Dear Culture

Let’s play ‘University of Dope’

Episode 42
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As Dear Culture continues to celebrate 50 years of hip-hop, Panama Jackson introduces his listeners to the card game ‘Univeristy of Dope.’ The game’s co-founder A.V. Perkins tells the origin story of the only card game dedicated to hip-hop music. Plus, A.V. and Panama play a few rounds, who’s team would you be on?

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Panama Jackson [00:00:00] You are now listening to theGrio’s Black Podcast Network Black Culture Amplified? What’s going on, everybody? And welcome back to Dear Culture, the podcast for buying about the culture. It’s one of the podcasts here on the Real Black Podcast Network, which features a ton of Black content for you about all manner of cultural phenomenon, although it displays how excellent we are on a constant daily basis. You make sure you check out the other shows, an agreeable podcast network here, a Dear Culture here, a Dear Culture. We get into it, we break down and talk about different aspects of people and places and things or doing awesome stuff. And today is no different. We are going to talk to somebody who created a game that celebrates hip hop and drinking responsibly, but celebrates hip hop. We are celebrating 50 years of hip hop all year long here at theGrio and probably everywhere else, you’re paying attention to Black cultural phenomenon. So if you will, please put your hands together for a person who created a drinking game that is a hip hop trivia and argument game. I keep saying drinking game. We need to focus on the fact that it’s a it’s a.

A.V. Perkins [00:01:17] We call it a party game.

Panama Jackson [00:01:19] Party game. There you go.

A.V. Perkins [00:01:20] Party game.

Panama Jackson [00:01:22] It’s a community game. It’s a game that allows you to debate and argue the way you do in your group chats in person. I’m assuming when you do a lot of events, there are fights there, breakout things.

A.V. Perkins [00:01:33] Any Fast and Furious movie except the whack one with Ja Rule.

Panama Jackson [00:01:37] So please put your hands together for University of Dope co-founder creator A.V. Perkins. How you doing?

A.V. Perkins [00:01:46] Hello. Hello. Hello.

Panama Jackson [00:01:48] How are you doing today?

A.V. Perkins [00:01:50] I’m doing great. You know, it is a sunny day. That means spring is around the corner. So I’m just. I’m. I’m ready to be outside. More outside. Yes.

Panama Jackson [00:02:02]  Spring is sprunging around here. And that’s a beautiful thing, because that means there’ll be more gatherings. People already gathering a lot. But now there’s going to be more gathering, so there’s more opportunities to play your game, which I know happens often.

A.V. Perkins [00:02:15] And this is going to, you know, go against the grain. But Ima say Drake gotta go. He already been around long enough. He had his run. And I’m a deejay, so I think I should know.

Panama Jackson [00:02:26] So let’s start at the top here for one. Tell me about the game that we’re going to get a little bit into your background and how we got here in the first place. So tell me about University of Dope?

A.V. Perkins [00:02:36] Okay, University of Dope, our tagline, it is a disrespectful party game for hip hop lovers. So that’s why I talked about like, hey, we use party games that are drinking because then there’s that one person or ten people or whoever, Oh, I don’t drink. That’s fine. You know, I love to. I don’t even. Swizz Beats don’t drink and he can play right. Drink and get a wheatgrass. Whatever. But our game is not trivia based. It’s majority rules. So that’s another thing that we, you know, we questions that we get from people like, oh, my gosh, I don’t know. They get intimidated thinking they need to be Fab Five Freddy and know all of the history of hip hop to play. And you don’t like if you’ve watched 106 and Park with AJ and Free or TRL, Video Music Box, you know, shows like that, you have a working knowledge of hip hop, you can play. So our game is majority rules, not trivia based. All you have to do is know how to read the room. Literally.

Panama Jackson [00:03:32] Facts. I mean, I’m somebody who’s played this game. I have it. Obviously, there’s a copy of it back there, the packaging back here. You definitely do not have to be a hip hop head to play. You have to have an opinion to play like this effectively. What it comes down to, right? Like you need to be somebody who has an opinion and is willing to stand on that or at least be able to hold up a card that says A, B, C, or D.

A.V. Perkins [00:03:57] That’s it. I tell people. Just like how, you know, the answer in school, choose C. When in doubt choose C. That worked for me in college. It’ll work for you in this game.

Panama Jackson [00:04:09] So let’s talk a little bit about your story, how you got here. I love like your personal bio where you say if Martha Stewart is Snoop Dogg had a baby, I need you to explain that. Yeah, Please. Let’s break down your bio. And I want to ask you one of the corniest questions of all time from one of my favorite movies of all time, because this is a hip hop party game. So courtesy of Brown Sugar. When did you fall in love with hip hop?

