Queue Points 1-On-1: Kyriacos Talks Houston, Vinyl, and Concert Culture

DJ Sir Daniel: 00:00:16

Greetings and welcome to another episode of Queue Points Podcast. I'm DJ Sir Daniel and my name.

Jay Ray: 00:00:22

Is J. Ray, sometimes known by my government as Johnnie Ray Kornegay III and Sir Daniel, this is fun. We're about to do something we have never done before.

DJ Sir Daniel: 00:00:31

That's right, Jay Ray, we have company. And the thing is we, we know that the success of this podcast of Queue Points Podcast is based solely on community.

The success of any podcast is built on community.

And we have the pleasure of having a village of people that are just as knowledgeable and just as enthusiastic about speaking upon about music and things of that nature, just like we are. And so we've decided to do something a little different. We're trying it out. Our guest is our guinea pig and that's fine.

Jay Ray: 00:01:12

Oh, and we couldn't pick a better one because listen, pick a better one.

DJ Sir Daniel: 00:01:17

And on top of that, he has a built in fan base so good for us that we have all the people showing up this evening. The new, a lot of new people. And I knew faces. And thank you for being here. If you're here for our guest, thank you for showing up for him.

Make sure you hit that subscribe button so you follow us from here on out. But Jay Ray, let them know what, what, what we're embarking on this particular episode of Queue Points Podcast.

Jay Ray: 00:01:40

Yeah. So one of the things that we are very excited about is just connecting with folks.

And so we of course do a lot of topics on Queue Points and what we are doing that's new is what we're calling our Queue Points. One on one it is when y' all get the opportunity to come on the show and talk to us.

So we get the opportunity to talk to you about music, what you love, what you're not so loving, and y' all can even ask us questions. So it's like a super exciting new project that we're excited to launch and we're excited that our guest has decided to come on board. So let's do.

Let's. We should get into this thing. Let's, let's launch in to our first Queue Points One on one. Kyriakos is here with us, creative DJ and free spirit.

And welcome in to Queue Points Kiriakos. What's happening out of the chat, onto the screen.

DJ Sir Daniel: 00:02:40

Onto the screen. And if you couldn't tell by the 10 gallon hat hailing from what? Houston, Texas. Am I right?

Kyriacos: 00:02:48

Houston, Absolutely. What other city would there be like, hello.

DJ Sir Daniel: 00:02:55

So greetings and welcome to Queue Points Kyriacos. Thank you for Joining us.

Kyriacos: 00:02:59

Hey, y' all. Hey, y' all. I feel like. I feel like I'm in a space with my big cousins right now.

Jay Ray: 00:03:06

That's what we be trying to do. You are.

DJ Sir Daniel: 00:03:10

You absolutely are. And it's so funny because support is a verb. I say that all the time. Right.

And I have to say that we talking about our day ones, and Kyriakos is definitely one of our day ones. You know, he's got pieces from the. From the Queue Points store. He's. I can't tell you how many text messages I receive from him checking out a show.

Maybe. Maybe not live during. While it's on, but I'll get a text message from him saying, you know, you crazy, right? Or, you know, I'm in here howling.

And, you know, he'll. He'll send you those messages just to let you know that he is, in fact, watching and enjoying and sharing the content.

So, you know, first and foremost, thank you for that. Thank you for being a supporter, an active supporter.

Kyriacos: 00:04:04

Y' all are welcome. Y' all are welcome. You know, it's my perfect weekend activity while ascending into the clouds. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, see, I. I use.

I use my YouTube subscription very well. Yeah, yeah. We do pay for YouTube Premium.

Jay Ray: 00:04:25

And I. We love that we get the chance to be part of, like, when you're having a moment, you know, we. That's what we create the show to do. And I.

One of the things. I still remember this. There was.

You were traveling, and there was, like, the Queue Points bag, and we got a picture of that bag, and you were just out and about doing. It was holiday stuff, and so it was just really, really dope.

Kyriacos: 00:04:49

So, yeah, those bags are very durable. Yes, that's what they are.

DJ Sir Daniel: 00:04:56

Absolutely. And I can tell you this from, you know, personal experience. One of the things that Kyriakos and I connected on is our love of vinyl.

And so we have been vinyl shopping when he's come here to. To Atlanta. We've hit up the. The. All the spots, the vinyl spots. I think, as a matter of fact, you know what, Jay, right? I just remembered this.

Kyriakos was there at the very first, one of my very first vinyl sets at JB's Record Lounge. Nice with taste the music.

Yeah, that was one of the very first times he came into this, came into town, and he came with a bunch of our friends, and they. They rated, you know, JB's Record Lounge's selections. And while they were shopping, that was my very first vinyl set at JB's Record Lounge.

So we got history. We got history over here.

Kyriacos: 00:05:52

Do you know I got. Do you know I. I got the catching auto record for really cheap that day, too. See?

DJ Sir Daniel: 00:05:59

See? Friendship.

Kyriacos: 00:06:01

Because the re. The retail prices were a bit much elsewhere, but that price was right in jb.

I'm glad I didn't get a chance to stop and go when I came back to Atlanta back in March. Was that March? It was March. But next time I swing around, I'll be popping through.

Jay Ray: 00:06:20

Yo, this is bringing up a question now. So for you, Kyriakos, like, I had to rediscover vinyl. Music has always been part of my life. But of course, I moved to CDs decades ago. Right.

And especially when I started driving, it was cassettes. Then it was like CDs and then MP3s. And I rediscovered.

And I think, Sir Daniel, you were part of kind of this rediscovery of vinyl, which maybe happened like seven or eight years ago, where I really started to collect again for you. When did you discover that, you know, vinyl was important, or was it just always important for your music collection?

