Episode 197

Hip Hop Can Save America: Manny Faces Joins the Conversation

On this episode of Queue Points, hosts Sir Daniel and Jay Ray welcome Manny Faces, journalist, podcast producer, and founding director of the Hip Hop Institute for Social Innovation. The conversation explores Manny’s journey in hip hop, how the culture can shape communities, and its lasting impact on education and creative work. A central part of this episode is a discussion of Manny Faces’ book, Hip Hop Can Save America! Inspiration for the Nation from a Culture of Innovation, where he shares real examples of innovation in schools and beyond. Listeners will hear about hip hop’s power to unite people, support learning, and inspire fresh solutions to everyday challenges. This episode is a chance to learn more about the book and to reflect on how hip hop continues to make a difference in so many lives.

Manny Faces Bio

Manny Faces is an award-winning journalist, podcast professional, and founding director of The Hip Hop Institute for Social Innovation. He is a leading voice advocating for the ability of Hip Hop music and culture to help improve society and uplift humanity, and he is the author of the new book, “Hip Hop Can Save America! Inspiration for the Nation from a Culture of Innovation.”

Follow Manny Faces

Twitter: https://www.x.com/mannyfaces

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mannyfacesofficial

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mannyfacesofficial

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mannyfaces

Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/mannyfacesofficial

BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/mannyfaces.com

Key Takeaways:

  • Manny Faces emphasizes that hip hop has the potential to inspire and uplift communities through social innovation.
  • Through his experiences, Manny shows how hip hop culture can improve educational outcomes for students in underserved communities.
  • The podcast highlights the ongoing conversation about the relevance of hip hop today and its evolution over the years.
  • Manny discusses how his journey in hip hop led to the creation of his book, bridging music and social change.
  • The episode encourages listeners to reflect on how hip hop can be integrated into various aspects of life, promoting authenticity and cultural respect.

Links referenced in this episode:

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Transcript
Sir Daniel:

greetings and welcome to another episode of Queue Points podcast.

Sir Daniel:

I'm DJ Sir Daniel.

Jay Ray:

My name is Jay Ray, sometimes known by my governments

Jay Ray:

as Johnnie Ray Kornegay III.

Jay Ray:

What's happening y'all, sir Daniel?

Jay Ray:

I am so as

Jay Ray:

usual,

Jay Ray:

but I'm really excited.

Sir Daniel:

Absolutely like, you know, there's plenty of people in.

Sir Daniel:

In the culture of the culture, you know, that are that claim to make

Sir Daniel:

moves and claim to, you know, people, they throw around the word legendary.

Sir Daniel:

They throw around the word iconic, you know?

Sir Daniel:

Um, but I think whatever this gentleman calls himself is true.

Sir Daniel:

Whatever he answers to is true.

Sir Daniel:

It's, and it's all respectfully.

Sir Daniel:

And there's people that you can tell are just respected in this

Sir Daniel:

community no matter where they go.

Sir Daniel:

And our guest this evening is just that, and I'm so happy that

Sir Daniel:

he's joining us and, um, you know.

Sir Daniel:

We're always in this con um, this conversation recently about

Sir Daniel:

where hip hop is going.

Jay Ray:

Yeah.

Sir Daniel:

Um, is it, is it on its last legs?

Sir Daniel:

You

Sir Daniel:

know, Nas said that hip hop is dead and it's not dead, and, and there's still

Sir Daniel:

that ongoing conversation, but it's just, I don't know, especially for a

Sir Daniel:

old head like me, I'm like, Hmm, what am I to make of this genre anymore?

Sir Daniel:

What am I to make of this, this, uh, community, this, or the music that is

Sir Daniel:

supposed to come from this community?

Sir Daniel:

When am I to make of it anymore?

Jay Ray:

Yeah.

Sir Daniel:

And, you know, hopefully our next guest can shed

Sir Daniel:

some light on it, his perspective,

Sir Daniel:

and also draw a through line on how this music, this culture, directly affects

Sir Daniel:

us in all other facets of our lives.

Jay Ray:

Manny Faces is joining us.

Jay Ray:

Manny Faces is an award-winning journalist, podcast professional

Jay Ray:

and founding director of the Hip Hop Institute for Social Innovation.

Jay Ray:

He's a leading voice advocating for the ability of hip hop, music and culture to

Jay Ray:

help improve society and uplift community.

Jay Ray:

And he is the author of a new book, which we are gonna be talking about

Jay Ray:

tonight, "Hip Hop Can Save America: Inspiration for the Nation from a Culture

Jay Ray:

of Innovation." Queue Points family.

Jay Ray:

We are absolutely honored and

Jay Ray:

excited to welcome the Manny Faces to

Jay Ray:

Queue Points.

Jay Ray:

What's up man?

Manny Faces:

Oh, I'm, y'all gonna make me cry, man.

Manny Faces:

Thank you.

Manny Faces:

I appreciate

Jay Ray:

Listen, you for putting the culture on your back, man.

Jay Ray:

And um, so to that point that Sir Daniel mentioned, right?

Jay Ray:

Like.

Jay Ray:

One of the things that, uh, is kind of a ray of hope for me is I think

Jay Ray:

you helped to remind, an I statement, remind me of the possibilities

Jay Ray:

that still exist through hip hop

Manny Faces:

Yeah.

Jay Ray:

over the years, it's been so easy to be jaded by

Jay Ray:

everything that has happened,

Sir Daniel:

Mm-hmm.

Jay Ray:

what you are doing with this book, and I mean all of your, your entire

Jay Ray:

platform, the podcast and everything is, um, a reminder of possibility.

Jay Ray:

So thanks a lot man, for doing that.

Manny Faces:

I appreciate that appreciation.

Manny Faces:

And, uh, just for the record, I appreciate y'all bringing me here to talk about it.

Manny Faces:

Yeah,

Jay Ray:

Nah, man, no problem at all.

Manny Faces:

yeah.

Sir Daniel:

Before, before we

Sir Daniel:

dive too deep into like the serious questions and whatnot, I cannot,

Sir Daniel:

can I share something really funny?

Sir Daniel:

Well, I think it's funny and, um, it, it, it involves Jay Ray and I want to

Sir Daniel:

add the question I have for you, Manny.

Sir Daniel:

How many,

Jay Ray:

I know where you're going.

Sir Daniel:

how many times have you inadvertently in, inadvertently

Sir Daniel:

been called Manny Fresh?

Sir Daniel:

Because once such, um, my co-host Jay Ray over here in our, in our weekly

Sir Daniel:

Meetings.

Jay Ray:

It's

Sir Daniel:

and leading up to this.

Sir Daniel:

Yeah.

Sir Daniel:

You know, um, yeah.

Sir Daniel:

Manny Fresh, um, confirmed he's gonna be Manny.

Sir Daniel:

Wait, Manny,

Manny Faces:

Yes,

Sir Daniel:

man.

Manny Faces:

You see it, you heard me say it when I, I knew.

Manny Faces:

I knew you were going.

Manny Faces:

Yeah.

Manny Faces:

It happens.

Sir Daniel:

Uh, yeah.

Sir Daniel:

So, so how many times tell us like, how often does it happen

Sir Daniel:

and people are just like, Hey, Manny Fresh, and you're like, no.

Jay Ray:

well, no.

Manny Faces:

It, it's definitely happened, uh, several times.

Manny Faces:

Probably, let's see, as many times as people say my name, probably like, maybe,

Manny Faces:

maybe two outta 10, two outta time times.

Manny Faces:

And then, and then one out of those two, they'll correct themselves

Jay Ray:

Right,

Sir Daniel:

Mm-hmm.

Manny Faces:

then the other one just keep going.

Manny Faces:

Like, that's my name.

Manny Faces:

So I just, uh, what

Manny Faces:

can I

Sir Daniel:

It's all good.

Sir Daniel:

It's all good.

Sir Daniel:

And how, and

Manny Faces:

know.

Sir Daniel:

just outta curiosity, where did Man Manny Faces come from?

Manny Faces:

Well,

Manny Faces:

you

Sir Daniel:

Am I getting a, he in

Sir Daniel:

reference.

Manny Faces:

No, it is my, just for the record, everyone know my, my

Manny Faces:

government name is Bobby Elbows.

Jay Ray:

right,

Manny Faces:

no.

Manny Faces:

I'm just playing.

Manny Faces:

Just stupid.

Manny Faces:

Stupid.

Manny Faces:

It is so stupid.

Manny Faces:

I do it tk, like I know

Jay Ray:

right, right.

Manny Faces:

Um.

Manny Faces:

So, years, years ago, I used to, you know, I, I was, you know, I, I was a

Jay Ray:

Mm-hmm.

Manny Faces:

had rap names and such, and I went under several names.

Manny Faces:

One of 'em was schizophrenic, that was like my rap name for a while.

Manny Faces:

And that kind of got a little played out.

Manny Faces:

And then, you know, we started getting like, that's kind of a weird connotation.

Manny Faces:

So, um, a friend of my, my, my brother Rest in Peace, uh, my man Coleman,

Manny Faces:

um, we were going over like rap names and what should we call ourselves?

Manny Faces:

And I don't know where the conversation went or how, but it was between,

Manny Faces:

it was between Dick Dastardly.

Sir Daniel:

Oh wow.

Sir Daniel:

Okay.

Manny Faces:

Now if you remember you, you're right.

Manny Faces:

See, see, people think I'm just saying that, but there's a

Manny Faces:

reference, like there's a old cartoon

Manny Faces:

character then, um, or Manny Faces.

Manny Faces:

Um, and it was it.

