Rebel News Podcast - July 09, 2021


ANDREW CHAPADOS ｜ Going Against the Narrative with Patriot J


Episode Stats

Length

19 minutes

Words per Minute

170.78215

Word Count

3,276

Sentence Count

232

Hate Speech Sentences

3


Summary

On this episode of the podcast, host Andrew Ghai is joined by hip hop artist Patriot J to discuss his controversial song, Safe Space, which has been banned from streaming services like Spotify and SoundCloud. The two discuss the song's removal, the controversy surrounding its removal, and whether or not the ban is fair or not.


Transcript

00:00:00.000 They've decided to go ahead and cancel one of his songs.
00:00:02.860 That's right, they canceled one of their songs.
00:00:05.240 And this is the first time I've ever heard of them canceling any type of songs on their platform.
00:00:11.240 I mean, it's okay to talk about, to rap about sex.
00:00:14.220 It's okay to rap about gang violence.
00:00:16.240 They would ban me if I tweeted everything in his verse.
00:00:19.260 But I would get a Grammy if I wore a dress in a purse.
00:00:22.460 They want every black man to be like Don Lemon, it hurts.
00:00:25.640 They only love us when we Mike Brown dead in the dirt.
00:00:28.700 If you like BLM and you watch CNN and you brain dead, probably wear a mask in the bed while you laying there with a Fauci finger in your rear and a blank stare because you done went along with this hair.
00:00:42.200 What's your impression of Generation Z?
00:00:47.400 Lost Generation, I feel like we don't really stand for anything.
00:00:52.460 But I also feel like, I feel like we don't have the economic mobility that generations before us have had.
00:01:00.620 So I feel like that's kind of stunting our collective growth.
00:01:03.460 Patriot J is a hip-hop artist who has come out against traditional political narratives in Californian politics, challenging democratic norms on race issues, among others.
00:01:18.700 He's had top ten songs in the country without mainstream airplay.
00:01:22.420 You can listen to his album Patriot J on streaming platforms everywhere, even though they might not like him.
00:01:28.280 Jordan, thanks for joining me today.
00:01:30.160 How are you?
00:01:30.760 I'm doing great, Andrew.
00:01:33.320 Appreciate you for having me on.
00:01:34.880 No problem.
00:01:35.400 I think I can almost call you a legal analyst now, but my first question isn't of a law per se.
00:01:41.700 Yourself and Bryson Gray, of course, are in this huge, insane dispute about your song called Safe Space.
00:01:46.880 It was banned off Spotify and SoundCloud.
00:01:49.480 And I want to get into it right away.
00:01:50.760 Please tell the viewers exactly what happened with that song.
00:01:53.540 All right, so let's say about a month ago, maybe, Bryson reaches out.
00:01:59.620 He says, hey, I got the song.
00:02:00.820 I want you to get on it.
00:02:02.080 It was a song that's known as Safe Space.
00:02:04.760 I really liked it.
00:02:05.640 I wrote my verse in probably less than three hours, sent it back to him.
00:02:10.480 And it came out on his album.
00:02:13.000 It came out on his album, Bold as a Lion, season one.
00:02:15.560 And usually, you know, I feel like with MAGA rap, sometimes we're like, oh, when is our song going to get banned, you know?
00:02:23.460 And then on the other hand, we're like, they could never ban our songs because it's just a song.
00:02:27.660 So eventually, Spotify took down our song Safe Space on his album.
00:02:32.280 So if you go to Spotify, you just can't listen to it.
00:02:35.420 It's completely grayed out.
00:02:36.480 It's the only track on the album that's unavailable.
00:02:38.620 And then the day after Spotify banned it, SoundCloud came out and banned it.
00:02:43.820 And they said that it was banned for grounds on incitement to hatred.
00:02:48.240 And now, as a result of the ban, more people are listening to it.
00:02:52.000 So I think things really didn't work in their favor when they really tried to get us de-platformed.
00:02:57.000 Now, Spotify, I saw Bryson posting about this.
00:02:59.680 We wrote articles here.
00:03:01.480 Spotify blamed the distributor of the music.
00:03:04.800 The distributor then blamed Spotify.
00:03:06.420 Which one of them, are either of them lying?
00:03:08.980 Do you know?
