to celebrate people. Now, we're here to celebrate weself. You understand where I'm coming from.
Speaker 1:I sat and did an episode with a guy by the name of Lou Lyons. Do you remember Lou Lyons? Somebody who I was talking to about or listening to for a long time, with full disclosure radio and all you know what I mean the behind, or for the record and so on. Right, and I said, boy, you know, as a man who podcasts into it and a man who's in music and a man who's played guitar at a level that I can't understand what he's doing, I say, boy, you know, as a man who podcasts into and a man who in music and a man who's played guitar at a level that I can't understand what you're doing, I say it would be nice to talk to you. I want to tell you that some of these conversations planning since I first ever record Masi in the year what year was that? 2020, 2021, when COVID in full swing is, when I started and I said, boy, you see, I want to talk to him. Me, I care if we record it, I don't care if we put it out as an episode, I just want to see him and talk to him, because that fella have a wealth of knowledge that is enviable the way he's talking about topics. He's the kind of person you're sitting down with who you could throw out anything. Whatever you want to talk about, you could talk about with Lou, right, and that's how he is. And then I bounce him up. I gave him the whole backstory of how it come up. Right, I must have messaged him or something on Facebook or whatever and he answered and I bounce him up.
Speaker 1:I think I had done a little thing with the Quattro at Freetown and take me home and I see the shares and and say don't share my thing. Now you know, don't share my thing, don't like my thing, don't do none of them things, because when you're sharing and you're liking, I'm watching all who I want to talk to and as I see like something I do, I say hi, my name is Corey Shepard, I would like to have you, as I guess what's the worst could happen. I learned that recently I end up bouncing up Lou Juve morning. I play a lot of Strive Juve, me and Stacey play with Juve. I see Lou in the you know what I mean on Cipriani Boulevard, random, random. Now you have to remember. I just full barred the men and them song. I tried to sing my Hummer part, which nobody should ever try to do in life, and I tried to play guitar, like Lou, which I mean you know. So I've been nervous now about seeing people in real because me don't know how people feel about the reaction to the thing and also I don't I'm from a long time, you know, I'm from the 80s. I doesn't realize that if somebody see you on camera, when they see you in person, they know who you is. How stupid that sound it feel like. If I know you on social media, I'm not sure if I'm supposed to come and talk to you when I see you in the street. So I'm not sure.
Speaker 1:And he's a man who looks real serious. Right, you have to understand what I'm going through in life, right, he's looked very serious and very dread. He has a way of looking under his shades and his thing and he has his look very dread. So when I see him I was like oh shit. I said what? I started getting nervous immediately. I said, oh God, that man see me now. And that man smiled there's something I'll never forget. That man smiled and watched me like I said boy, here's nothing. I said I hope I didn't do too bad. He said you do good and you know his words.
Speaker 1:Let me tell you something about Lula and the way that man is talk, right, but of course you know when I know the, so they know where it come from. He studied journalism, he studied law and then he studied the music in his own way and then, coming through poetry and them kind of thing, them men just use words in a kind of way. They are precise. Let me put it like that, right, he is precise. It never had a point in the episode where he looked like he was getting flustered or he was getting loud or he're getting bored. He's extremely tuned into what you're saying, which is very intimidating. I want people to understand that when you say no across from you, it is intimidating sometimes, that man watching you down in your brain. So while we're watching something, right, watch, watch all the episodes, right, plenty of people, plenty of people sitting with their chair facing me direct and I just have to turn my chair to the side. So, because this is a lot eye contact, this is a lot. Sometimes I can't believe I'm talking to people as I'm talking to them. So he's one of them and when he talks about things, he's talking about it with a lot of authority and a little bit of clarity and depth. That is unmistakable.
Speaker 1:And you know, I just happened to be on my honeymoon. I got married a long time ago, several years ago. I ain't going to call no number, but we never went on a honeymoon. So we went on a honeymoon in Jamaica that weekend when I released that Lou episode. So let me tell you how that go Before I come back to Maxine. I have everything set to go on the honeymoon and I know that after, if you get married in 20, whatever year the year was 2022. One of them years, right? If you get married in one of them years and then you have a honeymoon and then 2025, people tell you, hey, honeymoon and you're going and you do the honeymoon, right, it would be wise for you to not work when you go on the honeymoon, because all the things we think and the mission and purpose and passion and all them kind of things.
Speaker 1:You see, lou said something in that episode. He said the wives of entertainers have such an important role to play. That stood out to me in that episode because the wives of podcasters when you're going home and there's only podcast, podcast, podcast there's a Calypso young. He sang a song named the Letter. You know what I mean. He said Bring a letter from your last woman with she's signature stating why we done. You know that song. If you tell me to sing it again, if you tell me to give a free subscription to the Patreon a week worth of subscription If it's $ to the Patreon, a week worth of subscription If it's $5 a month, a week worth of subscription might be $1.75 or thereabouts. Right, if you tell me to sing it. But he also have a song saying let me see if I can sing it. I really put this quote right here. I have nothing to sing it on. And you ever heard a line?
Speaker 1:he say you better use the hole in your guitar when you're a wife.
Speaker 1:If you tell me to sing it, I will give you A week water free subscription, right, $1.25. Oh, the $5 is US too, right? So that's $1.50 worth of US dollars. It's hard to get. You know what I mean. But the man said his wife telling him all she hear in every night is a chung-chung inside my head, you know, because he love Eucalyptus when he go into the passion. But the song was about his wife basically telling him. He say when you're a wife, use the hole in your guitar, good advice.
Speaker 1:So I went to Jamaica on my honeymoon with this advice in mind. I say, boy, better, you don't have no work to do. So I released the thing, I went and I organized. I say, right, let me think the episode. I scheduled that I do everything in advance because half the time Monday night it's a Sunday night. I try to scramble To make sure episode Come out Monday.
Speaker 1:So I go on Jamaica. Now of course I ain't finish everything I had to do Because the clips Take long to cut. So, boy, you know, we going up, anything Place is nice. We in Jamaica, we fly into Kingston, everything morning smoother. I went to Helsha, I eat some fish, you know. And go to Helsha. You know what I mean.
Speaker 1:I met a man by the name of Andrew Riley, one of the greatest Uber drivers that I've ever driven. We're from Kingston to Ocho Rios. We went to Helsha first. We stopped, all about listen, nice, nice, nice, nice guys. So I'm feeling good. I'm in Jamaica honeymoon. You know what I mean. Boxes checked off. You know what I mean. One less thing I had to hear about when I was right.
Speaker 1:So I go on the honeymoon and we do what you're supposed to do. So people tap out. You know. I mean they don't have me like me, a boy like me, a boy like me. So here now between me, food, the liquor, the tap out. I say, here we're going on. People drop or sleep. I said don't sleep on me, you know, because I pull out my laptop easy now and I'm trying to cut up this little lion's thing, right? I said, right, let me put out a clip now. If you see me me typing easy. I don't want to make a noise because if she wake up there it's the hole in my guitar and Quattro Hole's, smaller than a guitar hole, and I might make it. So I said, boy, let me do this thing easy. And I cut up a clip with what I thought was Lou Lyons trying to say that Vibes Cartel disappoints his audience in Trinidad and Tobago and he might have been able to see it differently, because music is a spiritual exchange and I'm not thinking that boy.
Speaker 1:Listen by the time, I think and of course now I would typically put out a thing check it, see how it's going good, watch the numbers. You know what I mean. Try to figure out how to do what clip to put next. And if for the few times before that, I had any issue with the type of responses that I get in, well, I feel bad now.
Speaker 1:Remember me and these people, these people, a lot of them I just met for the first time. It's not like friends where I could just call and say, hey, what's going on? You didn't see this thing, I don't have a relationship. So I was just checking with people. If it go into wild to say, hey, I make a do, bad here, how I do with this clip, because I could pull it down. You know, it don't matter to me what we have done. Good, the idea behind the clip, of course, is to get people to take any full episode right, because the fullness of what somebody like lou lyons speaks about is what you have to take in. He's not somebody that you could listen to in sound bites or bits.
