Hip-hop, leadership and employee ownership

so I know your favorite rapper jcole previously was J Cole I was going to say he recently bowed out right of of the uh the current dis dis uh track battle between Drake and Kendrick but I have to ask who do you think is winning they not like us it's very obvious absolutely Kendrick but but I think what's been fascinating I'm trying to tie to this conversation let see if I'm that good little bit early though let me see but no but in all honesty I think what's been fascinating is that sort of Drake I love Drake I love Bobs I like not to think too hard all the time but Kendrick has been able to really capture a the zist and sort of even change popular like two weeks ago Drake was Drake and now today he's a pariah and I think the lesson for all of us here is that things that seem um crystallized or in stone can change very quickly with some leadership with some narrative with some messaging with some examples I think that's to work that was good right you saw and and and I think that's what makes me excited about things like employee ownership or even guaranteed income that the paradigms we have are like the drinks like you think they're immovable but you just take sweat somebody with a new narrative with some maybe facts I don't know if Kendrick s the truth 100% but what what with with an example what's better what could be and with the a pointed critique of the status quo and then everyone mind shifts like oh my gosh yes it can be different oh yes that is kind of crazy oh yes we can do better so thank you Kendrick yes thank you for not like us um but on on that topic of Hip Hop you know a lot of it is Center around economic Mobility right um and I'm curious how you related to those things coming up in Stockton and how it influences your work today yeah even in this conversation about hip hop particular the last decade there's been increasing conversation about ownership like I'll never forget listening to my wife play her Beyonce and she said pay me an equity I said what does that mean and then and then that's when I learned about like wow so much wealth is created not just by your income but by having some ownership when when wealth acres and accumulates and I think that's been also a big learning from this guaranteed income work around the country is that folks are definitely need their Basics met right they they definitely need $500 $1,000 to pay for rent to take care of their kids to buy food but that's no one's destination that's no wi this goal I've been up and around this country speaking to 60 Pilots of folks LA County St Paul Richmond Virginia Etc and I didn't hear one person say that the $500 or the $1,000 was a goal they say it's a bridge but the goal was always wealth the goal was always ownership the goal was always I I want to start my own business I would have something to pass on and I think sort of that's what even in the Curr and grown up in stock of some of the angst and some of the the nihilism and some of the nihilistic behaviors was because folks didn't have a sense of ownership they felt like they had no agency they they felt like the community was being done to them that they didn't have a stake in the general plan they didn't have a stake in um land value going up in the city they didn't have a stake in it because they didn't they they actually didn't own um um anything so so I think in in the same way all the data around employee ownership talks about sort of how having ownership gives a a sense a dignity a sense of Pride but also a real stake in the game I I I I think that's what helps explain some of the dysfunction some of the nihilism and some of the problems is that folks don't feel connected folks don't feel invested folks don't feel like they own they have a piece of ownership in their government have a piece of ownership in their company but more importantly it's really about having a sense of ownership of the future that you have a you have a role in shaping the future and you benefit if that future gets better instead of feeling like everything's being done um to you and you you really have no agency in in the matter