We’re ending 2023 with a bang! In this star-studded episode of The Blackest Questions, host Dr. Christina Greer is joined by some of our favorite guests, including Cedric the Entertainer, Anthony Anderson, Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley, Touré, Harry Lennix, Kem, Michelle Buteau, Egypt Sherrod, and Mike Jackson.
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Panama Jackson: [00:00:00] You are now listening to theGrio’s Black Podcast Network, Black Culture Amplified.
Dr. Christina Greer: Hi, and welcome to The Blackest Questions. A trivia game show meant to teach us more about Black History. I’m your host, Dr. Christina Greer, Politics Editor for theGrio, and currently a Moynihan Public Scholars fellow at the City College in New York.
In this podcast, we ask our guests five of the Blackest questions so we can learn a little bit more about them and have some fun while we’re doing it. We’re also going to learn a lot about Black history, past and present. So here’s how it works. We’ve got five rounds of questions about us. Black history, the entire diaspora, current events, you name it.
And with each round, the questions get a little tougher and the guest has ten seconds to answer. If they answer correctly, they’ll receive one symbolic Black fist and hear this. And if they get it wrong, they’ll hear this, but we still love ’em anyway. And after the five questions, there’ll be a Black bonus round just for fun, and I like to call it Black Lightning.
Usually we have one or two [00:01:00] guests join, but as we wrap up 2023, we wanted to revisit some of our most memorable guests. So each round you’ll hear from a different guest, five rounds, five unique personalities. We still have the Black Lightning Round, which will feature two more guests. So let’s get to it.
Our guests for this episode are actors and comedians Anthony Anderson and Cedric the Entertainer. This duo are close friends and they’re here to test their Black history knowledge and talk about their new show on A&E, Kings of Barbecue. Hello, gentlemen. Thank you so much for joining the special edition of The Blackest Questions.
Cedric The Entertainer: Doc, how are you? Good, good seeing you.
Anthony Anderson: Hello, Dr. Greer.
Dr. Christina Greer: I am so excited. Are you all ready to play The Blackest Questions?
Cedric The Entertainer: Oh, I mean, I think I was born to play The Blackest Questions.
Anthony Anderson: Ah, ah, ah.
Dr. Christina Greer: So, Cedric, Anthony Anderson is up one. Are you ready for question number two?
Cedric The Entertainer: I am ready.
Dr. Christina Greer: This person was the first Black comedian to host a weekly variety show.
In 1972, he was on the cover of Time, and the magazine [00:02:00] called him TV’s first Black superstar. Who was this comedian?
Cedric The Entertainer: I’m gonna go with Dick Gregory. Buzzer.
Dr. Christina Greer: Ooh, I’m sorry, Cedric!
Flip Wilson! It’s Flip Wilson! Flip Wilson!
Cedric The Entertainer: Oh, man.
Dr. Christina Greer: Flip Wilson!
So long before Martin was Shanaynay or Tyler Perry was Madea, Flip Wilson gave us the character Geraldine Jones on the Flip Wilson show.
Cedric The Entertainer: I’m tripping, I’m sorry. I started thinking it had to be from St. Louis. I was just thinking about people from St. Louis at this point.
Dr. Christina Greer: Well, Flip interviewed everyone from Aretha Franklin to Muhammad Ali. Comedian Redd Foxx was a show regular. Comedian George Carlin got his start on the show as a writer.
The Variety Show ran for four years and at one time was the second highest rated show on network television. Flip went on to win two Emmys, a Golden Globe Award, and a Grammy for his comedic work.
Cedric The Entertainer: Definitely blew my ear off. I blew it.
Dr. Christina Greer: So, okay gentlemen, tell me really quickly, how did this new show on A&E, Kings and [00:03:00] Barbecue, come about?
How long have you all been friends? Were you eating some barbecue and it’s like, you know what, we know a lot about this. Let’s hit the road and make a show. How did this, how did this come to be?
Cedric The Entertainer: Well, you know, Anthony and I have been friends of 20, 25 plus years. Uh, we’ve, uh, we’re, we’re good golf buddies.
