Fat Joe, the N-Word & Hip-Hop's Reckoning

Oh, hey.

Welcome back to another episode of Queue Points podcast.

I am DJ Sir Daniel

And my name is Jay Ray, sometimes known by my governments

as Johnnie Ray Kornegay III.

Hey, y'all, it has been a while.

Y'all are hopping up into the thing

I'm telling you, it's been a minute.

Maybe absence does g- make the heart grow fonder.

So Jay Ray, um, where should we start?

I think, I think we start with the first thing you had on the list.

I think that's a, a great topic.

So Fat Joe is back in the news again.

part of p- part of this is insanity, but also part of this is becau- right?

Part of this is because, you know, he's gotta keep the, the download

numbers up on the Joe and Jada podcast.

Right

um, I think he's picked this hill to continue to, to, to beat.

And so I, I'm curious, so w- w- what we're talking about is the

fact that Fat Joe went on the Joe Budden, uh, podcast and was talking

about his use of the N-word again.

has already come up.

his thoughts on why he should use it, how Black, quote-unquote, he is.

Fat Joe is Puerto Rican, which is definitely in the diaspora.

We're not saying that.

That's not what we're saying.

But we are specifically talking about the use of this word and,

um, talking about how, you know, the people in his neighborhood,

you know, they call him what?

Little N-word Joe, and all of this stuff.

All of that.

But that's what we talking about.

Sir Daniel, what do you think about this?

I have some thoughts, but what are your thoughts?

Okay.

So

The crux of Joe's argument to his connection and own- downright ownership

to this word is that he is born and raised in these projects in the heart of

the Bronx, which is the heart of hip-hop

And I don't disagree with him on that fact Know about what I find, what I, what's

interesting is that nobody, absolutely nobody is arguing your authenticity,

your authentic roots and connection to hip hop culture and rap music.

That is absolutely not on the par- on the docket for arguing.

That's not up for trial.

We know you've been there, we know you've been there for since, since the beginning.

Um, Miss Melody babysat you, all of the things, you know.

And I'm, I made that one being facetious, but, you know, I, I'm, I'm just saying

believed it though.

I'm just saying that you are entrenched in hip hop culture and nobody's

trying to take that away from you.

We are talking about a word that is steeped in so much,

um, bloody history, right?

So much, um, DNA, so much, uh, so many spirits are attached to that word that

I find it odd, I find it very odd and interesting that as somebody who, w- who

has so much stake in this culture, and I'm assuming because you have a stake

in the culture, that you have a love for the people who are intrinsically

woven into the culture, um, who have come together with people of, of Latinx

background to create that culture, right?

I know, and again, nobody's arguing your authentic roots involved.

But what I, what I just can't for the life of me, and this is a Sir Daniel

statement, an I statement, is I just don't understand that if the people who have

paid blood for this word, who do not want someone who phenotypically looks white.

I understand that you, you know, li- allegedly your daddy is Afro-Cuban.

You know, that is, that gene, that gene is so recessive.

That gene, that gene is probably somewhere like, "Nene Leakes talking

about, 'Now why am I in it?'"

Right

That, that Af- that Black, um, recessive gene that's in your,

in your family is like, "Why are you still talking about me? We don't,

we don't come around these parts."

Haven't been seen in your lineage for years 'cause ain't nobody in

the family looks, has any of the phenotypical, um, uh, uh, attributes

of somebody who is quote-unquote black and has Black features.

And so I just for the life of me don't understand his commitment, his

willingness to die on this hill to continue to use a word that people

find harmful And are telling you that word is harmful, historically harmful.

I don't like hearing it.

Please stop using it.

Please stop using it directed to me.

Because I'm sorry, when he says it and he's, a- and I mean, he's roasting people

and, and saying all kinds of N words this and N words that, like when, when

he's addressing other Black people, it's, it, it's, it feels like a hate crime.

It really does.

It feels like a hate crime, and I, I don't understand the, just the

commitment to wanting to use that word.

Why do you wanna use it so bad?

Why do, why do these young white kids want to use it so bad?

I just don't understand the obsession with this word.

