Yesterday, we dropped our new interview as part of our series The Plug, with none other than the Donkey of the Day creator himself, Charlamagne Tha God. AKA Slime Seacrest AKA the Prime Minister of Pissing People Off AKA the Ruler of Rubbing You the Wrong Way AKA the Architect of Aggravation (if you don't get it, hit play on the video below).
Charlamagne Tha God was so generous with the gems, we had to circle back to the video release today to share a few more with you that you may have missed in the lengthy interview. The 35-minute sit-down was focused moreso on the many pies Charlamagne has his hands in -- radio, podcast and TV mainly. On top of sharing his personal story and advice for viewers, he also offered some insight on a long-brewing topic, that being, Joe Budden and the rapper-turned-host's constant dislike of the youth.
"I don't wanna be the grinch that stole hip-hop," Charlamagne starts. "I love Joe Budden, but I don't wanna be Joe Budden. It's like, yo Joe, what do you like? You can't be that older, disgruntled guy who doesn't like anything...I mean, it works for him. He truly feels that way, that's the one thing I give Joe, that's him, that's who he is, but that's just not who I am. And I'm not tryna be the authority on nothing, I'm just the older guy who grew up when things were a lot different, and I'm here to give you advice when you need it, and I'm here check you when I think you're doing something that's totally absurd. But as far as creative freedom, the way these guys dress, and the things they may say in their music, man, I can't knock these brothers. That's the thing that trips me out, when I see a lot of these older dudes talk about the content of these dudes music -- like, 'yo these dudes rap about drugs and using drugs,' and like, yo, we rapped about selling them! We ain't no better! The dealer ain't no better than the user, cause you the guy that's providing the bullshit. Hustling and being a fiend is really kinda one in the same, it's two sides of the same coin."
Charlamagne continued, "I can't really knock the new generation when 9 times outta 10 they just following a blueprint that we laid. I think the only thing we want from the game is balance, and I think this is the most balanced hip-hop's ever been, to be honest with you."
"Joe's hilarious to me, man. No, seriously, I been knowing Joe for a long time, Joe's grandparents live in South Carolina so he used to come on my radio show in Columbia so we used to go bowling and he'd be at my apartment playing spades since like back in '04, literally. But how you gunna knock somebody for being too positive? That's what I'm talking about, like what do you want? You either ripping on somebody cause they too negative or you say they're too positive? C'mon man, now you just coming off as a disgruntled individual cause you don't like nothing. What do you like?"
Do you think Joe will heed any of what Charlamagne is saying?
Before we let Charla go, we asked about editing interviews on The Breakfast Club, and in what circumstances that would happen. His answer proved interesting, as he revealed an instance of editing down Irv Gotti's interview for the sake of the culture, as well as regretting not doing similarly for Lil Duval, in the wake of the backlash that both he and Duval (and others, as Charlamagne details in his answer below) for a comment Duval made about transgenders during a recent Breakfast Club appearance. Read his response below.
"I'm so cognizant of the culture nowadays. Meaning that, I care about how we're represented, and I know how easily we can be misrepresented. It was one time we had somebody up there-- no I'll say it, it was Irv Gotti. We had Irv up there, and I respect what Irv has done so much. I respect what Irv is doing in the TV and film world. And Irv said something that I knew was a little crazy, and I knew would get misconstrued and probably hinder somethings for him. So I took it upon myself to take it out, and I let him know I was gunna take it out. I've had other instances where guys would come on the show and say things that weren't beneficial to the culture-- like, it was just pointless shit that's gunna cause unnecessary problems, unnecessary drama, so I'm like we taking that out. I shoulda taken that advice when it comes to my guy Lil Duval. When Lil Duval made the comments he made about the transgender community-- and I honestly I did have that thought for a moment, but I honestly didn't think it'd turn out as bad as it did, but I shoulda. Because it just wasn't beneficial for none of the parties involved-- it wasn't beneficial for The Breakfast Club, it wasn't beneficial for Lil Duval, and most importantly, it wasn't beneficial for the transgender community."