Sly Stone, D'Angelo & the Myth of Black Genius

Transcript

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[00:00:00] Disclaimer

Jay Ray: [00:00:00] What's up, y'all? Today we're dropping one of our favorite moments from our live archive. If you want the full archive for Queue Points Live, become a member at queuepoints.com. We love y'all. Enjoy the episode. Peace.

[00:00:19] Intro Theme

[00:00:36] The Lil Baby / Atlanta Police Department Story: Setting the Stage

Sir Daniel: Greetings, and welcome to another episode of Queue Points podcast. I am DJ Sir Daniel

Jay Ray: And my name is Jay Ray, sometimes known by my government as Johnnie Ray Kornegay III. Sir Daniel, what's happening?

Sir Daniel: Ooh, a lot is happening. Um- A lot is

Jay Ray: happening ...

Sir Daniel: a lot. So, who, where do we begin? All right. So I don't know if you know this, Jay Ray, but, [00:01:00] um, yesterday the Atlanta Police Department held a press conference recounting- About what?

a sh- recounting a shooting-

Jay Ray: Okay ...

Sir Daniel: that took place, um, over, I think it was last summer.

Jay Ray: Okay.

Sir Daniel: Um, a shooting that happened, and it took the lives of two young Black boys who literally, they spent, they were, they just turned 13. It happened on their birthday. Okay. And they, and the police are saying that they literally were able to be 13 for only, what, 24 hours or less than 24 hours.

It was terrible, right? So during this police conference, the, they held a press conference. During the press conference, um, Atlanta rap artist Lil Baby-

Jay Ray: Mm-hmm ...

Sir Daniel: well, not during the press conference, but, um, some people dug up the arrest warrants, and then, and Lil Baby's name came up in the arrest warrant, um, being named [00:02:00] as the alleged catalyst for this shooting due to him filming a music video in rival gang territory.

So APD, Atlanta Police- Okay ... their theory is that the video shoot sparked a summer of violence in Atlanta. At, at... Did I just say Atlantor? Atlanta over, um, the summer of 2024. So I bring that up to say the assumption Made is that a young Black celebrity, in this case Lil Baby-

Jay Ray: Mm-hmm ...

Sir Daniel: has the influence to shape the community to be more, to be a more positive place, right?

Jay Ray: Yes.

Sir Daniel: And that is assigned to them because they are considered, um, our talented, what they used to say back in the day, our talented 10th, right? Now I, I [00:03:00] wouldn't conflate Lil Baby with-

Jay Ray: No ...

Sir Daniel: the term that we're discussing tonight, genius. No, no, no, no. And that's, and that's no shade. That's no shade to

Jay Ray: Lil Baby.

And that's no

Sir Daniel: shade. That's no shade to Lil Baby. But it's part of the conversation we're having about responsibility and burdens that we place on people who are given that label and who are thrust in the spotlight, and who have the eyes of, at times, the nation, and particularly the Black community on them at all times.

Jay Ray: Mm-hmm.

Sir Daniel: Um, so

[00:03:36] The Sly Stone Documentary Sparks the Question: What Is Black Genius?

Sir Daniel: this conversation, um, sparked because you and I made sure that we checked out the Sly Stone, um, s- uh, documentary on Hulu. Yes.

Jay Ray: Mm-hmm.

Sir Daniel: Uh, and which is fantastic.

Jay Ray: Yes.

Sir Daniel: Please, if you have, if you have your own subscription or you need to borrow somebody else's sub- subscription- ... make sure you check out [00:04:00] that documentary currently on Hulu.

It's amazing. But Jay Ray, isn't... There's a section, it's at the very beginning of the documentary-

Jay Ray: Mm-hmm ...

Sir Daniel: where we see this shadowy figure, this big hat, and somebody lighting up a cigarette. Yeah. And it happens to be D'Angelo. D'Angelo. And, and my mind was blown- Yeah ... 'cause I was like, damn, you really hardly see D'Angelo, and you barely hear him get to speak.