And as somebody who is phenotypically Black, yes, I am, I am, um, born of people

who are from, um, who are from other parts of the diaspora, and, you know, there's

a whole argument about Black Americans and people who were born here and/or not

born here about their, um, usage of the word and their attachment to the word.

I don't care about that.

We… I'm still, I'm talking to other Black people about other Black people.

I just don't get it.

I really don't.

And I just… Like somebody, who was it?

I think it was on the Don't Call Me White Girl show.

She said, or maybe I forget whose podcast it was, but they were saying,

"I can guarantee you Fat Joe does not call any of his family members n***a."

Oh, abso-

he doesn't, he doesn't say, he doesn't call, he don't call his

abuela, that's what they said there.

He don't call his abuela my n***a.

He don't say none of that.

He don't use it, he does not use it to a- with anyone else or addresses

anyone else other than Black people, and then he, and, and, and he's so

comfortable in using it because he's, quote-unquote, "been given a pass."

Now, I kinda blame, um, New York culture and N- and how, uh, insulated New Yorkers

can be when it comes to that, and how they've become so comfortable with it.

Fine.

I get it.

I get it.

If I had continued to live in New York, uh, into, into my formidable

years, into my adult years, who knows?

I may have had developed a very different type of attitude However, outside

of New York, that's not gonna fly.

And I, and I, and I, and I know he… I just wonder how many

times that he's been in rooms.

Like, I bet you he wouldn't go, he wouldn't go to the NAACP awards and,

and go on stage and say, "What's up, my n***as?" I guarantee you

wouldn't he, he wouldn't do that.

He may not even be invited.

No, who, who, who, no.

But he would go… But to the argument, he would go to the

BET Awards and use it because BET,

BET has allowed it or would allow it, but because B- BET ain't really Black no more.

But anyway, so that, that's where I am with it.

I'm just, I am perplexed.

I'm just su- super perplexed about why, if you care about Black people

and Black culture so much, if Black people are asking you or telling you

that this word is harmful, why do you insist on holding onto it and using it?

So, and I'm so glad you said that because I think his doubling down and

tripling down and quadrupling down on this

more about him as a person, and I think that's bigger

than even him using the word.

I think where I've come with this to the fact that there is… Fat Joe

got bigger issues, and we should have bigger issues with him, his continued

use of this word after we've been having these conversations about it

Mm-hmm

is our rallying cry should be like, "Nah, this ain't

it." So now side-eyeing people in Joe's camp who should be having

this conversation with him.

I ain't gonna call no names, but He's got people in his camp that should be

really having this conversation with him.

Because here's the problem, and I don't know that he, he knows this,

but now that he keeps doing this, it's going to blow back negatively.

It hasn't gotten there yet, but what he's re- what he doesn't realize

is he's gonna taint his legacy by continuing to double down in this way.

Right now, in this moment that we're in, in, in, in this very

moment that we're in, he's okay.

I guarantee that thing gonna circle back around and not

age the way he thinks it is.

So that's, that's absolutely been on my mind.

This says a lot about Fat Joe, and I think what it says about him is bigger

than his actual use of the word.

To your point, his w- his continued doing it is, like, just stop.

Just stop.

It's very simple.

You know what I mean?

else is going on there.

Um, to your other point, Sir Daniel, I absolutely agree.

Um, we made this, uh, we made this monster.

Like, folks in Joe's neighborhood and that he's been around making records

around for 30 years that have allowed him to do this made this monster.

Like, this is,

Mhm.

relationship, right?

And you know, we talked about, um, we did our N-word show.

If y'all

Yep

and listened to our N-word podcast, it's so dope, where we really

talk about, um, the rise of the use of the N-word in hip-hop, going from a word

that, of course, we grew up, Sir Daniel, initially where this word was like,

no, it is not a word that you say even though o- Black folks in comedic ways

would use the word, but there was a line.

Kids definitely couldn't use it, and it was just, like, cringe every time

somebody did it, unless it was Richard Pryor and he was telling a joke, right?

Mhm

of course, we talk about the rise of the use of the word

in, in, in, in hip-hop culture, and then to greater, uh, uh, fame as

part of just rap records in general.