We travel together, uh, with our friends and we would often cook whenever we were in this group of friends. And so, uh, that kind of started our love of like kind of doing more, uh, doing food and being foodies. Uh, so we came up with this idea mainly, uh, for the love and celebration of what grilling does in our community, how it brings this kind of a social uh, aspect of us and how we communicate and celebrate with each other and didn’t, we didn’t see a national face for, uh, the world of barbecue and thought this was a great opportunity, uh, that led to a relationship with Walmart, which led to us an opportunity of us doing the show showing how we did it.
And so, uh, this is what the, the, the show is all about is the, is to kind [00:04:00] of give young entrepreneurs the opportunity and the idea to follow, uh, what, what we did as a taking a celebrity brand and trying to build it to something that, uh, that you mainly see in alcohol space. You know, you mainly see this kind of idea in the alcohol space, but not in food space.
So, uh, that’s why we did it, and that’s what the show is all about.
Dr. Christina Greer: Well, I also love that you all are showcasing Black male friendship, which I think, you know, we talk a lot about on this podcast as well, and this idea of community, um, in all different facets.
Anthony Anderson: Well, you know, I’m excited about building this brand and this business with my friend, Cedric. Uh So, uh, uh, you don’t normally get to do that with someone that you’re friends with, someone that you admire, and someone that you respect. Uh, and, and we have a mutual admiration, uh, for one another, a mutual love of cooking, a mutual love of feeding people and, and getting off on, on, on, on doing that. Uh, so, uh, for us to partner and, and to start this, this [00:05:00] barbecue lifestyle brand uh, and embrace the entire community, not just our brand and what we’re doing, but to embrace the community, uh, uh, and lifestyle of barbecue as a whole is what excites it. Uh, is, is what’s exciting about it, uh, for me and to get to share this with my boy and travel the world doing this and showing young entrepreneurs how to do it, how to do it alone, how to do it with friends, how to do it with family, is the best thing to do.
Dr. Christina Greer: Time for a quick break. We’ll be right back.
Toure: The 80s gave us unforgettable songs from Bob Marley, De La Soul, and Public Enemy.
Being Black the 80s is a podcast docuseries hosted by me, Toure looking at the most important issues of the 80s through the songs of the decade.
A decade when crack kingpins controlled the [00:06:00] streets but lost their humanity.
You couldn’t be like those soft smiling happy go lucky drug dealers and you had to suppress that.
It was a time when disco was part of gay liberation. It provided the information to counter narratives that were given to gay people by the straight world. This is the funkiest history class you’ll ever take. Join me, Toure, for Being Black the 80s on theGrio Black Podcast Network, or wherever you listen to podcasts.
Dr. Christina Greer: Okay, we are back. We’re playing the Blackest Questions with Representative Ayanna Pressley. You are inspiring me to want to pack up and move back to Massachusetts. After speaking out against the Vietnam War, this civil rights activist was monitored by the FBI for several years. When she died in 2006, four U.S. presidents attended her funeral. Who was she?
Rep. Ayanna Pressley: Coretta Scott King.
Dr. Christina Greer: [00:07:00] You are correct. Coretta Scott King, the wife of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the pair who met in Boston, actually, and had four children together. Though her husband was the face of the civil rights movement, Coretta Scott King was very much part of the cause.
In fact, just days after MLK’s funeral, she was out marching in a labor strike. Coretta Scott King was also the driving force behind the federal holiday that honors her husband’s birthday, an honor only given to two other Americans, George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. And so Did you know that Coretta Scott King and Martin Luther King met and fell in love in Boston when she was attending the New England Conservatory of Music?
Rep. Ayanna Pressley: Of course. I know their whole love story. But I’ve been a long been an admirer of Coretta Scott King and been very intentional about quoting her and lifting her up because, uh, as is so often the case, Black women are rendered as a footnote or, uh, completely erased. And she was her own woman and she was already uh, a civil rights [00:08:00] fighter, a progressive, she was the one who convinced Dr. King to take that position against the Vietnam War. She also championed a federal job guarantee, uh, and as you just, uh, alluded to there was a, um, a huge, uh, champion, um, and an ally in the fight for workers rights. Um, so she was something extraordinary. And even as a student at the New England Conservatory.
