Coming Of Age Is A Cycle

SPEAKER_00 0:04

Welcome back to another episode of the Hey Young Podcast. You know where you are. This is a place you come for those real raw conversations with your favorite uncles. Make sure you tap into us on all our social media platforms at Hey Yunk Podcast and check it out the videos on YouTube. Make sure you follow and share so we can continue this conversation. You know, family, real talk. We talk a lot about coming of age. Society tries to tell us that it only happens once or one way on some arbitrary timeline. We draw these imaginary timelines and expect that you'll have the whole world figured out before your 22nd birthday. But life rarely comes about on our timelines. The truth is, coming of age isn't a destination you reach in your youth. It's a cycle. Sometimes you have to come of age all over again as an adult. Being a late bloomer isn't about being late to the party, it's about arriving exactly when you're mature enough to actually appreciate the music. It takes a unique kind of courage to admit you're ready for a fresh start when the whole world expects you to be already settled. We have a phenomenal guest in the building whose story exemplifies that truth. He stepped completely out of his comfort zone, embraced the beauty of blooming on his own schedule. We're talking about a story of grit, reinvention, finding yourself, and pure HPCU culture. He put the whole hilarious eye-opening journey into a book, an audio book titled Wet Behind the Ears: The Marvelous Misadventures of a Late Blooming HU student, where he captures the humor, the humility, and the absolute triumph of that journey. So please welcome to the show, author, film critic, and G. Ho legend. Welcome to the show, bruh.

SPEAKER_03 2:14

And I'm sorry. Perfect.

SPEAKER_02 2:20

Perfect.

SPEAKER_00 2:21

Thank you, Suri. I really appreciate that. Absolutely, brother. You know, we've we've been wanting to get you on the show for a while now. So thank you for making the time, driving all the way up to be with us today. We really appreciate it.

The Absentee Uncle Confession

SPEAKER_00 2:35

You know, we always start off the show. What kind of uncle are you? Listen, I've been waiting for this moment for a long time. Uh-oh, strappy in. So the type of uncle that I am, Stu, Shannon, Mark, I would have to say that I am the absentee uncle. Yeah, I know. I know. I'm damn. You go ahead and break that one down. Well, basically, if there were such thing as niece and nephew support, uh I would be in jail. Yeah, yeah. My check would be gone. So I'm just not there. I'm sorry. I'm sorry, kids. Please don't ask me their name. Oh, no, no. But I love them. I'm sorry. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 3:23

I'm just uh love that matters.

SPEAKER_00 3:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 3:26

Thank you, Stuart.

SPEAKER_00 3:27

I appreciate it. Yeah. We're gonna go with that. Yeah, you know, I I do care about them. Uh they're just there, and I'm here, and uh you know what I appreciate about that though.

SPEAKER_01 3:45

Nobody really, I mean, because everybody wants a cool title, right? You know, to look at themselves in a profound way. Okay, that's just real up. It is what it is with me, man.

SPEAKER_00 3:57

A U.

unknown 3:58

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 3:59

That's T O. A U. All right. Yeah, sorry. I'll get better. Hey, all we can do is get better every day. That's all we can do. So, bruh, as we dive into this, I I've been real excited about this conversation. Because for those that have not read your book yet, if you came up in the late 80s, early 90s, this book is a love affair with our culture. Yes. And that's what I loved about it. I don't know how many times I broke into songs as I'm going through the book. But before we get there, take us back to like 1986, 87.

Growing Up Sheltered And Picked On

SPEAKER_00 4:45

Right, right. So 1986, uh I was a freshman in high school. And as a matter of fact, my transition to high school was a late blooming experience in itself because I just want to go back just a little bit further, uh, than that. Uh, I grew up in East Winston, 17th Street, before the before the crack era hit, right?

SPEAKER_01 5:13

Um You made that sound hard, right?

SPEAKER_00 5:19

Hey man, it was back when back when you could still walk to the state range. Exactly. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Right, right. You wouldn't have no worries. Uh front yard, backyard, kids all around, you know. Uh the neighbors would beat you, and then they would tell your parents that, and then they beat you. Well, from there, I think at uh nine years old, I moved into Gola Apartments, which is sort of a project. And since I was a late bloomer and do nothing, I was uh, man, I was tormented almost every day. I had to take karate, man. I had to take karate because of that. So transition. You never have to use it. You know what? I had to use it one time, but that's a good question, Steve. I had to use it one time, but I really didn't want to hurt the dude. So dude, he caught me, man. He caught me with a good one, but I just didn't want to take him out, right? You know, with my expertise. So I'm like, I just let it go. Yeah, like an deadly cat-like reflex. That was it. That's all you know. I can want to hurt nobody. I can take it on the cheese. Yeah. All the ways. I was a yellow belt. I quit because hip hop was calling me. Okay. That's something different. That's different. Yeah, right. Yeah, I had to rock the mic. That's right. Yeah. But yeah, man. So uh I left Gola and uh went to um East Persife, uh, in Winston Salem, North Carolina. So I was still, you know, a late bloomer there. Yeah, man. My mother did not play. Mary Bidden did not play. Uh I didn't have any girlfriends grow uh growing up. Yeah, man. I know. Yeah, I didn't have a car, so I definitely couldn't go over there. And no girls were, no girls were coming to see me. Like that. Mary wasn't having that. She stopped that. So uh that was pretty good. So you had help being a late bloomer. I did. Yeah. It was all because of her. Thanks, Mom. Thanks, Mom. Kudos to Mary. Okay. I don't know if you call it kudos.

SPEAKER_01 7:24

You know, what did she save you from? I mean, really. Yeah. That's that's the flip side of the poem. Right. It can be, you know, it's tormentulous as that was. Uh she might have saved you from something in order for you to become what you are now.

SPEAKER_00 7:42

Stu, you're right about that. She did tell me that she was not going to raise any kids. Yeah. I ain't raising no damn babies. Right, right. Yeah, constantly. She told me that. So uh people who haven't heard that, right?

SPEAKER_02 7:57

Yeah, for us it maybe.

SPEAKER_00 7:58

Yeah, that was it, man. Yeah. So I was relegated to my room playing with my Star Wars toys until 13 years old. That's not weird at all, right? Oh, that is no, that is not weird. Yeah, I'm I'm not that age playing geek as my myself. I'm glad all y'all agree with me. I don't feel that. Nah. Absolutely. But yeah, she did prevent you from one egg getting slapped in the face. Yeah. You know, those types of things. Yeah. And um, for no apparent reason. Oh, it was a reason. It wasn't a reason you want to acknowledge. Yeah, no, I'm saying there were relationships that you didn't have to deal with. Okay. Oh, I never got slapped no service. Yeah, yeah, other things clean. Yeah, other things that kept my business clean. Yeah. Yeah. Shannon was like the player when we were growing up. Say it again. Yeah. He, you know, he was uh, well, I'll put it like this, dude. He was more experienced.