Manny Faces:

I wasn't even he yet.

Manny Faces:

It's definitely built off of He-Man, I wasn't a big He-Man fan.

Manny Faces:

But the idea that Man E Faces, man E Faces had like these three

Manny Faces:

heads and he would switch between

Sir Daniel:

Mm-hmm.

Manny Faces:

man and robot.

Manny Faces:

And I was like, Ooh, that kind of fits my whole kind of vibe of schizophrenic.

Manny Faces:

Which the idea was it's sort of multiple personalities, which

Manny Faces:

isn't even what schizophrenic

Manny Faces:

means.

Manny Faces:

But at the time, in rap parlance, you know, it was fine.

Manny Faces:

Um, but I wanted to show like, you know, multiple styles, multiple,

Manny Faces:

just, you know, approaches.

Manny Faces:

And I was like, that kind of might work.

Manny Faces:

And so tried that out for a little while.

Manny Faces:

It stuck, it ended up, I ended up not really rapping very long after

Manny Faces:

that, but then I, I was doing remixes and, and producing and, and DJing a

Manny Faces:

little bit and that kind of, know,

Manny Faces:

after

Sir Daniel:

Mm-hmm.

Manny Faces:

that's where it came from, that, that conversation,

Manny Faces:

that kind of evolution.

Manny Faces:

But it's still like a nod to like what I was trying to get across through

Manny Faces:

my artistry as it were at the time.

Sir Daniel:

And that's so funny because I don't think people

Sir Daniel:

understand when you are, how important.

Sir Daniel:

Coming up with a moniker is whether you are an mc, whether you are a dj,

Sir Daniel:

um, Uh, uh, even, um, the, the fam that tags and they do, um, graffiti art.

Sir Daniel:

It's so, important what you come up and what you name yourself because it's part,

Manny Faces:

percent.

Sir Daniel:

it's part of your legacy.

Sir Daniel:

So, of those things, you named quite a few that you've, you've been, the

Sir Daniel:

lives that you led as an mc, producer, remixer, dj, journalist, podcaster,

Sir Daniel:

educator, um, plumber, all of the things like which, which part of the

Sir Daniel:

hip hop culture of hip hop culture first drew you in, and why did it stick?

Manny Faces:

Uh, so, okay.

Manny Faces:

Um.

Manny Faces:

Rapping, you know, well, like rap music.

Manny Faces:

'cause so I grew up on Long Island, right outside of New York City, right.

Manny Faces:

So, and I'm about the same age as hip

Jay Ray:

Mm-hmm.

Manny Faces:

a couple

Sir Daniel:

Mm-hmm.

Manny Faces:

I know I look so young, it's the Botox.

Manny Faces:

Um, um, so I'm about the same age as hip hop.

Manny Faces:

So we, you know, if you, growing up in the eighties, you

Sir Daniel:

Mm-hmm.

Manny Faces:

you're basically an eighties baby, you know, or seventies,

Manny Faces:

eighties baby in New York City, you're catching, you know, hip hop as it's

Manny Faces:

starting to, uh, really impact radio.

Manny Faces:

And, and back then, of course, new Yorkers know you can only listen to radio, uh,

Manny Faces:

hip hop on the radio, rap on the radio, uh, from, you know, thir, uh, Friday

Manny Faces:

and Saturday nights from like 10:00

Sir Daniel:

Yeah.

Manny Faces:

AM.

Sir Daniel:

yes。

Manny Faces:

Ks fm. That was the only options unless you had

Manny Faces:

like the college radio stations,

Manny Faces:

um, in the area.

Manny Faces:

So it became sort of, you know, religion to, you know, so every Friday

Manny Faces:

night I'd go to my friend Craig house and we'd be in a basement and we'd

Manny Faces:

play Coleco Vision and, you know, it was the homies from where I grew up.

Manny Faces:

And we'd all, and, and we'd be listening to probably Kiss fm red alerts, you know,

Manny Faces:

is, is sort of the foundational guy.

Manny Faces:

we just started, like, now we had heard music and we, you

Manny Faces:

know, hip hop was around by then.

Manny Faces:

Obviously, you know, we're talking like mid, mid eighties, late eighties.

Manny Faces:

that it really started becoming part of the zeitgeist.

Manny Faces:

It started, you know, influencing how we, you know, what we heard musically, uh, how

Manny Faces:

we dressed, how we talked, how we banged on the table at lunch, like all that.

Manny Faces:

Oh, you know, I did all the things.

Manny Faces:

Um, and so it was that, it was, uh, and people say like, moment you

Manny Faces:

felt, you know, what's, when did you

Jay Ray:

Yeah.

Manny Faces:

with Hip?

Manny Faces:

What was the song?

Sir Daniel:

Yeah.

Manny Faces:

as so it was, it, it was my melody, Rakim.

Jay Ray:

Good choice.

Jay Ray:

Mm-hmm.

Jay Ray:

Mm-hmm.

Manny Faces:

But when, when that dropped, I don't know if it triggered

Manny Faces:

something, you know, 'cause as we know, Rakim is a very jazz

Jay Ray:

Mm-hmm.

Manny Faces:

and

Manny Faces:

the music was so different and my melodies was so like funky and spacey and different

Manny Faces:

than the stuff we had been hearing.

Manny Faces:

I don't know.

Manny Faces:

So it was that moment we were all like, yo, what is, like,

Manny Faces:

it's really taken us over.

Manny Faces:

And so just like anyone else growing up in that time, instant gravitation, instant

Manny Faces:

absorption and instant immersion in it.

Manny Faces:

And we just wanted to do, be listen, hear, vibe, anything that

Manny Faces:

was, that was rapping, you know.

Manny Faces:

And then I guess a few years later, I, I, eh, maybe around the same time

Manny Faces:

actually, I, I did get into DJing early, so it was that I never did graph, I never

Jay Ray:

I was gonna ask you that.

Jay Ray:

Did you do any of the other elements?

Jay Ray:

'cause it seemed like you hit Yeah,

Sir Daniel:

Okay,

Manny Faces:

I'm signing books now, and my, I'm like, I tell people, I

Manny Faces:

say, look, graph was never my element,

Manny Faces:

so forgive me when I'm signing these books, it look like a prescription.

Sir Daniel:

look, did you do the dollar sign with the three, the six lines?

Sir Daniel:

At least that can.

Manny Faces:

I could the s

Jay Ray:

right?

Jay Ray:

yes。

Manny Faces:

I could.

Manny Faces:

Yeah.

Manny Faces:

Um, so yeah, but it was, it was definitely the music.

Manny Faces:

So I was very musically, uh, you know, I found out that I was

Manny Faces:

musically inclined through hip hop.

Manny Faces:

Like I'd done band in school and nothing really popped off to me.

Manny Faces:

But don't forget, I grew up listening to like, muddy Waters.

Manny Faces:

I

Jay Ray:

Right,

Manny Faces:

and was like, can I play harmonica?

Manny Faces:

They were like, no, we don't, we don't do that.

Manny Faces:

Like, what do

Jay Ray:

and they should have said yes.

Manny Faces:

they should have said yes, got a whole chapter in it.

Manny Faces:

But, but, so I was always musical and, but, but band, I played like trombone,

Jay Ray:

Yeah.

Manny Faces:

is not the worst thing, but it was like, you

Manny Faces:

know, uh, like, old classic, like trombone, not like cool trombone.

Manny Faces:

So it didn't, it didn't grab me, man.

Manny Faces:

And so I, I didn't even think I was musical until hip

Manny Faces:

hop, until I started DJing.

Manny Faces:

And then I bought a beat machine trying to recreate the

Jay Ray:

Mm-hmm.

Manny Faces:

on the, on the, so it was definitely the music side that got me in.

Manny Faces:

Um, and then, you know, like I said, I didn't touch those other elements.

Manny Faces:

And then as we'll talk probably like, sort of that knowledge

Jay Ray:

Yes.

Manny Faces:

we don't talk a lot about.

Manny Faces:

That's what really like, me in as well.

Manny Faces:

So, yeah.

Manny Faces:

That's where it kind of kicked off.

Jay Ray:

what's interesting about.

Jay Ray:

You sharing that story is, and this kind of goes back to when what I

Jay Ray:

said at the very beginning too.

Jay Ray:

There have been moments in time in hip hop culture where you'll

Jay Ray:

hear a thing or see a thing

Manny Faces:

Yeah.

Jay Ray:

and be like, wow, what in the world, like what you

Jay Ray:

will see possibilities, right?

Jay Ray:

Hip hop, uh, has helped many of us imagine over time, right?

Jay Ray:

So, and we've watched it grow and become the culture and like take over

Jay Ray:

literally everything worldwide, right?

Jay Ray:

you get into, you decide to that point about the knowledge piece

Jay Ray:

to kind of take your experiences, your musical experiences, your

Jay Ray:

knowledge, your knowhow, and.

Jay Ray:

Finesse it in all these other different ways.

Jay Ray:

Right?

Jay Ray:

So podcasting, and now we have this book.

Jay Ray:

So I want you to talk about this a little bit.

Jay Ray:

Like how, what came first, the chicken or the egg?

Jay Ray:

Did the idea come, did the idea for the Hip Hop Can Save America?

Jay Ray:

The book come first and then the podcast came?

Jay Ray:

Or did the podcast come first and then the idea for the book came?

Jay Ray:

Like what was like, what was the spark?

Jay Ray:

How did that happen?

Manny Faces:

Yeah.

Manny Faces:

Um, so.

Manny Faces:

Just taking it back a step.

