Jason Whitlock - Speaking Truth in a Cultural Storm :: Ep 55 Try That in a Small Town Podcast
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They're part of the PSYOP. They're part of the whole media ecosystem that has, quite frankly, put black people in the music industry in a certain lane. This is all you can do.

cuss talk about strippers and hoes talk about radical material i will agree with that talk about that's all you can do because trust me i know the rappers that are storytellers like really clever and are trying to say something well i don't really care about your feelings god doesn't care about your feelings what i feel what i think what i like

completely irrelevant because this person was reaching out to me over Twitter says he's a believer in Jesus Christ. And I was like, you don't understand that what you like is irrelevant. What God's like is the only thing that matters. If you look at the actual stats of police brutality, the data screams, please pretty much bend over backwards, uh, to avoid conflict because they want to go home too.

And then the people that want to argue with him while on fentanyl, your death rate just goes up. And George Floyd found that out. The Try That in a Small Town podcast begins now. All right, everybody, welcome back. This is the Try That in a Small Town podcast coming to you from the Patriot Mobile Studios. It's going to be a fun night. I got Caleb.

I got Thrash. I got TK. I got TK.

And tonight's going to be awesome. We've got somebody who is not afraid to speak their mind. It's going to be fearless. He might even give you a run for your money. Whether it's about politics, sports, culture, religion, whatever it is, he's an award-winning journalist, host of the Fearless with Jason Whitlock podcast. Let's give it up for Jason Whitlock. All right. Let's go. Here we are. Thank you. Man, you know,

We haven't even asked you a question. We've offended like 30 people. I think that's how we are. We were talking right before we came on. Let's do this because I think it's topical. It's local. I'm not sure when this is going to air, but it'll either be right before or right after the NFL draft. Nice. The Titans have the number one pick. Who are they going to draft? Who should they draft? Who should they draft?

They're going to draft Cam Ward. Yes! That's my pick. They should draft Travis Hunter. I don't think any of these quarterbacks in this draft are can't miss. I think Cam Ward is high risk. He had a good college career. But I think in most drafts, if it was a healthy quarterback draft, he'd go in...

Second half of the first round or bottom half of the top 10. And Travis Hunter is someone that most people believe is going to be a perennial pro bowler. And so take the sure thing.

Don't take the high risk pick. If you can get someone who, you know, like, Hey, we can pencil him at cornerback or wide receiver. And I would play him at corner. Uh, and he's going to be a pro bowl, elite level player at that position for the next 12 to 14 years. Uh,

I would do that rather than, well, we need a quarterback, and so we better take a quarterback because we don't like Will Levis. Take the sure thing. I was about to ask you, are you on record of liking Will Levis then? No, no, no, no. But I don't, look, if I'm not winning the Super Bowl, I don't mind losing.

And coming back next year with a top two or three pick again, when there's more quarterbacks, more sure thing quarterbacks potentially available than reaching at the quarterback position when you know there's a handler. Look, what's his name? Abdul Carter. He's a stud. From Penn State. He's a stud. And you guys...

remember Javon curse and the impact that he had. I'm not saying this kid is Javon curse, but if you can have a solid pass rusher, you can build your entire defense around him. I would go that route rather than, Hey, we need a quarterback. So let's take the best one on the board and hope for the best. I do like the camera. I agree. No, I have no idea. I don't know how they even do it. I don't know how they do it. It's kind of like picking a single.

Well, to be put out on radio, it's kind of like picking a single. It's like if it's a hit, you know, then everybody takes credit for it. Yeah. And tell him he studies quarterbacks. Do you think that's some good wisdom? That's amazing. No, I wasn't. I still would. I mean, it's going to be. So who would play quarterback?

Will Levis. Oh, good Lord. Good money. I mean, it's a lot for this town to go through another year. Will Levis, but maybe Travis can make him better on some specialty plays when he's playing quarterback. Then he comes in and can make Will Levis a superstar. Can't be instant gratification in the NFL. That's a fact. You got to play the long game, little suffering. Look, man, when they moved on from Mike Vrabel, when they moved on from Derek Henry, you knew there was going to be some suffering, right?

Deal with the suffering. No pain, no gain. And again, take the quarterback when you're dead sure this is the guy. And I'm not beating up on Cam Ward. I'm just saying this isn't the strongest QB draft. Don't overdraft a quarterback when there are guys you know. Like Abdul Carter, people feel pretty sure. Travis Hunter, people feel pretty sure. That's an elite level player for the next decade.

Well, sometimes the QBs come deep, deep in the draft anyway. Yes. You know, so I, you can ask Kurt, we talk about it every year. I'm, I'm always skeptical of every QB going out one or two anyway. I mean, you just never know. You never know, you know, but, um,

Will Levis. Well, there you go. Can I ask a question? Can I disrupt the sports conversation? I don't mind you asking me sports questions. That's where I made my bones. But how did y'all decide that Kurt was the star of the show and the host of the show? Because when I met everybody downstairs...

I was like, I bet you Kurt's the cameraman. And then I get up here and he's the star of the show. Hold on, let's get this out of the way. He's our fearless leader. He's right here. He can hear you. Dang, Jason, I thought we were friends. You got to tell me what you wanted to do in your previous life. I did. I wanted to be in sports journalism. Really? I thought we had that. Look, I

I'm not saying it was a bad choice. I'm just asking how it happened. That's all. Because he's good at it. Let me give you another question I was going to ask. Because I heard this rumor. He's turning the tables. I've heard this rumor that Neil's wife was blind when she met Neil. And then went through a surgery and got her sight back and stuck with the marriage despite that. It's an interesting story. I have a soft life.

lower back she liked that i was really soft she didn't have to see it let's give people a little backstory uh this is the kaylo totally meet my first time meeting jason you guys have met each other before what's the connection we went to dinner with uh jeffrey steel invited me to go to dinner one night and to meet jason here

And so we did. And I got to meet him. And he liked you even. I don't know if he liked me or not. I can't ever tell if Jason's happy, sad, mad. I can't ever tell. He's the same all the time. I'm going to break some news to y'all. And as much as I love all of you and as much as I love Tri-Vis in a small town, Jeffrey Steele is my favorite person in Nashville.