A.V. Perkins [00:04:34] All right, so I’ll answer those back to back. So when Martha Stewart and Snoop Dogg having a baby to being me, my background is originally in film and television doing props and set decorating. So I’ve always, like, worked on my hands, making stuff, being crafty. And then eventually that led me into blogging and that led me into doing on camera work for HGTV, apartment therapy and other home and gardening type of platform. So that’s why Martha Stewart is like, I love making crafts, cookies, recipes, all of that jazz. Now, my Snoop Dogg side is University of Dope. I love hip hop. I am a child of the culture. I’m going to start using that, child of culture, I like it. But yeah, you know, I’m I’m a child of the culture, so I appreciate both. And when people hear it right, like if you hear them separately, it sounds crazy, but they get a well, they get along so well, it makes sense. So we know her, you know him and you know him. You know her. And thankfully, they have not done too many things problematic where it makes my brain a problematic, you know, they give you just enough spice, you know, between prison time and we don’t love these hoes.

Panama Jackson [00:05:41] Both done jail. They both done jail. They both they both they both got street respect.

A.V. Perkins [00:05:47] Exactly. But it’s like it’s not you know, she did like a little bit of fraud, right? Not like killing people. So it’s a little bit, you know, so it’s enough. We’re like, Martha, we love it. And, you know, Snoop has been pimping, but it’s like family friendly.

Panama Jackson [00:06:01] So family friendly pampering. Okay. All right. So when did you fall in love with hip hop? What’s where’s that part?

A.V. Perkins [00:06:09] That part. Okay, I think. I usually say it’s my brother. My older brother hazed me into loving hip hop. I, you know, being an older brother is like My sister you need to know the lyrics of songs. And I was just like, I was just a casual listener like other people were. And with that, I just, you know, always having it around me. I have family members who performed, been in the industry doing various things, so it was just kind of like starting to like osmosis into my household. So that is how I fell in love in a nutshell, how I fell in love with hip hop.

Panama Jackson [00:06:48] We’re going to take one quick break here. And when we come back, we’re going to talk about how you created the game and how you came up with questions, because I have some I have some funny observations about that. So stay tuned right here and your culture. All right. We’re back here on Dear Culture. I’m talking to A.V. Perkins, one of the co-founders and co-creators of University of Dope, a hip hop party game that allows you to argue and debate the things that you were talking about your friends with, but for entertainment and joy purposes. And, you know, I have a couple of questions. Well, one, how did you all create the game and how did you all come up with some of the questions? Because I noticed that there’s a lot of nods to like pop culture, like, for instance, like the nod to Dylan, Dylan and Dylan, like the Chappelle skit and stuff like that. But so many of the questions have nods to things that have happened that everybody, whether you are a hip hop head or music fan or whatever, are very familiar with in some way, shape or form. So how did you come up with the game? How did you all come up with the questions you all were going to put into the game?

A.V. Perkins [00:07:49] Well, these type of conversations is what Marianne, my business partner, and I would discuss anyway, just like. And so we would go in rabbit holes, just discussing hip hop. And we’ve been doing that for years. We met in college actually, and that’s where the term University of comes in because we went to Central Connecticut State University. Shout out to CCSU. And one day she came to visit me in Brooklyn from Connecticut, and I asked her if she can name all the members of Wu-Tang. She said yes. I didn’t believe her. I said, okay, can you name them all after consuming adult beverages? And she said, Yes. And we thought this would be a great game, like we need to play this game. And we figured the RZA is a genius and he’s already created it. So we googled Wu-Tang drinking game. It did not exist. So we were like we got to make it up because we are our target audience. So that is how we first came with the thoughts of the game. Like what would we like to see.

[00:08:47] Here we have a die hard Wu-Tang fan, like a fanatic. You got RZA, GZA, ODB, Inspectah Deck, U-God. Raekwon, Master Killa. Raekwon. You said Raekwon twice.

A.V. Perkins [00:09:03] Literally like, you know, be the change you want to see in the world, I suppose. Right. So that is, that is what we wanted to see. And when it comes to the questions, you know, we, we have a certain tone of how we speak. So like, like I mentioned before, the tagline is a disrespectful party game for hip hop lovers. So we are saying things that, you know, you’re saying with your friends, right? People have been arguing about Ether versus Take Over for.

Panama Jackson [00:09:34] 22 years.

A.V. Perkins [00:09:35] Half of our lives at this point. Right. You know, so it’s it’s been a long time of of even like those type of debates. Who’s the greatest of all time and who wouldn’t be this person without this person? And, you know, we wanted to give different like you mentioned nods to culture, too, because even though yes, it’s like hip hop and it’s rap, it’s a part of an entire culture. Right. Like, it comes down to we have a card, we have a couple of cards dedicated to, like hip hop fashion. Right. Because hip hop is not in a bubble. We have a card dedicated to, you know, adult beverages that people usually consume when they’re in participating in the culture. So, yeah, we just have all of those things. So it’s like a love letter to all y’all, but we want you all to laugh with us and us laugh with ya’ll.

Panama Jackson [00:10:23] How hard was it to put a game together? Most people probably have no idea what it takes to do this. I mean.

A.V. Perkins [00:10:29] It.

Panama Jackson [00:10:30] I know nothing about this process.