Uh, the songs that she’s saying were the songs that fuel the movement, you know, freedom songs. So it’s no wonder that, uh, she caught the attention of Dr. King, although she admitted that she was not immediately impressed by him. She had heard all this talk of him and then he was much shorter in stature than she had anticipated.
Um, and had a, a, a different demeanor, but, uh, but ultimately, you know, clearly they were, um, enamored with one another. And, and the rest is history. And I think, uh, Martin and Coretta [00:09:00] prove the power of Black love and of Black radical love to birth movements. So before there was, uh, Montgomery, before there was, uh, Chicago before there was Atlanta, there was Boston.
Dr. Christina Greer: Our guest for this episode is Grammy nominated singer and songwriter, Kem. His hits, I Can’t Stop Loving You and Love Calls, made him an R&B sensation. Had my mind baby, and I can’t stop loving you.
I can’t help myself Kem, I’m super excited to have you here. Are you ready to play the Blackest Questions?
Kem: I will find out. We’re gonna find out.
Dr. Christina Greer: This particular type of food originated in Nashville, Tennessee, where you’re from, and has become wildly popular the last few years. Its origin is linked to a Black restaurant [00:10:00] called Prince’s.
Can you name the dish I’m describing?
Kem: And I’ve never had it. I’ve never, I have not had it, I have not had it, and uh, well, let me make sure I got the right.
Dr. Christina Greer: Okay.
Kem: Make sure that I can answer the question. It’s hot chicken.
Dr. Christina Greer: That’s right, you are correct. Thornton Prince is credited with selling the first batch of hot chicken in Nashville in the 1930s that quickly became his restaurant’s most popular dish.
He actually created the recipe by accident when someone tried to sabotage his food by putting too much pepper in it as an act of revenge. Apparently, because Thornton was fighting with someone else over a woman. But Thornton took notice with that, and with some tweaking, the flavor was actually pretty good, and hence we have hot chicken.
And so as you mentioned before, you were born in Nashville. You primarily were raised in Detroit. I always say Detroit, but I’m just gonna say Detroit for today. I know you’ve traveled the world, you’ve traveled the country. Of all the places you’ve visited, What city has the best food? Because we’ve had lots of chefs on the [00:11:00] show.
Kem: What city has the best food?
Dr. Christina Greer: I will eat you out of house and home.
Kem: Yeah, me too. Look, I gotta, look, I got, yeah, I, yeah, I like…
Dr. Christina Greer: I’m still rocking my COVID 15. I don’t care.
Kem: I like to, I like to eat. I like to eat.
Um, so there are, you know, and I’m the guy who has, you know, I watch the Food Network or I’m watching, uh, Guy Fieri’s, uh, uh, Diners, diners,
Dr. Christina Greer: Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.
Kem: I got a list in my phone, cities and dishes that I want to try when I get there. That’s how serious I am about, about eating. To be diplomatically, politically, um, and maternally correct, I have to say that the best food is in Detroit, because that’s where my mother is.
Dr. Christina Greer: Okay, that’s right. Listen, I’m not trying to get you banned from any concert halls or the Thanksgiving table.
So, in addition to Detroit, and obviously mom’s cooking, you know, when you travel either domestically or internationally, [00:12:00] what city were you like, okay, this is, this is dangerous because I might not be able to fit in this outfit if I stay in this city too long?
Kem: I went to, uh, I think the, the most, I’ve had, right, and it’s hard because I’ve had memorable meals like all over the country.
I think the most inter, internationally. The best, the meal that I was taken aback by the most was in, was in Italy, was in, was in Rome, right? Cause we would, we drove up into the, we drove up into these mountains and, and, you know, and you walk into the restaurant and the, you know, they have fish on ice as you’re walking into the restaurant so that you can pick the fish out that you’re going to have.
Dr. Christina Greer: That’s right.
Kem: You know, that night.
Dr. Christina Greer: That’s right.
Kem: And I had the best pasta, the best spaghetti that I’ve ever had in my life. Right. And, and the vibe is, nobody’s rushing, and it lasts all, the meal lasts all, you know, it lasts for hours. Right?
Dr. Christina Greer: Mm hmm. Mm hmm.
Kem: That was, that was probably one of the most memorable experiences I’ve had dining [00:13:00] internationally.