Kyriacos: 00:07:04

So my daddy had this, I would say a small collection in our living room when we were growing up. And it was in this. It had, like, a glass lid on top of it, and it just looked very fancy.

And it had the subwoofer, it had the tuner and all that stuff on it. And it was kind of just like, oh, this is like a rite of passage, like.

But after a while, pretty much, once we got older, he can only turn that stereo system on when he was cleaning the house because he would always play Magic 102. That is the station here in Houston. So that kind of awakened my curiosity about vinyl. But also the sound quality is infinitely better than digital.

Jay Ray: 00:07:47

Yeah.

Kyriacos: 00:07:48

And I don't buy every record on vinyl, but there are certain things where you listen to it, like on Apple music, and then you just happen to pick it up in the record store and it just sounds better on vinyl. Yeah. I'm an audio file, basically.

Jay Ray: 00:07:59

Yeah. Yeah.

DJ Sir Daniel: 00:08:02

And so that leads me to this. So you. The fact that you. It's your dad and his collection that got you interested in vinyl.

Tell us about one of the things I don't notice, I've always noticed about Kiriako's, is that his taste runs a lot deeper than. It does not necessarily reflect his age. It runs a lot deeper than his age.

And so talk to us about the importance of not just your dad, but your older siblings and how their taste in music influenced you and the things that you listen to and opening you up to different eras of music.

Kyriacos: 00:08:45

My brother is probably watching now. But growing up, he would always, like, listen to chopping screw music, which is something that originate here in Houston.

Jay Ray: 00:08:56

Yep.

Kyriacos: 00:08:56

So he would always have like little. Little burnt CDs of that, but he would also have like, like Genuine and Earth, Wind and Fire.

And these were just like, CDs he would, like, randomly get from his girlfriend. And so because he had a copy of it, I would make myself a copy of all this stuff.

And this was around the time, like, file sharing was, like, a thing and message boards were things. So I was like a teenager just sitting online on message boards, just like discovering stuff all day. Really?

Jay Ray: 00:09:30

Yeah. Yeah. So, okay, to that point, then. That leads us right in then. So growing up, who would you say your favorite artist was?

And the question is, who's your favorite artist of the moment and why? So who is you? Who do you remember being, like, one of your earliest favorite artists? And then who's your favorite artist of the moment now and why?

Kyriacos: 00:09:55

It was always Destiny's Child for me as a kid. I grew up in the Y2K age, so everybody was like, in a. It was very much boy bands.

DJ Sir Daniel: 00:10:05

And you're a TRL group.

Kyriacos: 00:10:08

Yeah, yeah, I was a TRL kid. I was one of the super kid, too. What else? Yeah, it was. It was just. I grew up in an age where, like, there was Anthony Hamilton, there was like.

There was always bet soul playing. So I would always just, like, learn, like, the Bobby Browns and the Patti labelles.

n Houston. That was, like, in: 2001

Jay Ray: 00:10:43

That's amazing. Like, that's a very high bar when you hear them sing because their mics be on. It's a different experience.

Kyriacos: 00:10:53

And it was cool because, like, the rodeo at the time, before they built the new stadium here in Houston, it was always. They always did the concerts inside the Astronomer.

So the Astronomer really wasn't built for great sound at the time because it was built more like the 60s. But, yeah, that. That's how I got hooked to, like, different types of stuff. And my mom would always keep me.

She would always take me to, like, gospel, like, stage plays and stuff. And that's how I learned that, like, James Moore, like, the gospel singer. My mama put me onto a lot of gospel. My dad hooked me onto a lot of soul.

When my brother also introduced me to rap and hip hop and R and b. To a certain degree. As for my current artists, I have a couple of them and I need to refer to my notes, please.

Jay Ray: 00:11:39

We wanna know who you helping us out too. Cause listen, I'm an UNC now. It be like some people, my cousins be talking, telling me about folks. I'm like, I literally have no idea who that is.

Please play them.

Kyriacos: 00:11:52

My hugest favorite right now is this guy named El Me. If you follow me on Instagram, I'm usually always like reposting one of his like posts or him singing.

He's from the uk, I think London or somewhere in England. But he has like a really soulful sound that's like reminiscent of Stevie and like d' Angelo, but in a millennial or.

I don't know what generation is, but I'm just saying millennial. But there's like a huge like Stevie and d' Angelo influence and his sound that I like and it. Else.

It also just sounds very warm for it to be digital, which I like. What else, Flo? Another girl group out of the uk. I love them. I saw them like two weeks ago.

Here was two or three weeks ago here in Houston at the House of Blues and the mics were on. I didn't ever doubt the mics were. Were like not on. But the mics were hot. They were very, very hot.

I love them because they remind me of my childhood with Destiny's Child and girl groups when we had those. When those were a thing and then my. I guess my third favorite would be Gavin Turek. She's like a disco kind of. Yeah, I love her. I love Gavin.

I think she's from la. Her style reminds me of like if Tina Marie, like leaned into like disco real hard.

Jay Ray: 00:13:24

That's a great like on the pop edge.

Kyriacos: 00:13:28

And I, I enjoy that. She. I kind of got to know of her from when she was. I think she still plays in the band with Mayor Hawthorne.

Mayor Hawthorne and Jake Bruno for that band Tuxedo. And she. She does like backgrounds and stuff for them. I still want to catch a show from them, but they haven't been to Texas.

I don't think they've ever been to Texas, but I'd have to travel for that. But I love Gavin. I love Gavin so much.

DJ Sir Daniel: 00:13:55

So what I hear a lot of is that you also, not only are you taking in your music on the various platforms, digital platforms that we have, but you're an avid, and I do mean avid concert goer. Like, if you follow Kiriako's, you are good. There's going to Be a season where there is a Instagram story of him at some show.