Manny Faces:

'cause it'll give context.

Manny Faces:

Um, I did music, I did remixes for a bunch of years.

Manny Faces:

You can still

Jay Ray:

Mm-hmm.

Manny Faces:

you know, Google Man faces, remixes, they're out there.

Manny Faces:

I I'm, I I put out some stuff.

Manny Faces:

This was like MySpace

Jay Ray:

Mm-hmm.

Manny Faces:

Shout

Manny Faces:

to the Bum Squad DJ

Jay Ray:

Yeah.

Manny Faces:

that used to like, take, you know, I used to feed the DJs and,

Manny Faces:

you know, we had these like little DJ crews, so stuff would get around.

Manny Faces:

And I did pretty well.

Manny Faces:

There was a couple songs that got played and, and I, I had a couple brushes with

Jay Ray:

Mm-hmm.

Manny Faces:

with like, you know, celebrity, like, you know,

Manny Faces:

acon, we almost had a thing.

Manny Faces:

Nothing really like really popped off.

Manny Faces:

And in the meantime, in between time I had to like, make, make money.

Manny Faces:

So I ended up working for a newspaper, um, on Long Island.

Manny Faces:

So I've always had it like.

Manny Faces:

Pension for writing, but I really got hired for like graphic design.

Manny Faces:

I had learned how to do graphic

Jay Ray:

Ah,

Manny Faces:

by making my own flyers because

Manny Faces:

I had a little home studio

Jay Ray:

yeah.

Manny Faces:

to be, get people to come to the studio.

Manny Faces:

So I knew how to do graphic design 'cause of hip hop, hip hop gave me everything,

Jay Ray:

Right?

Manny Faces:

Um, and then, then, so now I get a job at a newspaper and I'm

Manny Faces:

still like doing hip hoppy stuff at

Jay Ray:

Mm-hmm.

Manny Faces:

I'm working for the newspaper during the day and

Manny Faces:

I start writing for them too.

Manny Faces:

And it was kind of cool then I, I realized this was, and you mentioned,

Manny Faces:

uh, either before or during the

Jay Ray:

Mm-hmm.

Manny Faces:

is

Jay Ray:

Mm-hmm.

Jay Ray:

Yeah.

Manny Faces:

idea,

Manny Faces:

but what more specifically New York hip hop was,

Jay Ray:

Mm.

Manny Faces:

dead.

Jay Ray:

legs?

Jay Ray:

Yes.

Manny Faces:

right where it was like everything else was

Manny Faces:

poppin Houston was popping.

Manny Faces:

Of course,

Jay Ray:

Atlanta.

Sir Daniel:

Mm-hmm.

Manny Faces:

And, and they were like, well, New York hip hop is dead now.

Manny Faces:

I'm from New York.

Manny Faces:

I'm right outside.

Manny Faces:

I'm sixth borough, long Island, strong Island.

Manny Faces:

And I'm like, I don't know, man.

Manny Faces:

Like, that's kind of crazy.

Manny Faces:

And we, in New York, we're arrogant as f right?

Manny Faces:

So we're

Manny Faces:

like, hip hop this a mecca.

Jay Ray:

Right.

Manny Faces:

But I understand what's happening.

Manny Faces:

Like there's other parts of the country and, and I wanna let them cook.

Manny Faces:

But at the same time I'm looking in New York, like, wait a minute.

Manny Faces:

I know, like, we still doing some things.

Manny Faces:

So took kind of the idea of the journalism thing that I was

Manny Faces:

doing with these folks on the day

Jay Ray:

Mm-hmm.

Manny Faces:

I started poking my nose around New York City and I was

Manny Faces:

like, well, who's doing hip hop?

Manny Faces:

Let's

Jay Ray:

Right.

Manny Faces:

I would go to like, not just to like the superstars.

Manny Faces:

'cause at the time it was, you know, we still had a few heads that

Manny Faces:

were doing things, but the, the criticism was they were sounding

Manny Faces:

like the rest of the country.

Jay Ray:

Mm-hmm.

Manny Faces:

ASAP and French, Montana, whatever.

Sir Daniel:

Right.

Manny Faces:

I go around and I start finding all these underground, like

Manny Faces:

underground, independent like artists or foundational things, right?

Manny Faces:

That are happening.

Manny Faces:

And, uh, weekly showcases have been going on for 10, 15 years.

Manny Faces:

Right?

Manny Faces:

You know, just people cutting their teeth.

Manny Faces:

End of the week, uh, freestyle Mondays, you know, brown bag, all Stars, the

Manny Faces:

lineup, like all these things where you go in and it's like hip hop,

Manny Faces:

like it's the community, the culture, the music, the vibes, the love.

Manny Faces:

And I'm like, this is amazing.

Manny Faces:

What are you talking about?

Manny Faces:

Then I start seeing groups like Tanya Morgan

Jay Ray:

Yep.

Manny Faces:

Don

Jay Ray:

Mm-hmm.

Manny Faces:

you know what I mean?

Manny Faces:

I cc my man homeboy, Sandman

Jay Ray:

Mm-hmm.

Manny Faces:

I'm just like, yo, these York hiphop, what is, what,

Jay Ray:

Right.

Manny Faces:

talking about?

Manny Faces:

So I launched a, uh, an online publication called Birthplace

Jay Ray:

Yep.

Manny Faces:

to cover New York

Jay Ray:

Mm-hmm.

Manny Faces:

years and long, long path short, covering all

Manny Faces:

these independent artists.

Manny Faces:

And I'm doing a, a companion podcast called The New York Hip Hop Report, which

Manny Faces:

is like sports talk radio for hip hop.

Manny Faces:

It was our blog talk radio for y'all,

Manny Faces:

y'all, if you know, you know.

Manny Faces:

Um, and so I'm just getting all these like wild experiences.

Manny Faces:

I start talking to people who are super, super smart, but also like

Manny Faces:

rapping on stage at Freestyle Mondays doing these freestyle competitions.

Manny Faces:

And you gotta be really smart to be

Jay Ray:

Yes.

Manny Faces:

to jump on stage.

Manny Faces:

Freestyle Mondays was wild.

Manny Faces:

I just gotta shout 'em out.

Manny Faces:

it'd be, so there's like contestants, right?

Manny Faces:

Four and four during the night, like eight contestants total.

Manny Faces:

My man, ill spoken.

Manny Faces:

Corey, James, uh, he's the host and Mariela is singing, they got a dj,

Manny Faces:

they're flipping a coin, and they spin a wheel, like a, like a game show.

Manny Faces:

And it's like all these categories, like, uh, like Jeopardy,

Jay Ray:

That's amazing.

Manny Faces:

you know, science, hip hop, um, food groups, uh, whatever, right?

Manny Faces:

And so they spin

Manny Faces:

the wheel and there's two contestants ready to go.

Manny Faces:

And the, the category would be like food group.

Manny Faces:

And so, you know, it'll be like, all right, you go first, you go second.

Manny Faces:

All right, you're a shark, you're plankton.

Manny Faces:

Go.

Manny Faces:

And you gotta off the top of your head, you, you gotta rap

Manny Faces:

like you a shark against the guy who's rapping his plankton.

Manny Faces:

And the guy and shark is like, listen, I'm the king of the ocean.

Manny Faces:

I, I'll be floating and I'll be

Manny Faces:

bragging and boasting.

Manny Faces:

And

Manny Faces:

you're like, all right.

Manny Faces:

Then the planktons like, yeah, but I feed the whales.

Manny Faces:

They'll smack you in the head with a tail.

Manny Faces:

Like whatever, I don't know.

Manny Faces:

I don't do it.

Manny Faces:

They did it and, Oh, live band,

Jay Ray:

Yes.

Manny Faces:

band behind.

Manny Faces:

I'm

Manny Faces:

killing it.

Manny Faces:

Some

Sir Daniel:

nice.

Manny Faces:

New York, I'm watching this and I'm like,

Manny Faces:

yo, what are you talking about?

Manny Faces:

Hip hop in New York is dead.

Manny Faces:

It's crazy.

Manny Faces:

So I start talking to some of the guys, you gotta be the guys and gals.

Jay Ray:

Mm-hmm.

Manny Faces:

definitely whoever just jumped on stage.

Manny Faces:

It was, it was a mix of, of demographics.

Manny Faces:

It was, there'd be scientists in there with thugs from the street and they

Manny Faces:

all having the time of their life.

Manny Faces:

I'm like, this is the greatest thing ever.

Manny Faces:

And I start talking to some of the rappers and they're like, I'm

Manny Faces:

like, you're like really smart.

Manny Faces:

You gotta like know a lot to just

Jay Ray:

Yeah.

Manny Faces:

and not make a fool of yourself when you don't

Manny Faces:

know what the topic's gonna be.

Manny Faces:

And it'll be like Ronald Reagan versus Bill Clinton.

Jay Ray:

Yeah.

Manny Faces:

like, you have to know things.

Sir Daniel:

Mm-hmm.

Manny Faces:

Yeah, I'm, and well, I'm a teacher

Jay Ray:

Mm-hmm.

Manny Faces:

work in, you know, board of education.

Manny Faces:

I work in advertising, like they're smart people.

Manny Faces:

then I start realizing, so I started asking him,

Manny Faces:

do you bring that into the classroom?

Manny Faces:

Like, do you bring hip hop into the classroom?

Manny Faces:

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Manny Faces:

My man, Macal am mean, like hired gun.

Manny Faces:

He was like, yeah, I bring in a class, I go to Rikers Island, we do, uh,

Manny Faces:

uh, poetry and rap workshops with the young men in Rikers Island to teach it.