A.V. Perkins [00:10:33] It is learning curves like you wouldn’t believe because her and I, we our background is not in gaming. Hers is an event planning and business. I’m in communication, art, film along those lines. So that’s where the creativity comes in. I do the marketing and the press. She does operations. So us coming together, it’s well, one, figuring out what you’re good at and whatever you’re good at, just let that person handle it. So that’s where I do this. And she does that. Make sure we have decks. I make sure people don’t buy them at some point. Right? So that’s kind of like with that. But what we were doing when we first first started, we had a list of rappers that we were okay. We would like them to be in the game, so we don’t want to forget anybody. But also we would keep track of how many times I on a spreadsheet, how many times they were mentioned, because I guess we do plan on creating other decks for like regional areas that we do have a we’re from northeast or northeast kind of like slant, but that’s where hip hop started anyway. So, you know, go write about it to your parents. I don’t care. Right. We’ll we’ll get to everybody else in its entirety in due time. But now, today, fast forward six years later. It is a good balance because it was before I was very much more heavy on East Coast. And then also it was harder. It was a harder game. So we had to focus on we want to make it fun, right, Because we’re not a trivia game. And we realize there’s some people that may not be as popular to the general masses of hip hop consumers, Right? Because there’s the people who are and they know every single thing they know.

Panama Jackson [00:12:16] You have U-God in this game. So you still got some of those, you still got some of those things that people like who?.

A.V. Perkins [00:12:23] With U-God in the game, so, U-God is in the game, but it says like Wu-Tang next to it. So you could kind of put two and two and three together. But MF Doom is not in the game. See what I am saying? So it’s like that. And then also even with that, we had to set up a range of time of who to be in the game. So they’re not too old. Like Rakim is in the game. Kurtis Blow is I believe he’s still in. He should definitely still be in the game. Right. So it goes as early as that. But it does it kind of cuts off with like Drake, Big Sean Kendrick, like that incoming Class J. Cole, because we realize.

Panama Jackson [00:13:04] Futures in here. Futures in here?

A.V. Perkins [00:13:06] Yeah. So there are some outliers. Right, Right. But it’s like what a chunk of people are golden era. So even though, you know, like, you know, Kool Moe Dee, like their there, KRS-One, but there’s a little bit more like the block is a little bit more tighter for the majority of the cards. Between golden era new jack swing like that kind of time up until now. Now there’s some folks who are in there like Cardi. Cardi is on the card, but we decided that, okay, if Cardi stop making music, which could very well happen because she’s been on one album, she could very well stop making music. People will still remember her. So she’s like on a card, but we card. But we made the mistake in our first iteration. We are people who are not making music anymore on a card.

Panama Jackson [00:13:55] Hmm.

A.V. Perkins [00:13:56] And that makes it difficult for us. So that’s kind of like how we had the idea of how we were strategizing with putting people in the game, and then we just started making questions and plugging people in who make sense in those questions and making it fair. Because like sometimes when, for instance, our most controversial card is erased, one person from hip hop history Biggie, Nas, Jay-Z or Tupac right.

Panama Jackson [00:14:20] I pulled that by the way, because I’m like, Who does? Like, what do you what do you want? That’s like a fight question.

A.V. Perkins [00:14:27] Or we’re villains, right? Mistress of Mayhem. But yeah, we have that card. And if people don’t want to answer it and they’ll say something like, Oh, I’m getting rid of Vanilla Ice. And it’s like this reason why Vanilla Ice is not on that card, because that wouldn’t be fair to Vanilla Ice, because everyone would just pick them. So our other cards we designed like that too. So people who are kind of like, grouped together, they are in similar brackets.

Panama Jackson [00:14:55] So you said you like you all made a list of like rappers that you wanted to be in the game, but I imagine rappers you sent the game to and stuff like that. So I’m guessing a lot of people who are in the game have received copies of it.

A.V. Perkins [00:15:10] Not always. Not, not always. Because sometimes people are just hard to reach. Right.

Panama Jackson [00:15:15] Yeah. So I was going to go that’s what I was going to go like what’s been the response in general to it? Because, you know, I’ve so I know people who have this game, I’ve played it. I’ve seen people play it. It’s fun, right? Especially because it’s not trivia, right? It’s just debating and arguing. You know, you can you can play the same game 30 times in a row and have a completely different outcome every time, depending on who’s playing. Like, you know, you play this twice in a row, you don’t know all the answers already. Right. So it’s it gives it a it’s a breathing living game and stuff like that. So what’s been the response? And I know you all do like you specifically go do like game nights where people and stuff like that. So tell me tell me about all that the response and how that part goes. Like.

A.V. Perkins [00:15:56] Yeah, well we have a friend. Yes, experience. We have a friend whose name is John Archer and he has a show on This is 50 and some of his interviews he will ask people questions from the game.

[00:16:09] Best song about strip clubs, A I’m in Love With a Stripper, T-Pain B Pop That French Montana C Tip Drill by Nelly or D Bands Will Make Her Dance, Juicy J? Two, Pop That.