00:03:11.360 I don't know for certain, but I believe that Spotify is lying because the distributors are generally neutral channels.
00:03:19.720 They just upload your music to the streaming platforms.
00:03:22.540 And if it was a distributor who took down the song, I think the song would have been taken down across all platforms that they distributed to.
00:03:28.700 But it was just Spotify and SoundCloud that got the ban.
00:03:31.740 So I think that makes me believe that it was their decision and not the distributor.
00:03:35.040 Now, I asked around, and I don't think anyone's heard of anything like this happening.
00:03:39.120 I think some really small artists have had stuff taken off.
00:03:42.540 But they haven't banned any other songs from any other major artists that I've seen.
00:03:47.320 Certainly not people who are ranking in the top ten in the entire United States.
00:03:51.520 They didn't ban a guy who they found saying racist stuff.
00:03:54.880 They didn't ban R. Kelly.
00:03:56.580 The most they seem to do to people is take them off their official playlist.
00:04:00.260 Why do you think they're treating you guys this way?
00:04:04.060 I think it's just because we dare to go against the narrative, and we do it in an effective way.
00:04:09.660 I think what's most damaging for them is the fact that the song is really good, you know?
00:04:14.440 It can reach people who don't necessarily agree with it, and they might listen to it just because it's a good song.
00:04:19.800 And I think the fact that it's so effective just showed that they had to get it out of there some way, somehow.
00:04:24.200 Yeah, I think there is that stigma of people who are in the mega rap scene, as you call it, that it's not going to be that good.
00:04:31.740 But I think if people go and listen to his and your albums, they're going to be pleasantly surprised.
00:04:35.940 Or else it wouldn't rank in the top ten.
00:04:38.080 I mean, Bryson's album's in the top ten in the country.
00:04:41.060 The song's in the top ten in the country.
00:04:43.260 No support from MTV, BET, or anything.
00:04:46.600 Yeah.
00:04:46.800 So, it's crazy in that way.
00:04:49.400 Now, another thing I want to ask about this is, does this set up a horrific double standard for these platforms?
00:04:55.560 I mean, somebody did a side-by-side analysis of this song versus an Eminem song, and I don't want any of the songs pulled down.
00:05:03.160 But an Eminem song is about killing people and wearing their skin as dresses.
00:05:07.580 Most of that album, the Relapse album, is about being a serial killer.
00:05:12.640 Your song doesn't have cursing in it.
00:05:14.400 Now, with complete transparency, Bryson does say some stuff that people would consider anti-gay or something like that.
00:05:20.900 But does this set up a horrible double standard where can any rap song or any genre be allowed based on these rules?
00:05:30.560 I think the double standard is definitely there.
00:05:34.020 And what just shows to me is that these people like Spotify and SoundCloud, they're actually part of big tech.
00:05:42.040 Because, you know, you don't really think about, like, oh, a streaming platform isn't going to have a political bias.
00:05:47.700 But here they are.
00:05:48.840 It's clearly shown.
00:05:50.000 And it's just a part of the whole big tech agenda to kind of de-platform conservatives entirely.
00:05:55.440 Yeah.
00:05:55.860 And I think Spotify, at the very least, they had that whole controversy with Joe Rogan episodes.
00:05:59.980 So they have shown, I think, their cards in the past that they're willing to, you know, step out and, like, we need to do our part here and stop the fascism.
00:06:07.680 I don't know.
00:06:08.200 Whatever excuse they might use.
00:06:10.440 And I think some of the commentary in Bryson's music and in other platforms, which he's been banned from, really bothers the blue haireds over at the Spotify offices.
00:06:22.380 Definitely.
00:06:22.820 Now, I want to transition to something that happened this week, and it's the kneeling and turning away from the flag by the U.S. women's soccer team.
00:06:31.040 There's a video that just came out of them taking a knee.
00:06:34.380 I thought we were over this, but taking a knee during the national anthem.
00:06:37.400 So let's take a look, and I want to get your reaction.