Manny Faces:

And I'm like, yo, there's a lot going on here.

Jay Ray:

Yes.

Manny Faces:

And so I start saying, Hmm, I love New York.

Manny Faces:

I love this, this like this lane that I had created.

Manny Faces:

And I was the only one, no one co I just said it on the record.

Manny Faces:

No one covered hip hop in New York City and the surrounding areas

Manny Faces:

more than me point blank period.

Manny Faces:

had moved on every,

Jay Ray:

Mm-hmm.

Manny Faces:

single mainstream or you know, I was the number, I

Manny Faces:

had a New York hip hop calendar.

Manny Faces:

I was the only one that I had to, I look, this is a bigger thing.

Manny Faces:

You're bringing hip hop into the schools, you're helping these

Manny Faces:

kids get, you know, better grades.

Manny Faces:

Like, tell me about this.

Manny Faces:

And they start telling me about it.

Manny Faces:

I'm like, oh my God.

Manny Faces:

So I gotta figure out how to talk to these people.

Manny Faces:

So I kind of sunsetted the Birthplace Magazine

Jay Ray:

Mm-hmm.

Manny Faces:

and I migrated over to hip hop, could Save America.

Manny Faces:

Started doing the podcast

Jay Ray:

Okay.

Manny Faces:

your

Jay Ray:

Yeah.

Sir Daniel:

Okay.

Manny Faces:

that, that chicken came first.

Manny Faces:

Um, then years later, you know, I've been doing it since like 2018 and I,

Manny Faces:

you know, I had like 60, 70 episodes down and I wanted to, I've been trying

Manny Faces:

to write a book the same title, but like a much more fleshed out book.

Manny Faces:

Like a much more, I don't know, I dunno.

Manny Faces:

Just, just a more written

Jay Ray:

Mm-hmm.

Sir Daniel:

Hmm.

Manny Faces:

uh, shout to my, one of my homies, great, great person,

Manny Faces:

great mentor, great friend Dr. Lauren Kelly works at a Rutgers University.

Manny Faces:

We were talking and, and I started realizing that other books were being

Manny Faces:

made where you could take interviews.

Manny Faces:

And then like, put 'em in a book.

Jay Ray:

Mm-hmm.

Sir Daniel:

Yeah.

Manny Faces:

like, I really wanna kind of immortalize these folks.

Manny Faces:

'cause if you look at who's in the book and who I talk to, they're brilliant.

Manny Faces:

doing amazing work through hip hop.

Manny Faces:

Literally saving lives, particularly young people, particularly young

Manny Faces:

people from communities that have been traditionally overlooked under

Manny Faces:

loved and you know, under-resourced.

Manny Faces:

like, yeah, the podcast exists, but if I stop paying the hosting,

Manny Faces:

they, it's gonna go away.

Sir Daniel:

Mm-hmm.

Manny Faces:

Can we, can we immortalize this somehow?

Manny Faces:

And I talked to the publisher and they were like, yeah, we like

Manny Faces:

this idea turned into like a, a thing for colleges and textbooks.

Manny Faces:

And so then I said, wow, I can make this into a, a book.

Manny Faces:

So I took all the, like some foundational podcasts and episodes and, and then added

Manny Faces:

my own, I guess, like sort of overarching

Jay Ray:

Yeah.

Manny Faces:

holistic, you know, expertise.

Manny Faces:

And, and then it's a book.

Manny Faces:

So there, that's

Manny Faces:

how it

Manny Faces:

happened.

Sir Daniel:

You know

Manny Faces:

You know

Sir Daniel:

Ray, what I'm, what I'm hearing

Sir Daniel:

and what resonates with me, and it might resonate with you as well,

Sir Daniel:

is,

Manny Faces:

is,

Sir Daniel:

especially I'll say at my big age like this, just speaks to

Sir Daniel:

how we personally evolve and, and and our ev our evolution brought on by

Sir Daniel:

the travels, uh, school education.

Sir Daniel:

Um, the people that we

Sir Daniel:

meet, the different experiences that we have, really speak to and

Sir Daniel:

inform how we relate to hip hop and.

Manny Faces:

and

Sir Daniel:

And how it shows up in our daily lives.

Sir Daniel:

Especially, you know, the Gen Xers, man, we, I don't know.

Sir Daniel:

It, it is so funny to us when, when, you know, the young heads kind of

Sir Daniel:

like act I don't, I'm not beating up on young people, but when they kind,

Sir Daniel:

they act like everything is new.

Sir Daniel:

And we're like, no,

Jay Ray:

No,

Sir Daniel:

this not new.

Sir Daniel:

That's not new.

Sir Daniel:

It's a different BPM, but it's not new.

Sir Daniel:

And so I, it just makes me, you know, that's what's just

Sir Daniel:

sticking out to me here.

Sir Daniel:

And as somebody who has lived many lives, worked different, um, worked in different

Sir Daniel:

arenas, you know, social worker, uh, in juvenile justice and broadcasting,

Sir Daniel:

you know, I, I can I that, that I can relate to that and how it does inform

Sir Daniel:

the way I think, the way I approach.

Sir Daniel:

Um.

Sir Daniel:

Anything.

Sir Daniel:

Right?

Manny Faces:

Yeah.

Sir Daniel:

so with the title, um, Hip Hop Can Save America, I, this question like

Sir Daniel:

had popped in my head and I was like, well, Manny, what does America

Sir Daniel:

need saving from the most right now?

Manny Faces:

Mm,

Sir Daniel:

I,

Manny Faces:

Um, that is dope.

Manny Faces:

And, and is dope.

Manny Faces:

And, and, and, and I. And just to touch on like the, the many lives you've

Manny Faces:

lived, I think what I, maybe this is the thing I should say at the end, but I'll

Manny Faces:

say it now in case we don't get to it,

Sir Daniel:

yeah,

Manny Faces:

we should all be at, anyone at our age now should be thinking

Manny Faces:

about, well, how can I take my hip hop sensibilities into the thing that I do

Jay Ray:

Yes.

Manny Faces:

know, for a living?

Manny Faces:

That's the key, And I think that's what permeates this in,

Manny Faces:

in this entire, this entire book.

Manny Faces:

Um, the idea Hip Hop Could Save America was because I was

Manny Faces:

talking to these folks, right?

Manny Faces:

And, and, and they're like, well, all right, so I'll give you one example.

Manny Faces:

It doesn't exist anymore, but it was a great foundational

Manny Faces:

program called Fresh Prep.

Manny Faces:

And it was out in New York City.

Manny Faces:

And if you know New York, you gotta, uh, high schoolers, you gotta

Manny Faces:

graduate these, uh, Regents exams.

Manny Faces:

You gotta take these

Manny Faces:

Regents exams.

Manny Faces:

It's like state, you know, certified re uh, tests.

Manny Faces:

And every state has their own version.

Sir Daniel:

Yeah.

Manny Faces:

And I found out that there was this program where kids

Manny Faces:

who were failing, you know, uh, you know, rough and tumble schools, inner

Manny Faces:

city, all the terminology, right?

Sir Daniel:

Mm-hmm.

Manny Faces:

these tests and I get it.

Manny Faces:

Um, shoot, I failed my regents

Jay Ray:

Mm-hmm.

Manny Faces:

understand right away I recognize what it's like to fail 'em.

Manny Faces:

Um, but they were failing some of 'em repeatedly, right?

Manny Faces:

'cause these are, like I said, underserved, under-resourced,

Manny Faces:

under love school districts.

Manny Faces:

And so they're not getting all the right, um, education.

Manny Faces:

Uh, but they have to pass these tests.

Manny Faces:

they introduced this program called Fresh Prep.

Manny Faces:

And at the time, fresh Prep would bring in, so, uh, uh, it

Manny Faces:

was pilot program, whatever.

Manny Faces:

And they would bring in artists.

Manny Faces:

Uh, I know my man, rabbi Darkside, now known as Sam Sellers, John Robinson.

Manny Faces:

Y'all, I think y'all know John Robinson Jr.

Manny Faces:

From

Jay Ray:

Oh,

Manny Faces:

of Life.

Manny Faces:

He was part of this program.

Manny Faces:

And what they would do is they would bring in that

Manny Faces:

either had some kind of educational acumen or some teaching chops, or just were

Manny Faces:

like, smart mother, you know what I mean?

Manny Faces:

And say, okay, work with the teachers so that we could develop.

Manny Faces:

Songs about like what the curriculum is teach these songs.

Manny Faces:

These kids are gonna learn a song.

Manny Faces:

They going, because, you know, we could remember songs we heard when we were,

Manny Faces:

you

Sir Daniel:

Mm-hmm.

Manny Faces:

years

Jay Ray:

Right.

Manny Faces:

Um, and, and that that triggers that part of the brain.

Manny Faces:

And I, and then, so the program was written up in the New York Times

Manny Faces:

at the time, and like 80% of the kids that failed previously then

Manny Faces:

went on to pass this test, 80%.

Manny Faces:

And they're like, nothing else gives you that kind of turnaround,

Manny Faces:

that kind of return on investment.

Manny Faces:

And I'm like, Ooh, amazing.

Manny Faces:

so, so if.

Manny Faces:

So if now the program didn't, didn't for whatever reason, funding or, you

Manny Faces:

know, is an organization and sometimes it's organiza organizational stuff.

Manny Faces:

But then I started talking to some people who work with, they're like, yeah,

Manny Faces:

but hip hop could do more than that.

Manny Faces:

'cause that's just rote memorization.

Manny Faces:

And that's cool.