Jay Ray, I think the funniest Instagram story I ever saw. I think he already knows what I'm about to say because he's wearing her shirt now.

When Janet first did her residency in Vegas, you know, clearly he was there at the concert, but I could not hear anything Janet was saying on top of all the screaming that Kyriakos was doing. But I couldn't even. But I couldn't even be mad at him because I don't know how I would have reacted at seeing Janet live in person. What is.

So recently, I saw a report and I saw things about a lot of. Especially the younger people are not afraid to shell out money for concerts and for live experiences. What is your barometer?

And when it comes to shows and is there. Are you all. Are you the type that's like, you know, I don't care what it costs. I'm gonna go. Or are you in a. In a place now where you're like, o.

I'm not gonna be able to. I'm not gonna do that one, but I'm gonna do this. Or are you just. I'm just going to whoever I feel like going to when it comes to concerts.

Kyriacos: 00:15:39

So first of all, I want to say thank you to the park MGM for their cucumber cooler.

Jay Ray: 00:15:46

That's what got you screaming.

Kyriacos: 00:15:50

At a Janet Jackson concert. It's a really great drink. It had, like, rose petals and all kind of cool stuff in it made with Jen. That's. That says enough.

DJ Sir Daniel: 00:16:01

Say less. General making. What?

Jay Ray: 00:16:04

Yes.

Kyriacos: 00:16:05

Squeal at a Janet concert.

Jay Ray: 00:16:09

My brother is watching.

Kyriacos: 00:16:14

I. So when it comes to concerts for me, I. So I listen to the stuff, obviously through, like, Apple Music or my personal collection a lot.

And I love to hear. I love the spontaneity of live music. So I, I, I love. For example, I went to go see Trombone Shorty a couple weeks ago with Tank and the Bangers.

Jay Ray: 00:16:38

Yeah.

Kyriacos: 00:16:38

And, like, in the middle of the set, like, what's his name? Manny Fresh popped out just, like, randomly. So I. I love that. To just go and never know who I'm gonna see or that kind of thing.

Even when I want to go see Omar back in, like, January in New York.

Jay Ray: 00:16:56

Yeah.

Kyriacos: 00:16:57

I randomly didn't know Washington was gonna be there. That was a good surprise. So it's just like, for me, it's the. It's not only is it hearing music played live, but also the spectacle, but also the.

The surprise of, you don't know you know, you're going to go see your. Whoever you love to play music or sing music. I think that's what it is. Yeah. But when it comes to the pricing of, like, concerts. I'm sorry.

For example, I've learned Ticketmaster's trick is they, like, overprice people on the resale, I guess, so they can make a nice chunk of money before the concert. But if you wait till like, maybe like a month, if not like a week before or two days before, you can get some really cheap tickets.

Jay Ray: 00:17:49

Okay.

Kyriacos: 00:17:50

I kind of tested that theory out last year when I went to go see Madonna. And like, we all know Madonna charges, like, ridiculous prices, like, for no matter where you're sitting for a show.

And I got a ticket for, like, less than $100. And it was a really great seed.

Jay Ray: 00:18:08

Nice.

Kyriacos: 00:18:09

Same thing happened, like, two weeks later when I went to go see Missy Elliot here at the Toyota Center. Actually, both of them was at Toyota Center. Like, it was the same thing.

I waited till the day of around like 4 o' clock, and I got a ticket for, like, less than a hundred dollars. So it's. I, I think it's like a game in a way that these promoters and ticket companies are playing that. I mean, the.

So the shows probably will sell out.

Jay Ray: 00:18:37

Yeah.

Kyriacos: 00:18:38

But, yeah, it's a game. I just think it's an easier way out.

DJ Sir Daniel: 00:18:46

I'll just say, speaking of the game, like, are you. Well, clearly you are merch person.

Jay Ray: 00:18:52

Yeah.

DJ Sir Daniel: 00:18:52

But do you feel like we hear who is it, little brother complaining about how these companies are gouging them, the artists on everything they want a piece of everything. When you hear about stuff like that, does it influence, you know, your, your spending power when you go to see your favorite.

Kyriacos: 00:19:18

I look at it this way.

I know that I don't know everybody's finances, but I try to support, you know, the bartender, but also the merch table, but also take it to go see the show. I listen to the music, but, you know, again, I love the live experience. But I also know that they're not really making money on streaming.

So if I have the ability to get, like a physical copy of an album, whether that be before I get to the show or if I'm at the show. Yeah, I try to support.

Jay Ray: 00:19:48

Yeah.

DJ Sir Daniel: 00:19:49

Wow.

Kyriacos: 00:19:49

And then I know, like, sometimes I'm sorry. And I know sometimes artists do, like, exclusive merch at their show. So I never really know. I just still buy it if it's. If it's good.

I will say a lot of people's Merch is starting to suck for some reason. I don't know if it's because, like, companies are taking over, but a lot of the merch is starting to suck.

Jay Ray: 00:20:09

Well. Oh, that's a whole. You're.

I think there's probably a reason for that, too, is because, you know, when trying to maximize the profit, too, there's probably a lot of the same types of things from the same types of companies that a lot of people are doing for the merch.

DJ Sir Daniel: 00:20:24

So.

Jay Ray: 00:20:25

Yeah, you know what? I like the type of merch, and I'm curious to know if this is true for you too. I love it. If I could get, like, an exclusive vinyl at a show.

Like, I have a.

I have several, like, back there that, like, is a vinyl that, like, oh, we're only selling these at our shows, and they might have, like, a special sleeve or something like that. I like stuff like that because that's like, oh, yeah, I can't get this anywhere else.

Kyriacos: 00:20:49

Sometimes I do buy those. I know for Cali Uchi's last album, like, the last two, she did, like, deluxe covers, which she only sold them through her Webster.