00:06:52.820 We'll be right back.
00:07:22.820 We'll be right back.
00:07:52.820 Very stunning and brave, Jay.
00:08:01.780 Now, previously in different videos, it looked like maybe players were turning their back away from a World War II veteran playing the national anthem.
00:08:10.340 Couldn't really tell.
00:08:11.300 But in this one, I see eight out of ten players not sure about the goalie and people on the sideline kneeling.
00:08:16.720 What's your take on this?
00:08:17.960 What's your first reaction to seeing something like that?
00:08:19.880 Honestly, it's disgraceful, pitiful, shameful.
00:08:25.720 I can't believe that there are people who have the honor and privilege of representing this great nation on the Olympic stage competing at a world level, and they want to turn their back on or kneel to the national anthem of the nation that gave them the opportunity.
00:08:39.660 I don't know.
00:09:09.660 There are people who have pride in their pride in their pride in our nation.
00:09:11.080 We should be proud to be an American.
00:09:12.600 We shouldn't have to display some sort of subversive message on our Olympic jerseys.
00:09:18.300 Yeah, it's in place of where the United States would be.
00:09:22.240 If you can step inside their shoes for a second, what do you think their reason would be for replacing the United States with Black Lives Matter?
00:09:30.420 I don't know.
00:09:31.220 They probably just want to make themselves look good.
00:09:33.900 They want to make it look like they're anti-racist or that they want to be woke and, you know, actually do something.
00:09:41.180 But if you think about it, wearing a shirt that says Black Lives Matter doesn't actually do anything.
00:09:46.720 Kneeling doesn't actually do anything.
00:09:48.300 It's all a part of performative wokeness to make themselves look good and make it look like they care.
00:09:53.820 But really, they don't.
00:09:55.240 Yeah.
00:09:55.460 And I was going to ask, how many of these players do you think came from such a harsh background and have a complex understanding of inner city black experiences?
00:10:06.700 Or do you think it is just that where, like, these white girls on this team are just saying, you know what, we are doing our part.
00:10:13.740 We have to do what we're told here to, you know, fight back against the system.
00:10:17.940 I'm struggling to understand what – will this create any positive change coming from this?
00:10:23.720 I don't think so.
00:10:24.900 And I think, like, the kneeling thing has played out.
00:10:27.080 Like you said, I didn't know we were still doing that.
00:10:29.560 I thought we kind of got past this issue of kneeling in sports, I don't know, years ago when we realized how silly Colin Kaepernick looked.
00:10:35.760 But I guess it's just going to be here to stay, and it's just very unfortunate.
00:10:39.480 Colin Kaepernick, you can't win with that guy.
00:10:41.960 We talked about media bias towards you earlier with the song, and I want to get your reaction to some more media bias.
00:10:48.760 It's something that CNN has been boasting about for the last couple days.
00:10:52.560 They're saying, Tucker Carlson, you know what, he is the new Alex Jones.
00:10:55.400 He's dangerous.
00:10:56.700 And I think your favorite analyst, Brian Stelter, it's on his show.
00:11:01.860 So let's take a look at that.
00:11:03.620 It's not that I think the government spies on me.
00:11:07.020 It's admitted that they do.
00:11:08.480 It is a lie to say there are no risks.
00:11:10.480 There are risks in everything, including in getting a vaccine.
00:11:14.060 Everybody's got family that got killed or got sick from a vaccine.
00:11:17.280 So FBI operatives were organizing the attack on the Capitol on January 6th, according to government documents.
00:11:26.020 It is overwhelming the evidence that criminal elements of the federal government provocateurred and staged January 6th.
00:11:36.020 All right.
00:11:39.300 Oliver Darcy is back with me.
00:11:41.760 I think the sound speaks for itself.
00:11:43.780 Is it a stretch to say that Tucker Carlson is the new Alex Jones?
00:11:47.600 It's not a stretch, Brian.
00:11:49.420 Tucker Carlson is the new Alex Jones.