Manny Faces:

Hip hop can teach you critical thinking.

Jay Ray:

Yes.

Manny Faces:

what?

Sir Daniel:

Sure.

Manny Faces:

Hip hop can teach you social emotional learning.

Manny Faces:

What?

Manny Faces:

Tell me more.

Manny Faces:

And so I'm learning and Betina love, Dr.

Jay Ray:

Mm-hmm.

Manny Faces:

who's the first, um, uh, interviewee

Jay Ray:

the book.

Jay Ray:

Yep.

Manny Faces:

series.

Manny Faces:

And in the

Jay Ray:

Mm-hmm.

Manny Faces:

the foundation.

Manny Faces:

If you don't know Dr. Betina Love, I watched a Ted Talk and she broke down

Manny Faces:

all of the things that, like we know as hip hop heads, we know as people

Manny Faces:

coming up in and around the culture, I know from seeing like, you know,

Manny Faces:

growing up in black neighborhoods, the brilliance, the, the black

Jay Ray:

Mm-hmm.

Manny Faces:

us.

Manny Faces:

But you can't like necessarily put a, a, a, a title to it.

Manny Faces:

You can't put it into words sometimes.

Manny Faces:

And Dr. Love, she, she broke it down and was like, you don't understand

Manny Faces:

everything you want kids to have.

Manny Faces:

Resiliency, grit, social, emotional intelligence, uh, you know, um,

Manny Faces:

like, uh, uh, improvisational skills.

Manny Faces:

Like we learned that in the cipher.

Manny Faces:

We learned that rocking in the lunchroom.

Manny Faces:

We learned that all of these things from hip hop.

Manny Faces:

And then you go even farther, you say like, well, what the school wasn't

Manny Faces:

teaching us, I said, I grew up in a black neighborhood, went to black schools.

Manny Faces:

All my family,

Jay Ray:

Mm-hmm.

Manny Faces:

families are black, you know, middle class, like

Manny Faces:

everyone's educated and all that.

Manny Faces:

And then I remember learning about, uh, black inventors throughout history, you

Jay Ray:

Yes.

Manny Faces:

Banneker and, and and uh, you know, uh, Garrett Morgan

Manny Faces:

and, uh, you know, Dr. Charles

Jay Ray:

Mm-hmm.

Manny Faces:

CJ Walker and all these like brilliant, uh, inventors

Manny Faces:

and architects of innovation from, you know, from black history.

Manny Faces:

But I didn't learn about it in school.

Manny Faces:

I learned about, 'cause KRS one put out a song in 1989, quote, you must learn.

Jay Ray:

Right.

Manny Faces:

And so I'm like.

Manny Faces:

And I'm like, and again, I, I like my black friends don't know this

Jay Ray:

Right,

Manny Faces:

look at each other like you.

Manny Faces:

And my dad was a sociologist.

Manny Faces:

He was studies, urban studies, sociology or minorities.

Manny Faces:

I knew what gentrification meant when I was eight.

Manny Faces:

You know what I mean?

Manny Faces:

Like he was all into that and none of us was learning this stuff.

Manny Faces:

So if you take all of that holistically, and I say, well, damn,

Manny Faces:

if America has educational disparities between race and class, right?

Manny Faces:

I'm looking at ways to solve that problem.

Manny Faces:

These, these folks are ways to counter those disparities we're

Manny Faces:

looking at economic disparities.

Manny Faces:

Well, I have a guy in the book named Richard.

Manny Faces:

He works at Google.

Manny Faces:

He's telling me that he started a program where they teach young people 14 to

Manny Faces:

18 years old in an afternoon workshop.

Manny Faces:

The basics of computer programming.

Manny Faces:

By learning, by, by making beats.

Manny Faces:

So there's a repository of music.

Manny Faces:

You gotta like pull from it and drag and drop.

Manny Faces:

My DJs and producers know you can just drag and drop these things.

Manny Faces:

Now, oh, let me get this, this loop of, you know, baseline, this loop of

Manny Faces:

guitar, this drums part put, start 'em at at bar one, go four bars, start,

Manny Faces:

bring this one in at bar four, go eight bars, but not drag and drop.

Manny Faces:

You have to do it by programming.

Manny Faces:

So you first

Manny Faces:

have to learn the programming if then statements.

Manny Faces:

You have to learn the, you know, all the little basics.

Manny Faces:

And I've seen 14 and 15 year olds who had never touched the computer

Manny Faces:

in their lives in this way.

Manny Faces:

Like they play video games, whatever.

Manny Faces:

They didn't even know they could like use a computer in this way.

Manny Faces:

In four hours.

Manny Faces:

They're making beats by programming.

Manny Faces:

They have a basic

Jay Ray:

Wow.

Manny Faces:

of computer programming hours.

Manny Faces:

And I'm like, who else?

Manny Faces:

But hip hop is doing this.

Manny Faces:

Like, what?

Manny Faces:

And, and so.

Manny Faces:

You know, a thousand e uh, examples later, you know what I mean?

Manny Faces:

I'm like, dang, we're talking about educational disparity,

Manny Faces:

hip hop could fix that.

Manny Faces:

If we're talking about, uh, you know, technolo, you know,

Manny Faces:

technological, um, barriers, right?

Manny Faces:

'cause you know, the communities, you don't get that in the schools.

Manny Faces:

Especially in, in the, you know, in, in, in communities of color.

Manny Faces:

You don't get that opportunity.

Manny Faces:

So we could fix that.

Manny Faces:

Love also had a program called Hip Hop Civics ed, which was teaching,

Manny Faces:

uh, an outta school program to teach people how the government works.

Manny Faces:

'cause

Jay Ray:

Yeah.

Manny Faces:

they don't teach that no more.

Manny Faces:

And

Manny Faces:

nobody knows nothing about nothing anymore.

Manny Faces:

using hip hop to do that.

Manny Faces:

And I'm like, dang.

Manny Faces:

Like, You mentioned plumber before.

Manny Faces:

I'm

Jay Ray:

Yes.

Manny Faces:

how could I be a better plumber?

Manny Faces:

How

Manny Faces:

could hip hop make me a better

Jay Ray:

Right?

Manny Faces:

Hip Hop Man?

Manny Faces:

I'm like, well, have you heard of like Gorilla Marketing?

Manny Faces:

Because when Adidas and run DM C, like there's, there's ways to like apply all

Manny Faces:

the lessons learned through hip hop.

Manny Faces:

If, if we do it authentically.

Manny Faces:

We do it not in an an extractor

Jay Ray:

Mm-hmm.

Manny Faces:

if extractor is a word, but I I'm a writer.

Manny Faces:

Yes, it is.

Manny Faces:

Um, not a way that extracts, but a way that works with, in conjunction with,

Manny Faces:

there's so much genius and ingenuity that, I mean, what problem couldn't

Manny Faces:

we fix for the fact that there's a lot of powers that be want to keep us, uh,

Manny Faces:

from that realization, let's just say.

Manny Faces:

Um, so, that's the things I think like hip hop can fix and, and I'm, I

Manny Faces:

am like kind of getting to the point where like, uh, the more people I talk

Manny Faces:

to and the more niches that we get into like urban planning and, and, and

Manny Faces:

uh, uh, architecture and then Michael Ford has a hip hop architecture camp,

Manny Faces:

like, uh, financial, oh, our kids don't know how to, nothing about money.

Manny Faces:

Well, pockets change does financial literacy through hip hop.

Manny Faces:

Like there's a, there's a hip hop way to fix all this.

Manny Faces:

And so, you know.

Manny Faces:

And ask people, I'll, I'll, I'll, I'll land my long plane like this.

Manny Faces:

I ask people at the end of the podcast like, what do you think?

Manny Faces:

Like hip.

Manny Faces:

And some people have pushed back and said, well, maybe America can't be

Manny Faces:

saved, or maybe we don't wanna save it.

Manny Faces:

You know what I mean?

Manny Faces:

Maybe we want something different.

Manny Faces:

Maybe it's not like this structure.

Manny Faces:

And I guess I'm one of, I'm of the, the, the, the I'm of that group that

Manny Faces:

believes that America, if like it ever lived up to its, you know, ideals and

Manny Faces:

we could like, break away from like the crooked, like, you know, what

Manny Faces:

do you say, plant a crooked seed.

Manny Faces:

You get a crooked

Jay Ray:

Right.

Manny Faces:

But

Sir Daniel:

Hmm.

Manny Faces:

can kind of, you know, I, and it on paper pretty decent concept

Manny Faces:

that everyone's equal and, you know, it's, it can all be like this real, um,

Manny Faces:

uh, you know, idyllic kind of place.

Manny Faces:

Now it's never been close to that, but I, and I don't think that anyone, I'll

Manny Faces:

caveat by saying I don't think that hip hop necessarily has all the answers.

Manny Faces:

This book is not titled Solutions.

Manny Faces:

Uh, for the nation, it's inspiration for the nation because I will say

Manny Faces:

that if anyone's qualified to help solve any of these problems, from

Manny Faces:

political to racial divides, to economic issues, to educational

Manny Faces:

disparities, if anyone's equipped to do it, I think the people who are most

Manny Faces:

equipped come from a hip hop mindset.

Manny Faces:

They come from a hip hop background, and so I wanna see more people like us

Manny Faces:

able to, to be in those positions and also to bring up folks under us so that

Manny Faces:

that's amplified instead of squelched.

Jay Ray:

Wow.

Manny Faces:

sense?

Manny Faces:

Did I

Jay Ray:

You, you,

Jay Ray:

you, you answered it times

Jay Ray:

10.