He wrote the greatest song that instantly made me a country music fan. Am I the only one? I was living out in L.A. up until 2020, came here in late 2020, and I think I heard Am I the Only One? Was that late 21 or 22? Probably 21. As soon as I heard it, I was like, oh, this is what country music is about.

And I finally got it because I don't know. Maybe I was telling these guys about it. Jeffrey and I talk about it all the time that, you know, I was in a little box like most people as it relates to music. You know, I grew up in the inner city, grew up with the typical black experience. So I listened to R&B and rap. And that's all I knew.

And that's all I thought I was allowed to really know, just fitting in with the stereotype and my friends and all that. And so, I mean, I went a long time not knowing...

Probably 1989, 1990. I'm graduating college and I work security at a Bon Jovi concert. And that was my first time like going, oh, this rock and roll thing is Bon Jovi guys. It's kind of cool. I knew some girls from my college that went to the concert. And so that kind of opened me up to Bon Jovi. But I still just didn't venture much further than R&B and rap. And when I came here in 2020, I did not...

country music was for me. The only country music, I'm not taking it up on the guy, but the only country music I ever, a girl that I was dating years and years ago made me go to a Kenny Chesney concert. I thought, this is all right. When I heard Am I the Only One, I was like, this speaks to my soul. This moves me. And soul music, the good soul music they used to make, it spoke to your soul.

And he opened my mind to like, oh, no, it's these country guys that are singing songs that speak to your heart. And I've become kind of a country nut.

and just keep getting further and further down the rabbit hole. So as much as I like you guys, I love Jeffrey Steele. Well, we don't know if you like us or not. Jeffrey's one of the best of all time. I mean, we all aspire you to come to town. When I came to town, he was already rocking.

And some of my favorite songs, too. And he's legit. He's not just a – he's also, like Neil and these guys, he's not just a songwriter. He's an artist. I mean, he'll stand there barefoot and play for two hours. He's more than – he's not just a common, everyday songwriter. He's more than that. I've seen him live, and that was another next-level experience. For sure. How is this guy not the biggest star in music? Yeah.

you know, I saw, I saw him at third and Lindley, a little intimate setting. And he went on for three straight hours. And every 10 minutes he changed characters and like, Oh, he's David Lee Roth. Oh no, look at him at a keyboard. That's Stevie Wonder. Now he's Aaron Lewis. And now he, I mean, he just every, and I was like, I didn't know somebody could do all that. And, um,

So he's opened my mind. How long have you been in Nashville? I came here in 2020, August of 2020. Well, for me, it was the summer of George Floyd and they started boarding up buildings on my street in Los Angeles, Wilshire Boulevard, for those of you guys at Wilshire Corridor. So I'm paying a lot of money and they're boarding up buildings on my street. And me and my next door neighbor, my next door neighbor was some young kid. He was into Bitcoin.

super wealthy and we're sitting out and we look out the window and we go, look, they're boarding up buildings on our street. And we were like, we got to get out of here. This is crazy. And he moved to Austin, Texas and I moved to Nashville. Good call on your part. You know what's funny about Austin? We've been on the road in Austin for years. I mean, we've been in and out of Austin on tours for 25 years. We went there, we had to play the CMT Awards two years ago.

is that right yeah i'm horrible we were invited back after being after you know you know cmt cancels our video and we try this all the time then you know then we get invited back so we we go back to austin i didn't recognize it i did not recognize it it was it's it's changed so much in a very hardcore liberal to the point where it's you feel it yeah it was always feel artsy

and left-leaning, but it's pretty. Jason already knew this when he came to Nashville. Yeah. That's right.

That's an intense thing. Hey, since we're talking about country music, let's talk about us. Yeah, ourselves. Our favorite topic. Please. You know, I could host this and ask you guys some really interesting questions. Not that I want to. I know Kirsten's not. You've already gotten very comfortable. Yeah, I know. He's like really comfortable. How is he the star of a show in your house? I mean, how? Well, he took over. You built this lovely studio. He took over. Well, until then, this was an undisclosed location. Oh, wow.

Because, like you, some people hate us. Oh, really? Some people hate us. Yes. You wouldn't think so. But they really do. So, yeah, we hadn't really disclosed it. Oh, my bad. No, it's fine. Thanks a lot, man. No. No.

You guys can all be close. No, but what happened, like early on when we had our first sponsor, Original Glory, and we were reading little points and everything like that, and Kurt just nailed it, and the rest of us were like, oh. He's the man. Anyway, it's a great taste beer. I really like it. On a hot day, they say, next. I don't think that was it. But no, Kurt's just good at it. It's just meant to be.

Thank you, Kalo. You play guitar like a madman and you talk your ass off. I'm the broadcaster. I'll let you know how Kurt does at the end of this. This is going so good. I freaking love it. I don't like this at all.

We're getting great. This is a test. That's why we got him here. Yeah. Well, I'm sorry. And I'm, you can do anything you want. I'm sorry. Cause you know, it's, it's the broadcaster and it's the, there's a conversation I'd love to have with four great songwriters. I mentioned this to Jeffrey and just an organic conversation we were having with the Duggar band guys in my house. But part of what I'm talking about here is it relates to country music and what you guys are doing and transphobic.