Dr. Christina Greer: And you can really savor it, you know? Um, and you can savor the experience. Okay, so we’re going to take a quick break. I’m with
Kem, we’re talking about food. Now I want to go back to Italy and have a little pasta and some pizza. And then scoot on over to France and have a little steak frites. But we’ll be right back after this commercial break.
Our guest for this episode has been one of the most constant voices in music journalism for the past 30 years. Toure was part of MTV News, he’s written for Rolling Stone, The New York Times, Vibe, Ebony, the list goes on and on. And he’s interviewed everyone from Tupac and Jay Z to Lady Gaga.
Toure: Thanks so much for coming out. It’s nice to meet you.
Lady Gaga: Nice to meet you. How are you?
Dr. Christina Greer: Toure, so much for this special edition of the Blackest Questions. I’m so happy to see you. Are you ready to play the Blackest Questions?
Toure: Yes, I am. I was born ready.
Dr. Christina Greer: Well, let’s see how you do on number four. Because, as we know, as our listeners know, the questions get progressively more difficult.
Toure: I like that we’re getting more progressive as we go on. I like that. That’s
true.
Dr. Christina Greer: Listen, you’ve been in the game for a [00:14:00] minute. I want to know your thoughts and opinions on these things. Okay. This hip hop group was based in Los Angeles. and released only one album in 1988. The group consisted of three brothers, one who went on to join Cypress Hill.
What is the name of this group?
Toure: Are we allowed to curse?
Dr. Christina Greer: We try not to, just to get out.
Toure: I really did not like You don’t like me, that’s okay. I did not like L.A. rap at that time.
Dr. Christina Greer: Mm hmm.
Toure: And I think that there were definitely New Yorkers who were like, we don’t, we’re, so we’re not paying attention.
Dr. Christina Greer: Right.
Toure: Especially if you’re not getting big like Cyprus. We’re really not paying attention. Cause we’re New York. We look down on the West Coast.
Dr. Christina Greer: I got it. Hey, listen, the podcast’s only been so long, boo. I gotta go. You ready?
Toure: I don’t know.
Dr. Christina Greer: Here’s the answer. 7A3.
Toure: I don’t even know if that’s a fair question. 7A3.
Uh, DJ Muggs is…
Dr. Christina Greer: pre Cypress Hill days.
Toure: Oh my God, that’s not [00:15:00] even a fair question.
7A3: S C A N N I E Fathers, last name is Bolden, so we use this to be.
Dr. Christina Greer: Sean Bolden and Brett Bolden made up the hip hop trio that released just one album entitled Coolin in Cali. They were dubbed a West Coast group, yet the brothers were from New York City. The album included tracks you may know like Drums of Steel and Hit Em Again.
Toure: Nobody knows these tracks, Chrissy. Did the album go wood? Oh my God, who would even know this?
Dr. Christina Greer: It’s a good lead into your podcast questions on New York and LA and various influences. So what other hip hop groups are out there that might not be considered some of the greats, but you think still have catalogs that are worth a listen and we should tell our audience about them?
Toure: Well, I mean, you know, Jay Electronica is probably the name that comes to mind right away, who I think is vastly underrated in terms of a lot of hip hop heads know him and love him. Um, but they, oh, he hasn’t produced enough music to. And I think people who are not, like, digging in the crates type hip hop heads may not have, uh, dug into him.
[00:16:00] This is one of the extraordinary MCs of the modern era. A guy who talks about religion and spirituality, who’s extremely deep in the way he approaches, uh, music. And I, I love his music. I loved his albums. He, and I, before his album, which we were all waiting for for like seven or 10 years or something. Um, I had more of his music in my iTunes than a lot of rappers who had albums out.
So I was like, he’s produced a lot of stuff. Um, who else? But
Dr. Christina Greer: Let’s shift gears for a second. Cause I want to talk about the West coast sound of the nineties for a moment. So we know that Death Row Records was founded in 1991 in Los Angeles and they released several iconic hip hop albums. I remember blasting the tapes [00:17:00] in my 1981 diesel car in high school.
Um, and they were part of a lot of significant pop culture moments. You know, we remember the Sorcerer Wars with Suge Knight, for example. Obviously the beef between Biggie and Tupac. Did you ever interview Suge Knight or anybody from the Death Row camp and spend a little time in Los Angeles?