I generally don't like buying from web stores. The shipping is starting to be a bit steep.

Jay Ray: 00:21:07

That's real.

Kyriacos: 00:21:09

Like, I want to support, but if I can get something, I'd rather just go ahead and just buy the record from or the merch from a local record shop. Because here in Houston, we have, like, a couple of them. But I go to.

There's one called Serious Sound, and then there's another called Cactus that I go to a lot. Okay. Like, I prefer Cactus because Cactus always has, like, really cool, like, in store, like, shows.

Like, for example, the Day Before I Saw Flow last month, Kurongman did like, a record store day kickoff set inside of Cactus. That was such a vibe.

Jay Ray: 00:21:41

Yeah. Okay. This is. Actually, you brought.

You brought up a couple of things that I think lead into this too, because one of the things you've also expressed is you have a diverse palette. Right. You are watching music evolve and change. Right. Is there anything that you have noticed that's kind of like a trend in the industry today?

Kyriacos: 00:22:16

There started to be a lot more incorporation of jazz and hip hop, which I like. Like, they're starting to mix a lot more.

And collaborations like, for example, like how Robert Glasper did the collaboration with Kay Chernado a couple years ago. I have that vinyl behind me, actually.

present in A lot of the early: 2000

Jay Ray: 00:22:48

Yeah.

Kyriacos: 00:22:50

A lot of people love K Pop. I don't really get it. That's something we're talking about. I don't get it.

DJ Sir Daniel: 00:22:56

Truly. Listen, take it from uncle over here. I'm truly trying to understand. Help us understand.

Kyriacos: 00:23:04

We.

DJ Sir Daniel: 00:23:05

We're gonna address that in another episode soon, but please go ahead.

Kyriacos: 00:23:08

To me, it's just basically the poor man's version of R B. And I get that a lot. R B artists and writers, they're getting more money now. Well, they're getting paid overseas. I get it.

Why they're, like, crafting these hits for these people. But I. I want the real thing. I don't want, you know, people. I. I don't want. I don't like to play the race card, but I don't. I don't want people.

I don't want to, like, support people that learn how to be a pop star by going to camp and watching. Like, I. I don't know. Just. It just sucks. Like, yeah, K Pop, J Pop, all of it. Y' all can do that. Yeah, it feels very.

DJ Sir Daniel: 00:23:49

Yeah, I don't like it.

Kyriacos: 00:23:50

And then the vocals sound just as machining and cold and hollow.

Jay Ray: 00:23:55

You're like, well, what did they teach you at this camp? Because this don't even sound hot, right?

Kyriacos: 00:23:59

How to steal from black people, baby.

Jay Ray: 00:24:02

Now that I've seen Sinners, I have so many things right. Seen it.

DJ Sir Daniel: 00:24:08

Yes. Jay Ray has finally seen Sinners, So.

Jay Ray: 00:24:10

We'Re gonna do a show about it, y' all. We're gonna do it now. Now that I've seen it.

Kyriacos: 00:24:15

I love the juke joint. That was a great scene.

DJ Sir Daniel: 00:24:19

So Kyriakos in. I want to go back to. I want to revisit your home state, your hometown, and just tell us. We hear a lot about.

When you're outside of a city, people make a lot of assumptions and about certain cities, I know. God knows. I've heard everything about Atlanta and have seen all the. The hot takes about Atlanta online.

But as far as Houston and the music scene, what is. Is there anything that is native to Houston? I know you brought up Chopped and Screwed, but is there anything.

Any musical trends that's native to Houston that the Queue Points audience needs to know about? And is there anybody popping in Houston that we. That you think we're going to hear from a lot more from in the future?

Kyriacos: 00:25:17

maybe two years ago, like, in: 2023

And this was like, maybe a month or two before his album Nina came out, which is actually really good. I don't know what Nina is. Stands for, but that's the name of the album's Nina. But Jack Freeman is really great. I highly recommend him.

He's like, a really good R B artist. I think there's some relation with him and, like, Fun Beast Camp. Okay. But he's. He makes really, really great music that I love.

There's a song called MVP that I Am. I need somebody in Houston to do, like, a shopping screw remix because that song is so great.

It's like, it feels like something that your granddaddy would play on, like a Saturday morning while shining the Cadillac.

DJ Sir Daniel: 00:26:13

Yes.

Jay Ray: 00:26:14

That's such a visual.

DJ Sir Daniel: 00:26:15

That is specific. Yes.

Kyriacos: 00:26:18

It's really current and it's fresh and, like, I could see it being played with, like, the boots on the ground sound that everybody mama loves right now. Like, it could easily fit into that groove. Yeah, I gotta play this. Actually.

Jay Ray: 00:26:34

You got a playlist? Listen, if you have a playlist, can we share it with our folks? Is it public? Like, can you. Can you.

Kyriacos: 00:26:40

Yeah, yeah. It's Apple. Apple Music Play. But I can also add it on Spotify. There's another guy named Jay Wy. I think he lives in LA now, but he's from Houston.

His music reminds me of, like, if Frank Ocean Gave a Damn Damn.

DJ Sir Daniel: 00:27:00

Has that ship sailed? Is the general consensus, like, okay, Frank, keep it like you. You know, for me, it has.

Kyriacos: 00:27:08

For me, it has that ship filled. I don't know. I don't know. It just got weird.

Jay Ray: 00:27:14

To quote, Listen, dad, those last projects are a decade old now. It's crazy.

Kyriacos: 00:27:22

So I don't. I don't give artists too much grief about taking a long time between releases because we got Black Messiah, which was amazing.

Jay Ray: 00:27:30

Listen. Yeah, we needed it when we got.

Kyriacos: 00:27:33

I give the people their time, you know, to record. But the singles and stuff that Frank was putting out, it's just like, I don't like you. So I've.