So go check out that show.

It's dope.

But I think we have all of these things that have combined that have given Joe,

uh, this mindset, but once again, this mindset is a signal for a bigger problem.

I don't know what it is, but it's something.

Um, I think it's reductive to keep talking to him about this, honestly.

He doesn't have the range

No.

He doesn't have the empathy.

He doesn't have the empathy

the empathy, he doesn't have the interest, the, like, general

interest in dealing with the nuances of the word, its history, how we

feel about it as Black people.

He doesn't care.

He does not

range for it.

We should stop talking to him about it.

And I think what we have to… Well, okay, first of all, Black

people, we have only been able to agree on who can't use the word.

And then really that's kinda one group of people, and then the younger people

are now letting them use the word.

Before it was like white people can never say it.

Now, all of a sudden, we hearing young white people say it all the time, right?

Before, that was, like, never supposed to happen.

The who can use the word has always been a bigger thing because I think that's

when we go back to, to, to, to, uh, uh, r- racism, slavery, and the way we have been

taught that we don't have value as people.

we can't draw the line.

Like, there's no way to draw the line on this because I just… W- they're

gonna be, half of us are gonna say yes, and half of us are gonna say no.

So Joe is like, "Then I can." Then, uh, he's gonna just hang

out with the yes, I can group.

what I want is, and I said this in that show, what I want is the yes, I can group

to really evaluate why this is okay.

So that's where I'm at with it.

I think it's stupid to keep talking to Joe about this, honestly.

But I get that they have to have conversations on podcasts.

I get that Marc Lamont Hill has to have a take on this.

get it.

I get that people have to have a take.

I just think it's a circ- it's a circular conversation

that ain't gonna land nowhere.

And you know what?

That's, that's the real deal.

Like, there's just certain things that n- we just have to resolve

within ourselves that there is no, not gonna be a resolution.

There is no, not going to be a resolution.

But again, like I always say, you can always pick up the

needle or let the record play.

It's like you have the opportunity to decide whether or not you're going

to engage, whether or not you're going to support this person, whether

or not you're going to listen to their podcast, watch their videos.

Because as I said, I can't, I can't watch it only for the simple

fact, like from coming from him, it sound, it sounds very violent.

It sounds violent and I just can't… I, I don't like him.

I maybe I've just been t- too far removed from New York

culture to, to appreciate it.

I just don't.

I do not.

So I'm not going to, like you said, I'm not going to campaign.

We not-- Queue Points is not going out to campaign to shut down, um, anybody's

podcast or their recording career.

They're 35 years deep into the game.

There's no taking away their credit or their street, their

street cred in the game.

That's not gonna happen.

But what I can do and what you all can do as well is to turn it off and not engage.

Do not, just do not engage in that person and their unwillingness.

Because I guarantee you, if they, if they ever got Oprah in there on that

show, Joe ain't calling Oprah the N-word

Absolutely not

It would be, "Oh my God, we got the queen Oprah in the building.

Oprah Winfrey, you are a goddess.

I cannot believe it.

You're sitting right here in front of me.

Oh my God, my wife, my kids love you, Oprah Winfrey." It would be

all of that, but it would never be, "What's up, my n***a O- what's up,

my n***a Oprah in the building?"

Never.

Absolutely would never

and here's the thing about that.

What I would hope Oprah did was call him on his bulls**t.

Check 'em

Like, I think reality is we are in a moment in time,

and it's unpopular, right?

It's, it's

Mhm.

to do this, especially I'ma use a I statement

I, you got, I have to stand for something

Cicely Tyson said in that, um, that Tyler Perry movie, "You

all aren't gonna be shaking around and using that kind of words on this

land. Not here on Queue Points land."

Don't come over here, don't come over here with that foolishness.

Don't do it.

moving on to another topic that again… Boy, I'm telling you, J,

like we have gone… Are we, are we viral?

Would you say we're viral with these, these couple clips that have come out?

it's been a whole lot of viral moments.

Surprisingly, like these are, we've… You know, it's not surprising.

I guess we, we, the algorithm likes what we, we giving, so I

guess it's not super surprising.