Toure: Oh, look who does not pay attention to my work.
Did I ever interview Suge Knight? Are you kidding?
Dr. Christina Greer: I know this.
Toure: Next you’re gonna ask if I ever interviewed R. Kelly. Yes, I interviewed Suge Knight.
Dr. Christina Greer: I was asking for the audience.
Toure: No, you didn’t. Yeah, you didn’t. You didn’t know. You didn’t know. Cause this is a very traumatic story that I’m going to have to go talk to, I have an emergency call with my therapist just to bring this story up out of the vault. It’s so painful, but I’ll do it for you.
Dr. Christina Greer: I need to make sure our audience knows. Yes, tell us about your iconic interview.
Toure: So I was doing a story for the New Yorker on a record executive from the seventies named Dick Griffey, who in some ways was like Shug before Shug. He was a, he was [00:18:00] huge. He was a real gangster, and he was determined to make money in the music business.
He had mentored Suge. So when I’m hanging out with Dick for, you know, many days, I kept saying, like, Let’s go see Suge! Because he was suing Suge. Uh, oh, because he said that he owned 5 percent of Death Row from having given him seed money from the at the beginning. So, fu he’s like, No, no, no. And then finally he sets it up.
We go over to see Suge. It’s like midnight or something. I say I want to talk to Shug, and I’m trying to do this story quick. Uh, I say I want to talk to Shug alone, I’m interviewing him, uh, when Dick leaves, I don’t know where he is, I’m in Shug’s office, at death row, at midnight, it’s as ominous as you could imagine.
And he’s, and I’m interviewing him, asking basic questions about Dick Griffey, and then finally I’m like, so what’s up with the lawsuit? And he’s like, What are you talking about? And I pressed the question because that’s what you’re supposed to do. Although, if you are sitting [00:19:00] in the enemy’s lair, you perhaps should not do that.
Um, he, uh, long story short, he kind of grabbed me around the shoulders and kind of pulled me around the room a little bit. He kind of felt like a ragdoll. There was a period of time where I was trapped in the room and there was a clearly a young gangbanger who looked like five minutes out of county or five minutes off the street who was just standing there who he’s like, Suge was like talking to him and I’m like, this guy’s going to rush me and I don’t know what I’m going to do, right?
And I, if I break only one bone tonight, then I’m ahead of the game. Um, and then finally. Uh, we kind of wrapped that up, partly with Suge showing me this incredible re, he remembered our 45 minute interview in detail, like everything that I asked and everything that he said. He repeated our [00:20:00] 45 minute conversation, cause we were like gonna redo the interview, but now I’m too scared to talk, and he just redid the interview all by himself.
And then he’s like, alright, you got your interview, get out of here. And I like ran out. It was horrible. I’m very traumatized now Chrissy, I’m very traumatized.
Can somebody bring me some tea? I’m freaked out.
Dr. Christina Greer: And that’s what we like to do here on the Blackest Questions. No, I kid, I kid.
Toure: Freak people out.
Dr. Christina Greer: Uh, but really quickly before we go on to question number five.
Do you think that some of the violence that we’re experiencing in hip hop and in the lyrics and the music and the rhetoric is just a part of hip hop culture that’s here to stay? Or do you think that there could be a cultural shift because there’s so much other stuff going on that we might see sort of a return back to, I mean, conscious rappers?
Toure: You partly, um, fall back on like you seen Bay talking about hip hop is, um, you know, an avatar for the community.
It is a representative of the community. It’s not like things are happening that are not tied to what’s [00:21:00] going on in the community. There is death and an over prevalence of guns…
Dr. Christina Greer: And drugs.
Toure: …and drugs in our community. Yeah in our community. And so you see that in hip hop now. A lot we are seeing gun deaths in hip hop, but we’re also seeing natural deaths in hip hop you know, so I mean some folks perhaps are not able to take care of themselves or maybe uh, unwilling to see the doctor or have hereditary health problems, all these sort of medical racism issues that we have heard about that, you know, don’t escape just because you escape to another class.