Manny Faces:

all right.

Manny Faces:

So that's

Manny Faces:

what I'm trying to say.

Jay Ray:

Yeah.

Jay Ray:

And, and you hit on a couple of things.

Jay Ray:

So one of the caveats I want to want to add, um, real quick is, and

Jay Ray:

I, it was in getting ready for the show and getting into your book,

Jay Ray:

Manny, that this, um, landed for me.

Jay Ray:

I remember in.

Jay Ray:

It was the early nineties where hip hop is, it's it hitting it to Scent.

Jay Ray:

Ice Cube is about to have the number two death certificate is about to be

Jay Ray:

number two on the billboard charts.

Jay Ray:

Hip hop is huge now.

Jay Ray:

Right.

Jay Ray:

All of a sudden, and the realization was, I was at, I was going to a summer

Jay Ray:

camp we had, uh, these, these rich, uh, white, uh, students that were the,

Jay Ray:

the counselors for at the summer camp.

Jay Ray:

They were all into hip hop.

Jay Ray:

And that to my young mind was like wild.

Jay Ray:

Like, because.

Jay Ray:

of what I, I, I knew hip hop to be.

Jay Ray:

But what I sat with when I was, when I was reflecting on your book is hip

Jay Ray:

hop in so many ways has been like a unifier for like an entire generation

Jay Ray:

of folks where throughout the world it's crazy where you could travel.

Jay Ray:

I remember being in Italy, uh, and so you, I think I told you this

Jay Ray:

story one time and people were in Italy, they don't know any English.

Jay Ray:

'cause I was in a small, uh, town in, in Italy, but they knew hip hop there,

Jay Ray:

you know what I mean?

Jay Ray:

And,

Manny Faces:

right.

Sir Daniel:

Okay.

Manny Faces:

percent.

Jay Ray:

but I didn't think about it kind of as this, knowing it's

Jay Ray:

a global phenomenon, but truly is a u uh, the possibility of

Jay Ray:

being able to unify us in so many

Jay Ray:

ways if we harness the power of it

Jay Ray:

and

Manny Faces:

Correctly

Jay Ray:

correctly.

Sir Daniel:

Right.

Jay Ray:

Yes.

Manny Faces:

And 'cause people, as we know, even in America,

Manny Faces:

white people love the music and,

Jay Ray:

Don't love the people.

Manny Faces:

I get that.

Manny Faces:

Understood.

Manny Faces:

And it's like, I'm not so naive to think that, you know, bring a

Manny Faces:

bunch of races, white people into

Jay Ray:

No,

Manny Faces:

and they're gonna be like, these

Manny Faces:

guys are

Jay Ray:

no,

Manny Faces:

What else's wrong all these years?

Manny Faces:

No.

Jay Ray:

no.

Manny Faces:

Although, I tell an interesting story in the book,

Manny Faces:

my, my People's Gangster Grass who are a bluegrass hip hop band,

Sir Daniel:

Oh, that's, yeah.

Manny Faces:

could go either way.

Jay Ray:

Yes.

Manny Faces:

You know, we, we've seen, we've seen this work badly

Manny Faces:

in the past, Cool j Brad Paceon.

Jay Ray:

Dang.

Manny Faces:

um,

Jay Ray:

We had to remind the people of that Manny.

Manny Faces:

hold on, because, because I wanna show now,

Jay Ray:

Yeah.

Manny Faces:

can work.

Manny Faces:

And again, so my, the guys from Gangstagrass, they actually, and

Manny Faces:

it's wild because True, true, true.

Manny Faces:

Bluegrass like musicians, fantastic bluegrass.

Manny Faces:

S top of the line.

Manny Faces:

then my man, our son, the voice dole, the sleuth from Philly.

Manny Faces:

Philly rappers, spitters together authentically because they,

Manny Faces:

they, it's, we're not slapping us together as a gimmick.

Manny Faces:

We are like, we want the best of the best and we want the best of the best

Manny Faces:

on either side, and we're gonna actually spit these lyrics about racism to

Manny Faces:

all these rednecks in the middle of Kentucky when we go and do these shows.

Jay Ray:

Mm.

Manny Faces:

Fascinating case study.

Manny Faces:

And they're like, no, we go in, we are not gonna sugarcoat it.

Manny Faces:

And a lot of times they're like, well, I don't know about

Jay Ray:

Mm-hmm.

Manny Faces:

my cup of tea.

Manny Faces:

Right?

Manny Faces:

And then, but by the end, I'm not saying they're instantly

Jay Ray:

Right.

Manny Faces:

falling in love, where else would they get,

Jay Ray:

Mm-hmm.

Manny Faces:

where else would they get this example?

Manny Faces:

This, that, that, that unifying force exists in?

Manny Faces:

No, because it doesn't exist anywhere else.

Manny Faces:

You can't find it.

Manny Faces:

They're not gonna, they're not gonna stumble across that

Manny Faces:

anywhere else but in hip hop.

Manny Faces:

So yes.

Manny Faces:

The music, yes.

Manny Faces:

The culture.

Manny Faces:

Yes.

Manny Faces:

The, the, the, the, the remix

Jay Ray:

Mm-hmm.

Manny Faces:

these two things don't go together, but hip hop makes

Manny Faces:

'em go together in a way that,

Manny Faces:

that makes you say, like you said in the beginning, like, I've never seen this

Jay Ray:

Yeah.

Sir Daniel:

Hmm.

Manny Faces:

There's spark in that, and there's something that, that could

Manny Faces:

be, you know, extracted from that.

Manny Faces:

So, no, it's not automatic, but yes, it's in the DNA and if we to be

Manny Faces:

alchemists a little bit, like, I think the answers are there even to Yeah.

Manny Faces:

Yeah.

Manny Faces:

Like racial division, like racism, like I, mm.

Jay Ray:

S sir. So, Daniel, real quick, I just, I'm,

Sir Daniel:

Yeah.

Sir Daniel:

Go.

Jay Ray:

Manny, because I, uh, one of the things, and I'm glad you talked about

Jay Ray:

this early on, like, um, because this book is definitely, uh, uh, academic

Jay Ray:

text, like, but accessible in the same way because of the way you structure

Jay Ray:

the, the, the, the, the arguments that you're making as well as the conversations

Jay Ray:

and those interviews made it like, and it's an accessible read, and that's

Jay Ray:

what I really, I like about it as well.

Jay Ray:

So anybody can pick up this book.

Manny Faces:

listed as a textbook, but it's only because

Manny Faces:

it's on the academic press.

Jay Ray:

Yeah.

Manny Faces:

it's a bunch of interviews, but it's also, like you said, my

Manny Faces:

writing, and so it, it, I, I, I, I meant it to be that way, and I, I I kind

Manny Faces:

of like moan and groan a little bit.

Manny Faces:

That it, it's listed as a textbook.

Manny Faces:

It is, because people were actually using some of my, my, my

Manny Faces:

episodes in co in college classes.

Manny Faces:

So I'm just,

Jay Ray:

No, no, no, and no.

Jay Ray:

And what I was gonna, and that's why I love, 'cause I think it, it, never

Jay Ray:

thought of this until now, but that also kind of demystifies the possibility.

Jay Ray:

'cause people will hear the word, like textbook or academic text and

Jay Ray:

feel like, oh, that's not something that I would be interested in.

Jay Ray:

And I'm here to tell you, like, actually no, you would,

Jay Ray:

you would like be into this.

Jay Ray:

So, um,

Manny Faces:

that.

Jay Ray:

you no problem man.

Jay Ray:

And so the thing that you, um.

Jay Ray:

The thing that comes across very clear is there is the

Jay Ray:

possibilities that exist for hip hop.

Jay Ray:

And you've talked about it several times to be able to, um, help us

Jay Ray:

with a lot of different things.

Jay Ray:

But you've also used the word authenticity and authentically.

Jay Ray:

You use that here and you use it in the book.

Jay Ray:

I, and we have seen it in the past where hop integration

Jay Ray:

is a gimmick all of a sudden.

Jay Ray:

And we can see the

Jay Ray:

gimmick a mile away.

Jay Ray:

Like,

Manny Faces:

Right,

Jay Ray:

is this here?

Jay Ray:

Like, it doesn't, uh, I'm looking at you, Wendy's training from the, from

Jay Ray:

the nineties, which is hilarious to me.

Manny Faces:

I know what you're talking about.

Sir Daniel:

That's a

Manny Faces:

what you talking about.

Jay Ray:

males are memories.

Jay Ray:

Yo, but so

Sir Daniel:

hip hop.

Sir Daniel:

Is this.

Jay Ray:

little right?

Jay Ray:

Wax poetic a little bit.

Manny Faces:

right.

Jay Ray:

If you could wax poetic about how.

Jay Ray:

Integrate hip hop from your perspective and then not be gimmicky.

Jay Ray:

know what I mean?

Jay Ray:

Like how?

Manny Faces:

Yeah.

Manny Faces:

Um, I'm gonna do this a lot 'cause this is all I do is I, I, I'm trying

Manny Faces:

to amplify everyone else, but, um, I, Dr. Gloria Latson Billings is

Manny Faces:

in my book, and she's a, uh, she, she's the one who coined the phrase,

Manny Faces:

culturally relevant pedagogy, right?

Manny Faces:

And so we, again, we're not trying to be academic here.

Manny Faces:

What it means is teaching

Jay Ray:

Mm-hmm.

Manny Faces:

like through their culture, right?