SPEAKER_03 8:52

Right.

SPEAKER_00 8:53

That's what we're coming. I was pure as the driven snow. Sure. I've shared with you in the past, Brian. Uh-huh. He's the reason why my life was ruined. So yeah. I'm the reason why your life was fun. That's right. Okay. But anyway, yeah, on depressing matters. Yeah. So you're coming up, you know, and and you actually reflect on this at the beginning of the book. How at that time, man, being a teenage blank, that was it. Bruh. Cultural-wise, with the music and the fashion and all of that. What

Hip Hop Writing As Survival

SPEAKER_00 9:35

kind of what what was your experience and how did you start? Because it sounded like that's when you really started to embrace the culture. Yeah, I did. Um, hip-hop actually saved my life. Um, I haven't told a lot of people this, but besides karate, you know, fighting for my life. One good thing about that is that I love to write growing up. And when I would listen to Run DMC, who were a huge influence on my life, man, I just started putting pen to pad and just writing. So I would go down the street, which could which was considered the bad area. I would go down the street and we would be having ciphers. So I would rhyme. And when I rhymed, the the beatings were less severe. Because you had skills. Right. Yeah. Yeah. So, you know, instead of getting tormented every day, it turned into like maybe every weekend. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 10:40

Your rhymes went good now. Yeah, right, boy. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 10:43

So uh, yeah, man, it saved my life. You said of putting pen to paper, you were actually writing rhymes.

SPEAKER_00 10:50

I was writing rhymes. Yeah, yeah. Uh I I started writing rhymes at 11, 11, 12.

SPEAKER_01 10:58

So uh to the best of your recollection, what what what type of things you write?

SPEAKER_00 11:03

Oh man, just rocking the mic, how I was better than this person, and how, yeah, you know, this person couldn't compete with me.

SPEAKER_01 11:10

Like real people who rapping or just people who you know locally?

SPEAKER_00 11:14

Sucker MCs.

SPEAKER_01 11:15

Sucker MCs.

SPEAKER_02 11:17

That's everybody.

unknown 11:18

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 11:20

Sucker MCs everywhere. That was it. That was it. So yeah, that sort of saved me. Uh put me deep into the well, it it it it guided me deeper into the culture, but at heart, I was a RB guy, man. Yeah. Yeah, I guess. You know, my mom had me dressed in slacks and dress pants and button-down shirts just about every other day. I had play clothes, but it was just a regular Martin Day Urkel. Yeah, that was pretty much it. I just remember the turtlenecks and the gold chains. That's all I remember. Wait a minute. You brought tea necks with gold chains? I had a lot of gold chains, too. I did. Oh God. I had a lot of gold jewelry, man. I had the gold bracelet with uh you had a nameplate. So my nameplate was Ravishing. And I got that from Ravishing Rick Ruby, the wrestler. Wow. Yeah. Yeah, simply ravishing. That was my.

SPEAKER_01 12:18

Did you have like a like a mic name?

SPEAKER_00 12:21

Yeah. I'm glad you asked that. So it started out as easy bee because I rocked the mic so easily.

SPEAKER_02 12:30

Okay. How original.

SPEAKER_00 12:32

Yeah, I did kind of bite that from EMC, huh? But I sort of drop that and went with Chili B. So my name became MC Chili B. Okay. Yeah. Okay. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 12:44

Dude, it was the 80s. Come on. MC Chili B. Hey man. That is a very good thing.

SPEAKER_00 12:51

It was brand new. So how did the mic busters come about? Oh my goodness. Good question. There were two friends who stayed near me. One was uh Spanky, John, his nickname was Spanky. Another guy went by the name of Chino. We just happened to be seeing each other. Uh, we went to matter of fact, Shannon. Uh Spanky and I went to Atkins, it was a middle school. So we kind of hit it off. And, you know, he knew that I liked the rap, and I knew that he liked the rap. Uh, his friend, his best friend was Chino. He told Chino about me. All three of us started rhyming. We decided to form a group called the Mike Busters. Um. So you know how the Ghostbusters were? That's how we got the name Mike Bus Busters. You know, we even had uh the our um you know you had the anti? Well, ours was we had a mic with the anti. If I'm already fine, how can I be fine if I'm the best rapper in North Carolina? I gotcha. Okay, you go. That was it. Could be fine. That was it. Could be those were the days, but it was a formidable, formidable experience. Yes. But now the one thing I do like about that story though, right? You took a situation where hey, you locked in the house, you found a new hobby, locked in the writing. Right. Sorry.

SPEAKER_02 15:10

Pretty much still a what was that movie? Uh Children in the Attic or whatever.

SPEAKER_00 15:26

But you you took what could have seemed to be a disadvantage and leveraged it and turned it into something that became something else to help form who you are. Right. You know, and as we're going, I'm sure you didn't know that when you were going through not at all. But in hindsight, to Stu's point, Mama might have helped you, hey man, made lemons out of lemon.

SPEAKER_03 15:51

Yeah, I guess.

SPEAKER_00 15:52

And then I look now when I'm looking at your film reviews and all of that, right, and how expressive they are and descriptive and all of that, it works. I wanted people to feel what I was feeling. That's it. I just wanted you all to understand, uh, get a total experience, you know. Uh I wanted to put you all like right in my seat, in my shoes. And uh, you know, I hope that was successful. So since you know somebody like Shannon. So him and my cousin Sean went to East. Okay, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 16:29

So that's that's that's how that being said, what was your thoughts about a person who was living a Shannon time? When you look at somebody like that, what would go through your mind?

SPEAKER_00 16:45

I wanted to be like them so bad, but I just didn't know how to go about doing it. So I would just live vicariously through them. That was it, man. I would see them doing their thing and talking to the girls and being smooth. Stu, the only thing I really had on me growing up was I love to to dress. Okay. You know? Yeah. Sebrother was clean all the time. Thank you, sir. Yeah. Thank you. Appreciate that. Yeah. My boy was clean all the time. Yeah. I ain't never known somebody wear dress shoes every day. Yeah. Kind of, kind of wore them every day. Every day. We don't. Yeah. Okay. I reward. We fast forward Mr. AG. Oh no, this was high school too. Yeah. Wow. It wasn't just A and T. Yeah. I think I may have had maybe two pairs of jeans. Oh, yeah. The whole four years in high school. Wow. Wow.

SPEAKER_01 17:37

Yeah, you was bringing it. Yeah,

HBCU Dreams And A Howard Rejection

SPEAKER_01 17:40

man. That was it. Since he is eager. Okay. So when you were making that decision to uh transition from high school to your higher learning institution, what prompted you to I mean, were you compelled to seek out an HBCU? Or did you just kind of rested on that because that's that you know that that's what accepted you?