Jay Ray: Oh yeah, he doesn't do interviews and stuff like that anymore, no.

Sir Daniel: At all. But because you know who- It's Sly ... Ahmir Questlove- I

Jay Ray: mean,

Sir Daniel: and it's Ahmir

Jay Ray: Questlove ...

Sir Daniel: is behind the cameras and is behind this documentary- Yes ... of course he sat down to speak to him. Yes. And Ahmir asked him a question, and he asked a lot of dif- different, um, musicians the same question, "What is Black genius?"

Yeah. And that sparked our conversation about what we're having tonight, or what we're having during this episode of Queue Points. And we're gonna talk about it. What is Black [00:05:00] genius? Is there, can it be defined? Is it, you know, Jay Ray, what do you think? Is it, is it a fair title to put on people?

Jay Ray: Oh, um- Is it a fair title to put on people?

It's so funny because I think Sly in that, in that interview was also being asked to grapple with that. You mean

Sir Daniel: D'Angelo?

Jay Ray: I... Um, well, uh, D'Angelo, yes, but then Sly, they kinda did it with Sly too, um, when the interviewer- He sure did. Sure did ... was kinda doing the same thing. And I think the answer is it's okay to put the label on folks.

I think it can be, um, I think it can be, it can be, uh, acknowledging the brilliance of that person. I think the problem becomes [00:06:00] what society does with people we put in that category, right? So- Mm-hmm ... um, in terms of how we kind of, uh, of, of deify them, um, in a- Right ... in a way. Um, Viz is asking the question, and I'm gonna ask this here for you, um, Sir Daniel.

When you ask that question, are we thinking specifically in the arts or just in general?

Sir Daniel: I am, because they are always, we're always asking questions and ex- and putting lofty expectations on people in the arts. Mm-hmm. Specifically celebrities, specifically in the, uh, musicians, Black musicians. I would say that's what we're speaking on tonight.

Um, and so yeah, we're speaking to them specifically because they have become the go-to figures, whereas back in [00:07:00] the, just for taking for instance in the Civil Rights Movement, whereas our celebrities back then-

Jay Ray: Mm-hmm ...

Sir Daniel: were Martin Luther King.

Jay Ray: Yeah.

Sir Daniel: And, you know, Hosea Williams. Those are the people that we look to for guidance, we look to for, you know, for strength.

Mm-hmm. To, we look for, we look for their plans. We look for them to tell us or to, to tell us, "Okay, where are we meeting next?"

Jay Ray: Mm-hmm.

Sir Daniel: Where are we, you know, because, and mostly because we had a common goal. Yeah. So they were able to, to wrangle us together or to, to make those battle cries that we listened to and we followed them.

And so they, being that they were able to galvanize a whole community across the country- They, we look to them and refer to them as Black genius, I, I would say, in my opinion.

Jay Ray: No, no, no. I don't think, I think you're, I think you're, I don't think you're off. I think you're onto something. But, and you know the thing, you know what makes this a problem [00:08:00] today?

Sir Daniel: Hmm.

Jay Ray: I think what makes this conversation a challenge today is the way we con- the way we communicate with one another happens in such a flash in the pan sort of way. And we've watched people call themselves geniuses, and then- Mm-hmm ... we did the, we did the show. So we have a show coming, uh, by the way, y'all should check out, about Ye, who kind of said that this is who I am, and then people treat you as such.

Why do I point this out? I think the, the, the challenge with the, the moniker genius is that it's, it becomes a cel- it becomes another way to, another way to celebrity. I think- Yes ... ultimately when we use genius today, it's not It's not always because [00:09:00] they're great or astute at the thing that they do, but they realize that if I get called a genius, it is going to put me above other people.

For instance, one of the geniuses music-wise that I can speak to is absolutely Stevie Wonder.

Sir Daniel: Okay.

Jay Ray: I've never seen an interview or heard anyone say that Stevland Morris felt like he was greater than the other people, right? He used his gifts to free us all, right? Um, so when, so when I think about like the quintessential genius, I think of people like that.