Manny Faces:

But, but she was a, an academic and she, you know, and this is back in the, in

Manny Faces:

the nineties, and, and it, it means like, here's a way to connect to people by not,

Manny Faces:

uh, lumping everybody into Eurocentric outdated ways of teaching in the school.

Manny Faces:

know, these young black kids or these young Hispanic kids, or even

Manny Faces:

these like white kids, they're not teaching, they're not learning the

Manny Faces:

way we learned or, you know, our generation or 30 generations before us.

Manny Faces:

The, the, the lining the schools up in rows, like it's a factory.

Manny Faces:

Like we

Manny Faces:

know all the, all the things.

Manny Faces:

she, she breaks down a lot of, um, what it means to be authentic

Manny Faces:

when you're trying to incorporate hip hop into some of these realms.

Manny Faces:

And some people do it with, you know, good intentions, you know, but they, they don't

Manny Faces:

understand what they're working with.

Manny Faces:

Right.

Manny Faces:

And she has one quote in there where she says, we don't want

Manny Faces:

teachers, for example, just

Jay Ray:

Mm-hmm.

Manny Faces:

tip.

Manny Faces:

We don't want teachers to use hip hop.

Manny Faces:

We want teachers to

Jay Ray:

Be hip hop.

Sir Daniel:

Hmm.

Manny Faces:

That's where the magic happens.

Manny Faces:

But she also talks about, and this is important 'cause I know a lot of

Manny Faces:

white folk that you know, that actually like a couple of 'em in the book, Dr.

Manny Faces:

Andrea

Jay Ray:

Mm-hmm.

Manny Faces:

hip hop, the sociology of hip hop at the University of North Alabama.

Manny Faces:

said it like that 'cause that's exactly where it is and what it's

Jay Ray:

Yeah.

Manny Faces:

the new, so you already know.

Manny Faces:

But she's teaching this to a, you know, sort of majority white

Manny Faces:

students in a red district.

Manny Faces:

And she's teaching the sociology of hip hop.

Manny Faces:

And through that course she's able to like ex, like the black experience

Manny Faces:

comes out in a way that these kids would never have access to.

Manny Faces:

I'm not saying that they shouldn't have or that, you know, this is

Manny Faces:

okay, but it's where it happens.

Manny Faces:

And then they're like, oh, that little light bulbs go on.

Manny Faces:

Like, I really never got exposed to this.

Manny Faces:

And through hip hop, which we can all kind of get down with, even though,

Manny Faces:

like I said, they like the music, they don't always like the people.

Manny Faces:

Well now they start to at least understand the people a little bit.

Jay Ray:

Mm.

Manny Faces:

And Gloria

Manny Faces:

Latson Bil says.

Manny Faces:

Even like these white teachers can do it.

Manny Faces:

They can come in.

Manny Faces:

There's one teacher, she, she, uh, mentions, who, like, he started a

Manny Faces:

curriculum that didn't exist before and she's like, well, that's kind of hip hop.

Manny Faces:

He's like, I've never listened.

Manny Faces:

He's a white guy.

Manny Faces:

I've never listened to hip hop a day in my life.

Manny Faces:

She's like, no, what you're doing is how we say you

Manny Faces:

creating something from nothing.

Manny Faces:

You remixing curriculum.

Manny Faces:

Like that's a hip hop way of thinking.

Jay Ray:

Yes.

Manny Faces:

And so it's not just the music.

Manny Faces:

That's the, the biggest thing I wanna take away from all this is that when we

Manny Faces:

say hip hop, everyone defaults to the

Jay Ray:

Right?

Manny Faces:

the

Manny Faces:

biggest mistake we make.

Manny Faces:

That's the biggest mistake we make.

Manny Faces:

So the authenticity is if you come with the understanding, or at least

Manny Faces:

the respect to learn more, that hip hop is this grand culture that

Manny Faces:

is worldwide, but also American.

Manny Faces:

That's universal, but also black.

Manny Faces:

You know?

Manny Faces:

And if you can understand all that nuance and say, well, how can I work

Manny Faces:

that into what I'm doing, whether I'm white or not, you have an authentic

Manny Faces:

approach to really trying to save.

Manny Faces:

Um.

Manny Faces:

I say save, that word comes up a lot.

Manny Faces:

It's a little hyperbolic.

Manny Faces:

Hip hop is save

Jay Ray:

Mm-hmm.

Manny Faces:

Um, but you're trying to improve the thing that you do in a

Manny Faces:

way that's culturally, uh, respectful.

Manny Faces:

And you could be anybody and do

Jay Ray:

Yeah.

Manny Faces:

also why hip hop has always been this inviting culture

Manny Faces:

that really does welcome you.

Manny Faces:

KRS once said this in a, in a, in a interview, uh, a lecture he did, it's

Manny Faces:

on YouTube, it's in the Netherlands.

Manny Faces:

I quoted in a book where he says, you know, in America we got this

Manny Faces:

thing where Dr. King's, you know, dream of the color of our skin.

Manny Faces:

You know, we get judged by the content of our character, not by the, the,

Manny Faces:

the, uh, the color of our skin.

Manny Faces:

He goes, and that's like the ideal for Americans and for everyone.

Manny Faces:

Like, everyone quotes that and they're like, yeah, that's what we want.

Manny Faces:

And he says, you know, no one in nowhere in the world does that happen.

Manny Faces:

He goes, that doesn't actually happen

Jay Ray:

Right,

Manny Faces:

doesn't happen in America.

Manny Faces:

Nowhere does, does the content of your character take precedence over

Manny Faces:

either the color of your skin or let's just say like your divisions.

Manny Faces:

Right, because you could be Israel Palestine, y'all basically the same,

Jay Ray:

Mm-hmm.

Manny Faces:

people or you know, whatever the case, or that's not a bad example.

Manny Faces:

They're not basically the same people, but you know what I mean?

Manny Faces:

You could be in two very, uh, uh, uh, biologically close,

Manny Faces:

um, you know, relations.

Manny Faces:

But because you have other divides, nationalistic, religious

Sir Daniel:

national, all of that.

Manny Faces:

you never right.

Manny Faces:

You're literally judging that we are the same color of skin, but

Manny Faces:

we are judging you on the con.

Manny Faces:

We're not judging you on the content of our character.

Manny Faces:

We're judging you on some other divisions.

Manny Faces:

He says, nowhere in the world does that happen, except in hip hop.

Jay Ray:

Mm

Manny Faces:

You come in the cipher, respect what the cipher is.

Manny Faces:

You don't even have to participate in a cipher.

Manny Faces:

You can just stand in a cipher and admire it and, and, and, and, and,

Manny Faces:

and, and watch it and clap it up or, or, you know, hype somebody up.

Manny Faces:

you're understanding what this thing is.

Manny Faces:

Doesn't matter if you, what color, what race, what creed.

Jay Ray:

mm

Manny Faces:

even your ideology.

Manny Faces:

'cause that's not gonna come out in that moment.

Manny Faces:

You are welcome here.

Manny Faces:

You respect what we're doing, we respect you back.

Manny Faces:

I don't know, man, like you said, religion, no sports, no.

Manny Faces:

Like where do you see that?

Jay Ray:

Hip hop.

Manny Faces:

does that exist?

Manny Faces:

That's the only, it's the only place I know.

Manny Faces:

So until, until somebody tells me otherwise, I'm really like it,

Manny Faces:

like into this idea that somewhere in that, that existence, because

Manny Faces:

we're talking tonight right now

Jay Ray:

Yes.

Manny Faces:

with our backgrounds, with our identities and we

Jay Ray:

Yep.

Manny Faces:

in different

Jay Ray:

Yep,

Manny Faces:

and have a plethora and a

Jay Ray:

yep,

Manny Faces:

of who we identify as and we cool as a

Jay Ray:

yep.

Manny Faces:

people watching are, are dope and they rocking with

Jay Ray:

Yep.

Manny Faces:

where else is this happening?

Sir Daniel:

Hmm.

Manny Faces:

So, I dunno.

Manny Faces:

So, so yeah, the unifying force, it exists and I just, I, you know, if we

Manny Faces:

spend a little less time, not saying we shouldn't get, you know, 'cause I know

Manny Faces:

we gonna have a pop culture segment.

Manny Faces:

Like it's okay to, you know what I mean?

Manny Faces:

Like, but if we spend a little more time saying.

Manny Faces:

Like the power of this thing of ours, like is, is underestimated, untapped.

Manny Faces:

if you approach it authentically as all the people in my book and the hundreds

Manny Faces:

of people that I've talked to and y'all and people watching, Ooh, we could do

Manny Faces:

some things that are unexpected and very necessary, perhaps now more than

Jay Ray:

Mm.

Manny Faces:

But you gotta come authentic.

Manny Faces:

You gotta come with it.

Manny Faces:

You gotta come right with it.

Sir Daniel:

Well listen, Queue Points, audience, we've had

Sir Daniel:

a very robust conversation.

Sir Daniel:

Um, you absolutely have to get this book

Jay Ray:

Yes.

Sir Daniel:

you do care about not just like we were saying, not

Sir Daniel:

just about hip hop music, but if you care about your community,

Jay Ray:

Mm-hmm.

Sir Daniel:

if you care about community, if you really, really do want to

Sir Daniel:

see an effect, some type of change.

Sir Daniel:

'cause we're always talking ab at the problem and not speaking to the problem.

Sir Daniel:

Like if you really want to do effect that there are some nuggets.

Sir Daniel:

That you can get, that you can get, that a Manny Faces is given to you.

Sir Daniel:

A blueprint someplace to start, you know, in your community like

Sir Daniel:

they did in the rec rooms back in the day to affect some change.