Trust me, where I'm about to go is going to get a little touchy, but they call my show Fearless because this is the kind of stuff I like to talk about. Hang on, I'm getting... So, yeah. This is awesome. Everybody take a little break. Take a little sip. This is fantastic. Take a little sip. Do it. I like this show. Yeah. We're on your show. You might not like it. I'm about to ask a very provocative question, but I think it's important because what I see in music and what's striking in me and been my experience is

As a black man, the music that as a kid, as a young adult, it spoke to my heart and soul. And great art and great music comes from struggle. It comes from, I hate to use this word, but it's somewhat true. It comes from oppression or feeling like you're pushing against the establishment.

And what I've been talking about and just discovering as I lean more into country music, I have to admit, like, the struggle that the white man is going through is helping him produce some of the greatest music of this era. And, like, things have reversed. That it used to be the black man and black people were...

The establishment was coming down on them and they would produce this music that spoke to everyone's soul. And so when I hear Am I the Only One, even when I hear Oliver Anthony's Rich Man of North whatever it is, I go, oh, look, this guy's speaking from his hurt, pain, disappointment, feeling that he's being worked against. When I hear try that in a small town.

I hear guys kind of pushing back against, hey, there's people picking on me. There's people telling me I'm the problem with America and all this other stuff. And it's producing great art. Not everyone is as fearless as you guys as to lean into that. But I do think that's where the music's going. I do think that's the music that really, really connects. I'll land the plane on this note.

I've, I've fallen for, uh, Morgan Wallen's music. And it's, it's the song he just came out with called smile. The song he just came out with, uh,

If I'm the problem, you might be the reason. This is great writing, great lyrics, great storytelling. It's lyrics that actually mean something to speak to you. And I'm like, Morgan Wallen's doing this? And every time I turn on some R&B singer, can I curse on here? I'm not a big curser. But they're talking about and not making love. They're talking about what gold chain I can buy and where.

And they're not talking about real stuff. And you guys are. And I think it's a reflection of this cultural shift in America and who we're pounding down on. And you guys are reacting to it. And I just want to encourage you to continue to do it. Wow. Just keep speaking. I tell you what, it's time for a break. It's amazing what you just said. It's hard for us to say this because you asked us, you're a black man and you're into country music. Yeah.

I'm from a town of like 400 people in the mountains. Grew up very, very poor. Like poor. And moved here with $300. Before I came here, I was on the Matt Murphy show. Matt Murphy was telling me that his mother... His father left his mother when he was five years old because she got diagnosed with brain cancer. He said he couldn't deal with it, so he left. His mother eventually died of brain cancer. And I was like...

But Matt...

I'm sure on the front door of your house with your mother dying of cancer and your father gone, I'm sure it said Matt Privilege and it protected you from everything. That's my standard joke. Everybody goes through struggle. What I'm talking about with you all's music is like there's a struggle going on with white men in this country. The establishment is telling you all you're the piece of dog doo-doo. You're responsible for every problem in the world. And you guys are making great music objecting to that. Yeah.

And that's why Marvin Gaye and Teddy Pendergrass and all these guys, the Isley Brothers or whatever, they used to tap into the struggle of black men and make great music. Now, the reason why I listen to more country than R&B is because these R&B singers are rapping about their gold chains and three-way sex and bling and...

I'm not into that. I want to hear something real and something, again, it's like, yeah, come try that in a small town. We will kick your ass. That speaks to me because that's kind of how I feel like. Don't bring that BS to me, man. Me and my father in 1984 lived in a 400 square foot house.

apartment in the hood when I was 17 years old. I slept on the couch most nights. He slept in the bedroom and I went from that to

Living on Wilshire Boulevard. I think my zip code was 924. That's black privilege. Yeah, 924. That's me working my ass off. And only in America. I know you were joking. Only in America. They're really going to hit you after that. Absolutely. Could that happen? Could you go from...

One bedroom, 400 square foot apartment, you and your dad in the hood to 924 zip code Wilshire Boulevard and you taking care of your dad.

As he ages out and his business that he started struggling, taking care of your mother, taking care of people in your family. That's the American dream. And it was open to me like it's open to everybody else. Don't don't bring out no violin crying. I know just too many people that came from nothing white and black. And I've seen them rise up through just showing up and putting the work in. And so, you know, the white privilege thing.

cracks me up it's hard work though you put in the hard work yeah and i've heard like morgan freeman say very similar things to this like like hard work work hard it's there for you again you guys haven't worked in corporate america i have all you have to do is show up most people don't show up they come up with excuses to be late or to miss work or to not do work i went to college

When I didn't show up for class, I got bad grades. When I did show up to class, occasionally, I got good grades. That's what we've always said. We don't feel like going in and writing today. It's like, you've got to show up. We've always told everybody that. We've always told the young writers that. Show up. Just go show up. I don't care how bad you feel. Show up. Yes. Well, and talking about, because you mentioned Morgan Wallen, and I've only heard one song off the new record, and I think it was, the hook was, I Might Be Crazy But The World's Insane.

That's the only one I've heard. And I was like, well, damn, ain't no wonder he's doing better than most people. Because to me, that spoke to me. He's doing great stuff. And he's at a level where he can do it. He can say whatever he wants, whatever he's feeling, whatever he believes. And that's what you're talking about. In the beginning of our careers, I'm not coming in and saying, hey, I want to take a stance against things that are happening in the world and religion and things like that. And the music business is liberal. I'm like, no.

I got to make some money. I got $50,000 in debt. And, and what, what are people liking? And so then I'm, I'm, I'm chasing, I'm chasing that just trying to get songs recorded period. And then, and you think everybody's the same and you just, you just think, Hey, we're all, you know, in country music and, and we all believe the same way and everything. And you realize the world is not like that, you know, and we've talked about the bubble. Now you've came from, everybody has their, their place that they came from. And, and so, so, so for me, um,

you know, to get to a place that's later, let's say we're seasoned in the industries. We've been here a minute, you know, right. And so, but just as it had nothing to do really on try that in small town, really, you know, for, for all of us where it came from.