[00:09:48] Transition​

[00:09:54] Genius vs. Celebrity: How the Term Gets Watered Down

Jay Ray: I think the problem with genius is we equate genius to celebrity, [00:10:00] and that's the problem.

Sir Daniel: genius, like diva, um, what else? What are other terms that we throw around loosely?

Jay Ray: Hmm.

Sir Daniel: Um, hot... All of these, we throw around- Yeah ... a lot of terms, a lot of accolades very loosely, es- especially today. We throw them around, um, we just give them out willy-nilly.

Sometimes these people haven't really earned that, those labels.

Jay Ray: Asé.

Sir Daniel: And, you know, we just tend... And because if you get 500,000 likes on that, then everybody agrees that yes, this person is a genius.

Jay Ray: Yeah.

Sir Daniel: But, um, and so I think that in and of s- in of itself is dangerous not only to the person that we're mislabeling, but it's dangerous to us.

It's dangerous to , I think it's dangerous to, like for instance, those young men that [00:11:00] I mentioned earlier- Mm-hmm ... who were shot, uh, at this, the after- because of the aftermath of, um, Lil Baby shooting a video in rival gang territory. Man. Uh, and even though I'm not saying that the two are, are correlated or related, because that's just a allegation that is being made now.

Mm-hmm. But

[00:11:23] The Danger of Mislabeling: Young People, Role Models & Influence

Sir Daniel: a lot of people, a lot of especially young people are formidable and are looking for someone to Someone that they think has more knowledge than them to guide them.

Jay Ray: Yeah.

Sir Daniel: And a lot of times that's something that may not be present in the home. Mm-hmm. Or, or a lot of times that's, that happens because we don't consider maybe that person is closer to them in age.

Jay Ray: Mm-hmm.

Sir Daniel: And nowadays especially, there's like, there isn't a lot of respect for elders.

Jay Ray: Yeah.

Sir Daniel: I don't- we don't see that a whole lot these [00:12:00] days. There's a lot of... There isn't just, there just isn't a lot of respect for elders, and I, and that comes out of this culture of not always taking what the elders say as 100%, which I, I, I, I, I don't have a whole lot of beef with, but there's just, it's kind of almost ver- um, verging on disrespect and disdain for every and anything that's considered old.

And so when that happens, then you have a lot of people, you know, young people looking out- outside of the people that they come in contact with, like the outside of their school teachers, outside of- Yeah ... the bus driver that takes them to school, outside of their parents, outside of their grandparents, you know?

And so it just feels like that is part of the, like you said, the glamorization and the idol worship of a lot of people who just happen to have a lot of attention placed on them. And then [00:13:00] you start throwing out the term genius to them because- Yeah ... they made a dope beat. You know, they, they were able to chop up a beat really quickly.

Jay Ray: Yeah.

Sir Daniel: And ah, that boy's a genius. That girl's a gen-... You know? The- Yeah ... that's, it, it starts off like that, really innocuous, but then it becomes a problem in the long run when you don't think about it, but it's back there in your head. You think, "Oh, this, I can take what this person is saying as gospel."

Jay Ray: You know, yes.

And, um, I think this is a I think this, uh, uh, came across in the Slide documentary a lot.

Sir Daniel: Mm-hmm.

Jay Ray: Um, but one of the things I wanted to mention is

[00:13:43] Everyone Has a Genius — But What Does It Cost?

Jay Ray: I believe that every person on this earth has something that they do that is working in their genius. Yeah. I truly, truly believe that. The challenge is, [00:14:00] right, we know that not everybody can get there though, right?

Sir Daniel: Exactly.

Jay Ray: We know that not everybody can get there, but we all have something that is like, that person is in it. That, that is their genius work right there, right? And w- and the beautiful thing that I think about the genius work, that's when we get stuff like Songs in the Key of Life, right? When you, when you, when that person recognizes, "No, this is what I am here to do.