A.V. Perkins [00:16:22] It’s a very surreal experience to see people who inspired you with their art, with their work, living their life, their truth. They inspired us to create something. And then you kind of like see it go back to them. It’s almost like playing tennis. It’s like volleying back, right? And then or is that volleyball? Whatever, I’m not a sportsperson. It goes back is going is, you know, it’s reciprocal and seeing them react to their name being on a card. Right. And they’re like, wait, what is this? This is great. So there’s a really warm, really warm reception from them. And then there are there have been times when artists have gotten a hold of our game and talked about it on social media, and we have no idea how they got it. And like early on this happened, I believe it was, Oh, my gosh, it was 9th Wonder. Til this day, I don’t know. This was literally like in our first or second year. I have no idea how you got a hand on the game. Like posted it on one of the cards on his Instagram and it was a one got to go Black Thought, Mos Def, Talib Kweli and Common. Right. And then there’s you see people commenting in his comment section and then Black Thought there. Everyone’s like react like, what is? Who’s thing is this? What is this? So it is good to see. It’s still getting out there in different ways.

Panama Jackson [00:17:45] You know, that’s dope. And it’s that’s a very cool experience to have, right? When the people that you’re talking about are literally weighing in on the thing. I mean, I don’t know. I don’t know if Black Thought is going to get in there and say, yo Talib got to go. But you know what I mean? Just like, you know.

A.V. Perkins [00:18:01] Say in the comments section where I know you’ve been leaned over to Quest said something probably. You know what I mean.

Panama Jackson [00:18:07] Oh, absolutely. You know, absolutely. They’re arguing about this type of stuff. I will take another break right here. And we’re going to come back. We’re going to talk about a big announcement that you all made about this game recently and the availability of it. And then we’re going to we’re going to have some fun with some of the questions on your game. Oh, I want to I want to play University of Dope with you and and get your take on some of that, some of your own questions that you all have. So stay tuned right here on Dear Culture. All right. We’re back here in Dear Culture with A.V. Perkins talking her hip hop party game, University of Dope. Now you all recently and it was this year in 2023 made a big announcement about the game and its availability. Please share that. I don’t want to take that. Please share that announcement that you all made.

A.V. Perkins [00:18:51] We are now available in Target stores Nation. Like every target, we are available. The first card game dedicated to hip hop culture is now the first hip hop card game in Target nationwide during hip hop 50 like clap for a heavyweight champ. Me, right?

Panama Jackson [00:19:13] Yeah. Congratulations. Yo, that’s like, that’s a big deal. For one, everybody goes to Target and to it’s like people see I can’t I can’t imagine. What was it like for y’all seeing your creation like in Target?

A.V. Perkins [00:19:28] So it was one of those obviously if you are creating, it’s a surreal experience, but we also knew it was coming. So you’re like holding on. So it’s you can’t tell anybody for months. And then it was its rollout was the first week in January. But our surprise was people started seeing it in stores before Christmas.

Panama Jackson [00:19:50] Oh.

A.V. Perkins [00:19:51] Yeah. So, you know, the first person who saw it and sent me a like a screenshot of it or a picture, they were in Vegas. So now it’s even more amazing because we’re based on the East Coast. So the first signing is way out there. So it’s not a regional nothing wrong with we know because of you in the in there but you know it’s the flex goes bigger right is like oh is that in Vegas. Right. So there is there is that. And then also seeing the pictures coming of people seeing and taking pictures with the game. And I try to go to Brooklyn Targets and get it. And it was gone. They were sold out in Brooklyn. So I haven’t even got a chance to see on the shelves in Brooklyn. I had to see it in Connecticut where my mother lives. And and it’s it’s very rewarding.

Panama Jackson [00:20:38] I mean, that’s so cool. For one, I’m proud of y’all. Congratulations. It’s a big deal to have something that you created, raised to the level of a national distributor wanting to place it among all these games and things. So that’s that’s a really big deal. But it also makes me wonder, like. There aren’t a lot of hip hop games in general out there, are there? Like I feel like you would probably know better than most.

A.V. Perkins [00:21:06] Correct. There are. There are. There aren’t. Like there’s some that it’s more so Black culture, right? And Black culture is not necessarily synonymous with hip hop culture, but there are a lot of overlaps like I will not, you know, this is ours, but we share we do share hip hop with the world. But other parts of our Black culture, like specifically like us and other diaspora things, right? So yeah, there’s other games that are more so like, even like Culture Tax. I love them. That is, there’s some things that are like hip hop related but is definitely more so, right, Black culture related with that, with that tie in. And there’s other brands like that as well.

Panama Jackson [00:21:50] Like what advice do you have for people who are trying to build something from the ground up in a grinding and hustling through it to keep going. What’s your advice for for entrepreneurs and those who see what you all have been able to do and are trying to get there?