Speaker 1:So I want you to understand how long it taking me to cut this clip and how quiet I have to be, because the bed right there if I make a noise and she wakes up, it's all hell break loose. You know what I mean? All that little lion talk, you know what I'm saying? That whole thing could go flying off the balcony of an all-inclusive hotel. So I get it done, I put it out and of course, I had to play. I eased back in the bed. Now I'd gone back like if I was sleeping and I done put it on TikTok and Instagram and Facebook and everything already. And I put back my phone once and I put back the laptop easy and I'd gone back in the bed. I pulled the cover and I covered underneath and then check me. Now I said you know it's lunchtime and you want to go in the buffet. So lunchtime and they want to go in the buffet. So let me go downstairs. I need something like it say poolside, let me go. But she wake up. We go downstairs me studying, phone, me studying, like I not study and i's a man obsessive with them thing, but this time I mean I can't do it. So we go down. We think we made we drink a copious amounts of appleton rum. An inhumane amount of Appleton rum was consumed. And then I reach back upstairs now and see this thing going wild Wild with people in comments about Trinidad and Tengen. Who's this man? No, I'm feeling bad. I'm feeling in a way I said, jesus Christ, this man go think.
Speaker 1:I never wanted to cut clips when I first started this. I'll salute my boy, cassius. Cassius, all the clips that you would have seen from this podcast when it was me recording by myself, all of them is Cassius used to cut them. Cassius said, boy, people need to see this podcast, cut the clip and put it. Cassius used to screen grab it himself and post it and call me. And then call me and say, corey, put the link to YouTube in your bio. Let me tell you something I'm mission-driven, you know so sometimes I just miss all the other things. So salute to Cassius for that.
Speaker 1:But I don't like to cut clips for this very reason. People misinterpret. They hear what they want to hear. I listen back to it and I say but this man is pretty clear on what he was trying to say, boy, that turned into Island Wars where Jamaicans say Trinidadians da-da-da-da-da, and the bad boys da-da-da-da-da, and then Trinidadians had to come back and say ah, we are oil and da-da-da-da-da, you know, trinidadians. I don't know why the response to anything is that we have oil and we have money and I feel like it's a message. You know.
Speaker 1:I say keep in mind that sometimes I record them episode 2, 3 weeks before me and talk to the man in a while. So I know message and I was like, hey, what's going on? Here? We create what we do, we mash up. Here is a one from 10 leaves north. What did I do? And he was cool. This is the other thing you have to understand. While I am new to the ideas, the social media and the backlash these men are accustomed to, that he was not he's like boy. People say whatever they want to say he's like. So I'm just making sure men do nothing wrong or do nothing bad.
Speaker 1:I will admit that, as it's something that when I look back at it, it's like you know, I could have been a little more generous with the clip so that it and the people of this world is put to make the clip a minute and you're trying to cut it down, and because I hear the fullness of what was said dozens of times while editing it and sometimes when you edit it you might edit out a part, like there's a part to edit out of that I don't have much regret. But there's a part where he said Trinidad and Jamaica have a sibling rivalry which we've refused to discuss. And he said and in both cases we're right and in both cases we're wrong. Like, if I could go back in time, I wish I had left that part in. Maybe that would have quelled some of the things. But I'm also learning that, boy, you can't do nothing. How the hell you could expect, you cannot predict them. So that went how it went and all the other clips went well.
Speaker 1:I think it's one of the one of the better episodes I have there. Uh, just just just talking to him is be an honor and a pleasure. You know I mean so little luke. So what the hell all of that had to do with maxine? What the hell that had to do with maxine? Why, like back in trinidad now, and I'll tell you how bad the pressure is when you see the same andrew riley, I tell you the uber driver, when he come to pick me back up in the hotel in kingston, in ocherios, to bring me back to the airport, when we reach a brand new highway and thing, he say, um, by chance, you have a youtube channel. He don't see it already. So I was like jesus christ, this Christ. This is not the intention. I am a bridge, I am a facilitator, I am a peacemaker, as far as I can tell, look, whoa. So I'm feeling that way. But he was cool.
Speaker 1:I don't think anybody face-to-face is a different thing than online and learning. You know what I mean. But by the time I land back in Trinidad but it ain't good to read the kind of thing people send you, you know. But it was so kind of him to send that I don't tell you. He say he say, corey Banton, you're safe in this street. How you coping, you man making sure. So I tell him I was in Jamaica to when it happened. I say, yeah, I'm safe.
Speaker 1:So I was relieved that he ain't feeling away because again, when I cut in his clip this, he, he's not an easy person. I'll say that it is one of the more difficult episodes I had. Where cutting a clip is concerned and this is also one of the more, it was almost like doing it, not not, not putting myself in his class. But that's why I don't cut clips about myself very often, because when, when we're talking about complicated issues, you cannot bring them down to a minute. You have to talk about them in their fullness, which he does. So when you had to cut out something, he said you're done in trouble already.
Speaker 1:But I appreciated that he was cool and that went well. So what the hell do I have to do with Maxine? When I come back here now and we're watching you know how the episode going and I have an episode to put out next week I don't decide what we're putting out, what other clips to post. I know the selfish clips I want to post is about a light man and them think that is what I really want to post. But in the midst of the thing I used to see you only check the like something on lowlands episode. Think thing like maxine williams.
Speaker 1:I say excuse, I say excuse what I go on immediately. I was like hi, maxine, my name is Corey, I'd love to have you as a guest. You know I'm a little spieler and I say in my mind that's not happening. The answer is no, because, again, I learning that you're always remembered by the recent work. I suppose you're only as good as the last innings, right, unless it's West Indies and you make 26 runs out of all of them. You know what I mean.
Speaker 1:I used to have a coach in school. He used to tell me don't come back unless I make 25. You know, in under 14 crickets, you know them men make 26 or 27 runs them men make with numbers. You could play a mark which played on the day too. You had to love it. But when you, when you, when you look at, uh, when you look at the episodes that were done before, it may seem as though, all right, this fella archiving calypso. You know this fellow there. But you know I I want to talk to us, I almost want to talk to all of us.
Speaker 1:Somebody tell me the other day oh yeah, all these icons coming in and show You're going to run out of icons. I say, how is 1.5 million away? There's only one point out a week, me, I'm living for 1.5 million weeks. So when I see Maxine, like I say what, hey, if you ever enter another boy, she respond I never seen nothing like that Me expecting a response, you know Me expecting no response. And she kindly say, hey, me sing up, you know Me sing up, which, again, you see, the impression is there that hey, this is what it is, but it's like no, but that story. And she say she will do it and it just so happened that she was in Trinidad soon after and we get our episode done. It is so I'm it is so.
Speaker 1:I'm now in preparation mode and trying to organize everything. Again. I want to say this right, you look at people's lives, you try to look at their work, you try to read things they put out there, watch, you know, if you have any kind of interviews before, any podcast you do, or any tedx things and them kind of thing, I try to watch as much of that and absorb. Okay, this is who you are, this is what you believe in, this is what. And then a structuring okay, kind of structuring how I want to do this and how I want to go about it and where I want to start where I want to end, how we go go. Let me tell you something.
Speaker 1:Grossly underprepared, I started to realize that I had to just get comfortable with that because, well, first I look overwhelmed by the fact that she say yes, and we're actually doing it, and now we're meeting. Keep in mind, sometimes you're meeting these people for the first time and they walk in the room and i's a, i's a groupie, you know. So i's a fan of people. So I had to calm my nerves now and settle down and realize okay, cory, all right, you have to do this thing, you have to land the plane. We're here now. We had to do this, you know, I mean we, we're here.
Speaker 1:So when you know, I have a way of structuring it and I feel I know where it's gonna go and I I always maybe I overthink things I anticipate, okay, how this will go. When she answered this, I could say that, listen, that thing went out the door within the first few minutes of where it is, went first couple minutes of where it is. We're talking before we start the record, my whole plan get full bar immediately, because some things that she say and I hope she didn't mind us sharing somebody behind the scenes. But blow my mind because she asked me well, what made you reach out to me? And I was like use maxine williams, people never reach out to you.
Speaker 1:That was all this girl show to you. What do you mean? She said, no, but what made you reach out? Then I say, well, was all I was going to reach out to you? What do you mean? She said, no, but what made you reach out? Then I said, well, I was watching the thing for Lou.
Speaker 1:When I pick up my phone, I see Maxine Williams, like, let me tell you something, I just screenshot them thing, you know, and keep a folder of them thing, because some of it I doesn't believe it. It'd be surreal to me how I'm watching some of these people and I was watching these people as the greats you know. So I screenshot it. I said, well, I see, you like it. So that means you know what it is. So that is one step gone. At least you know what it is. You know what I mean. And she said, well, it's funny, because I was listening to Lou Lyons' episode and you know I enjoyed it a lot. And when I finished listening to the episode and I check it, I saw a message from you. She said, so, we manifested that.