00:11:52.040 If you watch Tucker Carlson's program and you watch Alex Jones's program, they might differ a little bit in antics and the way they deliver their message.
00:12:00.280 But that message to viewers is consistent.
00:12:02.560 And it's pretty identical, whether it's talking about vaccine conspiracy theories, false flag conspiracy theories, deep state conspiracy theories.
00:12:11.280 The messages that Tucker Carlson and Alex Jones are sending are the same.
00:12:15.860 It's exactly the same.
00:12:17.160 The tone's a little different.
00:12:19.300 I laugh thinking about a CNN producer going through InfoWars clips and finding that.
00:12:24.940 But I want to know which of these claims are they showing or that they're showing are wrong.
00:12:30.700 Tucker being spied on, adverse effects, the FBI having informants.
00:12:35.480 Is this just a desperate ploy they're throwing out in the ether?
00:12:40.100 Yeah, totally.
00:12:41.900 I think that was so funny how they just played clips of them agreeing on certain things and say, oh, well, he's the new this.
00:12:48.460 Like, if that was the case, Fox News could say, well, Obama and Farrakhan said the same thing.
00:12:53.980 Is Obama the new Farrakhan?
00:12:55.980 And it's just it's like a ridiculous guilt by association almost.
00:13:00.480 And you're right.
00:13:01.580 They don't even address the issues.
00:13:02.920 Maybe what they're saying is the same because they're speaking truth.
00:13:07.440 You know, the truth is undisputed.
00:13:09.300 And if you repeat truth, you're going to agree with anybody who says the truth.
00:13:13.620 That doesn't make you a bad person for agreeing with somebody who says the truth.
00:13:17.140 It doesn't make you the same person.
00:13:18.860 It just means you guys agree on the truth.
00:13:21.020 And CNN is just attacking the truth as they do every day.
00:13:23.940 Now, do you think Brian Stelter and Oliver Darcy, God bless them, really believe this?
00:13:30.060 Or, I mean, Tucker Carlson rips on Brian Stelter a lot, very harshly.
00:13:34.820 Is this just them getting back at them?
00:13:36.460 Or do you think that they actually believe that he's this much of an imminent threat?
00:13:42.380 I think they genuinely believe it.
00:13:45.420 It seems to me that they're presenting things as falsities, whether or not they may be fact,
00:13:51.640 without analyzing them and saying these are crazy things to believe.
00:13:55.140 And if you do, you're just as crazy as Alex Jones.
00:13:57.720 You get that feeling that that's what they're trying to get across?
00:14:00.660 Yeah, exactly.
00:14:01.620 They want to make these topics and ideas taboo.
00:14:05.100 They want you to associate the truth on these things with fringe conspiracy theorists.
00:14:10.560 And I don't think he's doing a good job because they look so silly.
00:14:14.620 I completely agree.
00:14:19.020 You've been traveling across the country for work and for study from what it looks like.
00:14:23.960 Have you noticed vast differences in where you've gone across the country
00:14:27.020 between different types of lockdowns?
00:14:29.680 Yeah, so I'm based in California.
00:14:34.040 And most of our restrictions were just recently lifted in June.
00:14:37.880 But it was just so belated because more than half the country was already open at that point.
00:14:42.940 I traveled to Tennessee.
00:14:44.980 And it just completely blew my mind.
00:14:46.680 I was almost culture shocked.
00:14:47.900 I saw so many people outside just having a good time, no masks.
00:14:52.740 And then when I come back home, even though we don't have a mask mandate,
00:14:56.360 more than half the people when I go outside are still wearing masks.
00:15:00.340 And I think it's just, I don't know, going to be ingrained in the liberal culture almost to kind of keep wearing the mask
00:15:05.880 and pretend like you care about the safety of others by doing these draconian things.
00:15:10.760 Why do you think people are so willing to do this?
00:15:13.440 Are people shocked at how you've come to these conclusions still living in California?
00:15:19.300 Why do you think that Californians are still so based in this, you know, we might not have actual reasoning for this,
00:15:26.120 but we're still going to do it anyways?
00:15:27.460 I don't know.
00:15:29.780 I feel like we just kind of overwhelmingly go with the flow of things.