But yeah, we've had all of these moments that have g-

gotten really good engagement.

recently, and you all please go back and watch this.

As a matter of fact, the episode just dropped this week.

Um, both Jay Ray and I had the pleasure of sitting down with the team of the, the

recently relu- released, reluced, released

Mhm

documentary, "The Krate Doc," from the Ummah Collective group that, um,

made an amazing documentary about the, uh, uh, a three-day s- was it three-day?

Yeah, a three-day stretch, five, five gigs for DJ Krate Digga, and we sat down

with both the filmmaker Dominic Lawson as well as DJ Krate Digga to talk about their

experiences with creating this documentary and then digging deeper in s- as far as,

um, what it means to be a DJ today and talking about Krate Digga's experience,

um, as a DJ for almost 30 years.

And so I just brought up the fact, like, "Hey, you know, there's a lot of d-

these DJ tropes that are all over social media." I named a few of them, and finally

I was just like, "Is, is the cure or is the solution to a lot of this stuff is

that we should start gatekeeping DJing?

Or should there be some gatekeeping when it comes to the art of DJing?"

Well, this gentleman over here, Mr. Q- um, Jay Ray, uh, over here with his,

um, mad scientist self clipped that up and posted it, and y'all went berserk.

I mean, everybody had a, had some type of, um… which is fine, had a response or

some type… uh, or an opinion regarding, um, gatekeeping as it comes to DJing.

And what I noticed, Jay Ray, is that a lot of, a lot of people took offense because,

and the way that they showed their offense was to call out, was to be ageist and

say that, "Oh, you know, y'all are just old and, um, don't like that things

are changing and things are evolving.

Y'all are just old, and that's why you wanna gatekeep DJing." And

no, I don't f- I- that's not true.

As a matter of fact, Krate Digga implicitly was like, "No, we should not

gatekeep DJing." But I mean, this c- and it's not, that's not, we're not the only

ones that were having that conversation.

Jay Ray, I saw a conversation being held by a young lady

who is also, um, she's a DJ.

Um, she is known for having, doing her DJ sets in outdoors

Yes,

In different settings like canyons and mountains and by the beach

and all that kind of stuff where she…

out there

There's no electricity.

And in her defense, if your laptop is fully powered, if you're using

a laptop, I, I can't, I don't even know if she was using a laptop.

But if your laptop is fully powered, you can plug in your laptop

and your controller will work.

Your pro- controller will work.

So the… I think, but the, the conversation or the question

became, well, are you really DJing?

Because one, there's a whole aspect of you don't have monitors, or

at least we didn't see monitors.

Um, she was wearing her headphones throughout the whole set, and all the

transitions just, it w- it, it were perfect and it just looked like a lot of

knob turning bec- and because the bottom line is that a lot of people who, who have

practiced for years who, as the kids say, put, got it out the mud and learned, um,

the fundam- the, the fundamentals of DJing sometimes on analog equipment and, but

also have an idea of how to use digital equipment, are noticing things that

you're doing or not doing that's just, it's just raising a lot of questions.

So Rob Swift, who is a, a well-known DJ who is, um, who's been in the

game for 30-plus years, um, has, is a teacher, teaches people how

to DJ, and he just asked her a question in, in one of her posts.

And baby, when I tell you just the fact that he asked her a question and he also

gave context to his question, um, and I know sometimes that people like Rob can

be, can be blunt, but I, I, in my opinion, it didn't feel like he was being rude.

He was truly just asking a question.

And baby, when I tell you, I guess her fans, um, other young ladies who

are also DJs, I mean, they hopped in the comments and they started

swarming and attacking and it, it became an, a, um, an ageist attack.

Um, it became, um, you're being misogynist and it became, "Oh, look at the…

Here, surprise, surprise.

Here comes the man, mansplaining on how to DJ like us ladies don't know how to DJ."

And I just don't think it warranted that.

It really was a legit question because I love, I love my lady DJs.

You know, love them down, support them.

We know this

you al- and you also know for real, for real lady, like women who DJ.

Like, this is not… Like, these are

Legendary for real DJs, right.