It really just came because you're mad at what's happening in the world, which is to your point, where you write deeper and you write more real things as opposed to me just trying to make money and retirement and things like that. I'm like, this moves me. And as a conservative Christian...

We're the nice guys. We don't say anything, and that's been the problem. We don't say anything until the world goes freaking crazy. They go nuts. And then you're like, okay, we've got to say something. Well, I mean, you look at the left. The left in the entertainment industry have no problem whatsoever voicing what they want to say because they're not worried about being canceled from the powers that be at all. And that's all we worried about when we wrote this song. It's like, they're not going to cut this.

Nobody's going to cut this. Jason Aldean's the only one who's going to cut this song. And he did. And they tried to kill it, but they couldn't. And that's where I think...

Things are the winds blowing our direction as people are figuring out that, like, am I the only one? Try that in a small town. These can make money. You put a crack in the dam. Yes. And because people want this, people always want the truth. There's always a thirst. They call us conspiracy theorists and call it, but it's just a thirst for truth.

And they want authenticity. And, you know, again, why do I love Jeffrey Steele? He's authentic. Everything that comes out of his mouth to me as a friend, his struggle with his boy dying, all of that. There's an authentic friendship. And so literally, I'm just telling you, because Jeffrey vouches for you.

It instantly makes me love you and think, well, there's no way Jeffrey, he's so authentic. No way he's introducing me to a bad guy. And that when I hear the music, when I see Jason Aldean step out here, when I see Aaron Lewis, I'm not saying these guys are perfect because they're not.

but I'm like, at least they're real. And that when someone's real, I like them and I can deal with all kinds of flaws, all kinds, long as you're real and, and real music will always win. And, and I look at so much, I cry out as someone that loves R and B, the music is so inauthentic. Someone that used to appreciate some aspects of rap music,

It's so inauthentic. These guys are so dressed up in costumes. They all look like

Kiss, Tats, and they're all some sort. And it's like I look back at Kiss music, because again, I've been re-examining music, and Kiss is okay, but it don't speak to it. They're a gimmick, and I'm not trying to take a shot at Gene Simmons. No, he's a gimmick. He would tell you it was a gimmick. But to your point, you can look at NWA back in the day.

why it was so infectious and they were talking about things that were going on. I totally disagree. Really? Most fraudulent group in the history of music. Oh my lord. Jim, strip that from the record. Jim, strip this. I want to hear this. This is fantastic. Go on. It's the best episode we've ever had. Go listen to their music. People feel like, oh, they were speaking, blah, blah, blah. They had one song that allegedly spoke against the establishment. The Police.

I've had young journalists that, oh man, NWA, they were kind of like public enemy and they put out all these revolutionary songs. And I've had people go, go look at their, they put out two albums. Go find me the song other than the police, which is a bogus song. Other than that, what's their song that has any value, stands the test of time in terms of message, blah, blah, blah. And there isn't a song.

There is not one. You go through their two albums, go listen to the songs, go listen to what they're, it's all bitches and hoes and bitches ain't shit, but hoes and tricks lick on my sense.

I don't like to cuss, but I'm just telling you what they rapped about. And it's their part of the PSYOP. They're part of the whole media ecosystem that has quite frankly put

Black people in the music industry in a certain lane. This is all you can do. Cuss. Talk about strippers and hoes. Talk about radical materialism. I will agree with that. Talk about that's all you can do. Because trust me, I know the rappers that are storytellers like really clever and are trying to say something. There's an independent rapper from Kansas City named Tech N9ne.

This dude is brilliant. Tells intricate stories, blah, blah. And he could never, the mainstream, and he's had a great independent career and made a lot of money as an independent rapper, but he could never get, and Quincy Jones called him the next big thing, the Michael Jackson of rap or whatever, but because he refused to fully submit to the formula, he

He could never get put on the way NWA and just like the whole police brutality deal. It's a psyop. It's it's having grown up in the hood. My dad's business in the hood. Black people aren't sitting around on a day to day basis. Oh, man, I hope the police don't beat me up or kill me today.

They're sitting up. I hope Pookie and the Crips and the Bloods are the gangster disciples. I hope they don't shoot us up tonight when we go out and try to have a little fun. That's what they're talking about. And I'm talking about my father's bar in the heart of the hood for 30 years. He carried a 38 every day of his life. It wasn't to keep the police at bay. It was Pookie and them. And it's it's.

This whole thing of I'm a speeder, love to drive fast. I try to do better, but I'm saying I get pulled over a lot over the course of my life. And I've been driving a Mercedes Benz for 35 years. I get a Mercedes and I keep them for 10 to 12 years. So for 35 years, I've had three different Mercedes. Nice cars.

And this is how I dress most days. I used to wear earring, used to wear little gold chain, little jewelry or whatever. And I've had one bad experience with a cop one. And that was in 1991. I was driving a Honda Prelude at that time.

One bad... It was a bad experience. He thought I was a cat burglar. I'm like, bro, look at me. Cat burglar. Come on now. I wasn't a receiver. I was an offensive lineman. One bad experience. The rest...

I kill them with so much kindness. I got about a 72% rate of warning ticket and, Hey, I listened to your show or, Hey, uh, let's take them so off guard by yes, sir. No. So, Oh, I'm sorry. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And I got about a 72% success rate with warning tickets.

and just slow down, buddy. But no bad experiences other than that one. And so it's just like, it's a myth. There's a strategy. As men, and this is the point of my show, as men, we're supposed to treat life like a chess match.

And we're supposed to be very strategic in how we deal with people. And so when I deal with the police, I'm like, OK, what can I do to avoid a ticket and to get back on the road as soon as I can? Well, if I yes or no, sir, this guy smile on my face, give him what he wants instantly.