00:15:34.600 And if the government says this is what we got to do right now, it sounds good, you know.
00:15:39.300 And nobody wants to be that person who says, who stands out from the crowd when the entire crowd is saying,
00:15:44.640 hey, if you don't do this, you don't care about my grandma or you don't, you don't, like, actually care about your neighbors.
00:15:50.060 You know, nobody wants to stand up against these crowds.
00:15:52.880 But sometimes you just got to stand up and tell them, like, no, I care about your life, but I value my independent choices and freedom more.
00:16:00.040 Now, do people get surprised when they hear you espouse these opinions in California?
00:16:05.940 Do you get any backlash from it?
00:16:07.980 Or is this just, you know, people are used to people disagreeing with the government there?
00:16:14.240 Honestly, I don't get a lot of backlash.
00:16:16.380 I feel like this past pandemic year has done a lot to kind of wake up the more apolitical centrist people.
00:16:26.340 And they get a taste of what, like, government tyranny almost is or medical tyranny.
00:16:31.180 And I feel like it's kind of opening their eyes to maybe care about these issues or say, like, hey, this policy doesn't make sense.
00:16:38.140 You know, there's no common sense behind it.
00:16:39.820 For sure.
00:16:42.340 How do you deal with some of the expectations people put on you?
00:16:46.460 Now, you're a very honest guy.
00:16:48.040 That's why so many people like you online.
00:16:50.240 But you said it yourself earlier.
00:16:53.380 You don't agree with Black Lives Matter.
00:16:55.260 You think all that stuff's going on.
00:16:56.540 There's a disgrace with the national team.
00:16:58.500 Do people sort of have expectations of what they think your opinion should be?
00:17:02.000 And how do you deal with that?
00:17:05.000 Yeah, I would say that they do sometimes.
00:17:07.100 You know, if I'm talking to a new person, they'll just, like, throw out these leftist things that they think I might agree with.
00:17:13.580 And I'm just like, oh, that's cool.
00:17:14.840 I don't really agree.
00:17:16.580 But I don't know.
00:17:17.960 I just whenever I'm talking to people, I just tell them why I believe what I believe.
00:17:22.640 And I feel like I have common sense on my side.
00:17:25.080 And I think when you go into, like, an argument or just a discussion with common sense, the common sense side is always going to win over the frantic and fringe crazy belief.
00:17:34.660 And, you know, I hope that that's what the case is going to be in the future.
00:17:39.640 I see a lot of people, you know, performing and acting out some cognitive dissonance, especially when it comes in regards to masks.
00:17:46.820 I interview people and they don't really have a reason as to why they want us to wear them.
00:17:51.220 Some people say in some clips that they want to wear them for two or three years longer.
00:17:54.380 And, you know, it's sad when you can sort of predict what a person is going to say.
00:18:00.100 I just hope that everybody is going to be able to sort of speak honestly about stuff in the future and that they've been, I hate to use the term woken up.
00:18:08.340 But when you start to realize that there is no real, like, institution you can covet to be unbiased, whether it's the medical industry or politics and sports now, as we're talking about today.
00:18:19.660 I hope that people start to realize that just talking honestly is the best way to get around that.
00:18:25.940 Patriot J is on Spotify, on SoundCloud.
00:18:28.640 Well, you can still get it.
00:18:29.760 The album is Patriot Days.
00:18:31.040 We've got remixes out as well.
00:18:32.600 Anything else you want to say to the audience before we let you go?
00:18:34.940 No, I think we covered everything.
00:18:39.940 Just, I don't know, stand true in what you believe in, audience.
00:18:43.380 Never bow down.
00:18:44.580 Don't fall victim to the narratives.
00:18:46.560 Don't succumb to the mob.
00:18:48.020 And you will be all right.
00:18:50.080 Sir Hottest on Twitter, everybody.
00:18:52.080 Go follow him now.
00:18:53.280 Go sign up for Rebel News Plus.
00:18:54.760 We'll catch you next time.
00:18:56.560 Thank you, Andrew, for having me.
00:19:04.940 We'll catch you next time.