And so when I see a lot of people who are saying, "Hmm, I don't know, I can get

one of these cutesy little controllers," and we know that aesthetics are huge

parts of, of, um, this generation's culture of expressing themselves, and

it's not necessarily about substance, but it is a, a lot about aesthetics

and, and making you feel a certain way and having things look a certain way.

We're just asking questions like, "Are you… You know, what's up with that?

Or why, why are you turning this knob and that really doesn't do anything? Are

you doing that just to give the illusion that you are actually doing something?"

it got really ugly quickly, and I was just, I just didn't

understand how people, people got so offended so quickly regarding that

Yeah, it's funny that you mention that because, um, I had to

take a step back 'cause I, the comment that you're talki- that, that you

mentioned earlier on, um, was like

ageist in a way that I didn't think was necessary, you know what I'm saying?

And so I actually replied to that commenter, right?

Both Kray and I did, actually, one of the things that was really important

to me that reply was to acknowledge that Kray, that, "Yo, you need to go

listen to the whole section because he's saying what you're saying."

So you can only do so much.

I had - I, I did clip that in a minute, right?

That I truncated that whole thing into, like, one part, right?

So that was that.

I wanted that person to know that.

And then number two is I didn't want to throw them away either and just

be like, know, and just do that whole thing, 'cause it, it, it could have

g- like, I could have gone there.

But I, I - so I wanted to model the kind of behavior on our platform that

we respect and expect in that statement.

And so to that point of, like, people coming for … I think the

internet, uh, in particular social media, has bred this clap back

Mhm, mhm

that all the time isn't necessary.

You know what I mean?

The reality is this, homegirl, I ain't never seen homegirl who go to the canyons.

But here's what I do know.

What I do know is she is recording a YouTube video or

whatever platform she's on.

Mm-hmm.

order for her to get the, the stuff, the views that she wanna

get, that set has to be perfect.

And guess what I know?

She ain't recording that set for real in that canyon.

That set was recorded at her house.

She had a very clear … 'Cause okay, so if you talking about how, you know,

if you're doing all of this, like, you have to know exactly what to play,

when to play, all of those pieces.

She got - she was in there basically lip syncing the

Potentially, allegedly.

Potentially.

This is Jay Ray talking.

She might have been recording the thing in the canyon.

Maybe she good at that, you know what I mean?

But guess is what she did is she did that mix at home in a way that she can

perfect that mix, because that's what makes sense to do, you know what I mean?

Like, that's what

Right

then you create the video from that thing.

That just is good recording sense.

That's no shade.

I'm not saying that she didn't do it.

What I'm saying is- My guess is it didn't happen the way it

was filmed that it happened.

W-

And if you did, own up to it

If you did own up to … Or at least come on and be like, respond, some

context, especially because it's DJ to DJ.

You know, one of the things that's really dope if a DJ is coming onto

your thing, there is a way that you can build a relationship with

absolutely

with somebody else that's in your, uh, industry.

And maybe they did in the DMs.

Maybe there's a whole conversation about this that happened in the DMs

that didn't happen on the thing.

Point is, though, I think we have to model good behavior, and I absolutely

think there are folks out here that do be straight up mansplaining.

Like, "What are you doing coming on here?" And it doesn't sound like he was, uh,

uh, questioning her, her DJing ability, but literally like, "Hey, what's this?

What's

Like, how is this happening?

Yeah

this?

I wanna go to the Canyon.

How you doing this in the Canyon?" Like, how are you doing that?

Right

dope, right?

Um, and I think it's okay for us to have this dialogue.

I just think we need to give people, um, room to have some discussion, and

sometimes on social, m- most times on social media, we don't get the room.

But Krate Digga a nuanced response to this, y'all, and

I, I wanna big him up for it

Mm-hmm

it did really change my mind about how I DJs.

Now, I ain't gonna dance to all of y'all 'cause I can't.

Some of y'all don't do what I need to be done,

Exactly

make you bad at what you're doing.

It don't work for me, but it might work for someone else, and that's cool.

Now, there are some technical things that I'd be like, "No, no, no, no, what you

just did there, that was like a bad blend.