My the percentages all go up that I'm gonna get a warning and I'm gonna get out of here as quick as possible. That's how you approach life. We keep telling black men approach life in the dumbest way possible. Argue with that police officer.

There's there's nobody white or black that wins an argument with a police officer. It just does not happen. And so we give black people the message of be as dumb as possible, be as unstrategic as possible. And we'll get you lawyers and we'll get you a doctor that will when they beat you up and they take you downtown, we'll get you a doctor to fix you up.

And I don't want to get fixed up. I want to go home and move on with my life because I got better things to do than to argue and bicker with the police. And so if you look at the actual stats of police brutality, the data screams, please pretty much bend over backwards to avoid conflict because they want to go home too. And then the people that want to argue with them while on fentanyl,

Your death rate just goes up. And George Floyd found that out. He effed around or fentanyl around and found out.

Oh, the Truth Podcast. I tell my son, look, I said, look, whatever you do, and we, look, we've all had, like, me and Aldine got pulled over in 97, heading to Georgia, got pulled over, and they emptied out a whole car. They were sure that we had drugs, and I don't blame them. Well, look at your arms. Of course we had drugs. Of course we had drugs. But I would say, the one thing I didn't do was try to run or take his gun or,

Or just, just, just, it is what it is. Like just, you know, anyway, see, I mean, I'm the same way. It's like I pulled over even not long ago. This first thing I did was I know I was being, I'm so sorry. I'm sorry.

you were at, just let me, you know, just be agreeable. What were you doing? I was speeding. Yeah. Or texting me. I may have been doing that too. I may have been doing that too. Hey, you know, I was hearing you talk about your dad and his business. And then I saw a quote where you even said you grew up on a bar stool, which is a country song, by the way. Is that right? It should be. It will be. It is now, but you won't get any percentage. Yeah.

But that fascinated me. Talk a little bit about that, his days out on the bar and you growing up in that environment. Yeah, my dad owned three different bars throughout my youth. The first one was a little small. It had a private membership. It was called the Triangle Club. It was in the hood.

And this one, I was really young, probably six, seven, eight years old. He also owned a little barbershop called the Knot Hole in those early years. And he was a barber. And then as I got a bit older, let's say nine, 10, 11, around that age, uh,

He built a bigger, nicer club right around the corner from that. He and his partners that had the Triumph Club split up, and he went solo with a club he called Jimmy's J Bar J. It's right around the corner, same place, but it was bigger. And I watched him and

He had a friend that was a contractor or handyman that could do everything, a guy named Mitch. And me and my brother would, on weekends, would go hand them tools as they built this bar, everything in this bar. And that was one of the great experiences of my youth to see my father, the –

I'm not a big fan of the use of the word pride, but the pride he took in building his own establishment and business. And it was a nice place and was very popular. And my father during that stretch did very well financially financially.

didn't pay his taxes and that's how we ended up uh in a 400 square foot apartment in 1984 but then so he get the government takes everything from for tax evasion and so from i would think from 1983 to the next three years he was as broke as you can possibly be at some point i think in maybe it was 83 he was homeless living in his car about

By the time my senior year in '84, my mother moves to Kansas City, who I had been living with. Her job transferred. I was a very good high school football player on a team that won the state championship and was ranked ninth in the country. I had to stay behind and play on that team. I was the captain of that team, and it got me a football scholarship. And so I moved in with my dad. And again, we were on our rear end.

My dad was a bartender for a buddy of his during that year, making $200 a week plus tips. And so, but I would think, I think it was 1986. One of his best friends wanted to sell their bar, the masterpiece lounge. My dad got some sort of VA type loan and,

bought that bar the masterpiece lounge and owned it from 1986 until his death in 2012 and the masterpiece lounge right 38th and sherman east side of indianapolis in the hood it was a bar that catered to factory workers and working class black people and it was the greatest place on earth to me i'd

I loved those guys. We'd sit in there and talk sports. We'd sit in there. These guys were, you know, just ghetto legends and superstars, you know, dressed up. They keep a lot of cash on a rubber band and they were ladies, men. And these guys were my idols. And I would sit on the bar. Wasn't a big, I wasn't a drinker.

But I would just sit at the bar and just soak up their wisdom, their stories, crack up, you know, listen to their jokes. They'd ask me about my athletic career. And, you know, at that point I was playing college football, Ball State. And, you know, my dad owned it until he died. And it, you know, my working class values. And it's one of the reasons why I'm so comfortable being MAGA is because, you

And again, these guys, they're mostly my dad and his friends are if they were still alive, they'd be in their mid to late 80s now. But most of them are dead. But they wouldn't understand it.

because you know they lived in their own little bubble but they were black maga and uh they were factory workers manufacturing people and that what it's like when i heard trump's original inauguration speech in 2016 or 17 when he went into i was like i called my mother and i was like you should listen to trump's inauguration speech he's talking about us my mother was a

And so those guys and that experience at the Masterpiece Lounge is why someone like Steve Ford that owns Losers in Nashville and now Duck Blind with Riley Green or whatever...

it's just why these guys are so relatable to me is, is, is, you know, me and I don't know if you guys know Steve Ford, but he, and why can't I think of Irv's last name? Well, yeah, with the George Stray. It, they're so masterpiece lounge. They'd so fit in at the masterpiece lounge. And, you know, when Steve had the dog house and all, I'd live right down in that area. Initially, when I came here, uh,

It's just me. MAG is just me.

And I wish that MAGA white people and MAGA black people could fully understand just how much they have in common worldview wise, the beliefs, uh, you know, crap, laugh at the same jokes and all that other stuff. But we, we've created a society where, you know, we've allowed the skin color thing not to see our things we have in common. I can see it clear as day because I've,

operated in both worlds. And just my whole mindset is working class and sitting in a bar stool, talking with people that are just trying to make ends meet and just kind of want to be left alone and just want to have a beer and have some laughs and talk to a pretty girl and go home.