Speaker 1:But yeah, that blew my mind immediately. Me me know what to say now? I forget all my questions. I forget the whole blasted thing. I had planned out. I had things structured well, you know. Everything went out the door for it, you know, and she said in that interview that Peter minchell came to see me in vagina monologues and after that he sent me a message and he said some very charitable things.
Speaker 1:That is exactly how I felt at that table with some of the things that maxine said to me and I trying to I don't know how to. I want to say, but, maxine, I get emotional. We have to record this thing, you know, because I can. I still have to function here. This is a lot, this is a lot to absorb. I appreciated all the words, but it was a lot to hear.
Speaker 1:And then when we started talking now, well, you check the comments on what people have to say maxine is a complex. She's a powerhouse, right, she's like them kind of wheels now she's a powerhouse icon, legend, right, and she talks about these things so casually her non-convent accent, you know what I mean. She's just talking through these things and I was like I so captivated If you know a little bit about me and academics, the Yale story and the Oxford story is so captivating to me, like I'm trying to understand. Okay, you do so well in convent that you end up in Yale and then after Yale you went Oxford Yale and then after Yale, you went Oxford. They don't understand what Ivy League is and what Oxford is. Oxford never write the dictionary, the first tiny dictionary we read in that college it come from. So when you look at her accomplishments and stuff, it looks like a very prescribed life on people. It look like very straight parents who strike and say you have to do this and you go to school and you do well and then you go to Ivy League schools and then you graduate from that and they become an attorney and you go to oxford to become an attorney and then you, you, your, your. Your trajectory is chief justice. But you change your trajectory and go on facebook and thing, and when you google, when you look up information on her, you see acting. So I, similarly acting, are trying to think and I see my wife telling me now, yeah, she was in Westwood Park.
Speaker 1:My wife's words was Maxine, always on TV. I said but how me see Maxine, but me never watch Westwood Park. That's the next problem. I have right, because my attention span don't allow for me to watch Westwood Park and you know how bad my attention span is. Right when I watch a new series and I watch the first episode where they introduce it. I started to watch that six, seven, eight, nine times. Because when I see this one on screen and that one on screen me and know which one is which and who is who, I just get confused easily. So if you, if you're pulling up episode of westwood park for me, especially back then me, would not know.
Speaker 1:When I watched maxine and then I seen natasha jones at the talk, I would have watched it. I said, said, well, how Natasha Jones, she married this man, she wasn't just. And then they had to say, no, that was Maxine. I listen, I terrible with following series, so I never watch, um, westwood Park, uh, but my wife now give me the info and she said well, she did this, she did this, she did this. So, boy, a boy has things structured.
Speaker 1:Bow, bow, bow started to talk because I saw this stuff that she did here with Cotton Tree Foundation. So I said, well, I want to talk about that a little bit and think you know what I mean. That would be nice. But let me tell you something. When she started to talk about children and the development of children and acting with cognitive development. You have no idea how interesting that is to me. I black out, we started to talk about that and go on a deep dive into that and I mean I think it went well. You know, I mean I'm trying to make sure that we I I myself don't find out or nerd out too much on one particular topic, because I have plenty to talk to her about and I know that people would be interested in her life, uh, on stage, and her life at her academic life, as well as as what she's been doing corporate world or in facebook or metal. So I said, all right, we start in a nice place, but, boy, what she's been doing in the corporate world or in Facebook or Meta? So I said, all right, we're starting a nice place, but, boy, when she's in cognitive development, we only know my script, go on. So we started talking about that. Then she bring up her work in prisons and jail and she connected too well, boy, that is it. End of story, end of episode done. That's all I want to.
Speaker 1:Again, it may seem as though the idea is to document and archive some of our greats and legends and icons, and it is but a part of the reason that I doing that is because I want little children who we have. We live in in our society now, where youths seem to have let me, let me say less hope and less options than we would have had when we was growing up. Where I can be this, or I will be this, or I saw this person do this and I want to be that. It's a common story here and it does not matter who the person is that I bring here, what world in, whether it is musician, there's artists, there's producer. Mevon spent a whole two hours. Every time I ask Mevon something, mevon say I was just doing what I love.
Speaker 1:So I want people to listen to Mevon, beyond all the talk and thing about the icons and documenting it. That critical to me, right. But a big part of why I'm doing this is because I want and I'm a son here he always by my side with the episodes. You know what I mean episodes, you know I mean he getting to hear some of this. Youths could hear some of this too, and I I ain't worried about him, or, if you're listening to this, I might make me worry about your child, necessarily, because some of your children will hear these messages from you and you will put them in these spaces and the places where they could understand these messages. Even if they never hear from a mevon or maxine or taika, they may you know or lou. They might never hear or meet them directly, but the messages that come through them. I want you to listen to something.
Speaker 1:When we interview people, right, listen to how these people talk about their school teachers. You go back and listen to it From Kenny Phillips. People all different backgrounds, all different ages. Listen to Joanna Chakiri. Listen to how she talks about the icons in the society, what Bugsy meant to her. That's all I'm trying to do. You know, if there's some space, they could come and they could hear nice things and they could hear all things and accomplishments. But they could hear Maxine say where's the worst that could happen. Listen Maxine watching me in my face saying where's the worst that could happen. In the same way that she say it to people, you know she's talking to herself Where's the worst that could happen. So suppose we could create a society where every little child who on the fringes, and the loudest voice they have in their head or the loudest message they get in is to go down this road. You hear what Junior Lee say. I had a choice.
Speaker 1:I could have gone down this road or I could have gone down that road and I choose this. So let me say what is that road, whatever that road means to you. Right, they have thousands of children in this country who the biggest voice they're hearing in their mind every day, or the biggest obstacle not obstacle, but the biggest option they have is a voice telling them that way is the way, because here you go, get through, you go, be respected, you go have money, you go this, you go that, whatever it is. And they're not living in any households or living in any communities where the voices that telling you this loud enough. So we had to create the voices that telling them this we all are we living in the same society. You know, maxine say. Maxine say randomly, I work in the country foundation, I want to contribute to get her, and says I don't have a child that living here but I like here. Them is the messages. I'm hoping that people getting in these episodes there and I will. I'll say that maxine again, just like lou, them are two common threads with two of them, and I could see why she's listening to his episode, because the way Maxine uses words penetrates everything else you know. Or the way she doesn't use words. Sometimes when you see she gets silent, it is precise, it is directed. She's not guessing around. Words is what I'm trying to say. She's not fumbling with words, what I'm trying to say. She's not fumbling the word, she's saying exactly what she wants to say. And I had to get comfortable with clips of people like maxine or lou, where people, if you choose to misinterpret, where she's eyes up to you but they are not, um, they may. They're saying exactly what they want to say. They, you know the way she she uses words is something to behold.
Speaker 1:But the point I'm making is this If people could listen to those things, those parts of what she said and the way she approached things and is like I go in the cricket club and she, you know, I go in a cricket club and they tell me, well, boys can't join, I say all right, cool, All right, no problem, I'll go play. I'll go play Well, yeah, well, yeah, that football I can join. That Maxine said. Her response it was so pointed it was like but that's stupid, suppose I might be the best cricket player. And now, the way West Indies is going, I'm so sorry they didn't let Maxine in the damn thing. We should at least adult adult. The whole side would have made 27. If Maxine was on this side, we would have had some trouble, you know. But you understand the point I'm making. Those are the things that would stand out. So when we get into it and we start discussing those types of issues, with the development of children and people being the topic so close to my heart, that again I black out, we think. And when I left the room I said boy, we have a great interview. I happy that you know, I have maxine here.
Speaker 1:She's appeared on the podcast, she's documented. You know, anybody, any little child, could see that and say well, all right, because all in, go see it and take inspiration. Babe, one see it and take little inspiration. I feel we do good. I feel we do good and I left, you know, I felt good when I left and I've I've learned over over the time doing this.
Speaker 1:I say you know what? What I need to stop doing is being so hard on myself, because what has happened every single time is that I just finish the episode, go home, open back my notes, where you know my nice old, neat structure, when I say I go ask this and she go say that, and I say, who would have forget this? I talk about it and I started to feel depressed immediately when I reach home and you know it's be fine. You know what I mean. I need to stop doing that. So I don't really check when I check my scene on. We never talk about West. I never get to that Because I. So I now forget that I am hosting the podcast and I sit only like a listener.