This is my work, and I am going to do it at the highest level that I can do it." And but, but even more than that, it's bigger than me, right? Um, and for some folks, it's all-consuming, right? Yes. So it consumes you, and I think that's what we saw in the Sly documentary. [00:15:00] Q-Tip brought that up, and he was like, "If you have this thing, it gets bigger, and then it becomes a monster, and then it becomes bigger than you, and then it swallows you if you let it."

So you have to have people around you that are also going to be like, "Hey," "you get, you, you real close to that edge." Mm-hmm. "You are brilliant But you know what I mean? But p-

Sir Daniel: Yes. I do, I understand what you're saying because we'll take... Okay, so I think where Jay Ray is going, and, and I hope I'm following here correctly- Yeah

[00:15:38] Excusing Bad Behavior Under the Label of Genius

Sir Daniel: there are a lot of people that we call genius who also have these, who also tend to be painfully shy-

Jay Ray: Mm-hmm ...

Sir Daniel: socially awkward, um, have their own little ticks. Now that we h- we're in this age where we have a lot more information about people being born in spectrums, different spectrums. Mm-hmm. You know, the [00:16:00] word autism comes out a lot.

Mm-hmm. Um, um, ADHD, all of the different things, things that are, have been undiagnosed back then or not really paid attention to, especially in the Black community, because of course, medically, we are the last people to be included in those, um, conversations- Of course ... and discoveries. You know, it ain't been that

Jay Ray: research.

Mm-hmm.

Sir Daniel: Exactly. So we dealt with that. Michael Jackson, uh, you know, he's just eccentric. He's a genius. We'll let that go.

Jay Ray: Yeah.

Sir Daniel: But then fast-forward a few years later, the other people that we are calling genius that, you know, their behavior becomes a little more outlandish. You have people who, you know, who, who like to take younger people and put them a- and make them their concubines, and keep them- Yes

locked up and keep them locked away and-

Jay Ray: Yes ...

Sir Daniel: you know, p- perform different things on them that they shouldn't, and then they record that. Or you... And they, you know, they have a, they just do really bad behavior.

Jay Ray: Right.

Sir Daniel: And so I think what [00:17:00] we're doing is we, uh, what we were doing is we weren't drawing a line between somebody being socially awkward and somebody just being, just playing the fool and, and exhibiting really bad behavior, and excusing that bad behavior as just genius.

It's like, and then, then we get to the part, point where now it's like, oh, oh, they're not... Oh, they, they really, they were really a bad person. And it's like, well, why, why do we get upset when we buy tickets to the circus and clowns start acting like clowns? You know?

Jay Ray: That's exactly it, right? There is this thin line, right? And, and, and- Mm-hmm ... I'm gonna use a I statement. I need to be better at being able to distinguish right, when that line is being crossed. You know what I mean? Yeah. And then be able to adjust accordingly, [00:18:00] right? Um, but I, I do think- In, in thinking about responsibility, and this is going back to the Lil Baby thing I do think it, it does bear the question, if we have these folks that do have, um, gen- they're, they're working in their genius, they have genius ability, and they're, they're working in that genius, um, specifically musicians

Sir Daniel: Mm-hmm

[00:18:30] Is It Fair to Expect Black Genius to Represent Us All?

Jay Ray: Is it their responsibility, right-

Sir Daniel: Mm-hmm

Jay Ray: to represent all of us? There we go. And that's another question, right, that comes along with this Black genius. We saw Sly, right? And when you look at, when you look at this documentary, the undeniable, like, that... Pause. There's a thing I did not know. I did not know that Sly Stone, the original [00:19:00] version of Somebody to Love was produced by Sly Stone, and it was when Grace Slick left the group, I think it was called the General Society- Mm-hmm

she took that song with her to Jefferson Airplane. But- I want

Sir Daniel: you so, somebody to love ...

Jay Ray: want some- but Sly- Yeah ... Stone did the first version- Mm-hmm ... of that song with them. Yes. That was like, what in the world? I had no idea. So why do I s- so, so when you are working at that level, and Sly had to face this about Black folk coming, and I think we do this to Black people a lot.

Sir Daniel: Mm.