SPEAKER_00 18:06

Oh man, did they? So yeah. My family went to HBCU. Uh my mom, my dad, uh cousins, aunts, uncles. So no, no, no doubt. Uh so my mom went to uh Barb Scotian. Okay, uh father went to NC Central, uh, had an uncle that went to oh my goodness, uh the Golden Bulls. Hey. Yeah. Hey, be careful. Okay. What's the name of it? Yeah, like he's like he forgot. Yeah, like he's saying, that's what I'm saying. Yeah, yeah, you know Johnson just one with the bull.

SPEAKER_02 18:42

Small look bull. What's the one is that? I mean, he stuck. That's right. This ain't even about us.

SPEAKER_00 18:53

You are. I I damn there paid tuition that you're talking about. Here we go, daddy.

SPEAKER_01 18:59

That's what I'm gonna tell you how because I'm kind of starstruck okay in his presence. Yeah, man. That's how he treated me. But you know.

SPEAKER_00 19:08

Okay, yeah. Talk about that offline or something. Okay, yeah, yeah. I need to hear that conversation. But yeah, so so HBCU life or HBCUs, that's all that I knew. Okay. So, Stu, I actually thought that would be easy for me to get into college. But actually, man, I never really put much thought into it because I thought it would be simple. I only applied to two schools. Howard being the first and North Carolina AT being the second. I thought it was a shoe-win, man. Uh, I got the letter from Howard first, right? It said, um, thank you for applying to Howard, blah, blah, blah. Your application has been rescinded. So I didn't know what rescinded meant. Okay. Right? So I was like, okay, I've been rescinded. We're using big words. I'm gonna tell everybody that I man, I've been rescinded. I looked it up, you know, back in the days when a dictionary was a book and we could be refused, uh, etc. So Stu, I was like, man, my heart was broken, man. Like my little teenage heart was broken. Yeah. And I had only applied to two, so they, you know, rejected me. So I was just like, well, shit, what is AT gonna think? Right. You know, what are they? So I'm panicking and doing all of this. What's going through my mind is, you know, I'll have to enlist in the service, I'll have to go to community college. Can't do this. You write new rounds. Who about that? Uh didn't. You didn't. After that, uh I hung the mic up and I started, you know, catering towards new edition, but that's another side. You said it was in your heart on the same. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, I yeah, yeah. I went back to it. You write ballots. I did. I kind of did. Yeah, one is called I'll Love You Forever. I did, man. Yeah, yeah. I I I wanted to hear that. Okay. Yeah, yeah. The uh I don't get back to it. Okay. Yeah. Uh so finally, uh I got the letter from Ant T. Congratulations. You ain't been accepted. Yes. Yeah. So that was my introduction and into HBC. So let's talk about that. Yeah, man. Oh, he'd been waiting. Y'all know, right? No, I'm just saying. So talk about, you know, you we got a background now on what it was like middle school, it was like for high school. You step on the campus of the great AT University AT State University. Slow it down. Slow it down, excuse me. You step on the campus of AT University. All right, my bad. Right, right. You know, and I mean, let's talk about it. What? At that time, we'll say 18 to 1? Yeah. That's being honest with the number? Yeah. Yeah. So for those that don't know what he's talking about, is 18 women to one man. Right. Yes. At that time. So talk about that. I mean, you know, we are we're going from being locked

A&T Culture Shock And Too Much Freedom

SPEAKER_00 22:20

up to the body. Yeah. Okay. You know. We talked about being locked up. Now we're free. Free. Free as a slide on the water. What's that about? Black Disney World. Okay. Black Disney World. I had never seen anything. That is a great. And that first week when it's hot outside, everybody got their hair done. Let me tell you something. Man, I the equivalent of that is like the hip hop RB met gala. You know how fashion was back in the day, back then, that's all you would see, man, walking through campus. Now keep in mind, I didn't know how to talk to women at all. That's right, because you was locked up. Yeah, man. Yeah. So my my gear and my smile would get me in the door. Right. But after I said something like, hey, and she would say, Hey, uh, I'm Brian. What's your name? Uh my name is Keisha. Okay, that's good. It wasn't K Mac. Oh, well, you know, that's just some names. Keisha.

SPEAKER_02 23:36

How about that? Keisha. I ain't got a chance, man. No, I'm sorry.

SPEAKER_00 23:52

So yeah. So I would just see that and I would want to talk. Because you just looking at all of this. Just stuff going on around you as far as the eye can see. Dark skin, light skin, man, brown skin, high. I mean, uh, uh, a tall short. Like it was there. But yeah, I'm a kid in the candy store, but I don't know how to, you know, unwrap it. Yeah. So not only are you dealing now with your dialogue hormones. Right. Now we gotta worry about, okay, oh, I'm here for education. Talk about that. Oh my god. Education. That part two vacation. That part two. Yeah. All right. Yeah. Yeah, we'll let that slide. All right. So, yeah, man. With all of that freedom, Mark, you know, you as we stated before, I was like locked up, man. You know, my grandma would get on the phone when I was a kid, like during high school, and tell both of us to get off the phone, right? Yeah, man. You talking about that. I just want both of y'all go to sleep. So you could talk to them. Yeah. Just couldn't see him. I couldn't see him. Okay. Yeah. You know, the extent of my relationships were talking on the phone, uh, meeting you after school. You're like like at school, but after school. Right. And, you know, like maybe seeing you at a a football game or a basketball game. That was it. Oh, so you could go to those. Yeah. Yeah. Could go to those. Right. Yeah. Yeah. You know, I was, I guess if I got A's or something, I could go there. Yeah. And for y'all, and for those don't know what we're talking about, it wasn't no cell phones. Right. So when you was on the phone, grandma and mama could pick up the phone and hear your conversation. Exactly. That's what it was. Yeah, man. So um equipped with zero knowledge, you know, I had to uh just thug it out, I guess, man. So from a culture shock perspective. Yeah. How long did it take you to adjust to this new environment?

unknown 26:03

Oh, God.

SPEAKER_00 26:05

Probably my sophomore year. Yeah, my sophomore year. My freshman year, I had so much freedom, it was like I was ODing on freedom, man. And teachers, professors, they weren't on you about attending classes. You know what I mean? Like, you know, they weren't sending letters home to your mom or nothing like that. So I would get up and I wouldn't go to class. You know, I would walk around campus, uh, go to the student union, you know, just dude, that's too much. Yeah, I know. I know, man. What that gets you. But I get it though. That gives me a 1.8 GPA. I was on academic probation. But that that happens to so many people that either are overly sheltered as kids or their parents were overly strict and didn't expose them to anything. So then when you get out in the world, it's like, what? Yeah. Now I gotta experience everything because I experienced nothing. An overabundance, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So that's what happened to me.