Lately, it's crazy enough you mention it or I mentioned it. I have been going back and spending Channel Orange a lot lately, and I do own his. His vinyl Endless. Only because it has Jasmine Sullivan on it.

I do own that. Yes. So I. I support. You know, even though I may not rock with the people, sometimes, I still give them my money. So.

Jay Ray: 00:28:03

Yeah, we definitely want to share that playlist. Can I ask a quick. So for those of who might be joining. I mean, it's Queue Points. So a lot of people may know this.

How would you describe chopped and screwed to somebody who'd never heard it before?

Kyriacos: 00:28:22

Ethereal.

Jay Ray: 00:28:24

Ethereal.

Kyriacos: 00:28:25

Yeah.

Jay Ray: 00:28:25

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Kyriacos: 00:28:27

So for me, I would say the. Maybe the. The closest the mainstream probably could get to that, outside of Victoria Monet using I Look good and all that stuff.

DJ Sir Daniel: 00:28:39

Right.

Kyriacos: 00:28:39

I would say the closest person that probably touched on it to give it, like a mainstream feel was salons with. When I get home, that that's how I feel about chopping school. It's like, you either get it or you don't. Either way, life still goes on.

People still gonna love it.

Jay Ray: 00:28:55

Yeah.

Kyriacos: 00:28:56

And that. That's. That's what chopped and spruce is for me. And that's also how I feel about when I get home.

DJ Sir Daniel: 00:29:00

So.

Jay Ray: 00:29:01

Ethereal.

Kyriacos: 00:29:02

Okay.

Jay Ray: 00:29:02

I love that. I love.

Kyriacos: 00:29:04

Yeah. Cause like, if you, like, randomly, like, search like on Spotify or Apple Music, some people, they probably illegally uploaded it, but there's some.

Some, you know, chopped and screw gospel. Chopped and screw. Like.

Jay Ray: 00:29:19

I want that.

Kyriacos: 00:29:21

Yeah. Or you can just search on YouTube too.

DJ Sir Daniel: 00:29:27

Hands. We raising up them hands. Rolling on.

Jay Ray: 00:29:30

See, that's hot already, sir. Daniel.

Kyriacos: 00:29:33

See, honestly, if you just wanted to, like, get like, something that's like mainstream, the Chop Stars, which is like a collectible DJs here in Houston that do chop music, they have an app called Chop My Slop. They also broadcast on SiriusXM. I think on Drake's channel, they have some kind of show there. You can also check it out there.

Like, chop music, Chocolate Screen music is everywhere. Okay. But I say definitely download the chop, not slop out because they. I know at one point, the way I discovered it was because they.

They chopped and screw some lunches when I get home. And now they. I'm actually scrolling out. They have, like a bunch of different mixtapes. Like, they don't have gorilla stuff in there right now.

And like Kendrick Lamar, like, anything that you could think is, like, mainstream or something that's like a bit underground, you can just download the top not slot. It's literally called Chop My slot.

Jay Ray: 00:30:27

That's dope.

DJ Sir Daniel: 00:30:29

Real quick. You just. You just brought up Drake's name. So now in that whole debacle, I.

Jay Ray: 00:30:37

Wasn'T gonna touch it.

DJ Sir Daniel: 00:30:38

The whole debacle.

Last summer, one of the things that came up so, like, here in atl, you know, there were shots about Drake coming here to Atlanta for clout, and there were shots about Drake going. Being in Houston for clout as well. As a Houstonian, as a Houston hottie, do you agree with that statement?

Kyriacos: 00:31:04

I just want to put something out on the table for the people. Drake owns property. And Katie. Katie is not Houston. Katie is the birds of Houston.

Jay Ray: 00:31:15

Let the people know.

Kyriacos: 00:31:16

I mean, he probably. He probably. At one point, he used to hang out at V live on Richmond, like the Ship Club, before I got shot up. I think he shot a video there. And I.

I know that one time when I was working in the Galleria, he was. He was shooting that one video, Cheese Day Factory in the Galleria. But I don't really. Drake fell off for me after.

Nothing was the same, and I'll just leave it at that. He's not a Houstonian. He's a grifter.

DJ Sir Daniel: 00:31:41

He's a drifter.

Jay Ray: 00:31:42

He's a grifter. Okay, so, Karaokos, we do want to give you time to ask us anything that you want to ask us, whatever that might be, but before we do that.

So this is before when we were setting up. You have that Maxwell album right over your head. What's your favorite Maxwell album? I'm really curious.

Kyriacos: 00:32:10

Embria.

Jay Ray: 00:32:11

That's my favorite. I knew that we was friends. Like, that's my favorite Maxwell record. And I will die on that Hill. Embry is my favorite too.

Kyriacos: 00:32:20

I will pull it out, but it's a little low behind me right now, unfortunately.

Jay Ray: 00:32:24

Thank you, Kyriakos.

Kyriacos: 00:32:25

I have everything alphabetized back here.

Jay Ray: 00:32:27

I know Kyriakos was going to say that, but I will die on the Hill. That Maxwell's Ibria is my favorite Maxwell record. It's just an interesting.

Kyriacos: 00:32:35

I have a reason why, though, and I posted about it actually on Blue sky, like yesterday or day before yesterday. Everything in the mainstream sounds like Embryo now. Like, speaking of which, Drake, like, a lot of chords and production style.

Drake's people definitely took from Maxwell's Embryo. Like, even the vibey singers that everybody.

DJ Sir Daniel: 00:32:57

Loves, that's Embryo and, you know, leave it to project. That came out in, what, 98.

Jay Ray: 00:33:05

98. 90.

DJ Sir Daniel: 00:33:06

Yeah, I will say. And. And so I have my. I have my favorite cuts on that album also. But I will say the biggest thing I took away from that album was.