Jay Ray: When Black people ascend to a particular level, it's like, "Now, when you get up there, you make sure that you are repping all of us."

Sir Daniel: Right. Right.

Jay Ray: And I get why we do it, because we have been so marginalized and oppressed that when somebody is a little bit visible, [00:20:00] we get whatever. But it, it's ultimately a question, is, is that a responsibility?

Sir Daniel: And I think specifically, um, what we saw, an example of what we saw is that Sly was being asked for a financial responsibility. He

Jay Ray: sure was. And that happened- $100,000, that's a lot of money in the '60s.

Sir Daniel: That's a, a lot. That was a lot of money back then. It did. And his response was, "Now, why you think, you know, tell, tell me why you think I need to give this to you?"

Right. Which is a fair question.

Jay Ray: Mm-hmm.

Sir Daniel: But the, the understanding behind that was, "No, you need to remember who, where you came from and who you belong to."

Jay Ray: Hmm.

Sir Daniel: And unfortunately, some, the Black community, what we like to do is we, when we remind people of that, and if they don't move according to what we say or what we think they should do- Smack them

you know, we tend to cast them out- Mm-hmm ... and call them all kinds of derogatory ter- terms Sellouts and all [00:21:00] types of stuff ... sellouts. There are members of the community that feel, I don't know, that Jay-Z and Beyoncé are responsible for wiping out poverty, um- wiping out, you know, police violence. They're responsible for, like, people should have new homes, I guess.

[00:21:19] Transition

​

Sir Daniel: There's this, in some cases- Yeah ...

[00:21:26] Unreasonable Expectations & The Ivory Prison of Black Genius

Sir Daniel: unreasonable expectation of people like a Jay-Z and Beyoncé to do things that they, because they have a l- a lot more money than the average person in the community, that they should be doing.

And so we're like, I'm like, "Mm." Mm-hmm. "Th- y'all are really f- quick to, to hate on somebody because they don't do and jump when you say jump." And I don't think, I don't think that is fair to the people that we consider our, our Black [00:22:00] genius, and I'm doing that in air quotes for the listeners. Um, yeah. It's, it's just a really weird thing that we tend to do to pe- we start to eat our own, eat our, you know, eat our own people, uh, once we feel like they're not doing what we want them to do.

Jay Ray: So I think this, this also, you know, of course, th- there's so many layers in this Sly documentary because of course that came up too when they were talking about, um- Dream Hampton actually really put an exclamation point on this. There is both, um, a fear of, um, not being good enough and a fear of succeeding at, like, the same time.

Like, both things are happening simultaneously. It's like- Right ... there's this fear, this, this, th- that's that imposter syndrome that we talk about. So that's when we started talking about Sly as being painfully shy and, like, all of these things. But then in addition to that, there's also this like, for Black folks, this [00:23:00] intense fear of success because of all of what that brings, and I think that gets to that piece.

And I think what you're also underscoring is this is the problem with capitalism- Mm-hmm ... and this is the problem, this is ultimately a problem with, like, uh, racism and white supremacy and how it, it m- it forces us To do this to our folks, right?

Sir Daniel: Yep.

Jay Ray: Um, so yeah, I think in, in all of this, I think where I ultimately landed, 'cause when we were fo- first kicking around this question, you know me, I'm like, "Of course!"

"Every artist has a responsibility to their, their people and their tribe. Of course they do, Sir Daniel." And now I'm like, "Baby, but that's stressful." I'm go- I, what, I will do what I can. I should do what I can. And let that be it, [00:24:00] right? At least for me. And then we did have some people respond to this. I think it's a good time to bring in those comments too.

Sir Daniel: Yes.

Jay Ray: So, um, uh,

[00:24:08] Community Responds: Responsibility to Musicianship

Jay Ray: Kitty4Men over on TikTok said, "Not all Black musicians have a responsibility to put out music that is authentic to them." Oh, "Not all Black musicians have a responsibility to put out music that is authentic to them and how they see the reality." So I think what they're saying is, no, they don't.