Do you think you've always been conservative? Because it's kind of different. Trump now, it is the conservatives are working class people. It is more of that thing. But I don't know if this is true or not, but it felt like that used to be what the left side was and the Democrats used to be.

And I think it's flipped. I really do. And I think just to what you're speaking of. So was there a moment that you kind of realized that or were you always conservative and then just? I think I've always been conservative. What I've mostly been is patriarchal. I believe in male leadership.

And we're all I'm 57. You guys are somewhere within 12 years of me. I would think Tully, you're what are you? Oh, you're 50. OK, I'm 59. Got you. And so so we all remember when Roots came out. Oh, yeah. And so I watched Roots. And as a kid, this is late 70s. So we're really young.

The when roots came out, the number one thing I talked about was in the first episode. Kunta Kente over in Africa went off to manhood training and left his family, went off to be discipled and trained by other men in that tribe. And when he came back.

His mother had to be deferential to him. You can see it in episode one. You don't have to go very deep, but he has an exchange with his mother where she has to treat him differently. He's a man now. There's a certain way she has to talk to him and the whole thing is flipped. And as a kid...

I turned to my family after episode once. That's the way things need to be. And I'm just a little kid. I'm not a Kunta Kenney. But I'm like, that's the way things need to be. And so there's this instinctive thing. I didn't learn it. I just felt like there's a point where a man becomes a man.

And mama and everybody else has that's a man. And there's a way you got to treat a man. And there's a role that a man is supposed to play. Always believed in that. And so where the Democrats lost me is they don't believe in any of that, that they believe women can be men. They believe women.

You don't need men in a family. You don't you don't need a man. And I'm just like that's and I figured out as an adult, like, hey, that's completely unbiblical. But it's also just completely unwise. You know, there's and I've had problems with friends, family over my life.

highly patriarchal worldview. This is one of those conversations you don't want to take a break from. We have to. We've got to pay the bills. We're going to take a quick word from the sponsors. We're going to be right back with Jason Whitlock. My name is Glenn Story. I'm the founder and CEO of Patriot Mobile. And then we have four principals.

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All right, we're back with the Try That in a Small Town podcast coming to you from the Patriot Mobile Studios. We were talking a little bit off air. I got a new name for it. What?

What, Jason? What is it? Jason Aldean Whitlock. Jaw. Jaw. The jaw. The jaw. You've seen the movie Jaws? Yeah. It's perfect. You ever have a nickname? We talk a lot about nicknames. Unfortunately, yes. Okay, what is it? It was Big Sexy. I like it. Big Mouth Sexy Opinions. I love that. Big Mouth Sexy Opinions.

for years. That's a good nickname. I let it go, though. I let it go. A man with a nickname is a man looking for trouble. You call yourself some name and then you got to live up to it. We're looking for one for him. He's the only one in the group that doesn't have a nickname. Well, I do, but I don't. How about Star? Jason thinks you're Star. I feel beat down. But, you know, we're just trying to inspire men

to quit apologizing for being men, quit apologizing for your natural instincts to be a leader, leader in your home, leader in your community, leader in your family. Quit apologizing for that. That's what you're supposed to do. Quit apologizing for having Christian values. Don't let people convince you that your Christian values are racist. They're not. They're biblical. You go back with Tucker a while, right? Yeah. Yeah.

would appear on his Fox News show. You know, let's say over the last eight years of his Fox News show, I would come on pretty frequently once every, let's say, 10 days or so. He would bring me on basically to bring up the biblical perspective on topics. And he just wanted that to be a part of his show, a regular part of his show.

I think in, let's say, the last three years of his time at Fox News, he could sense that maybe the powers that be didn't want that perspective on the show. But all of the feedback they got from their audience, all the metrics, it's like, man, when Whitlock comes on, people love it.

And they love it when he starts quoting the Bible or just puts a biblical spin on whatever the news of the day is. And and and and then and I don't say this out of any sort of trying to take credit or bragging. But, you know, Tucker will tell you it's like.

I help open his eyes to the fact that like, hey, these political things we're debating, there's a spiritual element to this. There's a good versus evil element. And then things got so out of control in America and they're still so out of control. I'm a big supporter of Tucker. He's clearly a big supporter of mine. That's why he's coming into town. I hope that roll call is like an ongoing thing. It is. This is the third year of

And, you know, I probably shouldn't say this, but my hope is that this goes so well because Tucker has a daughter that lives here. Tucker's chief, I'm telling too much, but Tucker's chief of staff is moving here. He's got an office here. And so I want this to be an ongoing thing between Tucker and I and that we just grow it and get it bigger and better because we're

As believers and as conservatives, we have to have influence in the cultural space. We can't just give it all to them. And I think through country music and through gospel music, we can make an impact in the arts and culture world through an alliance between Tucker and I, and we can help believers understand that regardless of, you know,

Whatever level of melanin you have in your skin, if you have surrendered to Jesus Christ, there's an alliance that we should have as believers that goes well beyond the differences in our skin color and that our identity identity should be taken in Christ and our identity should be taken within our shared values.

And so I just am inviting all people that believe or want to believe or just looking for a better way than this very secular, chaotic, divided world that we have. I want to bring us together under submission to God.

the most high God, Jesus Christ, and let that be our alliance. Because so many people want you to align over your sexual identity. And that is so retarded and stupid that just because you like something doesn't mean it should become your God and your identity. I like McDonald's.

Ronald McDonald should not be my God. And it's been my mistake for making Ronald McDonald my God. And I should fight that. My gluttony and... And so, okay. I like premarital sex. Should that be my God? No, I should reject... So just because you like something doesn't mean it should rule you. And it's actually... And I don't want to be offensive to the women watching, but like...