Sir Daniel:

So if you hear the sound of our voice, sorry to take your line

Sir Daniel:

Jay Ray, if you hear the sound of my voice, find this book.

Sir Daniel:

As a matter of fact, Manny Faces, please tell our audience

Sir Daniel:

how they can find the book.

Sir Daniel:

Hip Hop Can Save America and please, um, give them your socials and

Sir Daniel:

how they can, um, maintain contact with you and follow your moves.

Sir Daniel:

Your funky dope moves across this platform, uh, this

Sir Daniel:

worldwide platform that we have.

Manny Faces:

I appreciate that.

Manny Faces:

Um, and, you know, uh, I will, but I just wanna say like,

Manny Faces:

thank you for this time with

Manny Faces:

y'all.

Manny Faces:

As you know, like I was messing with y'all before, you

Jay Ray:

Yes.

Manny Faces:

a book and, uh, just, you know, I love, I love what y'all do and

Manny Faces:

I love that people love what you do.

Manny Faces:

So, um, I'm, I'm a fan before, I'm a guest, so

Jay Ray:

Thank you, brother.

Manny Faces:

Um, so two ways, it's real easy.

Manny Faces:

hiphopcansaveamerica.com or Manny Faces.com.

Manny Faces:

of those places pretty much got the same stuff.

Manny Faces:

hop Save america.com is sort of the hub of the, what I like to call

Manny Faces:

the world's most enlightening hip hop media ecosystem, just humbly.

Manny Faces:

Um, but from there we have the podcast, we have the link to the

Manny Faces:

live stream, my YouTube channel.

Manny Faces:

We have the Discord server, we have the newsletter that I put out on Substack.

Manny Faces:

Some

Jay Ray:

Mm-hmm.

Manny Faces:

Substack, please, you know, follow and do all the things.

Manny Faces:

Um, and, and the book is linked there.

Manny Faces:

Uh, Manny Faces.com is more like me as a, you know, speaker,

Manny Faces:

consultant, you know, journalist.

Manny Faces:

But the book is there.

Manny Faces:

Um, so either of those two places you could find the book, um, it'll take,

Manny Faces:

the link will take it to the same place.

Manny Faces:

You can do one or two things.

Manny Faces:

You could buy a regular old copy from the publisher.

Manny Faces:

That's cool.

Manny Faces:

You can actually find out Amazon, but we are not supporting that.

Manny Faces:

Uh, but then the option on the website when you click it is you can get a

Manny Faces:

signed copy from me for about the same price that you get the regular copy.

Manny Faces:

Um, and then you get a special, um, you get a special gift that's, uh, handcrafted

Manny Faces:

by the world famous baby girl faces.

Manny Faces:

So a little bonus, a little author package for

Jay Ray:

Nice.

Manny Faces:

So there you

Jay Ray:

I love that.

Manny Faces:

Yeah, so Manny Faces.com, hip hop can save america.com.

Manny Faces:

Um, and again, it's not me, like I'm just the face of this, you know, thing,

Manny Faces:

but, uh, just, you know, come, come for the handsomeness, but stay for the

Jay Ray:

Yes,

Sir Daniel:

yes.

Jay Ray:

You gotta hook.

Sir Daniel:

That's You gotta

Jay Ray:

Manny.

Jay Ray:

It's all good.

Manny Faces:

So stupid.

Manny Faces:

Yeah.

Manny Faces:

But yo,

Manny Faces:

this, I got a hundred episode, I got a hundred episodes.

Manny Faces:

I got a hundred episodes with people.

Manny Faces:

That is brilliant.

Manny Faces:

And doing amazing work and yeah, it's definitely for the culture,

Manny Faces:

for the community of the culture.

Manny Faces:

By the culture, for the culture.

Manny Faces:

Like, I don't, and I really mean it, like, you know, sometimes I'm gonna

Manny Faces:

put out a song and be like, yeah, check out my song for the culture.

Manny Faces:

I'm like, it's just a song.

Sir Daniel:

that's all.

Manny Faces:

not doing anything really for any culture.

Manny Faces:

It's

Sir Daniel:

Yeah.

Manny Faces:

out a song and it's nice, whatever.

Manny Faces:

Like if you, you know, find me someone that's not in this like, you

Manny Faces:

know, plethora of folks that I've talked to that aren't like doing

Manny Faces:

life-changing, groundbreaking work.

Manny Faces:

Um, they're out there and we're doing them and, and my job is just to

Manny Faces:

amplify them and signal boost them.

Manny Faces:

So thanks for checking me out.

Manny Faces:

You're

Jay Ray:

Man.

Jay Ray:

Oh man.

Jay Ray:

Manny Faces, thank you so much for coming through and hanging

Jay Ray:

out with us at Queue Points and thank y'all so much for tuning in.

Jay Ray:

If you can see our faces and hear our voices, go ahead and

Jay Ray:

make sure that you subscribe.

Jay Ray:

Share the show with your friends, family, colleagues.

Jay Ray:

If you like the show, chances are, they will like the show too.

Jay Ray:

Make sure that y'all are following Manny Faces.

Jay Ray:

Make wherever all of the platforms 'cause Manny Faces has a lot, a YouTube

Jay Ray:

channel and all of that stuff, so

Manny Faces:

I'm

Jay Ray:

you could be tuning into Manny Faces.

Manny Faces:

Manny Faces and the thing you wanna find

Jay Ray:

Boom.

Manny Faces:

Manny Faces Instagram, Manny Faces OnlyFans may.

Jay Ray:

Wait a minute.

Manny Faces:

Um, no, I'm

Jay Ray:

I didn't know about that one,

Manny Faces:

back.

Sir Daniel:

Listen,

Manny Faces:

yo.

Sir Daniel:

if you

Jay Ray:

it's

Sir Daniel:

outreach is real, outreach is real.

Manny Faces:

mul,

Jay Ray:

you

Manny Faces:

multiple revenue streams

Jay Ray:

right.

Manny Faces:

key.

Manny Faces:

No, go ahead.

Jay Ray:

So two more things.

Jay Ray:

Visit our website Queue Points.com.

Jay Ray:

Um, make sure that you check out Queue Points magazine, um, over on Substack.

Jay Ray:

So y'all, some of y'all are joining us from the Queue Points.

Jay Ray:

Mac, thank you so much.

Jay Ray:

And last but not least, go ahead and shop our store@store.Queue Points.com.

Jay Ray:

We appreciate y'all folks.

Jay Ray:

We love

Sir Daniel:

Sure do,

Jay Ray:

you.

Sir Daniel:

sure do.

Sir Daniel:

Buy us.

Sir Daniel:

a coffee.

Jay Ray:

Buy

Sir Daniel:

You know, listen, many coffees,

Manny Faces:

Coffees.

Jay Ray:

Many

Manny Faces:

Man,

Manny Faces:

I'll tell you that my, my puns, my puns make you say this.

Manny Faces:

This is perhaps the highlight of this long and painful and torturous night.

Manny Faces:

So anyway,

Jay Ray:

Listen,

Jay Ray:

Manny Faces is a true professional.

Jay Ray:

You see how quickly he had that

Jay Ray:

soundbite?

Sir Daniel:

had it queued up and ready to go up and ready.

Manny Faces:

Queue Points.

Manny Faces:

I gotta cue it up.

Manny Faces:

Listen,

Manny Faces:

y'all are so dope, and, uh, I appreciate y'all so much, man.

Manny Faces:

Yeah, I, I, everyone support what y'all doing.

Manny Faces:

It's, uh, you know, brilliant work and I appreciate you and your

Manny Faces:

whole backend, like, you know, doing all the things we gotta

Jay Ray:

Yeah.

Manny Faces:

of time.

Manny Faces:

So

Jay Ray:

Thank you.

Manny Faces:

easy,

Sir Daniel:

Thank you.

Manny Faces:

Listen, we should do this more

Jay Ray:

Yes.

Sir Daniel:

Absolutely.

Sir Daniel:

But what?

Sir Daniel:

you know?

Sir Daniel:

what guys?

Sir Daniel:

So what do I say at the end of every night?

Sir Daniel:

What do we do in this life?

Sir Daniel:

You have a choice.

Sir Daniel:

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

Sir Daniel:

I'm DJ Sir Daniel,

Jay Ray:

I am Jay Ray,

Jay Ray:

that's

Sir Daniel:

this is,

Jay Ray:

faces.

Manny Faces:

faces

Sir Daniel:

and this has been Queue Points podcast, dropping

Sir Daniel:

the needle on black music history.

Sir Daniel:

We will see you on the next go round.

Sir Daniel:

All right, y'all.

Sir Daniel:

Peace.

Sir Daniel:

We out.

Jay Ray:

your.

Manny Faces:

appreciate y'all.

Manny Faces:

Peace.

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About the Podcast

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Queue Points

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About your hosts

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DJ Sir Daniel

DJ Sir Daniel is a DJ/Selector and part of Atlanta's, all-vinyl crew, Wax Fundamentals. Co-host of the Queue Points podcast, he is an advocate for DJ culture and is passionate about creating atmospheres of inclusivity and jubilation from a Black perspective.

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Jay Ray

Johnnie Ray Kornegay III (Jay Ray) is a podcast consultant and co-host and producer of Queue Points, the Ambie Award-nominated podcast that drops the needle on Black music history. In addition to his duties at Queue Points, he is the Deputy Director of Strategy and Impact for CNP (Counter Narrative Project). A photographer, creative consultant and social commentator, Jay Ray's work is centered around a commitment to telling full and honest stories about communities often ignored.