Carlton said, "Black musicians have a responsibility to their musicianship." So where I think even, you know, Queue Points fam checking me too, and, and where I was with it, you know, it's like- ... "No, Johnnie." First of all, when I think about it, that's a lot.

That's a lot.

Sir Daniel: It is a lot. It's, like you said, it's... Some people call it a ivory tower. It's a ivory prison.

Jay Ray: Ooh.

Sir Daniel: Being, being a, labeled a Black genius. Bar. Like we've, we've been... [00:25:00] White supremacy has truly done a number on us, and it's, it's been like this, um, this ripple effect in a pond that just continues, the waves just continue to follow us century after century.

And a lot of people, we're doing it to ourselves now. They don't ha- they don't have to do anything But we have, except every now and then they do remind us, um- ... I get, there was a point in that Sly documentary where they, people were saying they didn't want Sly to be revolutionary on his songs. Oh, yeah.

They didn't want him to be an activist in the music. And then it, it brought me to present day when, uh, was it Megan Kelly or one of those people on the right on, in the media that said they wanted to people to shut up and dribble re- Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm ... regarding Black athletes. So it's like if you, the white supre- white supremacy says if you've been given this [00:26:00] opportunity and given this money, you need to shut up.

Mm. And you need, you need to not, you better not complain. Mm-hmm. And so that's a, that's one prison, ivory prison that Black genius puts you in. Then you have another prison of not being able to be completely free-

Jay Ray: Yeah ...

Sir Daniel: to completely, to be who you are, or if you start doing things that is, is free to you or, you know, doesn't necessarily follow the, the way that other people do it, then you become a outcast.

Then you become- Mm ... uh, you know, then people start calling you weird, you know, then you have to run around wearing surgical masks. Um- Mm ... if you're dealing with different problems, people th- you know, people think that you're on drugs and then you might end up on drugs. Yeah. It's, it's just a lot of, it's a really terrible ripple effect that continues to haunt us, and then we, the things that we do to each other, Jay Ray, like there's still people who hate the fact that there was, remember the [00:27:00] term the talented 10th?

Jay Ray: Oh, yeah.

Sir Daniel: That they, we used back in the '50s and '60s to describe- Mm-hmm ... the people who went on to, you know, our prestigious, um, universities- Mm-hmm ... our HBCUs, and then it felt like they were being segmented and so they're the ta- talented 10th and they don't have nothing else to do with y'all yellow people.

And, you know, the, the, of the cost of escalating and operating in your genius, I love that term. Yes. Instead of calling somebody a genius, operating in the genius of music, operating in the genius- Yeah ... of finance. I think that instead of putting that label on people, we shouldn't start referring to people by what they do.

Yes. Just, you know, just operating in your g- in whatever it is you do- Yeah ... I think is a really dope way to put it. Yeah. But yeah, I think that's a, we putting, we putting each other in these ivory prisons.

Jay Ray: Mm. That's real talk. Yeah. Um, what do y'all [00:28:00] think, you know, in terms of, um, this particular question? One, that idea of genius, and, and you know what, I do wanna bring in a comment 'cause, uh, Trey said this "The word genius is being thrown around way too much."

[00:28:14] Quick Transition

[00:28:15] The Bar for Genius Was Once Very High — And the Cost of Coveting Gifts

Jay Ray: Growing up, our bar for genius was very, very high. And I know that I can speak for myself, in fact. I would, I would look at people like, um, Prince is a, a good example, Stevie is another. But also there would be people in my personal life where you would just be like, that person literally walks around Chester is like brill- just brilliant.

I don't even understand how they do that. Um, I see my cousin that way. Um- Mm. She is just like, I don't know how you do that thing that you do, but it's amazing that you're able to do that 'cause I cannot. So many, there are genius walking among us in our lives. They're not just musicians, they're like walking [00:29:00] among us, and they're, and we see it.

And they don't have to call themselves that. We could just, we just know

Sir Daniel: I think you just said something when you were referring to your cousin-

Jay Ray: Mm.