Ja

to blend.

It didn't work." Right?

You know what I'm saying?

Like, there are technical things.

But what Krate did, what he, his response was, and then I'll wrap this up, his

response was basically like, "We have to that we are using the same words to

describe ultimately different things.

There are different kinds of DJs." And when he said that, I'm like,

yeah, wedding DJs have to be set up to do a whole different thing.

You have to be … You have to know your top 40 and know of this and

know of that, be able to put, uh, uh,

requests

s- have scripts ready, everything

Yep

and do this on a dime, and da, da, da.

It's a different kind of DJ.

DJs who are like, "I'm doing house parties because these are my rent

parties. This is how I do this. do that this way." hop DJs, I do it this way.

House DJs do a completely different thing.

You know what I'm saying?

So when we put that in context, it's like, oh, it gives more room

for people to DJ in a lot of ways.

Sir Daniel, I thought of you, and then I'm gonna end.

I thought of you.

You went to an event, I won't name the event because it'll hit, it'll hit

people to, to possibly when it happened.

But I think you called it, like, ADHD.

It was like the set was kinda like ADHD.

Like, it was like, oh, he went here, and then he went there, and I didn't

know how he got there to there, but that was interesting to me.

Mhm.

like, "Huh. Huh."

Oh yeah, I for- I forgot I said that.

I crack myself up.

No, serious.

But you're right.

You're… And I was just like, "Wait, what, what's going on here?" But

But listen, the crowd was in there,

somebody like it

"Huh?"

I will say that like everything else in life, um, people's

appreciation of DJs and the, and people who are parties, party star-

starters, the people that, you know, are responsible for providing the soundtrack

of your event, um, it's subjective.

Everybody, like Jay Ray said, everybody's going to like somebody, and they're not

going to li- and there's gonna be other people that think they're trash, right?

That's just, that's how it is.

I just think that there is in the DJ community, um, as we talk about the

spectrum between age, um, gender within the, the DJ community, I think we would

all benefit more if we listened, and Marq McPherson, um, kind of, uh, leaned

into this, is that if we listen to learn or understand instead of listening to

clap back and to have a, a response and to, you know, to get back at somebody,

I think we would actually grow more.

Because I'm at the age where I know, you know, I don't h- I, I'm nowhere near, um,

maybe the skill level of a Krate Digga.

And so a Krate, somebody who's been at it for 30 years is offering me some

technical advice or something that's gonna make me step my game up, I am all ears.

I feel like there is a, there's a level of ego that has overtaken everybody, whether

you're an OG or you're new in the game, whether you have 100 followers or whether

you, whether you have 100,000 followers.

I think a lot of us, our egos get in the way and do not allow for

us to learn and therefore we're-- do not allow for us to grow.

And so I just feel like we are truly missing out on, as you said

earlier, Jay Ray, on growing community because there's… If, if, if, if,

uh, Rob Swift hopped up in my, in my comments, oh, I would be DM-ing.

I'd be like, "Hey, listen, I know who you are, and so if you have, if you

have something, if I can learn something from you, I am definitely going to learn

from it, learn from you, and take that advice." If somebody were to ask me

something and I, at my level, whatever level that is, I'll, I would definitely

talk to that person because I think that we need to have more community

instead of separating each other.

But I think m- the money and especially the fame, notoriety has really taken a

lot of the joy out of the art of DJing.

So that, and that's really what's missing from everything is the joy part.

Yep

part.

Ooh, I live for that.

Um, I want to do one more thing, um, this is amazing to me.

So, and I think it goes back to what you were saying about DJing,

DJs, DJs learning at all ages,

Mhm

Krate has been doing this for 29 years, almost 30 years, right?

Yes

Watching him DJ and using that Rain controller and like doing all

the different like ch- da-doot-da-doos to extend the thing, and then I gotta

Mhm.

and then I gotta like blend, and then I gotta like bring in the next song.

is a commitment to continuous learning

Yes

z- So when people are talking about like someone who's, quote, unquote,

"old," I'm like, "No, this is someone who is consistently elevating his

craft." And what we all should be hoping to do is learn from people like that.