Speaker 5:I say oh good, I say so you reach Yale. I say oh good. I say oh good, how you reach Facebook.
Speaker 1:I forget I'm supposed to be conducting this thing. I start to be the entertainer and forget I'm the entertainer. You know what I mean. So I sent her a message. I said, maxine, you know, this was real good, thank you, which I would typically do with everybody. I kind of say thanks so much. You know, it was good, it was really good. We have a special episode. Da-da-da-da-da, I said.
Speaker 1:But here again one thing and I had in my notes a picture with Maxine and Lutalo Masembe. You know him, great friend of Carriga Mandela, brother resistance. We had seen a young Maxine and a young resistance stand up. It is a hell of a contrast when you watch the photo. He's so tall, listen, it's just a hell of a photo, powerful.
Speaker 1:I said, gil, we didn't talk about this. Maxine said hey, now, that is an important part of my life. We can't put that out without that. I said God. She said we could do a phone call. What Maxine didn't know is Me ain't know how to put no phone call In no episode. I guess I'm like Hell. I don't know how to do this Now. I in trouble.
Speaker 1:And if you enjoyed that Maxine episode, it just so happened that in talking to her she was going to be back here and we get. She came back and of course she knew a lot about production and what to do. So she was like you want to just wear the same thing and come back, because I suppose Westwood Park, if you had to film in two days, you have to remember to do this, do that, do that. But look at me, I don't know what to take. I said what and my wife is like well, why don't you just watch back the video? And they have video and photos and them.
Speaker 1:Kids, I'm not a young man, I'm not a young man, I'm new to all this brand brand new, and gratefully we get it done and we think I had to make sure now I trim. I had to watch now I don't know what. We set back up the table salute to everybody at Affordable Imports and we make it work. I have not had anybody say hey. I realize nobody said it. I was wondering, I was telling, I was thinking I don't know how I do this, I don't know if I'm the best at this, but it ain't looking too bad. And you know, nobody said hey. I could see Oli changed clothes. Oli, grateful to Maxine, to me one of these. You know, all the diamond pieces will be special to me, but that one was special as a lot Maxine covered a lot and you know, because so much of what I knew about Maxine in the public space as an onlooker was about that DEI position in Facebook and her stance on DEI.
Speaker 1:And when we learn a little bit about her right, it's really more than just diversity, it's a stance on injustice, really, or stupidity as she likes to say. You know, and it teach me a lesson too, the reaction, the response to that episode. It taught me a lesson Because I mean, there are some people who listen to me a long time and people enjoy the episodes and they know people might watch this one or that one or whoever's favorite entertainer or whatever it might be. But I was looking at the response on her episode and the amount of women who said that, including my wife, who said they were inspired. Like when I talked to Maxine I could conquer anything, I could do this. She's so amazing. You look at the response to it. It taught me a lesson too about being more conscious or more deliberate or more intentional about the level of representation of different groups on this podcast.
Speaker 1:You live and learn, you know, Because sometimes you're just living your life and are trying to do this and are trying to call this one and message that one. So now I pay a lot of attention to who come in and who come in when and who come in next and so on. You know what I mean. So salute to Maxine. I appreciate that for that episode. I wonder Oli, oli, oli, oli, oli feel as much as this as an episode, because we had to get back to the thing. You know, we're celebrating Maxine, we're celebrating the accomplishments, but we must never forget. You know, and you know, maxine said something and that thing is so powerful. Maxine said if you keep people enslaved for so much years, what did we miss out on in terms of their contribution? So what better day than Emancipation Day?
Speaker 8:to celebrate that, thank you. Righteousness is that hand come together, work with judge and plan Chance. In harmony we must live. I think it's important that we should give. So give me some more life tonight. Give me some more to make it right. Give me some more. Give me. Give me some more. Give me some more unity. Give me some more loyalty. Give me some more. Give me. Give me some more. Give me some more loyalty. Give me some more. Give me. Give me some more. Give me some more togetherness. Give me some more righteousness. Give me some more. Give me, give me some more.
Speaker 8:Give me, give me, give me, give me, give me, give me a rap. So time will see. Yeah, yeah you, yeah, yeah you, yeah, yeah you.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, yo, yeah, yeah, yo, yeah. Of Max, you know, and Brother Resistance, great friend of Karega Mandela as well. You think Karega will vex me if I play one-eight bedroom through in any episode.
Speaker 7:Boy, thank you. Ring the bell for justice. Ring the bell down there. Ring the bell for culture. Ring the bell down there. Ring the bell for freedom. Ring the bell down there. I said to ring up the bell for the rapture. We drum. Ring the bell down there. Ring it all over, ring it all over. Ring it all over. Ring it all over, bring it all over. Bring it all over. Hey, come on, come on, brother leader, thank you.
Speaker 7:Assemble the people with sight of the mission and we rock the rap. So we don't Ring the bell. Ring the bell. Ring the bell down there. Ring the bell. Ring the bell. Ring the bell down there. Ring the bell for justice. Ring the bell down there. Ring the bell for culture. Ring the bell down there. Ring the bell for freedom. Ring the bell down there. I said ring up the bell for the rap. So we don't Thank you All over. Well, I come to deliver this word. Let the voice of the dumb press be heard over the world, let the people's story be told. Well, it's a long, long time now we come out for action. Glory days come to haunt. I come with my bell just to second the motion. Rock the rap so we don't bring the bell.
Speaker 1:Not the kind of tune you could cut off. I hope I don't vex with my ass up squeezing on your Belgian tune. Yes, it, I hope I will correct you. You're going to vex with me. I'm squeezing on your bridging tune. Yes, it's Maxine Falls. If you vex, blame Maxine Williams. Right.
Speaker 1:Before I get on to the next episode, right, I want to talk a little bit about Junior Lee and how important that episode was in terms of my mission and what it is we're doing, right. But before I get to that, right, I want to say on this Emancipation Day, that I have a mother there, right, who, when it comes to the amount of clothes and you see, I'm wise enough and I've been living long enough to know anything when it comes to women and their attire but I will say that, when it comes to my mother, she does have way too much African outfit. It's an unhealthy addiction to African outfit. Let me put it like that, right, it's a lot, it's a lot, it's a lot, it's a lot. It doesn't matter what cover.
Speaker 1:They go in the house, they say but where are you from? Where are you from? Will you come in? You know what I mean. And one of the places that I see her go over the years. Like I know she's had friends who went to Ghana before, went to different parts of Africa. She makes sure she gets to buy something from over there and things from the motherland and so on. But beyond having to wait too much African clothes, she spends way too much time, more time than any one human should spend at Prindella's Fashion. Eh so I want to say a salute, a special salute, to Carol Prince Mandela. You know what I mean by Prindella's Fashion. I wonder if Carol went into an open-mar house owned by my mother. You know what I mean. I wonder how that is going. Is she willing to come down here and open her branch? At this point she should be able to buy a franchise at the rate we're going, you know what I mean.
Speaker 6:Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And let me tell you, she's 26, 30. She don't live she life to party, but every now and then she loves to have her time. She's a classy lady, the kind I want around me. She's kept the trend so I had to make her mine. Don't feel no disrespect, but I feel we should connect. I'm willing to take my time to know you woman. I know you are the one. So, lady, what do you like? Cause I really check for you.
Speaker 6:The way how you move, so mesizing, and your smile is like the sun, this lady, she's driving me crazy. The way how she moving in the party, look, it's just one thing on my mind. I tell you this woman, she grabbed my attention. The way how she so sweet. Look, I had to make her mine. She's not flighty, flighty, so you best approach her right here. Do how she's moving. You can tell she's got her own. She don't need your money, so don't approach her.
Speaker 6:Funny, and if you're out of timing, you best leave her alone. Don't feel no disrespect, but I feel you should collect. I'm willing to take your time to know you, woman. I know you are the one. Yes, she's been in the party. Look, it's just one thing on my mind. This woman, she got my attention. The way how she's so sweet, look, I had to make her mine. She's a flighty, flighty, so you best approach her right here. The way she's moving you could tell she's got her own. She don't need your money, so don't approach her. Funny, and if you're out of timing, you know he make it a point to say the wives of entertainers are so important.