Was getting my hair braided like that.

Jay Ray: 00:33:21

And then there was a lot of swimming in the.

DJ Sir Daniel: 00:33:24

I had the bus down in the middle with the. With the tie and then the risk flowing out, you know, Maxwell, listen, you.

Kyriacos: 00:33:32

Should have been sponsored by Shea Moisture. I'm telling you.

DJ Sir Daniel: 00:33:34

Not only is Matt. Was Max. Is Maxwell a. A vocal giant and, you know, just a. A Superstar in that. In that aspect. But he is a hair icon. He is a hair influencer.

But shout out to everybody in the chat. We see jt, we see K. Gil. Ain't seen Gil in a second. Thank you for joining us. Also here on Instagram, we got Uncle Kip in the chat.

Tuju Fresh Mike Music, Eclectic Music Vibes, who is killing the vinyl game. You know, I thought I was doing something, but he's really doing it. But now, as J. Ray said, Kyriakos, now's the time for.

As a Queue Points listener, Queue Points supporter. Now's your chance to put us in the hot seat or just, you know, pick our brains and ask us anything that you have on your heart right now.

Kyriacos: 00:34:31

So when are y' all gonna, like, launch yalls, like, lecture course to these universities? Cause y' all give away a lot of vital information that is well produced. And yeah, y' all need. That wasn't a question. That was more like a demand.

But when are y' all doing that?

DJ Sir Daniel: 00:34:52

It's funny, we've. That's not the first time we've heard that. It's not the first time we've heard that. And when we participate in. In panels and do live events, that.

That's something that is. Is said to us and is dropped in our spirits quite often. So, I don't know, it's like, how do we get on? But no, we've talked about this, J.

Ray, about getting on somebody's campus. Especially, like here in Atlanta. There's, you know, we got the H. The whole auc.

Jay Ray: 00:35:25

Yeah.

DJ Sir Daniel: 00:35:26

And in Pennsylvania, in Philly. There's plenty of schools there.

Kyriacos: 00:35:31

Listen, Quest Love can be the only one doing lectures.

Jay Ray: 00:35:35

You know, real talk. And I mean, just using that as a model. It's so funny.

Cause I think the last time we had this conversation, we had seen Quest do something and we were like this. You know what I mean? It was just like. And I'm sure. So I call Sir Daniel when I have a thing and he'll text me when he has a. I'm sure I called.

Cause I saw Quest do something. But thank you for that. That is something that we absolutely have the capacity to do and we must do. So.

You may not know this, Kyriakos, but this also brings up when we ended up in that high school class with Marcus, who I talked to last weekend, actually was sharing Queue Points with his class, and they had to do like a report on Queue Points, which was, like, crazy to me. He couldn't share the report, but it was. He could Share the reports. But it was dope knowing that that happened. So thank you for that.

We need to make that happen.: 2026

DJ Sir Daniel: 00:36:36

Absolutely doing something.

Kyriacos: 00:36:38

And we don't need excuses. We don't need excuses about DEI hires either.

Jay Ray: 00:36:42

We don't need no excuses about DEI hire.

DJ Sir Daniel: 00:36:46

So if anything, we have connected and plugged into the. To the university system. You know, please, please reach out, bring us in. You know, we'll fly. We're not afraid of flying.

We'll come in and we'll talk seriously.

Jay Ray: 00:37:00

We'll fly to educate.

Kyriacos: 00:37:03

We can get y' all a rider made up too. Listen, they can follow y' all. Yeah, y' all could be flew down.

DJ Sir Daniel: 00:37:10

I'm here for it. So talking about just a couple things that have happened over the past week.

Of course, we're still, we're still getting over the Met Gala on Monday night. Please, please check out the latest episode of Queue Points where Jay Ray and I chop it up about our fave music industry dandies.

And we, we let do what we like to do.

We give a list, we come up with our own list of who we feel like are the most impactful or the dandiest of the dandies in the music industry over the pat. Over the decades. And we talk about that. But Kiriako's.

When it comes to the idea of dandyism and just expressing oneself through dress, off the top of your head, who do you feel like fits that the most? It doesn't have to be anybody that was there at the.

The gala that night, but when you think of somebody who just has impeccable style, who comes to your mind and who. Who do you give it up to?

Kyriacos: 00:38:21

So when I saw Zendaya's outfit, I know everybody thought I. I don't know if it was said that she took inspiration from Diana Ross for her outfit, but it made me think of Tina Turner.

There's like this one picture of Tina Turner, if you, like googled it. And it's like Tina Turner in the suit. It's like a white suit and the hat shape.

As soon as I saw it in there, I thought that was like a nod to Tina Turner, but it could also be seen as Diana Ross too. Who else? I also thought about Janet in the all right video. Yeah, the yellow suit.

Jay Ray: 00:38:56

Yeah.

Kyriacos: 00:38:57

And even like, as she went on tour over the years.

Jay Ray: 00:38:59

Yeah.

Kyriacos: 00:39:00

She's like changed the silhouette of it, but it's still kind of dandy. Very zoot suit. I didn't see a lot of Zoot suits. I didn't like that.

I want to say the only person that wore a zoot suit was Willie Chavarria, which is the designer. I figured it would be a couple more of those somewhere sprinkled in, but I guess not.

Jay Ray: 00:39:17

Yeah, you know, we talked about that. So the reason. What sparked our conversation, too, was a shout out to Charles Stevens from cnp.

But he had said, hey, are y' all going to talk about this?

Because he didn't see a lot of references to the time as a band, who, of course, did the zoot suits and all of that and felt like, oh, people would definitely channel more. Somebody would channel Mars Day and didn't really see that. So I do what I think is interesting, though, and this is a question for both of y' all.