SPEAKER_01 27:17

I I have seen it time and time again. I mean, you're right. And it's it's crazy. Yeah, yeah. And then for, you know, uh, of course I wouldn't say this about all people, but they just start experiencing other people for the first time. Right. And that right there is a phenomenon in itself, exactly. In terms of how you respond and what you do and what you give up.

SPEAKER_00 27:44

Yeah. Yeah. And you did talk about that a little bit in the book, even dealing with the other dudes on campus, because the dudes from you know, DVA, right? Different from the dudes of North, different from the dudes from Cali. Exactly. Yeah. Exactly, Shannon, man. Even though we were all black folks, you know, we were different, you know, uh, different cultures, different ways of life, different uh ways of looking at things. But you learned from all, you know, you didn't shy away from it. Uh uh you took in what they were talking about, man. You made your own decisions, you know. So I love that. And I loved it. Nothing like an HBCU family, right? Nothing, nothing, nothing like that.

SPEAKER_01 28:29

One thing I learned about me, because I I talk slow, period. But if you meet, if I met someone, always felt they could get one over to me. I talk slow. Right. I think fast. Right. But I talk slow. So the thought was I can say some old slick stuff. This was slow country. Right. Right. So wait, wait, wait, wait, get that up. Yeah, you're right. It's crazy how different areas of the country. All of us are, you know, African Americans have gonna categorize. It's still a different experience. Exactly, man. Exactly.

SPEAKER_00 29:16

Yeah, but we are definitely not a monolith. No, not at all. Not at all. And especially, you know, if you're just accustomed to being in that one centralized location, and then you go to the HBCU and you see all of this stuff, all of these people, uh, different, like I said, different ways of thinking, man, that's an education in itself. Right. You know? Yeah. Yeah. Let alone our umbrellas from the continent that are attending the school too, right? True and deep. Yeah, uh people from Germany and over Europe. Right. Yeah, I didn't know they before I went to college. I didn't know they had black French people. Exactly, man. Yeah, right. And been exposed definitely, you know. Yeah, no, French, like what? Yeah, whoa, whoa, right. I like it. Put some soul in there. Soul in that Hollywood

Academic Probation And The Mailman Race

SPEAKER_00 30:10

grant state. So we we talked about that, Brian, with the whole thing, you know, your academic probation. Oh man. Yeah. So funny thing about that, report cards at the time, progress reports, were mailed home as well as they would give you a copy. So, yeah, man. Um I would always go home on the weekend.

SPEAKER_01 30:36

You didn't know about the mail home version of it, though, did you? I did. Oh. I did know about that.

SPEAKER_00 30:42

So, Stu, uh, some of my friends were from Winston-Salem too, and they were going home. This one guy had a car. Uh, long story short, I thought I could beat the mailman from Greensboro. So, yeah, because I knew the mailman would be there at 4:30. I knew that. Yeah. Without it, it's like not 429, not 431, 4:30 on the die. Um we left early from from AT, from Greensboro, going to Winston. So, you know, we're cruising, just having a good time. All of a sudden, it's a traffic jam, right? It would have to be a traffic jam on that day. We had to take side roads, going through Greensboro, going through High Point. Finally hit Winston Salem. It was 4:31. I saw the mailman driving off, right? So I got my stuff out of the car and I'm walking up. And uh my sister greets me. Uh, let me see, I was 18, she was eight at the time, and uh she said, Mama mad at you. I said, Did she see the report card? Yeah, she said, you ain't been doing S-H-I-T in school.

SPEAKER_01 31:54

Leave it to yourself, man. And the hits with an S just keep up here.

SPEAKER_00 32:02

Right, right. So, yeah, I I went in and my excuse was my reason was, Ma, I know you see that on the report card, but it's not finished. My teachers told me to tell you that those aren't the real grades. The real grades are coming in like maybe in a week or two. Man, she didn't say anything. She just looked at me and walked out the room. What you see ain't real. So you thought your mama had boo-boo the fool, right? I did think that. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I just started my that was first semester. My second semester, that's when I buckled down. I wasn't going to any clubs anymore. I wasn't walking to campus. I was getting up, getting my ass to school, you know, to the classes on time. And uh, yeah, yeah, man. I still, you know, kind of, I think I made a 2.3 or something that. So you remember that. I did bounce back. Yeah. I bounced back. It it did. Yeah, because I bought me 2.0, yeah. Yeah, yeah. Right. On the queue. Yeah, yeah, you're right. You're right about that. Yeah. So I think I had like maybe what a solid 2.0? Yeah. Okay. Right there. Right there. Also on the edge mode. But I made it. But you made it. She made it. She made. I made it. So, all right, you're in your second semester. Yeah. You get your act together. Yep. Now you're rolling the sophomore year. Right. Take us through it. Wow. So sophomore year. I had like a little bit of knowledge under my belt. Thought I knew what was doing what I was doing. It was pretty cool. Uh, I was just getting in my major. It wasn't um anything um strenuous. You know, we were just like basic stuff. So everything was going okay, but with my late blooming acumen, but I still didn't know what to say. I was trying, man. I really was. But it just wasn't working. Yeah. Um, there was one time where I was in one of my communications. Yeah. Would you consider were you socially awkward? Uh you know, I wasn't, man. I was not socially awkward. I just didn't know how to talk to girls. Like that was it. Like, I just didn't know how to talk to women, man. Like, I hey man, after the hey, I'm Brian, what's your name? All right, so I'm at cricket. Okay. Hey, I'll answer it. Hey, man, I'm being Did Did you take V all the way to college? I did. I did. I did, man. I graduated. I graduated one. But hold on. Okay. That's a little stories in between. That's cool. I know it's a lot of stories in between that. But you know, how we say, man, you did you really do that? You know, some people would say, actually, that's okay to do that.

SPEAKER_02 35:06

And it is. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 35:07

Yes, too. It was real, man. So go back to the virgin comic. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. So what do we say? Damn. Yeah. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 35:21

That's what we say. So that's that's the that's the conversation. I get it.

SPEAKER_00 35:26

But as people look at this, you know, it's well, we have matured now.

SPEAKER_01 35:33

It's still amazing.

SPEAKER_00 35:36

Yeah, but yeah.

SPEAKER_01 35:39

I mean, it wasn't for lack of drawing, but it just didn't go my way. Because we know what we would do to each other. Oh, yeah. Oh, that's why he was. You can't even make it trace. Somebody said, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 36:04

Every time.