Like how… If I was interested in DJing, which I'm not, we know I've tried that

before, wanna know how he did that.

You know, how are you doing that?

Um, that is great, and I wanna know how to do it.

So I just wanted to, to, to echo everything.

But yeah, man, um, we have to… And that joy, man, that lands so lovely because you

could tell when a DJ… There's a story.

Uh, uh, Ron Hardy was the DJ at the Music Box in Chicago.

Legendary DJ.

Um, house music, uh, uh, legend.

And there is… I was watching a documentary once, and they was like,

"Oh, no, no, no, you could tell Ron's mood based on the songs he played."

Mm.

"If he had a argument with his dude before he did that

set, that set was going to sound like he had an argument that day."

Hmm

Like, that's how…

So when we talk about that connection that we strive for, I hope that DJs

have those connections with the songs that they're playing, because you

giving that energy to the audience

Yeah

there for.

No matter what kind of DJ you, don't matter what kind of DJ you are, you

there to connect with people somehow

Yep.

And I think that's, um, that's it.

That hits the nail on the head.

It's, it's connection, and I think that young lady, um, DJing in the canyon

has connected with a lot of people.

They connect with her, so shout out to her.

I get it.

And conti- and continue because we as DJs, we are here, we are providing a service.

Mm.

And so when we continue to operate in that mindset, then

the, the c- the things are going to come to you that you deserve

because you are providing a service.

I think some people are reacting to the fact that, yes, the, the

pool has gotten a little, you know, it's gotten a little crowded

because because it's a cool thing to

do, and I get that because it's like, "Uh, where, where, where

did all these people come from?

This used to be my playground.

Now every- now everybody wants to come over here.

Now everybody wanna play my funk." And, but, and they're also taking, they're also

taking opportunities away from me, and they're taking money out of my pocket.

So there's a lot of, again, ego and feelings are getting involved here because

now you're messing with people's money.

And so I think if, if there was an understanding, this getting back to what

we've been talking about, if there was some type of empathy and understanding

within the community about what people are going through, especially if you,

you're a, a DJ of a certain age, then more people would be understanding

and might possibly put more thought and effort into the actual craft that

they're professing to be a part of.

So that's that on that

Shout out to the Simple E. I'm like, I was like, "Ah, I love that song."

Caught that.

Yeah.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

You're welcome.

You're welcome.

You're welcome, everybody.

You're welcome.

Um, if you can see our faces and hear our voices, hit the

subscribe, uh, share the show with your friends, family, and colleagues.

Make sure you visit our website at queuepoints.com and check out the

conversation that we had with, uh, Krate Digga Dominic Lawson about The Krate Doc.

Make sure that check The

Krate

Doc well beautiful documentary, and really does give you some insight

on, uh, one DJ's life and kinda what it takes to, like, do this work, and

it is not for the faint of heart.

Five gigs in three days

Woo!

That's a lot, you know what I'm saying?

But the reality is that's, you know, that's, that's the, that's, that's it.

That's what it is, right?

So go and check that out at the website.

Um, check us out on Substack, uh, as well.

You can subscribe to our newsletter there.

And, um, yeah, that's… We're rebuilding the store, so, uh, that'll be coming soon.

I'm flipping the script again, Sir Daniel, so I'm not ready to share it with you.

Uh, I'ma change it again.

Okay.

coming again.

Uh, and, uh, but anyway, we appreciate y'all.

We love y'all.

Thank you once again for all the birthday wishes.

Um, please make sure you subscribe to my YouTube channel.

Like I said, if you wanna sub- if you wanna subscribe a DJ that's

actually playing records and, and not just turning knobs and stuff.

And if I… That's too much equipment to be taken out in the, in the canyon.

That's not gonna happen.

like wheeling, like wheeling the table

Nope.

Nope.

Absolutely not.

But as I say in this life, you have a choice.

Listen to me, you have a choice.

You can either pick up the needle or you can let the record play.

I am DJ Sir Daniel,

My name is Jay Ray, y'all

and this has been Queue Points podcast, dropping

the needle on Black music history.

We will see you on the next go-round.

Peace.