Speaker 1:He went, he said, wife, buy me first guitar, listen under all the other old talk and the laugh, and we always talk about the music and the people listen. These are the kind of messages that are hoping people get in, particularly youth. Right, If you're my age and you're listening to this, to tell you the truth, it's ship sailing, it's's sailing, his ship's sailing. You just see who you're trying to connect with. So, again, very, very important to me to connect with somebody like Junior Lee. Let me tell you this story about how that happened. Right, there's a long story to it. And we go. You know, kare, you're going to be in between this. So saddle up right, buckle up, extinguish your cigarettes, touch your cigarettes, touch nothing but your drinking glasses, put your seat in your upright position, throw your handbag in your pocket and all the things just go. So, within my fastness, again, I'm putting out episodes, everything going good. I like any traction, I like any feedback. I'm starting to reach a point now where because in the beginning of notoriety, but not family, who I had on the show, umari Ashby, as a friend of the show, always willing to say encouraging words Let me tell you something about these fellas, these gentlemen, right, people like Umari and Shaq and these fellas and Ozzy's, another one who turned out to be like too, you just work, work, work, work, work and you're trying to do something and you're trying to figure something out, and you don't hear nothing from these fellas, right, you don't know if they're still listening, if they're still taking. You don't know, right. And let me tell you some other men and them who were so important, right, and now, find out, me and Mr Shaq is the same age, right, I taught this man a level of wisdom and knowledge and understanding. I tell myself that he I was telling Junial, he in a life before, mr Shaq was definitely in a life before. But let me tell you something them two men, in particular, ozzy being the third one, when they might be watching what you're doing, they're taking it in episodes come, episodes go. You can't watch all you know. So people get busy. But you see, when something great happens, you're sure to hear hey, brother, you see what you're doing there, it's a good job.
Speaker 1:Umari said my voice. He said brother, let me tell you something. He said you find your calling. He said I'm leaving to go to work this morning and I had to sit back down and take in a thing. To take in a thing, two hours.
Speaker 1:This is a man who's busy, this is a man who done, accomplished a lot and doing a PhD, and he take a minute out of that PhD to tell me hey, you see what you're doing now you have to find a way to do that. He say. I say you know what to say. You have to find a way to make money. He say because you can't take the amount of time out of your work you're taking and this thing. He said that because it had to live on you doing that good work.
Speaker 1:Same thing with Shaq. Shaq just reach out and say, brother, you see, this one da-da-da-da-da-da, and he will tell me. You know what I mean. And them men is always when something great or they see something happen that is special, out of the ordinary, they go reach out. And another time, in a very subtle way, they just reach out when you see Tongue burning, the comment section going crazy and I. They just always find a way to send a little message saying why, just like old Lou, say, hey, you good over there. Them two men, ozzy, ozzy, ozzy, ozzy, ozzy, ozzy, ozzy, ozzy, ozzy, ozzy, ozzy, ozzy, ozzy, ozzy, ozzy, ozzy, ozzy, pick this looking good, don't worry about that. And they don't talk about whatever the situation is. They just think, boy, you're good, how are you doing? And make sure that that's somebody there and balance it out. So that's something I also appreciate.
Speaker 1:So again, in starting of the year, especially because archiving is part of the mission, you know the people that we get and who I'm shocked every time. Somebody say yes, and most of the times people don't answer, and then the ones who answer say yeah, well, maybe Nobody don't do that. And it reached a turning point now where it's not a problem. You know, people come in. I'm not expecting. I tell my phone. This old man, I say my phone. I don't know if you know young people like yourself.
Speaker 1:When I say young, the men happen. Now, right, the men might see that and say you know them, fellas, you know what I mean. Them watching me, a old man. They say boy, what is this old man doing? Talking, talking, talking, talking. I'm sure they're a little nervous to reach out to the men who current, you know, and I know the men who current very, very busy, and the men him a cheap, you know. So I have a little one hang up, so reaching out to some of them and them kind of thing, but again it's the maxine effect. You know, don't like nothing I'm doing.
Speaker 1:So imagine my surprise now when I come home a day and I see a friend request jervale limo, that's, that's that junior real name zachary jervale limo. Jervale junior limo friend requests. So I say no, that's something like a prank because again, as a genuine fan of junior year, I find this youth is ridiculously, like remarkably, funny. He's, he's, he's some else. So when I see the friend requests I say well, all right, what's going on here? I take the friend request and he didn't just friend request you.
Speaker 1:You know, he share a video of something. I can't remember what video it was. He share it. I said don't share my thing, don't share my thing. Same thing happened with Mevon. You know Me and I had no idea them fellas was listening because I had Kiggs here and Mevon name come up up. I see everyone sharing thing in his story saying boy, I listening. And I said don't share, don't share, don't share, we come in. So I'm messaging. I say boy, brother, thanks for the show, thanks for that. I appreciate it. Again. Let me talk social media for a minute.
Speaker 1:Right when the icons and thing I I let me use david rudder, colin lucas, them fellas, as example, marry ozzy shack them fellas and them out here a long time doing it Shaq out here the same time as me, but they're veterans in their respective game and it's very, very important to me to have those conversations because some of them in the cases of Rudder, let me use Rudder and Colin as examples. They were a big part of my childhood, like their music and the things they do was shaping my, my primary school and secondary school years, you know, and even maybe some more early fetting days. Like I talking to eddie charles, I sweating me, I remember, and I used to be in front of the stage where eddie's when are they performing. So that will always have a special place in my heart. But let me tell you something you see, young people currently on social media and stuff nothing the amount of reach that they have, which you know, is amazing to see. I was so happy to hear Junely talk about promoting his own shows and again, so much of kicks and so much of old talk and thing in the episode like I hope that people, people hearing some of that.
Speaker 1:This boy is 28 years old. This young man I should say, let me not boy, nobody out. But this youth is 28 years old by his mother. How's that 27? Promoting his own shows? I ask that man, I say the promoter, him or promoter? He's so ridiculously funny and talented but also so strong-willed and business-minded and ambitious and motivated and driven. I'm hoping that people don't miss them.
Speaker 1:Parts of the episode where you could see the real person. You know what I mean. He's a phenom when you look at the things he's accomplished in this life and the way he looks at it and even some of the things he said off-air. But the way he looks at some of the icons who would have come before him in comedy, the way he sees stand-up comedy, the way he approaches it, that is, these fellas need to be documented. Me talking about no podcast recording nowhere. I talking about in the university. We can't have a university at Trinidad and Tobago, a university in the West Indies, where people like him not documented in these spaces. I remember I never used to like maybe I don't understand it right, but I always remember that in ue library had a place called west indiana and I always got I got the impression and I probably wrong about this right, but they used to have a set of papers and them things written in there. But I always remember getting the impression maybe because it sounded to me interpreted as west indies it feel like if they're relegated, we work, start part of the library and I don't like that.
Speaker 1:The most important things that youths could learn now we as adults could learn now, you know, cognitive development. We had to learn from the people who actually doing it, and doing it at a high level, and what we see of them today is not well, 10 years from now they're going to be, or let me say, 50 years from now, some youth man who have some kind of ambition or the things that I want to do will be begging junior leader. Come in, please, sir, please come in, do an episode and they get all of it. Good, they want to come in and them fellas, and them they say, nah, I ain't coming to no studio. Why must come in a studio? What we think hours, you know how much another guy gets, but somebody could be doing that with them to come and talk to them because their lives would be so interesting. And they're shaping the lives of these youths and them who they know. We need to get them fellas stories.
Speaker 1:But I'm frightened to reach out to a big guy, an old man you know me, an old man out of them fellas, you know me, you want to do nothing. I'll get in their way, but don't like my thing, don't you nothing? And that man say, yeah, brother, I like your content anytime you're ready. I say anytime already. What you're doing tuesday, tuesday morning, ten hour, what you're doing where for you're available, you're free. And that man say yes. I shocked. That man say, yeah, he go, come and he'll do it on thing. Foolishly, foolishly.
Speaker 1:I booked the wrong time. I call conrad and say, boy, we have one. I went on the website and I put 8 am to 10 am instead of 10 am to 12 pm, like a buffoon, because too much thing going on. Because when I prepare him to record this, because I had to do my research, then I edit in this episode because this is out now and I had to put out clips. We got to promote this one and then I try to for the next thing so that we didn't run dry on Monday morning. So too much going on. Salute to David West. Thank God, david West, come on board and help me with some of this. It's a nightmare, you know, I couldn't expect that it would be this, so many moving parts, you know.