That's kind of a feminine thought. It's feelings. It's prioritizing your feelings. Oh, I feel like a woman, so everybody should treat me like one. Well, I don't really care about your feelings. God doesn't care about your feelings. What I feel, what I think, what I like...

completely irrelevant because this person was reaching out to me over Twitter says he's a believer in Jesus Christ. And I was like, you don't understand that what you like is irrelevant. What God like is the only thing that matters. It's the only thing. And, and I try to let that rule me because if I go with what I like,

I'm going to hit a McDonald's drive-thru on the way home. If I go with what I like, I'm going to hit a McDonald's drive-thru on the way home. If I go with God's light, I'm going to drive home, get in bed, get up at 6 a.m., work out, and do the right things. If I do what I like, I may stop at Losers tonight and try to pick up one of the barmaids because that's what I like. But God wants me to go home, find a wife, and like that and satisfy myself with that.

It's people we over inflate our relevance and importance. We're all unimportant and irrelevant. And we all should be trying. How can I do what God likes? Because what I like will lead to my destruction. It's a fact.

It's true. You know, you've got a lot of things you talk about. I don't know how you juggle them all. I really don't. Because whether it's sports, culture, religion, all of that, you seem to handle that really well. I saw a quote that you had, and I thought it was really interesting. You said you like to make comfortable people feel uncomfortable. Is that right? No. I think what you may have seen me say is,

I don't mind being, I'm comfortable when people are uncomfortable around me. Ooh, okay. That's what I- Which is a totally different thing, but explain that. It's as a journalist, we've moved into this space where everybody, when they walk in a press box or walk into any setting, they want everybody to like them. Mm-hmm.

That was never me. And it's not that I wanted everyone to dislike me. I just knew that as a journalist, if I'm on a pursuit of truth, people are going to be uncomfortable around me. And I'm very comfortable when people are uncomfortable around me. That was a journalistic truth that I was expressing. I didn't realize it at the time because that's always been my philosophy, that that's a biblical truth, that as Christians,

When we stand on our actual values, people are going to be uncomfortable around us. And as Christians, you have to get comfortable with their discomfort.

We're not going to be liked. If you stand on truth, you're not going to be liked. If you defend Jesus Christ, you're not going to be liked. You got to get comfortable with that. That's awesome. And that's a completely different statement, but it's amazing. Yeah. I love that. So talk about this. You know, the sports world has seen this infusion of

within sports. I want to add one more thing. This is music makers and this is a secular position. But if you're going to make great music in this time, you're going to have to get comfortable with people being uncomfortable around you. We were experiencing that. If you're going to make great music, if you're going to make popular music,

and secular music and degenerate music. People are going to be very comfortable. Dude, we were called, Whoopi Goldberg called, she said the songwriters of this song must be the most racist people alive.

And I don't know about these guys, but I had family calling me going, are you okay? Are you doing all right? And I'm like, what are you talking about? It's the greatest day of my life because I knew the truth. Let me go all the way back to Tully and NWA because that was on camera, I believe. Yeah. Yeah. Tully and NWA. So Whoopi Goldberg tried that in a small town. Dr. Dre, one of the great members of NWA, had a song, Never Hesitate to Put a Nigga on His Back.

Whoopi Goldberg would never complain about that. Never. And he's making a song about, I'll never hesitate to kill a black man. She'll never object. And Dr. Dre is very comfortable singing a song about, I'll never hesitate to kill a black person. And no one's uncomfortable with that. That's normal. Try that in a small town. People are very uncomfortable.

And it's, it's retarded. The world is upside down. It's retarded. We felt it. And we survived. I'm sorry, Kurt. I just wanted to bring that all the way back to music. And if you want to do something great that puts you on the side of God, people are going to be very uncomfortable with you. And, and it's not that try that in a small town is some kind of gospel Christian song.

But it is a truthful song that reflects how people are feeling. And it speaks to the justification for feeling that way. And people are going to be very uncomfortable. And so if you want to make great music, great art, you want to do something that has a real impact, you got to get comfortable with people not liking you.

Well, sorry. No, go ahead. My dad always said, and other people always said, you know, if you get to be an old man and you have a couple of friends on one hand, you're, you're blessed, man. I was thinking I was younger. Like I got, I got 20, 20 best friends, you know, 30, whatever older I get. And the more I say my opinions about certain things about certain people and certain friends that I love and they start dwindling.

They dwindle, they dwindle, they dwindle until it's true. You get them on one hand because you're not going to have it. I mean, if I could be 80 years old, I have this table, I'll be blessed.

I mean, it's just, it's amazing how many friends were dropping. We lost one yesterday. I mean, off, off podcast because of the subject matter we're talking about. Yeah. And because it's not afraid to name, but I feel I lost one. Yeah. And just for, just for,

just being who I am, man, just because that's right. Scripture says, and it's, that's right. It just, uh, had a conversation with a close family member. And I was like, that really thinks they're into the word. And, and I was like, now, you know, when you really get into this word, you're going to lose friends. You're not going to have, you know, when you say, man, I got the same friends I've had for the last 50 years. So, Ooh, boy, you actually tell it on yourself. Yeah.

Because this word, he came with a sword and this word is going to separate you from people very, very close to you who aren't willing to stand on this word. And so it's not that you want to lose friends. You want everybody to go on that journey and to become as bold. But as you become wise and you become immersed in the word, you should become more bold and that boldness will

should actually separate you from people that you love dearly because they're not really ready to go there and they're not really to accept who you really are and, and you'll lose them. And it's not that you want to, but the word changes you. And if you don't have some sort of testimony about me and not that I've done life, right. Cause I've done it wrong, but you know, I got some real testimony about like,

I used to be in a strip club till 3 a.m. three nights a week. Let's talk about that. Tell us about that. Jason, please continue. Do you need water? So I was in this champagne room. Yeah.