SPEAKER_00 36:05

Every time. Okay. Yeah. And I had uh some of my like my core homies, man, they were they were knocking, knocking them down. Right. I'm like, man, damn, I can't even get a kiss. Some of y'all got babies on the way in school. We don't need to go to the phone. We are not gonna go in the phone. I'm not gonna mention any games.

SPEAKER_02 36:24

Kenny.

SPEAKER_00 36:25

Kenny Dixon.

SPEAKER_02 36:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 36:27

He lived around the corner for Kenny.

SPEAKER_02 36:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 36:30

So Kenny.

SPEAKER_00 36:32

Yeah. I have not seen Kenny since high school. We saw Kenny next. He looked that was the exact same plane. Kenny looked the exact same as he did in high school. He'll vouch. Yeah, please. He'll vouch.

SPEAKER_02 36:46

Kenny was about like Shannon.

SPEAKER_00 36:49

Oh, yeah. Sean lived right here. B lived right here. Kenny lived down here. Oh, okay. Yup. Wow. You made it. I made it. I have an interesting story about Kenny and our uh uh senior beach trip, but all it's okay.

SPEAKER_02 37:04

Well we'll we'll say that for a word.

SPEAKER_00 37:08

But you made it.

SPEAKER_02 37:10

I made it, man. Yeah. Red trucks.

SPEAKER_03 37:13

Yep.

SPEAKER_02 37:13

Every Mitsubishi. I've been in it.

SPEAKER_00 37:17

So that's him. That's the one and only.

Spades Night And The Confidence Test

SPEAKER_00 37:24

So when did things start to change for you? Or how did they start to change for you? My senior year. Okay. Yeah. My senior years when. So you took P the senior year? Yeah. I took it till I graduated.

unknown 37:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 37:41

Through college? Yeah. Yeah. You know what, man, full disclosure? I was 25. Bruh. I'm not lying. So the myth about the planes taking off ain't true then. So at AT, there's a story. There's two airplanes outside of the R O T C building. Right. Right? I've seen that. You've seen two airplanes. And the whole story was the day that a virgin graduates from AT, those planes would take off. Yeah. Yeah. That's a that's a I missed that. It didn't work. It didn't work. Wow. I missed that. You in here. You you mic busting, you myth busting. You just busted. Busting that. Everything for the nut.

SPEAKER_01 38:31

But guess what? I'm gonna run in the head. This is the myth that's been busted on the hay up. Tell me exclusive.

SPEAKER_02 38:40

It's an exclusive folks.

SPEAKER_00 38:42

I love it. Yeah, yeah, Shannon. I was 20. And even that was crazy because it was a dope boy's girlfriend, but yeah, man. Lord, and you gonna just live just angels. Yeah. Give it up. Hey man, she was cute. Oh yeah, that's all it takes. Yeah, we'll do some stupid shit. I mean, you went there, you talk about this in the book. I got your tongue tied right.

SPEAKER_03 39:06

You like this guy?

SPEAKER_00 39:08

I'm telling, but you know, talk about this in the book. Yeah. About that missed opportunity. Oh man, my senior year. Yeah, yeah, man. So you thought you had one locked in? I did have one locked in, but talk about a description.

SPEAKER_01 39:24

I love right now.

SPEAKER_00 39:26

I did want the if I it was gonna be my first time, right? I wanted the dime. You wanted the exclusive. I wanted the exquisite time. Okay, you know, I wanted the girl that everybody wanted. Okay. Me and your cousin Sean. Uh I was back at home. I was still going to school, but I was just commuting. Okay. Okay. So, you know, one night, Sean asked me. Oh yeah, they just okay. So Sean asked me, hey man, you want to go play some spades with some girls? I know I'm Greensboro. Now, I don't care what I'm doing. You play spades? Man, what? It's going down some spades game. That's right. I'm there. That's right. I'm there. So uh I'm like, yeah, man, give me about 30 minutes. So you know I cologed up. Cologne up. That's a whole lot of spray. Put on my button up. Uh my flax. Man, listen. Flax too. Flax. That's right. Ralph Tresman.

SPEAKER_01 40:28

Oh, okay. Hold on. I'm not the interruption. Yeah. You still like pushing the no jeans thing? Yeah. Comments?

SPEAKER_00 40:34

Yeah. Yeah. I was. Okay. Yeah. I I like I said I maybe had two pairs of jeans in. Okay. Yeah. All right. So go ahead. Yeah. So, you know, got ready. Sean picked me up. We went to Greensboro. Uh, he had some girl he knew. Okay. Yeah. Question. On the way to Greensboro. Okay. It's about a 30-minute minutes. Did he not say anything to me? No, he didn't. That's what I did. No, he didn't, Mark. I know completely about those types of things. Okay. Thank you for reminding me of that. Sure. We got to the door. We got to the door. Sean says, hey man, uh, I ain't I ain't want to tell you this, but her roommate is a little a little aggressive. Huh? Click, click. Hey, how y'all doing? So, yeah, man. We get in there and everything's going right. Now, this girl who I call Trixie in the book, this may be ringing something in your okay. Okay. Not gonna say nothing. Trixie was wild aggressive. Now, at that time, I thought that I needed to up my uh sexual knowledge, right? So you know, I watch a lot of porn. Okay, yeah. Yeah, made them in my roommates, well not my roommates, but in some of the uh the the guys' dawn's room. So, you know, I got some lingo and all of that stuff. I write it down. I knew what to say. I knew what to say. Academically.

unknown 41:57

Right.

SPEAKER_00 41:58

Academically. Oh no, man. Trixie was a light years ahead of me. Every little thing I had to say, her retort was like that. Fast talking. What? Hey girl, you know, yeah, you look good. Oh, you look better, and I can hey man, I'm stuck. You know, yeah, I'm I'm thinking, shit, you know, I said this, so she can't say that because his checkmate and I said this, so she can't say that. Whatever. Uh yeah, man. Uh, you know, moving right along. Sean. Oh, so she says, I'm not lying, you know, things were getting a little hot and heavy between all four of us. I didn't want the girl because she was a little, shall I say, facially challenged? I'll say that. I'll say facially challenged. So she wasn't my type. Trixie says, B, I think you scared. Sean. Man, my man ain't scared of nothing. You ain't scared, is you, B? Me. Man, y'all tripping. That was my word for everything. My response for everything was, man, y'all tripping. Now, Sean knows you bringing B to the party, right? Oh, yeah, he knows. He knows, he knows that. Trixie says, damn, B, am I that ugly? Hand up on everything I love. She says, B, I'll put a bag over my head.

SPEAKER_01 43:18

She says, She'll put a bag over her own head.