A.V. Perkins [00:22:05] There’s two schools of thought when it comes to entrepreneurship. There’s some people who are like, okay, do what makes money. Right. Which is, which makes sense because we’re not here for charity. Right. So we’re in let’s say you decide what’s something popular. I don’t know. Let’s say someone wants to make a nail shop. But if you have no interest in doing nails, that may be difficult, especially when you don’t have the capital to hire people to do that part. Now, if you have the capital to say, Hey, I want to just go to money generating activities. Perfect. Now, if you have to really DIY things yourself in the beginning, definitely let it be something that you are passionate about because that is what is going to keep you going. Like, if I didn’t like hip hop at all, this would be a very difficult thing if I didn’t like my team. And that’s another part, right? Working with people that you like, admire and respect because life be lifeing and in six years, life be lifing, in six years, we have all seen different points of our lives, you know, kids marriages, I don’t no kids, but kids, marriages, deaths like things have happened that can mental health issues like things happen. But you have to be able to respect the people that you work with and know that what you’re doing is bigger than your individual self. But you still need to honor your individual selfs.

Panama Jackson [00:23:35] Okay, Good advice.

A.V. Perkins [00:23:36] Just do it.

Panama Jackson [00:23:39] That’s just my advice to most people. Like, if you have something you want to do, you need to be doing that. Like, if you want to achieve success and it needs to be the things you’re able to focus on as much as humanly possible. And you got to you got to love it now. You got to love it in a way that, you know, it sustains you, because I think most of us are probably not don’t have all that money where we can dump money into the thing and hope it just brings back one when you later. I think most of us are probably on the other of the DIY end of it where it’s like, so you need.

A.V. Perkins [00:24:05] That passion for that motivation.

Panama Jackson [00:24:09] Time for a quick break. Stay with us. Right. We’re back here on Dear Culture and we’re about to play University of Dope, which is cool because we’re doing it with one of the creators of the game. So let’s hop into this. We’re going to so people can get an idea who don’t know what this game is all about. Let’s let’s hop into this. So I’m going to ask you some of the questions that you have here. Now, since this is you and I playing, we’re not going to use the ABC or cards, but I want you to take on some of this stuff. So we’re going to start with with one of my favorite questions to ask people. And I have an answer that’s not on your card, which led me to a suggestion I had. So you’re stranded on the desert. You’re stranded on a deserted island. Which album, When you listen to A. Black on Both Sides by Mos Def B. The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill by Lauryn Hill. C. Three Feet High and Rising by De La Soul, which you can now stream or D The Chronic by Dr. Dre. Which one are you listening to?

A.V. Perkins [00:24:58] I’m listening to The Miseducation.

[00:25:03] Guys, you know you better watch out. Some girls are only about.

A.V. Perkins [00:25:10] Yeah, I’m going with that. Lauryn, she gave us a healthy blend of everything. It feels like this is not saying other. The others are not a complete album. But I feel like Miseducation is very much a complete album. Body of work. So, yes, I’m willing to.

Panama Jackson [00:25:30] It’s aiight.

A.V. Perkins [00:25:30] Yeah. Okay, So which one you choosing then?

Panama Jackson [00:25:33] Of the ones that are here. I’m taking Black on Both Sides by Mos Def.

[00:25:38] What’s your name? When you came from? Neck and wrist laced up. Very little makeup.

Panama Jackson [00:25:42] Which is odd because the Chronic was one of my favorite albums for, like, ever. But as I got older, I got tired of the profanity. Like being like, I don’t know why. Like, my age has turned me into like, my ears changed.

A.V. Perkins [00:25:56] It definitely does. It definitely your ears definitely change because I experience that as well. Like, sometimes I can’t listen to album cuts. Also, just growing up, I listen to a lot of like radio edit, right? And I just have this conversation recently, like how some songs they were completely rewritten for the radio.

Panama Jackson [00:26:17] Completely different songs.

A.V. Perkins [00:26:19] Like, you really kind of just left it like that. But alas, I’m not going to censor your art.

Panama Jackson [00:26:25] All right, So here’s here’s another here’s another question that you have that I’m going to make a suggestion for you. You can have it for free for another card whenever you decide to make an upcoming car. You’re performing at the Apollo. Which song are you singing so you don’t get booed? And by the way, this is from the anatomy of R&B Pack that you all released as well, which is is it also in Target?

A.V. Perkins [00:26:47] That is not in Target yet. We are working and manifesting on that, but the R&B deck is available on our site and Amazon and different brick and mortars across the country.

Panama Jackson [00:26:58] Got you. Okay, so the options here are never would have made it by Marvin Sapp, We Fall Down by Donnie McClurkin, Shackles by Mary Mary and Melodies from Heaven by Kirk Franklin and the Family.

A.V. Perkins [00:27:10] Mm hmm.

Panama Jackson [00:27:11] Which song are you singing so you don’t get booed at the Apollo?

A.V. Perkins [00:27:13] Melodies. Melodies from Heaven. Because that’s my jam.