I'm so glad that we can joke about it. That's when the Lord spoke to me. But I haven't been in a strip club in, I think, seven or eight years. And it's because of the word. And the fleshly part of me misses it. But I so fear God.

And that's why I wear my faith on my sleeve is because if someone sees me step into the Spearmint Rhino in Las Vegas, I want them to say, that dude says he's a Christian. And then I got to duck my head and I got to leave because I look foolish. When you run around beating your chest, I'm a Christian, I'm a Christian. And that's what I try to explain to men. Everybody wants to wear their faith in private, right?

And I'm like, nah, if you really want to clean yourself up, wear it publicly. And that way, when someone cuts you off in traffic, you're,

You can't blow your horn and give them the finger because I'm a Christian. I can't do that. Blah, blah, blah. And people want to hide their faith so that they're free to do whatever they want to do. And they want to put on all these other titles. And I tried. That's like this conservative title. It's useless because as a conservative, I used to talk to conservatives in strip clubs. I used to.

you know, argue and curse at other conservatives, conservatives would curse and argue with me. But when you put on that Christian title, all them options go away and they get reduced. And, and that's the only way I've been able to clean up my behavior is by submitting and telling everybody, Hey, I've submitted. And it's, it's no different when we came upstairs, what I tell y'all,

Man, I've been on one meal a day for 60 days and blah, blah, blah. That's to let all y'all know. Don't offer me no food now. I'm on one meal a day. I'm fat. And the next thing you know, y'all said, well, I'm going to help Whitlock on his journey. I'm not going to offer him any food.

But it used to be I show up in a room and everybody wants, every woman wants to feed me and they get upset. What do you mean you don't want a third helping? You're big sexy. That's what I'm telling you about nicknames. And you start having to live up to them. And again, so you call yourself big. You got to stay big. You call yourself sexy. You got to have sex. You got to go to strip clubs.

That's why, let me dust that nickname off. My mama called me Jason, called me Jason. It's a biblical name. And I've taken on this title of Christian so that I have a set of parameters that I have to answer to. Not that I do it all the time, but I try constantly to live up to that new title I've given myself, Christian, and

And, you know, we should all make that attempt. Amen. It's a daily thing. Yep. And you're right. Nobody's perfect. You're never going to be. It's an unattainable journey. Let's wrap it up so I can tell these strip club stories because I've got a million of them. Believe me, we do need that. Strippers need witness, too. And that's the end. Thank you for listening. Where are you going to see them? At the Waffle House? I mean, you're asleep by 930. We do need to wrap it up, though. Anybody else got something?

That's been amazing. I'm thankful for the whole night. Absolutely. We say this a lot. We try to have people on that embody the spirit of what we feel like we did. It's like you're standing up for what you believe in against the mainstream narrative. You are that plus 1,000. The only reason I want this to continue is because this old-fashioned that Neil made me,

has a lot of pop. And so I was like, I'm going to sit on this show and keep talking until my buzz goes away. Until my buzz goes away and I know I can drive back to Nashville. So I think I'm there. I think I'm there. I think I'm there. One more, I'll guzzle down another water and I'm ready to go. No rush out. If you have someone in your heart,

No, I think I'm sober. All right. We do want to one more time remind people of roll call. Make sure you go get your tickets for that. Follow Jason on X at Jason Whitlock. Whitlock Jason. Sorry. At Whitlock Jason. Yes. Instagram real Jason. Well, real Jason Whitlock. YouTube, youtube.com slash Jason Whitlock. Absolutely. And if you're watching this episode on YouTube.

make sure you subscribe like comment review before i get out of here i'm sorry kurt for cutting off i will say this you got any questions for us well just a lovely home like this and such a lovely wife i i will have to get invited back for a meal i i i saw your kitchen and there's could be major work done in that kitchen that's a fact now i gotta say something yeah neil's wife

Let me tell you something. There's no one better at entertaining and feeding. Cooking. I'm talking about cooking. That kitchen is a staging area for great things. He is the best host. Tell me this, Neil. This is a documented fact.

Dr. Fauci has the scientists, this is scientifically proven, no one makes better home fried chicken than yours truly. Really? Yeah. And it doesn't matter what kitchen I'm in. It doesn't matter. You know, would love to come back here. I will provide the chicken. Yeah. Love to come back here. The oil. And make some fried chicken. You're used to oil. I bring my own. I was going to say, I bet he's got his own oil.

I want the Whitlock oil. It's a little secret recipe that I don't share with anybody. Or you can come to my house and I can make it there. But

But, you know. You're going to have to talk to her. Oh, yeah. I mean, she runs the show around here. I wear the pants. She picks them out. If y'all had picked a better day, I would have come in early, fried some chicken. We would have sat here and ate the chicken while we were having this conversation. And y'all could have been telling everybody about it.

Part two? Well, part two. You're going to come back and we can do this again. We can definitely come back or I've already invited you to my home. Okay. All of you guys to my home. You're sitting there with me and Jeffrey. My studio could babysit forever.

Five of us? That's how many is here, Jason. Well, we got five of us. We got Jeffrey. One of us is getting caught. Oh, Jeffrey's coming. Anything I do at my house, Jeffrey's always there. That's going to turn into a jam session. You understand that, right? And we barely scratched the surface with what a great man you are and everything you've done.

Well, you don't know me well if you're calling me a great man. No, I'm just saying, journalist, radio, I love chicken and manhood. I really want to be there.

Oh, my gosh. We are coming to you from the Patriot Mobile Studios. We thank Jason Whitlock for being here. Thank you guys for listening. Make sure to follow along, subscribe, share, rate the show, and check out our merch at trythatinasmalltown.com.