Speaker 1:So now I'm feeling bad because this man, he don't need me, right, let me put it out there. He don't need to come seven my morning. I don't know, I don't know like to call people and say, oh god, but I do the wrong. A message. I said, brother, hey, what going on? I booked the wrong time and you know, I confirmed with him the day before, you know. So, yo, bro, he said yeah, good, 10, good right, I, good, right. I say yeah, 10. When I watch his eight o'clock in the morning. So I say let me try a last ditch thing to see. If I know he was doing morning radio and take on boom. So I said, just in case, maybe he could do eight, I would do it. And if not, that's really early in the morning. Hard luck, man. Yeah, sorry about that. I would think what is ghost tongue? Why A message? A message, I think, boy, that man. He said you see the last part of that thing where he's saying I was going to duck you. You know, that is very real, very, very real. One of the realest parts of the interview is where you say I was going to duck you. I don't think he was going to come and do it Again.
Speaker 1:Salute to David Wales. David, have a level of stick-to-itiveness. You know what I mean. A level of stick-to-itiveness that is very, very, very impressive. So David called him and we get back on track and he came and do it and so forth. That was more than I could ever bargain for Because, again, just as similar to Maxine, you know you see some things about the public life and you assume some things and you try to figure out, all right well, how this will go. But, boy, you see, none of them noticed how to go the door fast.
Speaker 1:Because when you start to talk, you start to realize in talking to him that there's a level of hilarity that is unmatched. Right, he is witty, he's funny, he completely tuned into everything they said and it could end up being a laugh fest. It could be end up one of them things where we just laugh and kakakia for two hours and get no information. It is very difficult, I'll say right, to keep on track when he wrong, and maybe it's just because of how big a fan of him I am, but it is just so funny his outburst, and you know what's funny in the edits. I know hearing all kind of things he was saying that I miss completely. I didn't hear it at all by the table. Sometimes I just laugh at something else. Boy, I could see it.
Speaker 1:You see, he's a man, he's a genuine and a true comedian, because you see just how I tell you don't share my thing and don't like my thing. He don't laugh, don't laugh. From the time he get a laugh, a light is go up on that man's face and he gonna go again and again if you don't get yourself back together again that whole interview done. But beyond that and what he is and what he's done and the skits I'm talking about his life, beyond that, there's a level of depth to that you. That is admirable.
Speaker 1:I look up to him a lot. I don't like him already before the thing, but now I have a level of admiration for him. I, I look up to him a lot. I don't like him already before the thing, but now I have a level of admiration for him. I, I just want to see him. Do you know how much people message me to just tell me hey, I hope he do great in life. Frank herself sorry, frank, I'll point out a lot just to say, hey, I hope he do great, I hope he continues to think and continue to develop and think.
Speaker 1:People you can see people genuinely glad for him uh, people, people, people backing him, and I think that's an important thing for us to see. And when I say us, I mean the younger versions of ourselves that grew up in the place that we grew up. Then you know all the places where we grew up, like where I said, grew up in st james and you go back there you say, but st james changed so much. You know the place. I could walk anywhere, what I could talk about, belmont then versus Belmont now, although she says she walk and I go anyway, still, but all of us have that story. It's similar. Anywhere you come from, you could see how, how the place has changed. So it's important for people like him and I'm eternally grateful to people like him, maxine, all of them to come with the youth in particular Maxine is on youtube, right, uh, but you know junior lee or my phone and them. It's so important that they would take the time to come and sit down with this old man to share a little story and take in my um, my not funny sense of humor at all. So just to just talk, because hopefully one of these little youths and them who watching junior lee the way I used to what sprang along, I know I remember where I was when I meet Sprangalang in real life the first time.
Speaker 1:I remember where I was when I first meet Ray Shell Price. I was a big man. I had to cool myself. I had to put away my groupie. I had to wrap my groupie. My groupie started to come out of my britches. I had to say hey, settle down, there's a person, settle down. You. I don't say hey, settle down, there's a person, settle down. You know what I mean. I know where I was. I grew up on the street from when Nicky Crosby and them had Crosby's. I used to go to Crosby's every day. You know what I mean. So when we were able to see them, or Tommy Joseph or Larry Joseph, like I was trying to say that my sister tells me how I tell Junial he ugly, I didn't say that he's making laugh so much that he's losing some things. What I was trying to say is that two people who I've seen who from the time you see them you just start to laugh is Larry Joseph and Oliver. And I was trying to say he is one of them people but he said yeah, because they're ugly. You know what I mean. But Larry Joseph used to come into Park Street in Port of Spain.
Speaker 1:I was working in Park Street at the time and I was telling somebody recently that it have three personalities I see in particular, or maybe four, who used to come into the public office in Park Street. They had to understand it's like going to pay them days they had to go in a place to pay a phone bill. Right, youngsters, you know what I mean. They weren't too young, they had to go go because I had no other option. They couldn't pay it in the bank, you couldn't pay it online.
Speaker 1:So, mountain. I work in tstd. The place is packed with people, the line long, all the staff, overwhelmed, frustrated, the the people who come to pay the bill, all the clients, customers. They're frustrated. It's not a nice place, the public office. It is. Get rough on a mountain and you always have an employee who will take too sick leave on the mountain too. You know I what I mean, and never show up for work. So it's more pressure on the ones who are there and the public office could be empty the rest of the month. You know, you don't see like a whole lot of people in a nice little place to work, but the mountain it's easy. And you see, when the first one pensioners getting money is, all hell break loose.
Speaker 1:And I saw some personalities come into their office and as they opened the door you felt their presence. You see Twiggy, same Twiggy who always talking about the election, da-da-da, da-da-da. Twiggy is one of them. We used to come in there and when she talks she well, listen, lights up the place. She just have her energy and her voice and the way she projected and the acoustics in the public office was greater. So your voice, your voice shaking up the whole building. And boy, twiggy was one of them.
Speaker 1:The other one is a man by the name of kelvin pope. You know him. Go and google kelvin pope, a fellow named duke, and duke wasn't loud. He was very manly, very, very respectful of him, like the auntie, t-sister twiggy, I can say that obviously opposite, but the way duke used to dress and the cologne he used to wear and how tall he was, he was regal. I have never seen Duke in a short pants and a slipper, like myself. I've never seen it. He used to come and pay his bill every month and he was well-dressed, dressed, jewelry, smelling good. He'd greet everybody, shake their hand. He had an enormous presence. So he's a man who used to take long to come in the door because it's just so much people who dare want to greet him and um, all wrong.
Speaker 1:That was another one of them. You see all wrong, though, and the hendrickson sisters when them come in there, they, they, they vibe and the energy and they're loud everything them do is like a hack, and when they come in but larry joseph was one of them too larry used to come in there crying, playing like he cried Because he going on tour, just like what Junior Lee just do Congratulations to Junior Lee selling all the venues in Canada by now. Grenada and Barbados are sure they can sell out too, if they ain't sold out yet, but Larry Joseph used to do that. Larry Joseph used to do his own shows. He used to take money out of his pocket, it do his shows and so on, and he um when, when you saw larry coming in playing. He crying it's because larry's saying oh god, holy, cut my phone. He gone on tour for three months. You know he ain't pay phone bill in advance, so he phone cut and what he hoping is that when he on three months until he could come home and check they used to have this device called an answering machine. Right he was. He would check the answering machine now and he have booked dates so that he could go for the next, for the next three months, but he phone cut so he missing out on all the bookings.
Speaker 1:So, as I said, juneli is like that. You know, he's just so naturally funny. But when you look at the level of depth, the way he talks about his mother, you hear much times he says and he's not joking when he says it, watch his whole demeanor how it's changed. He said my mother meant so much to me and she supports me. Them is important messages. I was hoping people get those types of messages.
Speaker 1:Also, his definition of success stood out to me in that interview a lot. He's not defining success by any numbers on social media or any fame that he might see on the streets. He's defining success by his ability to follow his passion and to take care of his family and I already knew through his comedy that he was wise beyond his years, that he was he from from earlier life. He was here before. I always knew that. But when you talk to him a little bit you're hearing that it's more. The depth is not just about his comedy or his craft. The depth has a lot to do with the way he sees life and he is a level of wisdom that I mean. It's still taking me time to develop that level of wisdom that he has. So I appreciate it that I'm happy that people enjoying the episode. Another takeaway happy that people enjoying the episode. Another takeaway I find that I'm hoping people get is the overnight success thing, especially with social media. I was so appreciative for the way he handled he handled that question.