Sir Daniel: You were talking about the fact that your cousin could do something that- Shout out to Lynette.

Jay Ray: Lynette- Lynette, she's not watching tonight, but shout out to Lynette.

Sir Daniel: Well, you was, you were referring to the fact that Lynette could do something that you couldn't do. Yeah. So you assigned to her-

Jay Ray: Just

Sir Daniel: me ... the label genius. And I think, and if you think about it, we do that a lot.

Jay Ray: Mm-hmm.

Sir Daniel: And I, I don't think people understand how harmful it is to, I'm gonna use a old Bible term, to covet-

Jay Ray: Mm

Sir Daniel: covet each other's gifts.

Jay Ray: Ooh,

Sir Daniel: you wanna talk about it. And that's doing... And, and this, and listen, social media makes it really, really easy for us to covet one another and covet one another's gifts. And so I think for our wellbeing [00:30:00] as a people, it's like sometimes we gotta ease back and really think about how people, the cost that people paid to, for their gifts, um, whether natural or the things that they've been able to acquire.

Jay Ray: Yeah.

Sir Daniel: We gotta really step back and think, "Mm, what was the trade-off?" Mm-hmm. Because if you knew, listener, if you knew what Prince paid-

Jay Ray: Mm ...

Sir Daniel: to do what he did, if you knew what... Well, we both saw what, we all saw what happened to Prince and Michael Jackson. We saw it. But we don't know what Stevie Wonder had to do f- pay off or- Mm-hmm

pay for his genius. We don't know what, you know, DMX-

Jay Ray: Mm-hmm ...

Sir Daniel: well, I'm s- there I go naming dead, dead people again, but we don't know. Uh, my point is we don't know, and we should really, really, really check ourselves when we start to, um, impose our feelings of inequity-

Jay Ray: Mm ...

Sir Daniel: on other people and [00:31:00] use, and try to use what they have to, to measure ourselves and our growth and where we are and who we are in this world, 'cause it's, it's just not gonna end well.

Jay Ray: Sir Daniel, that is a word. And, and, and to that point, um, so there's two comments, uh, uh, that have come up in the chat from YouTube. One is from Trey,

[00:31:20] Brilliance Over Genius: Audience Takeaways & Closing Thoughts

Jay Ray: "Maybe the word we should be using is brilliance." Yes, we can borrow that- Brilliance ... from the, the Brits. Absolutely. We love them.

Sir Daniel: Brilliance.

Jay Ray: Um, and Mark also added, um, "Genius is a heavy crown to lay on someone that not everyone is strong enough to carry", and that's absolutely true.

And I think also, Sir Daniel, what you are underscoring is just a reminder for all of us that we all got gifts We all got gifts

Sir Daniel: Yes. Yes

Jay Ray: And don't let, and don't let nobody tell you different, right? Um, I think I'm still learning at my big age to be okay, like, to be okay accepting my gifts, [00:32:00] right?

Sir Daniel: Mm-hmm.

Jay Ray: I am, I'm be- 48 and still figuring out, like, how to be okay with sitting in the things that I do well, right?

Um, we all got something. Y'all, if you listening to this, you got something. Um, lean into your thing. Lean into your something, and we really need you to lean into your something. We need you to lean into it.

Sir Daniel: That's it. There you go. Thank you for that.

Jay Ray: If you could see our faces, hear our voices, uh, thank y'all so much for being here. We love y'all. Uh, make sure that you subscribe to Queue Points. Uh, visit our website at queuepoints.com. There you can sign up for our newsletter. Um, but you can check out all the old shows too. And then, uh, you can shop our store at store.queuepoints.com. We appreciate y'all. We love y'all.

Sir Daniel: Absolutely.

And what do I always say? In this life, you always, you always have a choice.

You can either pick up the needle or you can let the record play. This has been Queue Points podcast, [00:33:00] dropping the needle on Black music history. We will see you on the next go round. Peace, y'all.

Jay Ray: Peace, y'all.

[00:33:08] Outro Theme