SPEAKER_00 43:23

On everything I love. On everything I love, man. She wasn't my type. She wasn't my type. John and his girl go back in their room. On that note, I'm going back on in here. And you know, the girl's laughing. Trixie says, Well, look, I'll be in my room. Hey, you know where I'll be if you want something. So I'm like, finally, you know, man, I get to watch some TV. I'm flipping channels and but I'm getting a little lonely, a little bored. So I go into Sean and his girlfriend's room. And I'm like, Hell man, so uh I wanted to tell you this. I like this, uh, I like this place. This well laid out, blah, blah, blah. Sean, you know, you raise a crowd, bro. Hey man, uh ain't you supposed to be doing something? It's like, man, you tripping.

SPEAKER_02 44:10

No, man. He ain't the one that was tripping.

SPEAKER_00 44:14

He is not the one that was tripping. Sean's girl says, Hey, uh, hey, I think uh, you know, Trixie wants to talk to you or something. I was like, all right, man, I know when I ain't wanted. Okay. So they I leave. And I'm looking at her door, right? I'm looking at Trixie's closed. I'm looking at the door. I'm saying to myself, man, this girl, she probably naked right now. You know, she, I can probably do anything I want to do, or she's gonna get it.

SPEAKER_01 44:41

It's more to a person. Yeah. Ain't talking about the spirit. But it's more to them than the face. Yeah, like body. Shoulders. Okay. Right. But the Lord had. Yeah. What are we talking about, B? I mean, you know, she was all right. She was all right. So you know, in the in the boys' club, the hour gang, that makes her acceptable.

SPEAKER_00 45:10

You see, that's where we differ. Okay. That's where we differ. Because surely by this time it's the witching hour. It was. Yeah, if it's the witching hour, it's the hour. What do we tell you? When the lights go out, everybody looked the same. Everybody looked the same. My boys would tell me that. You know, man, when the lights go out, everybody looked the same. Just think she, just pretend she's Shantae Moore. You know. Because I had a crush on her.

SPEAKER_01 45:34

Yeah, you all up in my count.

SPEAKER_00 45:36

Oh, damn, man. Really? Well, you know, man, hey, just, you know, great minds think alike. That's you know, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 45:43

But but but yeah. So I yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 45:50

So a wise sage, one of my elders, okay, used to always tell me, hey, the worst sex I ever had was at least good. Okay. But my calendar that, Shannon, my calendar there, y'all, is you know, what if you anything could happen. Anything. Anything could happen. That's what I mean. You know, man, I might have a literal puppies with this girl. Literal puppies, okay. And now I'm stuck. You know, I can't further my life. So you ain't your own head at this point. Yeah, I am. Yeah. But I go in the room, I'm just gonna talk. I'm just gonna talk to this girl. I go in that room, man, ambiance was perfect. It couldn't have been no better. I'm like, damn, so look like Ruth Chris or something up in here, man. So uh she was like, I didn't think he was coming in. I didn't think he was coming in. Yeah, I ain't either. Bruh. So something just lured me to her bed. Something lured you. Laid down beside her and uh, yeah, man, I don't want to get graphed. I'm gonna make this PG 13. Sure. So she says, uh Dang B, I can feel it, and I can feel it through your pocket. I'm gonna have a good time with this. Then she says, Hey, listen, just to let you know, I got a man. You got a man. So I'm your no, I ain't nobody's second choice. I ain't nobody's second choice, man. That ain't happening to me. I said, You got a man? It's like, yeah, so I'm gonna give you my schedule. We can kick it. But when he comes back, you don't know me, and I don't know you. But where were we? So you know, things start getting literally what are we missing here? I was I was gonna win. I was at a win, but I ain't nobody's second choice. Okay, I like that. All right. Nobody's second choice. That's right. You know what? No, and you shouldn't. That's right, man. We love that.

SPEAKER_01 48:02

As my kids will say, At well, as you shouldn't be. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 48:09

Hey man, we should have broke you out.

SPEAKER_01 48:12

That's gonna be a point. I can actually blame you on Sean. You know what? I can't too, as we sit here. Because I mean, especially Sean.

SPEAKER_00 48:21

Yeah, yeah, because we didn't want to teach you the way it does. I would go home, he told me he would put our bears both together. Like, man, no, you didn't. Yeah, kind of classic. Not only that, we're gonna blame Kenny too. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. But go ahead. Hey, I was I was in the mix of, I was in the midst of all that. Yeah, but yeah, man, uh, to continue the story, things got a little hot and heavy. She said, Stop, let me go get a condo. Because I couldn't. That's a whole other story. It's in the book about fantastic. Talk about the book. Yeah. So she's gone, and like so many thoughts are going through my mind now, right? Man, is she the right one? Is she the wrong one? What do I do? What can I do? Uh I've been watching the porn, but I don't really know how to do this, and blah blah blah. So and porn ain't the place to learn. Amen. We'll get to that later. We'll get to that. No, I'm gonna say this.

SPEAKER_01 49:16

This dude never thought what the wrong meant. Amazing, isn't it?

SPEAKER_00 49:21

Amazing. You gotta appreciate that. Amazing.

SPEAKER_01 49:25

Man, you get in that situation.

SPEAKER_00 49:27

Just didn't gone. Gone. Yeah. Gone. Things just didn't work. That don't come back until happening. It just didn't work out. Well, nobody's taking fiddler. Ain't nobody taking fiddler. No, man. That's right, baby. So I go to undress, right? And I'm looking in the mirror. Like I was looking in the mirror. I'm just looking at myself. And myself says to me, Man, what the hell are you doing? Man, yo, yo, yo, I'm about to have a good time.

SPEAKER_01 49:54

Hold on.

SPEAKER_02 49:55

Would you fold me your clothes when you good ones, too? That's a good one. I don't recall. I don't recall me doing this, dude. Sensitivity was not going through my mind one time.

SPEAKER_00 50:20

Yeah, man. So I looked in the mirror and it was like, what are you doing? You know, you don't you don't want to do this. You want this to be your first time? Really? You know, man, look, just you waited this long. You can you can wait some more. You know, now put your clothes on before you have a litter of puppies with you. Damn near about to have an angry rhythm. Yeah. Yeah. And just so happened, there was a knock on the door. So now I'm like, damn, now I gotta go through with this. It was Sean. Sean said, hey man, I just came to check on you. My response, hey man, let's go. Let's go. Let's go. Let's go. Let's go. So she comes back. Where y'all going? Oh man, well, my man got a oh, hey, Trixia. I got class in the morning. You know, I will stay, but I gotta go. But I know where you live now. And you know what her response was? Yeah, you scared of this. I knew you were scared of this. What is that?

SPEAKER_02 51:14

This I'm keeping the PG 13.

SPEAKER_00 51:30

Yeah, and get out of there, man. What my man say, don't be scared.