So, you know, there’s, there’s a lot going on, but I don’t think that it is divorced from uh, what’s going on in the community and like these are issues that we are dealing with in the community at large. I don’t think that there’s a specific problem that is endemic to hip hop that like we, you know, that like that’s, I don’t [00:22:00] subscribe to that notion.
Dr. Christina Greer: Alright, well good to know. I can’t wait to hear more about your thoughts on this on your new show, Being Black, the 80s.
We’re playing The Blackest Questions, I’m with THE Harry Lennox. Um, we’re on to question number five, Harry, are you ready?
Harry Lennix: I’m, I’m confident. I’m feeling good.
Dr. Christina Greer: I mean, you’re killing the game. I would say you can, you can roll in, you know. This singer and musician from Georgia is credited with helping invent Soul and R&B music.
He’s often referred to as the genius. Who was he?
Harry Lennix: I’m gonna, I’m gonna say Isaac Hayes.
Dr. Christina Greer: No, . It’s Ray Charles.
Harry Lennix: Oh.
Dr. Christina Greer: Ray Charles Robinson. Sr. was a singer, songwriter, pianist, an alto saxophonist who lost his eyesight during childhood. His style of music combined Jazz, R&B, Gospel and Country. He won 17 Grammy Awards and was nominated [00:23:00] 37 times and is the only one of a handful of artists to be in both Country and Rock and Roll Hall of Fames.
Ray Charles: I know, I know, I know, I know Keep y’all young, my man, yeah, well
Dr. Christina Greer: So…you appeared in the Oscar award winning film, Ray, as Joe Adams, brand manager and promoter of Ray for more than 40 years. So what’s something about Ray Charles that surprised you in making this film? So it’s, you know, we know that you do meticulous research, uh, as you approach, uh, your work.
Harry Lennix: Well, uh, I, I forgot about the genius part. I’m so ashamed. Anyway, uh,
Dr. Christina Greer: It’s all up here in The Blackest questions. Trust me, when people have turned the tables on me, I’m, I’m pretty much 0 for 10.
Harry Lennix: That’s funny.
Dr. Christina Greer: And I’m the host.
Harry Lennix: No, that’s very good though. The genius. Um, well, I think the, the very interesting thing was I, I met Ray Charles a [00:24:00] couple of times before, you know, uh, before the movie.
I met him while a five heartbeat. We had the occasion to, ran into Ray Charles, God knows. And I’d been in this company a couple of times before, but that said, um. I met Joe Adams, the character that I was going to, that I played in it, and I met him in, in person, and we had a long talk, and we had a long talk, and I think that, uh, that was pretty cool, because That’s a rare thing when you’re studying someone is that the person is actually alive still.
And so that, um, it’s, it’s almost, you know, it’s almost a handicap too, because the person’s alive and you don’t want to sort of portray the whole truth. If you don’t, if you happen to know, cause everybody’s whole truth is not as attractive as it might be.
Ray (2004): Leave us alone. We [00:25:00] need to talk. Ray? You can step outside Joe.
I’ll be in my office.
Harry Lennix: But that said, uh, I didn’t have any such reservations about playing Joe Adams. He was more, more or less as he was presented in the film, you know, li you know, like him or hate him. I know, uh, , some people think he’s a very antagonistic guy and he’s a villain, or some of some in some sense, but some people are charmed by him.
And I, and I found he was very much like that in real life. There are people that was based on interviews with people, to a large extent on interviews with himself, with Joe Adams himself. So he was an interesting, fascinating, accomplished man. And, um, it was great to be able not just to, to meet him in real life, but also to see some of the performances.
He was an actor. He was a first coast to coast Black DJ, [00:26:00] you know, so, so these were, uh, uh, he was a Tuskegee airman, you know, he, yeah, he contributed a great deal to his church. I know he gave them their piano, uh, for example, he was a very interesting man. Um, so,
Dr. Christina Greer: Well, but I think so many people appreciate about your work is that you actually can show and you do show the levels of people. It’s, you know, they’re always multi dimensional characters. So even their flaws, um, and their complications are extrapolated in these very, uh, precise ways where I feel like I, we leave your characters sometimes conflicted.