Speaker 1:Aaron, we're going to go real over time, so I'll go in until they pull me out. Zachary put on 142.15 for me, yeah, I think so I will finish closer to 1. Oh, this episode is long here. Yeah, right, thank you Zach. Oh, you want to come in? Just not. No, no, you want to say what you have to say still, or you don't want to do it. I think you should. Just, I'll call you right. Yeah, so when the other thing, that idea that you could get through in life and you create this page and the page get real likes and real follows, and them guys, when he talked to you about how much years he do it and how funny it was when, uh, he say he making videos and duck in school and then men asking him why he didn't come to school. Come to school, you know, I mean it'd be nice to see her after you make all them videos. This man's 28 years old and in the business for 15, 20. He's been doing it for a long, long time.
Speaker 1:So again, if, if, hopefully, people could take messages like those and and and see that different option in life where you could, you could, you could still do this and you could, you could do bother with that, because that is not a place we want to be. That is not a society we want to be. That is not a society we want to live in. This avenue is difficult.
Speaker 1:Everybody who's come here has talked about how difficult it was. You know they try this, they try that, they do this, they do that. You can call Lucas. Talk about what it took for him to be able to manage his time between being an entertainer in tights in the night and being a CEO in a suit in the morning. It's hard, this difficult. Generally talking about getting booed in bar and things I can't imagine. I don't know why he do that Like that.
Speaker 1:That is fascinating to me, like why would you do that? And you know it takes me back to something Maxine keeps saying. Like it's like if you choose this route and we continue to make Trinidad and Tobago a better society, rather than taking that route where that's all you see and that's all you accomplish. So I'm happy that people, I'm happy that people took it in and so far, with the feedback, people are getting the messages that I want to get them to get. But I have a fella here. I want to see what is the messages he gets. Come, come. It's a long time you ain't come on camera. Let's take your foot by Conrad. And then Matt, daddy, matt, though. Hey come in Dressed up in your full suit of black and all them kind of things. They're non-gay, small. Let me hear what you get from the episode.
Speaker 2:I get a real thing from that episode First I have to introduce. Know who I am already. You think you're some kind of star?
Speaker 1:You mean, nobody don't know who you is. You think they know who you are?
Speaker 2:Yeah for sure, say what's your name, sir. I'm the producer of this podcast, zachary Shepard. Go ahead, I produce this whole thing. I make this whole thing.
Speaker 1:Go ahead with what Junior Lee tell you please, what he say to you, what you make more.
Speaker 2:He is a very, very funny man. He's real funny.
Speaker 1:You think he's funnier in person than in the skits, and all that.
Speaker 2:I think he's equally funny.
Speaker 1:Yeah, for sure. What's the messages you get from it? What's the funniest part for you?
Speaker 3:Funniest part is when he talk about how he lied to the teacher to get out of school.
Speaker 1:You plan to do that? I plan to do that for sure. Alright bust your kite right out. You take it, come, come, come. What else in terms of his work? I take his thing. What's the other positive things you get from it? I don't know how funny it was anything that he didn't give up.
Speaker 3:He kept working when it got tougher okay, so you plan to do that?
Speaker 1:maybe yeah, well, as producer this show, keep working. Now, when it gets awful, because you ain't getting a cent what you ain't getting paid, wow, you're working for naught. You hear how much people come here and say that they was working. You just do it. You know, maxine said she went to Haiti. She didn't even know what she was gonna do. So that's you.
Speaker 2:You come here ain't no a cent, you ain't to get paid for this.
Speaker 1:That's all I want to say, or you're good. That's all I want to say Happy.
Speaker 2:Emancipation Day to the people. Nobody can ask you to say that.
Speaker 5:I know I want you to say that Because I run the show.
Speaker 1:What day is Emancipation Day?
Speaker 2:Today Berserkites, berserkites.
Speaker 1:He doesn't even know when it's Emancipation. And he's right that fella is absolutely running the show, Absolutely running the show. So if we could do a little part to make sure that all of us had to do it. We had to help each other to make the voices that we're hearing as a country a little louder than the voices that some youth might be hearing at home or they might be, you know, the voices on the corner, Like I'm following that issue closely here, right. Well, once again, I think last time I recorded we was in an SOE by myself, and now we take a big, we go SOE, bam, election back into SOE. And even when you hear they talk about crime, I mean I like the initiative where we have, I think now Homeland Security versus Foreign Land Security or something, so me and nobody in the ministry and them name. But at least we could. We're taking a different approach to it, I hope.
Speaker 1:But an SOE talking about these things. I was watching this thing where a lawyer talking about having to blindfold to go and see clients and all them things. The country not in a good space. It's not a good space when an SOE means business as normal. I'm not sure if we're paying attention to that.
Speaker 1:If an SOE is not creating a certain level of tension in a society, it means that we're in a permanent state of emergency. It is something that we have to pay attention to as a society. I like how these youths now on TikTok is saying nobody ain't coming to save you. We had to operate now like it's a new garment. You see that garment thing where the garment go do this and the garment go do that. I'm glad for some of the policy changes that I've seen. I've seen a kind of bickering happening now between our ex-police in Alexander and our ex-commissioner in this one and the new commissioner when there's a punisher thing on the hand. I'm not sure where's the clear direction of what will have us in a society where we do have these kind of issues we have from a criminal standpoint, you know. But like I always say, and people will always tell it, by calypsos or stories are told, but by rapsos we stories told too, you know crimes are on the uprise plenty security but no security are on the up ride Plenty security but no security.
Speaker 8:Plenty security but no security.
Speaker 6:Plenty security but no security. Plenty, plenty, pl. Plenty, plenty, plenty, plenty, plenty, plenty, plenty, plenty, plenty, plenty, plenty, plenty, plenty, plenty, plenty, plenty, plenty, plenty, plenty, plenty, plenty, plenty, plenty, plenty, plenty, plenty, plenty, plenty, plenty, plenty, plenty, plenty, plenty, Plenty, plenty, plenty, plenty, plenty, plenty. If it have enough security in the land and if they really have a plan. From high prices, no security. From dishonest politicians no security, still Plenty security but no security. Plenty security but no security, no, no, no. Plenty security but no security. Plenty security but no security. Plenty security, plenty, plenty, plenty. Check them security officers, who they playing rough and ready, who they playing cool and iry, who they pips in on the heaviest guys, who they deep in corruption and don't sell the soul For the unemployed. No security For the unemployed, no security For the homeless.
Speaker 8:No security, plenty security but no security. Plenty security but no security.
Speaker 1:You can't go wrong. You know telling a rap. So if you can't live, so tell me stories. Rap, so tell me stories too. You can't go wrong. All the Conrad and them, ready to come out of here. You know I had to come out of here just now, but I can't leave without playing certain tune, right, that certain tune and a way to take in something. Right, let me tell you something long story, less long. I tell you, I went and take in Trican and Aldon in the Kaiso Blues the other night, right, salute to Ozzy and them.
Speaker 1:They bring Tricano and Jam Bram right, jam in the junction. And when you hear them, fellas and them style all their words, their words so pointed, their words so heavy, they're so direct. Them and them have a way of putting words together right and coming at you Like one of the tunes I play with Daddy and them a lot, right, I don't know if Karega and them will vex Karega a little. They don't vex with me if I play a little Trikana in another episode, you know. But we play something. You know that tune with Trikana, the words in that song, it's one of the more aggressive tunes you ever hear. I know where they come up with their vibes for the tune and the whole energy inside Kaeso Blues lifts up when they play it, because the song is saying Promise to fire next time.
Speaker 5:We promise to fire next time. We promise, we promise, we promise to fire next time, next time. And who ain't there? They're badly wounded, you know it. And they say talk, you talk. You're a mocking pretender. I take your lyrics and I come to test you. Far too long you're fooling the children, Fooling their head with brainwashing education. Doomsday. Time to retreat. Learn, learn, come into the mashup machine. Power the world in your rap. So styling.
Speaker 1:So that song is so aggressive with everything they say talk, talk, talk, talk Everything they do. Aggressive like hell in the studio. I'd be frightened if I was in the studio and they're playing that tune, right, but with all the aggression in the tune and all the things that he's doing and things like bondong and things like politician and he's a liar and this whole kind of thing. They tell people in the studio but then they soft met up and they say you see how they.