SPEAKER_02 51:35

Don't be scared.

SPEAKER_00 51:36

Get out of there. Unscated. Unscated. Unscated. All

Internships, Club Nights, And Dancing Solo

SPEAKER_00 51:40

right. So cool. So we've acknowledged the fact that you made it through. I made it through with all that. Okay. And then, you know, talk about your your, I know we don't have a lot of time, but communications with interns and stuff like that. Yeah, that was like one of the worst interns ever. I don't think anyone had a worse intern than I had. I know they didn't. I know they did. Uh I went in, I was communications broadcast news, right? I wanted to do something different. I wanted to do radio, right? Okay. So, you know, main reason for that was my professor had internships lined up for us. You know, they were in the news, but they were on Fridays and Saturdays and Sundays, I think. Okay. I won't give my week up my weekends off a new by. But I can still go out, man, because still one thing about me. So I love going to the clubs, man. Like I absolutely loved it. Like I love dancing. Oh, it wasn't nothing else gonna happen. I just love dancing, man. But get that fresh girl. Oh, hell yeah. Well, I can I can yeah, man. I can cut a rug, though.

SPEAKER_01 52:47

So, you know, it went it's I don't even think now it's even cool. You know, we don't dance by ourselves. No. Guys, now right they can hug. Yeah, they can do that.

SPEAKER_00 52:58

Right.

SPEAKER_01 52:58

But guys don't.

SPEAKER_00 52:59

So you could up enough to do that. Yeah, because the dance floor was my sanctuary. And then when you get one out there, what? I just wanted to dance.

SPEAKER_01 53:09

You want to get it?

SPEAKER_00 53:10

Nah. Wow. I just wanted to dance, man. That's it. Shit, then the song. If you go your way, I go mine. What about when something slow comes on? I was a unicorn.

SPEAKER_01 53:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 53:23

Yeah. Yeah, man.

SPEAKER_01 53:25

Yeah. So, but the slow song came on. Oh man. My production manager.

SPEAKER_02 53:31

I saw him like, uh, is this real? Man, it is real.

SPEAKER_00 53:36

Are you just playing? It's real, man. It's real. Wow. Yeah, yeah, that was it. Um, slow, slow jams. Um, I couldn't really muster up enough enough courage. Slow jam. But my workaround for that was this. A girl likes to see a man who can who's active on their feet, who's agile. Right. So I would do that in the corner, right? And if they even glance at me a little bit, I would do this. Hey, man, if she said yeah, then I gotta dance. Right. Yeah. Get on there and slow jam and you still ain't had to talk to nobody. Nah, that was it. You go your way, I'll go mine. Wow. Wow. Oh, wow. So so you were Raj from the Big Bang Theory before Raj. You know, I was just I think I was cool, but I just ain't nobody to talk to. All right. Gotcha. Yeah. You thought you was cool. So I th I thought so. That's what's good. So they so to kind of bring this full circle,

Atlanta Lessons And Advice For Late Bloomers

SPEAKER_00 54:40

you know, when did that turn around for you? When did you find your stride? I hit Atlanta. When I moved to uh I moved to Atlanta, I saw that I wasn't. When I moved to Atlanta and I saw that people were wearing slacks too, and they were stylish and all this and that, and the girls were elegant, and there were so many girls around it, not enough guys. So the girls are like, look, shit, I'll take what I can get, you know. During those times, yeah, for sure. Yeah. Uh it became easy, man. It became easier for me. I had mastered the the Ralph Tresmitt School of Charm. I did all of that. I knew what I was doing. And so you were a man? Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 55:32

Since TV. I would say yeah. Okay. Yes, I was. And ain't nothing wrong with it.

SPEAKER_01 55:42

Because it worked.

SPEAKER_00 55:43

Yeah, it did. It ended up working. Okay. Yeah, man. Yeah. Wow. Uh huh. So thinking back on your experience for that teenager that's out there now, a little social awkward, don't know what to do. What do you tell that guy? Yes. Great question. I would honestly, man, I would tell that guy, don't worry about it. It's just, it's maybe not your time. It's not your time to do it. It's going to happen. Uh, you're going to have to take your bumps and bruises. Um, don't be in a rush to grow up. Because when you grow up, man, you know, you you can't go back. Just chill. Do you learn, uh, observe, and go on about your business. It's going to happen. Don't force it. Please don't force it. It'll happen. That's what I said. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It works. So there is no

Homecoming Love And Why Alumni Must Give

SPEAKER_00 56:40

possible way I can let you leave here without talking about HBCU as a whole and and how the culture is ingrained in HBCU. Right. So for those that don't know, J Ho is the greatest homecoming on earth. Greatest homecoming. AT's homecoming every year. And I know you are there religiously. Every year. That's what the name of it, right? The camaraderie. The love. The people who you learn so much from, even professors, you know, who are still teaching, they're there. It's just, it's a love supreme. You know, I I always say this, fellas, look. Oh, Shanton Tore from. Oh, yeah. Yeah, you caught that, right? You caught that, right? I told you, man. I had a mad crush on her.

SPEAKER_01 57:34

I wasn't able to catch it. That's why.

SPEAKER_00 57:36

Exactly. Yeah. Great minds think alike. So yeah, man. We're a minority, right? Okay. In America. Yeah. In America. Just for those four years. You know, four years or maybe five or whatever. We're not the minority. We're a majority. We can learn so much from each other. We can equip ourselves with that particular knowledge, and we can go out into the world and we can make the world work for us. We can do that. I love HBCUs, all of them with all my heart. And we're underfunded severely, especially with the stuff that's going on now in this climate. You know, they want to close this and un-DEI that, you know, and all of that stuff. Yeah. But um, hey man, I would I would suggest to any, to, to, to anyone, just go there, go on a tour, you know, to any HBC. You, it doesn't matter. Just look at it and and embrace it. And you'll learn something. I guarantee you'll learn something the first day you were there. You know, I learned so much in those four years than I did from K through 12. I promise you I did. I promise you I did. And I wasn't just after that. No, not at all, man. Rich culture, family, um, a bond. It's a lifelong bond, y'all. Yeah. I love it. I love it. I agree with you. And I think all of us kind of had that experience, you know, and how even to this day, uh I travel quite a bit. You go out of the country, you're gonna see somebody with an Aggie t-shirt on or Aggie hat on. Yep. They're gonna be everywhere. You know, down here, you can't throw a rock without hitting a golden bull, right? Right. Uh but people are still, I think that's one difference. Yeah, the bigger schools, they have an active alumni. And they do. And people go to a football game and all of that. People ain't going back to homecoming every year. Exactly. Exactly. Religiously. I think what last year was 100,000 people. Yeah, it was. It was a little over 100,000. Yeah, I'm glad you said that, Shannon. Um, two things. Alumni, please give. Please give back. You know, just you can do that. I don't care if it's $5, $10, whatever, because uh it adds up. It really does. We are approaching, this year will be our 100th homecoming. Yeah. It's gonna be crazy. Yeah. Crazy. I I knew all the tickets sold out for homecoming this year in October of last year. Bruh. It's real. Yeah. It's real, man. And I think part of the thing that I love about it, and you see this with the CIAA and all of these things. It's not just the people that went there. Right. Right. It's the whole community gets pulled into it and and are a part of it. Exactly. Exactly. Yeah, which is a beautiful thing, and we need more of it. Thank you. Thank you. You're right now. Yeah. And uh the revenue that we provide, you know, for the for the city. Come on now. Come on now. Yeah. Every year. Every year. Everything's right. So I'm gonna go back one time. Okay. Because I I feel sorry for people that don't get to experience this. Did you