Panama Jackson [00:27:23] So here’s the funny thing, and I guess I’m probably I’m probably doing that one too, because I feel like more people are going to sing along, making it harder to find a reason to boo me. This made me think of the fact that, like, which one of these songs would you actually play in the club? Right. So there was that video of somebody with Melodies from Heaven playing in a nightclub and then do like the real broadly look and do singing along. And it actually started a debate in my own house about like, what songs every, every Black person should know. But I’ve also been in a club when when like, deejays will randomly throw on like, Kirk Franklin Stomp or, you know, like, like you hear like, like songs or people just start singing along. And I’m like, I wonder what? Like, they never would have made a remix that hit like, TikTok or whatever, like that drunk with jam in the gym, in the club, right? So I’m like, Which one of these would actually get played in the club is like a break.

A.V. Perkins [00:28:19] I’ve heard renditions of melodies, and I know you’ve heard it too, and it kind of cuts in Crush on You.

Panama Jackson [00:28:27] Yes, I have.

A.V. Perkins [00:28:28] Yes, exactly. So it’s like, wait a minute. So I think Melanie would definitely, like, play in the club, cause already doing it with with the Crush on You remix. And I think the first time I heard that it was Kirk Franklin himself. So that man is Puff Daddy. For the Lord.

Panama Jackson [00:28:47] Oh, yeah. Facts. Yeah. Yeah, big time. So here’s here’s another question that I thought was funny, because you’re missing, like, the most obvious, most important, most important option out here. So this music video shot in the rain. This one is also from the anatomy pack, The Icebox Omarion, Summer Rain by Carl Thomas, Umbrella by Rihanna or Rain On Me by Ashanti. And how in the world is Ray J’s One Wish video not on here?

A.V. Perkins [00:29:17] So here it goes. I knew you were going to say that right. Now, I told you how we have the list, right? We also have the algorithm on how many times people can be on a card featured. And then sometimes I kind of like gauges with, like relevancy or whatever, right? Ray J has his own card. His very own card, I think it’s best. I think it’s like best rage video now in the cards. One wishes on that card. But I do respect that thought. But we debate about this all the time to make sure everyone is kind of like fair because we put there who we going to take out? Ashanit? You know, and she’s capped out, too, so. Yeah.

Panama Jackson [00:30:03] Time for a quick break. Stay with us. And we’re back. You could do so. This is the other thing that I thought I was like, you know what I would have just done? I would have just written in on this one. Like, we got to write in Ray J. That’s clearly the best music video shot in the rain. I was like, What if there was a write in a write in line on some of these cars or people are dead?

A.V. Perkins [00:30:23] So there are you have to look you have to look through your deck. Before these purple boxes came in, our boxes were Black and white and something. It was like old manufacturer. And the manufacturer added two cards that were blank. It had the label on the back, but there was nothing on the front. So we were just going to like, okay, we’re going to put in an extra. But it was a mistake from the manufacturer. So we played it off and say, Hey, ya’ll can make your own cards. So that is how that started. And you kind of have to be agile and pivot. But that was literally a mistake. If you have the old deck, the blankk cards are literally for no reason. So now we incorporated the blank cards where you can make your own question and we set it up where, you know, it was a one got to go. Who still in your four, whoever you want to do and other questions like that. But we do make it so you can fill in it.

Panama Jackson [00:31:10] Which which was the best music video Ice Box, Summer Rain, Umbrella, Rain on Me, that isn’t obviously Ray J’s One Wish?

A.V. Perkins [00:31:15] Ice box.

Panama Jackson [00:31:18] Yeah, I think I have to go with that one too.

A.V. Perkins [00:31:20] Yeah. And even if Ray J was on that card, it will still be Ice Box.

Panama Jackson [00:31:24] Whoa. No, no, no.

A.V. Perkins [00:31:27] It would. It would.

Panama Jackson [00:31:27] Absolutely not. Dude, One Wish is not only one of the greatest videos in the rain. It’s one of the greatest videos, period. It’s such a ridiculous video. That’s why I love Ray J so much, because it was like, man, I am I am going to be like he leaned so heavily into the ridiculousness that it just it’s enjoyable. The Ray J experience is an enjoyable one.

A.V. Perkins [00:31:46] For Omarion, told people he was a refrigerator, you know, like, that’s ridiculous too.

Panama Jackson [00:31:54] Okay, fair. But in One Wish, he asked, the song is One Wish and there’s like 14 wishes in the song. I counted, I wrote an article about this where I literally went, wish my wish when all the wishes he has in the song.

A.V. Perkins [00:32:08] Yeah, Wish we be best friends. Be there to the end. Yeah. Yeah. Okay.

Panama Jackson [00:32:13] All right. Last question. And then and last question and then we are going to take a break. Which crew would you choose as teammates on Family Feud, A, Dipset, B, Cash Money, C, G Unit, or D Ruff Ryders?

A.V. Perkins [00:32:27] Hmmm. Ruff Ryders.

Panama Jackson [00:32:33] Why Ruff Ryders?