I'm wondering if maybe the Met gala will open up folks dressing up a little more. I do think so. We. We grew. I can speak for myself. I think me and Sir Daniel in that generation grew up where we were kind of dressing down.

Like, we grew up in the we're dressing down more generation. But our parents dressed up for everything.

Kyriacos: 00:40:12

Right.

Jay Ray: 00:40:13

If they was going to somebody down the street house that they see every day, but they was having a party, they was gonna be fly going down there. And I'm like, y' all doing all of that? You just saw them yesterday. I think we might. Do you think we'll get back to that?

Kyriacos: 00:40:26

I think we are, but I could say that's happened for me at least. Going to the Renaissance concert two years ago, I noticed since I went to that show, like, I dressed up a lot more.

Jay Ray: 00:40:37

Okay.

Kyriacos: 00:40:38

Which is kind of cool, I guess I realized at some point, like during the pandemic, as the people say, as it was ending, I don't think it ever ended. I realized I can't do T shirt and sweatshirt everywhere in life. Like, yeah, you know, it's okay to put a combo hat on. It's okay to put.

Put your accessories on, put your boots on. Yeah, that kind of thing.

Jay Ray: 00:41:00

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Kyriacos: 00:41:01

So I can say that that shifted for me. I can't speak for everybody else, but I definitely felt that for sure.

DJ Sir Daniel: 00:41:10

You know, shout out to Kipper Jones.

Jay Ray: 00:41:11

He just.

DJ Sir Daniel: 00:41:12

And the R B circus. Kipper, we. And Kipper, we definitely talked about you. Yep. Off camera. And just, like, how you. Kipper has done the same thing.

You know, Kipper with Dawn, a top hat. He might put on some tails.

Jay Ray: 00:41:30

Yeah.

DJ Sir Daniel: 00:41:30

You know, you just never know with Kipper. So he's. We. We love that. About Kipper in his performance. But I absolutely want that for us. I would love to see us get, you know, people get dolled up.

Jay Ray: 00:41:44

Yes.

DJ Sir Daniel: 00:41:44

They go out and. Because what I think will happen is when you put the effort into the fit, as the kids say, you. You have a whole come.

You have a completely different energy when you go out.

Kyriacos: 00:41:58

Yeah.

DJ Sir Daniel: 00:41:58

If you took, if you took time to get. To get fly the least like the less likely you are to be involved in any kind of drama. And I want to see more people dancing and yes.

You know, I think I missed that.

Maybe, maybe there'll be more people doing, you know, two, two stepping with each other a lot more, you know, grabbing somebody by the hand and twirling them around.

Jay Ray: 00:42:23

Yeah.

DJ Sir Daniel: 00:42:24

You know, a little, a little studio 54 energy with. With the disco energy. Because I do see that coming back a lot. Shout out to Jeremy Avalon and High Key Disco. Where the J Ray. The.

The kids are all right. The kids love them some disco. They are really getting into the archives and feeling it out.

So I'm very excited about that and I'm hoping that that also manifests in the way that we dress and we put a little effort into. Into spiffing ourselves up and feeling good because hopefully that'll translate into other areas of our lives and that will affect everybody.

That will affect us as a community and we start feeling better. Before we wrap this up, we have Kiriakos here who is an avid, avid concert goer.

How do you feel about people making such a big deal about seats and arenas not being as full as, say, the last tour? And you know, of course I'm talking about the Cowboy Carter Chitlin circuit that's going around, that's on tour now.

Jay Ray: 00:43:37

It's called the Chitlin Circuit. Gary Yakos. That's what she called it.

DJ Sir Daniel: 00:43:40

Yeah, but it.

Kyriacos: 00:43:42

But I will be in attendance.

DJ Sir Daniel: 00:43:45

Clearly. So are people just making. Just people just like looking for stuff to talk about? Because are they make. It's. It's a whole lot of nothing.

It's a nothing sandwich. Isn't it about seats?

Kyriacos: 00:43:57

It happens every tour. I'll just say that.

DJ Sir Daniel: 00:44:00

Okay, okay, okay. But it doesn't take away from a person's pedigree. Right. It doesn't take away from the performance. It doesn't take away from any of that stuff.

Kyriacos: 00:44:13

After all, you're there for a show. Why are you worried about seats that.

Jay Ray: 00:44:15

Are empty and baby and, and. And being in Karaokos? We talked about this as we. We came on. If I went to a show and it wasn't real full. I'd be like, oh, I can spread out.

Kyriacos: 00:44:24

All right, let's get it.

Jay Ray: 00:44:26

I could dance. I could dance in the aisles. I got room.

Kyriacos: 00:44:31

I did that at the Missy show last year and the Madonna show. Like, there were a bunch of empty seats, but I didn't really care. Like, they already got their money. Like, I paid my money. Like, I'm here for a show.

Why do I need to worry about empty seats? It's bigger, more important stuff going on in the world. Like genocide, like, for one.

Jay Ray: 00:44:49

Right, right.

Kyriacos: 00:44:50

Something else to talk about.

DJ Sir Daniel: 00:44:51

The Constitution is being attacked daily. Like, our. Our civil rights.

Kyriacos: 00:44:55

We're losing. Right. We're worried about. See?

DJ Sir Daniel: 00:44:58

Yeah.

Jay Ray: 00:44:59

Tell us. Look, Carrie Hakos is preaching up on this show this evening here.

DJ Sir Daniel: 00:45:05

Absolutely.

Kyriacos: 00:45:05

I have an opinion. Sometimes, not always.

DJ Sir Daniel: 00:45:09

Well, we appreciate you stopping by Queue Points and, you know, popping up on our screen and. And just giving us a peek into your.

Your, you know, your musical tastes and just continuing to be a support and just a part of our community and part of our family. And thank you. You know, just. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts. And please, Mr. DJ, wait, let me get the whole thing. It's DJ.