Speaker 1:You see all the soft metal up in the middle. There it was sports. That ain't something to talk about. Soft metal up in the middle, I talk about kind of honeymoon talk, but the way they soften the tune it's such an aggressive tune.
Speaker 1:When I listen to Kariga, right, it's hard. I mean one day we're going to talk to the gentlemen of Tricanal. You know what I mean. But it's hard for me to think that a lot of inspiration of the way Tricanal used to put together rap so it would not come from Cariga, right, because Cariga's voice is something to be whole in rap.
Speaker 1:So Think of what rap so is, right, umari, tell you about it and think in terms of the way I'm talking and it have a message that could come through rap so that I feel wouldn't come from the regular Kaizo and Soka and Calypso you know what I mean or the wine and jam. It have a vibe or energy that has come through rap so that it's uniquely rap. So, but in that rap so space, you hear a lot of men like rappers, right, and talking the tune and thing which important, like that tune I now play with plenty security but no security. Yeah, you talk that kind of spoken word vibe and energy inside it. But kariga voice have a melodiousness that when you hear it and you hear the way even when he, even when he talking, or you're rapping or you're hitting your rap, so it's have a melodiousness going with it.
Speaker 1:You know, I used to hear him on um when, uh, when they used to do a rap, so I think I think it was I 95.5 when when you talk, it's have a melodiousness so even more you only sing, it have a sweetness to it. And when I hear this song in particular, it is make more wonder sometime, you know, I mean, if you know trikanal, it's so reminiscent of what trikanal does or should I say that in a way, what Trikanal doing, so reminiscent of the way Kariga used to deliver. And this tune is giving us energy, as if somebody in Trikanal, like they, hear this and they say, ty, what we gonna do?
Speaker 6:My words. Eh, I have a joy in me heart. I have a joy in me soul. When the rock's music play and they touch him and they lose control. I have a joy in me heart. I have a joy in me soul. When the rockaps and music play and they touch you, man, you lose control.
Speaker 6:This music have a vibe, it move you deep inside, it take away your blues, fill you with joy and pride. It's magic in the moment. I embrace it me, arms open, wide, the power of the wood, the rhythm of the wood, and when the drum explodes, it's how you're feeling good. Express it in the music. We emotion like the way we should. I have a joy in me heart. I have a joy in me soul. When the rock, so music play and they touch him and they lose control. I have a joy in me heart. I have a joy in me heart. I have a joy in me soul. When you rap, some music play and you touch him and you lose control. You lose it, you lose it, you lose it. Look how you lose it. This is for you and me.
Speaker 5:What kind of vibes is that? What kind of vibes is that? What kind of vibes is that when you rap?
Speaker 1:some music play. Let me tell you something. Tune in tune for your money. Only tell me if I feel a song like Trick and All. And if anybody from Trick and All said they wasn't inspired by that, I just pretend I never say that. You know what I mean. I could just pretend that never happened again. Salute to the great, the great, the legendary, karega Mandela. We had to continue to do this. This is a journey. We must continue. That's why I tell you the Patreon thing, because Omari says funds are to raise and I have some merch. I went to merch from Omari.
Speaker 1:This is a man who inspired me a lot. I fell in love with Omari. In an episode he must have said he has a ring but this shirt. I see Omari Prendis. If you know Saga Boy Culture, he talked about it when he was here. He was also adorning the Saga Boy Culture in his episode. Go and check out that, right.
Speaker 1:And Omari just talked about business and the way you know his approach to business, I think is something I always admire. You know what I mean. He built his own brand. Every time I talk to him he say his son doing well on time. Come them, youths and them looking for money. One of them here. He ain't getting a cent. I mean, it's free work. You know what I mean. Fruits of my labor, that's what you're getting. You're getting life, and what's in the fridge is what you get from me if you come and intern on this podcast, right, nothing else to get. But when I hear you, you tell me, son, boy, you could draw, you have a skill, you know. Very important message for me to send to these youths and them. So I aspire.
Speaker 1:This shirt says wait here again, I forget which one it was. You see, when Corey the damn well say when you're iron good, you're his king, a line from one of our favorite tunes. So not, not, not, not, not not by chance. I wear this on a emancipation day because I have some merch coming. I have a little thing coming and I want to tell you this it's going to be limited edition. Me and Omari and them level up business. Yet it's going to be limited edition. It's going to come one-one and it's going to be expensive, because it ain't cheap to do this kind of production. It's only like nice place, it's only like Conrad. It's an affordable, important thing. It's affordable, but at this level of frequency it's adding up so the merchant thing will come out.
Speaker 1:You know what to do with it and, as I say, the man who tell me what bring you here wouldn't bring you there, just remember that. Who bring me here, have no fear, we go sort out that and them kind of thing. Right, we go sort out that, we go talk, but five dollars I mean us monthly, you know I mean, and that way we starting, so we're going to see where that lands. But again, we have to continue to do this because on an Emancipation morning like this, I take pride in doing something like this. I enjoy doing something like this because Kariga might be able to hear this. Maybe Kariga might fall on his ears and hopefully I can never do his legacy no justice, but hopefully when he heard he could feel good.
Speaker 1:We must do that more often. We had to make that part of it. So for the people who enjoy the solo episodes and the talk that goes along with that, I don't want all it to feel like I give up on that. It is take a lot of time to research, as I say, it's take a lot of time to deal with booking, to deal with guest something a billionaire team is it. It happens a lot faster than I would have anticipated, but but I do want you to feel like I gave up on the idea to come in and rock back and talk to all of you.
Speaker 1:Oh, you know what? Salute to .14 Iron Giants. Right, when you hear the opening of the episodes, when you're hearing it's .14 Iron Giants, salute to the Iron Giants. But you ain't going to hear Iron Giants alone. You're going to hear Pantside now and again. You're going to hear Pantside now and again on
Speaker 1:the Pantside. Go, tell you that that is me, solo me. Me and friends recording. You know what I mean Separate kind of thing from the icons, legends and so on that we would bring on on a weekly basis. Salute to them. Salute to my boy, jonathan Corby too, who's the man who went and record Iron Giants and make the Pantside and gracefully led me there, so gracious and graceful. My brother is my guy, but I, I, I ain't give up on it. I ain't give up on it, I'm doing it, I'm doing it and it will. It will come as frequently as it used to come before. But I mean, as they say, if by kai, so all those stories are told by rap, so his story is told right. So a certain man tell me about that give up and that surrender thing.
Speaker 4:You know I mean never surrender, never surrender boy, never surrender boy. We've been oppressed for a very long time, but we never surrender boy, never surrender boy, never surrender boy. Ha, we never surrender. We've been robbed of our land. We've been robbed of our diamonds and our gold. We've been robbed of our language and our names, but never with dignity. Never surrender, never surrender.
Speaker 8:We've been oppressed for a very long time never surrender. We've been oppressed for a very long time, but we never surrender, never surrender, never surrender. We've been oppressed for a very long time, but we never surrender. Stand firm, stand proud, Never surrender. We've been through much pressure as a people, in human voyages and slavery, but here we are today standing proud as ever, because we refuse to surrender. Never surrender, oh, never surrender. Oh. We've been oppressed for a very long time, but we never surrender.
Speaker 5:I say we love you, kariga, oh, we love you, kariga, oh. We ain't get to record for a very long time, but we love you, karega.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, oh yeah. Time for me to get what I want Before they put me out. They say you must never overstay. Welcome again to Carol Mandela. Carol Prince Mandela, karega Mandela. Thank you for everything that you're doing for the culture. Thank you for everything you've done. Thank you for you know they are playing an instrumental part in keeping emancipation.
Speaker 1:As I say, you know, the village will go on and everything the night before emancipation and I'm happy to have an episode we could put out on Emancipation Morning. Think to wake up. I don't know if Oli is drinking tea, coffee or rum. He's drinking in the morning. But whatever you're drinking, take in this one and enjoy it. This is for Oli. Oli, fill up my mother's closet with African clothes. It can't close. You know what I mean. The hinge on them, it's falling off the hinge. But again, doing all they're doing for the culture and we're happy to have all they're here and I'll go talk to all they're next week. You know when I make the plan and I tell all they're what's going to happen, all they're going to hear from me soon. Bye, alright, I think we have it there, zachary.
Speaker 3:A little packing up, but you know, after the episode done, you understand this is my job. I run the show.
Speaker 2:Matter of fact, I done packing. Show us Zachary Shepard Podcast, you'll see.