A.V. Perkins [00:32:34] I mean, it would have to be all of them. So this has to, you know, make sure like The Lox and everyone is Eve, everybody Drag On. I think it would be really fun commentary. If I was with G-Unit, I feel like we wouldn’t even be like a family. Somebody would fight, right? So we can’t be a family on family feud. Dipset. Dipset is cool. I just feel like they’re not gonna answer the questions that need to be answered. Right. And then Cash Money? I don’t know. I don’t know why I wouldn’t put them be Family Feud, but yeah, Ruff Ryders I feel like I would get we would get some answers and actually have a shot at winning.

Panama Jackson [00:33:13] Hmm. Yeah, I’m going like 2003 Dipset. Because that seems like the most fun group of individuals to ever be around. They might never answer, but it’s going to be a lot of shenanigans on that stage, and that’s good for TV. Ruff Ryders, they feel like they too serious. Everybody else feels like they might be a little bit too serious.

A.V. Perkins [00:33:32] I feel like Jada would answer a question and possibly get them right too. Styles P. If they all might be serious. But.

Panama Jackson [00:33:40] Now they would. I agree. Like the version of of like Ruff Ryders that would exist with the Lox now 100% like they would. I mean, Jadakiss got things to sell so to start so the Styles, you know they legitimately have business is they need to make sure that you know that they’re the kind of people you should buy things from. So they’re going to be are they going to be on a P’s and Q’s while being entertaining. All right. Well, we’re about to take one last break and we’re going to come back with my favorite segment on the show. We get into some Blackfessions and some Blackmendations. Right here on Dear Culture. All right. We’re back here on Dear Culture with Avi Perkins, and we just played a little bit, gave a taste of playing University of Dope. Now, usually there’s more people. Everybody’s on 100. There’s probably arguments and all that kind of stuff. We were just answering questions politely, responding to one another’s responses. My group chats are completely different in everybody. Nobody cares about anybody else’s opinion. We just argue.

A.V. Perkins [00:34:33] We didn’t get into pop quizzes, either. The pop quiz where things get real dicey.

Panama Jackson [00:34:40] Fair enough. Well, we’re going to do one more question, because I think this is probably one of the kind that would start all kinds of arguments. And I’m curious about your own response. And this one you mentioned earlier. So you erase one person from hip hop history, A. Nas, B. The notorious big, the Notorious B.I.G, excuse me, C. Tupac or D. Jay-Z, who you getting rid of?

A.V. Perkins [00:35:01] You know, I’m getting rid of Jay-Z. Just because I have to get rid of one I’m getting I’m going to do that or you know I guess I can go between how feeling that day but I guess can go between Nas or Jay-Z. So for different reasons. One, I like to shake the table so I know people are going to be like gas me, Right. But as I generally feel. But we leave our questions open ended for you can get rid of them for whatever reason. Like Jay-Z made the rent in Brooklyn go up. How about that? Yeah. Yeah. Okay. He did it. Barclays right in the middle of the street. Now I got to worry about that. Is the Roc no, it’s the rent. So, yeah.

Panama Jackson [00:35:46] I like that. I don’t know who I would get rid of. I mean, I. Honestly, I would probably get rid of Nas, but I think that’s also the wrong answer, I guess. There’s no real right answer here, but like Biggie is like one of the few rappers that even today still manages to impress me when I listen to songs like I’m still impressed with him lyrically on Kick In The Door. I can’t lose that in my life, right? Tupac for me is Tupac. I mean, I’m a Southerner. Tupac was one of our you know, I just I can’t. If I get rid of Tupac, then I get rid of the legacy of Tupac and everything that came along with him as one of the most important figures that ever existed in pop culture. I don’t know if I can do that. Jay’s my favorite rapper. Nas, I mean, this is a struggle because then I got to really I got to get rid of Illmatic. But that also means I get rid of Nostradamus. So I guess I there’s a that’s not a loss.

A.V. Perkins [00:36:41] People can make a solid argument to get rid of and keep each person. So it was literally. Who you’re playing with. Like if you play with people from Queens, they may not get rid of Nas. But if you’re playing with people from DC, they tend to get rid of Jay Z. So we’re like low key the Hip Hop Census Bureau. That’s our statistical study. Like people in the D.C. area really do get rid of Jay-Z. I don’t know what he did out there, but they not with it.

Panama Jackson [00:37:15] I mean, real talk. I mean, you you just might have said this accidentally. I don’t know if you ever thought about that. But if there’s a digital version of this that people are playing, you literally are like a data collection agency, right? Like, where do people from certain regions, like who do they indexed towards and all that kind of stuff? Like that’s really that’s legitimately like a data collection apparatus that you could have on hip hop.

A.V. Perkins [00:37:37] Yes. As we move further with our brand, we we’re already like in the tech space using with our live events because people vote using their smartphones. So we are already in the tech space in that capacity, but we want to just go more into it as time goes on while still keeping the nostalgia of a tabletop game. We want to bridge the gap between tabletop and tech.