No, creative DJ and free spirit. Yes, y' all. I. Now I have to say I have. I finally have a DJ child. And I consider Kiriako's, you know, to be my DJ child. He may not.

May or may not agree, but I consider him to be my DJ child. But please tell us. Let everybody know how they can follow you. Tell them about your. Your journey as a mixologist and where they can hear your mixes.

Kyriacos: 00:46:12

Oh, well, first of all, thanks, y' all for having me. I did not expect to be here. It was a welcome surprise. Y' all can find me on Blue sky and soundcloud is Kyriakos, the number two and the letter U.

You can always find me at Instagram as well at Curios tx.

But pretty much all my mixes that I work on, I have a bunch of them that I have not published that, you know, they may just end up on the Internet sometime one day, but all of those can be found on SoundCloud. I eventually want to start working some of the local parties like Soul Control, and there's another one here.

There's, like, so many dance parties that happen in Houston now, but eventually that's the goal. But for now, I'm just your local bedroom dj. Also, make really great playlists, and you'll have a link somewhere on.

On this episode to my Apple Music or My sound or my Spotify and SoundCloud. So I'm everywhere that you can possibly think music can be, including your local neighborhood concert in a random city or even in Houston.

Jay Ray: 00:47:28

Absolutely.

DJ Sir Daniel: 00:47:29

And real quick.

Jay Ray: 00:47:30

Go ahead.

DJ Sir Daniel: 00:47:31

I'm sorry, real quick. In your. What have you found out about yourself on your DJ journey?

Kyriacos: 00:47:44

I like the classics a lot more than the new music, so that's something that I don't really like to play. I don't like TikTok mixes and all that stuff. I don't. You're not gonna hear a random sound by From Designing Women in the middle of my set.

Jay Ray: 00:48:01

Are there people doing that now?

DJ Sir Daniel: 00:48:02

Is that a theme?

Kyriacos: 00:48:04

I'm alluding to an episode of RuPaul where they had to. A little drag race where they had to, like, do a monologue over a scene from Designing.

DJ Sir Daniel: 00:48:12

Gotcha, gotcha, gotcha.

Kyriacos: 00:48:14

Yeah. So I don't. You're not gonna find that. You're not gonna find stuff. You're not gonna find tick tock songs and mixes.

You're gonna find stuff that has soul, which is, I think, what a lot of DJs are missing because everything sounds so hollow and boring and everybody wants to. To again, be a TikTok DJ. I love y' all. I listen to y' all, but I don't. I don't want to hear that on my stuff. I'm a child of Prince, unfortunately.

So, you know, listen, if I don't hear what I want, I go make it.

Jay Ray: 00:48:43

Yes. That's inspiration to that point. When did you start your DJ journey? Like, when did you figure out, like, yo, this is something I want to try?

How long you. How long you.

Kyriacos: 00:48:56

So I asked Sir Daniel, like, two years ago what I needed to get, but I didn't really start until the beginning of this year.

Jay Ray: 00:49:04

Nice.

Kyriacos: 00:49:08

I had to clean house and, you know, get some things together personally. And then I was able to focus.

Jay Ray: 00:49:13

Yeah.

Kyriacos: 00:49:14

And I use it as, like, a really cool method to, like, keep my mind stimulated after my therapy sessions every week. So it's something fun to do.

Jay Ray: 00:49:21

Yeah.

Kyriacos: 00:49:22

I think if people stop going into things, trying to collect a bag, you know, it'll be a lot more fun and fulfilling. And that's what I see for me. That's why I don't want to get paid for. Well, I don't say I don't want.

Jay Ray: 00:49:34

To get paid, but I'm gonna say.

Kyriacos: 00:49:35

Just for right now, for what I'm. What I'm. What I'm doing in my own personal fun and joy.

Jay Ray: 00:49:41

Yes.

Kyriacos: 00:49:42

Y' all ain't gotta pay me for it. Just listen to it.

Jay Ray: 00:49:45

So to that point, Peanut Butter and Jeffy shout out on Instagram just said, oh, and we need to be blessed with a set. I need to hear something. So there you go.

Kyriacos: 00:49:55

It's all in my Instagram bio. Tap the link.

Jay Ray: 00:49:57

There we go. All right. Instagram bio. Tap the link.

Yo, Kyriakos, thank you so much for being willing to be here with us as we try this brand new thing that now see, now y' all got a high bar. Like, this is a high bar.

DJ Sir Daniel: 00:50:13

Set the bar high, y' all.

Jay Ray: 00:50:15

You really set the bar high for folks coming through. Come with it. But thank you so much for being here and for everybody who is tuning in.

If you can see our faces and hear our voices, hit the subscribe button. Wherever you are, share the show with your friends, family, colleagues. Because if you love Queue Points, chances are they will love Queue Points as well.

Visit our website at queuepoints.com you can listen to all of the archive of the Queue Points episodes and do some other fun stuff like check out Queue Points magazine at magazine.qpoints.com and you can shop our store at store.qpoints.com it keeps these fancy, colorful lights and things that we have going on on around here. We appreciate y' all. We love y' all.

DJ Sir Daniel: 00:50:58

That's right. What do I say? Every week in this life, you have a choice. You can either pick up the needle or you can let the record play. I'm DJ Sir Daniel.

Jay Ray: 00:51:06

My name is Jay Ray, y' all. That's Kiriako.

Kyriacos: 00:51:13

Yes, I'm Kiriako.

DJ Sir Daniel: 00:51:14

Podcast dropping the needle on black music history. We will see you on the next go round. Peace, y' all.

Jay Ray: 00:51:22

Peace. Y' all. Have a good one.

DJ Sir Daniel: 00:51:34

Sam.