Right? Especially when you’re playing a little more of a sinister character. It’s like, well, I mean I felt it, you know, like, yeah, I, I can see where he’s coming from. Um, uh, yes, I, I really just. I’m, I’m so appreciative of the attention to detail. [00:27:00]
Our guests for this episode are husband and wife Egypt Sherrod and Mike Jackson.
Together for 18 years, the parents of three girls have become fan favorites on HGTV, with their hit show, Married to Real Estate. Before I get you all out of here, the Black Lightning Round is for each of you. And this is just, there’s no right or wrong answer. I just want the first thing that pops in your mind. You just let us know. Okay. So some questions are for both of you. And some questions are just for each of you. So for both of you, if you had to choose, are you building a home from scratch? Are you renovating something older? Egypt?
Egypt Sherrod: Renovating something older.
Dr. Christina Greer: Mike?
Mike Jackson: Building something from scratch.
Dr. Christina Greer: This question is for both of you.
Who has better food, New York or Atlanta?
Egypt Sherrod: Ooh, I’m gonna lose my New York card on this, but I gotta say Atlanta.
Dr. Christina Greer: Okay.
Mike Jackson: Atlanta. Yeah.
Dr. Christina Greer: Okay. The block is hot with this one.
Egypt Sherrod: We can never go back to Hempstead, Long Island. He’s He’s not welcome there after saying [00:28:00] that.
Dr. Christina Greer: When the kids want something, who are they coming to first, mom or dad?
Egypt Sherrod: They come to mom. When mom says no, they go to dad. Dad says yes. Mom gets upset at dad. Dad says I’m sorry, but the kids still get their way.
Dr. Christina Greer: Okay, Egypt, you can only watch one reality show for the next five years. What are you picking?
Egypt Sherrod: Oh my gosh, it’s gotta be Ready to Love on OWN. I love that show so much.
Dr. Christina Greer: Okay. And Mike, I know you love Caribbean food. What’s your go to order?
Mike Jackson: Oh, my go to order. Yeah. Okay. Uh, curry chicken with, uh, mixed vegetables, um, rice and peas and plantains.
Dr. Christina Greer: Okay. Listen, the next time you all come to New York, you got to swing by my house. I’ll make you all some oxtails.
Egypt Sherrod: Ooo.
Dr. Christina Greer: My dad gets fresh oxtails from the Amish in Delaware.
Egypt Sherrod: You know, we just lost our New York card on your show though.
Dr. Christina Greer: Well, you can sneak in town. I won’t tell anybody.
And we’re back. I’m with [00:29:00] the multi hyphenate, Michelle Buteau, talking about all the things. What reality TV show could you not live without?
Michelle Buteau: 90 Day Fiancé.
Dr. Christina Greer: What’s an item of clothing or style you hate to wear?
Michelle Buteau: Uh, Brazilian, uh, bootcut jeans.
Dr. Christina Greer: How dare you? I was gonna say a bra, but that’s a whole nother thing. Okay. High heels or flat?
Michelle Buteau: Ooh, I’d say a kitten, in between. Come on, don’t give up.
Dr. Christina Greer: Ooh. Okay, get me out. One food item you can’t get enough of.
Michelle Buteau: Oh my God. Don’t know. That’s so crazy.
Dr. Christina Greer: Okay, think about it.
Michelle Buteau: Yeah. I love a green juice. I don’t know.
Dr. Christina Greer: Okay.
Michelle Buteau: Champagne? Is that a food item?
Dr. Christina Greer: I just got a juicer and it totally is because it’s grapes, so therefore it’s fruit.
Okay, last question. You can have dinner with anyone, dead or alive. Who are you sitting down with?
Michelle Buteau: Um, my grandma Mavis.
Dr. Christina Greer: Oh, I love that. And I want to thank you [00:30:00] all for listening to The Blackest Questions. This show is produced by Sasha Armstrong and Jeffrey Trudeau, and Regina Griffin is our Director of Podcasts.
If you like what you heard, subscribe to this podcast so you never miss an episode, and you can find more at theGrio Black Podcast Network, on theGrio app, website and YouTube.
Toure: I’m Toure. Join us for crazy true stories about stars who I really hung out with like Snoop, Jay Z, Prince, Kanye, and the time I got kidnapped by Suge Knight. Don’t miss my animated series Star Stories with Toure from theGrio Black Podcast Network.