Panama Jackson [00:38:02] Time for a quick break. Stay with us. And we’re back. Okay. Well, that was a lot of fun. We’re going to get into some of the other fun things that we like to do here, Dear Culture, which are my favorite segments. And we’re going to start with a Blackfession, which is a confession about your Blackness, something people might be surprised to learn about you since you’re Black. Do you have a Blackfession?

A.V. Perkins [00:38:21] I do. I don’t know how to play spades.

Panama Jackson [00:38:26] Yeah. Okay. All right. I’m tired of you people not knowing how to play spades while also having sympathy for you people that don’t know how to play space. Because as people that do play don’t really like to teach ya’ll who don’t how to play spades. I don’t even know how you learn how to play spades nowadays.

A.V. Perkins [00:38:41] You know. And that’s fine, because I made the decision decades ago that I wasn’t interested in learning. So not only am I, not only do I not know how to play, I’m not going to learn how to play people. And every time I say I don’t know how to play, these people want to start, you know, trying to teach you at the festivities. No, I want to be about a potato salad and the liquor table. I don’t want to be learning how to books and reading. No, no, not now. Catch me somewhere else. Catch me outside. How about that?

Panama Jackson [00:39:13] Yeah. Admittedly, I’ve never tried to teach anybody who said they can’t play how to play. Like, I just. I’m not invested in anybody else’s spades education at this point, oddly, Which is a shame, because I actually want more people to know how to play. Like I’m gonna make sure my kids can play spades so that they don’t have to have they don’t have to see this on the 2030 version or 2040 version of, you know, somebody’s Blackfession. So they’ll be they’ll have to pick something else.

A.V. Perkins [00:39:40] Generational wealth. Got to break the curses.

Panama Jackson [00:39:42] There you go. All right. Well, to counteract your Blackfession, which also is cool because you can’t play spades, that you got another game that you bring to the party, annyways, you got to please me.

A.V. Perkins [00:39:53] That’s my master plan. This is all because I don’t know how to play spades. This is what started this.

Panama Jackson [00:40:00] We ask people for a Blackmendation, which is a recommendation about something for, by or about Blackness that other people should be up on or that you think other people should be up on. Could be something that you have yourself, something that you’re reading any anything that you think other people need to know about. Do you have a Blackmendation?

A.V. Perkins [00:40:18] My Blackmendation is all things University of Dope, all things A.V. Does What, because that’s me. That’s my name. Get your deck from your local Target. Get your R&B deck from our site, University of Dope dot. com or Amazon or our various retailers across the country. We have merch on our site. We are bringing more merchandise, different merchandise on site, but you can get shirts, hoodies, mugs, all of that. Also, we have our live events that I kind of like touched on earlier is called You Dope Live. It is not. Instead of voting with your choice cards, your ABC cards, you vote with your smartphone and the answers appear in real time is interactive, is in person. We do it for private events and we also do it for corporate events. We did one recently for Spotify and Diageo and we’ve done Time magazine, other, you know, diversity groups. So if you want your boss to pay for it, listen, get into it. Juneteenth is around the corner. Black History Month is kind of gone, but it ain’t nothing like some deal. They really do not want to do it this month. You know, Newton likes doing it. April, May, June, July, all your Black history. 365 So that he was paid for that you know vibes because we have.

Panama Jackson [00:41:42] I love it. No pun intended, but that’s dope. Like, I genuinely think that’s a that’s a very cool marketing like marketing plan. It’s a way to get these things out there. Everybody who plays it probably like I need to get that my own version of that to play at home. That’s brilliant. I love it. I love it. Thank you. Thank you for being here and sharing about your journey and sharing about this game and playing along. Again, it’s a great game. Like, I love the debate aspect of it. I love all things hip hop. So anything that has hip hop at its core is going to be of interest to me and lots of people like me. So where can people find you if you want to be found? And where can people you know, you already told people to go to Target, but tell them how they can also find out to sign up for these live events and stuff like, where can the people find you?

A.V. Perkins [00:42:27] You can go to University of Dope dot com for all of the things that I mentioned before. You can follow us, University of Dope on Instagram, Facebook, But our platform is mostly is on Instagram. You can find me AVDOESWHAT. AV Does What on all social media platforms. You see me get my Martha and my Snoop on.

Panama Jackson [00:42:52] You definitely do. Listen to somebody who is a friend of yours on Facebook in these places like you are not averse to starting a fire and then pouring gasoline on top of it.

A.V. Perkins [00:43:06] Come enjoy the bonfire. Okay. It’s a good time.

Panama Jackson [00:43:10] Yeah, that’s it. That’s your tagline. Come enjoy the bonfire right there. There’s whole tagline. Well, thank you for joining us here at Dear Culture, we genuinely appreciate your time and your innovation. And, you know, make sure you check out University of Dope and enjoy yourself. It’s a fun hip hop party game. Well, my name is Panama Jackson. This is Dear Culture. Have a Black one.