Freaknik Stories From The Golden Years

SPEAKER_00 1:01:05

go to Freaknet? To be continued. I just gotta ask. I did. Did you get the experience freaknet? I went 92, 93, 94, 95. Every year. Every year. Best years. The best years to go. Classic years. Yeah, those were 90. 93. Yeah. Golden years. Man. Talking about an experience? I saw so much stuff. It ain't make sense, man. Well, I I couldn't curve. Yeah. That's all I got. Right.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:38

Yeah. I think it was Pete's Park. That's the one that would have. It's such a haze. It was such a haze. Pete Mount Park. Yeah. Pete My Park. Yep. Yeah. I mean, it was like two Atlanta. Once you got to a certain point, it was driplocked. Don't you stand just. You could get out your car and start walking on the highway. We did it. We did it. My car is parked. Yeah. Yes. I'm driving. Yeah. I get out. I got a half a gallon of lift. I'm walking up to cars. We pull shots. We taking them back. Me, I mean fellas, school, bunch of women. It was crazy. Right. And then the things that I saw people do. Man, I was like, it's not legal.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:30

Not at all.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:30

It was not legal. Not at all. One of my biggest turns from Ashville used to say, How loose can you get? Okay. So I told my boy, I was like, how loose is the night? I said, Well, go in there and get us with a couple of bottles of liquor. I sent him in the liquor store. I hadn't got him amped up to go to the liquor store. He came out with two half gallons of uh tango ring. Yeah. I was like, hell yeah. You're about to send it off like Cleo's. That was just like that. Yeah, yeah. One of my one time I'm coming down, you know, we drank it all the way down. It's not the prescription. That's what we would have been doing. Then one of my boys jumped in the car with us. Like, I know y'all up in here. You know, I wasn't saying turn up. That wasn't what we said. Right. I know y'all getting it in. Yeah. He was like, let me play catch up. Playing catch up in the zone. Down a shot. Down a shot. I know he's throwing up in my car. I thought I was going to kill him.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:37

Damn bad. Wanted to catch up. That was a good way to do it. Yeah, it ain't like we were drinking nothing good. No, it was good. Straight bottom shelf. It don't matter. See, our stomach's protected back then. Right now.

unknown 1:03:54

No.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:55

All right. So, B man, I I appreciate you.

Movie Pick, Book Plug, And Closing

SPEAKER_00 1:04:00

This has been a great conversation. Hey. Thank you for coming. Thank you for having me. Listen, I love this podcast. When when you told me that you wanted to have me, man, I was like, hey y'all, guess what? I'm gonna be on the Hey Out podcast. That's right. Man, I love y'all's. We appreciate you. And one thing, Stu, that episode, it was about you asking if we were to go to a concert because you sing the girls' parts. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You sing in the major. Bruh. Bruh. Look here, man. Look here, man.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:34

I can't know.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:35

Look here, man. You gotta say. I saw you once before. Then I love you.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:43

And I need you. Let's say Mary J. Light.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:46

That's what you feel. That's what you need to be for. I sing that as well. Oh my god.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:56

But hey, man. Yeah, man. Listen, bruh. I got to. Hey. Hey, I'm the same. I'm gonna have a good time. This is a good thing. Anyway, all right, bro. So last question because I can't let you leave here without talking about movies. Gotcha. What's your best movie of this year? So far. Okay. I just saw I saw two yesterday. Um man, that's a good question. I don't want to say is God is. It's my my own. Best one so far is Project Hail Mary. The best one so far is Project Hail Mary. Okay. Oh my God. Okay. Yeah, I need them. So it's a sci-fi book. Yeah. Okay. Yeah, man. You gotta see how. It's a movie. Okay. Okay. Now, the book is a series. Okay. There's a series of books. Yeah. I think there's either three or four books in the series. But yeah. Yeah. I have to do that. Yeah, that is the best film out so far. Oh, I definitely had to check that out. I gotta check that out. So, where can people find you? Oh, so uh Facebook, of course, Brian Bidding. Uh you can find me. On um Instagram. It'll be Begun 18. The book Wet Behind the Years. The Marvelous Misadventures. There it is. The Marvelous Misadventures of a Late Blooming HBCU student. I made it funny. It's on paperback, Kindle, and audio. Oh, it's really funny on audio. Really funny on audio. Really funny. Yeah. So yeah, man, you can get that on Amazon. Yeah, man.

SPEAKER_01 1:06:34

That's it. Real quick though, we didn't ask this. But what inspired you to write this?

SPEAKER_00 1:06:39

Oh man, it's a good question. There was a okay. So my cousin hit me to this group on Facebook. It's called 90s Aggies. Okay. So you know, there were some friends that I knew. Not a lot of, not a lot, there were some. They were sharing their experiences. So I would share those experiences. And I got some pushback at first, man. Man, you up here doing that? Man, I wouldn't even talk about that. Hey, man, it's my truth. You know, y'all got the conquests. Yeah. Hey, I did. But, you know, it happened to everyone. So I would tell them some of my stories, and they would be like, hey man, you need to write a book. So I was like, uh, should I should I tell the world about this? You know, about my hangups and I don't know, but I did it. And it's gonna help some. It is. I hope so. I I I guarantee you it will. Yeah. Somebody else will see themselves in this. Yeah. And it might make their journey a little bit easier. I had some people inbox me about, yeah, you know, uh, I did and I did this, and yeah, you know, I was even some women. Yeah. Yeah, well, you know, man, the female version, yeah, I really ain't want to do this, but I did it. Yeah. I mean, all the way down to the one credit for graduation. You gotta read the book to understand it. You'll appreciate it. Read the book. Yeah, read the book. So, yeah. All right, brother, we appreciate you. Family, check us out on Instagram, YouTube, uh, Spotify, Apple, all the platforms at Hannome Podcast. And until next time, peace.